2. The idea expressed by a verb is not unfrequently enforced by the addition of one or more synonymous ones, e. g. and Abraham breathed his last and died, Gen. 25: 8. Num. 20: 26., apti bop yop moban at her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down, Judg. we are sold, I and my נִמְכַּרְנוּ אֲנִי וְעַמִּי לְהַשְׁמִיד לַהֲרוֹג וּלְאַבֵּד,.5:27 people, to be destroyed, to be slain (see § 1026. 1. b. ß.), and to perish, Esth. 7: 4. 3. The repetition of sentences or clauses of sentences usually more or less varied is of extremely common occurrence in Hebrew, especially in poetry and in rhetorical language (for examples, see § 1127). § 1116. Besides these figures of syntax, the Hebrew has also in common with other languages the rhetorical figures of metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, allegory, &c. ; but as they give rise to no peculiarities of construction in the language, we shall pass them in silence with the exception of a few words on paranomasia. Paranomasia. § 1117. The figure called paranomasia, which is of such frequent occurrence in Oriental writings, is in Hebrew restricted for the most part to poetry, where it is employed to give an harmonious and rhythmical turn to the sentence, by the introduction of words of a similar sound whether of different or of synonymous meanings, either in immediate connection or in corresponding parts of the sentence. 1. a. Thus, two or more nouns of similar sound but different meaning are employed to produce a paranomasia in close connection, e. g. עֲזוּבָה .28:18 .the executioners and the runners, 2 Sam הַכְּרֵתִי וְהַפְּלֵתִי an שֶׁצֶף קֶצֶף .54:6 .forsaken and oppressed in spirit, Is וַעֲצוּבַת רוּחַ ,he looked for judgment וַיְקַו לְמִשְׁפָּט וְהִנֵּה מִשְׁפָּה לִצְדָקָה וְהִנֵּה צְעָקָה effusion of wrath, 54: 8.; and sometimes in parallel positions, e. g. but behold (there was) bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold (there was) wailing, Is. 5:7., EN O N D to give them beauty for ashes, 61: 3. b. Nouns of the same or nearly the same form but of different meanings are also employed in close connection, e. g. inn nba with the jaw-bone of an ass (I have slain) heaps upon heaps, the implements of the crafty (are) evil, among the smooth places of the valley (is) thy portion, 57: 6., it shall come from the Almighty Judg. 15: 16., like a tempest, Joel 1:15.; and likewise in parallel positions, e. g. he had thirty sons, who rode on thirty asses' colts, and they had thirty cities, Judg. 10:4., on ng on bipp like the crackling of thorns under a pot, Eccl. 7: 6. 2. Two or more nouns of similar sound and meaning are not unfre. quently used in connection for the sake of emphasis, e. g. na ana emptiness and vacuity, meaning, utterly empty, desolate, Gen. 1:2., so a fugitive and a vagabond, 4:12., Ny dust and ashes, 18:27. Job 30: 19.; fear, the pit, and the snare, Is. 24:17., pa na empty, and void, and desolate, Nah. 2:11. §1118. This play upon words is likewise found in verbs, either with one another or with nouns. Thus, 1. A paranomasia is formed by two verbs of similar sound but entirely ,if ye do not believe אִם לֹא תַאֲמִינוּ כִי לֹא תֵאָמֵנוּ .different meaning, e. g then shall ye not be established, Is. 7:9, many shall see and shall fear, Ps. 40: 4.; or by two verbs similar both in sound and meaning, c. g. rian ring 787 pian pian the land shall be utterly emptied and utterly despoiled, Is. 24: 3, 4., 7 DYJA) DYA) then the earth shook and trembled, Ps. 18: 8. 2. A paranomasia is also formed by means of a verb and noun of וְשְׁלַחְתִּי לְבָבֶל זָרִים וְזֵרוּהָ .similar sound but of dissimilar import, e. g an end is come, the end is come, it patches קֵץ בָּא בָּא הַקֵץ הֵקִיץ אֵלָיִךְ I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall disperse her, Jer. 51: 2., for thee, Ezek. 7:6.; and also by such as being formed from the same root are alike both in sound and meaning (see § 837. 1.), e. g. qiy The will certainly give thee a violent tossing, Is. 22: 18. he shall kindle a burning like the burning יֵקַד יְקֹד כִּיקוד אֵשׁ .24:16 of a fire, 10:16., tion (see § 789. 2.), Mic. 2: 4. he shall lament with a doleful lamenta § 1119. Proper nouns are also found making a paranomasia both with nouns and verbs of a similar sound: thus with nouns, e. g. and he looked at the Keniles, .... putting אֶת־הַכֵּנִי.... שִׂים בַּסֶלַע קְנָּךְ thy nest in a rock, Num. 24: 21., the houses of Achzib (shall become) a lie, &c. Mic. 1:14, 15.; with verbs, e. g. p? NAN Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise, 49: 8, 16, 19. יְהוּדָה,.9:27 .God shall make room for Japheth, Gen אֱלֹהִים לְיֶפֶת :tell it not at Gath בְּגַת אַל־תַּגִּידוּ .... בְבֵית לְעַפְרָה עָפָר הִתְפַּלְשִׁי,.c& at Beth-l'aphrah roll thyself in the dust, Mic. 1:10, 11., Gaza (shall be) forsaken, Zeph. 2:4. HY BOOK FOURTH. PROSODY. CHAPTER I. CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY. * 1120. THE peculiar characteristics which distinguish Hebrew poetry from prose, have formed an interesting subject of inquiry among the learned of various ages and nations, whose investigations have been crowned with very different degrees of success. Thus Josephus hesitates not to affirm, that in Hebrew poetry are to be found both hexameter and tetrameter verses. Philo also in several passages of his writings maintains that Moses was acquainted with metre. These opinions, although delivered to the world almost without any attempt to prove their correctness, obtained from their antiquity sufficient authority to induce later adventurers in this path of research, among whom were Gomarus,† Hare, Greve,§ and others of nearly equal celebrity, to seek for the characteristic attributes of the poetry of the ancient Hebrews in external decorations of metre and rhythm analogous to those in which are clothed the productions of the Grecian and Roman muse; for these they were led to regard as requisites of such paramount importance, that no composition from which they were excluded could properly be considered as entitled to the name of poetry. But as all their laborious attempts to discover or invent a code of metrical laws adapted to the writings of the Hebrew poets and prophets utterly failed of success, they came to the conclusion that the true • Antiquities, b. 2. c. 16. § 4., b. 7. c. 12. § 3. Prolegomena in Psalmos. † Davidis Lyra. § Tractatus de Metris Hebræorum. pronunciation of the language must have been lost, and with it all possibility of ever arriving at a knowledge of the ancient prosodial system. § 1121. That the preconceived notions with which they set out on their examination were false, and that, from erroneously regarding mere accessories as essentials, they still continued to seek in the Hebrew that which never had an existence there, has been most satisfactorily proved by the subsequent labours of Lowth,* and of his followers De Wette,† Herder,‡ and others. The conclusion at which these scholars have arrived, and which the author's own examination of the subject leads him to regard as in the main correct, is that the most important features which distinguish Hebrew poetry from prose consist in the nature of its subjects, its mode of treating them, and the more ornate character of its style, which again give rise to peculiarities in the structure of sentences and in the choice of words. § 1122. The ground of the difference observable between the poetry of other nations and that of the Hebrews, lies in the fact that the prosodies of the former prescribe certain strict and undeviating limits, within which the poet is compelled to move in the expression of his feelings; such as the length of the verses, the arrangement of the syllables composing them according to quantity, the place of the cesura, &c., to which moderns have added the regular recurrence of like endings, or rhymes. The sacred Hebrew muse, on the contrary, maintaining her primitive simplicity, lays down no arbitrary laws of versification with which to fetter the genius of the poet; she requires of her votary neither more nor less than that he should find himself in that state of excited and exalted feeling which is necessary to the production of all genuine poetry, and possess the power of delineating his emotions with truth and vigour. In order therefore to describe with accuracy the true characteristics of the poetry of the Hebrews, and to clearly define those external attributes by which it is accompanied, we must first examine into the causes which concur to produce all poetry, and at the same time render it so widely different from prose. § 1123. Prose is the result of the regular and quiet operation of the intellectual faculties when free from the influence of strong emotion. Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, Lect. XIX. † Einleitung in die Psalmen; trans. by Prof. Torrey in the Biblical Repository, Vol. III. No. 11. Art. I. Geist der hebräischen Poesie; trans. by Prof. J. Marsh. As it thus forms the vehicle for the communication of steadily progressive trains of thought, carried on either at the time of composition or at some period previous to the incorporation of the ideas into words, the tranquillity of the mind is necessarily reflected in the nature of the language itself. But it is not so with poetry, which is the outpouring of a mind raised by excitement above the ordinary tone of feeling. Every faculty of the soul is then brought into unwonted exercise: and hence the language of poetry becomes animated, figurative, and often abrupt; forming a lively representation of the activity of the internal emotions, which, like the ocean-waves, are in a constant state of alternate elevation and depression, and give rise at each fresh impulse to a new expression of feeling. § 1124. The chief distinction then between prose and poetry is this: that while the structure of the former exhibits a regular current of thoughts, poured forth in uninterrupted succession; the latter consists for the most part of short sentences, the products of sudden and momentary impressions and impulses. These sentences bear a mutual relation to each other, both in form and in signification: for rarely does it happen that the strength of an emotion is expended at a single impulse; the tide of feeling does not at once totally subside in such manner as to leave the mind accessible to new impressions, but rushes back with greater or less force, its second expression forming as it were the echo of the first. §1125. Hence the language of the poetry of nature, in addition to the general conciseness of its style, is further distinguished from that of prose by a repetition of each idea as it successively arises; and this proceeds from the difficulty experienced by the excited mind in passing onwards from one subject to another in regular succession. These secondary ideas, however, differ materially in the relations which they bear to their primitives: frequently they are little more than the echo of the sentiment which has been expressed; sometimes they even exceed it in force and brilliancy, while at others they appear but as faint imitations or mere outlines to be filled out from the first; and again a sudden revulsion of feeling may cause them to assume a directly opposite form, although preserving the same general tendency. All these circumstances of course produce corresponding varieties in the language of poetry, which, though maintaining a certain uniform brevity in the length of its sentences, adapts itself completely to the nice delineation of every shade of emotion that passes through the mind. |