One of people's favourite linguistic tools is figurative language (metaphors). A striking metaphor used in the Bible is that of marriage. The biblical authors use it as a metaphor to express God’s relation to his people.

Interpreting figurative language is part of biblical exegesis. Mark 1:38 contains such figurative speech, called amphibologia.

Hermeneutics should not be divorced from the study of language in general. The Bible is written in human language by men who used the language conventions of the day. This essay focuses on the way in which figures of speech and figurative language function in texts. The author notes similes, metaphors, allegory, metonymy, irony, and so on.