Comments on: On the watch for wordplay in the Bible

By: Kevin Sam

Kevin Sam — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:09:05 +0000

There’s a lot of word plays in the Hebrew. My Hebrew is pathetic and I wished I had more time to study it so that I can catch more of it in the Hebrew that you can’t in English.

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:18:02 +0000

@J.K. – thanks for the links! I’ll have to save my pennies and investigate them later…

By: ElShaddai Edwards

ElShaddai Edwards — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:16:32 +0000

I think it’s a wordplay of sheqed and shoqed comparing the watchful tree to God being the watchful one.

Yes. There’s definitely wordplay in the Hebrew – I was mostly interested to see how or if English translations conveyed that wordplay. Using the Hebrew idiomatic name for the almond tree, e.g. the Watchful tree, certainly makes that connection, even though it’s less meaningful to someone outside the Hebrew language.

I thought that the NEB struck a more idiomatic course in English, while the NRSV, REB et al. translated literally and used footnotes to communicate what was happening in the Hebrew.

Thanks also for the NJB notes – my text is from a parallel Bible and doesn’t have the full study notes.

By: Kevin Sam

Kevin Sam — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:11:01 +0000

ElShaddai, interesting comparison. In my NJB, the note I have for Jer.1:12 is: “‘Watchful’ (sheqed) is the Hebrew name for the almond tree, watching for the spring to be the first to blossom; here it suggsts the Vigilant One (shoqed), God ever-wakeful.” I think it’s a wordplay of sheqed and shoqed comparing the watchful tree to God being the watchful one.

By: J. K. Gayle

J. K. Gayle — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:08:06 +0000

“VERBAL RESONANCE IN THE BIBLE AND INTERTEXTUALITY”
http://jot.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/2/3.pdf

Puns and Pundits: Wordplay in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Literature
http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/punpund.html