Hans Ausloos - Valérie Kabergs, «Paronomasia or Wordplay? A Babel-Like Confusion. Towards a Definition of Hebrew Wordplay», Vol. 93 (2012) 1-20
Against the general background of a terminological confusion that is present in contributions about Hebrew wordplay, the definition of the socalled paronomasia in relation to the term wordplay is especially debated. This article aims to clarify the concept of wordplay in the Hebrew Bible. After a survey of the current opinions in defining the terms «paronomasia» and «wordplay» (I), we propose our own definition of «Hebrew wordplay» (II). Thereafter, this description will simultaneously delimit the field of Hebrew wordplay as it excludes a few linguistic figures, although they are possibly classified as wordplay in other studies (III).
18 VALÉRIE KABERGS – HANS AUSLOOS
identifies this figure for example in Jeremiah 25,26, in which the
proper noun K## is used as a well-known cipher for Babel 53.
– Not(e)rikon is described as a technique in which the characters
of a word are in fact the beginning consonants of a certain chain of
words. In this context, Cherry refers again to a verse in the book of
Jeremiah. The occurrence of Ky) in Jeremiah 3,19 would be a no-
terikon for the phrase yk hwhy Nm) 54.
– The alphabetical acrosticon is known as a poetic form in
which the initial characters of successive lines of text represent the
alphabet in the correct order. However, this figure seems only to
be related to Cherry’s definition if one accepts that the acrostic
poem arouses curiosity and attention on the part of the readers 55.
Since there is no play on sound patterns of the words involved
in all these cases, such visual play cannot, in our opinion, be char-
acterized as types of wordplay.
2. No Separate Definition of Hebrew Wordplay on Proper Nouns
In addition to the enumeration of a number of linguistic figures
that are not characterized as wordplay in this contribution, the def-
inition of Hebrew wordplay as an ambiguous play between both
sound and meaning has a second implication. We believe that word-
play on proper nouns must not be treated differently from word-
play on common nouns, adjectives and verbs, as is often the case 56.
53
CHERRY, Paronomasia and Proper Names in the Old Testament, 45-46.
54
CHERRY, Paronomasia and Proper Names in the Old Testament, 18.
55
For more literature in casu, see: E. ASSIS, “The Alphabetic Acrostic in
the Book of Lamentationsâ€, CBQ 69 (2007) 210-214; D.L. CHRISTENSEN,
“The Acrostic of Nahum Once Again: A Prosodic Analysis of Nah 1,1-10â€,
ZAW 99 (1987) 409-414; D.N. FREEDMAN, “Acrostic Poems in the Hebrew
Bible: Alphabetic and Otherwiseâ€, CBQ 48 (1986) 408-431; B. LINDARS, “Is
Psalm 2 an Acrostic Poem?â€, VT 17 (1967) 60-67; K. SPRONK, “Acrostics in
the Book of Nahumâ€, ZAW 110 (1998) 209-222; M. TREVERS, “Two Acrostic
Poemsâ€, VT 15 (1965) 81-90.
56
Cf. e.g. F. BÖHL, “Wortspiele im Alten Testamentâ€, Opera Minora: Stud-
ies en bijdragen op Assyriologisch en oudtestamentisch terrein (F. BÖHL; Gro-
ningen – Djakarta 1953) 11-25; BÜHLMANN – SCHERER, Stilfiguren der Bibel,
22; CASANOWICZ, Paronomasia in the Old Testament, 36-40; S. GEVIRTZ, “Of
Patriarchs and Puns: Joseph at the Fountain, Jacob at the Fordâ€, HUCA 46
(1975) 33-54; GUILLAUME, Paronomasia in the Old Testament, 282-290;
A.F. KEY, “The Giving of Proper Names in the Old Testamentâ€, JBL 83 (1964)
55-59; SCHÖKEL, A Manual of Hebrew Poetics, 30; M. GARSIEL, Biblical
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