Biblical Hebrew Forum

[CS Bartholomew <jacksonpollock AT earthlink.net>]

Bryan,

Need to take this a little bit at a time.

On 8/19/03 5:05 AM, "B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com> wrote:

> Gen 31:36b-40 (POETRY):
> 
> What is my crime, what is my guilt
> that you should race after me?
> 
> Though you rummaged through all my things,
> What have you found of all your household things?

Gen. 31:36b mh p#(y mh x+)ty ky dlqt )xry

This looks like parallelism. Not sure what to call ky dlqt )xry but it seems
to work as poetry according to Alter's definition.

Gen. 31:37 ky m##t )t kl kly mh mc)t mkl kly bytK #yM kh ngd )xy w)xyK
wywkyxw byN #nynw

However in Gen. 31:37 we have a problem, the repititon of kly. The verb
changes and I suppose m##t and mc)t show a certain progression of thought
even if they are not synonymous in a strict sense, but if repititon of
constituents is a feature of prose then we have that here with kly.
   
Alter's criteria is useful but I suspect it is not bomb proof, literature is
not math. "The line between poetry and prose is sometimes rather difficult
to draw ..." M.Pope Job, AB lv, 3rd ed.

greetings,
Clay Bartholomew