Metaphor at Sinai: Cognitive Linguistics in the Decalogue and Covenant Code
Recent studies in cognitive linguistics demonstrate metaphor’s indispensability to meaning. Still, the presence of metaphor in biblical law is largely unrecognized. Utilizing Zoltán Kövecses’s categories of complex conceptual metaphor - orientational, ontological, and structural - this essay identif...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn State University Press
[2019]
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| In: |
Bulletin for biblical research
Year: 2019, Volume: 29, Issue: 3, Pages: 342-360 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Theory
B Covenant Code B orientational metaphor B Decalogue B structural metaphor B Metaphor B Election B Conceptual Metaphor B Exodus 20:1-17 B ontological metaphor B Exodus 20:23-23:19 B Exodus 20:7 B Kövecses B Biblical Law B Book of the Covenant B metonymy B synecdoche |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | Recent studies in cognitive linguistics demonstrate metaphor’s indispensability to meaning. Still, the presence of metaphor in biblical law is largely unrecognized. Utilizing Zoltán Kövecses’s categories of complex conceptual metaphor - orientational, ontological, and structural - this essay identifies and classifies such metaphors in the Decalogue (Exod 20:1-17) and Covenant Code (Exod 20:23-23:19), demonstrating their ubiquity and their influence on meaning. Exodus 20:7 is a potent example. Most interpretations of this prohibition - from false oaths to mispronunciation to magic - neglect the metaphorical nature of the expression. Exodus 20:7 exhibits metonymy embedded in metaphor, where name stands for Yhwh’s claim to ownership (declared at Sinai). The command assumes that the divine name is worn as an invisible brand, and it charges the people to conduct themselves as befits Yhwh’s own people. The field of associations and entailments generated by this metaphor are a rich source of reflection on biblical election. |
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| ISSN: | 1065-223X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Bulletin for biblical research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5325/bullbiblrese.29.3.0342 |