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#18. Figures of Speech.
Ellipsis, or Omission, as it affects sense.
pp. 148 - 150
The Figures of Omission that affect sense are six in number.
Aposiopesis.--We sometimes find that "words fail us", or that silence is even more
eloquent than speech. An example occurs in Gen. 3: 22:--
"And now, lest he put forth his hand, take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for
ever--Therefore the Lord God sent him forth."
We are conscious that something is left unsaid. It would seem that the consequences
attending the immortality of Adam after his fall are two awful for speech. The blank is
eloquent. This is an example of Aposiopesis or "sudden silence"; a figure used in
connection with a promise, anger, grief, etc.
Meiosis, or "a belittling", is a figure that is used when one thing is belittled in order to
magnify another. The following are examples:--
"And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" (Numb. 13: 33).
"Who am less than the least of all saints" (Eph. 3: 8).
Tapeinosis, or "demeaning", differs from Meiosis in that Meiosis belittles one thing
that it may magnify another, while Tapeinosis demeans a thing in order that it may
increase or magnify it. When the apostle said that he was a citizen of "no mean city", he
really held Tarsus in high esteem. And when he said he was "not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ", we know that he really valued it beyond life itself.
Catabasis, or "gradual descent", emphasizes humiliation, sorrow, etc. Two examples
will suffice; one from the O.T. and one from the N.T.:--
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength:
They shall mount up with wings as eagles;
They shall run and not be weary;
They shall walk and not faint" (Isa. 40: 31).
Here the descent is manifest in the transition from "mounting with wings" to
"running" and so to "walking".
"Who, being in the form of God,
Thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made Himself of no reputation,
And took upon Him the form of a servant,
And was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in fashion as a man,
He humbled Himself,
And became obedient unto death,
Even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2: 6-8).