In “the claws of death,” the clue can be described as a nonexistent bodily feature attributed to death. In “they break God’s covenant,” the clue is the action of breaking, which literally applies to material bonds and is figuratively used concerning a covenant.
The comparison raises a question: must every clue to implicit metaphor be the same kind of imagined attribute as the claws of death, or can a transferred action or relation serve as its clue?
The traditions answer this differently. Accordingly, one theory’s definition should not be imposed on a rival analysis without further argument.