Adam Rice Intermediate Classical Hebrew II Analytic Paper, Spring 2013 Micro- and Macro-Parallelism in Proverbs 31:10-31 The

main task when analyzing any genre of poetry is to determine the authors original intention and message without over analyzing and misreading their use of poetic devices. This is an especially difficult task when it comes to analyzing ancient texts because it is next to impossible to fully enter the poets mind, via the text, and clearly interpret the work without carrying along ones own biases. Also, we have little instruction from the ancient authors on how to interpret their texts and must move through this treacherous terrain relying often simple luck and coincidence and on comparison with other ancient works. An overwhelming majority of Ancient Israelite poems contain parallelistic structures along with other diverse poetic devices. James Kugel uses the phrase A is so, and whats more, B is so to describe the function of the individual sections within parallelistic structures in ancient Hebrew poetry.1 The parallel structures are never mere equivalents, rather by its very afterwardness, [the B section] will have an emphatic character: even when it uses the most conventional synonyms or formulae, its very reassertion is a kind of strengthening and reinforcing.2 I want venture to propose the existence of both micro- and macro-parallelism in Proverbs 31:10-31. I posit that the original author set verses ten through twenty-nine against verses thirty and thirty-one in a macro-parallelistic structure. I agree with Duane A. Garrett in believing that the entire poem forms one macrochiastic structure,3 the focus of which lends support to my claims regarding macro-parallelism.

1 2

Kugel, James L. The Idea of Biblical Poetry: Parallelism and Its History. New Haven: Yale UP, 1981. 8. Print. Kugel 8. 3 Garrett, Duane A. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1993. Print.

Before jumping into an analysis of Proverb 31s parallelism, it is important to pay notice to the alphabetic acrostic nature of the poem. This poem is one of several full alphabetic acrostics in Biblical poetry. It has twenty-two lines, all of whose first words begin with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The number twenty-two seems to have held special significance for the ancient Israelites more than just representing the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The Book of Jubilees notes that there (were) two and twenty heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob, and two and twenty kinds of work were made until the seventh day. (Book of Jubilees 2:23) The number twenty-two represents a certain weight of completeness and totality and its common use shows a belief in Gods work in Creation and His orchestration of genealogies. In using the number in poetic works, the poet and his audience experience in a most memorable way the catharsis of having fully expressed themselves.4 The inclusion of all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in an acrostic in Proverbs 31:10-31 functions to persuade the audience that all of what can be said about, or is important to note about the poems main topic is included within the verses of the work. This acrostics rhetorical artistry reinforces its thematic unity,5 and provides a structure with which the poet can further express his point. The topic of protagonist of Proverbs 31 is the et ayil. Determining a translation for ayil in Proverbs 31:10 and 29 on which the majority audience can agree has proven to be a difficult task for scholars due to the many different uses of the word throughout Scripture. The range of meanings is broad and connotes military strength, power, wealth, valor, might, skill, capability, etc. but ayil most often refers to masculinity. However, the first word of Proverbs 31 is et, which means woman (specifically the construct for of i). The Books of Ruth and Proverbs shed some light on the versatility of ayil in regards to gender. The author of Ruth
4

Waltke, Bruce K. The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub., 2005. 514. Print. 5 Waltke 515.

describes Naomis kinsman, Boaz, as an gibbr ayil, a worthy man, a mighty man of wealth, a man of considerable wealth, etc. (Ruth 2:1) The author also recounts the use of ayil in describing the virtue of a woman, specifically Ruth. (Ruth 3:11) Here, it is Boaz himself, the gibbr ayil, who uses the term, thus associating Ruth with his own qualities. The author of Proverbs expresses this versatility by using ayil for both genders as well and in much the same context that the author of Ruth uses the word. Christine Yoder suggests that the translation of ayil as "substance capture[s] its range of meaning, many elements of which are evident in Proverbs 31:10-31.6 One way of viewing Proverbs 31:10-31 is that the poem forms one large chiasmus. This view, posited by D. A. Garrett may be somewhat of a stretch in regards to the usual parameters of chiastic structure throughout the Hebrew Bible. Within his proposed chiastic structure, he pairs seven verses, thirteen through nineteen, with the single verse twenty-seven. Most often, smaller sections of text are paired within the chiastic format but, in terms of subject matter, verses thirteen through nineteen pair up well with verse twenty-seven. Both opposite sections of the chiasmus describe the hard work the woman performs within and for her household. I want to propose an even larger expansion of chiasmus, parallelism, and Bs afterwardness within Proverbs 31:10-31. There are several examples of micro-parallelism throughout the text (a closer look at verses nineteen and twenty follows) but I believe there is also one example of macro-parallelism, the pairing of large chunks of text rather than short cola. Macro-parallelism can involve more than one poetic devise in order to better convey meaning. Both forms of parallelism work to further develop the poems main points as well as to focus the audiences attention to specific verses/sections of text.

Yoder, Christine Roy. "The Woman Of Substance (T -HYL): A Socioeconomic Reading Of Proverbs 31:10-31." Journal Of Biblical Literature 122.3 (2003): 427. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 10 May 2013.

Verses nineteen and twenty are packed with various poetic devises. They provide a clear example of micro-parallelism within the greater macro-parallelistic structure as well as a small double-chiasmus within the larger chiastic structure. These verses are also laced with both paradigmatic examples of Berlins Grammatical and Semantic Aspects.

v. 19 A

her hands she extends (ydeyh ille) to the doubling spindle, B her palms (kappeyh) grasp the spindle. and her palm (kapph) spreads out to the poor,

v. 20 A

and her hands she extends (ydeyh ille) to the needy.7

To start, it is worth noting that the location of these verses within the alphabetic acrostic functions to further draw in the audiences attention. Verses nineteen and twenty hold the yodh and kaph positions, respectively and uniquely feature [the et ayils] body parts in relation to the body parts of the acrostic.8 To explain in only one other verse9 does the poet use the Hebrew letters own implicit meaning as part of the text. The letters yodh and kaph are thought to have originated from early pictograms of hands and the poet begins these letters verses in the acrostic with the Hebrew words for hand, ydeyh, and palm, kappeyh, respectively. These words are repeated in the opposite colon of the adjacent verse forming an ABBA double chiasmus. All four cola portray equivalent grammatical aspect, following a subject verb
7 8

Waltke 527. Waltke 528. 9 The letter pe is thought to have originated from the early pictogram of a mouth. The Hebrew word peh, meaning mouth, is the first word of Proverbs 31:26.

object/prepositional phrase ordering. The two cola within each bicolon represent paradigmatic examples of the grammatical aspect, in that the bicolons individual parts of speech could replace each other within the bicolon without disrupting the grammar of the phrases. A potential reversal of words would however destroy the verses chiastic structure. The paradigmatic version of the semantic aspect is also present: cola A and B share very similar meanings and could be switched within the text without altering the poems meaning. This also holds true for cola A and B. However, as discussed above, any grammatical or semantic switching would disrupt the poems main chiastic structure, which I propose is of utmost importance for proper interpretation of the text.10 This densely packed section of poetic devices falls right in the middle of the A section of the proposed macro-parallelistic structure. The wife of substance is the overall focus of the proverb but her husband, balh, in verse twenty-three takes on the focal point of the proverbs main chiasmus. Whereas a poetic inclusio draws attention to the beginning and end of a poem, ancient chiastic structures draw the audiences attention to the center. The three outermost chiastic words, et/i, ayil, and balh woman (v. 10), substance (v. 10), and husband (v.11) (respectively) are repeated at the end as a chiastic inclusio husband (v.28), substance (v. 29), and woman (v. 30). I want to argue that the mlange of potentially poem-wide chiastic structure, macro-parallelism, and chiastic inclusio forms a whirlpool of shifting emphases, resulting in a richer, most savory interpretation. The chiastic structure places the focus upon the womans balh and his high position in society but the chiastic inclusio and the overwhelming abundance of verses concerning the et ayil herself regains the focus in favor of substantialness of the women. The focus of verses ten through twenty-eight, section A, fluctuates between the et ayil and
10

Berlin, A. "Parallelism." The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992. N. pag. Print.

balh, her husband, both characters tossing responsibility back and forth for the great prosperity of the family. Thereafter, the macro-parallelism takes hold of the focus and turns it heavenwards. Up until verse twenty-nine, the poet refers to the et ayil in the third person, but in a kind of quotation from balh, her husband, the poet uses the second feminine singular of address11 to more directly praise her substantial quality. The switch from third to second person works to emphasize the afterwardness of the B section, verses twenty-nine through thirty-one, in the macro-parallelistic framework. It draws the audiences attention and focus to the B section that they might not miss out on the main point of the poem, that a praiseworthy woman, one of substance, fears the LORD, first and foremost. In an equal, but opposite way that the LORD warned His people against marrying foreign wives for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods (Deuteronomy 7:3-4), the author of Proverbs 31 is encouraging men to marry women of substance in order to be brought closer to the LORD. A discussion of Proverb 31s protagonist as the divine Woman Wisdom versus an actual ancient near eastern woman, most likely of the postexilic, Persian period (Yoder), is beyond the scope of this paper but either way, once released from the whirlpool of focus-shifting provided by the authors mastery of poetic devices, the audiences attention is focused towards the divine rather than simply towards human beings of substance. This shift seems to fit well with the broad array of messaged presented in the Book of Proverbs. But as always, multiple interpretations exist and the books final proclamation remains a complex, poetic masterpiece. My final venture would be to edit the first line of the poem, restating it as: A foolproof method of Biblical interpretation, who can find?

11

Waltke 534.

Appendix
Proverbs 31:10-31 (ESV) 10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. 14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. 15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. 18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. 19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. 20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. 22 She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. 26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. 27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.