Metaphors have always lent strength to human communication. A closer examination will reveal their value for theological conversation, in particular as a vehicle for meaning. Meaning includes both linguistic and cognitive aspects. Bread has been a favourite subject of metaphor. When the concept
Metafore versterk kommunikasie tussen mense. Nadere ondersoek openbaar die waarde van metafore vir teologiese gesprek, en in besonder as ’n spreekbuis vir betekenis. Betekenis sluit taalkundige sowel as kognitiewe aspekte in. Brood is ’n algemene begrip wat in metafore gebruik word. Wanneer die begrip
The concern of food supply for all led Thomas More (1478–1535), author of Utopia
The story of bread is ‘a story more than fifty centuries long’ (Barker
In the classics, Demeter is poetically linked to mean ‘wheat’, ‘bread’ or ‘staple food’. Augustus had a predilection for brown bread (Dalby
Its importance for daily sustenance is referred to in Leviticus 26:26 and famine was sometimes the consequence of a lack of bread (Ezk 5:16). The ‘breadwinner’ association, obvious as the effort to supply food, is directly related to sustaining and survival.
Because of this naturalness of common experience of hunger and eating, their absorption into religion permeates community and culture. Whether ‘hunger’ and ‘eating’ are materially interpreted or interwoven with the sacred, its influences may clearly be brought together in the narrative of choice.
Cheung and Cheung (
This article will deal with the concept of bread, showing the usefulness of metaphor as a means to convey meaning within the context of biblical revelation. Then, the enduring underlying meaning of the bread metaphor as a means to life will be discussed. This approach may be suggestive of a framework for the study of other biblical metaphors. This article will not deal with the sacramental implications of the use of bread, but will rather focus on the meaning conveyed through the metaphorical use and experience associated with bread.
A useful analysis of the definition of metaphor
Meaningfulness accompanies communal conversation, because it provides a frame within which to express religious experience; it objectivises the religious world (Sztajer
‘It is remarkable how much human language is composed of metaphors […] metaphor provides a means to establish complexity even when the events themselves have no simple referent’ (Hayes & Grundt
The particular language usage of metaphor may be charted into theology with its models and concepts (McFague
Within this societal transference of knowledge and framework of conversation, McFague (
However, metaphor is more than a rhetorical instrument negotiating objective similarity, according to Lakoff and Johnson (
Soskice (
Not all theologians would agree with the view that metaphor serves as
In summary, vagueness in scripture is often due to the figurative use of language. Metaphors ‘come to our
Bread in the cultural and/or religious narrative of most communities, in time, tended to develop tendencies towards complementary metanarratives.
More specifically, Christian metaphor must therefore be seen within the context and limits of its Judaeo-Christian origin and experience. Whilst the tool for discussion may be biblical metaphor, the content of that knowledge is given by God as revelation to humankind within the framework of experience.
Some cautionary remarks from Frame (
Metaphor does not apply to every context.
They must not be pressed for less obvious meaning.
Metaphor is not a tool to introduce abstraction as non-abstraction.
Metaphor is never to identify God with anything.
Language about God need not be qualified by metaphor in every instance.
Use of metaphors must be consistent with overall biblical revelation.
Amongst others, bread has taken on representative symbolic meaning. This article will not explore the intricacies of the variety of meanings for ritualistic use and its symbolism
Bread and wine together distinguished a community from a ‘barbaric lifestyle’ and played an integral part in religious offerings and commemorations (Gutsfeld
McFague (
Whereas the fatherhood of God is evident in the term
Suggestive that God as Father is the source of provision or supply,
Hence, the metaphor allows for an implicit suggestion: God Provider, located in heaven, provides food/bread from that location, so that this bread (
Cognitively, this substantiates the argument that, within sacral space, without bread there is no life − whether physical or spiritual. By implication then, when God meaningfully invades known human space and geography with supply for survival as in the desert, it is more than relationship. It was a way of thinking and understanding, made possible because of the God-origin of life within the sacral structure of creation. This excursion to establish bread as metaphor is deemed adequate, but may clearly be refined and developed in the ongoing Judaeo history.
Whilst DesCamp and Sweetser (
The understanding of the Gospel of John is enhanced through rhetorical tools, such as synkrisis
In a sacred universe, life is not regarded as located here and there; it is one permeated or pregnant with life everywhere when viewed from the perspective of the sacral. Because symbol is inextricably interwoven with the universe, metaphor becomes the ‘free invention of discourse’ (Ricoeur
The physical
At the last supper, the issue was not simply physical sustentation and survival in the face of opposition, but the invasive presence of a visible bread to be eaten. Because Old Testament faith was preoccupied with God, Jesus adjusted the disciples’ understanding towards a fuller meaning of messianic understanding (Lk 22:14–23). The metaphor allows for God’s provision to serve as an invasion of the worship of his church. Without Jesus, feeding the whole person there cannot be true worship of God (1 Cor 11:27ff.). He is Jesus Bread in the same sense that God may legitimately be called Father God,
How did Peter Martyr Vermigli (1499–1562) deal with ‘revelation [
The reception of Christ’s body that we have by faith is called a metaphorical eating […] we also have an authentic eating of the symbols, just as bread is both true and natural. (p. 220)
However, this act of participation in the breaking of bread, in agreement with Bucer, is not crucifying Christ anew (Vermigli
When the Christian Church presents Jesus Bread, the issue is whether the people are fed or not. People face the inevitable conclusion that ‘this physical bread will not sustain me forever’. It therefore gives rise to the eternal quest for some bread or food, or in 3rd millennium language: some drug, some surrogate, or some medical breakthrough that will ensure my existence and quality of life for aeons to come. The metaphor of bread, developed as Jesus Bread just as Father God developed in time, focuses the attention upon the remedy for human plight: ‘Eat and live forever’. Metaphor validates the truth that God invades human cognition and that substantial meaning may be gleaned from it when found within the context of biblical revelation.
Utopia derived as a Greek pun –
Also known as Ecclesiasticus (Vulgate), Wisdom of Joshua (Jesus), Ben Sira (Hebrew), Sirach (Jewish-Greek scriptures) (Wright
Also called
It is believed that this work is one of historical fiction.
See for instance the story of the ‘missionary bread’ that Florence Nightingale supplied for the welfare of her patients during the Crimean War at Scutari (Little
Charles Darwin read Gideon Lincecum’s paper to the Linnaean Society of London dated 13 April 1861 (cf. Jacob
To this end, Frame (
The same may be said of, for instance, symbol or hymnody. McFague (
As Hausman (
This article will not examine Kuhn’s argument (
Ricoeur (
Metaphor maps refers to a way to transfer properties from the known source to the unknown target domain so as to enhance the understanding of what meaning is conveyed (Okafor
The implication is obvious: there are many models of God and more may be created (McFague
Voss (
Metaphor, in this sense, expands cognition to include both language understanding as well as knowledge representation − a new perception of how we think.
Soskice tries to keep a divide between kataphatic (positive) and apophatic theology (negative). She does not do so to the extent that each develops its own individual theological story. For that reason she is cautious about a postmodern approach that sees language as the embodiment of reality by a system of linguistic signifiers. For instance, the intrinsic value of pedagogical use of metaphor in child education is that it is not just seen as a linguistic device, but involves and shapes meaning making (Taylor
His philosophy follows the path of rationalist idealism (Macky
For Masson, ‘mystery’ could be applied generically, and thus equally apply to spirituality and religion.
For McFague there is not one overarching root-metaphor in Christianity. Rather, the variety of metaphors illumines the complex relationship with God.
Though substantial feminine imagery is lacking in the Bible and Christian tradition, McFague (
Frame (
Heelas (
Nor can one speak about living without resorting to metaphor. According to Lakoff and Johnson (
Lakoff and Johnson (
God may be known in his ‘relations to the world and to many things in the world, especially ourselves’ (Frame
Even though there sometimes is confusion discerning between metaphor, simile, symbol, analogy, model and so on, I do not wish to spend time defining these individually. This article only focuses on the use of metaphor. For extensive treatment of the metaphor concept see for instance McFague (
Implying being pregnant.
Erickson (
Jacob (
Petocz (
Historically language was equated to speech, but it is ‘comprehension, not speech, (that) is the foundation of language’ (Rumbaugh & Savage-Rumbaugh
Jacob (
It will become clear that the phrase used, brings together the statements of Jesus in Matthew 26:26, its significance at the last supper, and John 6:35 and the significance of Jesus, who is the bread for the masses.
Within the interplay process there is loss and gain, to the extent that precision and consistency are sacrificed for richness gained in greater meaning (McFague
Cf. Genesis 22:14 (Yahweh;
Whilst the Bible does embroider on the metaphor of bread, this study will mainly focus on the Passover and the journey through the desert, particularly from Exodus 12 and 16. These passages should adequately serve to make the point of the development of bread as metaphor, later elevated to its highest expression by Jesus (Jn 6:35).
This feast lasted for seven days, whilst the Passover feast is only a day and night − the first 24-hour period of the seven-day period. In Homeric times, bread was regarded as a luxury and the common people ate the earlier stages of bread, for instance the barley pancake (
Erickson (
There is also a dark side to the bread metaphor. It is, amongst others, associated with wickedness (
This term ‘refers to the comparative juxtapositioning of people and things’ (Gärtner
That is Jesus and Moses.
There are many themes associated with bread that may be explored, such as generosity in the midst of poverty, hospitality in a broader sense and deception (cf. Jos 9:12), communal centering of fellowship around meals (Rt 2:14), miraculous incidents including bread (1 Ki 17:12ff.). Only those deemed appropriate for this article were selected.
This obviously transcends the view that Christian religion is an epiphenomenon of evolution rather than of revelation.
This article does not, for instance, explore the love relationship of the church and Jesus (cf. Wilken
This is not in the veridical sense implying a mimetic representation of reality, but rather a mixture between the imaginative and an apprehension of truth.