To know what is before one’s face: Group-specific metaphors and the composition of the Gospel of Thomas

This article uses the insights of second-generation cognitive linguistics to interpret some of the metaphoric sayings in the Gospel of Thomas. It is an attempt to show <br />how the identification and use of conventional metaphors influence the understanding of poetic language. Group-specific metaphors, as a manifestation of basic conventional metaphors, are identified, providing a conceptual framework against which some Thomas sayings are interpreted. These basic metaphors then <br />provide cohesion for the interpretation of some apparently disparate sayings in the Gospel of Thomas