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"Janus Parallelism" in Matti 13:31-32
#1
A spectacular find by Akhan Rob !

Quote:Shlama Akhay!
I'm very excited to share with you something special - a very unique feature of Hebrew poetry in our precious Peshitta - hey, I like the way that sounds!

The first example was discovered in Song of Songs by my teacher's teacher's teacher, the late great Cyrus Gordon. He termed this extremely creative poetic device 'janus parallelism', where a passage exploits both meanings of a word with two meanings simultaneously. Here it is in his own words:

Quote:"One kind of parallelism is quite ingenious, for it hinges on the use of a single word with two entirely different meanings: one meaning paralleling what precedes, and the other meaning, what follows."
- Cyrus Gordon, 1978

Since he first published his findings, many more have been discovered in the Hebrew Bible.

Well, I've discovered one in Matti 13! Hold on to your chair...

Matti 13:31-32

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]fdrxd Fdrpl 0ym4d Fwklm 0ymd [/font]

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]htyrqb h9rz 0rbg Bsnd[/font]

The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took and sowed in his field.


[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0nw9rz Jwhlk Nm Yh 0yrw9z Yhw[/font]

(nice pun, eh? <!-- sBig Grin --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/happy.gif" alt="Big Grin" title="Happy" /><!-- sBig Grin --> Now watch this...)

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]0nwqry Jwhlk Nm Yh 0br tbrd Nyd 0m[/font]

when it has grown, it is greater than all the herbs.

[font=Estrangelo (V1.1)]hykwsb Nqt 0ym4d Fxrp F0td Ky0 0nly0 hywhw[/font]

and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven will come and nest in its branches

O.K. - check this out: Here, the word for 'birds' can also mean 'flowers' or 'blossoms'! The two-faced janus aspect is that taken in parallel with what precedes - seeds, herbs, and trees - it can be understood as 'blossoms'. Taken with what follows - 'nesting in branches' - it can be understood as birds!


Here's how it pivots:

seeds, herbs, trees, <- blossoms/birds -> , heaven, nesting, branches

See how it works? Pretty cool, eh?


This is a very authentic feature, with precedents in TaNaKh, impossible to be conveyed in Greek.

I hope this is as exciting for you as it is for me!

Rob

And his follow-up from the Hebrew of the Tanakh:

Quote:Shlama Akhay!
Here is the janus parallelism identified by Cyrus Gordon in 'The Song of Songs' 2:12 -

??r'b w'rn ??yncnh
vygh rymzh tv
rwth lwqw
wncr'b vmHn


"The blossoms are seen in the land
- the time of pruning has arrived -
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land."


-OR-


"The blossoms are seen in the land
- the time of singing has arrived -
and the voice of the turtledove
is heard in our land."


The Hebrew word rmz can mean 'to prune' or 'to sing'. Thus, paralleled with what precedes, it takes the meaning 'to prune'. Paralleled with the 'voice' and 'heard' which follow, it takes the meaning 'to sing'.

Fun, huh <!-- sBig Grin --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/happy.gif" alt="Big Grin" title="Happy" /><!-- sBig Grin --> ?
Rob

Great work, Akhi!
+Shamasha Paul bar-Shimun de'Beth-Younan
[Image: sig.jpg]
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#2
Akhan Rob's discovery is a treasure! From what he has written, am I right to assume yet another version of the Song of Songs would be:
"The birds are seen in the land
-the time of singing has arrived -
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."
He does not include it in his Cyrus Gordon examples, but seems to make it clear by what he wrote before.
The really fun part of this is that God created the Aramaic language with the intent that it would enable Him to say exactly these parallelisms and flights of poetry. Through your web site we are literally looking into the Mind of God.
Richard
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#3
Akhan Richard

These are very special literary and oratory devices, which no doubt were very much appreciated by the listeners of Christ's teachings. I could only imagine the impression left on those who were privileged to hear them. Very powerful, indeed.

The tradition was no doubt well established in the Hebrew scripture, and the hearer would have immediately recognized the intention.

It leaves us in awe, utterly. That a teaching that would, otherwise, be bland and ordinary becomes something poetic and beautiful when allowed to be appreciated in its original milieu.

+Shamasha
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