Old Testament Conceptual Metaphors and The Christology of Luke’s Gospel

Abstract

This volume sits at the intersection of three sub-fields of New Testament scholarship: early Christology, the use of Israel’s Scriptures in the New Testament, and contemporary metaphor theory. Lanier argues that the gospel of Luke employs certain conceptual metaphors reflected in Israel’s traditions – “horn of salvation,” “dawn from on high,” “mother bird gathering Jerusalem’s children,” and “crushing stone” – to portray the identity of Jesus as both an agent of salvation and, more provocatively, the one God of Israel. Putting aside issues of “low” or “high” Christology, Lanier applies insights from conceptual metaphor theory to analyse the various ways in which God and deliverer figures are conceptualized and how, in the gospel of Luke, such conceptualizations are re-mapped to Jesus. In doing so, Lanier suggests ways to overcome the “low”-“high” binary and perceive the gospel’s Christology as multi-faceted. Additionally, in applying metaphor theory to the influence of the Old