Poetic Elements in Christ’s Proclamations

Throughout the Greek New Testament Christ’s teachings demonstrate His masterful use of Koine Greek. Because His background and setting are Jewish, He also demonstrates His fluency in both Hebrew and Aramaic. The Greek He speaks often reveals Hebraic flavors and tones. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of His literary devices display the influence of the Hebrew Bible’s poetic style and devices. The example we’re examining in this post comes from Luke 21:11—

Note first of all the use of the conjunction te to divide the items into two sets of woes each employing a form of eimi (esontai and estai).[1] That observation acts as a catalyst for the thought that Jesus balances the phrase seismoi te megaloi with the phrase limoi kai loimoi, while the phrase between those two, kai kata topous, provides yet another set of three words. The use of te and the balance of three phrases in each of the two halves of this verse imply that limoi kai loimoi might be considered one type of event, not two (a linguistic function called hendiadys: hen dia dus = “one by means of two”). Normally the first word in a hendiadys modifies the second—perhaps yielding the meaning, “pestilences accompanying (or, caused by?) famines.”

The assonance displayed by this literary pair of words (limoi kai loimoi) is striking. Since the word loimoi occurs nowhere else in all the New Testament, the use must be considered an intentional literary play on words.[2] Interestingly, the parallel passage in Matthew 24:7 does not refer to diseases, pestilences, or plagues. Perhaps Luke preserved a fuller quote because of his sources and his interest in such things as a doctor. Another option would be that Luke added kai loimoi from his own idiomatic background.

The second half of these two sets divided by te seems more straightforward: “fearful portents and great signs.” In the first set loimoi was a hapax legomenon (only occurrence) and in the second set phobētra is a hapax legomenon. Just as the previous set inserted kai kata topous for the spatial element, so kai ap’ ouranou provides the spatial element in the second set. Each spatial element acts as a literary fulcrum for the items on either side (kind of like a teeter-totter). In the second set, both parallel elements consist of two words each[3] while the fulcrum maintains the three-word mid-point.

At the conclusion of each of these two sets we finally reach the main verbs: esontai and estai. Both are future tense of εἰμί (eimi), but the first is plural and the second singular. It is not unusual for the singular verb to occur with a compound subject. In Luke 1:14 we find καὶ ἔσται χαρά σοι καὶ ἀγαλλίασις (kai estai chara soi kai agalliasis, “and there will be joy and exultation for you”) with the same singular verb taking two subjects.[4] A grammatical solution involves the occasional use of a singular verb with inanimate subjects in the neuter plural (both phobētra and semeia are neuter plural nouns).[5]

Now, let’s try to diagram the text of the verse, simultaneously representing its poetic parallelism:

A seismoi te megaloi	1st set	many earthquakes
B kai kata topous		and in various places
C limoi kai loimoi		famines and pestilences
D esontai,		there will be
A' phobētra te	2nd set	terrible portents
B' kai ap’ ouranou		and from heaven
C' semeia megala		great signs
D' estai.		there will be

Due to the corresponding assonance with seismoi te megaloi and semeia megala, a possible chiasm might be represented as follows:

A seismoi te megaloi	1st set	assonance with A'
B kai kata topous		parallel spatial phrase
C limoi kai loimoi		hapax
D esontai,		verb
C' phobētra te	2nd set	hapax
B' kai ap’ ouranou		parallel spatial phrase
A' semeia megala		assonance with A
D' estai.		verb

This arrangement actually puts the two hapax legomena (loimoi and phobētra) in parallel members of the chiasm. The central elements of the chiastic arrangement focus on what might prove to be the most terrifying of the events: “pestilences accompanying (or, caused by?) famines” and “fearful portents.” “Earthquakes” and “great signs” might cause concern, but might also be shorter in duration than famine-caused pestilences and the “fearful portents” annihilating hope.

According to Darrell Bock, Luke 21:11

… provides the largest variation of wording of any verse in the discourse. Only one term is shared by all the accounts: λιμοί (limoi, famines). Earthquakes are mentioned by all the evangelists, but in different positions. Matthew 24:7b–8 is brief, mentioning only the coming of famines and earthquakes in various places, which are but the beginning of birth pangs. Like Matthew, Mark 13:8b also mentions only earthquakes and famines (but in reverse order) as birth pangs. Luke’s rendering contains earthquakes, famines, pestilences, terrors, and heavenly signs.[6]

Where the other Gospels might have paraphrased or summarized Jesus’ teaching, Luke appears to have given greater attention to reproduce this particular discourse in detail, perhaps using Jesus’ own words. This would be in keeping with the prologue to his Gospel where he guarantees Theophilus that he had carefully researched and written this account of what Jesus had said and done (Luke 1:1–4). Assuming this is correct, we need to try to understand the reasons for Christ’s use of the poetic devices in Luke 21:11. Here is a brief summation:

• Parallelism: Hebrew poetic parallelism slows the flow of thoughts and augments the words and concepts by their organization in parallel sections and lines. The hearers are Hebrews, so they are familiar with this form of teaching. Parallelism enables them to track with the speaker’s meaning. It also provides cohesion for the overall poetic discourse.
• Assonance/Alliteration:[7] Hearers receive memorable phrases displaying similar sounds that help link the various phrases (or even longer segments of text) together.[8]
• Hendiadys: Two similar sounding words (assonance) combining them into one vivid and emphatic concept:[9] “famine-caused pestilences.”
• Hapax legomena (words occurring only one time in a specific body of work): Rarely used words provide freshness as well as inserting a form of emphasis.
• Chiasm: Poetic parallelism inverting the lines in the second half in a mirror image focuses attention on the central elements. The function in this specific situation appears to be expressive in nature—a means of expressing totality.[10]

Jesus purposefully chose His phrases, His words, and His poetic devices to capture His audience’s attention and provide them with concepts and words they could remember and understand. Jesus was a master teacher and superb communicator. After all, He Himself is the Word (John 1:1).

Footnotes

[1] Alan J. Thompson, Luke, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament, ed. by Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2016), 330.
[2] Ibid., 330–31.
[3] Note that φόβητρά τε must form a close-knit pair since te is an enclitic relying on the previous word for its accent; Stanley E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 310.
[4] Thompson, Luke, 17.
[5] Friedrich Blass, Grammar of New Testament Greek, trans. by Henry St. John Thackeray (London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1911), 78; Fredrick J. Long, Kairos: A Beginning Greek Grammar (Mishawaka, IN: Fredrick J. Long, 2005), 198.
[6] Darrell L. Bock, Luke: 9:51–24:53, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996), 1668.
[7] Wilfred G. E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to Its Techniques, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 26 (Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1986), 222–23, “If alliteration can be defined in terms of repeated consonants, assonance is a form of vowel repetition. It occurs when there is a series of words containing a distinctive vowel-sound or certain vowel-sounds in a specific sequence. However, since the borderline between vowels and consonants is not irrevocably defined, there is some overlap between alliteration (of consonants) and assonance (of vowels).”
[8] Ibid., 224. The phrase limoi kai loimoi comprises an alliterative cluster l-i-m-oi // l-oi-m-oi (ibid., 226).
[9] Ibid., 321; Frederic Clarke Putnam, Hebrew Bible Insert: A Student’s Guide to the Syntax of Biblical Hebrew (Quakertown, PA: Stylus Publishing, 2002), 20 (§1.8.3).
[10] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 201–8.