--- title: "Confused Language as a Deliberate Literary — Rendsburg 1999" description: "Starting from a garbled line in the Egyptian Shipwrecked Sailor , Rendsburg argues that biblical narrators sometimes write broken or unclear Hebrew on…" authors: ["Gary A. Rendsburg"] year: 1999 venue: "Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 2" source: "https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6" doi: "10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6" licence: "CC BY 2.5 (Journal of Hebrew Scriptures)" licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/" summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License" canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/hbo-1999-rendsburg-confused-language-deliberate-literary-device/" --- [Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/hbo-1999-rendsburg-confused-language-deliberate-literary-device/) [home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [1999](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/1999/) / Confused Language as a Deliberate Literary Device in Biblical Hebrew Narrative # Confused Language as a Deliberate Literary Device in Biblical Hebrew Narrative **Authors:** Gary A. Rendsburg · **Year:** 1999 · **Venue:** Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 2 **Link:** [jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/5995](https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/view/5995) · library `hbo-1999-rendsburg-confused-language-deliberate-literary-device` · **Licence:** [CC BY 2.5](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) [**7** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W2147289597) OpenAlex · 2026-10-14 · [**1** citations in our library](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/hbo-1999-rendsburg-confused-language-deliberate-literary-device/cited-by/) of the 140673 papers whose bibliographies we read · [Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 2](https://openalex.org/S2764683527) · [licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) - [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6) - [PDF](https://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/download/5995/5048) - [DOI 10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6) - [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2147289597) **Authors (1)** 1. [Gary A. Rendsburg](https://openalex.org/A5054195593) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1358-8141) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/107935393) · h 21 · 1459 citations · 265 works Citations and author metrics: OpenAlex, 2026-10-14; authors with the same name are not always told apart. ## What it is about Starting from a garbled line in the Egyptian *Shipwrecked Sailor*, Rendsburg argues that biblical narrators sometimes write broken or unclear Hebrew on purpose, to show confusion, excitement or bewilderment, and that such passages should not be emended as scribal errors. He discusses seven cases: the girls all talking at once to Saul (1 Sam 9:12–13), the foreman's awkward answer to Boaz (Ruth 2:7), the ambiguous subject of "they pulled … and sold Joseph" (Gen 37:28), Reuben's half-addressed cry (Gen 37:30), the commotion at Micah's house (Judg 18:14–20), the Philistine camp (1 Sam 14:21) and Saul arming David in the wrong order (1 Sam 17:38). In four the syntax itself is irregular; in three the syntax is fine but the reference is unclear. ## Ideas - I1. Mark Gen 37:28 and 37:30 in the Torah trees as "deliberately irregular" (MISC note), so that a parse error there is not counted against the converter and not "fixed" by a rule. - I2. A detector for unusually dense speech: very many כִּי clauses and repeated deictics (הִנֵּה, הַיּוֹם, עַתָּה) in one quote; list the Torah quotes above a threshold and check whether they are scenes of excitement. - I3. In the event reader, keep the subject of a wayyiqtol chain *ambiguous* when the text switches participants without a new NP (Gen 37:28: Midianites or brothers), instead of forcing the last-mentioned subject. - I4. A sentence in the grammar on "confused speech as style", with the two Torah examples. ## For Mova I1 and I3 apply to `tools/macula` and the participant-tracking section of `09-discourse.md` §9; I2 is a measure for `src/prag.rs` (a possible "agitated speech" cue); I4 goes into [languages/hbo/09-discourse.md](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/09-discourse/) (direct speech). ## Cite The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6](https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6) ```bibtex @article{rendsburg1999confused, title = {{Confused Language as a Deliberate Literary Device in Biblical Hebrew Narrative}}, author = {Rendsburg, Gary A.}, journal = {Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 2}, year = {1999}, doi = {10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6}, url = {https://doi.org/10.5508/jhs.1999.v2.a6} } ``` - [← previous Automatic Identification of Word Translations from Unrelated English and German Corpora](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/rapp-1999-automatic-identification-word-translations-unrelated/) - [next → Corpus Annotation for Parser Evaluation](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/enud-1999-carroll-corpus-annotation-parser-evaluation/) - [↑ back to papers of 1999](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/1999/) ## References 7 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet. 1. Édition de la Fondation Égiptologique Reine Élizabeth, 1932), pp. 41-48. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%C3%89dition+de+la+Fondation+%C3%89giptologique+Reine+%C3%89lizabeth%2C+1932%29%2C+pp%2E+41%2D48%2E) 2. For detailed discussion, see H. Goedicke, Die Geschichte des Schiffbrüchigen (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1974), pp. 21-22. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=For+detailed+discussion%2C+see+H%2E+Goedicke%2C+Die+Geschichte+des+Schiffbr%C3%BCchigen+%28Wiesbaden%3A+Otto+Harrassowitz%2C+1974%29%2C+pp%2E+21%2D22%2E) 3. A. Erman, The Ancient Egyptians: A Sourcebook of their Writings (trans. A. M. Blackman; ed. W. K. Simpson) (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), p. 30 and n. 5 (German original 1923, first English edition 1927). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=A%2E+Erman%2C+The+Ancient+Egyptians%3A+A+Sourcebook+of+their+Writings+%28trans%2E+A%2E+M%2E+Blackman%3B+ed%2E+W%2E+K%2E+Simpson%29+%28New+York%3A+Harper+%26+Row%2C+1966%29%2C+p%2E+30+and+n%2E+5+%28German+original+1923%2C+first+English+edition+1) 4. W. K. Simpson, The Literature of Ancient Egypt (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), p. 52 and n. 6. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=W%2E+K%2E+Simpson%2C+The+Literature+of+Ancient+Egypt+%28New+Haven%3A+Yale+University+Press%2C+1972%29%2C+p%2E+52+and+n%2E+6%2E) 5. M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 1 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973), p. 212 (translation) and p. 215, n. 1 (comment). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=M%2E+Lichtheim%2C+Ancient+Egyptian+Literature%2C+vol%2E+1+%28Berkeley%3A+University+of+California+Press%2C+1973%29%2C+p%2E+212+%28translation%29+and+p%2E+215%2C+n%2E+1+%28comment%29%2E) 6. R. B. Parkinson, The Tale of Sinuhe and other Ancient Egyptian Poems 1940-1640 BC (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997), p. 93 and p. 98, n. 6. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=R%2E+B%2E+Parkinson%2C+The+Tale+of+Sinuhe+and+other+Ancient+Egyptian+Poems+1940%2D1640+BC+%28Oxford%3A+Clarendon%2C+1997%29%2C+p%2E+93+and+p%2E+98%2C+n%2E+6%2E) 7. Y. M. Grintz, Mivxar ha-Sifrut ha-Mitsrit ha- c Atiqa (Tel-Aviv: Dvir, 1958), pp. 5, 7. My thanks to Hanan [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Y%2E+M%2E+Grintz%2C+Mivxar+ha%2DSifrut+ha%2DMitsrit+ha%2D+c+Atiqa+%28Tel%2DAviv%3A+Dvir%2C+1958%29%2C+pp%2E+5%2C+7%2E+My+thanks+to+Hanan)