Literary Devices – Bereshit 17/0

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Literary Devices – Bereshit 17

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Key Words

  • ברית – Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the word “ברית” appears 13 times in this chapter, emphasizing the theme of the reciprocal covenant between Hashem and Avraham that is represented by the covenant of circumcision.1

Character Titles

God

Parallelism

Avraham’s response to Hashem’s promise of a son is structured parallelistically, lending it poetic structure:6

  • הַלְּבֶן מֵאָה שָׁנָה יִוָּלֵד /  וְאִם שָׂרָה הֲבַת תִּשְׁעִים שָׁנָה תֵּלֵד

Plays on Words

  • "וּלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ" – In verse 20, Hashem plays with the root "שמע".  Yishmael's name means "God will hear", and Hashem tells Avraham that He has indeed heard his plea, and will bless Yishmael as well.