Conceptualizing Words for God within the Pentateuch: A Cognitive-semantic Investigation in Literary Context

In this unique volume, the author asks "What do the key terms YHWH,Elohim , andEl mean within the Masoretic Text of the Pentateuch in the context of translating the Christian canon into minority languages?" He first summarizes the past comparative philological scholarship for the names of God, YHWH,Elohim , and El, and identifies and evaluates the methodology behind it. Next, he provides a brief summary of the relevant aspects of cognitive linguistics, which then serves as the foundation for a fresh cognitive investigation into the way ‘God' is conceptualized within the Pentateuch.

In the second part, he then turns to the issue of literary processes in relation to words for ‘God,' and discussion is limited to the interchange between YHWH and Elohim in the Pentateuch. Using the principles of narrative linearity, cumulative reading knowledge, and characterization, he propose a fresh account for the interchange between YHWH and Elohim based upon the literary structure of the text.

This book contributes to scholarship by demonstrating methodologically how traditional comparative philology has identified the meaning of YHWH,Elohim , and El within the text of the Pentateuch, and then proposes a cognitive account, which seems to resonate better with contextual approaches to meaning. Further, this thesis provides a rationale for the interchange between YHWH and Elohim which is based on the literary structure of the Pentateuch.