01.01.01.01. PART I-A: THE IDIOMS AND FIGURES IN SCRIPTURE

PART I-A: THE IDIOMS AND FIGURES IN SCRIPTURE SCRIPTURE RHETORIC, or SACRED ELOCUTION, may he reduced to two principal heads or chapters.

1. The first of Tropes.

2. The second of Figures.

First, Tropes; which concern the sense of words, viz. "When they are drawn from their proper and genuine signification to that which is different or contrary; which the Etymology of the word shows; for tropov is derived from trepw signifying, verto, muto, to turn or change.

Second, Figures; which the Greeks call xhmata, signifying the habit or ornament of speech, do not alter or vary the sense of words, but embellish, beautify, or adorn them. Of the first we will treat under two heads:

1. The kinds } of Tropes 2. The affections } of Tropes The kinds of tropes are four, viz., Metonymy, Irony, Metaphor, and Synecdoche, which order depends upon logical topics, from whence Tropes are deduced, as 1. Metonymy, from Causes and Effects.

(2.) From Subjects and Adjuncts.

2. Irony, from Contraries.

3. Metaphor, from Comparates.

4. Synecdoche, from the distribution of the Whole into its parts.

(2.) Of the Genus[1] into its Species.[2]

[1] Genus est quod de pluribus differentibus effentialiter praedicatur in quid, non conversim, ut animal genus est hominis.

[2] Species est pars generi subjecta, ut homo est species animalis, eidov esti to tattomenon upo tou genous i.e. Species est qua collocatur sub genere ab eidw, video.

Genus is a more general title, which comprehends some things more special under it, as Substance, which comprehends: 1. Living creatures. 2. Metals. 3. Elements, &c.

Species is a more special title, attributed to diverse particulars under it, as a Man, to John, Peter, James, or any other individual. The Affections of tropes, are three.

1. Catachresis.

2. Hyperbole.

3. Allegory. Of which there are certain Species, as, 1. Paraemia, or a Proverb, and 2. Ænigma. Of these, with God’s help, we shall treat in order.