The Curse and the Blessing: Narrative Discourse Syntax and Literary Form

Abstract

This article discusses the particular literary significance of opposed and contrasted verb forms in Gen. 3.11-14, the series of God’s speeches and curses to the man, the woman, and the serpent, respectively, after the sin in Eden. In the narrative, discourse syntax analysis can assist interpretation so that analysis of form can have implications for the narrative’s content and meaning, in the relationship between syntax and semantics or text-interpretation in clauses and larger textual units. Once the elements of contrast, tension, and reversal are established within the unit, the narrative at the beginning of Genesis can be read in contrast and counterpoint to larger intertextual patterns, specifically the blessing of Moses to Israel at the end of Deuteronomy.