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#17. Figures of Speech.
Ellipsis, or Omission, as it affects words.
pp. 61 - 64
We saw in our last paper that Figures of Speech, so far as the Scriptures are
concerned, are distributed under three heads: (i) Omission (ii) Addition (iii) Change.
The Figures that relate to Omission are eleven in number, and are divided as follows:--
Figures involving Omission.
(i)
Affecting words.
1)
Ellipsis
:
or
Omission.
2)
Zeugma
:
or
Unequal yoke.
3)
Asyndeton
:
or
No ands.
4)
Aphaeresis
:
or
Front cut.
5)
Apocopo
:
or
End cut.
(ii)
Affecting the sense.
6)
Aposiopesis
:
or
Sudden silence.
7)
Meiosis
:
or
Belittling.
8)
Tapeinosis
:
or
Demeaning.
9)
Catabasis
:
or
Gradual descent.
10)
Syllogismus
:
or
Omission of the conclusion.
11)
Enthymema
:
or
Omission of the premise.
The word "Ellipsis" is from the Greek, and means "a leaving in". From our point of
view, we call it "a leaving out", as the gap that is "left in" suggests that words have been
"left out". The following is an every-day example of Ellipsis from the advertisement
columns of a daily newspaper, dealing with holiday apartments:--
"Brd.-Res. Bed-bkfst., excel. cuis. mod. 5 min. pier."
This, of course, is not a specimen of the literary figure, but is given to show that
"Omission" is by no means merely academic.
Again, when one has to frame a telegram, the figure of "Omission" is nearly always
employed, if only for the sake of economy.
In many cases, the Ellipsis is correctly supplied in the A.V. and R.V. by the use of
italic type. In some cases, however, the italic additions of the versions are not true; each
addition should be scrutinized before acceptance.
Ellipsis is of three kinds:--