Judges 5: 24-27 defines the extent of Lowth’s parallelism and goes further than what he previously conceived and through the analysis of this Hebrew poetry that describes the death of Sisera at the hands of Jael, many instances of parallelism are used along with this order of consequentiality and repetition and patterning in order to convey a vivid sense of imagery.
Each verse within the passage exhibits its own form of parallelism and beginning with Judges 5:24, there is an example of synthetic parallelism, specifically staircase parallelism, in which the beginning of the parallel lines begins with the same phrase – “Most blessed woman” – and moves beyond the first. This form of parallelism shows how Jael’s title is escalated to not only
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say that she is most blessed, but that she is the most blessed among the women in the tents, which is logical because she is the wife of Heber. This verse also displays a ABAB pattering in which “most blessed of” and “women” are found throughout the verse in the ABAB order. This is used for the emphasis of Jael as truly blessed and demonstrating that she has God on her side. In the next verse, Judges 5:25, parallelism is also established in the two lines. Although this verse seems to fall under an antithesis parallelism because it has a negative outcome, the two lines only build off of each other and are thus synthetic. The first line of the verse tells us that Sisera asked for water, but Jael gave him milk instead, which is an outright rebellion against his wishes. The next line then builds from the first and describes Jael serving him curded milk in a “bowl fit for nobles”. Although the last half of each sentence is the same, the lines as a whole are not synonymous and they do not oppose each other, the only other option is that they are lines that work together, but not much analysis can be draw from just parallelism. Alter, however, does describe this effect of consequentiality to show an intensification of acts or verses within a text. This is shown between the two lines because when he asks simply for water, she delivers to him milk, then to make the matter worse, the next line describes the milk as curded, which further proves that it is dairy instead of water and the fact that she is not going to give him what he asks for. Verse 26 demonstrates the first example of synonymous parallelism in which the two lines are parallel in a manner that describe the same event.
In the first line, it describes Jael going for the “tent peg” so that she can kill Sisera. The second line, however, says the same thing but emphasizes that she uses her “right hand” and grabs a “workman’s hammer”. The change is subtle, but it is very telling of the actions Jael is about to take. By changing “hand” to “right hand”, by looking at different instances in biblical texts, “right” can be taken to mean that which is correct and proper. This might not necessarily mean that this is correct and proper, but this is what the author is trying to convey in using this parallelism. The change from “tent peg” to “workman’s hammer”, this demonstrates that this a not just a tool, but a task that Jael must take on for herself, a duty that she has. This parallelism also introduces a consequentiality through intensification of description of both the hand and the hammer. The next two lines also show a synonymous parallelism. The third line describes the moment when “Jael struck Sisera” and “crushed his head” while the fourth line emphasizes the action by translating to “shattered” and “pierced his temple”. This more than exaggerates the action Jael takes and for good measure in order to show that it was very violent through its
consequentiality. In Judges 5:27, the verse shows more repetition than parallelism, but non the less it would be closer to a synonymous parallelism. All four lines describe his death as he fell to the ground, and very dramatically so. There is not much change between the verses except where we find consequentiality in that only the last two lines admit that he dies. The verse does hold an anaphora in the phrase “At her feet he sank, he fell”. This is most likely used to emphasize his death and to dramatize the moment. The last line of this verse differs with second in which “lay” is replaced with “fell” which is used most likely to epitomize his death.
This imagery has to do with aggression that the narrator alleges God of perpetrating against the victim of this lynching. The narrator claims that “you (God) dug your nails in his ribs” and “pierced knives into his breast,” (Yehoash 107 line 24-26). These lines discuss the victims body as if it were violated by God, and the harm caused to the body was a result of Gods actions. This is a very contentious claim made by the author as he uses this imagery to parallel a crucifixion and blame a higher power. The textual echo has traversed from describing an anonymous body in harm, to explaining that harm has lead to death, to finally finding somebody to blame for that death. This textual echo both helps the reader to visual the victim of this lynching, while also understanding the train of thought that the author is going through in this
All of this is brought to the reader by an abundant use of figurative language throughout the song. For Instance, the scaffold the man is standing on symbolizes his position in life (he is scared and wants to escape. In the third stanza, after describing the problems with his world and how he prays, he curses the windstorms. This is actually a metaphor for his mental confusion and despair. In the next stanza, the prestige of the boardroom is made evident by the allusion of it towards a pharoahs tomb. We know in the end that he has pulled it all together when he calls his “crystal clear canvas” (the windows) a “masterpiece” . He has given value to his work and thus, value to his life.
The vengeance sought in this poem actually predates the story. It goes back to Biblical times
“the gods have made you mad. They have that power, putting lunacy into the clearest head around or setting a half-wit on the path of sense. They unhinged you, and you were once so sane. Why do you mock me? – haven’t I wept enough?” (23.12-16)
In order to expose the essential biblical symbols found in “In the Penal Colony”, Fowler briefly reconstructs major narrative developments. The first, and most evident biblical symbol is found in the commandments of the penal colony. The old commandment implemented a bizarre and merciless system of justice, which is clearly exemplified in their basic and guiding principle “Guilt is always beyond a doubt”(Kafka7). This guiding principle serves as the matter of punishment on how the sentence is carried, in which the officer gives a detailed reason to why the condemned man does not know his sentence, “It would be useless to give him that information. He experiences it on his own body”(Kafka7). The implementation of this principal tenet as said by the officer, is done by the “Apparatus” the deadly machine that inputs justice on the body of the condemn man. In this stage is evident that the intrinsic value of the old commandment is as Fowler states, “human existence is essentially character...
The judge sits up and behind him the full width of the wall is filled with a magnificent painting. It is a painting of angels with harsh faces and flaming swords, guarding the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed. Guarding them against the approach of a man in a business suit and black gown, trying to read something clever out of a black book. At the other end of the room was a crowd of people waiting up eagerly in anticipation for the trial of Eugene Debs. Judge David Westenhaver was a magisterial looking man with a taut facial expression. His words came off kindly but with a revealing tone—he was not so magisterial as he appeared.
Psalms 3, 18, and 63 have headings that are related to the historical event described in the books of Samuel. The headings in the passages in each Psalms have similar themes to the passages related in 1 and 2 Samuel. They portray the mood and feelings that David would have felt while encountering those events. Although it is difficult to identify if these headings were specifically related to the Psalms, it is clear that readers are able to understand the psalm better with these headings. According to Nogalski, the connections of the headings in each Psalms “suggests that the psalms were used to clarify and sharpen the narrative or David’s character” (2001, p. 169). Since these Psalms portray an individual psalm, the headings provide a setting
The Book of Hosea is one among the several books of the Hebrew scripture and appears as the first in the order of the twelve Minor Prophets. The term ‘minor’ refers to the length and not the importance of the books when compared to the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah. All the twelve minor books are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Haggai & Malachi (Feinberg, 1990). Hosea was instructed by God to marry a prostitute, by the name of Gomer, who symbolized covenantal relationship between Israel and him (God). Hosea’s prophesies were unique in the sense that they were relayed through the names given to his children. This paper seeks to give an illustrative description on the first chapter of the book of Hosea.
Judas Iscariot tells the story of a tumultuous court case to decide whether Judas Iscariot should go to hell. The play opens with Judas’s mother describing having to bury her only son alone and in “empty, acrid silence”(Guirgis, 2). The scene shifts to a twenty-first century courtroom in downtown Purgatory. We are introduced to Fabiana Cunnigham, Judas’s defense lawyer and to Yusef El-Fayoumy, the prosecutor. The judge denies Fabiana’s writ from Saint Peter and aruges
Dismayed by his poor fortune, Boethius’s question regarding how a just God could allow evil into His world generates the idea of a simultaneous yet omnipresent God. Boethius relates his experience with injustice with the actions of God saying, “It is nothing short of monstrous that god should look on while every criminal is allowed to achieve his purpose against the innocent. If this is so, it was hardly without reason that one of your household asked where evil comes from if there is a god, and where good comes from if there isn’t.”(Book 1, Prose 4)
While the value of some of the historical documents is universally recognized as repositories of religious truth, they are inferior to the canonical scriptures. “Ancient writers assumed that their listeners would correctly interpret a symbol by making the necessary comparison. Actual settings of the literary genres used by ancient writers is necessary for interpretation of the Bible’s many and marvelous symbols.”
1. Throughout Judges, the recurring, downward spiral-like theme reappears with each Judge that is raised up by YHWH. While it begins with the depiction of the general people of Israel being disobedient, you begin to see that even the Judges, appointed by YHWH, were fallible. Whether it was Gideon’s lack of faith and continued distrust in YHWH, or Samson’s indiscretions and immense pride, the Judges proved that no leader was blameless in breaking the covenant with YHWH, it was not just the people, but those YHWH called Himself. So as Israel moves towards a monarch, how will these patterns continue? Will the fallibility of man, even in the ones that God calls to reign be a continued issue in the covenant with Israel? 1 Samuel uses fewer characters with a more in-depth look at each and the fallibility of man and the relationship with God.
He was an avenger, a messenger of God. His mission to rid the nation’s capital of immoral women. Prostitutes feared him. Now they walked the streets in pairs. In their terror, they still pursued their wicked trade. At times, he saw them huddled to gather in groups of three or four. They reminded him of children in a thunderstorm.
The divine presence of God is inescapable, for phrases such as “the Living God” (line 2), “counteracts the Devil” (26), and “the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt” (35) are abundant. Moreover, the “sacred” number seven is emphasized; Smart mentions Jeoffry’s first divine action as “wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness” (4) and that “one mouse in seven escapes by [Jeoffry’s] dallying” (22). Harkening back to the Ten Commandments, Smart compile...
Traditionally, this question is some form of, “from which culture, cultures, or Hebraic movements did Second Temple apocalyptic authors borrow concepts, ideas, and imagery for their material?” The answer to that question is then posited as the source for Second Temple apocalyptic material. The problem, however, is this question invites correlation fallacies; older literature correlating with apocalyptic literature are assumed to be sources. To avoid that fallacy, the work herein incorporates comparative literary studies, but such comparisons are focused solely on lines of authority in Second Temple apocalyptic material and its possible source in the Tanakh or literature from the external ancient world (EAW). To be considered a source, however, the authority in the Tanakh or EAW literary passage must be in a parent-child relationship (as defined in the glossary) with the same topos in Second Temple literature. How, then, is this study