Literary Devices – Shemot 13/0

Literary Devices – Shemot 13

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Key Words

חזק

• Tanakh Lab reveals that one of the most significant roots in the the chapter is "חזק".  Using the concordance to trace the usage of both the adjective and verbal root in Torah demnstrates that it repeats throughout the Exodus narrative, referring on one hand to Paroh's obstinance in preventing the Exodus and on the other to God's mighty hand which brings it about.
• Articles – See R. Nathaniel Helfgot שתי מילים מנחות בסיפור יציאת מצרים, who explores the usages of the two roots כבד and חזק, noting how the repetition of the roots demonstrates Hashem's measure for measure actions during the Exodus.¹

Character Titles

¹ For more general discussion of the phenomenon of keywords, see Martin Buber’s דרכו של מקרא: עיונים בדפוסי-סגנון בתנ”ך, Y. Amit and Jeffrey M. Green's ‘Leading Word’ and the Problems of Its Usage, and Professor Yonatan Grossman’s Leitwort.