Washing away sin : an analysis of the metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and its influence / by Lesley R. DiFransico.

Author
DiFransico, Lesley [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
  • Leuven : Peeters, 2016.
  • ©2016
Description
ix, 256 pages ; 25 cm.

Availability

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Firestone Library - Stacks BS1199.M45 D54 2016 Browse related items Request

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    Summary note
    Washing away sin, though a common religious practice today, is a novel concept in the Hebrew Bible. This study utilizes the Conceptual Metaphor Theory of G. Lakoff and M. Johnson to analyze the striking and unusual metaphorical concept of washing away sin in the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 1; 4; Jeremiah 2; 4; and Psalm 51). In these passages sin is conceptualized as a kind of stain (a bloodstain in Isa 1:15; 4:4; filth in Jer 4:14) or a kind of impurity (Psalm 51) and solving sin is conceptualized through the metaphor of washing. The correlation between the problem and its solution is logical: if sin is understood as a stain then washing is the remedy. The metaphor of washing away sin demonstrates some diversity within the Hebrew Bible and this work traces the various stages of the metaphor's development. Though it occurs as a metaphor, nowhere within the Hebrew Bible is washing, although attested as a purification ritual, applied as an actual practice for responding to the problem of sin. Several centuries later, however, washing away sin is attested as an actual practice by the Qumran sectarians and the New Testament authors. Thus, this study goes beyond an analysis of the biblical metaphor to evaluate how it may have influenced the religious practices of select early Jewish and Christian communities. How did this radical shift from the absence of washing as a viable solution to sin in the Hebrew Bible to its importance in the sectarian community of Qumran and the New Testament communities come about? Here CMT is useful: what is attested as a metaphor in the Hebrew Bible, for example God washes away sin (Isa 4:4) and people wash with soap to remove the "stain" of sin (Jer 2:22), influenced how communities reading these sacred texts conceptualized sin. When sin is understood as a stain, a concrete entity that can be visualized and acted upon, communities understand washing to be a viable, symbolic practice in response to sin-- Page 4 of cover.
    Notes
    Revised version of the author's doctoral dissertation, Catholic University of America, 2014.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-237) and indexes.
    Contents
    • Chapter One: Introduction to the Concept of Washing Away Sin in the Hebrew Bible
    • Chapter Two: Washing Away Sin in Isaiah and Jeremiah
    • Chapter Three: Washing Away Sin in Psalm 51 and Related Concepts in Ezekiel 36 and Zechariah 13
    • Chapter Four: Washing Away Sin Beyond the Hebrew Bible: The Dead Sea Scrolls and The New Testament
    • Chapter Five: Conclusions.
    ISBN
    • 9789042933422 ((hbk.))
    • 9042933429 ((hbk.))
    LCCN
    2017287098
    OCLC
    959266916
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