Page 259 - גנזי קדם יא
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for the sake of a lyrical and alliterative effect, both affirmative (ָסח ֹוב ִי ְס ָחבּוהּו
[sachov yischavuhu], “They will drag him [Goliath] along” [Zakhor])
and negative (chafots lo tachpots, qom lo qamnu, shamoa‘ bal tishme‘u).
The scriptural occurrence of zakhor tizkor and the overall connotation of
the infinitive absolute zakhor in the context of the Sabbath commandment
inspired Samuel to extend its use: ָזכ ֹור ָז ַכ ְרִּתי ְו ִלִּבי/ ְז ָכר ֹזאת א ֹו ֵיב א ֹו ִתי ִה ְז ִחיל
( ְּב ִק ְרִּבי ָי ִחילzekhor zot oyev oti hizchil / zakhor zakharti we-libbi be-qirbi
yachil), “By remembering this the enemy has frightened me; I do remember,
my heart falters inside me” (ofan Devarim). In the guf ha-yotser (Eqev), one
can find similar infinitive absolutes of enforcement and emphasis: ח ֹו ִלי ס ֹוב
( ָיס ֹוב ַעל ְמ ַעּ ַנ ִיְךcholi sov yasov al me‘aneykha), “Disease will he bring upon
your oppressors”; ( ָצה ֹול ִי ְצ ֲהלּו ְנחּו ֵלי ְנ ִעי ִמיםtsahol yitshalu nechule ne‘imim),
“The heirs of pleasances will rejoice”; ַו ֲאֶׁשר ְלָׁש ֶר ְתָך/ ְו ַהּג ֹו ִים ָחר ֹוב ֶי ֱח ָרבּו
( ָקר ֹוב ִי ְק ָרבּוwe-ha-goyim charov yecheravu / wa-asher le-sharetkha qarov
yiqravu), “The nations will be utterly ruined, and those will draw near who
wish to serve you”; ( ַהּג ֹו ִים אּו ְמ ַלל ְיאּו ְמ ָללּו ִל ְפ ֵני ְמ ַת ִיְךha-goyim umlal ye’umlalu
lifney metayikh), “The nations will waste away before your few people.” If
this paytanic employment of a scriptural mode is to be defined as a matter
of over-biblicising, as suggested above, then we are reminded of a similar
effect in the modern period, called melitsah, a general term for rhetoric or
poetry, even eloquence. However, in the context of Haskalah literature it is
sometimes seen as a negative effect caused by inserting all sorts of allusions
to the biblical and rabbinic canons. The maskilic situation is to some extent
identical to the situation of a tenth- or eleventh-century paytan: by means
of allusiveness, both the maskilic writer and the medieval hymnist intend
to give their text or verse a grandeur that is both epic and lyric. However,
where the maskilic author subjects his modern novel to an awkward set of
scriptural citations and allusions, Samuel tries to harmonise the convention
of allusiveness with his personal poetic message and chooses an elaborate
intertextuality, which at best is shown in pairs of alliterative words from an
identical or cognate stem.
Beyond these considerations of stylistic and even morphological import,
Samuel’s individual artistry, or strategy, assumes that there are distinctively
