RT Article
T1 The Body as Metaphor: The Structure of a Human and the Meaning of Scripture
JF Novum Testamentum
VO 61
IS 1
SP 26
OP 39
A1 Sterling, Gregory E. 1954-
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2018
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1683863860
AB This essay considers Philo of Alexandria's metaphor in which he used the dual nature of embodied existence (body and soul) to argue that both literal and allegorical readings are legitimate. It examines the metaphor in the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CTM) developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson that argues that experience is the key to meaning. A metaphor occurs when we apply a pattern that we have observed in one setting (gestalt) to another. In this case, Philo has drawn on a Platonic/Stoic understanding of being human and applied it to contested hermeneutics within the Alexandrian Jewish community in an effort to maintain a sense of unity among two groups. The metaphorical experience is the recognition that Scripture is polyvalent in the same way that being human is.
K1 Philo of Alexandria
K1 Allegorical Interpretation
K1 Body
K1 Hermeneutics
K1 literal interpretation
K1 Metaphor
K1 Soul
DO 10.1163/15685365-12341622