Fels -- Geier -- Eltern

Due to its compositionally central position at the end of the Pentateuch and its poetical form, the Song of Moses is counted among the seminal theological texts of the Old Testament. This study explores the construction of the image of God by analysing the three central metaphors of the rock, vulture, and parents. A synchronic and diachronic analysis of the overall structure is followed by an analysis of the metaphors in the light of the history of motives, which places it in the literary context of the Hebrew Bible, as well as opening up the perspective of deutercanonical and Qumran literature, and taking into account iconographic and textual sources from the Ancient Near East. The purpose is to offer a differentiated consideration of the tensions and complexities of the Old Testament image of God beyond the dichotomy of "positive" and "negative".