Transforming the Tradition: Soundplay as an Interpretive Device in Innerbiblical Allusions

Abstract

The present study concerns the use in the Hebrew Bible of paronomasia (soundplay) for the purpose of alluding to and interpreting antecedent literary traditions also found in the Bible. The focus of the investigation lies on the biblical writers' use of allusive paronomasia for the purpose of constructing theological discourse, that is, in service of their efforts to describe the nature of God and his relationship to humanity. By showing that a variety of biblical texts contain examples of allusive paronomasia employed for this purpose, the study demonstrates that this literary device played an important role in the growth of the biblical text as a whole and in the development of ancient Israelite and early Jewish theological traditions.