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Two peculiar alternations of grammatical form appear in the Magnificat: a tense shiftin verses 46b-47 and an alternation of object constructions in verse 55. Though most studies treat these phenomena as outlying examples of Greek usage, a better explanation is found in the marked language character of the canticle itself. A previous study by Randall Buth (1984) has argued that the tense shiftin verses 46b-47 reflects a common Semitic poetic device. I defend that analysis and extend it to verse 55, identifying the preposition/case shiftthere as a second stylistic grammatical alternation in the canticle, specifically: an instance of reversed ballast prepositions. The presence of these devices in the Magnificat demonstrates that its poet possessed an interior grasp of the conventions of Semitic poetry and could execute a hymn in that tradition with skill. Furthermore, with the goal of supplementing inventories of the Magnificat's poetic features, I undertake a literary and linguistic analysis of both devices, giving particular attention to the negotiation of likeness and unlikeness in parallelisms, ambiguity as a vehicle of poetic expression, and the impact of these devices in a Greek presentation.
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The Magnificat (Luke 1:46b-55) imitates the form and content of various biblical psalms and odes, including the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10). But to what extent does it show flashes of its own poetic sophistication? How convincing is the pastiche? In this article, I will address these questions through the lens of two grammatical peculiarities in the hymn that are generally dismissed as nonstandard Greek usage. The first aligns two verbs in a synonymous parallelism but sets them in diffferent tenses (vv. 46b-47). The second references the same object through two different object constructions (v. 55).
An earlier study has already argued that the first alternation finds a background in Hebrew poetry.1 In this article I will elaborate on this thesis and discuss the literary merits of this technique in the broader hymn. In turn, I will apply a poetic analysis to the second construction as well. I believe the two anomalies are comparable and can be classed together as stylistic or nonsemantic grammatical alternations. This category of poetic devices is amply attested in the Hebrew Bible and evidently plays a vital role...