Only someone with absolutely no knowledge of Hebrew would make such a statement as the one I bolded above.
It would be very naïve (or a religious bias) for one to think Bible languages are void of figure of speeches:
Old Testament Hebraisms:
[SIZE=+2]Hebrew Bible idioms and other figures of speech
compiled by Wayne Leman
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[SIZE=+1]This webpage may be copied or its contents adapted if its title and compiler are cited.[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]The following list consists of figures of speech in the Hebrew Bible, such as
idioms,
euphemisms,
metaphors,
metonymy,
synecdoche, and
personification. Figurative meanings are given after the literal translations. Our suggestion of the type of figure of speech (open to debate in several cases) is given in parentheses.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Gen. 4:1 know someone = have sex with someone (euphemism)
Gen. 6:8
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD = God was pleased with Noah (idiom)
Gen. 15:15
you will go to your fathers = you will die (euphemism)
Gen. 18:27 I am nothing but dust and ashes = I am not worth much (metaphor)
Gen. 20:6 touch = harm (metonymy)
Gen. 26:8
laughing intensely with =sexually caressing, perhaps even, having sex with (euphemism)
Gen. 27:38 lift up voice = vocalize (idiom)
Gen 27.41 said in heart = thought / said to self (metonymy)
Gen. 29:1
lifted his feet = began a journey (metonymy)
Gen 40.13 lift up your head = restore to honor (metaphor)
Ex 3.8 flowing with milk and honey = fertile (idiom)
Ex 7:22 Pharaoh's heart was hardened = stubborn (metaphor)
Ex 13.2 open the womb = be born (metonymy)
Deut 15.7 close hand = selfish (metonymy)
Deut. 15:9
evil eye = stingy (metaphor)
Deut 20.8 heart melt = lose courage (metaphor)
Judges 3:22
the dirt came out =his bowels emptied (euphemism)
Ruth 3:7
feet = genitals (metonymy)
1 Sam. 24:3 covered his feet = relieved himself (metonymy?)
1 Sam. 25:22 any that urinates against the wall = any male (metonymy)
1 Kings 11:9; Psalm 76:7
God's nostils enlarged = God became angry (metonymy)
1 Ki 2:10 slept with his fathers = died (euphemism)
2 Ki 4.29 gird up your loins = get ready (metonymy)
2 Ki 19.26 small of hand = weak (metonymy)
2 Chr 36.13 stiffened his neck = became stubborn (metonymy)
Esther 1.7 open hand = generosity (metonymy)
Job 20.20 knew no quiet in their bellies = greedy (metaphor)
Job 23.16 soft heart = fearful (metaphor)
Ps 5.9 their throat is an open grave = they speak deceitfully (metaphor)
Ps 6.7 eye is consumed = vision is blurred (metaphor)
Ps 7.9 hearts and kidneys = mind thoughts and heart emotions (metaphor)
Ps 12.2 double heart = duplicitous (metaphor)
Ps. 12:3 cut off all flattering lips = bring the flattering to an end (idiom)
Ps 17.8 little man of the eye = pupil (metaphor)
Ps 24.4 clean hands = act purely (metaphor)
Ps 25.1 lift up my soul = pray (idiom)
Ps 27.8 seek my face = seek me (metonymy)
Ps 33.18 eyes are upon = watches over (metonymy)
Ps 41.9 lifted heel against = turned against (metonymy)
Ps 73.9 tongue struts through the earth = arrogantly order everyone (personification)
Ps 75.5 lift horn = defy God (metonymy)
Ps 80:3 face shine = show favor to (metonymy)
Ps 89.13 right hand = might (metonymy)
Ps 89.22 son of wickedness = wicked person (metaphor)
Ps 90.12 number days = use time wisely (idiom)
Ps 94.9 planted = created (metaphor)
Ps 102.2 hide your face = refuse to answer (idiom)
Ps 121.1 lift up eyes = look up toward (metaphor)
Pro 17.22 dries bones = drains strength (idiom)
Pro 18.20 fruit of the mouth = what someone says (idiom)
Pro 22.9
good eye = generous (idiom)
Pro 24.20 lamp will go out = will die (idiom)
Song 2.4 his banner over me is love = he loves me very much (idiom)
Song 2.17 until the day breathes = until dawn (personification)
Is. 3:16
stretched forth necks = haughtiness (metonymy)
Is 14.12 son of the morning = morning star (idiom)
Is 35.10 joy will crown their heads = they will be joyful (idiom)
Is 60.16 suck the milk of nations = receive the wealth of other countries (idiom)
Jer 4.4 remove the foreskin of your heart = dedicate yourselves fully to God (idiom)
Jer 4.19 walls = pain (metonymy)
Jer 5.5 broken the yoke = rejected God's authority (metonymy)
Jer 6.10 ears are uncircumcised = don't listen (idiom)
Jer 7.12 where I caused my name to dwell = where I chose to be worshiped (metonymy)
Jer. 15:16
eat = understand (metaphor)
Jer. 25.15 wine of wrath = my anger (idiom)
Jer 50.33 sons of = people of (metonymy)
Ezek 3.7 hard forehead = stubborn (idiom)
Ezek 16.25 spread feet = offer self for sex (euphemism)
Ezek 16.26 big of phallus = lustful (metonymy)
Jonah 3:3
a city great to God = very large (idiom)
Jonah 4:9
angry unto death = very angry (idiom)
Examples of Figure of Speech Used in the Bible | Truth Or Tradition?
http://christianchat.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2023135
Now to the first question, in what sense may God be said to “send a strong delusion,” or a “working of error” (ASV)? Clearly the statement is not to be taken literally. Such a view would contradict what we know regarding the qualities of our great and loving God. Jehovah is a God of goodness (Acts 14:17; Jas. 1:17) and truth (Dt. 32:4); he cannot do that which is a violation of his own nature (cf. Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18).One must, therefore, look for another explanation for the language employed in this controversial passage.
It is fairly well known among advanced Bible students that there is a common idiom (figure of speech) in sacred literature, by which God is said to
actively do that which, in reality, he merely
allows in human beings — to whom he has granted freedom of will.Consider a few examples.
(1) Concerning Pharaoh, the Lord said: "I will harden his heart. . . " (Ex. 4:21).Elsewhere, however, we learn that the Egyptian monarch hardened
his own heart (cf. 8:15).The solution to the seeming conflict lies in the fact that God made demands upon the ruler that he resisted, and, exercising his own stubborn will (cf. 7:14), he refused to obey Jehovah.Pharaoh actively hardened his conscience; God
permitted it, i.e., did not overrule the king’s power of choice, thus, in a
figurative sense, the Lord was said to be the cause.
(2) Ezekiel represents Jehovah as saying, “I gave them [the Hebrew people] statues that were not good” (20:25).In the larger context of the passage, the meaning is this: “When my people became determined not to listen to my law, I permitted them to follow the ways of paganism.They chose wickedness, I honored the exercise of their volition.”This is precisely the sentiment of the following passage.“So I
let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels” (Psa. 81:12). This puts the issue in balance.
(3) Jeremiah laments: “Lord God, surely you have deceived this people” (Jer. 4:10).Again, the meaning literally is this: “The people were determined to follow lying ways; you let them proceed.”Sometimes the only way folks can learn is by being allowed to drink the bitter dregs of their own concoctions.
(4) Christ taught his disciples to petition God, “Lead us not into temptation” (Mt. 6:13).Clearly God does not “lead” people into temptation (cf. Jas. 1:13-14).The sense of Matthew 6:13, therefore, would seem to be this: “Father, do not permit us to be overcome by temptation.”Sometimes the
active voice is put for the
passive for emphasis sake.
In his exhaustive discussion of biblical idioms, James Macknight has observed: “Active verbs were used by the Hebrews to express, not the doing, but the permission of the thing which the agent is said to do” (
Apostolical Epistles, Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1954, p. 29).
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