Page 255 - GK-10

52* Wout van Bekkum and Naoya Katsumata

‫ ָצ ָרה כוּלּ ֹו ָתקוּם ַפּ ֲע ַמ ִים‬276 ‫ ָצ ָרה ָתקוּם ַפּ ֲע ַמ ִים‬276
‫ ִחכּ ֹו ַמ ְמ ַת ִקּים ְסח ֹו ַח ִא ְמ ֵרי נ ֹו ַעם‬380 ‫ ִחכּ ֹו ַמ ְמ ַת ִקּים ס ֹו ֲח ֵחי ִשׁי ִרים‬380
‫ ְכּ ֶפ ַלח ָה ִרמּ ֹון ְי ַפ ַלּח ֵלב ַה ֵלּץ‬414
‫ ְכּ ֶפ ַלח ַה ִנּ ְפ ָלח ְי ַפ ַלּח ֵחץ דּ ֹו ֵלק‬414
‫] ַה ַצּר[ ַהדּ ֹו ֵלק‬
‫ ַמה ָיּפוּ ְתּ ִמי ֶמי� ְמ ַשׁ ְלּ ֵמי ָשׁל ֹושׁ‬451 ‫ ַמה ָיּפוּ ְתּ ִמי ֶמי� ְמ ַשׁ ְלּ ֵשׁי ְפ ָע ִמים‬451
‫ְפּ ָע ִמים‬

In contrast to the first seder, the last stanza of this poem explicitly gives the
names of the signs of the zodiac in conjunction with the names of the

twelve tribes of Jacob. Both lists are announced as follows: ‫ִכּי ַלּ ְל ָתּה ְשׁמ ֹות‬
‫ ִיי ַח ְד ָתּם ִכּ ְשׁ ֵנים ָע ָשׂר כּ ֹו ָכ ִבים‬/ ‫ ְשׁ ֵנים ָע ָשׂר ] ְשׁ ָב ִטים[ ַה ֲחבוּ ִבים‬, “You have

glorified the names of the twelve beloved [tribes]; You have unified them
like the twelve constellations [of the Zodiac]” (lines 586–87). The specific
parallels between tribes and constellations are as follows: Reuben, Simeon,
and Levi = Aries, Taurus, and Gemini (lines 588–89); Judah, Dan, and
Naphtali = Cancer, Leo, and Virgo (lines 590–91); Gad, Asher, and
Issachar = Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius (lines 594–95); Joseph, Zebulun,
and Benjamin = Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces (lines 598–99).

The linguistic and idiomatic skills of this composer seem to be of a
lower level than those of the author of the previous seder. A large number
of literal repetitions can be found, such as standard names for pagans

(‫ע ֹו ְב ֵדי ֲא ֵשׁי ָרה‬, “Those who worship Asherah”; lines 20, 288, 356) or the

use of verbs such as ‫הבהיק‬, “shine,” in combination with the noun ‫זוהר‬,

“radiance,” in connection with Israel (e.g., lines 51, 471, 549: ‫אָח ֹות ָלנוּ‬
‫ ָז ֳה ָרהּ ַי ְב ִהיק ְבּז ֹו ַהר‬, “We have a sister whose glance is brightly shining”).

Repetitions may occur due to the limited options for introductory words in
the context of an alphabetical acrostic: this composer was not always able
to vary his poetical lexicon when reaching the point of, for instance, the

letter samekh. This is why one finds the roots ‫ סמך‬and ‫סוח‬/‫סחח‬
repeatedly (line 100: ‫ ; ְסמוּ ִכים‬line 200: ‫ ; ְסמוּ ָכה‬line 260: ‫ ; ְסמוּ ָכה‬line 460:
‫ ;ס ֹו ְמכ ֹות‬line 140: ‫ ;סחו‬line 320: ‫ ;סח‬line 380: ‫ ;ס ֹו ֲח ֵחי ִשׁי ִרים‬line 560:
‫) ַס ְח ִתּי‬. The frequent use of paronomastic infinitives is conspicuous, such
as ‫( ָרא ֹו ִי ְר ֶאה‬line 86), ‫( ַא ֵבּד ְתּ ַא ֵבּד‬lines 119, 239, 419), ‫( ָצר ֹוב ִי ָצּ ְרבוּ‬line