People and Botanical Metaphors in the Hebrew Text of Ben Sira

Abstract This paper deals with several metaphors found in the Hebrew text of Ben Sira that are grounded in the conceptual metaphor that people are plants . The article analyzes three distinct categories of individuals: the righteous (50:8, 10), the wicked (10:16–17; 40:15–16), and the disciple of wisdom (3:9; 6:2–3). The botanical source domain and its associated framework are mapped onto the target domain of these types of individuals, thereby structuring much of our understanding of how the Hebrew text of Ben Sira distinguishes them.