A Tale of Two Metaphor Paradigms—and How to Apply Them When Translating the Bible

Conceptual metaphors are pervasive in our lives, including in our thoughts, actions, and languages. Although they can be found in biblical texts as well, the standard literature on the theory and practice of Bible translation focuses only on metaphors as figures of speech. This article presents the theory of conceptual metaphors, which is based on cognitive linguistics. Following Lakoff and Johnson ([1980] 2003), metaphor is regarded as being anchored in the cultural system of language users. This observation has a far greater significance for Bible translation than previously assumed. This is demonstrated by means of biblical examples. The article concludes with some suggestions for practice.