Søren Lorenzen examines the entanglement of persons, names, and the self in the Hebrew Bible. The results of the investigation add to current discussions on personal identity taking place within Hebrew Bible studies.
How are names related to the self in the Hebrew Bible? Are names simply ornamental, or are they tied to the essence of the embodied bearer? To answer these questions, Søren Lorenzen traces various functions of proper names and explores how the lexeme »name« is conceptualized as an object to be perceived by the senses. With Paul Ricoeur as a dialogical partner, the author brings a new perspective on how the self is formed in the intentional relation between persons and name(s).
Table of contents:
Chapter 1: An Exploration of the Self
1.1 The Question of the Self in the Hebrew Bible
1.2 Paul Ricoeur and the Textual Detours
1.3 Summary: Ricoeur, the Dialogical Partner
Chapter 2: A History of Scholarship2.1 Onomastics and the Divine שם
2.2 A Primitive Mentality?
2.3 Element 1: The Essence
2.4 Element 2: The Lexical Meaning
2.5 Element 3: The Double
2.6 Element 4: The Social Self
2.7 Summary: Self and Name(s)
Chapter 3: Self and Symbol (Proper Name)
3.1 The Proper Name: Being a Symbol
3.2 Proper Name and the Self
3.3 Summary: Self and Symbol
Chapter 4: Self and Conceptual Metaphor (שם)4.1 The Conceptual Metaphor
4.2 שם: An Object to be Perceived
4.3 The Somatic Perception
4.4 The Proprioceptive Perception
4.5 The Visual Perception
4.6 The Olfactory Perception
4.7 The Gustatory Perception
4.8 The Auditory Perception
4.9 The Perception of Speech
4.10 The Quality of a שם
4.11 Summary: Self and Conceptual Metaphor
