Doctoral Degrees (Ancient Studies)
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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Ancient Studies) by browse.metadata.advisor "Kruger, P. A."
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- ItemThe conceptualisation of anger in the Hebrew Bible(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004-12) Kotze, Zacharias; Kruger, P. A.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There is no scarcity of publications on the subject of anger in the Hebrew Bible. Most of these concern themselves with the theological significance of the wrath of God. In particular, its function as chastisement for sin is repeatedly accentuated while other conceptual elements as conveyed by Classical Hebrew words and expressions for anger are usually overlooked. In the majority of cases, lexicographical studies of anger terminology contend themselves with the accepted 'literal' meaning of words. The result is an impoverished appreciation of the concepts that governed the mind of the ancient Israelites and determined their use of language with respect to the conceptualisation of anger. This situation provided a good incentive for a study on anger concepts in the Hebrew Bible. The cognitive theory of language proved to be an ideal tool for analyzing Classical Hebrew lexemes and expressions relating to the concept of anger. Several figurative sayings were identified that relate directly to culturally defined concomitants of this emotion. They can be summarised in an idealised cognitive model that include the following conceptual metonymies for anger: body heat, quickened breathing, frowning, glaring, gnashing of teeth, internal pressure, redness in the face/neck, agitation, internal agitation, slaver at the mouth, lifting the hand, clapping the hands, stamping the feet and violent, frustrated behaviour. Over and above these metonymies, a number of conceptual metaphors have been identified that added a great deal of conceptual content to the idealised cognitive model of anger in the Hebrew Bible. The ANGER IS HEAT metaphor seems to have its basis in the experience of bodily heat. Environmental phenomena, such as the hot desert wind, earthquake, clouds, storms and floods also proved to be prolific source domains for metaphoric transfer. Other conceptual domains employed by the ancient Israelites to image anger are: burdens, winepresses, poison, opponents, dangerous animals, transgression, presence and bounded spaces. The data analysed in this study pointed to a clearly defined conceptual model for anger that can best be viewed as a prototype scenario with several stages. The phases follow on each other in temporal order. Anger typically follows on the occurrence of an intended offending event. Although the ideal is to control anger, this rarely happens. In the majority of cases, anger results in some violent act of retribution. In conclusion, several suggestions have been made with regard to the study of concepts, such as anger, in the Hebrew Bible. Firstly, the fact that most theological dictionaries and Hebrew lexicons to date have been dominated by the Autonomic View of language and its interest to identify the detachable 'meaning' of Classical Hebrew terms needs to be acknowledged. In order to fully appreciate the idealised cognitive model of the ancient Israelites with regard to a specific concept, a thorough diachronic study of related words and expressions needs to be undertaken in view of their humoral theories and beliefs regarding magic and spirits. Finally, some recommendations relating to the etymology of certain Classical Hebrew terms for anger were made.
- ItemDivine metaphors in a selection of biblical Hebrew psalms of lamentation(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005) Basson, Alec; Kruger, P. A.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A survey of the research on the Biblical Hebrew psalms of lamentation reveals a lack of attention paid to the divine images found in these poems. Previous studies, for the most part, focused on literary and stylistic aspects pertaining to the Psalms in general and the psalms of lamentation in particular. The competent reader will, however, notice that divine metaphors abound in these psalms. This study investigates the divine metaphors (nominal and verbal) in the Biblical Hebrew psalms of lamentation from a cognitive anthropological perspective. It is argued that the literary information in these poems is a cognitive representation of the psalmist's world. The various divine portrayals arise from the poet's cognitive organisation and utilisation of cultural information. The analysis of the metaphorical expressions affords the exegete insight into the cognitive world of the supplicant and the strategies employed by the one who offers praise and does not eschew lament. Some of the theoretical assumptions of cognitive anthropology are applied to a selection of psalms of lamentation (Pss. 7, 17, 31, 35, 44, 59, 74 and 80) as a means of illustrating how this approach can shed new light on the way the deity is depicted in the laments. To achieve this, each psalm is analysed both from a cognitive and literary perspective. The examination of the divine metaphors reveals the various cognitive strategies employed to portray Yahweh. It is shown that these recurring images result from the application of cultural models, conceptual metaphors and image-schemas. Given the soundness of the proposed hypothesis, this investigation arrives at the conclusion that a cognitive perspective on the divine representations in the Biblical Hebrew psalms of lamentation is indeed a worthy endeavour.
- ItemSome lexemes associated with the concept of JOY in Biblical Hebrew : a cognitive linguistic investigation(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Megahan, Michael Larry; Van der Merwe, C. H. J.; Kruger, P. A.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences. Department of Ancient Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Theories of lexical semantics have undergone an evolutionary development for centuries. Geeraerts (2010) has traced their development from the historical-philological era (circa 1880) until the early 21st century. The current situation finds two basic approaches to lexical studies, with scholars positioned on a continuum from a minimalist position to a maximalist position. The former makes a demarcation between linguistics and pragmatics, relegating word meaning to pragmatics and a separation of word knowledge from world knowledge. The latter argues that there can be no separation made between lexical meaning and contextual meaning (word knowledge and world knowledge). The study is based on insights from the maximalist perspective. Second, it proposes that it is necessary to approach semantical studies with a composite approach taking into consideration frames, conceptual metaphor and metonymy, prototype, Idealized Cognitive Models, grammar and figurative uses of language (including non-verbal expressions and symbolic gestures) in order to have a full understanding of the concept a word or expression symbolizes. Third, all of the occurrences of a word or expression that appear in a corpus are analyzed in order to determine a possible range of polysemy as it is expressed in actual language usage. Finally, the context of the research is Bible Translation. One question asked in the investigation is, what information gleaned from the composite model can be appropriately presented in a specialist bilingual lexicon based on a frame model? The results of the research using the eclectic model provided a very broad understanding of some of the lexemes associated with JOY in biblical Hebrew. It was determined that these lexemes were associated with a concept of JOY that was very similar to the five-stage EVENT STRUCTURE metaphor proposed by Kövecses (2010) for emotions in English. Second, the investigation was able to verify the core features of JOY—volition, desire, determination and satisfaction—and to indicate how different construal operations activated specific features of the meaning potential in each linguistic frame. Third, the differences and similarities of each of the specific lexemes that were studied were determined and described. Fourth, it was demonstrated how the appropriate information needed by translators could be described and suggested for entry into a bilingual (biblical Hebrew-English) lexicon designed specifically for Bible Translators.