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Podcast: The Bible as Literature
Episode: The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
Description: The power of Semitic poetry stems, literally, from the functionality of its consonantal roots. With but three consonants, a long series of words, used in a specific way, set in a specific pattern, according to an ordained order and rhythm, can be carefully arranged so that even the sound of the words can be manipulated to conform to the author's design. Classical Arabic and Hebrew poets have so much power to create this kind of literary structure, that the structure itself conveys meaning.Once you understand Semitic functionality, the only obvious question is, "why wouldn't the arrangement...