The Bible’s Figurative Language of Simile (Exegetical Eschatology)

Hank Hanegraaff, the host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, explains that, like a metaphor, a simile draws a comparison between two things, but whereas the comparison is implicit in a metaphor, it is explicit in a simile. Similes employ words such as “like” or “as” in making the comparison. Think, for example, of the similes St. John uses in his description of Jesus: “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.”