The metaphor is founded on the resemblance of one thing to another; as in the examples already given:  “The Lord God is a sun and shield” (Psa. 84:11); “I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman.”  John 15:1.  It may lie not in a single word, but in an entire expression, thus:  “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 26:14); “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.”  Rev. 3:18.  The metaphor and metonymy may be joined, as in the words already quoted:  “A soft tongue breaketh the bone;” or they may blend themselves with each other, as when Nahum says of the princes of Nineveh:  “The sword shall devour thy young lions.”  Chap. 2:13.  In this last example, as often elsewhere, personification, which is properly a figure of thought, is added, the sword being represented as a beast of prey.  The grand and gorgeous personifications of Scripture naturally clothe themselves in tropical language of inimitable beauty and exhaustless variety.  “O thou sword of the Lord,” says Jeremiah, “how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.  How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore?  There hath he appointed it.”  Chap. 47:6, 7.  The prophet Habakkuk represents God as coming forth in his glory for the salvation of his people:  “The mountains saw thee,” says he, “and they trembled:  the overflowing of the water passed by:  the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high:  the sun and moon stood still in their habitation.”  Chap. 3:10, 11.  God’s promise to his redeemed is:  “Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:  the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”  Isa. 55:12.  Metonymies, metaphors, and sometimes personifications—­the books of the New Testament sparkle with these figures, and they are used always for effect, not empty show.  They are like the flaming bolts of heaven, which rend and burn as well as shine.  “Beware of false prophets,” says the Saviour, “which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  Ye shall know them by their fruits:  do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?” Matt. 7:15, 16.  How effectually does he by these metaphors strip off the mask from false teachers!  “If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?” 1 Cor. 12:15, 16.  Here is personification without a trope.  “O death, where is thy sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55), here is a majestic personification in metaphorical form.