Characteristic Word-Play in “Second Isaiah”: A Reappraisal

Phonological Patterns in the Hebrew Bible: A Century of Studies in Sound

“…(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972) Over the course of five years, five studies of sound appeared in three languages. Payne (1967) thoroughly critiques a few pages of Torrey's Isaiah commentary (1928), where Torrey noted sound patterns in Second Isaiah, particularly those terms that, according to him, sound alike or repeat in the same context but differ in meaning (what are often called homonyms, or what he terms, 'puns'). With little generosity, Payne challenges Torrey's work, particularly the argument that Isaiah's use of sound contributes to unity of authorship.…”

“…These guidelines have not received their due attention in subsequent literature, and the need for such controls remains. In contrast to Payne's (1967) negative posture, Holladay provides a more positive yet balanced approach to sound patterns.…”

“…49:22 deliberately and explicitly alludes to this region, and that the poet, through his employment of the geo-political pun, intended thereby to associate Joseph [or his house] ... with the region of the Negeb' (p. 42). The distance between the earlier mention of shur in Genesis 16 and the supposed wordplay in Genesis 49 calls to mind the earlier warning of Payne (1967), who associated significance and authorial intent with the proximity of sound patterns: in short, the closer the better. Gervitz's 'word-play' occurs over a span of 22 chapters.…”

“…In his critique of ‘position’, Payne suggests criteria for authorial intent: ‘the greater the interval between the words, the greater the chance of the repetition being unconscious and unintentional. Where the pairs are either adjacent or in parallelism, the repetition is much more likely to have significance’ (1967: 214-15). Payne sees proximity as the barometer of authorial intention for sound patterns.…”