Literary Devices – Bereshit 1/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 1

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Repetition

In his article, Epiphora, Professor Yonatan Grossman has pointed out the numerous literary devices that Tanakh uses to convey the harmonious, orderly nature of creation:¹ 

Epiphora

Epiphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses: 

• The creation story is built around the repetition of the phrase “and it was evening and it was morning, ____ day.”  
• “‘Let there be a sky in the midst of the water/ And it will be a separator between water and water’" (1:6)
• "And God made the sky/ And He separated between the water which was below the sky/ And the water above the sky" (1:7)
• "The land produced vegetation – plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds” (1:12). 
• “God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.” (1:25)

Alliteration:

The Torah begins with the alliteration of the words “bereshit bara.”

Assonance

Assonace is repetition of the same vowelization with different consonants: 

• “tohu vavohu” (1:2);
• “peru urevu” (1:22, 1:28)
• “betzalmenu kedemutenu” (1:26).

Concatenation

(linking together of phrases):

• the heavens and the land. And the land was ...” (1:1-2).

Character Titles

¹ He writes, "The literary structure here is not mere artifice; the echoing words, consonants, and vowels in this story are connected to the Torah's theme – the Creation of the Universe is an ordered, planned, and organized process."