..A. Absolute Ellipsis:


That is, the omission of words or terms which must be supplied only from
.                                             the nature of the subject.


The omitted word may be a noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, participle, adverb, preposition.

.        I. The Omission of Nouns and Pronouns.

.           . 1. The Omission of the Nominative.

.          2. The Omission of the Object or Accusative, etc., after the verb.

.          3. The Omission of the Pronoun.

1 Kings 3:22 —“Thus they spake before the king.”
It is not to be supposed that two women under these exciting circumstances would confine themselves to the few concise words of verse 22! Moreover, there is no
“thus” in the Hebrew. Literally it reads — “and they talked before the king,”
i.e
., “they talked [very much] or kept talking before the king.”


2 Kings 6:25 —“An ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver,
and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.”
.
Here it is more correct to supply (with the R.V. margin) “shekels” instead of “pieces,” and translate “was at eighty shekels of silver.”
.
2 Kings 25:3 —“And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed.”

The Hebrew reads, “and on the ninth month.”
But the Ellipsis is correctly supplied from Jer. 52:6.


Psa. 119:56 —“This I had, because I kept thy precepts;”
i.e., this [consolation] I had.
Luther supplies the word “treasure”.
.
Jer. 51:31 —“One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end.”


The R.V. translates “on every quarter”! Another version renders it “to its utmost end.” Another “at the extremity”.
Thus it is clear that there is an Ellipsis, and much confusion in supplying it.


The Hebrew is “from the end”: or with the Ellipsis supplied “from [each] end.”
So in chap. 50:26 (A.V. and R.V.), “come against her from the utmost border.” (Margin: “Hebrew, from the end”), i.e., as we have suggested, “from [each] end,”


And so the prophecy was exactly fulfilled. The Babylonians, after their first discomfiture by Cyrus in the field, retired to the city . . . and, as Herodotus says, “remained in their holds.” *
* Οἱ βαβυλώνιοι . . . .ἐσσωθέντες τῇ μάχῃ κατειλήθησαν ἐς τὸ ἄστυ
Herod. Hist. lib. i. §190. See also Xenophon, Cyrop. lib. vii.
Compare Jer. 51:30, “The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight,
they have remained in their holds.”


“The forces of Cyrus, having turned the waters of the Euphrates, entered the city by the bed of the river at each end; and the messengers who entered at the end where
the waters quitted the city ran to meet those who had come in where the waters entered the city; so that they met one another. Herodotus expressly describes this in his history (book i. §191). Those who were at the extremities were at once slain,
while those in the centre were feasting in utter ignorance of what was going on.
See Daniel 5:3, 4, 23, 30. Thus the correct supply of the Ellipsis is furnished and established by the exact fulfilment of the prophecy, proving the wonderful accuracy
of the Divine Word.


Ezek. 13:18 —“Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes.”


“This may be translated literally, “Woe to those who sew together coverings upon all joints of [the people of] my hands,” i.e., my people. The context supplies the Ellipsis
for the subject is the deception of God’s people by the false prophets; and the covering and veiling of verse 18 corresponds to the daubing and coating of verse 14, etc.,
i.e., the making things easy for the people so that they should not attend to God’s word.


The R.V. reads, “that sew pillows upon all elbows,”
margin, “Heb. joints of the hands:” A.V. margin, “elbows.”


Matt. 19:17 —“Keep the commandments,” i.e., of God.


Mark 6:14-16 —The parenthesis in verse 14 must be extended to the end of verse 15.
What Herod said is stated in verse 16. The rumour of what others said is stated in the parenthesis:—
“And King Herod heard [of these mighty works]; for his name was spread abroad, and [one] † said that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. Others said, It is Elias; and others said,
It is a prophet, or as one of the prophets). But when Herod heard* thereof † he said,
It is John whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.”
*Repeated from verse 14.

† The Greek reads ἔλεγεν (elegen), one said.
The reading put by Tr. and R.V. in the margin,
and by Lachmann, and Westcott and Hort in the Text is ἔλεγον (elegon) some said.

Luke 14:18 —“They all with one consent began to make excuse.”
ἀπὸ μιᾶς (apo mias) with one [mind], or with one [declining]:
i.e., they all alike began to decline the invitation.


John 3:13 —“No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.”
The words translated “ which is” are ὀ ὤν (hōn) the article, and the present participle
of the verb “to be” —literally, the one being: i.e., who was being, or simply who was.
Compare:
John 1:18 “who was (ὀ ὤν) in the bosom of the Father.”
John 9:25 “Whereas I was blind” (τυφλὸς ὤν).
John 19:38 “being a disciple,” i.e., who was a disciple.
Luke 24:44 “I spake whilst I was yet with you” (ἔτι ὤν, eti ōn).
2 Cor. 8:9 “Though he was rich” (πλούσιος ὤν, plousios ōn).


Hence our verse reads, “Even the Son of Man who was in heaven.”
This agrees with John 6:62, where we have the words,
“What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?”


The fact taught us by this is, that the human body of the Lord Jesus cannot be in more than one place at the same time. This fact cuts at the roots of all errors that are based on any presence of Christ on earth during this present dispensation. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the witness to the absence of Christ. There can be no presence of Christ now except by the Holy Spirit. He will be present again bodily only at His personal return from Heaven. Now He is seated at the right hand of God, “henceforth expecting,” until the moment arrives for God to place His enemies as a footstool for His feet, when He shall rise up to receive His people to Himself and come with and reign until He shall have put all enemies under His feet.
(See above, page 7).


Any presence, therefore, of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, other than by His Spirit in our hearts, is a denial of His real human nature, and of His return from Heaven: and this is an error which affects both the first and second Advents. The Lord’s Supper, therefore, is the witness of His real absence; for it is instituted only “till He come.” And not until that glorious day will there be any “real presence” on earth. And then it will be a bodily presence, for it is “on the Mount of Olives,” that His feet will rest, and “on Mount Zion” that He shall reign.

See the Rubrick at the end of the Communion Service of the Church of England.


Acts 10:36 —“The word which God sent unto the children of Israel preaching peace by Jesus Christ.”

The Ellipsis here is caused by a Hebraism, as in Hag. 2:5. “ According to the word that I covenanted with you,” etc.
So this will read, “ [According to] the word which God sent, etc.”


Or it may be taken as parallel to Psa. 107:20. “He sent his word, and healed them.”
So Isa. 9:8. God “sent” when His Son came, through whom God proclaimed the
Gospel of peace. Hence “ [This is] the word which God sent.”.


Acts 18:22 —“And when he had landed at Cæsarea, and gone up . . . and saluted the Church, he went down to Antioch,” i.e., “Gone up [to Jerusalem]” As is clear from verse 21, as well as from the circumstances of the case.


Rom. 2:27 —“And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law,
judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost trangress the law?”


Here we have, first, to note the figure of Hendiadys (q.v.) “letter and circumcision” and translate it literal circumcision. And next we have to preserve the emphasis marked by the order of the words, which we can well do if we correctly supply the Ellipsis: —
“ And shall not uncircumcision which by nature fulfilleth the law,
condemn thee [though thou art a Jew] , who, through the literal circumcision,
art a trangressor of the law?”


Rom. 11:11 —“I say then. Have they stumbled that they should fall [for ever]?
God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles,
for to provoke them to jealousy.” The fall mentioned here must be interpreted by
verse 1 “cast away,” and verse 25 “until,” and by the condition of verse 23.
Is their fall the object or end of their stumbling? See John 11:4.


Rom. 12:19 —“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.” This does not mean “yield to the wrath of your enemy,”
but “give place to the wrath” *[of God], for (the reason is given) it is written,
Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
* τῇ ὀργῇ


Rom. 14:2 —“For one believeth that he may eat all things; another, who is weak
[in the faith] , eateth herbs [only]”.
.
Rom. 14:5 —“One man esteemeth one day above another,
i.e., “one man indeed (μέν), esteemeth one day [more holy] than another;
but (δὲ) another esteemeth every day [alike] .”


Rom. 14:20 —“All things indeed are pure,” i.e., “all [meats] indeed [are] clean;
but [it is] evil to the man who eateth with offence [to his weak brother] .”
“ Clean” here means ceremonially clean, and hence, allowed to be eaten.


Rom. 14:23 —“And he that doubteth is damned (or condemned) if he eat,”
i.e., “and he that holdeth a difference [between meats] is condemned if he eat,
because [he eateth] not from (ἐκ) faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”


1 Cor. 7:6 —“But I speak this [which I have said] by permission and not commandment.”


1 Cor. 9:9, 10 —“Doth God take care for oxen [only]?
Or saith he it altogether for our sakes?”


1 Cor. 12:6—The expression “all in all” is elliptical: and the sense must be completed according to the nature of the subject and the context, both here, and in the other passages where it occurs.


Here, “it is the same God, which worketh all [these gifts]
in all [the members of Christ’s body]:” what these gifts are,
and who these members are, is fully explained in the immediate context.
See verses 4-31.


1 Cor. 15:28 —“Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” The word πάντα occurs six times in the 27th and 28th verses and is in each case translated correctly “all things” except in this last occurrence. We have no liberty to change the translation here. It must be “all things,” and to complete the sense we must render it “that God may be [over] all things, in all [places]; i.e., over all beings in all parts of the universe.


Eph. 1:23 —“The church, which is His body, the fulness* of him that filleth all in all.”


* The termination of the word πλήρωμα denotes the result or product of the verb to fill, i.e., of the act of the verb. Hence this fulness means a filling up in exchange for emptiness. His members fill up the Body of Christ, and He fills up the members with all spiritual gifts and graces.


Here, we must supply:—
“that filleth all [the members of His body] with all [spiritual gifts and graces] .”
Compare chap. 4:10-13.


Col. 3:11 —“Christ is all, and in all.”


Here the Greek is slightly different from the other occurrences, but it is still elliptical; and the sense must be completed thus:—In the new creation “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is [created in] all [who believe] and in all [places of the world],” i.e., no man is excluded on account of earthly considerations of condition or location from the blessings and benefits of the new creation.
See Gal. 3:28, where the same truth is expressed in different words.


1 Cor. 14:27 —“If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two,
or at the most three [sentences, or perhaps, persons] and that by course
(i.e., separately); and let one interpret.”


2 Cor. 1:6 —“And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual [in you] in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer, etc.”


2 Cor. 5:5 —“Now he that hath wrought us for the self same [desire] , is God.”


Gal. 5:10 —“I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded.” The Greek reads “ that you will think nothing differently [from me].”


Phil. 1:18 —“What then [does it matter]? at any rate, in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”


1 Thess. 3:7 —“Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith,” i.e., “ by [the news received of] your faith.”


1 Thess. 4:1 —“As ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God,
so ye would abound more and more [therein],”

See also verse 10.


Heb. 13:25 —“Grace be with you all,” i.e., “The grace [of God be] with you all.”


1 John 5:15 —“And if we know that he hear us [concerning] whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”


1 John  5:19 — “The whole world lieth in wickedness:” R.V., “in the wicked one.”
But this is not English. The Ellipsis must be supplied thus:—
“The whole world lieth in [the power of] the wicked one.”


From “Figures Of Speech Used In The Bible” by E. W. Bullinger,
(Public Domain) pages 20-25. Adapted for website compatibility.
See original at link.      Stream            Download.


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