Thursday, November 13, 2014

Eloquence of the Lily

Matthew 6:28-
 "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin"

Asyndeton (omit conjunction between clauses). By omitting and between “they toil not” and “neither do they spin” the phrase is much more poetic, the delivery much more elegant to the ears. The way he says it helps you to imagine a serene field of lilies emerging without effort, as though heaven is beckoning them upward. This is a useful approach given what he is trying to teach the people.


Conduplicatio (repetition of a word in an adjacent phrase to amplify a point). So it is not exactly the same word. But it's close. “Neither” is first word in the clause right after the clause that ends with “not”. This is to emphasize a point. These lilies are not needing to work hard, they are being taken care of. To see the effect of this consider this verse in the NIV version of the bible, “see how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.” It feels too choppy, and that takes away from the desired effect of not to worry.

2 comments:

  1. Bringing in a passage from the NIV really illustrated your point, the difference between the two passages is so stark! Awesome post!

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  2. I agree with Austin! Your point about the NIV is fantastic. St. Augustine said to use alternate translations and versions, and people who just read the NIV would miss the eloquence of the passage. This is one of my favorite verses, too. Also, I had no clue what conduplicatio was so thanks for the new vocab word!

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