10 VALÉRIE KABERGS – HANS AUSLOOS tain ambiguity is characteristic for all types of wordplay 25. By means of the ambiguity which is created by certain word combinations, He- brew authors/redactors have tried to focus the hearer’s/reader’s atten- tion on a particular passage. However, this stirring up of curiosity is never the only purpose. The ambiguity has to point to the deeper mean- ings and connections between combined words in relation to their lit- erary context. Wordplay is therefore certainly not a construction that wants to set its own ambiguity in the spotlight by creating a certain “witticism”. The ambiguity is rather in service of the central message of the concrete text 26. This creation of ambiguity is moreover not bound to any particular genre, but is present in the Pentateuch and His- torical Books as well as in Poetic and Prophetic Literature. A beautiful example of how wordplay enhances the central mes- sage of a concrete passage can be found in Judges 3,12-30 27. The story of Eglon and Ehud appears in a context with deuteronomistic characteristics. Because of the people’s idolatrous behavior, YHWH permits Eglon, king of Moab, to take power over Israel. However, after Israel’s repentance, YHWH is prepared to forgive his people. In order to save his people from Moab’s suppression, YHWH sends Ehud on a special mission. This mission is characterized as am- biguous from the start: whereas it looks like Ehud is on his way to Eglon with the purpose of paying tribute to the king, Ehud in real- ity intends to kill the king of Moab in order to save the Israelites. Several instances of wordplay strengthen this ambiguity. To give but one example, one could refer to verse 19, in which Ehud speaks to king Eglon in ambiguous words. Ehud says that he has a secret rbd for the king. Eglon probably interprets the sentence as “I have 25 Cf., for example, GLÜCK, Paronomasia in Biblical Literature, 50; SAS- SON, Wordplay in the Old Testament, 968; CHERRY, Paronomasia and Proper Names in the Old Testament, 6; WATSON, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 237. 26 Cf. BEITZEL, Exodus 3:14 and the Divine Name, 6. 27 Cf. H. AUSLOOS, “Judges 3:12-30. An Analysis of the Greek Rendering of Hebrew Wordplay”, Text-Critical and Hermeneutical Studies in the Sep- tuagint (eds. J. COOK – H.-J. STIPP) (VTS; Leiden 2012 [in press]). See also H. AUSLOOS – B. LEMMELIJN, “Characterizing the LXX Translation of Judges on the Basis of Content-Related Criteria. The Greek Rendering of Hebrew Absolute Hapax Legomena in Judg 3,12-30”, After Qumran. Old and New Editions of Biblical Texts. The Historical Books (eds. H. AUSLOOS et al.) (BETL 246; Leuven – Paris – Walpole, MA 2012 [in press]).