Like metonymy, hypocatastasis is a figure of speech that uses substitution in order to imply rather than directly state a relationship between two items. Unlike metonymy, in hypocatastasis the item that is stated need not actually be present in the circumstances that are described. For example, when the psalmist says “many bulls [פרים] surround me” (Ps. 22:12 [13]) or “dogs [כלבים] surround me” (Ps. 22:16 [17]), he uses figurative language to refer to his human enemies. Bulls or dogs