This source sheet is part of the larger Ta’amei HaPardes Commentary, a project of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. This is sheet 1 of 16 on the topic of TORAH.
In the commentary that lies ahead, we will approach our passage in a three-fold manner:
- We begin by taking in the “forest.” We will take a long view of the passage in its entirety, considering the large issues and questions it raises.
- We then move on to an examination of the passage’s “trees.” We will approach the text verse by verse, engaging in close, exacting readings. We will pay careful attention to words, phrases, grammar, syntax, and all perceivable nuance.
- We return to the “forest.” Based on information culled from our close readings, we will draw much potential meaning about the passage’s big questions.
In our close readings (the passage’s “trees”), which will take up the bulk of our commentary, our efforts will be enhanced by a host of literary concepts, phenomena, and tools. Although these terms and concepts carry modern nomenclature, many have been in use by exegetes throughout the centuries.
These tools, concepts, and phenomena may be divided into three categories, which we present here, along with short definitions of each term.
1. Literary devices that relate to formal literary elements:
Ambiguity: a word, phrase, statement, or idea that can be understood in more than one way
Anagram: a type of wordplay that transposes letters within a word
Anthropomorphism: the application of human traits or qualities to a non-human object
Context: the best understanding of a word/verse within its immediate location and beyond
Convention: a genre’s defining characteristics, ideas, images, and characters and the effect of the text’s adherence to or deviation from said characteristics
Euphemism: the indirect description of a delicate concept
Grammar: a verse’s use of number, gender, tense, and other constructions
Hypophora: a subcategory of rhetorical questions in which the rhetorical question is immediately answered by the questioner
Imagery: highly descriptive language that appeals to readers’ senses
Inflection: an implied, or changing, intonation or pitch in the verse
Intertextuality: the reading of a passage in light of others that draw on its language and themes
Juxtaposition: the reading of verses in light of adjacent verses to enhance meaning or highlight differences
Lacuna: words missing from the text
Leitwort: recurring words in a passage that “guide” readers toward meaning
Logic: the straying of verses from expected reasoning, including non-sequiturs and contradictions
Metaphor: the comparison of similar things by saying that one of them is the other
Metonymy: a word that symbolizes a much larger associated concept
Paradox: two premises that seem irreconcilable, but are both, nevertheless, true
Personification: the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions
Poetry: a literary genre that is rhythmic and lyrical, often operating under different rules than prose
Repetition: extraneous words or repeated language in the verse; the potential artfulness, or exegetical potential, in repetition
Rhetorical questions: non-literal questions, often posed for dramatic effect or to make a point
Semantics: the strict meanings of words and deviations from these meanings
Sequence: the logical flow within a verse or between verses
Simile: the comparison of two similar things by saying one is like the other
Sound: devices such as alliteration and assonance and the emotions they reveal
Structure: the verse’s construction
Symbolism: specific words, phrases, and characters representing something beyond their immediate context
Syntax: the arrangement of words and phrases and deviations from expected arrangements
Tone: the intended voice of the text and its effect on our understanding of characters and situations
Wordplay: the playful or clever use of words, including puns and allusions to other words and concepts
2. Literary concepts and phenomena that relate to content:
Archetype: characters that act as models for all characters of the same type
Character analysis: the evaluation of a character’s traits based on all available textual evidence
Double entendre: a word or phrase that is open to two interpretations
Figurative readings: the text’s non-literal intent
Foreshadowing: literary hints or allusions to future plot developments
Hyperbole: the use of exaggerated language for dramatic or artistic effect
Irony: words expressing something other than, or even directly opposed to, what was expected
Motif: a distinctive, possibly recurring, feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition
Perspective: shifts, often subtle, from one point of view to another
Philosophy/theology: dissonance between expected philosophical concepts and the text’s language
Subtext: an underlying and often distinct theme in the text
Theme: a central, unifying idea that emerges from the behavior of the characters and other narrated events
3. Additional avenues for interpretation:
Ancient biblical documents: comparison to ancient codices
Ancient Semitic languages: interpreting the text based on meaning derived from ancient languages, such as Akkadian, Aramaic, and Ugaritic
Derash: a traditional method of interpretation that highlights a homiletical, rather than literal, exposition of the text
Te’amim: the Bible’s cantillation notes that indicate syntactic structure within verses
This source sheet is part of the larger Ta’amei HaPardes Commentary, a project of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and is sheet 1/14 on the topic of TORAH.