Yes, the extensive use of symbolic and metaphorical expressions in the Bible is extremely common across virtually all major religions—and in fact, it’s a near-universal feature of religious texts and traditions worldwide.
Religious language almost always relies heavily on metaphor, symbolism, allegory, parable, poetry, and myth to convey truths about the divine, the human condition, ethics, cosmology, and the ineffable (things that are beyond literal description). The reason is simple: the sacred or ultimate reality (God, Brahman, Tao, Nirvana, etc.) is considered transcendent, mysterious, or beyond ordinary human language, so direct, literal prose is inadequate. Symbols and metaphors bridge that gap.
Here’s a quick overview of how this shows up in other major religions:
- Judaism (the foundation of the Bible’s Old Testament): The Torah and Prophets are packed with metaphors (e.g., God as shepherd, rock, father; Israel as a vine or unfaithful wife). Rabbinic tradition (Midrash) and mystical Kabbalah are deeply allegorical and symbolic.
- Islam: The Quran is famous for its poetic, rhythmic language full of metaphors and similes (e.g., light of God as a lamp in a niche, life as a journey, paradise as gardens beneath which rivers flow). It also uses parables (like Jesus’ parables in the Gospels). Sufi mysticism takes this even further with highly symbolic poetry (Rumi, etc.).
- Hinduism: The Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Puranas are overflowing with metaphors, symbols, and allegories—the universe as a cosmic dance (Shiva Nataraja), the self (Atman) as a charioteer in a chariot, Brahman as clay from which all pots are made, or the world as a dream/illusion (maya). Stories of gods are often understood on multiple levels: literal, symbolic, philosophical.
- Buddhism: The Buddha taught almost exclusively in parables, metaphors, and similes (e.g., life is like a raft to cross a river—useful but to be abandoned once you reach the other side; suffering as a fire, enlightenment as a lotus rising from mud, the mind as a monkey swinging from branch to branch). Texts like the Lotus Sutra are deliberately multi-layered allegories.
- Taoism/Daoism: The Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu) is one of the most metaphorical texts ever written—almost nothing is literal. The Tao is compared to water (soft yet erodes the hard), a bellows, an uncarved block, a valley, a mother, etc. Everything points beyond words.
- Sikhism, Jainism, indigenous/native traditions, ancient Greek/Egyptian religions, etc.: All heavily symbolic (e.g., the Sikh Khalsa symbols, Jain ahimsa metaphors, Native American animal totems and vision quests as allegories for spiritual growth).
Even scholars of comparative religion universally agree that symbolism and metaphor are core to religious expression across cultures and history. Literalism is actually the exception or a later interpretive choice in many traditions—most pre-modern believers understood sacred texts as working on multiple levels (literal, allegorical, moral, mystical) simultaneously.
So no, the Bible isn’t unique in this at all—it’s the norm. In fact, many theologians argue that taking religious language too literally misses the whole point, because the deepest truths can only be approached “sideways” through symbol and story.