Cruz, JT; (2014) Metaphor and Disunity: Tensions between Metaphors in Micah 3–5. Tropos , 1 (1) pp. 36-43. 10.14324/111.2057-2212.008.

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Abstract

This paper uses metaphors from the book of Micah as an example of how disunity in a literary text can be caused by competing ideologies. Some metaphors in this book appear to contradict one another; verse 3.12 says that Zion will be ploughed up like a field, but 4.1-5 sees a new Zion lifted up on the mountain. The metaphors of ploughshares and pruning hooks in 4.3 speak of peace with other nations, but the metaphors of threshing and Daughter Zion in 4.11 – 13 describe preparations to annihilate other nations. Similarly, the metaphors in 5.6 – 7 variously describe Jacob’s remnant as refreshing like dew and belligerent like a lion. Previous scholars suppressed the tensions between these metaphors and even attempted to reconcile them, but this paper argues that we should recognise the tensions between metaphors as reflecting the authors’ competing ideologies and attitudes towards Israel and other nations.

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