Abstract

This article presents evidence for a previously unrecognized literary device in the Book of Proverbs, in which texts that cluster references to animals also contain additional paronomastic allusions to animals. This device accords with the proverbs’ instruction to search for hidden knowledge, and resonates with their emphasis on the study of wild animals as a source of divine wisdom. The device also appears in psalms and prophecies, where it generally entails references to domesticated animals; here, the function appears to be rhetorical or performative. These groupings of concealed allusions to animals also add to the growing number of examples of the textual device of clustering.

Highlights

  • We here present evidence for a hitherto‐unrecognized literary device in Proverbs that involves paronomastic allusions to animals hidden in texts that cluster direct references to animals

  • The evidence gathered here demonstrates that there is a high propensity for finding creatures hidden in biblical texts that cluster or feature direct references to animals

  • We find the device in a number of psalms and prophecies, not all of which one can classify as “wisdom texts.”36 The exemplar from the Akkadian Poor Man of Nippur reveals that the device predated Israel

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Summary

Introduction

The proverbs repeatedly teach that their behavior imparts wisdom if properly understood. With this in mind, we here present evidence for a hitherto‐unrecognized literary device in Proverbs that involves paronomastic allusions to animals hidden in texts that cluster direct references to animals.. We here present evidence for a hitherto‐unrecognized literary device in Proverbs that involves paronomastic allusions to animals hidden in texts that cluster direct references to animals.1 These paronomastic allusions indirectly reference animals, and populate the text in suggestive ways.. Since the strategy involves groupings or constellations of these devices, he referred to them as clusters. It has become clear that several other poetic features occur in clusters, including the one examined here..

Discussion
Hidden Animal Life in Proverbs
The Animal Kingdom as Transmitters of Divine Wisdom
Hidden Animals beyond Proverbs
Conclusions
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