Metaphors in the Psalms

Understanding the Psalms implies understanding the metaphors they use in bringing to expression the reflections on God, the world, the enemies, the self. In modern scholarship the study of figurative language was often neglected in favor of discussions of genre, poetical form or canonical organisation. The present volume brings the study of metaphorical language back to the heart of Psalm scholarship. Three areas of investigation are given particular attention in this collection of nineteen contributions, written by leading scholars in the field: 1. The elucidation of hitherto misunderstood or unrecognized metaphors; 2. The study of conceptually interrelated clusters of metaphors and 3. The role metaphors play in poetic and argumentative development of the Psalms.