`Jesus answered and said unto them (the Jews), Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' (John

Once again His hearers took literally what was a figure of speech:

`Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days ? But

He spake of the temple of His body' (John 2:20,21).

Another common figure used in the Scriptures is Hendiadys or Two for One, that is, two things are expressed,

but only one thing is meant. In England we speak of a piece of bread and butter, which is not bread and butter

considered separately, but a piece of buttered bread. We will give one or two examples from the New Testament:

`For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ' (John 1:17).

While it would be perfectly true to consider grace and truth, taken by themselves, to be resident in Christ, here the

apostle John is contrasting the law, with its types and shadows, with the reality that is found alone in the Lord Jesus.

There was a measure of grace in the Divine picture book of the Old Testament, but this only looked forward to the

coming of the Saviour in Whom is the true grace, the perfect thing.

In connection with the filling of Judas' place, the early disciples prayed concerning the Lord's chosen:

`That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell ...' (Acts 1:25).

Ministry and apostleship were not two separate forms of service. It would have been better to recognise the

figure Hendiadys and translate it apostolic ministry. In Acts 14:13 we have another example:

`Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have

done sacrifice with the people'.

The Authorized Version (A.V.) leads one to think that the oxen and garlands were brought separately to the

gates. But not so; it was the heathen custom to put garlands upon the animals to be sacrificed, and so the phrase

should be `garlanded oxen', two things expressed, but only one thing meant. Likewise in Revelation 5:10, `kings

and priests' would be better translated `a priestly kingdom'. Sometimes we have an idea represented by three words

and then we have Hendiatris :

` ... I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me' (John 14:6).

While it is perfectly true that the Lord can be considered as the Way, Truth and Life separately, yet what He

really meant was: `I am the True and Living Way', so recognising the figure Hendiatris Weymouth renders it thus

in his version.

Another frequently used figure is Metonymy or Change of Noun, where one thing is put for another, frequently

for emphasis.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19,20 we have:

`Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings'.

When the word `Spirit' stands by itself, it is difficult to know whether God the Holy Spirit is intended, or the gift

that He gives. 1 Thessalonians is an epistle written early in the Acts period when evidential gifts were abundant.

The reference to prophesyings, prophecy being one of these gifts (1 Cor. 12:10), shows us that the word `spirit'

refers not to God, but to His gift. In any case it is beyond the power of any human being to extinguish God. But His

gifts can be so treated and this context gives this warning.

We have another example of Metonymy in Revelation 6:9 :

`... I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God'.

Whatever ideas may be held concerning the meaning of the soul in the Bible, it will be generally agreed that it

cannot be seen by the eyes. Consequently a figure of speech must be used here. `Soul' is put by Metonymy for

`person', just as we talk of `souls on board a ship', meaning people. This verse in Revelation has sometimes been