Difference between revisions of "Literary Devices – Bereshit 6-9/0"
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<category>Wordplay (לשון נופל על לשון) | <category>Wordplay (לשון נופל על לשון) | ||
<p>In Parashat Noach, the language with which Hashem promises destruction plays on and parallels the language with which humanity’s sins are described.  In this case, the purpose of the wordplay is to underscore man’s unwitting responsibility for his own fate: </p> | <p>In Parashat Noach, the language with which Hashem promises destruction plays on and parallels the language with which humanity’s sins are described.  In this case, the purpose of the wordplay is to underscore man’s unwitting responsibility for his own fate: </p> | ||
| + | <ul> | ||
| + | <li><b>Sin</b> – <span style="color: #ff0000;">וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ</span> <span style="color: #ff0000;">לִפְנֵי</span> הָאֱלֹהִים <span style="color: #ff0000;">וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס</span>. (בראשית ו':י"א)</li> | ||
| + | <li><b>Punishment</b> –  קֵץ כׇּל בָּשָׂר בָּא <span style="color: #ff0000;">לְפָנַי</span> כִּי <span style="color: #ff0000;">מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס</span> מִפְּנֵיהֶם וְהִנְנִי <span style="color: #ff0000;">מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ</span>. (בראשית ו':י"ג)</li> | ||
| + | </ul> | ||
</category> | </category> | ||
<category>Triple "ויאמר" | <category>Triple "ויאמר" | ||
| − | <p>In many verses, one finds that the word "וַיֹּאמֶר" is mentioned twice despite there not being an an intervening response or explicit change in speaker in between. This might indicate resistance or opposition of some sort on the part of the other participants in the conversation. [For further discussion of the phenomenon and many other examples, see <a href="Literary:Redundancy" data-aht="page">Redundancy</a>.]</p><ul> | + | <p>In many verses, one finds that the word "וַיֹּאמֶר" is mentioned twice despite there not being an an intervening response or explicit change in speaker in between. This might indicate resistance or opposition of some sort on the part of the other participants in the conversation. [For further discussion of the phenomenon and many other examples, see <a href="Literary:Redundancy" data-aht="page">Redundancy</a>.]</p> |
| + | <ul> | ||
<li>The first example of this convention is found in Bereshit 9:8-17, where Hashem promises Noach not to send another flood in verse 8. This is followed by another statement in verse 12, introduced by a second "וַיֹּאמֶר", that the rainbow will be the sign of the covenant, and then by a third "וַיֹּאמֶר" statement in verse 17 where the sign is confirmed.</li> | <li>The first example of this convention is found in Bereshit 9:8-17, where Hashem promises Noach not to send another flood in verse 8. This is followed by another statement in verse 12, introduced by a second "וַיֹּאמֶר", that the rainbow will be the sign of the covenant, and then by a third "וַיֹּאמֶר" statement in verse 17 where the sign is confirmed.</li> | ||
<li>Robert Alter<fn>See his commentary to Sefer Bereshit.</fn> explains: “Here, God flatly states His promise never to destroy the world again. The flood-battered Noah evidently needs further reassurance, so God goes on ... to offer the rainbow as an outward token of His covenant.”</li> | <li>Robert Alter<fn>See his commentary to Sefer Bereshit.</fn> explains: “Here, God flatly states His promise never to destroy the world again. The flood-battered Noah evidently needs further reassurance, so God goes on ... to offer the rainbow as an outward token of His covenant.”</li> | ||
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</category> | </category> | ||
<category>Keywords | <category>Keywords | ||
| − | + | Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the three words that appear with greatest frequency in the story of the flood (Bereshit 6:5-9:29) are: אֶרֶץ, תֵּבָה, and מַיִם, and when looking at relative frequency compared to the rest of Tanakh, also מבול. Given the plot of the story, this is somewhat expected. | |
| + | <subcategory>תֵּבָה | ||
| + | This word appears a full 26 times in the narrative, with the only other appearances of the word in all of Tanakh being in the story of baby Moshe in the Nile. | ||
| + | </subcategory> | ||
| + | <subcategory>אֶרֶץ and  מַיִם | ||
| + | Together, these two words appear close to 70 times in the unit. Interestingly, the pair also appear a very significant number of times in the Creation narrative (over 30 times!).<fn>See the Tanakh Lab that the chapter most linguistically similar to the Flood narrative is Bereshit 1. For discussion of the parallels see <a href="The Flood Story: Undoing and Redoing Creation" data-aht="page"> Undoing and Redoing Creation</a> and for other articles, see <a href="Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 6-9" data-aht="page">Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 6-9</a>.</fn> | ||
| + | </subcategory> | ||
| + | <subcategory>מַבּוּל | ||
| + | </subcategory> | ||
</category> | </category> | ||
</page> | </page> | ||
</aht-xml> | </aht-xml> | ||
Version as of 03:26, 4 July 2023
Literary Devices – Bereshit 6–9
Chiastic Structure
One of the most prominent literary conventions in Tanakh is the use of chiastic structure (a-b-c-b-a). Chiastic structure serves to delineate a narrative unit and to highlight the turning-point within the narrative. Often too, it serves to highlight reversals in a plot. In this case it traces the destruction of the world through flood, and then the waning of the flood and decision never to destroy the world again.
Wordplay (לשון נופל על לשון)
In Parashat Noach, the language with which Hashem promises destruction plays on and parallels the language with which humanity’s sins are described. In this case, the purpose of the wordplay is to underscore man’s unwitting responsibility for his own fate:
- Sin – וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס. (בראשית ו':י"א)
- Punishment – קֵץ כׇּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי כִּי מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס מִפְּנֵיהֶם וְהִנְנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ. (בראשית ו':י"ג)
Triple "ויאמר"
In many verses, one finds that the word "וַיֹּאמֶר" is mentioned twice despite there not being an an intervening response or explicit change in speaker in between. This might indicate resistance or opposition of some sort on the part of the other participants in the conversation. [For further discussion of the phenomenon and many other examples, see Redundancy.]
- The first example of this convention is found in Bereshit 9:8-17, where Hashem promises Noach not to send another flood in verse 8. This is followed by another statement in verse 12, introduced by a second "וַיֹּאמֶר", that the rainbow will be the sign of the covenant, and then by a third "וַיֹּאמֶר" statement in verse 17 where the sign is confirmed.
- Robert Alter1 explains: “Here, God flatly states His promise never to destroy the world again. The flood-battered Noah evidently needs further reassurance, so God goes on ... to offer the rainbow as an outward token of His covenant.”
