II. Complex: Where both Clauses are Involved.

An abbreviated form of expression, in which an Ellipsis in the first of two members has to be supplied from the second, and at the same time an Ellipsis in the second member has to be supplied from the first.


Simple Ellipsis puts one member, and leaves the other to be inferred.

Complex Ellipsis puts two members, and implies two others,
and these two are interchanged. Hence this figure has been called
“Semi-duplex Oratio,” i.e., semi-double discourse.

.
.      1. Where single words are involved.


Prov. 10:1 — “A wise son maketh a glad father:
but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.”


Here the word “father” in the former clause is to be understood in the latter;
and the word “mother” in the latter clause is to be understood in the former.
For a wise son is a joy to a mother as well as to a father, and a foolish son is a heaviness to a father as well as to a mother.
See also chaps. 15:20; 17:25; 23:24; 30:17.


Matt. 23:29 — “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous.”
.
.Here the word “build” refers also to the “sepulchres” of the latter clause;
and the word “garnish” refers also to the word “tombs” of the former clause.
i.e., ye not only build the tombs of the prophets, but ye garnish them:
ye not only garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, but ye build them.


Rom. 5:16 — “And not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift:
for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.”


There is evidently an Ellipsis here, as is shown by the italics employed in the A.V.
and the R.V. But the question is, is the omission correctly supplied? We submit the following, treating the first clause as a complex Ellipsis:—


“And not, as [the judgment came] by one that sinned, [does] the free gift
[come by one who was righteous]: for the judgment [was death] after one [offense]
to condemnation, but the free gift [is pardon] after many offenses, unto justification;” i.e., Adam brought the judgment of death by one sin, Christ by bearing that judgment, brought life and pardon for many sins. (See above, page 108).


Rom. 10:10 — “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”


Here “righteousness” is to be understood in the latter clause, as well as “salvation”; and “salvation” is to be understood in the former clause, as well as “righteousness.” Moreover “confession” must be made with the heart as well as with the mouth;
and righteousness includes salvation. The full completion of the sense is: —
“With the heart man believeth unto righteousness [and salvation] and with
[the heart and] the mouth confession is made unto [righteousness and] salvation.”


.       2. Where Sentences are involved.


Psa. 1:6 — “For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous;
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”


In the former sentence we have the cause, in the latter the effect.
 But both effect and cause are latent in each statement:
“The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous [and it shall not perish] ,
but [the Lord knoweth] the way of the ungodly [and it] shall perish.”


Psa. 42:8 — “The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime
and in the night his song shall be with me.”


Here the Ellipsis is insufficiently supplied by the words, “shall be”.
The Ellipsis is complex, and to be understood thus:—
The Lord will command his loving kindness [and his song with me] in the daytime, and in the night also [he will command his loving kindness and] his song.


Isa. 32:3 — “And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, [and they shall see]:
and the ears of them that hear shall [not be dull, but] hearken.”


John 5:21 — “For like as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them;
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.”

Here the Ellipsis is treated as being Simple, instead of Complex, and is supplied by the word “them”. But the words “raiseth up the dead” in the former clause are latent in the latter, while the words “whom he will” in the latter clause are latent in the former, thus: —
“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth [whom he will ]; even so the Son [raiseth up the dead, and] quickeneth whom he will.”
Or according to the Greek, “So THE SON also.”


John 8:28 — “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me,
I speak these things;” i.e., “Of myself I do nothing [nor speak]; but I speak
these things as the Father hath taught me, [and I do them].”

See a similar illustration in verse 38.


John 14:10 — “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
.
This complex Ellipsis must be understood as follows:—
“The words which I speak unto you, I speak not of myself,
[but the Father that dwelleth in me, he speaketh them]: and
[the works which I do, I do not of myself] ,
but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”


John 17:26 — “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it:
that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them,” i.e.,
“And I have declared to them thy name, and will declare [thy love]: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I [and my love] may be in them.”


Rom. 6:4 — “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,” etc.


The complex Ellipsis here may be thus worked out: “ Therefore we are buried with him by His baptism-unto-death [and raised again from the dead], that like as Christ was [buried and] raised again from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (See pages 18, 19, on the context of this passage).


Heb. 12:20 — “And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart.”
In Ex. 19:13, the text is, “There shall not a hand touch it, for he shall surely be stoned or shot through with a dart; whether it be man or beast, he shall not live.”


Here the man was to be stoned and the beast shot. In the MSS. words have been gratuitously inserted by transcribers to make sense, in ignorance of the complex Ellipsis. The sense is made clear thus: — “And if so much as [a man or] a beast touch the mountain— [if a man touch] it, he shall be stoned [and if a beast touch it, it shall be] thrust through with a dart.”


From “Figures Of Speech Used In The Bible” by E. W. Bullinger,
(Public Domain) pages 110-113. Adapted for website compatibility.
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