People also use personification because it is sometimes easier to talk about people’s relationships with non-human things such as wealth as if they were relationships between people.
In each case, the purpose of the personification is to highlight a certain characteristic of the non-human thing. As in metaphor, the reader needs to think of the way that the thing is like a certain kind of person.
Jesus speaks of wealth as if it were a master whom people might serve. Loving money and basing one’s decisions on it is like serving it as a slave would serve his master.
The author speaks of wisdom and understanding as if they were woman who calls out to teach people. This means that they are not something hidden, but something obvious that people should pay attention to.
> **Sin crouches** at the door. (Genesis 4:7b ULT) – God speaks of sin as if it were a wild animal that is waiting for the chance to attack. This shows how dangerous sin is. An additional phrase can be added to make this danger clear.
> Even the **winds and the sea obey him**. (Matthew 8:27b ULT) – The men speak of the “wind and the sea” as if they are able to hear and obey Jesus, just as people can. This could also be translated without the idea of obedience by speaking of Jesus controlling them.
**NOTE**: We have broadened our definition of “personification” to include “zoomorphism” (speaking of other things as if they had animal characteristics) and “anthropomorphism” (speaking of non-human things as if they had human characteristics) because the translation strategies for them are the same.
See in Reader
