The Use Of Figurative Language In The Genesis Book From The Bible

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Throughout history people had always enjoyed and appreciated works of Literature in which they can relate to their everyday life. The Genesis book from the Bible is an example of Literature in which people know its stories and appreciated them. Even people who do not have faith on the Bible know the stories from the Genesis. The reason behind that is because the book is famously known as a collection of stories that tell us about the beginning of everything and how early civilizations interacted with God. The people that read the book of Genesis because of their religion beliefs, they would see it as an obligation to read rather than appreciate it and understand it as a work of literature. However, Darwin’s science strongly contradicts most …show more content…

In order for a written work to be considered as Literature; it should portray any element of literature such as: figurative language, irony, simile, symbolism, personification, metaphor, etc. Some of these elements are portrayed in the book of Genesis. As for example in its third chapter, there is a use of figurative language. The term figurative language refers to a word or a phrase that an author uses to extend the meaning of the language which is exactly what the author of the Genesis 3 did by using the serpent as a character. In the text, the serpent is not only a normal serpent; it also happens to be a representation of the devil. As professor Dafni in his article “Genesis 2–3 and Alcibiades’s Speech in Plato’s Symposium” points out, “the serpent changes fundamentally the meaning of the divine command and bears malice toward Yahweh, God the Creator… So the talking serpent as a devil articulates its most decisive argument (Gn 3:5): ‘God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil’. The serpent concealed and suppressed completely the possibility of death and makes God seem a liar and a fraud”(Dafni,2015). When the author of Genesis, portrays the serpent talking and making God looks like a liar makes a deviation from the literal meaning of the word serpent because is something that a regular serpent …show more content…

A literature work will always portray an important message to their readers; in the case of the Bible would be its teaching values. Since there are different interpretations of messages that readers can conclude from reading the Bible; the professor William H. Bishop portrays on his article “The Genesis of Values in Genesis” the interpretation according with the Christians, “The Christian worldview is predicated upon biblical teaching and interpretation. It is the foundation for family values. These values are prevalent in the Book of Genesis and are what comprise the family unit, the decline of which is eroding the values given by God”(Bishop,2015). According with the professor, the Christians see the Genesis book as guide to learn the values of a family which is the message of this literature work piece .However, portraying a message is not what Literature is all about. Literature is a written work that would produce some type of effect on the readers. In this case, the effect is that when Christian readers will learn moral value and they will practice them in their everyday life; as professor Williams states: “The Christian worldview is a means of interpreting the world through the teachings, concepts and principles in the Bible and taking action based on that interpretation. Furthermore, it incorporates values commensurate with that worldview, for example,

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