Feature: Mot yumat pleonasm
Literary and Linguistic Features
Hebrew: מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת
This is a common linguistic feature associated with death penalty passages in the Torah books other than Deuteronomy. Technically, this is not simply a pleonasm, it is an "absolute infinitive":
a stylistic device that is common to most Semitic languages. It is formed by the paranomastic combination of the infinitive of a verb and a definite form of the same verb. The result is clearly emphatic...[1]
As a feature of law, this construction also distinguishes Biblical law from other ancient Near East legal texts:
the absolute infinitive is not employed in any of the collections of laws or in other regulatory text, such as the Edict of Ammi-saduqa. In ancient law sources, one finds it only in Biblical Hebrew.[2]
Associated Scriptures
- Genesis 2:17
- Genesis 26:11
- Exodus 19:12
- Exodus 21:12
- Exodus 21:15
- Exodus 21:16
- Exodus 21:17
- Exodus 31:14
- Exodus 31:15
- Leviticus 20:2
- Leviticus 20:9
- Leviticus 20:10
- Leviticus 20:11
- Leviticus 20:12
- Leviticus 20:13
- Leviticus 20:15
- Leviticus 20:16
- Leviticus 20:27
- Leviticus 24:16
- Leviticus 24:17
- Leviticus 27:29
- Numbers 15:35
- Numbers 35:16
- Numbers 35:17
- Numbers 35:18
- Numbers 35:21
- Numbers 35:31
Subtopics:
- ↑ Reuven Yaron, "The Absolute Infinitive in Biblical Law", Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law, and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom, Eisenbrauns, 1995, p. 449
- ↑ Reuven Yaron, "The Absolute Infinitive in Biblical Law", Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law, and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom, Eisenbrauns, 1995, p. 450
Subcategories
This category has the following 27 subcategories, out of 27 total.
