Book of the Covenant (30:1-31:40) 421
Streane). Recognizing this as a dialogue oracle resolves a concern raised by
Weiser, who says that since the divine speech begins in v 8, the messenger for-
mula should precede this verse instead of preceding v 7.
The oracle has three stanzas with repeated and balancing terms. The whole
can be taken as an expanded key word chiasmus (Holladay), where Yahweh
and his people ("Jacob and Israel; Ephraim") are named in I and III, and enu-
meration ("blind, lame, those pregnant, those in labor") occurs in II, which is
the center (cf. Lund 1942: 57-58). In II and III the verb bO> ("bring, come") is
also repeated:
· · · · ............ for Jacob leya'aqob
.... Yahweh ..............
..................... Israel
II Look I will bring them hinenf mebf' 'otam
... the blind and the lame
the pregnant and woman in labor ...
III .............. they shall come
..... I am as a father to Israel
.... Ephraim .................
yabo'u
haym leyisra'el le' ab
'eprayim
Catchwords connecting to the prior oracle (cf. Condamin):
v 7 your people
v 9 Ephraim
v 2 a people
v6 Ephraim
v7
v8
v9
A host of catchwords (not including the name of Yahweh) connect this oracle
to the oracle following (cf. Carroll;,Jones):
v7 cry (for joy) ronnu v 10 Hear sim'u
Jacob nations
gladness simf:ia and say we'imrCi
nations Israel
Proclaim ... and say hasmf'u ... he will gather him yeqabbe§ennu
we'imrCi
your people v 11 Jacob
Israel v 12 And they shall come uba'u
v8 Look I will bring hinenf mebf' and cry for joy werinnenu
And I will gather them weqibba§tfm v 13 be glad tismaf:i
together yaf:idaw together yaf:idaw