Biblical Hebrew Forum

[c stirling bartholomew <cc.constantine AT worldnet.att.net>]

Just been reading *Brown & Yule's discussion "What is a Text?" While working
in Zechariah (MT/LXX) I have come across some noteworthy examples of
participant reference ambiguity; sudden switching back and forth from third
person to first person, speakers and agents who cannot be identified, and so
forth. 

This participant reference ambiguity reduces the textual cohesion of the
discourse at the clause and paragraph level. However, the same ambiguity is
found throughout the book. It is present in Zech 1-8, and in Zech 9-14. So
we might say that what creates textual chaos (too strong a word) at the
clause and paragraph level promotes cohesion at the macro level. It is a
notable "feature" of the authors discourse which permeates the whole work.

--  
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062


* Pages 161-204, -Brown, G. and G. Yule. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 1983.