Difference between revisions of "Literary Devices – Bemidbar 24/0"
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<category>Parallelism | <category>Parallelism | ||
<p>Balak's blessings are phrased poetically and, like much Biblical poetry, are marked by parallism.</p> | <p>Balak's blessings are phrased poetically and, like much Biblical poetry, are marked by parallism.</p> | ||
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| − | <p>The verbal root “ראה” appears | + | <p>The verbal root “ראה” appears five times in this chapter, and is a key word of chapters 22-24. Other words relating to sight appear multiple times in the unit as well. Thus, “עין” (eye) appears four times in Chapter 22 and six times here, and the roots שור, נבט and חזה (all meaning to look, view or gaze) each appear one or two times in the unit. These words highlight the theme of prophecy/vision, which is granted only to those whom God chooses (even a donkey) and cannot be manipulated as Balak imagines.</p> |
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Version as of 12:01, 9 June 2024
Literary Devices – Bemidbar 24
Parallelism
Balak's blessings are phrased poetically and, like much Biblical poetry, are marked by parallism.
Examples
- מָה אֶקֹּב לֹא קַבֹּה אֵל / וּמָה אֶזְעֹם לֹא זָעַם י״י
- כִּי מֵרֹאשׁ צֻרִים אֶרְאֶנּוּ / וּמִגְּבָעוֹת אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ
- לֹא הִבִּיט אָוֶן בְּיַעֲקֹב / וְלֹא רָאָה עָמָל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
Articles
For more information about the nature of Biblical parallelism, see Dr. Mayer I. Gruber’s article The Meaning of Biblical Parallelism: A Biblical Perspective and Dr. Adele Berlin’s Grammatical Aspects of Biblical Parallelism.1
Key Words
Sight
The verbal root “ראה” appears five times in this chapter, and is a key word of chapters 22-24. Other words relating to sight appear multiple times in the unit as well. Thus, “עין” (eye) appears four times in Chapter 22 and six times here, and the roots שור, נבט and חזה (all meaning to look, view or gaze) each appear one or two times in the unit. These words highlight the theme of prophecy/vision, which is granted only to those whom God chooses (even a donkey) and cannot be manipulated as Balak imagines.
"קרה"
- Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the verb “קרה" is 115 times more prevalent in this chapter than in the rest of Tanakh. In Rashi’s view (verse 4), this verb reflects the inferior nature of Bilam’s revelation of Hashem, for it is as if Hashem only "happens" upon him.
