Mapping the Literary to the Literal Image

Abstract

In a paper read at the International SBL meetings inVienna, 2007, I discussed the relationship between the literary and literal image. Taking metaphor as the most prominent trope of biblical imagery, I concentrated on the relationship betweenmetaphors in theHebrew Bible and iconographic objects in the ANE. My preliminary conclusion was that while both are independent forms of communication which need to be understood in their own right, they nevertheless are linked to each other via the conceptualmetaphor and converge in the concept of what constitutes an image. Thus the literary and literal images can rightfully be related to each other as done liberally in iconographic studies that deal with exegetical issues. In the present study I would like to take the analysis of the relationship between the literal and literary image one step further. Metaphors of the divine in the Hebrew Psalter can be categorized in domains of main metaphors and their corresponding sub-metaphors. Deities as depicted in ANE iconography also exhibit certain sets of attributes which in turn classify them as the respective deity. A comparison of the HeavenlyWarrior metaphor in theHebrew Psalter together with its corresponding sub-metaphors, and iconographic depictions of the Storm- and Warrior-god Ba'al with their respective sets of attributes will try to answer the question as to how complex the level of interaction between the literary and the literal image can be established.