Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible

This book examines the long-debated issue of the relationship between the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern myths. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary methodology that combines theories of metaphor and narrative, Paul Cho argues that the Hebrew Bible is more deeply mythological than previously recognized. Because the Hebrew Bible contains fragments of the sea myth but no continuous narrative, the study of myth in the Hebrew Bible is usually circumscribed to the level of motifs and themes. Cho challenges this practice and demonstrates that the Hebrew Bible contains shorter and longer compositions studded with imagery that are structured by the plot of sea myths. Through close analysis of key Near Eastern myths and biblical texts, Cho shows that myth had a more fundamental influence on the plot structure and conceptual framework of the Hebrew Bible than has been recognized.

1. Introduction; 2. Myth as story and metaphor; 3. The sea myth; 4. The sea myth and creation; 5. The sea myth and exodus; 6. The sea myth and exile; 7. The sea myth and eschaton; 8. The sea myth and the Hebrew bible.

Paul K.-K. Cho is an assistant professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. His articles have been published in Catholic Biblical Quarterly and the Journal of Biblical Literature.