Date
8-9-2024
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Chair
Gerald F. Knoblet
Keywords
Motif, Vine
Disciplines
Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Recommended Citation
Huling, Ellsworth C. IV, "An Examination of “The Vine” Motif through the Lens of the Old Testament, the Books of John and Revelation, and Peripheral Extrabiblical Sources" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5817.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5817
Abstract
Motifs and themes are interchangeable, used in everyday speech, and common in scholarly literature. Some scholars view motifs and themes as the two most used forms of narrative repetition. “The vine” motif contains multiple meanings throughout the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes, “the vine” readers misunderstand motif-specific referents. Research on “the vine” motif can clarify those specific passages of Scripture that utilize this motif. The interpretation of Scripture is not easy to understand without a proper understanding of the vine motif. Throughout Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, Israel is “the vine.” In the Gospel of John, Jesus is “the true vine,” according to John 15:1.
Scholars often focus on the immediate connection between the Old and New Testaments and ignore the specifics of “the vine” imagery and its meaning in each biblical testament.
