The Friday Figure

This week's Friday Figure comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.  The figure (or more precisely, trope) used is that of metaphor.  Metaphor's are indispensable to a good communicator as they bring life and poignancy to language.

1Cor. 3:1  And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
1Cor. 3:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,

By using the metaphor of milk as opposed to solid food, Paul brings the abstract concept of his teaching down to the every day life of his hearers.  He has brought in this metaphor, perhaps also a use of hyperbole, to drive home to his listeners their foolishness and infantile behavior.