Images of God, the Song of Moses, and Metaphors

Abstract

This article will investigate the various ways in which God is portrayed in the Song of Moses. The Song of Moses is situated within the liturgical use of early church communities; accordingly, the Song of Moses serves as a particularly good test case for examining the language employed in early Christian communities. The article will use conceptual metaphor theory, tracing the metaphorical patterns that arise within the text to delineate possible conceptual systems. Moreover, the meanings of these cognitive models found in the Song of Moses, particularly as they relate to divine language and imagery (as well as their deployment in ecclesial practices more generally), will be deliberated upon in this essay. Keywords: Metaphors, Song of Moses, Worship, Images of God, Cognitive linguistics