5 PARONOMASIA OR WORDPLAY? Casanowicz probably had the best possible intentions in bring- ing some unity to several definitions and concepts. However, one can at least say that he nevertheless simultaneously created a ter- minological confusion between the general Greek-Latin umbrella term sxh/mata th=v le/cewv (figurae verborum) and the yet more specifically defined concept of paronomasia in ancient rhetoric. Casanowicz confuses two definitions of paronomasia, and in doing so, he uses the concept as a general denomination for not only wordplay, but also alliteration, assonance and other kinds of rhyme. 2. Casanowicz and Later Old Testament Studies on Wordplay The major impact of Casanowicz’ work on Old Testament stud- ies becomes immediately clear when looking at some titles that scholars use to characterize their research on (certain types of) He- brew wordplay, and from the fact that scholars often explicitly refer to his study 16. While Casanowicz is still somewhat ambiguous in defining the concept of paronomasia, later Old Testament studies on wordplay unmistakably identify Casanowicz’s concept of parono- masia with wordplay tout court. Again, such identification creates a number of problems in our view. First, the unambiguous identification of the terms paronomasia and wordplay is not completely in line with Casanowicz, whose con- ception of paronomasia is not only related to wordplay, but refers 16 Casanowicz’s title Paronomasia in the Old Testament has clearly influen- ced the following works: B.J. BEITZEL, “Exodus 3:14 and the Divine Name: A Case of Biblical Paronomasia”, TJ 1 (1980) 5-20; CHERRY, Paronomasia and Proper Names in the Old Testament, 1988; D.L. CHRISTENSEN, “Anticipatory Paronomasia in Jonah 3:7-8 and Genesis 37:2”, RB 90 (1983) 261-263; J.J. GLÜCK, “Paronomasia in Biblical Literature”, Sem 1 (1970) 50-78; A. GUIL- LAUME, “Paronomasia in the Old Testament”, JSS 9 (1964) 282-296; B. HALPERN – R.E. FRIEDMAN, “Composition and Paronomasia in the Book of Jonah”, HAR 4 (1980) 79-92; I. KALIMI, “Paronomasia in the Book of Chronicles”, JSOT 67 (1995) 27-41; I. KALIMI, “Paronomasie im Buch der Chronik: Ein Beitrag zur li- terarischen Forschung an der Arbeitsweise des Chronisten”, BZ 41 (1997) 78- 88; D. MARCUS, “Recovering an Ancient Paronomasia in Zechariah 14,5”, Inspired Speech: Prophecy in the Ancient Near East. Essays in Honor of H.B. Huffmon (eds. J. KALTNER – L. STULMAN) (JSOT SS 378; London 2004) 130- 143; S. SEGERT, “Paronomasia in the Samson Narrative in Judges XIII-XVI”, VT 34 (1984) 454-461.