Many proverbial sayings make significant use of metaphor not simply to enhance their
rhetorical appeal but to convey essential meaning. By examining aphorisms that refer
to human discourse, this article argues that a cognitive approach to metaphor not
only sheds light on the didactic power of aphorisms, but also opens new avenues of
intertextual analysis among the various sayings and collections of Proverbs. Such an
approach highlights, for example, the differing metaphorical schemas employed by the
socalled Solomonic and Hezekian collections.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alster, Bendt1997Proverbs of Ancient Sumer: The World's Earliest Proverb
Collections (2 vols.;
Bethesda, MD: CDL Press
).
2.
Aristotle1954Rhetoric and Poetics(trans. Rhys Roberts and Ingram Bywater;
The Modern Library
;
New York: Random House
).
3.
Avis, Paul1998God and the Creative Imagination: Metaphor, Symbol and Myth in Religion and Theology(
London: Routledge
).
4.
Barucq, André1964Le livre des Proverbes(Sources Bibliques;
Paris: J. Gabalda
).
5.
Black, Max1979‘More about Metaphor', in
Andrew Ortony
(ed.), Metaphor and Thought (
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
): 19-43.
6.
Brown, William P.1996Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament(
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
).
7.
Bühlmann, Walter1976Vom rechten Reden und Schweigen: Studien zu Proverbien
10–31(OBO,12;
Freiburg: Universitätsverlag
).
8.
Fontaine, Caroble1982Traditional Sayings in the Old Testament(BLS, 5;
Decatur, GA: Almond Press
).
9.
Fox, Michael2000Proverbs 1–9(AB, 18a;
New York: Doubleday
).
10.
Lakoff, George
, and
Mark Turner1989More than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor(
Chicago: University of Chicago Press
).
11.
MacCormac, Earl R.1985A Cognitive Theory of Metaphor(
Cambridge, MA: The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Press
).
12.
Newsom, Carol A.1989‘Woman and the Discourse of Patriarchal Wisdom: A Study of
Proverbs 1–9’, in
Peggy L. Day
(ed.), Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel(
Minneapolis: Fortress Press
): 142-160.
13.
Richards, I.A.1965The Philosophy of Rhetoric(The Mary Flexner Lectures on the Humanities,
3;
New York: Oxford University Press
).
14.
Scherer, Andreas1999Das weise Wort und seine Wirking: eine Untersuchung zur Komposition und
Redaktion von Proverbia 10,1–22,16(WMANT, 83;
Neukirchen–Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag
).
15.
Schroer, Silvia1986In Israelgab es Bilder: Nachrichten von darstellender Kunst im Alten
Testament(OBO, 74;
Freiburg: Universitätsverlag
;
Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
).
16.
Soskice, Janet Martin1985Metaphor and Religious Language(
Oxford: Clarendon Press
).
17.
Watson, Wilfred G.E.1987Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques(JSOTSup, 26;
Sheffield: JSOT Press
).
18.
Williams, James G.1980Those Who Ponder Proverbs: Aphoristic Thinking in Biblical Literature
(BLS, 2;
Sheffield: Almond Press
).
19.
Yoder, Christine2001Wisdom as a Woman ofSubstance: A Socio-Economic Reading of Proverbs1–9 and 31.10-31.10(BZAW, 304;
New York: W. de Gruyter
).
20.
Zehnder, Markus Philipp1987Wegmetaphorik im Alten Testament: Eine semantische Untersuchung der
alttestamentlichen und altorientalischen Weg-Lexeme mit besonderer
Berüchsichtigung ihrer metaphorischen Verwendung(BZAW, 268;
Berlin: W. de Gruyter
).
