Hyperbole can be a convenient explanation to get rid of difficult or convicting verses.Someone suggested certain verses against divorce were 'hyperbole' on this forum a while back. But we could interpret a lot of verses as 'hyperbole'.Thou shalt not kill could be taken that way. You know, don't kill unless the person is reeeeaaaallly annoying.And Thou shalt not commit adultery could be taken as hyperbole, too. I mean, you could interpret it to mean, unless she's really hot. I can imagine the theological explanation now, You can't expect people to actually not commit any adultery at all. Plenty of secular folk will admit to feeling that way about the topic when it comes to fornication, though maybe not about adutlery. Thou shalt not steal could be interpreted as hyperbole, to allow a little shoplifting here and there, just a pack of gum or a CD, nothing that will get you serious jail time like a car over $5000. I knew a guy who explained the passage about women speaking in I Corinthians about women speaking by saying it should be in quotes. He thought it was a quote from the Corinthians that Paul was responding to. That seems a bit too 'convenient' to me. I understand there are some other issues to consider, like women being able to prophesy, and Paul may have had some particular issues in mind. But putting it in quotes seems rather convenient. I wondered what about people who want to put the 'not' in 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' or 'Thou shalt not kill' in quotes? Would we allow that, too