Parental love as metaphor for divine-human love

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Jun 2003 by Patterson, Richard D

* Richard Patterson is distinguished professor emeritus at Liberty University, 1971 University Blvd., Lynchburg, VA 24502.

1 Aristotle, Topica 139b, 34.

2 In another setting Aristotle (Poetics 1457b, 7-8) declared, "Metaphor consists in giving the thing a name that belongs to something else." For an incisive review of the functions and ramifications of metaphors, see K. J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998) 126-35.

3 D. J. Williams (Paul's Metaphors [Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999] 2) declares that "metaphor lies at the very root of our language."

4 A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (5 vols.; Nashville: Broadman, 1930) 1.x.

5 L. Ryken, How To Read the Bible as Literature (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984) 96. See also R. Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation (Wheaton: Victor, 1991) 144-50.

6 Ryken (ibid. 97) notes, "Image, metaphor and simile are the backbone of poetry."

7 M. Silva (God, Language and Scripture [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990] 96) notes that metaphorical language "has a greater emotional impact on the reader than bare description has."

8 M. Silva, Has the Church Misread the Bible? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987) 48. Similarly, Vanhoozer (Meaning 310-15) speaks of such exegetical procedures as "letterism," which is wedded to a "literalistic" interpretation. As such it is to be distinguished from literal interpretation, which "seeks understanding by determining the nature and content of the literary act" (p. 312). Simply put, literal exegesis understands metaphorical language metaphorically, not in some mechanistically conventional fashion.

9 G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980) 152.

10 The New Fowler's Modern English (3d ed.; ed. R. W. Burchfield; Oxford: Clarendon, 1996) 491.

See further, J. M. Soskice, "Metaphor," in (ed. R. J. Coggins and J. L. Houlden; London: SCM, 1990) 447. For an analysis of the theoretical aspects of metaphor, see N. Stienstra, YHWH is the Husband of His People (Kampen, The Netherlands: Kok Pharos, 1993) 17-68.

11 W. G. E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry (JSOTSup 26; Sheffield: JSOT, 1986) 263. Watson's examination of poetic metaphors in the Scriptures (pp. 263-71) provides a basic introduction to the use of metaphor in Hebrew poetry. Helpful studies of Hebrew poetry itself include R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry (New York: Basic, 1985); S. E. Gillingham, The Poems and Psalms of the Hebrew Bible (Oxford: University Press, 1994); and J. L. Kugel, The Idea of Biblical Poetry (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981). See further E. R. Follis, ed., Directions in Biblical Hebrew Poetry (JSOTSup 40; Sheffield, JSOT, 1987).

12 J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt (5 vols.; London: Histories & Mysteries of Man, 1988) 2.80.

13 Ibid. 89.

14 For details, see W. W. Tarn, Alexander the Great (Boston: Beacon, 1962) 42-44.

15 See J. Bergman and H. Ringgren, "Ben," TDOT 2.147.

16 For details, see M.-J. Seux, Epithetes royales akkadiennes et sumeriennes (Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1967) 159-60, 392-93.