Sexual and Marital Metaphors in Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel (Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs)

Sharon Moughtin-Mumby explores the complex, and potentially subversive, power of metaphor as a tool of persuasion in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. Often, such language is used to speak of the worship of gods other than Yhwh, of undesirable cultic practices, or of political alliances with foreign nations. Evaluating several schools of language and biblical criticism, including a traditional approach, a feminist critique and a literary-historical investigation, Moughtin-Mumby brings lucid new readings with a fresh perspective to these dramatic texts. The study emphasizes the importance of context for understanding metaphorical meaning and challenges previous scholarship which has read such language in terms of the traditional concept of "the marriage metaphor" and the hypothetical background of cultic prostitution.