Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Naama Zahavi-Ely" <nxzaha AT wm.edu>]

>
> dear friends,
>
> pretend a bright student throws you these curve balls. how would you
> respond?
>
> (1) if there is no metre or musicality of any kind in hebrew poetry,
> what's the basis of the liturgical chant? further, if there is no poetry,
> why is there a *second* system of chant for the three books job, proverbs
> and psalms (less articulated, yet more sensitive to syllables)?
>
> (2) what is the value of metre in any case? does it make a difference
> exegetically? could it make a difference in any way? who cares?
>

With all due respect, how do you get from "no metre" to "no musicality of
any kind"??!!  The one thing you don't find (to my opinion) in the Hebrew
Bible is a SET metre that persists, not matter what, across large sections.
You definitely do have a strong rhythm -- it varies, but it is very clearly
there.  So are alliterations, and in fact most other poetic devices that I
am aware of from other literatures.  The characteristic of Hebrew Biblical
poetry is not the lack of such devices, but a free use of them as distinct
from the strict/set use you find in, say, Greek poetry with its set metres
or Anglo-Saxon poetry with its alliteration.  It is much more similar to
modern free-style poetry.

This has nothing to do, in my opinion, with liturgical chant -- which is
more similar to the rhythm of speech intonation (in prose) than to poetic
devices.

As to the 2nd question:  I learned at the Hebrew University the suggestion
that the two systems of chant markers were the result of the working of two
groups, rather than a difference dictated by the material.  Certainly, a
great deal of Biblical poetry (in the prophets, etc) is set to the
cantillation marks of the majority of the Bible rather than the
psalms/proverbs/Job set.

Best,

Naama Zahavi-Ely
College of William and Mary

> shalom,
> V
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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> Dr Vincent DeCaen
> Adjunct Professor
> Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
> University of Toronto
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> Donner son consentement, c'est volontaire.
>