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edits to Live Metaphor

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Perry J Oakes 2018-03-15 17:05:01 +00:00
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@ -39,47 +39,43 @@ When translating something that is a dead metaphor into another language, do not
#### Live Metaphors
These are metaphors that people recognize as one concept standing for another concept. They make people think about how one thing is like another thing. People also easily recognize them as giving strength and unusual qualities to the message. For this reason, people pay attention to these metaphors. For example,
These are metaphors that people recognize as one concept standing for another concept, or one thing for another thing. They make people think about how the one thing is like the other thing, because in most ways the two things are very different. People also easily recognize these metaphors as giving strength and unusual qualities to the message. For this reason, people pay attention to these metaphors. For example,
> For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. (Malachi 4:2 ULB)
Here God speaks about his salvation as if it were the sun rising in order to shine its rays on the people whom he loves. He also speaks of the sun's rays as if they were wings. Also, he speaks of these wings as if they were bringing medicine that would heal his people.
Here God speaks about his salvation as if it were the sun rising in order to shine its rays on the people whom he loves. He also speaks of the sun's rays as if they were wings. Also, he speaks of these wings as if they were bringing medicine that would heal his people. Here is another example:
Here is another example:
> "Jesus said, 'Go and tell that fox...,'" (Luke 13:32)
Here, "that fox" refers to King Herod. The people listening to Jesus certainly understood that Jesus was referring to Herod either as a very evil, cunning person or as a king who was only pretending to be great.
> "Jesus said, 'Go and tell that fox...,'" (Luke 13:32 ULB)
Here, "that fox" refers to King Herod. The people listening to Jesus certainly understood that Jesus was intending for them to apply certain characteristics of a fox to Herod. They probably understood that Jesus intended to communicate that Herod was evil, either in a cunning way or as someone who was destructive, murderous, or who took things that did not belong to him, or all of these.
Live metaphors are the metaphors that need special care to translate correctly. To do so, we need to understand the parts of a metaphor and how they work together to produce meaning.
#### Parts of a Metaphor
When talking about metaphors, it can be helpful to talk about their parts. A metaphor has three parts.
A metaphor has three parts.
1. **Topic** - The thing someone speaks of is called the topic.
1. **Image** - The thing he calls it is the image.
1. **Points of Comparison** - The ways in which the author claims that the topic and image are similar are their points of comparison.
1. **Point of Comparison** - The way or ways in which the author claims that the topic and image are similar are their points of comparison.
In the metaphor below, the speaker describes the woman he loves as a red rose. The woman (his "love") is the **topic**, and "red rose" is the **image**. Beauty and delicacy are the points of comparison that the speaker sees as similarities between both the topic and image. Note, however, that a rose's beauty is not identical to a woman's beauty. Neither are the two kinds of delicacy the same. So these points of comparison are not built upon identical characteristics, but rather upon characteristics that are seen by the writer as similar in some way.
In the metaphor below, the speaker describes the woman he loves as a red rose. The woman (his "love") is the **topic**, and "red rose" is the **image**. Beauty and delicacy are the **points of comparison** that the speaker sees as similarities between both the topic and the image.
* My love is a red, red rose.
Often, as in the metaphor above, the speaker explicitly states the **topic** and the **image**, but he does not state the points of comparison. The speaker leaves it to the hearer to think of those points of comparison. Because the hearers must do that, the speaker's message tends to be more powerful.
Often, as in the metaphor above, the speaker explicitly states the **topic** and the **image**, but he does not state the **points of comparison**. The speaker leaves it to the hearer to think of those points of comparison. Because the hearers must think of these ideas themselves, the speaker's message has a more powerful effect on the hearers.
Also in the Bible, normally the **topic** and the **image** are stated clearly, but not the points of comparison. The writer hopes that the audience will understand the points of comparison that are implied.
Also in the Bible, normally the **topic** and the **image** are stated clearly, but not the **points of comparison**. The writer leaves it to the audience to think of and understand the points of comparison that are implied.
> Jesus said to them. "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35 ULB)
> Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35 ULB)
In this metaphor, Jesus called himself the bread of life. The **topic** is "I," and the **image** is "bread." Bread is a food that people ate all the time. The point of comparison between bread and Jesus is that people needed break every day for nourishment. In a similar way, people need Jesus every day in order to live spiritually.
Note that this metaphor is really several metaphors. The first metaphor is that bread is used to represent Jesus. The second metaphor, which is inside the first one, is that physical life represents the spiritual life, which consists of living with God forever. The third metaphor is that eating bread represents benefitting from Jesus, who enables us to live with God forever.
In this metaphor, Jesus called himself the bread of life. The **topic** is "I," and the **image** is "bread." Bread is a food that people ate all the time. The **point of comparison** between bread and Jesus is that people need both to live. Just as people need to eat food in order to have physical life, people need to trust in Jesus in order to have spiritual life.
**Purposes of Metaphor**
* One purpose of metaphor is to teach people about something that they do not know (the **topic**) by showing that it is like something that they already do know (the **image**).
* Another purpose is to emphasize that something has a particular quality or to show that it has that quality in an extreme way.
* Another purpose is to lead people to feel the same way about one thing as they would feel about the other.
* Another purpose is to lead people to feel the same way about the **topic** as they would feel about the **image**.
#### Reasons this is a translation issue