Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Front Matter -- Copyright page / Johan de Joode -- Dedication / Johan de Joode -- Acknowledgments / Johan de Joode -- Figures / Johan de Joode -- Abbreviations / Johan de Joode -- Introduction / Johan de Joode -- Conceptual Metaphor Theory: A Pragmatic Synthesis / Johan de Joode -- Spatial Metaphor in Language and Cognition / Johan de Joode -- Boundaries and Containment / Johan de Joode -- Place and Placelessness / Johan de Joode -- Direction and Distance / Johan de Joode -- Job’s Post-Traumatic Spatial Metaphors as Theological Challenges / Johan de Joode -- Spatial Configurations in the Divine Speech / Johan de Joode -- Conclusion / Johan de Joode -- Back Matter -- Bibliography / Johan de Joode -- Index of Biblical Citations / Johan de Joode.

Metaphorical Landscapes and the Theology of the Book of Job demonstrates how spatial metaphors play a crucial role in the theology of the book of Job. Themes as pivotal as trauma, ill-being, retribution, and divine character are conceptualized in terms of space; its imagery is thus dependent on spatial configurations, such as boundaries, distance, direction, containment, and contact. Not only are spatial metaphors ubiquitous in the book of Job—possibly the most frequent conceptual metaphors in the book—they are essential to its theological reasoning. Job’s spatial metaphors form a metaphorical landscape in which God’s character and his creation are challenged in unprecedented ways. In the theophany, God reacts to that landscape. This book introduces a pragmatic synthesis of both conceptual metaphor theory and spatial semantics and it demonstrates their exegetical and hermeneutic potential.