Author Description
Sharon Moughtin-Mumby considers the often unrecognised impact of different approaches to metaphor on readings of the prophtic sexual and marital metaphorical language. She outlines a practical and consciously simplified approach to metaphor, placing strong emphasis on the influence of literary context on metaphorical meaning. Drawing on this approach, she read Hosea 4-14, Jeremiah 2:1-4:4, Isaiah, Ezekiel 16 and 23, and Hosea 1-3 with fresh eyes. Her lucid new readings reveal the way in which scholarship has repeatedly stifled the prophetic metaphorical language by reading it within the 'default contexts' of 'the marriage metaphor' and 'cultic prostitution', which for so many years have been simply assumed. Readers are encouraged instead to read these diverse metaphors and similes within their distinctive literary contexts in which they have the potential to rise vividly to life, provoking the question: how are we to respond to these disquieting, powerful texts in the midst of the Hebrew Bible?
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates how the application of specific metaphorical frameworks influences the interpretation of sexual and marital imagery within the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. Sharon Moughtin-Mumby, a scholar in biblical studies, challenges traditional hermeneutical approaches that rely on assumed contexts such as 'cultic prostitution' or a monolithic 'marriage metaphor.' By proposing a simplified, context-sensitive methodology, she argues that these prophetic texts possess greater semantic diversity than previous scholarship has acknowledged.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- A critical analysis of Hosea 4-14, Jeremiah 2:1-4:4, Isaiah, and Ezekiel 16 and 23.
- A methodological framework for analyzing metaphors based on immediate literary context.
- An evaluation of how historical scholarly assumptions have constrained the meaning of prophetic language.
Scope Limits
- The study does not provide a comprehensive commentary on the entirety of the prophetic books mentioned.
- It does not focus on historical-critical reconstruction of the ancient Near Eastern social practices outside of the literary text.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars recognize this monograph as a significant contribution to the field of biblical hermeneutics, particularly for its focus on the mechanics of metaphor. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a rigorous challenge to long-standing interpretive traditions in Old Testament studies.
Page Count:
320
Publication Date:
2008-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0191528838
ISBN-13:
9780191528835
Religion
Theology
Bibles
Old Testament
Literary Criticism
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