A clash of hands and tongues - 2 Maccabees 14 and 15 in the framework of cognitive linguistics

Abstract

Applying cognitive linguistics to the text of 2 Maccabees 14 and 15 is a useful tool for our understanding of these narratives. Studying the author of 2 Maccabees 14 and 15’s use of the cognitive concepts ‘hands,’ ‘right hand’ and ‘tongue’ in contrasting ways, makes it possible to reconstruct the narrative into a structure of ‘body-cosmology.’ In this exegetical structure, the narrative of 2 Maccabees 14 and 15 can be described as a confrontation between ‘that which is below’ and ‘that which is above’ or a conflict of interests between the authority of the God of the Maccabees and a gentile dictator. In this conflict between a heavenly and earthly force, the Maccabees are depicted as those who restore God’s reign by their holy actions.