„Das Licht Gottes” – Metaphern in der Tobiterzählung

The metaphors contained in the Tobit narration appear in a wide range of various areas. In this context, we need to name the form of address for God in the prayers, Tobit’s request for salvation through death, the affectionate names his parents call Tobiah or the ethical instructions of old Tobit and the angel. The metaphors used in these fields originate from different images and are connected to elements of cosmology (“heaven”, “light”), space (“place”, “road”), the courtly world (God as “king”), the body (God’s “face” and “hand”), economy (good deeds as “treasure”, “redeem”) and culture (“staff”). Apart from the metaphor “staff” for young Tobiah, these metaphors are traditional and in that they derive from biblical images. It is striking that the different metaphors are all part of direct speech whereas the narrator does not seem to use any metaphors. The light metaphor plays an important role among the different metaphors that are used in the Tobit narration because it is present, either explicitly or implicitly through the metaphor of darkness, in all fields of metaphor. Blind Tobit lies in the darkness of the realm of death and cannot behold God’s light anymore; giving alms delivers from darkness; Tobiah is a light to his parents; the future city of God will shine in radiant glory which expresses God’s presence. By connecting these motifs, including the non-metaphorical statements on light, the narration builds up suspense. This crescendo leads from Tobit’s blindness – thus darkness – to acts of mercy as a way from darkness to light, to the healing of Tobit and how he can see his beloved son Tobiah again and to the hope for Jerusalem’s radiant glory. Considering that almost all metaphors are rather traditional, the author of the Tobit narration shows a creative approach to this material by his composition and contextualisation of the metaphors. This “metaphorology,” the theory of metaphors, can be expounded on several levels with regard to their function in the Tobit narration. If the characters use metaphors in their direct speech, they do so in order to bring consolation into their lives. To illustrate this with an example, Tobit euphemistically speaks of death as an eternal place or of God’s turning his face toward the devotee. The light metaphor also functions to give the narration a transcendent horizon that expands to individual- and also collective-eschatological dimensions. Tobit’s path from darkness to health and light leads to his son Tobiah who is also referred to as light, and further on to the epiphany of light, i.e. of God, in the New Jerusalem. The recipients of the narration, who suffer and rejoice with the protagonists and share their hopes, ultimately also share the consolation and comfort. In order to identify the function of these metaphors, the “metaphorology” by philosopher Hans Blumenberg serves as an interesting theoretical framework.