(Part 1)

JBTM Paul D. Wegner
97
Literary Devices
The prophets most likely spoke their messages instead of writing them first, and
thus puns and other plays on words would have added interest to their messages. The
book of Micah is known for its plays on words. For example, in 1:10 Micah states,“At
Beth-le-aphrah (lit. ‘house of dust’) roll yourself in dust,” and in 1:14 he jests, “the
houses of Achzib (lit. ‘deception’) will become a deception.” Note any nuanced
meanings in the text from the use of literary devices, such as irony, metonymy, 15
hendiadys, 16 chiasms, palistrophes, parallelism, etc. An example of a palistrophe that
adds interest and meaning to the passage appears in Isa 1:21–26, which is illustrated
below.
“Faithful City Palistrophe”
A. The “Faithful City” has become a harlot (v. 21)
B. Righteousness once dwelt there (v. 21)
C. Murderers dwell there (v. 21)
D. Silver has become dross (v. 22)
E. Everyone is corrupt (v. 22)
THE LORD DECLARES (v. 24)
E'. God’s foes are destroyed (v. 24)
D'. Dross is removed (v. 25)
C'. God will restore judges/counselors (v. 26)
B'. Righteousness has returned (v. 26)
A'. A faithful city (v. 26)
The structure helps us to see an interesting turning point (v. 24) when God steps in
to change the situation.
5. Determining the Meanings of the Words
Because the grammar and syntax of Hebrew is often very simple, Hebrew nouns
carry considerable importance in creating the meaning. It is a very picturesque
language, and this is especially true in poetic portions. For example, Isa 10:17–19
portrays the severity of the destruction God would bring on the Assyrian army by
using images of fire (v. 17) and sickness (v. 18).
Each Hebrew noun has a range of meanings and, while there is often overlap in
meanings between words, rarely do two Hebrew words overlap exactly. A word study
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Metonymy – the replacement of the name of one thing for a related thing.
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Hendiadys – two words used to form one concept.