A metaphor is when something is used to represent something else. It is not simply a coding hash, where one thing is replaced with another. The True metaphor also has allegorical connections. The properties or attributes of the metaphor relate to the idea through word-play and/or riddle. Sometimes we call it shadow <ref>[[Heb 10:1]] ¶ For the law having a '''shadow''' of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.</ref>.

A simple example of this is the stone. The Greeks use 'rock' as a symbol for Christ, but only because he refers to himself as the rock and because Paul calls him the rock. It is merely a substitution and a weak memory of the true metaphor. The Hebrew word for 'stone' is ''aben'' אבן. It consist of father ''ab'' and son ''ben''. Every stone becomes a metaphor for the Father and Son together. When it is split, it is a picture of the cross when the Father left the Son.<ref>[[Mt 27:46]] And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?</ref> <ref>The stone is the heavenly representation of the Father and Son, and the rock is the earthly. To be precise, the rock was split and the stone was shattered. The theological implications are too small to discuss this early in the conversation.</ref>The stone as a metaphor of teh Father and Son may be seen from a different angle as the revelation of the Father and the Son, or the Word. When the word is split, judgement is removed, leaving grace. When someone was stoned, they were convicted by the word/stone of God.