An explanation of what merismus is as well as giving examples of merismus in the Bible.

1. F R O M B E G I N N I N G T O E N D
Merismus

2. What is merismus?
 “Merismus” comes from a Greek word meaning
“division”
 Merismus refers to a literary device where two words
(often contrasting) or two parts of something stand
for the whole

3. Examples of Merismus
 The following are common English examples of
merismus:
 “I don’t know whether I’m coming or going” = I have no idea
what I’m doing in any of my actions
 “It doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old” = It doesn’t
matter what your age is at all

4. Merismus in the Bible
 The biggest cluster of examples of merismus in the Bible
can be found in Ecclesiastes 3
 Verse 1 makes clear that examples of merismus follow:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every
matter under heaven” (ESV)
 Verse 2: “a time to be born, and a time to die” = a time for
every stage of life from birth to death
 Verse 4: “a time to weep, and a time to laugh” = a time
for every human emotion between sorrow and joy
 Verse 8: “a time to love, and a time to hate” = a time for
every human emotion between love and hate

5. Identifying Merismus
 It is not always clear whether something is a
merismus, but it can sometimes be important for
interpretation to decide if something is a merismus
or not:
 In Genesis 2:17, is “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”
a merismus?
 What would this phrase mean if it was a merismus? How
would the meaning be different than if this was only a
contrast?

6. So be on the lookout next time you see a
merismus. You don’t want to miss out on a
jot or tittle of what the author is saying.