“He Said, He Said”: Repetition of the Quotation Formula in the Joseph Story and Other Biblical Narratives.
Description
Research article, peer-reviewed / Open access
Abstract
Repetition of the quotation formula ( ויאמר and the like) is a common literary
device used in biblical narrative to signal discontinuity. The discontinuity often
involves a pause in the discourse. Instead of—or in addition to—a pause, the
discontinuity may involve a change in the discourse parameters. Most of this was
noted by Jewish exegetes of the Middle Ages and later, but their work appears to
have been unknown to early critics. The writings of the latter assume that the
repetition of ויאמר in Gen 37:21–22 and elsewhere is an anomaly that requires a
diachronic explanation. It took roughly a century for the old synchronic approach
to such repetition to regain its dominant position. Adherents of the synchronic
approach, both medieval and modern, have viewed the repetition of ויאמר in Gen
37:21–22 as an indication that Reuben paused to wait for a positive response that
never came. The facts are best explained, however, by taking the repetition of
ויאמר in Gen 37:21–22 as signaling a change in the discourse parameters, with
regard to both type (from internal to external) and addressee (from self to other).
In verse 21, Reuben speaks to himself in his mind, revealing his true feelings. In
verse 22, by contrast, Reuben addresses his brothers, trying to persuade them
that he, too, wants Joseph dead, as long as that result is achieved without their
spilling blood. This solution is supported by texts in other biblical narratives.
Permanent Link(s)
http://dx.doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1383.2019.644838https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12202/6631
Citation
Steiner, Richard C. (2019). “He Said, He Said”: Repetition of the Quotation Formula in the Joseph Story and Other Biblical Narratives. Journal of Biblical Literature, 138(3), 473-495.
*This is contructed from limited avaiable data and may be imprecise.
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