Watson (1989) Internal or Half-Line Parallelism in Classical Hebrew Again

Brill is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Vetus Testamentum.

http://www.jstor.org

Internal or Half-Line Parallelism in Classical Hebrew Again Author(s): Wilfred G. E. Watson Source: Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 39, Fasc. 1 (Jan., 1989), pp. 44-66Published by: BrillStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1518460Accessed: 04-11-2015 15:18 UTC

REFERENCESLinked references are available on JSTOR for this article:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1518460?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

This content downloaded from 132.66.11.211 on Wed, 04 Nov 2015 15:18:08 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bap

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1518460

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1518460?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp



Vetus Testamentum XXIX, 1 (1989)

INTERNAL OR HALF-LINE PARALLELISM IN CLASSICAL HEBREW AGAIN

by

WILFRED G. E. WATSON

Newcastle upon Tyne

1. Introductory

The usual form of parallelism in Hebrew verse is the couplet where the second line of the couplet is parallel to the first. In "internal parallelism" (here abbreviated to IP) the same feature occurs within a single verse line. In such lines, accordingly, the first half of the line has a parallel in the second. This characteristic is reflected in the alternative label "half-line parallelism". Although I have already written three articles on IP,1 there are several reasons for yet another. To begin with, quite a number of new examples have been identified and these need to be set out. Many of these examples are interesting in themselves. In addition, examples have been found in books of the OT previously unrepresented. IP in the form of two half-lines is as important an element in Hebrew poetry as it is in some other ancient Semitic verse traditions (Ugaritic, Akkadian) though here I will limit myself to classical Hebrew, and needs to be examined in respect of its implications for metre, lineation and the differentiation between prose and poetry.

2. List of passages

The sequence followed will be that of the Hebrew Bible with the addition of Ben Sira. Only a selection of passages can be set out and discussed.

"Internal Parallelism in Ugaritic Verse", Studi epigrafici e linguistici 1 (1984), pp. 53-67; "Internal Parallelism in Ugaritic Verse: Further Examples", UF 17 (1985), pp. 345-56; "Internal Parallelism in Classical Hebrew Verse", Bib 66 (1985), pp. 365-84. The line with IP has its nearest equivalent in "Leonine Verse" (which has internal rhyme), a term defined in M. Drabble (ed.), The Ox- ford Companion to English Literature (London, 1985), p. 564.



INTERNAL OR HALF-LINE PARALLELISM

Genesis

ii 232, vii 4, 12, viii 2, 22, xi 1, 6, xiii 10, xv 17, xvi 12b, xvii 20, xix 4, xxiv 35, xxv 34, xxix 17, xxx 42, xxxi 36, 43a, xxxii 12, xxxix 10, xli 3, 4, 19, 44, xliii 33, xlix 33, 1 9. The core of viii 22 is an enumeration:

Cd kl-ymy h'rs During all Earth's days zrc wqsyr wqr whm seeding, harvest, cold, heat, wqys whrp wywm wlylh summer, winter, day and

night l ysbtw shall not end.4

Exodus

iv 10, vi 9, ix 31, xv 11. xv 11 (see below, 4.7)

nwr' thlt Csh pl' Awe-inspiring, Wonder- worker.

Leviticus

v 4, vi 13, xii 45, xxvii 30 (cf. ii 10, 28, x 10, xix 26, 35, 36). Most of these are phrases used in longer sentences.

Numbers

v 22 (// 27), x 35 (cf. Ps. lxviii 2), xiv 8, xv 16, xvii 27, xx 20, xxi 5a, xxiii 24, xxiv 6, 9, xxxiii 55 (cf. xv 39, xxi 17b, 18b). xxiv 9

mbrkyk brwk w'rryk 'rwr Blessed be anyone blessing you, cursed be anyone cursing you.

Deuteronomy

xxvi 8, xxviii 3-6 (// 16-19), xxix 22, xxx 15, xxxii 14c, 24, 25b (cf. xii 15, xxviii 4-5, xxxii 29).

2 Discussed in my contribution to the P. C. Craigie Memorial Volume (Shef- field, in the press): "Some Additional Wordpairs".

3 S. Gevirtz, "The Reprimand of Reuben", JNES 30 (1971), pp. 87-98. Is this an expansion of khy wr'syt 'wny in the same verse?

4 G. Del Olmo Lete, Aula Orientalis 2 (1984), p. 14. See, in addition W. Brueg- gemann, "Kingship and Chaos. (A Study of Tenth Century Theology)", CBQ 33 (1971), pp. 317-22.

45




11, xxiii 13 (// Num. xxxiii 55).

wydm hsms wyrh Cmd The sun stood still, stay did the moon5

Judges

v 3, 4, 21, 256 (cf. iv 7, ix 28, xiv 16, xvi 28, 29). v 21

nhl gyswn grpm

nhl qdwmym nhl qyswn

Wadi Kishon swept them away, the onrushing wadi, Wadi Kishon.7

The quasi-acrostic component8 comes in both elements of the couplet: n- q- //n- q- //n- q-.

1 Samuel

ii 30c, xii 4, xvi 12,18, xvii 44, 46, xx 1, xxiv 15, xxv 3, 6, 9, 25, xxvi 12, xxx 8 (cf. 13).

2 Samuel

i 21, 219 22, 23, iii 29b, 31a, xii 3, xv 21, xvi 7,10 xxii 1, xxiii 5d.

5 J. Sanmartin Ascaso, Las guerras deJosu'e. Estudio de Semiotica narrativa (Valen- cia, 1982), p. 159, n. 457, considers this phrase to be a secondary gloss, in prose, inserted in place of a lost or deleted line originally parallel to Cd yqm gwy 'ybyw.

6 Discussed by A. Berlin, The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (Bloomington, 1985), pp. 12-13.

7 Contrast M. O'Connor, Hebrew Verse Structure (Winona Lake, 1980), p. 226: "Wadi Qishon is an ancient wadi".

8 Explained in my Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques (Sheffield, 1984, 1986), pp. 195-6; UF 12 (1980), pp. 445-7. It is the use of the same letter to begin lines, half-lines or corresponding sub-sections of half-lines.

9 Contrast P. Kyle McCarter, Jr, II Samuel Garden City, 1984), pp. 66, 71, and W. H. Shea, "Chiasmus and the Structure of David's Lament", JBL 105 (1986), pp. 13-25, esp. p. 15.

10 The phrase is discussed in detail by McCarter, p. 373.

Joshua

x 13, xiv x 13

46




iii 31a

qrcw bgdykm whgrw sqym

wspdw lpny 'bnr

Rip your clothes, wear sacking and beat the breast in front of Abiner.1

None of the passages in 1 or 2 Samuel is pure verse.

1 Kings

iii 22, 26, viii 57c, xviii 26, xix 6, xx 8, 25, xxii 4 (cf. iii 24, v 13a, 18c).

2 Kings

iii 7, iv 26, 30, 31, v 26, vii 6, xiv 26, xviii 12 (cf. iii 14, v 7, vi 27, vii 4).

Isaiah

i 2, 4a, 7, 8, 9b, 16 (etc.), 23, 26b, ii 10, 20, iii 1, 8, iv 1, v 15, 20, 27, 29a, vi 7b, lOa, vii 7, 11, viii 1, 9, 13b, 20, ix 2, 9, 11, 13, x 6, xi 9, xii 4b, xiii 16, xiv 4, 5, 20b, 31, xvi 2, 3a, 3c, xix 2, xxi 2b, 5, 7, xxii 2, 12-13, 19, xxiii 4, xxiv 2, 13, 16, 23, xxv 4-5, 6, xxvi 19, xxviii 2, 5, 9, 11, 16, 25, 29, xxix 9a, 15b, 20, xxx 5, lla, 20-1, 27, xxxi 3, xxxiii 8, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, xxxiv 6, 11, xxxvii 22, xl 7, 8, 10( = lii 11), 21, 24, xli 14, 26, 29, xlii 2, 4, 6, xliii 24b, 28, xliv 6, 8, 13d, 22, xlv 7, 13, 14, xlvi 1, 4b, llb, 13, xlvii 2-3, xlviii 2, 8, 20, xlix 7, 13, 14, iii 7, liii 3, liv 2, 10, v 12, Ivi 1, vii 8b, 14a, lviii 9b, 13f, lx lOb, 19, lxii 6b, 11, lxiii 3, lxiv 7, lxv 3b- 4a, 19a, 19c, lxvi 3, 12, (cf. ix 5a, xix 15, xxviii 7, xxxii 18b, xli 10, lvii 19b, lxv 22b).

ix 11

'rm mqdm wplstym m'hr Aramaeans from the east and Philistines from the west.

11 See McCarter, pp. 105, 110, 119, on this passage. For the gestures cf. M. I. Gruber, Aspects of Nonverbal Communication in the Ancient Near East II (Rome, 1980), p. 447.

47




lviii 9b

slh 'sb' wdbr 'wn to point the finger and utter slander.

Jeremiah

i 10, 18, ii, 19, iii 23, 24, iv 5a, 8, 11, 18a, v lib, 21b, vii 12, 17 (etc.), 34, viii 2, 20, ix 24, 25, xii 7, 8, 13, 14, xiv 2, 3, 18, xv 10, 11, 13, xvi 9, 21, xvii 8, 10, 20, 25, xviii 7, 18, xix 3, xx 6, 8, xxi 6, xxii 18, 23a, xxv 10, xxx 12-13, xxxi 9, 12, 23, 27, 28, xxxii 21, 31, xxxiii 10-11, xliv, 6, 12, xlvi 14, 18b, xlvii 3, 7, xlviii 8b, 15, 21, 28a, 32, xlix 31, 4 (=20), 15, 35b, 44, li 11, 12, 26, 30 (cf. vi 14b (=viii 11), 18, 23, viii 9, xii 6, xiii 11, 25, 27, xxx 24, xxxi 19, xlvi 6, xlviii 20, xlix 8, 30, 1 2, 11).

iv 5a hgydw byhwdh wbyrslym hsmy'w

xxii 23a ysbty blbnwn mqnnty b)rzym

Proclaim in Judah and in Jerusalem declare.

Dweller in Lebanon, Nester in the cedars.

Ezekiel

ii 5, 7, iii 11, vi 4ff., 11, vii 6, 7, 1Off., xii 24, xiii 6, 8, 9, xvi 3, 44, xvii 1, 3, 8, 17, 23, xviii 9, xix 7, 14, xxi 17, xxiii 34, xxiv 8, xxv 6, 10, xxvi 12, xxvii 27, xxviii 12, xxix 5, 18c, 19, xxx 4, 14, xxxi 3, 4a, xxxvii 11, xlviii 21-24a, 1 2 (cf. xxi 14, xxviii 4a).

vi 11

hkh bkpk wrqc brglk clap your hand and stamp your foot.12

12 Y. Avishur, Stylistic Studies of Word-Pairs in Biblical and Ancient Semitic Literatures (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1984), p. 83, notes that the word pair kp //I rgl is rare and that yd // rgl is commoner, as in Ezek. xxv 6 (also IP, incidentally).

48




Hosea

ii lb, 7, 11,13 21b, iii 4, iv 2, 3b, 9a, 13c, vi 1, lOb, vii llb, 7a, 13, ix 6, 7b, 14b, 16, x 4a, lib, 13a,14 xi 8, xii 2a, xiii 10, xiv 5a, 16 (cf. v lla).

Joel

i 10-12,15 14 (= ii 15), 17, 1, 6, 9.

ii 9, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21,16 25, iii 2, iv

ii 20

wClh b sw wtCl shntw his stink will go up and his stench will go up.

Amos

ii 9, iv lb, 9, 13, v 15, viii 5, ix 7, 11 (cf. ii 2, viii 11).

viii 5

Ihqtyn yph wlhgdyl sql lessening the ephah, in- creasing the shekel.

Most other examples in Amos are poor.17

Jonah ii 1

slsh ymym wslsh lylwt three days and three nights.18

13 The pattern is unnoticed by F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (Garden City, 1980), pp. 132, 240-1.

14 "Verse 13a has the same feature [as in v. 12a] of short lines. Each line has the same syntax (verb and object), with the same sequence in the first and third, which again achieves symmetry. In the second line the sequence is inverted". Andersen and Freedman, p. 563.

15 The poem, already mentioned in my previous article (Bib 66 [1985], p. 378) is discussed in detail by Andersen and Freedman, pp. 339-40, without recognition of the half-line components.

16 Note the expansion in Joel ii 21. The two verbs occur in exactly the same sequence in the Ammonite Tell Siran Bottle Inscription as ygl wysmh.

17 Note, too, Obad. i 16 (verb, verb). 18 Contrast D. L. Christensen, JBL 104 (1985), p. 223, for whom this is a

bicolon.

viii 15,

49




Micah

i 6, ii 12, iii 2, 7, iv 2, 6, vi 8, iii 10, vii 15).

vii 1, 4, 9, 19a (cf. i 8, 16, ii 10,

iii 7

wbsiw hhzym whprw hqsmym The seers shall be disgraced and the diviners put to shame (RSV).

Nahum

i 14, ii 2, 10, iii 1-3a, 8, 14-15. None new.

Habakkuk

i 3, 15, 16, ii 2,19 17. i3

Imh tr'ny 'wn w'ml tbyt

Why do you make me see wrongs and look at trouble?

Zephaniah

i 13, 18, ii 3, 6,20 9c, 14, iii 6, 12, 14, 19 (cf. iii 4).

i 13

whyh hylm Imssh wbtyhm Ismmh

Become spoil will their wealth, waste their houses.

Zechariah

ii 6, x 4, xii 1.

xii 1

nth svmym wysd Irs Who stretched out the sky, set foundations to the earth,

19 For the meaning of this verse cf. D. T. Tsumura, "Hab. 2 2 in the Light of Akkadian Legal Practice", ZAW 94 (1982), pp. 294-5.

20 Text and translation: J. S. Kselman, CBQ 32 (1970), p. 581 and n. 13.

50




wysr rwh 'dm bqrbw and formed man's inner spirit.

Malachi

i 4,21 iii 2, 3, 4, 7 (cf. iii 5). All previously unrecognized.

iii 4

kymy Cwlm wksnym qdmnywt as in past days, as in former years.

Psalms

ii 2, iv 3,22 vii 15,23 viii 9, ix 6a, x 17, xii 5, 6, xiv 7, xv 2, xvi 9, xvii 3a, 6b, 13, xviii 1, 47, xix 4, xx 8, xxii 7, 25, xxiv 4, xxvi 1 lb, xxvii 2d, 7, 9c, 12b, xxix 9, xxx 6, xxxii la, xxxiv 15a (= xxxvii 27a), xxxvii 8a, 27, 37, xxxviii 1 la, 19, xxxix 10, xliv 4, xlv 8, xlvi 7, lOb, 11,24 xlviii 3, 6b, 9a, xlix 3, liii 7 (= xiv 7), lv 7b, 8b, 14, lix 13, Ix 9, lxii 4, lxv 8, 11, lxvi 4, lxviii 2, 5a, 6a, 8, 16, 26a, 28b, lxxii 24, lxxiv 2,25 16, lxxv 8,26 lxxvi 3, lxxviii 12, 20a, 36, lxxxi 3, 9, lxxxii 5, lxxxiii 2b, lxxxiv 4, lxxxv 9b, lxxxviii 7b,27 lxxxix 12, 14b, xc 7, xcii 4, xcvi 2a, lla, c 4, ci 5, cii 27, ciii 8, civ 8a, 20, cv 2, cvi 6, 31, 48, cvii 3bc, 26, 37, cviii 9, cix 28, cxiii 6b, cxv 1 (// cxxxviii 2), cxix 113, 127b, cxx 2-3, cxxi 4, cxxii 7, cxxiii 4, cxxv 5-6, cxxvi 5, cxxviii 2b, cxxx 5-6, cxxxiii 1, cxxxv 6, cxxxvi 12, cxxxvii 2, cxxxix 12, cxl 13, cxliv 14, cxlv 8, cxlviii 8ff.(cf. xxvii 6c, lOa, 14, xxxv 4, xlv 4, lvii 8, lxxxvi 15, ciii 20, civ 9, cxix 15, cxx 7, cxxi 5, 6, 8, cxxiv 5, cxli 5, cxliv 2).

xviii 47

hy yhwh wbrwk swry Yahweh lives! Blessed be my Rock

21 For a possible example in Mal. i 6 (with verb ellipsis) cf. A. Berlin, JANES 10 (1970), p. 40.

22 For different stichometry cf. P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (Waco, 1983), p. 78. 23 According to J. T. Willis, VT 29 (1979), p. 468, this is a tricolon. 24 Ps. xlvi 11 has been compared with Isa. xxxiii 10 by M. Weiss, Bib 42 (1961),

p. 297. 25 The line with IP occurs within a longer verse, examined recently by P. Auf-

fret, VT 33 (1983), p. 131, though he did not recognize the half-lines. 26 Avishur (n. 12), p. 554, recognized "intra-colon" parallelism here. 27 For the stichometry cf. O. Loretz, Habiru-Hebrder (Berlin, 1984), p. 255.

51




lxxv 8

zh yspyl wzh yrym one he promotes, another he demotes.

Job

i 1, 21, ii 2, 11, iii 26, iv 10, vii 12, ix 4a, x 10, xiv lb, xv 29, 35, xvii 11, xviii 19, xx 8, 13, xxvi 7, xxix 25, xxx 8, 20, 26, xxxiii 9, 15, xxxvii 13, xxxviii 3b (// xl 7b // xlii 4b), xxxix 21, xlii 6 (cf. xix 14).

xv 35

hrh Cml wyld 'wn Pregnant with mischief they give birth to evil.28

Proverbs

iii 2, 7b, iv 5, 7, v 19a, vi 10 (= xxiv 33), 12a, 13, 14, 17a, 19b, 23, vii 7, 12a, ix 2, x 9, 26, xiv 5b, xvi 24, xvii 3 (= xxvii 21), 15, xix 20, 26, xx 1, 10, 12, xxi 4, 6b, 9 (// xxv 24), 30, xxii 8, xxiii 23, 29a, 32, xxv 3, 12, 19, 26a, xxvi 1, 3, 10, 21, xxvii 3, 4, 21a, 27, xxviii 15, xxx 4, 31a, xxxi 2, 30a,29 (cf. xviii 22, xxiii 9).

xix 20

sm C'sh wqbl mwsr Listen to advice and accept instruction (RSV).

Song of Songs

i 5cd, ii 1, 5, 7 (etc.), iv 8, 12, 14, 16, v 7, 16, vi 10, vii 7 (cf. ii

8). None new.

Qoheleth

i 2, 4, 5a, 6, 9-10, 18, ii 25, iii 2-8, 11, 17, v 2, vi 4, vii 12a, viii 16, ix 1, 2, 10, xii 1, 5, 14.

28 M. H. Pope, Job (Garden City, 1965), p. 113, compares Ps. vii 14, adding "Apparently it was a proverbial expression".

29 Other possible examples in Proverbs are i 18, ii 4, iii 7a, 22, vi 32a, viii 2a, 3a, 14, xiv 29. See also note 55 (below).

52




i4

dwr hlk wdwr b' a generation goes, a generation comes.

Lamentations

i 4, 5, 22, iii 15, iv 13, 18 (cf. i 12, iii 49). None of these examples is clear.

Esther

ii 7, iii 2, 7, vii 16, ix 13 (and par.) (cf. iii 13).

Daniel

xi 20.30

Nehemiah

i 6, 10, viii 10.

1 Chronicles

xii 15b, 19,31 41a, xxviii 9, 20b, xxix 2, 5.

xii 15b

Im'h hqtn whgdwl l'lp the smallest (a match) for a hundred, for a thousand the biggest.32

2 Chronicles

ii 3, 13, 14 (EVV, 4, 14, 15), xix 7b, xxxii 7 (cf. xxxvi 17b).

30 See Gruber (n. 11), p. 485, for discussion of this phrase. 31 SeeJ. M. Myers, I Chronicles (Garden City, 1965), pp, 93, 97, and, with a

Ugaritic parallel, B. Levine and J.-M. de Tarragon, JAOS 104 (1984), pp. 658-9. 32 The succinct combination of numerical and chiastic parallelism is note-

worthy.

53




Ben Sira

vi 2, 11ff., vii 21, 31, x lOb, 22, xi 7, 14, xii 5, 7, 18a, xii 24, xiv 4, 5a, 18b, xvi 12, 16a, 22, xxv 22, xxx 23, xxxv lOb, xxxvi 6-7, xxxvii 18, xxxviii 22b, xxxix 15, xli 14, xlii c, 21, xliii 9, 17a, xliv 6, xlv 4, 12, xlvi 13, 19, xlvii 23, xlix 7, 15, 1 27, li 5. (Cf. iii 11, vi 27, x 2, xiv 16a, xxvi 3, xxxii 8, 23, xxxiii 12, 14a, 20, xliii 6, li 25.)

xii 18a

rr ynyc whnyp yd<y>w His head he will nod and rub his hands.

3. Features

Following the plan of my previous article33 I will first provide examples for inner-line features of the additional texts with half-line parallelism presented in this article. Certain features will be taken as read since they occur so frequently (assonance, alliteration in the form of the quasi-acrostic, repetition and word pairs) and will not need documentation unless of exceptional interest. Then I will list new passages where clustering occurs. Next come accounts of structural patterns and rhetorical features. The last paragraph deals with compression.

3.1 Phonological aspects

Assonance is evident in Gen. xvi 12b; 1 Sam. xxx 8; 2 Kings xiv 26; Zech. ii 6; Pss xxxii la, lxxv 8b, etc. Alliteration within an acrostic:

Ps. x 17

t'wt Cnwym smCt yhwh You have heard the desire of of the afflicted, Yahweh.

tkyn Ibm tqsb 'znk You will strengthen their heart; you will turn your ear.

Pss ix-x form an alphabetic acrostic and in the closing tau-strophe the use of initial tau is extended beyond the first line to both halves of the second (in the translation the pattern T----- // T--- // T---

33 Bib 66 (1985), pp. 370-5.

54




is reflected in the use of "you"). See also Pss xxiv 15 (= xxxvii 27a) and contrast cxix 15. Sometimes only the second components of each half-line begin with the same letter (or cluster) as in

Ps. xlviii 3

hr sywn yrkty spwn Mount Zion, the recesses of Zaphon.

Also Gen. xi 1()), 6('); Lev. xix 26 (1); 1 Kings xx 8(t), 25(k); Isa. ix 11 (m); Jer. xii 7 (); xxii 23 (b); Hos. vi 1 (wy); Mic. iii 7 (h); Mal. iii 7 (3); Ps. cxix 15 (3); Job ii 11 (h), xiv 7 (y); Prov. vi 13 (b), xvii 3(= xxvii 21) (1), xix 26 (); Neh. viii 10 (m); Sir. vii 21 (m), xii 18a (y), xlii lle (c),34 13 (also c). This is a feature of some

Babylonian verse.35

End-rhyme occurs in Gen. xxxi 36, xxxix 10; 1 Kings viii 57c; Isa. i 23, vii 11, xxxiii 20, xl 10( = lxii 11); Jer. xii 14, xxxii 31, 1 15, 35b; Hos. vii llb; Mic. iii 7, iv 6, vii 9a; Zeph. i 18; Zech. ii 6; Pss xvii 6b, xxix 9, xlviii 3, lix 13, lxvi 4, lxxi 24, lxxxii 5, cxix 13, cxxiii 4, cxxxvi 12, cxxxviii 2, cxxxix 12; Prov. xx 9, xxx 4; Job x 10; Qoh. ix 1; Neh. viii 10; 1 Chron. xii 19; Sir. xxv 22, xlv 4, etc.

Sound pairs: A sound pair is defined by Berlin as "the repetition in parallel words or lines of the same or similar consonants in any order with close proximity" ([n. 6], p. 104). Since a line with IP behaves like a couplet it can also contain a sound pair. Examples are few;

Jer. xlvi 14

hgydw bmsrym whsmyCw bmgdwl Give out in Egypt and an- nounce in in Migdol.

34 For the text cf. B. Jongeling, "Un passage difficile dans le siracide de Masada (Col. IV, 22a = Sir. 42,11e)", in W. C. Delsman, et al. (ed.), Von Ka- naan bis Kerala: Festschrift fur J. PM. van der Ploeg... (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1982), pp. 303-10.

35 The poems have been edited by J. A. Black, "Babylonian Ballads: A New Genre",JAOS 103 (1983), pp. 25-34, with corrections by W. G. Lambert, RA 77 (1983), p. 191, though this feature (lines lb-3b, 4b-5b, 6b-7b, 13b-14b, 16b-17b, 23b-28b) has gone unnoticed.

55




The words hGyDw and mGDwl are related only by similarity of sound. A better illustration is

Prov. iii 7b

yerd' 'et-yahweh wesur merda REVERE Yahweh and turn from EVIL.

Similarly, Hos. ix 14b (MSkyl - SdyM);36 cf. Ezek. xix 14, below (3.2). Sound pairs which are also word pairs (Berlin [n. 6], pp. 106-8) include Gen. xv 17 (s I// 's); Jer. viii 20 (qsyr // qys); Hos. ix 6 (qbs // qbr); Hab. i 15 (hkh // hrm - contrast hrm // mkmrt in i 16); Pss xxxviii 19 (gyd// 'dIg), cxxii 7 (slwm // slwh) (discussed by Berlin, p. 107); Job xlii 6 (see below); Lam. i 49 ('yny - m'yn). Strictly speaking, word pairs belong in a semantic category but some are mentioned here because of their connection with sound pairs (see 3.3).

Prov. v 19a

'ylt 'hbym wy'lt-hn A lovely DEER, a graceful DOE.

The sound + word pair 'ylt -y'lt involves repetition of the letters y, I and t which may explain the use of rare ylh here. See also Sir. xiv 18b

'hd gwc w.hd gmwl one is BLIGHTED, another BLOOMS.

3.2 Structural features

Chiastic patterns obtain in

Ezek. vii 6

qs b' b' hqs An end comes, comes the end. 37

36 Perhaps also Mal. i 6; Pss cxxii 4, cxxiv 5. 37 The chiasmus is noted by M. Greenberg, Ezekiel 1-20 (Garden City, 1983),

pp. 145-7. The next line comprises two non-parallel half-lines.

56




Ezek. xix 14

qynh hy wthy qynh This is a dirge and a dirge it becomes.38

Both these comprise "mirror chiasmus".39

Ps. lxxviii 20a

hn hkh-swr wyzwbw mym wnhlym ystpw

When he struck a rock water gushed and gullies overflowed.

The chiasmus here is phonological (-im -u // -u -im), grammatical (Verb Subject // Subject Verb) and semantic (there is weak onomatopoeia too). Also, Gen. xvi 12b; Isa. vi 7b, xliv 13d;40 Jer. iv 5a, xiv 2, xliv 12; Hos. iv 13c; Amos ix 11; Hab. i 3, 15; Zeph. iii 19; Pss xxxviii 11a, 19, lxxvi 3, xc 7, cxix 15, cxxiv 5, cxli 5; Job xix 14, xxvi 7; Prov. xvii 15; Sir. xii 18a, xiv 5a. IP occurs in the second line in Gen. xvi 12b; 1 Sam. xvi 12b, xvii 44b; Isa. vi 10, lviii 9b; Jer. v 21b; Pss lxvi 4b, cxl 13b, cxlv 8b; Job xiv lb; Prov. iii 7b, xiv 5b, xvi 24, xxi 6b, 9 (// xxv 24), xxxvi lOb; Sir. vi 16b, xi 7b, xiii 24, xxxv lOb, xxxviii 22b, xlix 15, 1 27.

Prov. xiv 5b

Cd 'mwnym l ykzb

wypyh kzbym Cd sqr

A truthful witness does not lie but a lying testifier is a false witness.

In some of these passages the second line glosses (or is parallel to) the last word or words of the first line, e.g.

Isa. lviii 9b

'm tsyr mtwkk mw.th

slh )sbC wdbr 'wn

If you remove from your midst injustice: pointing the finger, speaker slander.

38 So Greenberg, p. 354. 39 See Watson (n. 8), p. 203. For apposite comments on the possible danger of

over-labelling see L. Alonso Sch6kel's review, Bib 67 (1986), p. 122. Another example of mirror chiasmus is Prov. xvii 15.

40 Cf. T. Collins, Line-forms in Hebrew Poetry (Rome, 1978), p. 123.

57




Also Ps. lxvi 4b; Prov. xvi 24b; 2 Chron. xix 7b (previous examples: Jer. iv 8; Ps. xlviii 6b). Note the enjambment in Ps. cxl 13 (previously: Jer. xv 1 lb).

IP comes in the third line in Ps. cxv 1

I) Inw yhwh 1) Inw Not to us, Yahweh, not to us,

ky-lsmk tn kbwd but to your own name give honour

Cl hsdk wCl mtk because of your kindness and fidelity.41

3.3 Semantic features

Antithetic parallelism occurs in Num. xxiv 9; Judg. v 25; Jer. xii 13, xlviii 28a; Hos. vi 1; Mal. i 4; Pss xxxiv 15, xlv 8, lxxv 8 (cited above), cii 27, cix 28, cxix 113, cxxvi 5; Qoh. i 4, v 2, vi 4; Sir. x lOb, xii 7, xiv 4, 5a.42 Of these the most interesting is

Ps. xlv 8a

'hbt sdq wtsn' rs' You loved uprightness and hated wickedness,

i.e. [+ love] + [+ good] // [- love] + [- good].43 Word pairs, of course, are used in almost all the texts. Of interest and importance are the following; Isa. ix 11, liii 13, Ix 6; Jer. xxxii 31, xlviii 8b, 1 35b; Ezek. vi 11, xxviii 12; Hos. vii lib; Mal. iii 4, Pss ci 5, cvii 37; Job xv 35; Prov. vi 12a, xx 12, xxi 4; Qoh. ix 1; Sir. xxx 23. See also above (3.1). Lines which use or amount toformulas are: Gen. xxix 17 (// xxxix 6; 1 Sam. xvi 12, xxv 3; Esther ii 7);44 Num. x 35 (// Ps. lxviii 2),

41 Previous example: Ps. lxviii 28b. 42 Already noted by J. Krasovec, Antithetic Structure in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, SVT

35 (Leiden, 1984), pp. 124-7: Num xxiv 9; Jer. xii 13a; Pss cii 27-8, cix 28, cxix 113; Qoh. i 4.

43 Cf. sarru kima d[slamas misara iram [ragga izir], "Like Shamash, the king loves righteousness and hates evil"; W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (Ox- ford, 1960), p. 223: 5, transl., p. 234.

44 Avishur (n. 12), pp. 215, 219, 644, 730.

58




xiv 18; 1 Sam. xxxiv 15; Jer li 26 (combines Isa. xxviii 16 and i 7, both examples of IP), xix 25; Joel ii 13; Mic. iii 2; Pss ciii 8, cxxi 5, cxxxvi 12, cxxxviii 2 (= cxv 1); Job xxxviii 3b, etc. See below.

Positive-negative parallelism occurs in Prov. xxiii 23; Job xx 13; and hendiadys in Jer. v 30; Ps. lxxxv 9b (cf. 2 Sam. xvi 7).

3.4 Clustering

As I established in a previous article ([n. 33], pp. 375-9), sus- tained sequences of lines with IP occur in classical Hebrew verse as well as in Akkadian though not in Ugaritic. Here, additional examples (for Hebrew) are listed according to the number of full lines per cluster.

ONE AND A HALF: Gen. xvii 20, xxxi 43a; 1 Sam. xxvi 12; 1 Kings xviii 29, xxii 4; 2 Kings iii 7, iv 26; Hos. ii 7, x 4a, llb, xiv lb; Joel ii 9, 12; Ps. xxxvii 27; Job i 1, ii 11, xvii 11; Prov. ix 2, xxi 30; Qoh. ix 6, xii 1; Lam. iii 49. Two: Gen. xxiv 35; Deut. xxvi 8, xxviii 3-6 (// 16-19); 1 Sam. xxv 25; 2 Sam. iii 29b; 1 Kings v 13a; Isa. ix 9, xxxiii 22; Jer. iii 24, xxxi 28; Ezek. xxxi 3; Hos. xi 8; Ps. lxv 11; Job. xxx 26, xlii 6; Ezra i 4; Sir. xii 7 (cf. Num. xxiv 6; 1 Sam. xv 3; 2 Kings vi 27; Ps. xlviii 9a; Job xxxiii 9). Two AND A HALF: Jer. ix 25, xviii 7, xxxii 21, li 30; 1 Chron. xxix

2; 2 Chron. ii 13. THREE: 1 Sam. xvi 18; Hos. iii 4,45 ix 6; Sir. vi 11-13. FOUR: Isa. lxvi 3. FIVE AND A HALF: Jer. xlviii 21-24a, 1 2. MIXED: Ezek. vii 10-12; Ps. cxlviii 8ff.; Sir. xi 14.

3.5 Structural patterning

The main type is A---- A---- A----

as in Deut. xxix 22; 1 Sam. xii 4, xx 1; Isa. xli 26; Amos viii 5; Zeph. iii 12; Pss xcii 4, cxliv 14, Job xviii 19, xxxvii 13.

45 "The six items are grouped in three pairs"; Andersen and Freedman (n. 13), p. 305.

59




Job xxxvii 13

`m-lsbt 'm-l'rsw Whether for a correction, whether for his grace,

'm-lhsd yms'hw (or) whether for kindness-it reaches him.46

The pattern is extended in Zech. x 4, inverted inJudg. v 21; 1 Sam. xxv 6 and Ps. x 17.

3.6 Rhetorical functions

As an opening line: Isa. xxxvii 22, lvii 14a; Jer. iv 5a, xlvi 14, xlviii 28a, 1 4; Ezek. xxx 4; Hos. xiv 5a; Joel iv 1; Zeph. iii 14; Pss xii 5-6, xviii 47, xxiv 4, xxix 9, xxxii la, lxxxii 5, cxxxiii 1; Sir. xi 7b, xvi 22. To close: Num. xxix 9; Isa. xli 10; Jer. xiii 11, xxii 23; Ezek. iii 11, xix 24, xxiii 34; Pss ii 2, iv 3, xxxiv 15, lxvi 4, cxxii 4, cxxxix 12; Job xlii 6; 47 Qoh. xii 4; Sir. xxxix 15, xlvi 19 (cf. 1 27). As a delaying device: Ezek. xxv 10; Hos. iv 3b; Prov. xvii 3 (= xxvii 21), xix 26, xxi 4; Sir. xxv 22, xxxvii 18.

3.7 Compression

Into a line with IP can be packed the equivalent of a couplet, which may explain why this type of parallelism is used in sayings and proverbs. For example, Jer. viii 20

Cbr qsyr klh qys Past is the harvest, gone the summer heat,

w'nhnw lw' nws'nw but we are not yet rescued.

Such couplets could also be considered tricola-with the equivalent of three lines packed into two-or they may be the forerunners of true tricola with three full lines.48 Of particular interest is the artificial proper name used in Isa. viii 1, 3:

46 The meaning "his favour" proposed for 'rsw (root rsh, with prosthetic aleph) by M. J. Dahood, has been accepted by Pope (n. 28), pp. 243-4, and L. L. Grabbe, Comparative Philology and the Text of Job (Missoula, 1977), pp. 117-19.

47 On this verse cf. W. Morrow, "Consolation Rejection and Repentance in Job 42:6", JBL 105 (1986), pp. 211-25.

48 In fact, R. Yaron, "The Climactic Tricolon",JJS37 (1986), pp. 153-9, considers Prov. x 26, xvii 3, 15, xx 12, xxv 3, xxvii 3 and xxxi 30a to be sets of three lines, not two.

60




mhr sll hs bz Speedy for spoil, precipitate for plunder,

with the two halves in parallel.49 The word pair sll // bz recurs in Isa. x 6 and Ezek. xxix 19. Also, the collocation of mhr and hys (Isa. v 19) is here "broken up" over two half-lines. With four words the whole horror of war is evoked and such compression is a strong feature of lines with IP.

O'Connor has commented on the constraints shared by proper names and verse in Hebrew. In fact, he cites Isa. viii 3 (only), but does not remark on the features described here ([n. 7], pp. 160-1, § 1.7.3). Another, even more artificial name occurs in Isa. ix 5 (also cited by O'Connor) and it, too, may be a double instance of IP. This aspect is also to the fore in Exod. xv and implicit in my rendering above (2).

4. Occurrence and Distribution

With no claim for precision, the figures that emerge overall

(counting in all the passages listed above in 2, but disregarding dubious examples and not counting single lines within clusters) are as follows:

Genesis 27 Jonah 1 Exodus 4 Micah 11 Leviticus 4 Nahum 6 Numbers 11 Habakkuk 5 Deuteronomy 7 Zephaniah 10

Joshua 3 Zechariah 3

Judges v 4 Malachi 5 1 Samuel 14 Psalms 119 2 Samuel 11 Job 27 1 Kings 8 Proverbs 51 2 Kings 8 Song of Songs 12 Isaiah i-xxxix 80 Qoheleth 20

xl-lv 35 Lamentations 6 lvi-lxvi 16 Esther 5

49 Literally, "Hastening for booty, rushing for plunder". For philological discussion cf. H. Wildberger, Jesaja 1-12 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1972), pp. 312-13. According to him both ha4s and maher (for memaher) are most probably participles. He translates "Eilbeute-Raschraub" and my own version is an attempt at alliteration.

61




Jeremiah 72 Daniel 1 Ezekiel 40 Nehemiah 3 Hosea 27 1 Chronicles 7 Joel 14 2 Chronicles 5 Amos 8 Ben Sira 40

Some of these books were unrepresented in my previous article (i.e., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Jonah, Micah, Zechariah, Malachi, Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles), while to others (Nahum, Song of Songs) there have been no additions. Not unexpectedly there are relatively few in the prose books, though Genesis and Qoheleth have quite a few examples. The figure for 2 Samuel is partly skewed by the poems incorporated there, the totals for Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Zephaniah, Malachi, Psalms, and Ben Sira are large and Nahum is rich in clusters. High density of lines with IP is also evident in 2 Sam. i 21 (see below), Jer. xxxi 1; and Pss. xxvi, xlv, xlviii, Iv, lxviii and lxxviii. The impression conveyed by these numbers is that lines with IP are far from rare and occur in almost every book.

5. IP and the formula

In view of the widespread use of lines with internal parallelism, or more accurately, half-line parallelism in Hebrew verse documented above (as well as in other verse traditions) it seems worth looking a little more closely at the function of such half-lines in the process of versification as far as we can recontruct it. If, for instance, we take "David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan" (2 Sam. i 19-27) apart and pick out the half-lines (or their equivalents) it contains and arrange them in groups, the result is as follows.

(1) noun in bound form + noun: 'hy yhwntn; bnwt h'rlym; bnwt ysr'l; bnwt plstym; hsby ysr'l; hrb s'wl; kly mlhmh; mgn gbrym; mgn s'wl; (w)sdy trwmt; 'dy zhb; qst yhwntn. (2) as (1), with preposition: bhwswt 'sqlwn; btwk hmlhmh; hry bglbC, m'hbt nsym; mdm hllym; mhlb gbwrym; (3) negative + noun: l .tl; )l mtr.

62




(4) negative + verb: )l tbsrw; I) hprdw; pn-tClznh; pn-tsmhnh. (5) adverb + verb: m rywt gbrw; mnsrym qlw. (6) adjective + preposition + suffix: sr-ly. (7) verb + preposition + suffix: n mt-ly

These phrases account for nearly half the total words of the poem (10);50 therefore it seems more then likely that one of the

"building blocks" used by the poet was the half-line. Another example is Ps. ci, recently analysed from a different

viewpoint by J. S. Kselman.51 Of its 81 words, 42 make up half- lines, though the poem itself is not a cluster of half-lines. These too can be classified under a number of syntactical headings.

(1) noun in bound state + noun: p'ly 'wn; rs'y 'rs. (2) as (1), with preposition: bdrk tmym; bqrb byty (twice); btm-lbby; Ingd 'yny (also twice). (3) co-ordinated nouns: hsd-wmspt. (4) noun + adjective: gbh-'ynym; lbb Cqs; rhb Ibb. (5) verb / noun: dbr-blyCl; dbr sqrym; Csh-s.tym; Ch rmyh. (6) verb + prepositional phrase: 'wtw 'smyt, yswr mmny, (7) negative + verb: I'-'syt. PI-ykwn; PI-ysb.

The repetition of two of the phrases (vv. 2a, 7a and 3a, 7b) is significant not only in determining the overall structure, as already recognized52 but also because it indicates these phrases to be self- contained units. Additional proof comes from Kselman's article in which he showed (in a quite different context) that many of the half- line units are identical with or correspond to half-line units in other sections of Hebrew poetry (Job, Proverbs, other Psalms).

50 On the "vertical parallelism" in 2 Sam. i 23 cf. Watson (n. 8), p. 170. 51 "Psalm 101: Royal Confession and Divine Oracle", JSOT 33 (1985), pp.

45-62. 52 H. Kenik, "Code of Conduct for a King", JBL 95 (1976), pp. 391-403.

63




Phrases of this type correspond to the "paired expressions" or "expression pairs" collected by Avishur in his study of word pairs ([n. 12], 318-21, 607-25, 769, following U. Cassuto). Many of these expressions consist of paired nouns connected by waw. This is not the place for a systematic presentation of "expression pairs", but two further examples provide an indication of the material yet to be studied. One is Ps. xxvii, which contains seven such expressions ('by w'my, 'wry wys'y; 'syrh w zmrh; hzq wy ms, hnny w'nny; kslw wnplw; sry w'yby) as well as some half-lines (vv. 4, 9, 12, 12). The other is Lam. i-v, with over 40 groups of two near-synonyms connected by waw, e.g. btwlty wbhwry, "my lasses and lads" (Lam. i 18c).53 Similar groupings elsewhere have also been identified by other scholars.54 Particularly significant is H. Weippert's study of the speech passages in prose of Jeremiah,55 In it she identified several formulas which, in fact, correspond in length to twin half- lines. Examples are byd hzqh wb(')zr(w)' ntwyh, "with powerful hand and extended arm' ;56 l'wp hsmym wlbhmt h' rs, "for the birds of the air and beasts of the land";57 and llh wlsmh wlirqh wlhrph, "to (be) a curse, a terror, a hissing and a byword".58

It would seem, then, that the expression pair, in whatever guise, is equivalent to the (twin) half-line, and each is used as an in- separable component of verse. This amounts to saying that the half-

53 Also Lam. i 7, 12, 18, 19, ii 2, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9, 11, 12, 14, 14, 18, 20, 21, 21, 22, 22, iii 2, 2, 4, 5, 8, 18, 19, 19, 38, 47, 47, 50, 63, iv 12, 21, 21, v 1 (without waw: ii 16, 19; note the repetitions in i 16 and iv 15). Avishur's assertion (n. 12), p. 624, that "the Book of Lamentations is fundamentally composed of verses rooted in expression pairs similar to those of the El Amarna letters" is a little sweeping but has a core of truth in it.

54 O'Connor (n. 7), pp. 380-1; B. Margalit, "Studia Ugaritica I: Introduction to Ugaritic Prosody", UF 7 (1975), pp. 289-313, esp. p. 294.

55 Die Prosareden desJeremiabuches (Berlin, 1973), esp. pp. 107-227. 56 Deut. iv 34, v 15, vii 19, xi 2, xxvi 8; 1 Kings viii 42; Jer. xxxii 21; Ezek.

xx 33, 34; Ps. cxxxvi 12; 2 Chron. vi 32; and with reversal of attributes, Jer. xxi 5. See Weippert, p. 76 and n. 217.

57 Jer. vii 33, xv 3, xvi 4, etc. This formula and its variants are set out in tabular form by Weippert, p. 185; see also pp. 184 and 186. To the texts cited by her add Dan. ii 38 (see next note).

58 Jer. xxix 8, etc., as tabulated by Weippert, p. 188. For the "build/plant - destroy" formula (with half-line parallelism) in Jer. xviii 7, 9, xxi 28, see Weip- pert, p. 194. IP formulas in Aramaic are also collected by P. W. Coxon, "The 'List' Genre and Narrative Style in the Court Tales of Daniel", JSOT 35 (1986), pp. 95-121; texts include sets of one and a half in Dan. ii 38, 47, and sets of two (according to Coxon, p. 100, a "fourfold list") in ii 2, 27, iii 21, iv 4 and v 11.

64




line corresponds to the formula of oral-formulaic theory. In essence, this is not a new suggestion since R. C. Culley put forward much the same proposal several years ago.59 However, my ap- proach is different from his. He was looking at Hebrew verse for the equivalent of the formula established by M. Parry and others and he isolated segments of verse-lines which seemed to fit metrical slots. Some of these segments are, in fact, half-lines.60 I have been examining symmetrical parallelism within the line, concluding that half-lines tend to be metrically interchangeable. In effect this means that Culley's definition of the formula must now be extended to include half-lines (the "half colon" in his terminology).61 This does not account for lines which cannot be split into half-lines, or are longer than two half-lines (perhaps even incorporating half-lines, as in Ps. lxvi 4 and elsewhere) or even shorter.

6. Stichometry

The isolation of lines with inner (half-line) parallelism is bound

up with determining the lineation of a poem or segment of verse. Occasionally, recognition of such lines can help solve problems of tricky stichometry. An example is Mic. vii 1:

(a) 'lly ly ky hyyty (b) k'spy-qys k'llwt bsyr (c) 'yn- skwl l'kwl (d) bkwrh 'wth npsy Woe is me! For I am like (after) the summer harvest, the grapes (already) gleaned. There is no cluster to eat, or ripe fig which my appetite craves.

Line (b) matches lines (c) and its parallel (d) in length, which may

59 Oral Formulaic Language in the Biblical Psalms (Toronto, 1967). He concludes (p. 118) "If the investigation of the preceding chapters is correct, it appears that the major device in Hebrew oral composition was the formula".

60 Examples are 'rk 'pym wrb hsd (Num. xiv 18, Exod. xxxiv 6; Joel ii 13; Jon. iv 2; Pss lxxxvi 15, ciii 8, cxlv 8) - Culley, pp. 62-3 (§55); swr mrc wCsh twb (Pss xxxiv 15, xxxvii 27) - Culley, p. 84, (§144); syrw lw zmrw lw (Ps. cv 2) - Culley, pp. 59-60, (§51, where the variants are listed) and 'syrh w'zmrh (Pss xxvii 6, lvii 8) - Culley, p. 75 (§102).

61 The coincidence of line and formula(ic phrase) is discussed by Culley, p. 29.

65




indicate the layout as above.62 Another difficult passage is Ps. x 17, set out above (3.1). 2 Kings v 26; Pss lix 13, lxii 4, lxxxviii 7, cxxx 5-6, cxxxv 6; Prov. vi 12-14, vii 7 and other passages also present problems of this nature which may be resolved by identifying lines with IP.

7. Closing comments

My evaluation of the material presented here clearly needs refinement. Aspects of metre have only been touched on (chiefly with reference to the formula), but the line with IP is evidently on a par with the acrostic as a means of defining metrical patterns. The contribution that "expressions pairs" or the twin half-line formula can make to the thorny problem of determining whether a passage is prose, poetry or "high-flown prose"63 has yet to be assessed. These problems must be held over for another occasion.

62 For different lineation cf. R. Vuilleumier and C.-A. Keller, Michee Nahoum Habacuc Sophonie (Neuchatel, 1971), p. 78, and W. Rudolph, Micha - Nahum - Habakuk - Zephanja (Giitersloh, 1975), pp. 120-1. For an explanation of 'lly cf. Wat- son (n. 8), p. 310.

63 My approximate rendering of "Kunstprosa", on which see Weippert (n. 55), pp. 76-81, esp. p. 80. Whether or not one can speak of "Entmetrisierung" in several stages (p. 78) remains to be determined.

66



Watson (1989) Internal or Half-Line Parallelism in Classical Hebrew Again

Documents

Transcript of Watson (1989) Internal or Half-Line Parallelism in Classical Hebrew Again