TIP OF THE DAY 116: Speaking with style - miscellaneous

MJ. Smith

I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day

QUESTION: What figures are included in Parks, James. Wordplay in the Bible. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021.?

SOFTWARE: Note this analysis includes links to discussions of the reference and figure. Only figures with a discussion are included.

ANSWER:

Acrostic — A literary device that is based on visual representation. An acrostic uses a language's alphabet to order a text with the first word of a regularly patterned line scheme with successive letters of the alphabet. In Hebrew, vowels are excluded from acrostics.

Alliteration — The broadest category for this dataset. Alliteration is the repetition of one or multiple consonants across a span of text. Alliteration can be paired with assonance as well. There are several types of alliteration which can be further categorized (Same Beginning, Same Ending, Parasonance, and some that occur infrequently enough that they were left as alliteration). Alliteration does not have to fit a specific pattern, but often does.

Anagram — A literary device that repeats all the letters of another word in a different order. This is a specific form of alliteration. In Hebrew, the consonants are the main focus of the anagram.

Assonance — Assonance is the repetition of one or multiple vowels across a span of text. Assonance can be paired with alliteration as well. Assonance is not as common in Hebrew wordplay, as it is in Greek.

Homonymic Parallelism — A specific type of alliteration and assonance where multiple words that have the same form, but differing derivations are repeated across a span of text. This device is contrasted to Lemma Parallelism. Both cases present multiple words that look the same, or differ only in morphological presentation. However, they differ in the historical relationship between the words. Lemma Parallelism presents words with a shared etymology, and Homonymic Parallelism presents words with different etymologies.

Ironic Wordplay — A literary device where the reader’s / hearer’s expectations are subverted. Because this is a dataset built around wordplay, the instances of Ironic Wordplay that have been annotated only include cases where the irony also includes an instance of wordplay from one of the other categories in this taxonomy. The larger instances of literary irony are not included in this dataset. For example, the irony found in Judges 4:9-21 is found in the fulfillment of the prophetic promise that “the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” (Judges 4:9) The promise is fulfilled when Jael takes a tent peg in her hand and kills Sisera with it. The repetition of (יָד) “hand” is why this irony is included as an ironic wordplay.

Lemma Parallelism — A specific type of alliteration and assonance where multiple words that possess the same root are repeated across a span of text. There is a specific Hebrew syntactic pattern (geminate parallelism) where the three root letters of a Hebrew verb are repeated for emphasis that uses this literary device for a specific semantic effect (emphasis). This device is contrasted to Homonymic Parallelism. Both cases present multiple words that look the same, or differ only in morphological presentation. However, they differ in the historical relationship between the words. Lemma Parallelism presents words with a shared etymology, and Homonymic Parallelism presents words with different etymologies.

One-through-Two (Hendiadys) — A literary device that pairs words with similar semantic domains. The pair of words usually convey a single concept. The single idea can be a broader concept than the two words used in the hendiadys, or more narrow. The instances that are captured in this dataset must have some sense of wordplay between the two words. Usually there is some alliteration or rhyme between the two words.

Parasonance — A specific type of alliteration and assonance where multiple words that differ in a single root letter are repeated across a span of text. The words can have differing morphological realization and be considered Parasonance. This device is only used in Hebrew, since Greek does not use the three root letter system for word formation.

Pun — A literary device where an unexpected word, or sense of a word is used in place of an expected one. The word that is used in place of the expected word sounds similar to the one that is replaced.

Rhyme — A literary device where the final sound of a word is repeated across a span of text. The repeated sound includes at least a final vowel sound, but can include the entire final syllable of the rhyming words.

Same Beginning (Homoeoprophoron) — A literary device where the initial sounds of a word are repeated across a span of text. The repeated sounds are a combination of consonant and vowel sounds. This device implies alliteration and assonance since there is necessarily repetition of consonants and vowels. The ‘initial sounds of a word’ is not a specific number of letters or sounds, but it is, at least, the repetition of the first syllable of a word in the initial syllable of other words.

Same Ending (Homoioteleuton) — A literary device where the final sounds of a word are repeated across a span of text. The repeated sounds are a combination of consonant and vowel sounds. This device implies alliteration and assonance since there is necessarily repetition of consonants and vowels. The ‘final sounds of a word’ is not a specific number of letters or sounds. But in order to distinguish Homoioteleuton from Rhyme, the repeated sounds include more than the final syllable.[1]

QUESTION: Give some examples of the tagging of miscellaneous figures in the Bible.

ANSWER: Drawn from the list of common Biblical figures and tropes shared earlier.

Idiom: Expression with a non-literal meaning

Example: Lamentations 2:15

figureofSpeech:(description:Idiom AND name:Idioma)

Antithesis: Contrasting ideas expressed in parallel structure

Example: Isaiah 1:21

figureofSpeech:(description:Contrast AND name:Antithesis)

Paradox: Seemingly contradictory statement that may be true

Example: Matthew 10:39

Logos coding does not attest to this, however a search for paradox INTERSECTS milestone:Bible:"Matthew 10:39" against commentaries confirms this analysis:

From Morison, James. Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew. London; Glasgow: Hamilton, Adams & Co.; Thomas D. Morison, 1870. “Ver. 39. A pair of Christian Paradoxes.———He that findeth his life, shall lose it:—Or, still more literally, He who found his life, shall lose it. The Saviour steps forward in thought to the consummation of things, and thence looks backward to each man’s past, and forward to each man’s future. Hence the two tenses, past and future,—found and shall lose. The pith of the paradox lies in the two-sidedness of human life,—its under side on earth and in time, and its upper side in heaven and throughout eternity. Whosoever prefers the former to the latter, and is determined at all hazards to conserve and enjoy the former, whatsoever may become of the latter, will lose the latter. In finding his life in the one respect, on the lesser side of things, he loses it in the other, on the greater side of things.———And he who loses his life,—or, more literally, And he who lost his life,—for my sake, shall find it:—The counter-part paradox. He who is found at the last day to have lost his earthly life for Christ’s sake, shall find the heavenly and eternal life. The paradox has special applicability to martyrs. But as the essence of martyrdom is in the spirit, the paradox is true of all such as are prepared to lose for Christ’s sake the earth-ward life, with all its present sweets. They who have this preparation of the spirit must, in the great majority of instances, part with many of the sweets. They must submit to actual loss as regards earth-ward life. The offence of the cross has by no means ceased. Hate to Christ and Christliness has not vanished from the earth.[2]”

From Carter, Warren. Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading. Vol. 204. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000. “Loyalty to Jesus, third, has eschatological consequences. The initial finding-losing paradox is difficult but is clarified by the context and the contrast in 10:39b. To find one’s life (existence; 2:20; 6:25; 10:28) is to decide against the way of the cross and its confrontation with the status quo. It is to decide for what is safe, for self-interest. It is to be intimidated into compliance by the elite’s threat to crucify those who resist. It is to preserve one’s life from the persecutors. But this choice for safety is to lose life in the judgment (already under way) because a disciple has not been constant in acknowledging Jesus (10:32–33).Conversely in the context of 10:16–38, to lose one’s life for my sake (10:18, 22) is to die because of life lived in relation to God, at the hands of persecutors in the task of mission to which Jesus sends disciples. It is to identify with those who resist and contest the empire, with the marginal (10:38). On for my sake see 10:18, 22. But death is not the end (10:28). To find life in the subversive way of the cross is to find it in an act that refuses to give the elite the power of intimidation and conformity which it craves. To find (future tense) life is to enter into the fullness of God’s purposes in the new age (10:15, 22b, 32–33).[3]”

wordplay:type:topic:"Ironic Wordplay" is the Logos analysis which is supported in Parks, James. Wordplay in the Bible. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021 by “The irony is base on the semantic contrast between the phrase “one who finds his life” (εὑρὼντὴνψυχὴνheurōn tēn psychēn) and the phrase “one who loses his life” (ἀπολέσαςτὴνψυχὴνapolesas tēn psychēn). The use of these two phrases counters expectations of the hearer or reader of the saying. Why would losing life “one who loses his life” (ἀπολέσαςτὴνψυχὴνapolesas tēn psychēn), help you find life “one who finds his life” (εὑρὼντὴνψυχὴνheurōn tēn psychēn)? The irony helps the reader see that a figurative interpretation of the saying is necessary. The semantic contradiction created by the use of the phrase “one who finds his life” (εὑρὼντὴνψυχὴνheurōn tēn psychēn) and “one who loses his life” (ἀπολέσαςτὴνψυχὴνapolesas tēn psychēn) in this passage, counters the reader or hearers expectations. This countering of expectations is what creates the irony. [4]”

Prolepsis: Anticipating and answering objections in advance

Example: Romans 10:18

figureofSpeech:(description:Anticipation AND name:"Prolepsis (Occupatio)")

Anaphora: Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

Example: 1 Corinthians 13:4

figureofSpeech:(description:"like Sentence-Beginnings" AND name:Anaphora)

[1] James Parks, Wordplay in the Bible (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021).

[2] James Morison, Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew (London; Glasgow: Hamilton, Adams & Co.; Thomas D. Morison, 1870), 186.

[3] Warren Carter, Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading, vol. 204, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 244.

[4] James Parks, Wordplay in the Bible (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021), Mt 10:39.