Abstract
This concise study is a revision of Kline’s 2014 Harvard University PhD. dissertation, in which he presents a case for ‘allusive paronomasia’ as a significant tool of inner-biblical textual interpretation and a well-developed rhetorical device of tradents.
Kline ascertains the biblical writers made frequent use of soundplay to construct theological arguments. Kline’s purpose of the study is twofold: to demonstrate the device of allusive paronomasia was utilized by a variety of biblical writers throughout the text; and secondly, to give attention to the ways soundplay can enrich and enliven modern understanding of biblical texts in order to better trace the development of ancient theological traditions (p. 13). The study is organized into five chapters. The first chapter provides a brief introduction and contains the primary significance of his study: the methodology of identifying biblical allusion and allusive paronomasia. Once Kline has clearly established his methods, he divides the next three chapters into thematic examples (theodicy, judgment, and salvation) which illustrate the dialogic use of allusive paronomasia in ancient Israel’s early theological tradition. Kline illustrates some unanimous examples while also contributing original cases.
Kline writes with clarity and argues with modesty; he acknowledges the difficulty in identifying allusion and soundplay, while laying out a sound framework for achieving the task. This work is unique in it is the first if its kind to directly study allusive soundplay; Kline’s work is preliminary but significant. Kline achieves his goal in demonstrating allusive paronomasia is found throughout the biblical texts (prose and poetry alike) and was utilized to express and develop ancient Israelite theology. Kline’s examples assert this device was employed utilizing both the oral and written forms of the text to shape and reshape, interpret and reinterpret the theological tenets within. Kline’s work is both groundbreaking and foundational, and paves the way for scholars to continue seeking examples of allusive paronomasia. An underlying contribution this work makes is the revelation the biblical authors considered even the smallest of words and sounds to be significant, and they considered the voice of God to be able to express itself as a part of an ever-evolving tradition rooted in the past and reaching into the future. This monograph is commended to both scholars and students alike.