A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1?
Responding to recent scholarship which discounts apparent traces of an alphabetic acrostic in Nahum 1 as purely coincidental, this essay argues that earlier scholarship was right to detect a tendency towards an alphabetic acrostic in Nahum 1. But while previously the disruptions to the alphabetic se...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Alberta Library
2010-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |
| Online Access: | https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/7235 |
| _version_ | 1797860541099671552 |
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| author | Thomas Renz |
| author_facet | Thomas Renz |
| author_sort | Thomas Renz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Responding to recent scholarship which discounts apparent traces of an alphabetic acrostic in Nahum 1 as purely coincidental, this essay argues that earlier scholarship was right to detect a tendency towards an alphabetic acrostic in Nahum 1. But while previously the disruptions to the alphabetic sequence were considered an imperfection caused by lack of concern on the part of the poet or a later redactor or as the result of copying mistakes in the transmission of the text, I suggest that the tendency towards an acrostic and the irregularities belong to a single purposeful design. This design communicates a message of disrupted order and fits well with the remainder of the book of Nahum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:47:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-35525c319e844fe79ffca148d94a57da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1203-1542 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:47:32Z |
| publishDate | 2010-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Alberta Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |
| spelling | doaj.art-35525c319e844fe79ffca148d94a57da2023-03-24T20:35:01ZengUniversity of Alberta LibraryJournal of Hebrew Scriptures1203-15422010-01-01910.5508/jhs.2009.v9.a23A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1?Thomas RenzResponding to recent scholarship which discounts apparent traces of an alphabetic acrostic in Nahum 1 as purely coincidental, this essay argues that earlier scholarship was right to detect a tendency towards an alphabetic acrostic in Nahum 1. But while previously the disruptions to the alphabetic sequence were considered an imperfection caused by lack of concern on the part of the poet or a later redactor or as the result of copying mistakes in the transmission of the text, I suggest that the tendency towards an acrostic and the irregularities belong to a single purposeful design. This design communicates a message of disrupted order and fits well with the remainder of the book of Nahum.https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/7235 |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Renz A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1? Journal of Hebrew Scriptures |
| title | A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1? |
| title_full | A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1? |
| title_fullStr | A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1? |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1? |
| title_short | A Perfectly Broken Acrostic in Nahum 1? |
| title_sort | perfectly broken acrostic in nahum 1 |
| url | https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/7235 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thomasrenz aperfectlybrokenacrosticinnahum1 AT thomasrenz perfectlybrokenacrosticinnahum1 |