2. The Biblical writers naturally desire to give their words the highest possible degree of em- phasis. Itis this aim that gives rise to not a few characteristic features of the style of Scripture, —(a) The employment of a prospective pronoun, as in ‘This is that night of the Lorp to be ob- served,’ ete. (Ex 12"); ‘I shall see him, but not now,’ etc. (Nu 24"), the effect in this last instance being to awaken strongly the interest in the star which is then mentioned. So also ‘Thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give,’ ete. (Dt 32°); ‘the Most High himself’ (Ps 87); ‘to this man will I look, even to him that is poor,’ etc. (Is 66°; cf. Stilistik, p. 153 f.).—(b) Emphasis is sought, again, by the repetition of one and the same expression, giving birth to the so-called Epizeuxis. The list of its occurrences begins with ‘Abraham, Abraham’ (Gn 224), and is continued in the following: ‘the red, the red’ (25° AV ‘that same red pottage’) ; ‘Jacob, Jacob’ (462) ; ‘Amen, Amen’ (Nu 5”, Ps 41 7219 89% Neh 88); ‘of justice, justice’ (Dt 167 AV ‘altogether just’) ; ‘Come out, come out’ (28 167); ‘My God, my God’ (Ps 221); ‘Return, return’ (Ca 6") ; ‘ peace, peace’ (Is 26°, where AV has ‘ perfect peace,’ al- though it retains ‘peace, peace’ in 57”, Jer 64 81); ‘Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people’ (Is 40!) ; ‘ Ho, ho* (Zee: 2° ete. ; cf. Stilistik, p. 1554.) A specially high degree of emphasis was naturally expressed by the thrice-repeated employment of a word. This is seen in ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lorp of Hosts’ (Is 6%); or ‘The temple of the Lorp, the temple of the LorpD, the temple of the ~ Lorpb’ (Jer 74); or ‘O earth, earth, earth’ (22%); or ‘I will overturn, overturn, overturn it’ (Ezk 21°’); or ‘The LorD revengeth,’ etc. (Nah 1). The same emphatic repetition occurs also with the conjunc- tions, as when the words ‘We will arise and go and live and not die’ (Gn 438) furnish us with a speaking picture of anxious impatience. Again, the double use of the conditional particle in ‘Jf ye have done truly . . . and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal’ (Jg 916) serves very well as a reminder that the poimt was open to question. Once more, to indicate how well deserved a pun- ishment was, we have a repeated ‘ because, because’ (Ps 116+); or ‘for, for’ (Is 1°); or ‘therefore, therefore’ (5'-1); or ‘for, for’ (Jer 48° ete. ; cf. Stilistik, p. 159).—Emphasis is also aimed at in such words as ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house’ (Gn 121), where a series of words is so arranged as to designate an ever-narrowing circle of persons. Abraham must separate himself from even the most intimate circle of his relations (ef. Jos 24°), in order to follow the Divine call. Such a form of expression is known as a Climax, and examples of it meet us frequently in the Bible. Here area few: ‘His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties’ (Gn 49%); ‘The children of Israel have not hearkened unto me, how then shall Pharaoh hear me?’ (Ex 6”); ‘theday . . . andthe night’ (Job 3°); ‘ungodly . . . sinners . . . scorn- ful’ (Ps 14); ‘my friend or brother’ (35"4) ; ‘ Forget thy own people and (even) thy father’s house’ (45) ; ‘in the twilight, in the evening, in the black night’ (Pr 7°); ‘Are they Hebrews... Israelites . . . seed of Abraham . . . ministers of Christ?’ (2 Co 11); ‘which we have heard, which we have seen, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,’ ete. (1 Jn 1*). Speci-
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ally common is the Climax in connexion with the use of numbers: e.g. ‘He will deliver thee in siz troubles, yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee’ (Job 5!) ; ‘God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this’ (Ps 62"); ‘Give a portion to seven, and also to eight’ (Ee 11°); ‘two or three . four or five’ (Is 17°); ‘for three transgressions and for four,’ ete. (Am 1% 6: 911.18 91. 4.6); “Of three things my heart is afraid, and before the fourth I fear greatly’ (Sir 26°); ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name,’ ete. (Mt 1879; ef. Stilistik, p- 163f.). Quite similar is the phenomenon which presents itself in such expressions as, ‘They go Srom strength to strength’ (Ps 84") ; ‘affording from species to species’ (Ps 144 AV ‘all manner of store’); ‘from wickedness to wickedness’ (Sir 13?! 4015), 7.e. to ever new forms of wickedness ; ‘Add iniquity to their iniquity’ (Ps 6927); ‘The sinner heaps sin upon sin’ (Sir 327 5°); ‘A chaste woman shows grace upon grace’ (26; cf. Jn 116 ‘ grace for grace,’ z.e. ever self-renewing grace).
3. In conformity with the nature of their sub- jects, the Biblical writers seek to invest their language with a high degree of seriousness and dignity. Both these qualities appear to be pre- judiced by certain peculiar forms of expression. The first of these is the Hyperbole, a figure which is undoubtedly employed in the Bible. What is it but Hyperbole when the posterity of Abraham is compared to the sand upon the seashore (Gn 221” etc.)? Even a theologian like Flacius admits this (Clavis Script. Sacr. 1628, ii. p. 383 ff.). But we must also assign to the same category forms of expression like the following: ‘under every green tree’ (from Dt 12? to 2 Ch 284); ‘The cities are great and walled up to heaven’ (Dt 1% ete.) ; ‘though thou set_ thy nest among the stars’ (Ob4 ete.); ‘Saul and Jonathan were swifter than eagles’? (28 1% etc.); ‘I am a worm,’ etc. (Ps 22°; cf. Stilistik, pp. 69-77). But the employment of such expres- sions does not detract from the seriousness, not to speak of the truthfulness, of the style of Scripture. The Biblical writers simply conformed in this matter to the usage of their people and their time, and every hearer or reader of such expressions knew in what sense he must understand them. Nor will it be questioned that the same is the case with the examples of Litotes that occur in the Bible. Such are the following: ‘A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise’ (Ps 51”), i.e. wilt accept and_ praise; ‘The smoking flax shall he not quench’ (Is 42%), but supply with fresh oil; ‘ He setteth in a way that is not good’ (Ps 364) ; ‘Thou, Bethlehem, art noé¢ the least,’ ete. (Mt 2°); ‘when we were without strength’ (Ro 5°) a.¢. laden with sin and guilt. It is true also of these and other expressions of a similar kind (cf, Stilistik, pp. 45-50), that they were not strange to readers of the Biblical writings, but were a well- understood equivalent for the positive statement in each case. The same principle holds good of the examples of Irony in the Bible. For instance, we have ‘Go and prosper,’ etc. (1 K 221), an ironi- cal imitation of the words of the false prophets ; ‘No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you’ (Job 122); ‘It pleased God by the Joolishness of preaching to save them that believe’ (1 Co 1"); ‘Now ye are full, now ye are rich,’ ete. (48, cf. 2 Co 12! 1119 1918), The Biblical writers were not afraid of prejudicing the seriousness of their utterances by resorting to Irony, nor had they any occasion to be afraid, seeing that every one knew to convert these ironical expressions into their opposite. Hence we find this figure employed even in utterances attributed to God: ‘Let them (the false gods) rise up and help you’ (Dt 32°); ‘Go and ery to the bods whom ye have chosen, let them deliver you’ (Jg 10); ‘and give me to