Figurative language in biblical prose narrative: Metaphor in the book of Samuel

The topic of metaphor has generated a tremendous amount of interest since the 1970's, when a burgeoning number of scholars from an array of disciplines started investigating this complicated trope. In the field of biblical studies, however, work on metaphor has remained fairly limited. Most of the research has concentrated on particular metaphors in the prophetic books and other poetic sections. Biblical scholars tend to briefly summarize the more familiar research on metaphor, without delving deeply into the secondary literature or applying it to the Bible in a way that influences and enhances the interpretation of biblical texts.; This dissertation applies various linguistic approaches and heuristic devices to selected narratives in the book of Samuel in order to investigate the defining features of metaphor and the way metaphor and other forms of figurative language operate in biblical narrative. This study begins with an analysis of 1 Samuel 25 and a discussion of how to identify and interpret the metaphors in that chapter. Attention is given to three main facets of metaphor: its anomalous nature, its underlying analogy, and the interactional effects it produces. Next, the metaphors in 2 Samuel 16:16--17:14 are compared with other tropes in that unit, primarily metonymy and simile. Finally, the notion of "dead metaphors" is explored and challenged in the course of an examination of the figurative language in 1 Samuel 24.; This dissertation employs a text-based approach to figurative language, meaning that the metaphors in a particular passage are studied as part of their surrounding narrative context. The methods introduced to identify and interpret metaphor and other tropes help the exegete to pay close attention to how language is used and to the rhetorical effects produced by various figurative devices. An in-depth analysis of the figurative language in Samuel results in a richer, more nuanced reading of the story, its characters, and its language, as well as a better understanding of the mechanics of metaphor.