The metaphor in the figurative system of the Psalter (according to the Synodal translation)
Abstract
The article gives a brief understanding of the metaphor within the modern theory of conceptual metaphor, as well as puts forward arguments substantiating semantic, syntactic and structural differences between the metaphor and the comparison. This is indeed important for the study of the figurative system of the Old Testament, since in translation many metaphors are given in the form of comparison. At the root of any metaphor lies the sense of analogy, which makes one look for links between most distant entities and not just between objects of the sensually perceived world, but also between concrete objects and abstract notions. A systematic analysis of the metaphor (based on texts of the modern Russian language) has shown that such links are formed in strictly defined directions. Moreover, they are countable and quite concrete as in the following pairs: object→object; object→man; object→physical world; object→psychic world; object→social world; object→abstraction; animal→man; man→man; physical world→psychic world. The extensive material analyzed in the article demonstrates that the Psalter, with all its semantic and stylistic sophistication and remoteness of biblical notions from modern ones, makes use of the same laws of metaphorization as we do today except for one crucial circumstance: anthropocentricity of the modern times is substituted with theocentrism, thus making the central object of the metaphor not man, as in modern languages, but God: But You, O LORD, are a shield for me; His wrath is kindled; Grace is poured upon Your lips; It is God who arms me with strength; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness and so on.
Keywords:
metaphor, figurative system of the Psalter
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