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1 Timothy and assonances
The author of 1 Timothy seems to be fond of alliteration,
homoioteleuton and the use of assonance to present his material. I
am particularly interested in the vice list in 1Tim.1:9ff. To me it
seems as if the list can be structured along the following lines:
The first eight of the 14 vices form four pairs by virtue of the kai
as well as because of the endings of the words (-ois -ois, [-esi -
ois], -ois - ois, -ais -ais). The last 6 of the 14 vices belong
together, but there seems to be an intricate pattern here: word
beginnings and endings come together to form a strict pattern of
three pairs. The first two words (with -ois -ois) and the second pair
(-ais -ais) are chiastically interrelated by the striking beginning
of each word: andr(ophon)ois - po(r)n(ois), a(r)senokkoit(ais),
(andr)apodist(ais). The last two words share the -p- sound, but,
mirabile dictu, also breaks the pattern by ending with -ais -ois,
thereby combining the previous endings nicely. There are many other
peculiarities of the mutual relationships within this list, which
are consistent with the style of the author elsewhere. Am I, however,
seeing the impossible? Could someone with insight in stylistics care
to comment on the viability of such a reading and perhaps also
recommend literature about alliteration, etc. in classical and
hellenistic texts? Blass-Debrunner are not specially warm to the
appearance of such material in the NT, but do point out that
1Tim.3:16 is an example of homoioteleuton. If the author does it
once, one expects some other examples.
--
Pieter de Villiers
Divinity, Rhodes University.
E-mail: Pieter@div.ru.ac.za
Fax: 27 - 461 - 311228
Phone: 27 - 461 - 311228