Bible and the sword

[canadianicon25]

Could the usage of the word sword in the Bible be a symbol for the Word of God or the belief in God or some variant of such? There a references that seem to suggest that but I was reading Joshua chapter 6 and thought, 'how could this be symbolic with the words that are used?'

Any suggestions on this topic?

 

[opengate07]

Daily Bible Study - The Sword Of Truth


Daily Bible Study - The Sword

 

[Harry3142]

canadianicon25-

There are certain passages which use the word 'sword' metaphorically, such as ones in which Matthew 10:34, Luke 2:35, and Ephesians 6:17 are to be found. However, there are other passages in which the word 'sword' means exactly what it says, such as the ones in which Romans 13:4 and Joshua 5:13 are to be found.

 

[canadianicon25]

i don't know. in reading Romans chapters 12 and 13 it seems to me that it is talking about the church. reference to the government meaning the church. going back to Isaiah 9:6 the reference to government stating that Christ is the head of it. Christ is the head of the church. the sword, in Romans 13, belonging to the authority, which is a minister, seems to me means the sword is Word of God or the truth or God's correction through ministry; another symbolic meaning for the sword.

 

[asiyreh]

There's a few different literary genres in the bible. Poetic, Historical, theological, biographical and apocalyptic... and maybe others but anyways.

It good to try and avoid attempting to over systematize completely different literary genres but try to understand each passage as the writer intends. There are times however when certain scholars have attempted to unlock the mysteries of apocalyptic literature, using older established Hebrew symbols.
They'll find the biblical authors using a symbol to describe something, then apply it to the book of revelation for example.

Yes it can mean sword when the bible's describing an event. But in apocalyptic literature is often highly symbolic and means war if I remember correctly.

 

[theophilus40]

i don't know. in reading Romans chapters 12 and 13 it seems to me that it is talking about the church. reference to the government meaning the church. going back to Isaiah 9:6 the reference to government stating that Christ is the head of it.

Christ is going to return to earth and establish his kingdom but that is still in the future. Jesus said we should give God what belongs to him and give Caesar what belongs to him. By saying this he acknowledged that governments have authority and that Christians should submit to that authority.

Christ is the head of the church. the sword, in Romans 13, belonging to the authority, which is a minister, seems to me means the sword is Word of God or the truth or God's correction through ministry; another symbolic meaning for the sword.

Romans 13 teaches that we should submit to the authority of the government under which we live. The reference to the sword means that governments have the authority to use military force to defend themselves and that capital punishment is permitted for serious crimes.

 

[Harry3142]

i don't know. in reading Romans chapters 12 and 13 it seems to me that it is talking about the church. reference to the government meaning the church. going back to Isaiah 9:6 the reference to government stating that Christ is the head of it. Christ is the head of the church. the sword, in Romans 13, belonging to the authority, which is a minister, seems to me means the sword is Word of God or the truth or God's correction through ministry; another symbolic meaning for the sword.

I agree with Theophilus40. Romans 13 is a clear directive that the Christians in Rome were not to see themselves as over-and-above the civil authorities, but instead were to give them the obedience and respect they deserved. The civil laws of that particular time hadn't gotten to the point at which everyone was ordered to sacrifice to the emperor cult, which was the bone of contention between Christians and the later emperors. Instead, those laws 'boiled down' to behaving in a civilized manner (don't murder, steal, commit perjury, etc.) and paying your taxes.

As well, the Church wasn't that well established at the time that St. Paul wrote Romans. They were missionary churches, with no one church answering to any other church. Instead, the only people that they saw as worthy of having authority over them were the missionaries, such as St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Barnabas, and the Christian leaders who were still located in Jerusalem. And those people still in Jerusalem at that time weren't worshiping seperately from the Jewish community, but instead were still themselves worshiping in the temple at Jerusalem. That didn't end until the Jewish revolt circa 67 AD.