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I also have a bias against reading even simile's into Scripture.

The simile is not read into the Scripture, it is written into it... "Let A be as B."
Didn't Jesus say, "He who has an ear, let him hear," in reference to one of his parables? Aren't all parables simles?
What is the root of your bias?

fair enough. . . at least to a point.

root of my bias?

Not sure. . . My best sense is that it's from LOTS of fiery furnace grinding, being powdered and blown to the 4 winds and reconstituted more in His Image . . . especially around the issue of Forgiveness. A prophet sort that i have had a lot of respect for once told a friend of mine that God told him I knew more about forgiveness than anyone on the planet. I certainly didn't believe him. Given what's happened since and his own ignorance on the subject, sometimes I wonder.

I do know it's a keenly important thing to God. I do know I'd much rather err on the side of being overly forgiving instead of less than He might prefer.

Discipline, punishment etc. is an entirely different issue. I'm convinced deep in my soul and bone marrow that Forgiveness is in order human to human in God's eyes all the time--certainly virtually all the time, in every situation. If God ever shows me or insists differently, I think I can hear Him on the topic. Until then, I'll continue this stance on it. It has brought me the most life and peace and also brought a lot of others the most life and peace they've ever experienced. '

I've found that on the human level, Forgiveness is primarily for the forgiving person. . . 2ndarily for the forgiven one.

I've also observed--LOTS of personal experience and observational experience besides--Forgiving another even scoundral is OFTEN followed by God dealing with them MOST SEVERELY. Why hadn't God dealt with them most severely before they were forgiven? I don't have all those answers. But it's a sequence I've seen A LOT.