By definition, a hyperbole in English is a deliberate exaggeration used for effect. One elementary teacher of which I am familiar would, at times, use the following prompt to help a stumped student remember what a hyperbole is: “I have told you a million times what a hyperbole is.” To speak of an exaggerated hyperbole seems to be redundant (kind of like calling some man “an unmarried bachelor”).
Our English word “hyperbole” come from the compound Greek word huperbole. It literally means “to throw beyond.” Inherent in this word is the idea of surpassing the usual mark. The verbal form has been translated in the New King James Version as “the glory that excels” (2 Corinthians 3:10), “the exceeding grace of God” (2 Corinthians 9:14), “the exceeding greatness of His power” (Ephesians 1:19), “the exceeding riches of His grace” (Ephesians 2:7), and “the love of Christ which passes knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).
When the Greek preposition kata is placed in front of huperbole, its intended purpose is to intensify the meaning. It is an attempt to make a superlative into a super superlative (kind of like the contrived word “best-est”). It is to take the teacher’s statement above and say, “I have told you a million to the power of a million times what a kata huperbole is.”
The first time kata huperbole appears in the New Testament is in Romans 7. In verses 7-12, the apostle Paul deals with a false doctrine which taught that the law of God produced sin in our race (cf. v. 7). This is “Certainly NOT!” true. Think about it! In the Garden of Eden, God had only ONE prohibition for Adam and Eve to obey. Yet, they disobeyed it! Why? NOT because of the law God had given them, but because of the serpent who was more cunning than any beast of the field (Genesis 3:1ff). Every law that God has given humanity from the Garden of Eden onward has been holy and just and good (Romans 7:12).
This leads the apostle Paul to then address another false doctrine, beginning in verse 13. This falsehood teaches that the law which was holy, just, and good produced death. Again, this is “Certainly NOT!” true. It was not God or His law that produced death in the human race; it was sin. Satan takes God’s holy, just, and good commandments and uses them to bring about sin and death in the human race. This ought to bring about the realization in humanity that sin is “exceedingly (kata huperbole) sinful”. A persistent problem that has plagued the human race from the Garden of Eden and will continue to do so until the end of time is a perpetual and lethal underestimation of the heinousness of sin. No human sees the vile, abominable, horrific, evil nature of sin as God does. We need to.
Sin is exceedingly (kata huperbole) sinful.
