Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 30:1 (Oct 2020)
Article: God, Our Rock (Deut 32:1–43): Reading The Metaphor In Its Pentateuchal Context
Author: William R. Domeris

Conspectus 30:1 (October 2020) p. 20

God, Our Rock (Deut 32:1–43): Reading The Metaphor In Its Pentateuchal Context

Bill Domeris

Abstract

The metaphor of God as the Rock, with its nascent imagery of stability, strength, and protection, is a popular refrain in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the book of Psalms, and with some interesting additions in the book of Deuteronomy. The analysis here focuses on the Song of Moses (Deut 32:1–43), where its associated text and imagery portrays God, who is represented as the Rock, as a source of faithfulness and righteousness, who gives birth to Israel, judges her, and saves her. Such attributes belong to God and not to the metaphorical rock. Using the cognitive approach to metaphors, this article offers an understanding of God our Rock and of the poet’s intended reorientation associated with the use of the metaphor. The article finds the origins of the metaphor of the rock, as in Deuteronomy 32, in the Pentateuchal context of the desert leitmotif and the events at Horeb/Sinai. This conclusion challenges the view that the metaphor and its associated attributes was borrowed from Canaanite mythology.

Keywords

God our Rock, metaphor, cognitive approach, Deuteronomy, Song of Moses, Yahwism.

About The Author

Rev. Dr. William (Bill) Domeris holds a PhD from the University of Durham (UK). He is a Senior Academic at the South African Theological Seminary and the author of several books including Touching the Heart of God (Continuum 2007), co-editor with Kevin Smith of The Students A-Z of Theology (SATS 2014), and with Zoltan Erdey of A Student’s Guide to the New Testament (SATS 2019). His research interests include both Old Testament (Amos, Deuteronomy, Jeremiah) and New Testament (the Gospels), with a particular focus on literary features (irony, metaphors) and social values (honour, dignity).

This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/domeris-god-our-rock-deut

Conspectus 30:1 (October 2020) p. 21

Because we live so close to the biblical text, we often fail to note its generative power to summon and evoke new life.

(Walter Brueggemann 1989)

1. Prelude

Throughout history, there have been sacred rocks, immortalized in song and story, which have inspired human communities. Since the first human beings walked this earth, rocks (caves and rock-shelters) have supplied places of refuge and safety. The metaphor of God as a Rock, with its nascent imagery of stability, strength, and protection, is a popular refrain in the Hebrew Bible, especially the ...