Robert Alter in his The Art of Biblical Narrative (2011), ch. 5, “The Techniques of Repetition” and especially p. 114, points out a key aspect of the Chumash that is regularly forgotten today -- and which, in fact, has been overlooked for centuries.
Namely, that the Chumash is meant to be read aloud to an
assembled mass: groups of 10, 20, 30 or many more, who have no copies of
the text in hand.
After all, it was only with the invention of the printing
press by Gutenberg c. 1450[i] and
the spread of this revolutionary technology that mass production of texts – books
-- became availability and the price of copies made relatively cheap.
The first publication of the Chumash in Hebrew was in
Bologna, Spain in 1487.[ii]
As the Chumash is written for an oral-aural audience
experience, it relies on key techniques that are universal in such cultural
settings.
1. Repetition of key
ideas is essential to ensure that key
ideas will not be missed by someone
way
at the back or by a distracted audience member.
For example Gen. 2: 2-3 said aloud every Friday night at
mealtime Kiddush:[iii]
The idea that God rested in the seventh day is repeated
THREE TIMES – back to back to back.
Another example is Exod. 14: 30-31, said in the daily
morning Shacharit.
The death of the Egyptians is repeated TWICE – back to
back. And THREE times if one includes
the opening general statement of verse 30.
2. Allusions via
repetition of key words and phrases which ‘echo’ key words in earlier or
later Bible texts. This simple device
triggers links and associations in the minds of the audience with other events
described in the Chumash elsewhere. The
FIVE (5) ’echoes’ found in the Akedah
will be elaborated below.
3. Use of short
sentences and simple compound sentences. Complex sentences with
multiple and/or long subordinate clauses make it hard for the ear to follow. Ideas get lost or – worse – get jumbled and
misunderstood.
Oral-aural tradition keeps it
simple. Short sentences abound and where
needed a long idea or ‘idea string’ is presented as a straight forward compound
sentence.
A + B
+ C + D
4. Verbal cues to
show when dialogue begins, and the speaker changes.
The Chumash abounds with such cues.
Every dialogue by any person or God is ‘cued’ for the audience with some
variation of the verb to speak: “spoke”, “talked”, ”said”, etc.
And
when God Eternal is about to announce a commandment, the verbal dialogue cues
are usually DOUBLED: twice repeating the idea that Divine instruction is about
to begin – so pay attention!
For example, the third portion of
Shema begins:
לֵּאמֹר אֶ֯ל־משֶׁה יְ֯הֹוָה֯
וַֽיֹּאמֶר֯ And the Eternal spoke to Moses saying …”
Or the daily prayers passages re: sacrifices which begin:
…
וְאֶת־בָּנָיו אֶת־אַהֲרֹן צַו :רמֹאלֵּ אֶל־משֶׁה יְהֹוָה רבֵּדַיְוַ
And the Eternal spoke to Moses saying; Command Aaron and his sons saying…
םהֶלֵאֲ וְאָמַרְתָּ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־בְּנֵי
צַו : לֵאמֹר אֶל־משֶׁה
יְהֹוָה רבֵּדַיְוַ
And the Eternal spoke
to Moses saying:
command the children of Israel saying …
All of these devices and techniques reaffirm the often
forgotten fact that the Chumash was meant to be read aloud to people assembled
for this reading, but who had no written text in hand to ‘follow along’.
Unlike as we do in synagogue services today.
The Akedah text exemplifies these oral-aural
rules.
The following colours will be used to highlight these
features:
- Simple and Compound
sentences – black
- Complex phrase or subordinate
clause – if any -- green
- Repeated key words/ideas –
black (underlined)
- Allusions - red
- Dialogue cues – yellow highlighting
The Akedah
Gen. 22: 1- 19 (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0122.htm , with * * marking my corrections)
DIALOGUE CUES (yellow highlighting)
The 19 verses of the Akedah abound with dialogue: a surprising seventeen (17) cues of וַיִּקְרָא or וַיֹּאמֶר
Why? Because it is
filled with short dialogue responses and only three lengthy statements by God
(verse 2) and God’s messages at the sacrifice alter: verses 12 and 16-18.
And two (2) times the text uses DOUBLED CUES to ensure all
the audience is ready to listen: for the central question if Isaac is to be
sacrificed, verse 11-12, and the Divine
blessings of verses 16-18.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
The Akedah text is
19 verses long in all printed texts today, whether in Hebrew or and English
translations. But in reality it is
composed of many, many more short simple sentences; sentences marked in the
Hebrew Masoretic text with a colon (:) - the Hebrew ‘period’ or a comma.
Verse 1, for instance, is really 3 sentences.
|
א וַיְהִי, אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, וְהָאֱלֹהִים, נִסָּה
אֶת-אַבְרָהָם;/
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, אַבְרָהָם/
וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי. |
1 And
it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham/, and
said unto him: 'Abraham';/ and he said: 'Here am I.' |
Verse 3 is actually seven (7) sentences.
|
ג וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר/ וַיַּחֲבֹשׁ אֶת-חֲמֹרוֹ,/ וַיִּקַּח אֶת-שְׁנֵי
נְעָרָיו אִתּוֹ,/
וְאֵת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ;/ וַיְבַקַּע, עֲצֵי
עֹלָה, / וַיָּקָם/ וַיֵּלֶךְ, אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-אָמַר-לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים. |
3 And Abraham rose early in the morning,/ and saddled his ass,/ and took two of his young men
with him,/
and Isaac his son;/ and he cleaved the wood for the
burnt-offering,/ and rose up,/and went unto the place of which God had told
him. |
The standard versification – just like the odd Chumash chapter
divisions -- is a Medieval, non-Jewish creation[iv]
but it has been ‘accepted’ by all print publishers both Christian and Jewish
ever since.
But it masks the simplicity and numerous short sentences of
the text and its oral-aural design.
Only two sentences are not simple or just compound.
The opening verse starts with an adverbial clause to give a
‘time’ setting.
This common opening style appears even in the first words of
the Chumash:
Gen. 1:1
In the
beginning, God created ….
אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא תירֵאשִׁבְּ
The second complex sentence is part of the lengthy 3 verse
Divine blessing of verses 16-18.
|
טז וַיֹּאמֶר, בִּי נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי נְאֻם-יְהוָה:
כִּי, יַעַן אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת-הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה, וְלֹא חָשַׂכְתָּ,
אֶת-בִּנְךָ אֶת-יְחִידֶךָ. |
16 and said: 'By Myself have I sworn, saith
the LORD, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son, |
Again, an adverbial clause is placed at the start: to
explain why Abraham deserves the ensuing three blessings of verse 17-18..
Otherwise, all else is simple sentences and ‘stringing
along’ compound clauses.
Easy on the ear to follow.
ALUSIONS (red lettering)
The Akedah is
filled with allusions to earlier passages re: Abraham and later passages as
well.
·
Verse 2 parallels
to Gen. 12:1
Verse 2 of the Akedah
repeats the key words and phrasing style used in Gen. 12:1 when we first meet
Abraham: when God tells him to go to Canaan.
- The unusual, key verb וְלֶךְ-לְךָ.
- The instruction to leave
for Canaan is worded as a ‘spiral of stages’ in Gen. 12:2, and here a similar spiral of
wording is used to identify who would be sacrificed.
- Similarly, both opening
verses are vague re: the destination’s location: both times stressing it
will be some place chosen by God.
Gen. 12:1
|
א וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ
וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. |
1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land
that I will show thee. |
Gen. 22: 2 The Akedah
|
ב וַיֹּאמֶר קַח-נָא אֶת-בִּנְךָ אֶת-יְחִידְךָ
אֲשֶׁר-אָהַבְתָּ, אֶת-יִצְחָק, וְלֶךְ-לְךָ, אֶל-אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה;
וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם, לְעֹלָה, עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים, אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ. |
2 And He said: 'Take now thy son, thine only
son, whom thou lovest,
even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and
offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one
of the mountains which
I will tell thee of.' |
·
Verse 3 and Gen.
21:14
Verse 3 -- stressing Abraham’s dedication to carry out the
Divine command by getting up ‘early’ -- is identical in wording to when years
before, at Sarah’s insistence and God’s order, Abraham exiles his son Ishmael
and Hagar.
Gen. 21: 14
|
יד וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּקַּח-לֶחֶם וְחֵמַת
מַיִם וַיִּתֵּן אֶל-הָגָר שָׂם עַל-שִׁכְמָהּ, וְאֶת-הַיֶּלֶד--וַיְשַׁלְּחֶהָ;
וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתֵּתַע, בְּמִדְבַּר בְּאֵר שָׁבַע. |
14 And Abraham arose up early in the morning, and took
bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her
shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and strayed in
the wilderness of Beer-sheba. |
Akedah verse 3
|
ג וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם
בַּבֹּקֶר, וַיַּחֲבֹשׁ אֶת-חֲמֹרוֹ, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-שְׁנֵי נְעָרָיו
אִתּוֹ, וְאֵת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ; וַיְבַקַּע, עֲצֵי עֹלָה, וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ,
אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-אָמַר-לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים. |
3 And Abraham rose
early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son; and he cleaved the wood for the
burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told
him. |
·
The DIVINE
BLESSING of verses 17-18
Finally, Abraham’s reward from God for his loyalty: the
triple blessing of verses 17-18, ‘echoes’ the promised blessings of Gen. 12:
2-3 when Abraham is ordered to leave for Canaan and God the Eternal’s blessing to Abraham at his circumcision, Gen. 17: 5-6,
Gen. 22: 17-18 The
Akedah
|
יז כִּי-בָרֵךְ אֲבָרֶכְךָ, וְהַרְבָּה אַרְבֶּה
אֶת-זַרְעֲךָ כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְכַחוֹל, אֲשֶׁר עַל-שְׂפַת הַיָּם;
וְיִרַשׁ זַרְעֲךָ, אֵת שַׁעַר אֹיְבָיו. |
17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemies; |
|
יח וְהִתְבָּרְכוּ בְזַרְעֲךָ, כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ, עֵקֶב, אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקֹלִי. |
18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed; because thou hast hearkened to My voice.' |
Gen. 12: 2-3 (Leave for Canaan)
|
ב וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל, וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ, וַאֲגַדְּלָה
שְׁמֶךָ; וֶהְיֵה, בְּרָכָה. |
2 And I will make
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and
be thou a blessing. |
|
ג וַאֲבָרְכָה,
מְבָרְכֶיךָ, וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ, אָאֹר; וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ, כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת
הָאֲדָמָה. |
3 And I will bless
them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' |
Gen. 17: 5-6 (Circumcision)
|
ה וְלֹא-יִקָּרֵא עוֹד
אֶת-שִׁמְךָ, אַבְרָם; וְהָיָה שִׁמְךָ אַבְרָהָם, כִּי אַב-הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם
נְתַתִּיךָ. |
5 Neither shall thy
name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father
of a multitude of nations have I made thee. |
|
ו וְהִפְרֵתִי אֹתְךָ
בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד, וּנְתַתִּיךָ לְגוֹיִם; וּמְלָכִים, מִמְּךָ יֵצֵאוּ. |
6 And I will make
thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall
come out of thee |
Finally, it also echoes the blessing God gave later on to
Jacob when he dreamed of angels on a ladder to Heaven.
Gen. 28:14 (Ladder to Heaven)
|
יד וְהָיָה זַרְעֲךָ
כַּעֲפַר הָאָרֶץ, וּפָרַצְתָּ יָמָּה וָקֵדְמָה וְצָפֹנָה וָנֶגְבָּה;
וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כָּל-מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה, וּבְזַרְעֶךָ. |
14 And thy seed
shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west,
and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. |
|
So, the Akedah contains many allusions: to previous wording and texts re Abraham and
even to an event and a blessing thereafter. As the Chumash was
read to audiences weekly and on an annual or triennial cycle, both previous
chapter allusions and even a later one would instantly be triggered in the
minds of the audience. And certainly in
the minds of anyone who had a copy of the Chumash as a printed text (after
Gutenberg) or was fortunate to have access to a Torah scroll for centuries
beforehand. REPEATED
KEY WORKS (black) The Akedah repeatedly uses the words for ‘son’ and ‘. |
|
·
הִנֶּנִּי “Here I am./ I am ready” – This appears three (3) times and while
the standard English translation is “Here I am.”, it also has the meaning “I
am ready.” Each time it is Abraham speaking:
first when God tells him of the mission (verse 1), THEN when Isaac asks about
the animal to be sacrificed (verse 7) and finally when the voice from above
tells Abraham to stop and not slaughter Isaac (verse 11). Its repetition highlights and
stresses Abraham’s willingness and dedication from the start, through the
middle, and to the end point. ·
וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם יַחְדָּו “And they went both of them
together.” This wording appears twice
and emphasizes that Abraham and Isaac went up the mountain to the sacrifice
site in harmony. It appears
first in verse 6 when the two together start the trek up the mountain and again
after their conversation mid-way re: missing sacrifice animal, verse 8. The close bond of father and son – their
harmony – is stressed by this ironic wording. For the audience knows from the start that
Abraham was going to kill Isaac as a sacrifice, yet Abraham maintained a calm
and fatherly demeanor to Isaac, and Isaac in turn continued to act as he
should, a loving and obedient son. ·
- בִּנְךָ , בְּנִי,
בְּנוֹ “his
son”,“my son”, “your son”
The text leaves no room for doubt that it is all
about the sacrifice of Abraham’s son.
The word ‘son’ appears seven (7) times and in the opening verse is
amplified with synonyms as: קַח-נָא אֶת-בִּנְךָ
אֶת-יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר-אָהַבְתָּ, אֶת-יִצְחָק “Take now thy son, thine only *one*,
whom thou lovest, even Isaac …” Only once is Isaac not referred to as
‘son’; when Abraham tells his two servants to stay behind with the donkey and
Abraham, knowing the Divine plan, lies
– saying he and Isaac will return. At this moment, Abraham cannot make himself
refer to Isaac by name or as son.
Instead, the text has him – for once only – refer to Isaac simply as
“the youth”. וַאֲנִי וְהַנַּעַר, נֵלְכָה עַד-כֹּה; וְנִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה,
וְנָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם “and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come back to you.' |
|
The Akedah text stresses in its wording
the close relationship between Abraham and Isaac as father and son, and constantly
raises the question in the audience’s mind whether the father, Abraham, will sacrifice his only son if God so ordered. By repeatedly
using the word ‘son’, the text emphasizes this extreme test of faith and
brings home to every audience member who is a father (or mother) or son what
such a Divine challenge would feel like if it were to occur in their own
lives. |
|
CONCLUSION The Akedah is filled with numerous
oral-aural techniques. It is a key event in the Chumash and every trick – every oral-aural
device – is used repeatedly to ensure the assembled audience can follow the
events, understand the unspoken turmoil within Abraham the father, and the
ultimate Divine message: NO to human sacrifice, and the resultant triple blessing
Abraham and the Jewish people received. |
[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_editions_of_the_Hebrew_Bible#:~:text=The%20first%20to%20establish%20a,an%20edition%20of%20300%20copies.
[iv] https://charlesasullivan.com/2693/history-chapters-verses-hebrew-bible/ It traces the process back to the early 13th
century and the division into chapters by Archbishop Stephen Langton, and final verse division in
the mid-16th century in the Bomberg Bible .
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