Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Personification in the Bible

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The use of personification or anthropomorphism is a literary device found in many ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament. The use of personification is often part of allegory, parable and metaphor in the Bible.

Contents

Personification of nature

The fable of The Trees and the Bramble is told in Judges 9:8-15. In Isa. 55:12 Isaiah speaks about the restoration of Israel in conjunction with the nature, which is personified: the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Cf. also Isa 44:23, 49:13 In Rom 8:19ff. Paul the apostle depicts the creature as if they groan together and wait together with those who have been redeemed. When Paul said, the creature / creation is waiting for the revelation of the glory of God's children, he indicates the nature itself or the present world shall be transformed and redeemed when the Lord comes.

Personification of qualities; sin, wisdom

An early example in the Hebrew Bible is that of Sin is likened as a zoomorphism to an animal "crouching" or "lurking" (NRSV) at Cain's door. Another famous example is that of the personification of Wisdom as a woman in the Book of Proverbs, or natural forces in the Book of Job.

Personification of geographical entities

Personification of Jerusalem as Ariel or Zion as anthropomorphism and Gentile cities such as Babylon. and in Ezekiel Tyre as a "cherub in Eden," and two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, who represent Samaria and Jerusalem.

Second Temple period texts

Texts of the Second Temple do not always follow the use or non-use of personification found in the Hebrew Bible. For example the personification of sin "lurking" at Cain's door is missing both from the Septuagint and the Book of Jubilees. Against this Philo of Alexandria frequently uses the device.

New Testament

The New Testament includes Jesus' personification of money as Mammon, Paul's personification of sin ruling as a king in his body, and the "old man" and "new man" as personifications of two warring persons in the new creature after baptism. The New Testament has a much more specific and developed language for the personification of evil than the Hebrew Bible.

References

Personification in the Bible Wikipedia