“He Lifted Up His Eyes” : Translating Luke 16:23 in the Context of Cognitive Interpretation

Abstract

This article investigates the meaning of the expression ?π?ρ?ν το?? ??θαλμο?? α?το? (“he lifted up his eyes”) in Luke 16:23. This Septuagintalism, which Luke uses in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luk 16:19-31), can be translated either as simply “look at” or with reference to a spatial difference between these two people. Although many Bible translations prefer indicating its spatial aspect, commentators are divided on this issue. The fact of such an ambiguity raises the question again, whether Luke uses “he lifted up his eyes” intentionally in 16:23 or simply as a conventional expression? Discussing this question the present article uses not only a traditio-historical enquiry and textual analysis, but also Cognitive Metaphor Theory (CMT) developed by G. Lakoff and M. Johnson. CMT argues that metaphor is an integral part of the process of human thinking and acting. Moreover, metaphor allows us to comprehend supernatural realities in terms of human everyday or embodied experience, reflecting our physical characteristics and bodily interactions with the world in the form of image-schemas, i.e., pre-conceptual, structural primitives (Up-Down, Inside-Outside, Near-Far, Center-Periphery, Container). Indeed, the spatial organization of the otherworld in Luke 16:19-31 is connected with the conceptual orientational metaphorization centered in embodied experience and involves four cognitive image-schemas organizing the spatial contrast: Up-Down, Inside-Outside, Center-Periphery, and Container. The difference between the rich man and Lazarus in their social position and honor as well as in their postmortem state is marked by the spatial distinction between them throughout the whole parable. The spatial difference between their postmortem positions marks their difference in their afterlife status: the lower and more peripheral or remote position corresponds to the worse fate and humiliated condition, while the higher and more central position designates the honorable and exalted state. Thus, in this parable the righteous and the wicked are separated in altitude and distance in the afterlife. Therefore, it is suggested that Luke uses the expression “he lifted up his eyes” in Luke 16:23 intentionally, in order to emphasize the spatial differentiation between the abode of the righteous and that of the wicked.