Marlute works for SIL as a translation consultant. She is involved in the Key Terms of the Old Testament project. She has an MA in linguistics from Leiden University, an MA in theology from the university of Bonn, and an MA in Biblical Hebrew from IBLT, Jerusalem.
What did Jacob do when he stole Laban's heart? (Gen 31:20) Exploring the concept of heart in Biblical Hebrew as a cognitive metaphor.
Abstract
For the Key Terms of the Old Testament project, I researched the word 'lev' (heart). I ended up in a web of seemingly unrelated idioms where heart always seems to mean something different.
For example, in Gen 31:20 Jacob stole Laban's heart. All translations seem to agree that this means that Jacob deceived Laban. But in Gen 34:3, speaking to the heart means to speak tenderly, romantically. The heart is a place of secret thoughts (Ecc. 7:5), but it can also mean a place in the middle of the sea (Pro 30:19). How can one word point to trickery, tenderness, hiddenness, and a location, all at the same time?
Analysing the concept of 'lev' as a conceptual metaphor shows a continuum between the senses that gives insight in how the writers of the Bible looked at the heart. Understanding what the word 'lev' really meant for them can enable us to find a more meaningful way of translating these idioms into our own languages.
Bibliography:
Di Vito, R. A., 1999. “Old Testament Anthropology and the Construction of Personal Identity.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, 1999, pp. 217–238.
Gluckberg, S., 2001. Understanding Figurative Language, From Metaphors to Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lakoff, G., 1987. Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Norvig, P., & Lakoff, G., 1987. “Taking A Study in Lexical Network Theory.” Berkeley Linguistics Society 14, pp.195-206
Wolff, H. W., 1974. Anthropology of the Old Testament. translated by Margaret Kohl, SCM Press Ltd,
About the Author
SIL