Rhetorical Forms in the Bible: Anaphora

I'm going to be digging into this rhetorical term anaphora. Looking at the new testament through ancient rhetoric is all the rage these days, btw. Why? Because the study and practice of rhetoric was the Minecraft Redstone goodness of the ancient world. If you could understand language, much less read and write, you absorbed rhetorical forms. And those forms would shape you. So, for example, scholars can look at the structure of Galatians against rhetorical forms to see if the way material is being presented conforms to established structures, structures that would help us understand what he meant to highlight and how.

I dipped my (amateurish -- because this fad came in after my formal schooling) toe into this while doing the initial blogpost on an "example of how to do exegesis" series I have been writing using Mark 12, the story of the widow's mite. That last bit that Jesus says "This widow has put in more than the others because while they gave of their plenty she gave all she has." That rhetorical device is called syncrisis, which is a subset of a rhetorical form called an encomium, which is a public praise used to praise (or shame) someone in order to invite public emulation (or avoidance). Syncrisis is when this is done in a comparative way. Syncrisis tweaks the encomium. Not only does it praise or shame, but it highlights a persons worth (or demerit) to society.

So, what I am saying is that Jesus himself is employing rhetorical devices. He is using syncrisis to not only shame one group and to praise another, but to further comment upon their value to society. In this case, the widow is praised as someone not only to be emulated but also to be seen as far more valuable to her community despite her lack than those with means who gave from their plenty. It is a complete upset of even a pious understanding of who was valuable and who was not.

How did you do this? Did you study ancient rhetoric? No. I saw Jesus using some kind of structure. I found a page of ancient rhetorical forms online. And I just read them until I found one that fit. Was it correct? Well, no one is testing me. Jesus is obviously employing some kind of rhetorical structure. Why not one well-understood in the entire ancient world?

So, anyway, anaphora. This is a compound Greek noun composed of the prefix ανα (before) and φορειν (to carry). "Anaphora is a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. By building toward a climax, anaphora can create a strong emotional effect." Here is a short article about it in reference to the rhetorical stylings of Martin Luther King Jr. Here are entries about anaphora in the Net Bible and in the Handbook of Biblical Criticism. I also like this definition and video from Oregon State University.

Anaphora is seen directly in Jesus's Beautitudes 'blessed are . . . blessed are . . . ." And, finally, George Kennedy in New Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticism (Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984) observes that the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a splendid example of anaphora, (“By faith…By faith…By faith…By faith…”). This is not only pleasing to the eye and ear, but results in a progressive building of rhetorical “tension” and at last culminates in a satisfying resolution (“because God has provided something better for us”).

There is also another use of anaphora. Here is the NET Bible:

2. the use of a substitute word, such as a pronoun, in reference to a something already mentioned in a discourse; also, the relation between the substitute word and its antecedent. It is contrasted with cataphora, the use of a pronoun for a word or topic not yet mentioned. Thus, in the sentence “John was tall but he was not very heavy,” the “he” is an anaphora for John, or an anaphoric reference to John.

The Wikipedia entry on Anaphora in its linguistic use is quite detailed on this and worth a read. Lovers of the pronoun will already appreciate anaphora, because a preposition refers back to the previous proper noun as its antecedent. Thus, our pronoun is an anaphor and it is functioning anaphorically.