Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-214) and indexes
Table of Contents; Preface; 1. Introduction: Ambiguity and Figurative Speech; 2. Distinguishing Metaphors from Non-Metaphors; 3. A Non-Binary Conceptualization of Meaning; 4. Toward a Model for Gradient Judgments; 5. Typicality Conditions and Relevance; 6. Metaphor as a Gradient Judgment; 7. Idolatry: The Most Challenging Metaphor; 8. Aniconism as a Narrowing of the Conditions-of-Relevance; 9. Conclusion; Bibliography of Works Cited; Index of Names and Subjects; Index of Scriptural References
This volume poses as its central question: when we read a passage in the Hebrew Bible, how do we know whether the passage was meant literally or metaphorically? This study argues that our assumptions as to how language works influences the way we interpret biblical texts
