Vtus Testamentum XXXII, 1 (1982)

T H E O M I T T I N G O F KOL I N HEBREW PARALLELISM

BY

HELMER R I N G G R E N
Uppsala

A study of the use of kol in the Old Testament reveals that kol is not necessary to express the idea of totality. It turns out that "the inhabitants of the earth" can be used as the equivalent of "all the inhabitants of the earth", and so on. In other cases, and especially in poetic texts using the device of parallelism, it can be observed that kol is used only in one of the parallel members, while the idea of totality is inherent in both. We shall first give some examples from the Psalms. Ps. xviii 23 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.

The omitting of kol in the second member may be due to the negative form of the verb, but it is obvious that the idea of totality is involved here too. Ps. xx 4 May he remember all your offerings and regard with favour your burnt sacrifices.

Though kol is omitted in the second member, it is obvious that "all his burnt sacrifices" are meant. Ps. li 11 Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

The forgiveness of sins is meant to be total in both cases. In the first two examples above it might be argued that kol, having been mentioned in the first member, still influences the meaning of the second member, but this example shows that this is not necessarily so, since kol here occurs in the second member. Ps. lxiv 11 Let the righteous rejoice in Y a h w e h . . . Let all the upright in heart glory!

100 Ps. lxvii 4, 6

HELMER RINGGREN

Let the peoples {cammm) praise thee, O God, let all the peoples (cam mlm kullni) praise thee!

In this case it is possible that the use of kol in the second member involves an intensification, since both the verb and the subject are otherwise identical. Ps. lxx 5 May all who seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee! May those who live thy salvation sav evermore, "God is great"! are entirely comparable.

kl-mebaqscek and yohabe yehctak Ps. lxxvii 13

I will meditate on all thy work and muse over thy mighty deeds (Calilfk)

Similarly Ps. cxliii 5 Ps. xc 9 I meditate on all thy work. I muse on the works of thy hands (magaseli ydaka). For all our days pass away under thy wrath, our years come to an end like a sigh.

Whether we retain the MT killn or read with Syr. kal as above, our observation regarding the use of kol stands. Ps. cii 16 The nations will fear the name of Yah weh, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

A similar parallelism is found in Is. lxii 2: The nations shall see your vindication and all the kings your glory. Ps. Ixxii 11 Ps. clxv 10 has kol in both members. All thy works shall give thanks to thee, C) Yahweh, and thy saints (iszd) shall bless thee.

Examples from the prophetical books include: Is. i 5 I will smelt away your dross as with lye, and remove all your alloy.

THE OMITTING OF KOL IN HEBREW PARALLELISM

' 101

The removal of useless material, i.e. sin, is equally total in both cases. Is. xviii 3 All you inhabitants of the earth, you who dwell on the e a r t h . . .

The kol-yseb febei and the sken yrs are the same, but kol is used only with the first expression. Is. xl 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, The uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain.

Here two expressions with kol are balanced by two expressions without kol, but there is no reason for assuming that the statements concerning the cqb and the reksim are less total than those concerning the valleys and the mountains. Is. xlvi 10b Is. xlix 9 11 Is. lxiii 7 J er. xxii 22 Jer. xxxi 25 Is. xl 29 Ez. xxxii 4 My councel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose. They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up. ...according to all that Yahweh has granted us and the great goodness to the house of Israel.. . . The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds and your lovers shall go into captivity. For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish. says the same without kol. And I will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.

This example is somewhat different, since the second line only changes the place of kol. Micah 11 Is. xli 11 And I will cut off the cities of the land and throw down all your strongholds. Behold all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and be confounded, those who strive against you shall be nothing at all.

102

HELMER RINGGREN

The first line seems to be an expanded form of xlv 24b, while the second line expresses the same idea without kol. Interestingly enough, there is another parallel passage in one of the Psalms, which expresses a similar idea with yahdw instead of kol: Ps. xxxv 26 Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether who rejoice at my calamity, let them be clothed with shame and dishonour who magnify themselves against me.

We notice that yahdw occurs only in one of the parallel lines. Another example with yahdw is Is i 28 But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together, and those who forsake Yahweh shall be consumed.

Obviously the same stylistic law is effective here. Possibly, Ps. xl 15 should also be mentioned here: Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether [yahad) who seek to snatch away my life, let them be turned back and brought to dishonour who desire my hurt. The word indicating totality is here yahad and it is used in onlv one of the parallel members. These observations might seem to be of little importance, were it not for the fact that they tie in with two other phenomena which I have pointed out in another connection x ). In the Book of Proverbs a great number of proverbs are characterized by an antithetical parallelism. Now, in 35 out of 116 such proverbs the subject is singular in one half of the verse but plural in the other. For instance: Prov. 3 14 15 Yahweh does not let the righteous (sing.) go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked (pi.) Wise men (pi.) lay up knowledge, but the babbling of a fool (sing.) brings ruin near. rich man's (sing.) wealth is his strong citv, the poverty of the poor (pi.) is their ruin.

l ) H. Ringgren, " A Law of Stylistic Balance in Hebrew", Home Soedevhlomianae 6 (Lund, 1964), pp. 9-14.

THE OMITTING OF KOL IN HEBREW PARALLELISM

103

There is no difference in meaning between the two lines : in both the reference is to the righteous and the wicked, or the wise and the foolish in general. The difference in number seems to be due to the same striving for variation that is visible in the avoidance of using identical words for the subject and the predicate of parallel clauses. Another manifestation of this rule may be seen in the use of tenses in many Psalms. Very frequently the perfect and the imperfect are used in parallel clauses in the same verse with reference to events that are obviously contemporaneous. One instance is in the beginning of Ps. ii: Why do the nations conspire (pf.)> and the peoples plot (impf.) in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves (impf.), and the rulers take counsel (pf.) together. It is obvious that the four verbs refer to the same events and the same time and must be rendered by the same tense in English. The alternation of "tenses" is a matter of style, and it follows that Hebrew tenses express other aspects of the verbal action than the temporal one. It would seem that the use or omission of kol in parallel clauses is another example of the same general rule of variation within parallelism, or, as I called it in my previous article, the same law of stylistic balance.

^ s
Copyright and Use: As an ATLAS user, you may print, download, or send articles for individual use according to fair use as defined by U.S. and international copyright law and as otherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without the copyright holder(s)' express written permission. Any use, decompiling, reproduction, or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be a violation of copyright law. This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission from the copyright holder(s). The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journal typically is the journal owner, who also may own the copyright in each article. However, for certain articles, the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article. Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement. For information regarding the copyright holder(s), please refer to the copyright information in the journal, if available, or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s). About ATLAS: The ATLA Serials (ATLAS) collection contains electronic versions of previously published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission. The ATLAS collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American Theological Library Association.