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  • From: "Rev. Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>
  • To: "Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no>, <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] to rolf
  • Date: Sun, 26 May 2013 16:04:32 -0700

Dear Rolf,

That is a question that I posed several months back.

In the example given from Psalm 2:1-2 it appears that issue of the genre,
i.e. poetry: Hebrew parallelism, chiasm, alliteration, etc, must be allowed
to give its own particular twist to function as well as to meaning.

Psalm 2:1-2: Why do the nations (Gentiles - goyim) CONSPIRE (QATAL)
and the people PLOT (YIQTOL) in vain?

The Kings of the earth take their stand (YIQTOL)
and The Rulers gather together (QATAL)
against the LORD (YHWH)
and His Anointed One (Meshiach)>

Several items of interest here.

1) The chiasm of QATAL - YIQTOL - YIQTOL - QATAL.
2) The conspiracy against both the LORD and His Messiah.
3) The Synonymous Parallelism in 2:1-2 between the following:
a) Nations and people.
b) Conspire and Plot.
c) Kings and Rulers.
d) Take their stand and Gather together.
4) The use of parallelism and chiasm as a mnemonic device.

The LXX has the following:

να τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη
καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά;
2 παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς,
καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν
ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου
καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ
διάψαλμα

This use of the parallelism, chiasm, alliteration, etc, although primarily
found in poetic literature is also found in prophecy. This creates a broader
picture than what would be found in narrative. The mind's eye, the
imagination is required to be used more fully than what would be normally
used for narrative. True, parallelism, chiasm, alliteration, etc. are found
in narrative, but not quite as much as in the poetic/prophetic portions of
the Tanakh.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III




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