Two of a Kind: Twin Language in the Hebrew Bible

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the relation between form and content of biblical passages, focusing especially on the word ‭םימאות‬, ‘twins’. First, the six attestations of the word occur in pairs in the books of Genesis, Exodus and the Song of Songs. Second, they are highlighted through linguistic devices that in themselves have affinity with duality: geminates, alliteration and (numerical) paronomasia. Moreover, the number ‘two’ occurs in all texts and is evoked through the use of its homophone ‭ינש‬, ‘scarlet’, and through duplication of words. Thus, it is suggested that the language of biblical passages including the ‘twin’ word exteriorizes and emphasizes the twin concept by means of devices that mimic the twinning formally.