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THE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST.

  

MATTHEW’S GOSPEL

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA

  Student Number: 0642140044

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

THE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST.

  

MATTHEW’S GOSPEL

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA

  Student Number: 0642140044

  

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

  A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

  

THE STUDY OF METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE

OF THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

  

IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL

  By

YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA

  Student Number: 064214044 Approved by A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

THE STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE PARABLES ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST.

  

MATTHEW’S GOSPEL

  By

YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA

  Student Number: 064214044 Defended before the Board of Examiners on March 28, 2011 and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

  

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

  I honestly declared that the thesis which I wrote does not contain the works of parts of the works of other people, except those cited in the quotations and bibliography, as a scientific paper should.

  th

  Yogyakarta, April 4 , 2011 The Writer

  Yosua Septian Elia

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Yosua Septian Elia Nomor Mahasiswa : 064214044

  Demi perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya berjudul:

  

THE STUDY OF METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE OF THE PARABLES

ABOUT KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN ST. MATTHEW’S GOSPEL.

  Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya ke internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 4 April 2011 Yang menyatakan Yosua Septian Elia

MOTTO PAGE

  

“Life must be understood

backwards in order to live

your future”—Kierkegaard

  

“They are not told about the graciousness of God

in a parable but are shown a situation of ordinary

life which has been revolutionized by grace”

(McFague, 1975: 71)

  

Consummatum

Est

  

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I would like to extend the sweetest gratitude to my advisor, Dr.

  Francis Borgias Alip, Mpd., M.A. for his advice and supports. Second, I would like to convey my appreciation to my co-advisor, Dra. Bernardine Ria Lestari M.S. Third, I would also thank to my academic advisor, Anna Fitriati S.pd, M.hum., for encouraging me to study hard in each semester. Fourth, I send my best regards to all lecturers in English literature department and to all its staff.

  Fifth, I would like to give my appreciation to all library staff for their help. Last but not least, I would like to thank all my friends. Thank you very much for the time that we have shared together.

  Yosua Septian Elia

  

TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………… i

APPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE........................................................................ iii

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY................................... iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

  ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS............................ v MOTTO PAGE................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………… vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………… viii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………. x ABSTRAK…………………………………………………………… xi

  CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………….. 1 A.

  1 Background of the Study……………………………………..

  B.

  3 Problem Formulation………………………………………….

  C.

  4 Objectives of the Study……………………………………….

  D.

  4 Definition of Terms…………………………………………...

  CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………. 7 A.

  7 Review of Related Studies…………………………………….

  1.

  7 Understanding Israelite metaphor.....................................

  2.

  8 The Parables of Matthew..................................................

  B.

  10 Review of Related Theories…………………………………..

  1.

  10 Theory of Parable……………….....................................

  a.

  10 The Concept of Parable............................................

  b.

  11 The Elements of Parable...........................................

  c.

  13 The Types of Parable................................................. i.

  Similitude............................................................. 13 ii.

  Parable.................................................................. 14 iii.

  15 Exemplary Story.................................................

  d.

  16 The Structure of Parable..........................................

  2.

  18 Theory on Metaphor........................................................

  3.

  19 Parable as Extended Metaphor........................................

  4.

  21 Theory of Conceptual Metaphor………………………… C.

  22 Theoretical Framework……………………………………….

  CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………….. 23 A.

  23 Object of the Study…………………………………………...

  B.

  23 Approach of the Study………………………………………..

  1.

  25 Data Collection.................................................................. .

  2.

  25 Data Analysis.....................................................................

  CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………….. 27 A.

  27 The Parable about the Kingdom of Heaven………………….

  1.

  27 Parable............................................................................

  2.

  39 Similitude.......................................................................

  B.

  44 The Conceptual Metaphors of the Parables………………….

  1.

  44 Agriculture Domain.......................................................

  2.

  47 Treasure Domain...........................................................

  3.

  48 Wedding Domain..........................................................

  4.

  49 Animal Domain..............................................................

  5.

  50 Business Domain...........................................................

  6.

  52 Architecture Domain.....................................................

  7.

  53 Pastry Domain...............................................................

  8.

  53 Household Domain........................................................

  9.

  54 Family Domain..............................................................

  CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION…………………………………… 55 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………….... 58

APPENDIX I...................................................................................... 60

APPENDIX II..................................................................................... 65

  

ABSTRACT

  YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA (2011). The Study of Metaphorical Language of the

  

Parables about Kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s Gospel. Yogyakarta:

  Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University This thesis dicusses the metaphorical language in the parables about the kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s gospel. The parables found in St. Matthew’s gospel concern about the virtues which Jesus Christ delivered about kingdom of Heaven. In this thesis, there are presents two problem formulations. The first problem is to identify the parables which concern about the Kingdom of Heaven. The second problem is to determine the conceptual metaphors which construct the parables. This thesis used library method in analyzing the data. In order to identify the parables, theory of parable was applied. Meanwhile, theory of conceptual metaphor was used to determine the conceptual metaphors of the parable. The approach used in present thesis was cognitive linguistics.

  Through the course of the analysis, seventeen parables related to the Kingdom of Heaven were found. They are the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders, the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Yeast, the Parable of Hidden Treasure, the Parable of the Pearl, the Parable of the Net, the Parable of the Household, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the Tenants, the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the Parable of the Talents. Twelve parables belong to parable, while five parables are classified as similitude.

  There are seventeen conceptual metaphors which shape the parables. Five parables derive its source domain from agriculture, i.e. the Parable of the Tenants, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, and the Parable of the Sower. Wedding domain is used to conceptualize two parables, i.e. the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. Treasure domain is also used to conceptualize two parables, i.e. the Parable of Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Pearl. Parables from business domain are the Parable of the Unmerciful servant and the Parable of the Talents, while animal domain is used in the Parable of the Net and the Parable of the Lost Sheep. The other parables derive its source domain from architecture (the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders), family (the Parable of the Two Sons), household (the Parable of the Household), labour domain (the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard) and pastry (the Parable of the Yeast).

  

ABSTRAK

  YOSUA SEPTIAN ELIA (2011). The Study of Metaphorical Language of the

  

Parables about Kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s Gospel. Yogyakarta:

Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Facultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Skripsi ini membahas tentang bahasa metaforis yang berada di dalam parabel tentang Kerajaan Surga di dalam injil menurut St. Matius. Parabel-parabel yang ditemukan di Injil menurut St. Matius berpusat pada ajaran yang Yesus Kristus sampaikan mengenai Kerajaan Surga. Di dalam skripsi terdapat dua rumusan permasalahan yang akan dibahas. Masalah pertama adalah menentukan parabel-parabel yang berpusat pada Kerajaan Allah. Masalah kedua adalah menentukan conceptual metaphor (metafor konseptual) membentuk parabel- parabel. Skripsi ini menggunakan metode penelitian perpustakaan dalam menganalisis data. Agar dapat menemukan parabel-parabel, teori mengenai parabel digunakan. Sementara, teori mengenai conceptual metaphor (metafor konseptual) digunakan untuk menentukan metafor-metafor konseptual di dalam parabel-parabel. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah kognitif linguistik.

  Melalui analisis, sebanyak tujuh belas parabel yang berkaitan dengan Kerajaan Surga ditemukan, yaitu the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders,

  

the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard

Seed, the Parable of the Yeast, the Parable of Hidden Treasure, the Parable of the

Pearl, the Parable of the Net, the Parable of the Household, the Parable of the

Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, the Parable of the Workers in

the Vineyard, the Parable of the Two Sons, the Parable of the Tenants, the

Parable of the Wedding Banquet, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the Parable

of the Talents . Dua belas parabel digolongkan ke dalam tipe parabel, sementara

lima parabel diklasifikasikan ke dalam similtude.

  Terdapat sebanyak tujuh belas conceptual metaphor (metafor konseptual) yang membentuk parabel. Lima parabel bersumber dari dunia pertanian, yaitu the

  

Parable of the Tenants, the Parable of the Weeds, the Parable of the Mustard

Seed, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, dan the Parable of the Sower.

  Domain pernikahaan digunakan pada dua parabel, yaitu the Parable of the

  

Wedding Banquet dan the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Domain harta digunakan

  juga untuk membentuk dua parabel, yaitu the Parable of the Pearl dan the

  

Parable of Hidden Treasure . Parabel-parabel yang berasal dari dunia bisnis

  adalah the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant dan the Parable of the Talents sementara dunia hewan digunakan di dalam the Parable of the Net dan Parable of

  

the Lost Sheep . Parabel-parabel yang lain berasal dari arsitektur (the Parable of

the Wise and the Foolish Builders ), dunia keluarga (the Parable of the Two Sons),

  dunia perumahan (the Parable of the Household), dunia kerja (the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard), dan pastri (the Parable of the Yeast).

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study The Holy Bible has been an inspiration for many people since the first

  century. It has drawn attention to many people from various backgrounds. It can be studied from many different angles. Those who are interested in history can study the course of historical progresses of the Jewish people in it. Meanwhile, archaeologists can also use it as reference when they want to excavate a new site in the Middle-East area, although it has been criticized for its objectivy. Linguists also can make use of it, if they want to examine the language in the Holy Bible.

  This present thesis concerns the language use in the Holy Bible. Specifically, the focus of the study is in the metaphorical language in the parables about the Kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s Gospel.

  Despite being doubted for its originality of the language, the Holy Bible presents to the reader the eloquence of language used by many prophets. Some of the prophets show their outstanding use of language for making prophecies. Examples of this can be found in the books listed as the prophecies of the prophets, such as Jeremiah or Isaiah. Some of them speak eloquently to praise or lament to God. One can find good examples of this in Psalm or Songs of Solomon.

  The Second Testament is initiated by the birth of Jesus. In fact, the whole contents of the Second Testament refer to Jesus. He is the heart of Christianity. He is the word of God that is manifested in this world. Travelling across the Middle- East areas, he preached about the kingdom of Heaven. This is the central message—or the good news—that he wanted to share to those who were interested in salvation. Every time he delivered his teachings, he never expressed it in a clear crystal way. He always left his audience enigmas because he spoke metaphorically in the form of short stories widely known as parable. In the course of this study, it will be found later that every time he mentioned about kingdom of Heaven, Jesus always used a parable in explaining about it. This manner of delivering teaching or wisdom is commonly done in Jewish tradition (Boucher, 1981: 11).

  When he did his ministry, Jesus was always accompanied by his twelve disciples. Excluding Jude, they were later known as the apostles. They spread out Jesus’ teaching, called the Good News, accross the Mediterranian areas. Some of them delivered it orally, some other disciples wrote down the course of Jesus’ ministry. The first four parts of the Second Testament known as Gospel are entitled under the name of the four of Jesus disciples. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is true that the authenticity of the Gospel’s writers might be doubted. However, one thing that can be concluded from these writings is that all of these books refer to the life of Jesus and his teachings. He is the melting point of the four perspectives.

  Speaking about perspective, this study will examine the metaphorical language in the perspective of cognitive linguistics. In this perspective, metaphor is not regarded as the property of people with eloquence in language use—such as poet, or in the Bible, the prophets. Lay people often use metaphorical language, although they seldom realize it (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 3). The misunderstanding is furthered by the common belief that it is the way of expressing ideas by means of language. In fact, a metaphor is more than just that simple language expression, because metaphor is also used to conceive a concept in terms of another concept (Ungerer and Schmid, 1996: 118). In the words of George Lakoff and Mark Johson, the proponents of cognitive linguistics,

  The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 5). So far, the introduction revolves around metaphor, parables, and kingdom of

  Heaven. These aspects will be the focuses of this study. This thesis will examine the metaphorical language used in the parables about the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel according St. Matthew.

  The reason of choosing this topic is that because there is no previous work that analyzes the conceptual metaphor in the Gospel.

B. Problem Formulation

  There are two questions formulated in this study. The first question relates to the parable, while the second question concerns with the conceptual metaphor.

  Those two questions are:

1. What are the parables about kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew’s Gospel? 2.

  What are the conceptual metaphors in the parables? C.

   Objectives of the Study

  The first objective of this study is to collect the parables which concern about the kingdom of Heaven. This process of selection will not randomly assigned. It will make use of the theory on metaphor as the guideline. The second objective attempts to find the conceptual metaphors that serve as the bedrocks of the metaphors in those parables.

D. Definition of Terms

  There are some terms that are important to be reviewed shortly in this section in order to avoid misunderstanding. Those terms are:

1. Metaphor: In Exploring Poetry: Writing and Thinking about Poetry, Frank

  Madden defines metaphor as A more direct and more complete comparison than a simile. A metaphor does not announce itself; it states that something is something else (my love is a red rose) or implies it (my love has red petals and sharp thorns) (Madden, 2002: 65). In cognitive linguistics perspective, metaphor is seen as a set of correspondances (technically called mapping) between two domains—the source target and the target domain. (Kovecses, 2002: 12).

  2. Parable: There are many forms of parable. It is a kind of narrative popularly

  used by rhetoricians or wise people. According to Madeleine L. Boucher, parables are a tradition which had already spread accross Mediterranian world long before Jesus began his ministry (Boucher, 1981: 11). In modern time, the term parable is commonly used to refer to stories in the gospel.

  3. Gospel: The term is derived from Greek word, evanggelion. In Pengantar Injil

  , Suharyo makes the term more specific. He says that in the second

  Sinoptik

  century the word gospel started to be used to denote the writings concerning the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (Suharyo, 1989: 15). The Gospel is divided into four books. Each is named after the four of Jesus’ disciples. They are St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John.

  4. Cognitive Linguistics: According to Friedrich Ungerer and Hans-Joerg

  Schmid, in their book An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics, cognitive linguistics is An approach to language that is based on our experience of the world and the way we perceive and conceptualize it (Ungerer and Schmid, 1996: x).

  5. Kingdom of Heaven: It is difficult to describe in words what the Kingdom of

  God is. However, Groenen, in Pengantar ke dalam Perjanjian Baru, describes the Kingdom of Heaven as salvation which comes from God manifested in Jesus’ words and deeds (Groenen, 1984: 73).

6. Metaphorical Linguistic Expression: Words or other linguistic expressions

  that come from the language or terminology of the more concrete conceptual domain (Kovecses, 2002: 4).

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies To sustain the foundation of the analysis, two previous related studies are

  presented in this chapter. There are two studies reviewed, e.g. Marc Zvi Brettler’s

  

God is King: Understanding Israelite Metaphor and John R. Donahue’s The

Gospel in Parable: Metaphor, Narrative, and Theology in the Synoptic Gospels .

1. Understanding Israelite Metaphor

  The present thesis manages to provide studies on Israelite metaphorical language in order to have insight from these previous studies. One of them is done by Marc Zvi Bretller. In his book, God is King: Understanding Israelite

  , Brettler traces the source of metaphorical concept GOD IS KING. The

  Metaphor

  primary result of this study is the description of what calling GOD IS KING meant in ancient Israel. His findings suggest that the metaphorical concept God is King is essential for the Isrealite culture. Tracing back to the First Testament, Brettler examines the royal appealations that is used to address God. Among of them are king and master. He furthers his study into royal qualities. When discussing about this, he comments that

  The populace of ancient Israel wanted a king who possessed certain qualities such as longevity, wisdom, wealth and strength, since such a king would foster social stability (Brettler, 1989: 51).

  Despite the fact that these people long to have such an ideal king, there are almost none who ever exist. Indeed, the most exalted King David closely resembles to this idealization. He continues his study by examining the domain of royal trappings. In this part, he explores the clothing as well as ornaments usually used by the kings in order to distinguish them from the other Israeli people. At first, he mentions the crown as the most distinctive feature of a king. He also mentions other ornaments which are tightly close to the kingship, such as royal bracelets, royal garments, royal platform, scepter, and throne. In the following chapter, he discusses about the role of the king in his sovereignty. His exploration in this chapter focuses on the relation between the king and people within his kingdom. The last part of his study is to examine the ritual process of assuming the throne.

  .Brettler’s study provides valuable source for this study, since it has the same focus as this thesis. GOD IS KING metaphor has relation with the topic of discussion of this study, which emphasizes on the metaphorical language in describing the Kingdom of Heaven.

2. The Parables of Matthew

  For the purpose of this study, it is necessary to put review of previous study on the parable of St. Matthew’s Gospel. Previous study on this topic will be advantageous for this study in the way that it will give valuable insight. John R. Donahue’s study has been chosen, because it provides concise comprehension about parables in St. Matthew’s Gospel.

  John R. Donahue presents the study of parables in St. Matthew’s Gospel in his book, The Gospel in Parable: Metaphor, Narrative, and Theology in the

  

Synoptic Gospels . Through this book, he explores the aspects of parables in the

four Gospels. One of the Gospels analyzed is, of course, St. Matthew’s.

  In discussing St. Matthew’s Gospel, Donahue starts his study by making comparison between parables in St. Matthew’s Gospel and the parables in the three other Gospels. Then, he underlines the most distinctive characteristics of this Gospel. Here, he mentions that, compared to St. Mark’s, St. Matthew’s Gospel has more parables. He continues that the style of the Gospel is indicated by the stark contrasts and reversals (Donahue, 1988: 63). Speaking about the important aspect of this Gospel, once again compared to St. Mark’s Gospel, Donahue comments that

  While Mark’s discourse serves his Christology and the summons to discipleship, Matthew stresses more the ethics and the relation of ethics to eschatology (Donahue, 1988: 64). In other words, St. Matthew’s Gospel concerns about the ethical matters which are imposed to those who follow Jesus’ footstep in order to reach salvation. This is the focal point of this Gospel.

  Donahue’s study continues with the examination of parables in the St. Mattew’s Gospel. He delineates three important aspects when examining parables. The first step in analyzing parable is examining it intrisically. This first step examines the elements of a parable. The next step is interpretation and the last one is looking at the context of the parable.

  Since the present thesis focuses on the parables in St. Matthew’s Gospel, it will be appropriate to put Donahue’s work as one of references in the related previous studies. To sum up, his study provides characteristics of parables in St. Matthew’s Gospel, the focal points of this Gospel, and also the method of parable examination. These aspects are useful for the prospect of this present study.

B. Review of Related Theories

  To conduct the analysis, some related theories are needed so that the analysis will not be shaky. Theories that are gathered relate to the focus of this study. Those theories include the theory of parable and the theory of conceptual metaphor. Each theory presented here has relation to the questions formulated for this study.

1. Theory of Parable a. The Concept of Parable

  Speaking theoretically about parable, there is a need to identifty parable and to dissect its body. Several theorists mention first of all the origin of the term parable. Bernard Brandon Scott begins in his introduction by discussing the process of naming the parable. Originally, the term parable derives from Greek word—parabole. However, this Greek term is used to refer to mashal. David B. Gowler tries to define what mashal is. According to him, it is almost hard to define the word. The root meaning of it means “to represent”, or “to be like” (Gowler, 2000: 42). This is Hebrew term for variety of literary genre (Scott, 1989:

  7). For this occassion, many other theorists agree with Scott. John Dominic Crossan, in In Parables: The Challange of Historical Jesus, also says that

  The Hebrew term mashal and its septugiant translation parabole refer to a very broad field of language and the use of this latter term in the New Testament is just as general (Crossan, 1973: 7) It has been said before that mashal includes variety of literary genre. The term covers literary forms, such as a proverbial saying, a byword, a prophetic figurative oracle, a song of derision, a didactic poem, and a similitude (Gowler, 2000: 42-43). This evidence suggests that the term parable has not been the same as it is today. Madeleine L. Boucher suggests

  The term parable is not, and indeed should not be, used in the sam senses in scholarly discussion today as it was in antiquity (Boucher, 1981: 13). Boucher comments further that the term parable as it is comprehended this day refers to any of the Gospel stories which is more or less extended (Boucher, 1981: 14).

  From above explanations, it can be concluded that mashal, which covers the broad area of literary form, is the original term for parable. This term covers literary form, such as proverbial saying as well as parable as it is understood this days. Using Boucher’s statement about the meaning of parable, this study is in line with modern comprehension of parable, which refers to stories in the Gospel.

b. Elements of Parable

  Moving ahead, there is a need to set the characteristics of parable for this present thesis, so that the there will be no random selection of the parables.

  In her book, Madeleine L. Boucher defines elements of parables. The first criterion she mentions is that parable is a narrative which has various forms. Some stories are concise, while the other might be developed into a long story (Boucher, 1981: 15). Usually these narratives derive their materials from many things which relate well with people in daily life. According to Boucher, the common sources of these narratives are

  Taken from real life, from nature or the human scene. They are simple and realistic stories, drawn from the everyday life of the household, the kitchen, farming and fishing, the courtroom, temple worship (Boucher: 1981, 15). So far, it has been cited from Boucher’s work that a parable is narrative which draws its story from real life—either by nature or human scene. However, she mentions that a parable is more than just a story. It is also used, according to Boucher, as the tool to transfer values (Boucher, 1981: 15).

  Serving as the tool for transferring value, parable is often difficult to understand. Indeed, to capture the meaning of the stories is not easy, because some points of the stories are stated directly, some are not obvious (Boucher, 1981: 15). This is because a parable has two layers of meaning. The first meaning is its literal meaning, while the second is figurative meaning. Therefore, when reading a parable is not enough to read its literal meaning. To comprehend the intended meaning of the stories, one needs to read between the lines.

  Since the parable has its purpose to transfer value, it is supposed not merely to entertain audience. According to Boucher, the purposes of the parables

  Are far more important. It is to bring about a change of mind, or a better change of heart, in the hearer, perhaps to move the hearer to conversion (Boucher, 1981: 16). In Suharyo’s words, the sole purpose of a parable is to invite the audience to contemplate their lives or their deeds so that they can judge it by themselves and lead to a new way of life (Suharyo, 1989: 145).

  From these remarks, it can be concluded that the purpose of a parable is to persuade the audience to rebuild their own lives by thinking deep in thought about the story, which is drawn from daily lives, and making their judgment of their lives to it in the hope for a better way of life.

c. Types of Parable

  So far, the discussion has revealed some aspects of a parable based on theories related to it presented by some experts. When discussing a parable, there is a need to comprehend types of parables. Boucher writes down three basic types of parable (Boucher, 1981: 17). According to her, the types of parables are divided based on its structures. She mentions that those three types are similitude, parable, and exemplary story.

i. Similitude

  Similitude is the first type of parable. There might be question about what is the difference simile and similitude since it has the same expressions, such as like or as. Looking at the expressions, both terms has the same function, i.e., to make an open comparison between a concept with other concept. The difference is that similitude refers to the type of parable in the Gospel.

  The form of similitude is concise. Typically, it narrates a simple story drawn from events recurrent in the real life. In Boucher’s definition, similitude is “The most concise type of parable. It briefly narrates a typical recurrent event from real life. It tells a story which everyone would recognize as a familiar experience” (Boucher, 1981: 17).

ii. Parable

  The second type of parable is called parable. It seems confusing to name this type of parable with the same name. Boucher comments that this is because there is not yet an exact term for this type of parable. What she suggests is that the name of parable refers to parable which denotes to mashal and parable which belongs to this type (Boucher, 1981: 17). Despite this, the term parable will be used to refer to the second type of the parable.

  A parable has longer form than similitude. Since it has more developed form, this type of parable is more ornamented with details. Boucher comments that

  “The parable is often (though not always) longer more detailed than similitude. The parable tells a story, not about something recurrent in real life, but about one-time event which is fictitious” (Boucher, 1981: 17). Its distinctive typical beginnings is best exemplified in the Parable of the

  Sower in Matthew 13: 1-8, “ A farmer went out to sow his seed”, or the Parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18: 1-5, “In a certain town there was a judge..”

  (NIV, verse 1). This is to be the unique introductory formula for this type of parable—parable. however, in St. Matthew’s Gospel, the beginning of the parable is similiar with similitude such as “Kingdom of Heaven is like this”, or “Kingdom of Heaven migh be compared to”.

iii. Exemplary Story

  The third type of parable is called an exemplary story. Based on Boucher’s theory, there is a distinction between similitude as well as parable and exemplary story. She comments that similitude and parable present an implied comparison between two very different things (e.g. the reign of God is compared to seed), while exemplary story makes an example of a specific case in order to illustrate a general principle. Simply to say, in the similitude and parable, the teo concepts compared are not similar, while in exemplary story the concepts are similar (Boucher, 1981: 20).

  To sum up, Boucher’s study has revealed that there are three types of parable. The first is a similtude, the second is a parable, and the last is an exemplary story. Each type of parable has distintive features. Some are shared with the other types, some are unique to each type. A similitude has a concise form and has a typical introductory formula, such as “Kingdom of Heaven is like”. Parable shares the same typical beginnings like those in similitude.

  However, this type of parable also has unique introductions, such as “A man went out to sow his seed”, or “In a certain town there was a judge”. Comparing their forms, a parable has more longer form than similitude. Therefore, it is rich in details. The last type of parable is an exemplary story. This type of parable shares some features with parable. It is resemblant to a parable in the length of the content and its once-upon-a-time introduction. The only distinctive feature of it is that exemplary story derives its material from examples in the real life. It presents actual facts, or examples, when suggesting ideas, or concepts.

d. Structure of Parable The last aspect which is important in examining parable is its structure.

  Among theorists who discuss about the structure of parable is Rudolf Bultmann. His major work, entitled The History of the Synoptic Tradition, dissect the body of the parable. His theory of parable’s structure is well documented in Boucher’s The

  Parable (Boucher, 1981: 23-24):

  First of all, according to Bultmann, the story in a parable is narrated in one set of events. It means that the story in a parable is complete in a single narrative.

  There is no continuation of the narrative to tell the other parts of story.

  Second, a parable involves only no more than three characters. Each character in the story appears to represent something. Indeed, there are a group of people inside the story as revealed in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servants (Matthew 18: 23-34), or of Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20: 1-15). These people, according to Bultmann, are seen as people which have common characteristics, or attributes. In examples above, the servants and the workers are people which share characteristics as people who are subjects of his master, or unessential character is never mentioned in the parable. The mother of the two sons (Matthew 21: 28-30) does not exist, because it doesn not have any relevance with the topic of the parable.

  Third, the personality of the characters is often characterized by what they do, or what the other characters say about them. The case in the parable of the ten Maidens (Matthew 25: 1-13) reveals the difference of personality of the maidens by what they do.

  Fourth, just like folk stories, a parable also utilizes repetition. Such a literary device is used to remember the important aspect of the story. Twice do the prodigal son confesses “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (NIV, verses 19 and 21). The parable of the Unmerciful Servant has also the form of repetition. However, the case is different since it is not the unmerciful servant who repeat the utterance “Be patient with me. I will pay back everything” (NIV, verses 26 and 29), but his contemporary. Still, there is a repetition. Only the speaker is different.

  The last aspect of the structure of a parable is that it often employs a contrastive concept. Most of the contrastive concepts in the parables, of St.

  Matthew’s especially, involve only two concepts. The parable of the Sower, (Matthew 13:3-8), is an exception, because it contains four contrastive units. The concepts being contrasted represent the important points of the parable.

  All aspects in theory of parable are needed to be summed up, so that they can be used as the guidelines in the course of the analysis. First of all, a parable is the Greek translation of mashal. Mashal covers many literary forms, such as a proverbial saying, a byword, or even a parable in the Gospel. The root of the word means “to represent” or “to be like” (Gowler, 2000: 42-43). Therefore, the term parable is not the same as it is understood today. Parable in modern era refers to stories in the Gospels (Boucher, 1981: 14).

  The second aspect is that a parable is narrative drawn from daily situations which is supposed as the means of transffering value and persuades the audiences to reverse the course of life.

  The third aspect of this theory reveals three types of parable. They are a similitude, a parable, and an exemplary story. A similitude has a concise form and typically begun with “Kingdom of Heaven is like”. A parable has longer form and it is like folk story which has opening, such as “A farmer went out to sow”. The last type is called exemplary story. This type is almost parallel with a parable.

2. Theory on Metaphor

  Since the focus of this study is on conceptual metaphor, there is a need to present theory on relation between on metaphor in general before plumbing the conceptual metaphor.

  In ancient Greek, metaphor was a rhetorical device which functioned to persuade people. So important metaphor that some people regard it as master of trope, or figurative language (Evans and Green, 2006: 293). Tom McArthur in his book, The Oxford Companion to the English Language, also concludes that another figurative languages, such as antithesis, hyperbole, and even simile are subordinates of metaphor (McArthur, 1992: 653). Such conclusion is generated from the idea of the main purpose of those figurative languages, i.e. to compare. The difference is on the way each figurative language works.

  The way metaphor works is that it compares two concepts by using schematic form A is B. In this schema, A becomes B. It works its way by associating the shared characteristics of two concepts, but not based on physical resemblance. Using metaphor Achilles is a lion, Vyvyan Evans and Melanie Green postulate that The resemblance is not physical: Achilles does not actually look like a lion.

  Instead, due to cultural knowledge which holds that lions are courageous, by describing Achilles as a lion we associate him with the lion's qualities and ferocity (Evans and Green, 2006: 293).

3. Parable as Extended Metaphor

  The idea of parable as metaphor was started by Robert W. Funk’s

  

Language, Hermeneutic, and Word of God . Norman Perrin compiles Funk’s book

  in his own book Entitled Jesus and the Language of the Kingdom (1976). There are two important points that Funk discusses about parable as metaphor. The first about distinction between simile and metaphor, and the second is function of metaphor in parable.