Psalm 119: P

Light is my favorite knowledge metaphor.

In order to best appreciate why, we need to think of a few other metaphors: such as water (Proverbs 13:14, Proverbs 18:4) or compared with invaluable objects like gold (Proverbs 3:14).

The water metaphor works on different levels, the first is that water is necessary for basic sustenance. Without water, we die. The second, is that it mirrors the volume and characteristics of knowledge — deep and incalculable like the ocean, and it flows like a river or a fountain.

The gold metaphor works on a transactional level; it attempts quantify the incalculable value of knowledge. We can only refer to things we know are valuable, and then say, “knowledge is more valuable than that.”

Light doesn’t describe the knowledge as much as it describes a person’s situation without knowledge. In darkness, a person cannot perceive what is or isn’t there, whether there are dangers or sustenance. In darkness, you don’t even know what you don’t know.

Knowledge illuminates. It reveals things that were in plain sight, but that we didn’t understand their significance.