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Title
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Hands, heads, and feet : body parts as poetic device in judges 4-5
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Author
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Abstract
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| Scholars have identified lists of body parts as a compositional device in Biblical Hebrewpoetry and as a way to highlight key themes in the biblical text or uncover hidden meanings. In addition, body parts have been given metaphorical and euphemistic senses. In this article I propose that body parts can form a poetic device an sich. This device is characterized by its willful exploitation of space: bodily space (with oppositions such as up-down and left-right), interpersonal space (connecting different characters), and literal space occupied by words in verses and phrases (with the opposition first-last). I will address each of these types of space and illustrate them with examples from Judg 4-5. In addition, I will examine the effect of the device, in terms of both story building and story decoding. A comparison between the prosaic and poetic accounts of the story of Jael and Sisera will show that the use of body parts, like other poetic devices, generates different reading experiences. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Journal of biblical literature. - Philadelphia, Pa
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Publication
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Philadelphia, Pa
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2017
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ISSN
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0021-9231
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DOI
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10.15699/JBL.1364.2017.249369
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Volume/pages
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136
:4
(2017)
, p. 801-819
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ISI
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000418884400004
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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