e, as often elsewhere, _personification_,
which is properly a figure of thought, is added, the sword being
represented as a beast of prey. The grand and gorgeous personifications
of Scripture naturally clothe themselves in tropical language of
inimitable beauty and exhaustless variety. "O thou sword of the Lord,"
says Jeremiah, "how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself
into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing the
Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore?
There hath he appointed it." Chap. 47:6, 7. The prophet Habakkuk
represents God as coming forth in his glory for the salvation of his
people: "The mountains saw thee," says he, "and they trembled: the
overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and
lifted up his hands on high: the sun and moon stood still in their
habitation." Chap. 3:10, 11. God's promise to his redeemed is: "Ye shall
go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the
hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of
the field shall clap their hands." Isa. 55:12. Metonymies, metaphors,
and sometimes personifications--the books of the New Testament sparkle
with these figures, and they are used always for effect, not empty show.
They are like the flaming bolts of heaven, which rend and burn as well
as shine. "Beware of false prophets," says the Saviour, "which come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall
know them by their fruits: do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of
thistles?" Matt. 7:15, 16. How effectually does he by these metaphors
strip off the mask from false teachers! "If the foot shall say, Because
I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the
body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of
the body; is it therefore not of the body?" 1 Cor. 12:15, 16. Here is
personification without a trope. "O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55), here is a majestic
personification in metaphorical form.

As resemblance lies at the foundation of the metaphor, it may be called
an _abbreviated form of comparison_, the thing with which the comparison
is made being directly predicated of that which is compared. Thus, when
we say: A sluggard is vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes of
those who send him, we have a metaphor, the sluggard being directly
called vinegar an