Loewenstamm (1969) the Expanded Colon in Ugaritic and Biblical Verse

THE EXPANDED COLON IN UGARITICAND BIBLICAL VERSE

By SAMUEL E. LOEWENSTAMM1

A. HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM

Rashbam, writing at the end of the eleventh century A.D., notesin his commentary to the text,

" Thy tight hand, O Lord, glorious in power / thy right hand, O Lord,shatters the enemy" (Exod. xv. 6): This verse is similar to " The floodshave lifted up, O Lord / the floods have lifted up their voice " (Ps. xc. 3)," O Lord, how long shall the wicked/ how long shall the wicked exult ? "(Ps. xciv. 3), "For lo, thy enemies, O Lord / for lo, thy enemies shallperish" (Ps. xcii. 10). The first half is incomplete without the secondhalf, which repeats and completes the thought.

Rashbam returns to this matter in his commentary to the passage,"A fruitful bough is Joseph, a fruitful bough by a spring"(Gen. xlix. 22), where he adds another verse to the list of ex-amples : "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher/ vanity of vanities!All is vanity" (Eccles. i. 2). We do not know why Rashbam shouldhere enter into a stylistic analysis, which is foreign to medievalexegesis, and we can only assume that his remark is directedagainst exegesis which explained redundance of language as im-plying an exegetical hint. Compare the homiletical interpretationcited by Rashi for Exod. xv. 6: "'Thy right hand.. .thy righthand'—twice: when the Children of Israel fulfil the will of theOmnipresent, the left hand becomes as the right. 'Thy righthand, O Lord, glorious in power' to save Israel, and 'thy'second 'right hand'.. .shatters the enemy."2

In contrast to this, modern research, in discussing these andsimilar passages, takes as its starting point the theory oiparallelis-

1 It is my pleasant duty to express my thanks to my friend and colleague,Prof. Y. Blau, whose advice was of assistance in the preparation of thisarticle. I also wish to thank my students, N. Gubrin, A. Dagani, and G. Brin,for their useful remarks.

1 It should be noted that Rashi accepted his grandson's innovation andcalled these verses "Samuel's verses", after his grandson. Compare S. Poz-nanski, Kommentar tgt Eqeebiel und den XII Kleinen Propbeten von EJie^er ausBeaugency (Warsaw, 1913), p. xlv (in Hebrew).

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THE EXPANDED COLON IN UGAR1TIC AND BIBLICAL VERSE

mus membrorum. According to the analysis of Lowth, a relation-ship of synonymous, antithetic, or synthetic parallelism existsbetween the cola of a biblical verse. Lowth himself did nothesitate to regard the passages under discussion as a special caseoiparallela synonyma, and in his discussion of this type of parallel-ism he remarked, "Fit nonnumquam parallelismus per itera-tionem partis alicuius prioris membri."1 He cites the followingverses in illustration of this statement: "Thou God of vengeance,O Lord / thou God of vengeance, shine forth" (Ps. xciv. i) ;" How long shall the wicked, O Lord / how long shall the wickedexult?" (ibid. v. 3). But scholars have long felt that this definitiondoes not exhaust the subject, and have considered it necessary tosupplement Lowth's analysis by the use of the term "climacticparallelism". The definition advanced by S. R. Driver2 is clearlysimilar to that of Rashbam:" Here the first line is itself incomplete,and the second line takes up words from it and completes them."But even though his definition is similar, Driver actually meant amore general type than Rashbam, as becomes apparent from oneof his examples: "The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness /the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh" (Ps. xxix. 8). Trueenough, in this verse too words are repeated, t>ut in the repetitiveformula the order of words has been changed.

D. Yelling dealt with this problem in 1939,. in his study ofrepetition in biblical poetry. He writes:There is a unique type of poetic repetition which is used only inelevated and solemn style, and appears in the following manner: partof the phrase is begun and not ended; then comes the name of theperson spoken to, in the form of an address; afterwards, that part of thephrase which has already been stated is repeated and completed.

The innovation in this definition is the stress laid upon theexistence of an intervening formula which is phrased as anaddress. Therefore Yellin's definition excludes Gen. xlix. 22(included by Rashbam) and Ps. xxix. 8 (included by Driver).Yellin goes on to state:

But sometimes the first part expresses a complete idea, and the secondpart of the verse, which repeats the beginning of the first part, addssomething else to the preceding idea and strengthens its miningAs examples he cites, inter alia, Ps. lxvi. 4, 6; Canti iv. 9; v. 9.

1 R. Lowth, De Sacra Poesi Hcbraeorum Praelectiones, Praelectio xrx.2 S. R. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of tie Old Testament (1897),

pp. 363 f.1 D. Yellin, Selected Studies, n (Jerusalem, 5699), 37 (in Hebrew).

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THE EXPANDED COLON IN UGARITIC AND BIBLICAL VERSE

With the discovery of the Ugaritic texts this problem againcame under discussion. Already in 1935 H. L. Ginsberg1 hadbriefly pointed out the striking resemblance between thebiblical verse pK •'VSD Va men' // na»r "p"* ran -a 'n -pant ran -a"For lo, thy enemies, O Lord / for lo, thy enemies shall perish /all evildoers shall be scattered" (Ps. xcii. 10), and the Ugariticverse: bt ibk Vim \ ht ibk tmhs \ ht tsmt srtk2 (HI AB A, lines 8-9)"Lo, thy enemies, O Baal / lo, thy enemies shalt thou shatter / lo,thou shalt destroy thy oppressors."3

In 19384 he went into slightly greater detail concerning thisquestion, mentioning a special type of tricolon, whose first twocola represent the pattern abc/abd; that is to say, of the first threewords of the first colon (abc) the first two are repeated (ab) at thebeginning of the second colon, with the addition of a third•word (d).

Following him, W. F. Albrights made a systematic collectionof Ugaritic and scriptural material, which he also analysed. Thisscholar coined the term repetitive parallelism. This change interminology is indicative of the change in the method itself. Un-like Rashbam, Driver, and Yellin, Albright did not take intoconsideration whether the first colon completes itself or not, butrather included in his definition all those verses in which thesame words recur in two cola of one verse. Thus, according to hisconception, there is also repetitive parallelism in the verseTOW am ma sr*nn a>m aipa w o crw anpa "In the midst of theyears renew it / in the midst of the years make it known / in wrathremember mercy" (Hab. iii. 2), even though the first colon anpairrri aw expresses a complete idea, and even though its rela-tionship to the second colon smn am aipa is one of synony-mous parallelism. The formula of the verse in Hab. iii. 2,according to him, is abc/abd/efg, and according to that very sameformula he describes the verse ynn ran "O 'n yyn ran "opa 'VSD "?a men* nair (Ps. xcii. 10), whose structure is entirely

1 H. L. Ginsberg, "The Victory of the Land-God over the Sea-God",J.P.O.S. xv (1935), 117.

2 The sigla of the Ugaritic texts are quoted after Virolleaud.3 On m s in the sense of the oppressors collectively, cf. M. D. Cassuto,

"Parallel Words in Hebrew and Ugaritic", L'sbonenu xv (5707), 98-9 (inHebrew).

4 H. L. Ginsberg, "The Rebellion and Death of Ba'lu", Orientalia v(1936), 180.

s W. F. Albright, "The Psalm of Habakkuk", Studies in Old TestamentProphecy Presented to Tb. H. Robinson (Edinburgh, 1950), pp. 3-9.

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different from that of Hab. iii. 2, as the colon abc in Ps. xcii. 10cannot exist by itself.

In 1957 S. Mowinckel1 published a book on the problem ofthe tricolon in the Bible. Although this book refrains from anyfundamental discussion of the characteristics of the above-mentioned verses, it does touch on some of them from variousaspects, especially that of their textual criticism, which is basedon the determination of the rules of the structure of biblicalverse.

The problem of the above-mentioned literary type will herebe subjected to a new examination which will include comparisonof the scriptural material with its Ugaritic parallels. We shall firstpresent a survey of these latter.

B. THE EXPANDED COLON IN UGARITIC

As has been stated, the discussion of the Ugaritic material beganwith the verse: bt ibk Vim / bt ibk tmhs j bt tsmt srtk (HI AB A,lines 8-9). The structure of the first two cola is quite obvious.After the first two words the poet interrupts his continuous flowof words with an address, repeats the first two words, and com-pletes the sentence with its predicate. In this sentence, therefore,we can observe: (1) a repetitive formula made up of the two wordsbt ibk; (2) an intervening formula of one word, Vim; (3) a comple-mentary formula tmhs, also of one word. We shall indicate thispattern of the first two cola by means of the abbreviated formula2-1-2-1. It may be further observed that the third colon bt tsmtsrtk parallels the two first cola and especially the second colonbt ibk tmhs, and that the omission of the first colon does notimpair the meaning of the verse. Therefore we may define thefirst two cola as one expanded colon. Corroboration of this viewwill be adduced in the following.

Similar to this is the following \ytbr hrnybn jytbr hrn rilk / 'JtrtIm b'l qdqdk (LI K VI, lines 5 4-7): " May Horon break, O my son /may Horon break thy head / Ashtoreth Name-(?) of Baal thycrown."2

The structure of the expanded verse corresponds exactly tothat of the verse discussed above, with but one exception—herethe expanded verse is completed by the direct object rilk.

The same pattern is also represented by the verse: a[tt tq\h1 S.M.owiackd,R£a/anJApparentTrieola in Hebrew Psa/m Poetry(Os\o, 1957).1 Cf.:ytb\r brn.. .ytbr fan] rilk 'ttrt [Im b'l qdqdk] (HI AB B, lines 7-8).

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ykrt / att tqh btk \ glmt ts'rb k$rk // tld Ib' bnm Ik \ wtmn tttmnm(HI K II, lines 21-4): "The woman thou takest, 6 Krt / thewoman thou takest to thy house / the girl thou bringest to thycourt // will bear seven sons unto thee / yea, even eight."

The complementary formula btk is, in this case, the comple-ment of the predicate tqh. Moreover, it should be noted that theexpanded colon together with its complement glmt tS'rb b%rk doesnot make a complete sentence, but merely the subject of thecomplete sentence. Even so, here too the expanded colon initself is constructed according to the pattern 2-1-2-1.

Special attention should be given to the verse, irl bym laqhtfrr I irl bym watnk / blmt wallbk (IID VI, lines 26-9): "Requestlife, O Aqht the hero / request life and I shall give (it) to you /immortality, and I shall bestow it upon you."

The pattern 2-2-2-1 is but slightly different from the pattern2-1-2-1 that we have observed up to now. Indeed, the first colonirl bym laqbt gqr here constitutes a complete sentence, containingsubject, predicate and object. Even so, this clause is not inde-pendent, but is rather an unconnected protasis, whose apodosisis watnk (that is to say: "If you request life, I shall give it to you"),and therefore it cannot exist separately. Thus what we have hereis chiefly the phenomenon described above. Here too it is easy todistinguish the interruption of the continuous flow of wordsirl bym watnk, an interruption accompanied by a new beginning,and here too the formulation of the idea ends in the comple-mentary formula only. We might add that the reconstruction ofthe basic unexpanded sentence is in this case not merely a matterof conjecture, as the same text goes on to state: Im' m' [laqhtfar I t]rl ksp watnk! / \lbrs wal]lhk (IID VI, lines 16-18): "Butlisten, O Aqht the hero / request silver and I will give it to you /gold, and I will bestow it upon you."

Thus we can observe the process of formation of the expandedcolon from this simple formulation. The address laqhtgy whichprecedes the simple colon turns into the intervening formula ofthe expanded colon, which separates the first two words fromtheir repetition.

The following verse deviates from those discussed up to now:qrn dbatk btlt 'nt / qrn dbatk b'lymlh / b'lymlh hm b'p (TV AB E,lines 21-3): "Thy horns of strength,1 O virgin Anat / thy homs

1 dbu is apparently related to K37 (Deut. xxxiii. 25) and like it is unclear.The LXX has lox«>S "strength" and the Targum KDpW "strength", whichalso suits the Ugaritic text.

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of strength Baal will anoint / Baal will anoint them in flight."The pattern1 2-2-2-2 is not surprising. But the beginning of thethird colon is unusual, for it repeats, without an interveningformula, the complementary formula blymsh of the second colon,with a certain addition. If so, then the third colon too is part ofthe structure of the expanded colon and not a parallel colon. Thistoo can be explained in two ways, neither of which contradictsthe other. The whole verse can be considered as the expansion ofthe basic formula qrn dbatk b'lymlb b'p. Alternatively, it can beinterpreted as the expansion of the formula qrn dbatk btlt 'fit / qrndbatk b'lymib b'p. In this formula, the complementary formula iscomposed of three words: b'lymib b'p. But, as Ugaritic poetrycannot tolerate such a long complementary formula, it separatesthe adverbial expression b'p from the complementary formulaand turns it into a complete colon: b'lymib hm b'p.2

In all the above-mentioned examples the intervening formulaappears as an address. The pattern is mostly 2-1-2-1, but thepatterns 2-2-2-1 and 2-2-2-2 also appear once each, and there iseven an uncertain example of the 2-1-2-2 pattern (discussed inn. 2 below). The variation is extremely slight. We have also seen-that a colon which is expanded into two cola is generally paral-leled by an additional colon in synonymous parallelism, con-structed according to the usual rules of syntax. But we have alsoseen an example of the expansion of one colon into three cola(IV ABII, lines 21-3), where the parallel colon is absent.

In many cases the intervening formula is the subject of thesentence. One has to bear in mind that in Ugaritic (as in otherSemitic languages) the finite verb contains its subject-pronoun initself, and the following noun, serving as subject, may be inter-

1 Prof. Z. Ben-Hayyim has called my attention to the possibility of under-standing the construct state as one word. We would then have the pattern1-1-1-2. But in all the Ugaritic verses the repetitive formula is composed oftwo words. This leads us to conclude that even such a combination as qrndbatk was understood as two words.

* Cf. also V AB V, lines 27-9. The reading is very doubtful. A. Herdner,Corpus its tabkttes en ctmiiformts alpbabitiquts (Paris, 1963), p. 19, .suggestsreading [but] bb\tk\yilm / but bb[tk) a\l tl\mp / al tlmb br\m b]kt[k], "In thebuilding of thy house, O El / in the building of thy house thou shalt notrejoice / thou shalt not rejoice in the raising of thy palace." The pattern is2-1-2-2. If this restoration is accurate, then here too the beginning of thethird colon repeats the ending of the second, which is a complementaryformula. But in spite of this concatenation there can be no doubt that thethird colon is in any case a kind of parallel colon, and the existence of a colonwhich expands into three cola need not yet be assumed.

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preted as the apposition to the subject-pronoun contained in theverb. Accordingly, a sentence likey« htkh krt \fn htkh rl / midgrdl tbtb (IK, lines 21-3) may be interpreted: "He sawhis descendants, Krt / he saw his descendants destroyed / hisdwelling-place utterly crushed", and not as: "Krt saw hisdescendants, etc."

The complement of the incomplete beginning is the secondobject rl. The pattern is 2-1-2-1.

The same pattern recurs in the epic of Aqht in two expandedsentences, in which the intervening formula is the subject of thecomplementary formula which contains the predicate. The twosentences are first quoted in the epic as regular sentences and areexpanded only upon their repetition. The first unexpanded textreads:

[apnk dnil mt rpt] ap[n &r mt brnmy]uqr ilmylbm SFVJH!^ ^>n $*yd ftby'l wyikbyd \m^rt p\ylnl

(IID I, lines 2-6)1

Then Dnil, the man of Rpi Then the hero, die man of HtnmyOfferings to the gods he gave Offerings he gave to drink to the

to eat holy onesWith his garment he ascended And he lay with his vestment

and slept.

This text is afterwards repeated in expanded form:

[b]ms tdtymu%r [ilm] dnil / u%r ilmylbm / [K(r\yJqy bn qdlyd ftb dnil I yd ftby'l / wylkb [yd] miqrt pyln {ibid, lines 12-16)A fifth, a sixth dayOfferings to the gods, Dnil / Offerings to the gods he gave to eat /Offerings he gave to drink to the holy ones // With his garment, Dnil /with his garment he ascended / and he lay with his vestment and slept.

In addition, we may note the concatenation of the parallel colonby the repetition of the word «^r.

Further development of the expanded colon can be observedin the following verse: //» knp btlt'»[/] / tfa knp wtr b'p (TV ABII,lines 10-1 x): " She spread her wings, the virgin Anat / she spreadher wings and.. .2 in flight."

1 On the problem of text and translation, see S. Loewenstamm, "TheClimax of Seven Days in the Ugaritic Epic", Tarbiz xxxi (5722), 229-30 (inHebrew).

1 Cf. C H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook (Rome, 1965), pp. 19, 1153.

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The pattern of the expanded sentence itself, 2-2-2-2, has longbeen known to us, but it should be noted that the beginning,tiu knp btlt'nt, is a complete sentence, and the definition of thewords wtr b'p as a complementary formula is rather loose, as thesewords indicate an additional action. However, this additionalaction is the direct result of the action described previously, andAnath's spreading her wings and taking to flight can be describedas two stages of the same action, where the second completes thefirst. It is thus possible to say that the words wtr b'p stand in themiddle between a complementary formula and a colon parallelingthe expanded colon. The resemblance of the complementaryformula to the parallel colon thus explains the absence of aparallel colon from the verse. Even with all the unique charac-teristics of this verse, there can be no doubt that here also we areable to reconstruct the simple, basic formula tiu knp wtr b'p; andhere also we find the same method of interrupting the utteranceand beginning it anew.

The structure of the expanded verse becomes more compli-cated in the following verse: wyiu 'nb aliyn b'lj wyiu 'nb wy'n \ wy'nbtlt 'nt (ibid, lines 13-ij): "And he lifted up his eyes, the hero.Baal / and he lifted up his eyes and saw / and he saw the virginAnat."

This verse, which has been expanded into a tricolon, has thefollowing sentence as its basis: wyiu 'nh wy'n btlt 'nt. This alsodescribes two consecutive actions which fuse into a kind ofsingle action. But while the expanded sentence is generallyinterrupted once, and begins anew once, here this happens twice.The first interruption falls into a known category. Two wordswhich function as a subject, aliyn b'l, separate between wylu 'nband its repetition; but the second time the repetition formulacontains only one word—wy'n—which does not have any inter-vening formula between it and its repetition. The one colon endswith the word wy'n, without indicating what Baal saw. The nextcolon begins with the same verb and adds its object. The followingverse is phrased according to the very same pattern: wtlu 'nb btlt'nt I wtlu 'nb wt'n j wt'n orb (ibid, lines 26-8): "And she lifted upher eyes, the virgin Anat / and she lifted up her eyes and saw / andshe saw a cow."1

1 The usual wording for vision in the Ugaritic epic is bnH 'nb wypb{n) (I D,lines 105, 120, 137; E D V , line 9): "Upon lifting up his eyes he saw."Similarly, the feminine bnH 'nb wtpbn (IIABII, line 12; ID , lines 28-9, 76;IID VI, line 10). These expressions are an additional indication that "lifting

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The similarity of this pattern to that of IV ABII, lines 21-3,which was discussed above, should not be ignored. There, too,we have a tricolon construction which includes two repetitiveformulas, and the first pair of repetitive formulas is separated byan intervening formula, whereas the second pair is not.

The second of the two characteristics which distinguish theabove-mentioned verses, i.e. the repetition of a verb which con-cludes one colon at the beginning of the second colon, is presentby itself in only one verse: ibrk Urn tity / tity Urn lahlbm \ dr ilImsknthm (LnKIQ, lines 17-19): "The gods blessed and theywent / the gods went to their tents / the godly assemblage to theirtabernacles."

The verses discussed above differ from the usual style by theinterruption of the utterance and its resumption, which gives ittension and solemnity. These verses are fundamentally differentfrom those verses in which the repetition of the same words intwo cola does not serve this object, and in which it is impossibleto distinguish any expansion of a shorter and simpler formula.To this category belongs, for example, a verse which Albrightclasses with his examples of repetitive parallelism in Ugaritic:knpn$rmVlytbr\bHtbr diybmtQ.'D, lines 114-15): "The wingsof eagles may Baal break / may Baal break their pinions."

It is true that the wording VI tbr in the second colon corres-ponds to b'lytbr in the first.1 Here however there is no interrup-

up of the eyes " is merely the beginning of the action, and requires comple-tion through the description of seeing.

There are biblical expressions which resemble the formula in IV AB, suchas "And he lifted up his eyes and he saw". See M. D. Cassuto (in Tarbis^ xrv(57°3)» 9-IG) (m Hebrew).

1 For the parallelism jtfir / tbr see M. D. Cassuto, Tarbi% xrv (5703), 9-10(in Hebrew); M. Held, Studies and Essays in Honour of A. A. Neumann(Leiden, 1962), pp. 281-90. Both authors explain this form of parallelism asone existing between th&jaqtul and qatala forms in two cola of one verse.True, this kind of parallelism is well attested in biblical poetry. Neverthelessit remains a moot question whether tbr should be parsed as qatala or as qatalu.Cf. the verse tt'r ksat I mbr / t'rtlfmt Isbim (V AB II, lines 20-2). If the poethad intended to use the qatala form, he should have written t'rt and not/'r.We must, therefore, necessarily define t'r as the absolute infinitive. Cf. alsoM. Dahood, Psalms I (New York, 1966), p. 177.

In any case, the fact remains that both in Ugaritic and biblical poetry thereexists a type of parallelism between xh&yaqtul and another form of the sameverb in the two cola of a verse. Such repetition does not change the structureof the verse, and is therefore fundamentally different from the repetitionpresent in the expanded colon.

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tion of the utterance, but an unbroken and continuous utterance.The first colon, knp nlrm b'lytbr, fully describes the subject, andthe second colon does not complement it but merely repeats it.This repetitive parallelism is nothing but a special type ofsynonymous parallelism, being fundamentally different from thephenomenon of the expanded colon which we have described,following Rashbam, Driver, and Yellin.

We may now summarize the results of our discussion of thevarious types of usage of the expanded colon in Ugaritic. Firstof all, we should note one type in which a formula serves as anintervening address between two repetitive formulas. A comple-mentary formula comprises the conclusion of the colon. .Thepattern is z-i{z)-z-i{z). The colon, which has been expanded intotwo cola, is followed by an additional, unexpanded colon of thetype usual in synonymous parallelism. There is one exceptionalcase in which one basic colon is expanded into three cola, andlacks a parallel colon. In this case the subject of the third colonrepeats the ending of the second colon without any interveningformula (IVABE, lines 21-3). More flexible and varied isanother type, in which an intervening formula serves as thesubject. Here too the pattern is z-i(z)-z-i{z). In this type also theexpanded colon is not always followed by another colon insynonymous parallelism. We have observed one case in whichthe parallel colon is lacking (IV ABU, lines 10-11), this beingthe case where the complementary formula describes an additionalaction which, together with the first, forms one continuousaction. Here the result is a bicolon. Moreover, we have observeda third type which resembles the second {ibid, lines 13-15; lines26-8). The additional and continued action is indicated in thecomplementary formula only by a verb, and the third colon,which describes this action in detail, begins with the same verbthat concluded the second colon, without any interveningformula. Thus the result is again a tricolon. But this versediffers in structure from the tricolon which we have observed inthe cases of the regular expanded cola. We have noted anotherverse (HI K ID, lines 17-19) without any intervening formula,in which the first colon ends with the same verb with which thesecond colon begins, by way of describing the action in detail.

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THE EXPANDED COLON IN UGARITIC.AND BIBLICAL VERSE

C. THE EXPANDED COLON IN THE BIBLE

In the Bible the most conspicuous type of expanded colon is thatin which the intervening formula serves as an address. This typeis more diversified and developed than in Ugaritic poetry.

Here too we may make a distinction between those passages inwhich the first colon requires a complement by the very natureof its grammatical structure, and those passages in which itrequires a complement by virtue of its content alone. As anexample of the first type we may cite paVa VIR n"?D piaVa ">m•wan "With me from Lebanon, O bride / with me from Lebanon,come" (Cant. iv. 8). The following verses belong to the samecategory: Exod. xv. 6; Hab. iii. 8; Ps. xxix. i ; xcii. io; xciii. z;xciv. 3; Prov. xxxi. 4. An example of the second type is the verseVrrr am "pin wrbK am fim "The waters saw thee, O God / thewaters saw thee, they trembled" (Ps. lxxvii. 17), i.e. "The waterstrembled when they saw thee". It is as if seeing and trembling areone action, and it is clear that the first colon is nothing but theexpansion of the second, which is the basic one. Similarly,pR isp *?3 npm maai •mV noc 'n *tb nee "Thou hast in-creased the nation, O Lord / thou hast increased the nation, thouart glorified / thou hast enlarged all the borders of the land"(Isa. xxvi. 15), i.e. "Thou art glorified by increasing the nation".In like manner, *w na i nw m» miai rns -TW "Awake, awake,Deborah / awake, awake, utter a song" (Judg. v. 12). Here also itis possible to distinguish a complementary formula TB na*T, forDeborah's "awakening" is nothing else than an awakening tosong. Likewise, "]i nmn 'aw 'aw rvaVnwi 'aw raw "Return,return, O Shulamite / return, return, and we will look upon you"(Cant. vii. 1) means "Return, so that we may look upon you".Sometimes the complementary formula is a consecutive clause:•unsawi rmv Tna Tm na tnwa no-n "ma ym na "What isyour beloved more than another beloved, O fairest amongwomen / what is your beloved more than another beloved, thatyou thus adjure us?" (Cant. v. 9); or an adverbial clause: "Wiaa1?yrvn (Q nnna) insa 'inaa1? n"?3 -WIR "YOU have ravished myheart, my sister, my bride / you have ravished my heart with aglance of your eyes" (Cant. iv. 9); or even apposition: a<ov 71TPDVD tra» TTTP trn^s "Let the peoples praise thee, O God / letthe peoples praise thee, all of them" (Ps. lxvii. 4, 6).

From this we proceed to the cola which parallel each other,each one expressing a complete idea, such as: 'n ia» nasr iv

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nip it o» nasr i s " Until thy people pass by, O Lord/ until the peoplepass by whom thou hast purchased" (Exod. xv. 16). If the versehad read: mp IT ay *iasr i s 'n ns lasr i s "Until the people passby, O Lord / until the people pass by whom thou hast pur-chased", we would have had an expanded colon in which thecomplementary formula mp IT ns would have served as thedetermination of the subject, as in Ps. kvii. 4. But here the sub-ject of the repetitive formula is determined by the personalpronoun (*]BS—thy people!), thus turning the expanded coloninto a verse of two parallel cola, each of which is complete andcomprehensible in itself, even if the origin of this verse from theexpanded colon is quite obvious. Still further removed from thepattern of the expanded colon is 1110 nsas m 'n O'VKa roas ••ampa "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the Gods ? Who islike thee glorious in holiness?"1 (Exod.xv. 11); ?mai ••nap© i sVmwa OK 'napw " Until you arose, O Deborah / until you arose, amother in Israel" (Judg. v. 7).

There are more patterns in the Bible than in Ugaritic. Bothhave in common the pattern 1-2-1-2 (Ps. kvii. 4, 6; lxxvii. 17;xciii. .3; Cant. iv. 8) and 2-2-2-2 (Exod. xv. 6), but in regard to thelatter pattern it must be added that the repetitive formula and theintervening formula deviate from the normal. As a rule, it is theaddress that intervenes between the repetitive formulas. Here,however, the address proper ('n) is part of the repetitive formula'n 1W, and the intervening formula roa TWO is in appositionto the address.

Not certainly attested in Ugaritic (see above, p. 181 n. 2) is thebiblical pattern 2-1-2-2 (Ps. xxxi. 4; Judg. iv. 12; Cant. vii. 1).The last two examples bear a striking resemblance to one anotherin the structure of the repetitive formula. Both of these have a

1 It has been suggested that TO3 miM be read here (GK § 90 /),(W. L. Moran, "The Hebrew Language in its Northwest Semitic Back-ground ", in The Bible and the Ancient Near East, ed. G. E. Wright (New York,1965), p. 60). These suggestions would turn the expanded colon into twoparallel cola. At first glance it would seem possible to support this suggestionwith the passage mp IT OS "av IS 'n "]0V 135" IS " Until thy people pass by,O Lord / until the people pass by whom thou hast purchased " (Exod. xv. 16),for there the expanded colon structure is breached even in the Masoretictext, and turns into a construction of two parallel cola. But here the modifiedrepetition of the words *pS 13V IS causes the two cola to consolidate into aunified idea, in spite of the breaching of die pattern of the expanded colon.But the suggested readings (TnXl) iiTOO produce two cola in which theparallelism is forced and stilted.

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double imperative, whose repetition gives rise to four equalimperative expressions. More than this, at times biblical poetryprefixes an unaccented, monosyllabic particle to the two principalwords of the repetitive formula; this means that the Bible is notas strict as Ugaritic poetry in having the repetitive formulacomposed of just two words, and admits its composition of threewords bearing two stresses, cf. Ta^s mn "O (Ps. xcii. 10) with htibk (HI AB A, line 8). In this way the patterns 3-1-3-1 (Ps. xcii.10; xciv. 3) and 3-2-3-2 (Cant. v. 9) are formed, and we haveobserved once even the entirely exceptional pattern 1-2-1-2 (Cant,iv. 9). Special consideration is merited by the passage mn unman"]t« trims DM '7i, literally "Against the rivers did it bum, O Lord /if against the rivers thy anger?" (Hab. iii. 8). Here the poet castsoff the chains of tradition, which would have required thewording "]bH mn nnman 'n mn unman "Against the rivers did itbum, O Lord / against the rivers did thy wrath bum?", andallows himself the liberty of changes during his repetition ofthe formula preceding the address. For this change of the re-petitive formula in the expanded colon cf. Ps. inch, j , 8 and seebelow.1

The tendency of the Bible freely to develop ancient patterns,which makes itself evident in the very structure of the expandedcolon, becomes even more prominent in the structure of thecomplete verse. In the Ugaritic epic, after the expanded colonpossessing an intervening formula in the form of an address,there everywhere appears a short, synonymous colon, except inthe text 76II, lines 21-3, where the third colon repeats the contentof the preceding cola with a certain addition; whereas the Biblehas a large number of variants of this form, and only some of theverses are exactly like the Ugaritic pattern in this respect. Someexamples follow: nmnn TOT «]R iVfr tra fun DTIVK em *pm" The waters saw thee, O God/ the waters sawthee, they trembled /yea, the deeps shook" (Ps. Ixxvii. 17); nan •o 'n yyx mn "opx 'V»D Va men* nair yam "For lo, thy enemies, O Lord / forlo, thy enemies shall perish / all evildoers shall be scattered"(Ps. xcii. 10); -\rrav tra DK *JDK tmma OK 'n rnn unman "Againstthe rivers did it bum, O Lord / if against the rivers thy wrath / ifagainst the sea thy indignation?" (Hab. iii. 8).

1 Cf. also above, p. 184 n. 1. The verses cited there, whose cola are insynonymous parallelism, tend to have a repetitive formula of the typecustomary in the expanded colon. But during the repetition the poet variesthe formula which he is repeating.

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But sometimes the biblical verse will have no parallel colon,whether the first part of the expanded colon requires a comple-ment by the very nature of its grammatical structure, as: 'n *|Wa-s pnn 'n ym" roa m w "Thy right hand, O Lord, gloriousin power / thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy" (Exod.xv. 6), or whether it requires a complement by virtue of itscontent, as: T » nan my nw mat nw m» "Awake, awake,O Deborah / awake, awake, utter a song" (Judg. v. 12; cf.Ps. lxvii. 4, 6; Cant. v. 9; vii. 1).

On the other hand, the expanded colon pattern may develop invarious directions. The verse '•man paaVa *nx nVa juaVa vwn»K ««no TRWI "With me from Lebanon, bride/ with me fromLebanon, come/ journey from the peak of Amana" (Cant iv. 8)essentially fits the ancient pattern; but unlike the parallel colon itgoes on enthusiastically in flowing style and language: tnnaD'-MM Tins JITHN missa pa-im TW ". . .from the peak ofSenir and Hermon, from die dens of lions, from the mountainsof leopards".

The creation of a new literary form can be observed in theverse aot nriru w o*?ip nnra iww 'n nnni uwi "Thefloods have lifted up, O Lord / the floods have lifted up theirvoice / the floods lift up their roaring" (Ps. xciii. 3), as theparallel colon begins here with the perfect of the verb which, inthe expanded colon, recurs in the imperfect form; and eventhough parallelism between two forms of the same verb is notunknown to the style of Ugaritic poetry,1 it does not occur therein connexion with expanded cola, while the biblical poet com-bined the two stylistic measures, thus inventing a sort of tripletof the repetitive formula. Not just a sort of triplet, but an actualtriad of this formula can be seen in the verses tsh* "oa 'r\b lan•n» TD3 'n1? ian rsn Tiaa 'nV ian "Ascribe to the Lord, Oheavenly beings / ascribe to the Lord glory and strength / ascribeto the Lord the glory of his name // worship the Lord in holyarray" (Ps. xxix. 1-2). The third colon is concatenated with theexpanded colon itself by tripling the repetitive formula 'n1? ianand this concatenation is reinforced even more by repetitionof the noun TD3. The three cola thus combine into a tricolicunit which is paralleled by the fourth colon imna '7h nnxwn

> Cf. above, p. 18411. 1.1 A certain concatenation of the third colon to the preceding ones can

already be seen in HI AB A, lines 8-9, where the first word of the repetitive

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In conclusion we may state that the form of the colon whichhas been expanded to two cola with an intervening formula inthe form of an address is much more flexible in the Bible than inUgaritic poetry.

Not everywhere does the biblical poet observe the rule,followed in Ugaritic poetry, that the repetitive formula mustinclude just two words, for at times he allows himself to add amonosyllabic short particle to this formula (Ps. xcii. 10; xciv. 3;Cant. v. 9; cf. also Hab. iii. 8). He does not even shrink fromdaring to begin the address already at the end of the repetitiveformula (Exod. xv. 6). More important than this, he does noteverywhere observe the rule of literal repetition (Hab. iii. 8).We have also observed the tendency to triple the repetitiveformula, once literally (Ps. xxix. 1, 2), once with a slight change(Ps. xciii. 3).

Especially interesting is the question of the place of the ex-panded colon in the verse in its entirety. In the Ugaritic epic thebicolic expanded colon is complemented by one additionalsynonymous colon, forming a tricolon, a phenomenon which isalso present in the Bible. But here there are exceptions, for attimes such a colon is absent (Exod. xv. 6; Judg. v. 12; Ps. Ixvii.4, 6; Cant. v. 9; vii. 1, as at times also in the Ugaritic epic, whenthe subject serves as an intervening formula), and there is also apassage in which two cola are added (Ps. xxix. 1). It can indeedbe asked whether perhaps it is only by chance that all the Ugariticverses containing an expanded colon, whose intervening colonis in the form of an address, are composed of precisely three

formula (bt) serves as the beginning of the third colon. Cf. also V AB V,lines 27-9, discussed on p. 181 n. 2, and IID I, lines 10-11.

For a different analysis of Ps. xxix. 1, see Mowinckel (ppf cit. pp. 22-3).Compare the verse under discussion also with lafl ITOV niTIBVQ 'it? 1371

rmna 'it? Timron rnmn1? wai nruo IKW tov TOD 'it? lan vn tias 'it?pKn Va r»D I'm mp "Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples /ascribe to the Lord glory and strength / ascribe to the Lord the glory of hisname / bring an offering, and come into his courts / worship the Lord in holyarray / tremble before him, all the earth" (Ps. xcvL 7-9). This psalm iscomposed of ancient hymnic material. But its author, who rightly or wronglythought the heavenly beings of Ps. xxix to be the gods of the nations, didnot think it proper to address these insufficient gods, and therefore addressedthe nations themselves, and even explained to them the meaning of thecommand TO» TDS 'it? ttil TJD TD3 'it? "On by explicidy saying nma WWrnnsnV 1K3r Thus the colon BTTp Tmna 'Tt> Tinnwi was removed from itsoriginal contest, and the isolation of the colon caused in turn the additionof the parallel colon pJCl V3 TWO iV"H.

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cola. In Canaanite-biblical poetry we have found verses of one,two, and three cola. As is known, the most common form isthat of the bicolon. Now the expansion of the first colon of thebicolon will, in any case, cause the formation of a tricolon. Thus,for example, a verse such as px -bso *?3 mtTf na&r T3<IK ran "o(as in the Septuagint B translation of Ps. xcii. 10) becomes atricolon: ps ••VSB "?3 merr na»r yy» ran "o 'n yy» ran "o.But the same thing can also happen to the monocolon. Thus, forexample, the monocolon vn pnn 'n ^̂ B<l is the base from whichis formed the bicolon a^ pnn 'n yw nsa T IKI 'n ^ro<l

(Exod. xv. 6). Such a process can also happen to the tricolon,which in this way becomes a tetracolon. The verse Tiaa '7b lan«np> rmna 'rb vnram vzv -nas 'rb lan wi becomes the tetracolon'rb mntm too TOD 'rb lan m TQD 'rb lan ab& "ua 'rb lansnp rmna (Ps. ^nriv. i, 2).

From here we proceed to the question of the textual criticismof the tricolon. Ugaritic scholars have already pointed out thatthe tricolon can appear anywhere in the Ugaritic epic, evenamong the bicola. Therefore, there is no reason to cast doubtupon the originality of the text of a tricolon in a biblical poemwhich is written in bicola.1

Nevertheless Mowinckel, in his study mentioned above, in-novated a method of textual criticism based on.the criterion ofthe number of cola, and claimed that any tricolon among bicola,and likewise any monocolon, is properly suspect.2 This ruleserved as his guidepost in his study, even though here and therehe was forced to admit that a tricolon in a bicolon poem wasoriginal after all, and he gave Ps. lxviii. 28 as the most certainexample of this.3 In line with the general tendency of his study,Mowinckel disputes the originality of the text in Ps. xcii. 10, andreads: pR "bvo "» rntn> na»p "pant ran "o, relying on threeMasoretic manuscripts and on the Septuagint MSB.* In hisopinion, the received text stems from dittography. But this as-sumption is fidt sufficient to explain the address 'n, which isexactly in line with an ancient stylistic tradition, whereas theshorter version may easily have arisen from a homoeoteleuton.Mowinckel also takes issue with the Masoretic text of Hab. iii. 8,reading instead "]ma» 'n tra DK ^ K n*m tmraan. In Mowinckel's

1 See Ginsberg, op. tit., p. 171; Albright, op. cit., p. 3; cf. also Gordon,op. cit. 15. 107, note z, and 13. 109.

2 Mowinckel, op. cit., p. 97. * Mowinckel, p. 100.4 Mowinckel, p. 34.

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opinion the corruption is proved by the difference between thereading mn tr-iman and its repetition "]tK onnia DR.1 But thisin no way explains how the word 'n happened to be dislocated inthe Masoretic text. Besides, his reading itself is unacceptable, asthe basic, unexpanded reading here is ^mas ffa QK *]DN rnn onnan,the subject not being mentioned; this becomes apparent uponcomparison of the expanded formulas with their short parallelsin the Ugaritic epic. As for Mowinckel's main argument, we havealready seen that the biblical poets varied the ancient patterns indifferent ways, and we have especially pointed out the diversifi-cation of repetitive formulas in expanded cola and in parallelcola, the style of which is influenced by that of the expandedcola.

We have seen above that in the Ugaritic epic the subject mayalso serve as the intervening formula. It is doubtful whether thispattern appears in the Bible even once. In the verse 'n rwpi VKnno Vs Vioi awi pxn BDW KWH JTBIH niapi *?x (Ps. xciv. 1-2)the form STDVI would appear to be past tense, and so theSeptuagint understood it to be, but it can also be regarded as anirregular form of the imperative.2 This is supported by the im-perative forms wwn and at&n in the continuation of the verse. Ithas even been suggested to read nsrDin, like the imperative formin Ps. lxxx. 2 (haplography before KVOT); but it cannot bedecided one way or another. If we consider SPDIM to be pasttense, then the repeating formula map) VK is a regular subject, andthe intervening formula is in apposition to the subject; cf. Exod.xv. 6, in which the intervening formula nsa *rnu is in appositionto the address 'n, which concludes the repetitive formula. Theexpanded colon appears without any parallel colon, which meansthat we have before us a bicolon, like those which we have seenin Ugaritic verses. These are expanded cola in which the subjectserves as the intervening formula. But if we explain srom as animperative form, then the doubled formula map) •?« is anaddress and the intervening formula 'n is in apposition to theaddress. In addition, we can then explain the cola beginning withtwin and avn as paralleling the expanded cola, thus giving us atetracolon. In any case it is clear that the expanded colon con-structed according to the pattern 2-1-2-1 is exceedingly close tothe ancient patterns.

In contrast to this, considerable deviation from the traditionalforms is shown by the verse TI1?* 'n1? *inm mrm -ow 'n1?

1 Mowinckel, pp. 55-6. 2 See GK §53*7.

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I,to the Lord I will sing /1 will make melody to the Lord,the God of Israel" (Judg. v. 3).

Some scholars have explained this combination as casuspendens,meaning the isolation of the logical subject.1 The verse wouldthen mean: "As for me, I will sing." If, however, the first oatwere casus pendens, the second only would serve as grammaticalsubject. But it seems rather unlikely to attribute to these two•OIK different functions. Moreover, the prominent emphasis onthe subject is out of place here, as it is not the habit of one whosings in honour of his God to make himself stand out; cf. rrviwtnra nw "D 'n1? "I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphedgloriously" (Exod. xv. i).2 Therefore not only is the completeexpression jmtt -oat 'nV •oat difficult, but even the simplecombination JTTW •OJK is strange, as in biblical Hebrew '•SIK isprefixed to a finite verb only when the subject is to be em-phasized. If so, it would seem that the function of the personalpronoun here is specifically to expand the expression 'nV n"WK.However, the results of this expansion exceed what wouldnormally be expected. The intervening formula 'n1? is the indirectobject, and the repetitive formula is limited to one word3 as inCant. iv. 9.

The Bible also has ,a type of expanded verse in which the inter-vening formula is absent. An example which is close in form tothe Ugaritic epic is the verse bvrwr m n« "pa11 "pa* mar 'n" The Lord has been mindful of us, he will bless / he will bless thehouse of Israel" (Ps. cxv. 12). This verse is reminiscent of thoseUgaritic verses in which one colon ends in a verb lacking a comple-ment, while the next colon begins with the same verb and addsthe details of the action. Also similar to this is the passagepKn DDWV K3 "O K3 "o 'n "fflV "Before the Lord, for he comes / forhe comes to judge the earth" (Ps. xcvi. 13), which repeats notonly the verb but also the conjunction "O. But this slight variationin the repetitive formula is not sufficient to prevent its being in

1 S. R. Driver, Treatise on the Use of the Tenses (Oxford, 1892), p. 269.2 Cf. also Isa. y. 1; Ps. xiiL 6; xxvii. 6; lvii. 8; lxxxix. 2; d. 1; civ. 33;

cviii. 2; cxliv. 9; the wording TVK ""IK (Ps. lix. 17) is in contrast with nanpsir (v. 16). In Ugaritic too ah "I will sing" (NK, lines 38,40) appears with-out a personal pronoun.

* A. Weiser, Z.A.W. LXXI(1959), 73, has explained 'n1? "OIK as meaning"I belong to the Lord", assuming that a new sentence begins afterwards.The basis for this explanation is the clear difficulty in translating the expandedverse in the Song of Deborah into a foreign language to whose spirit thesyntactical construction of this verse is foreign.

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harmony with the common style. Thus here also the receivedtext is to be maintained, being confirmed also by the Septuagint,even though the repetition of the words «a "O is lacking not onlyin the parallel text of I Chron. xvi. 33, and in a similar version ofPs. xcviii. 9, but also in some MSS of Ps. xcvii. Also to beclassified here is the verse ia» VK*WV nVni nVro DS"IK ]nn "Andhe gave their land as a heritage / a heritage to Israel his people"(Ps. cxxxv. 12 and cf. also cxxxvi. 21,22), in which the first colonends with the second object nVro and the second colon beginswith the same noun nVni, the meaning of which is explained bythe addition of the indirect object »» VRnsrV.- In contrast to this, much more removed from the ancientpatterns is the verse piaVn TIR 'n lasn nrw na» 'n Vip "Thevoice of the Lord breaks the cedars / and the Lord has broken thecedars of Lebanon" (Ps. xxix. j). The clear mining of this verseis that the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon, piaVthus serves as a complementary formula coming at the end, andin the repetitive formula that precedes the complementaryformula there occur changes, such as we have already observedin other verses. The same type of expanded sentence recurs in thesame psalm, as follows: snp "mo 'n Vrr naio Vw 'n Vip "Thevoice of the Lord .shakes the wilderness / the Lord shakes thewilderness of Kadesh" (p. 8).

At the beginning of the article we mentioned that Rashbamclassifies with the type of verses discussed also the passages pf» 'Vs me p *]b"p mo "A fruitful bough is Joseph1 / a fruitfulbough by a spring" (Gen. xlix. 22), and Van nVnp ia« ff-Van VanVan Van D̂Van "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher / vanity ofvanities, all is vanity " (Eccles. i. 2). These verses differ from all theverses discussed up to now in that they are noun clauses, whereasup to now we have dealt only with verb clauses. Now this dif-ference is of fundamental importance. We had established a ruleabove that the expanded colon was created from a nucleus, whichis the formula following the intervening formula, and whoseverb includes the subject of the sentence. But the words mo pf» *V», which follow the intervening formula *\w, do not forma complete sentence, as they lack a subject. We are thus compelled

1 mo p (here translated with RSV "a fruitful bough") is difficult. See,apart from the commentaries on Genesis and the dictionaries, N. H. Tur-Sinai, Lasbon Vtuefer, voL "Hasefer", pp. 211-12 (in Hebrew); also J. M.Allegro, Z.A.W. ucrv (1952), 249 f. However, this problem is not theconcern of an analysis of sentence structure.

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to state that the basic formula is in this case ps "bv *pr rnD p .This type of expanded sentence is not at all present in theUgaritic texts, and is quite rare in the Bible. Thus it seems likelythat it is a new pattern that has been formed under the influenceof the usual pattern. Perhaps we may even allow ourselves toconjecture that the type providing the influence is that very colonin which the intervening formula serves as the subject, and notas the address. It is true that we have found no certain example ofa subject as the intervening formula in the Bible; but as thisphenomenon is quite common in the Ugaritic texts, it is likelyonly by chance that no verses of this type were preserved in theBible.

The verse in Ecclesiastes is even further removed from theclassical scheme, as in this case the intervening formula is a com-plete sentence—n"?np *IBR—a case which is exceptional.

D. THE ORIGINAL FORM OF THE EXPANDED COLON

The original form of the expanded colon cannot be determinedwith certainty. Of the expanded cola having an interveningformula, the type appearing to be the most original is that inwhich the subject of the verse is addressed, such as the Ugariticverse bt ibk b'lm / ht ibk tmhs (HIABA, lines 8-9), and theHebrew verse wi TOD 'nV ian tchx. ">a 'n1? un "Ascribe to theLord, O heavenly beings / ascribe to the Lord glory and strength "(Ps. xxix. 1). Both verses contain an invitation, directed at thepossessor of the intervening name, to do something, and it ispossible that this formal invitation is the source of the form.Apparently less original are those forms in which the interveningformula is an address not directed at the object of the sentence.To this type belongs, for example, the Ugaritic verse qrn dbatkbtlt 'nt I qrn dbatk b'lymlb (IV AB, lines 21-2). Here the inter-vening formula is addressed to Anath, while the subject of thesentence is Baal. The same construction appears in the Bible, forexample, in the verse mxc yvm nsi "o 'n JTK mn 'o (Ps. xcii.10) and also frrr tro 71m xrrhv, trn 71m (Ps. Ixxvii. 17).Here the sentence does not contain an invitation but an announce-ment, which has been influenced in its solemnity by the form ofthe invitation. Seemingly less original is that form in which theintervening formula is not an address, but rather the subject ofthe sentence, as in the Ugaritic verse y'n btkb krt j y'n btkb rl(I K, lines 21-2), and perhaps also the biblical verse 'n rmpi *?K

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sroin niopi *?N (Ps. xciv. i), if we explain srein as past tense. Inthis type the contents describe a deed in every case. The exampleof such verb clauses is apparently followed in the noun clausep> 'Vs me p lor mo p (Gen. xlix. zz); cf. also Eccles. i. z, inwhich a complete sentence is used as an intervening formula. Thehistorical placement of those few expanded expressions whichlack an intervening formula is entirely unclear, and it cannot bedecided whether to consider them as an outgrowth of thoseexpanded cola in which the intervening formula serves as thesubject, or to regard the simplicity of form as evidence ofextreme antiquity.

The vast majority of the biblical verses discussed belong to thetype of address or, more exactly, to the two types of address,which in biblical poetry rid themselves of the rigid formal rulesto which they were subjected in the Ugaritic epic. In the Biblethey develop into such a large amount of variations that almostevery verse is a unique form. But there is also a type of expandedcolon in which there is no intervening formula, and there is evena verse which breaks all the accepted rules. This is the verseavrnx •©« 'nV "OIK (Judg. v. 3). Thus in the present subject alsothe Bible constitutes a developed stage in the history of Canaaniteliterature, a stage which is clearly distinguished from therigidity of the simple and archaic forms of the Ugaritic epic.

It would appear that the style of the expanded colon cannot beascribed fundamentally to one literary genre. In Ugaritic we haveobserved it in the epic, in the Bible mostly in hymns in honour ofthe Lord, but sometimes also in the love songs of the Song ofSolomon and once in a proverb from the Wisdom Literature(Prov. xxxi. 4). This ancient pattern has left its impression also onthe noun clause in the Blessing of Joseph (Gen. xlix. 22), less soin the later passage Eccles. i. 2.

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Documents

Loewenstamm (1969) the Expanded Colon in Ugaritic and Biblical Verse