Abstract

In the biblical texts, repetition is often seen by scholars as an indication of an addition or of different sources. In the Old Testament, we find a group of discourses characterised by a double or triple repetition of the adverbial expression ועתה within the same discourse. This phenomenon of multiple ועתה affects seventeen texts. In four, we find the triple repetition of ועתה. The present study examines all these texts, seeking to respond to the questions raised by the repetition of the particle ועתה: why is it necessary to use the same expression twice or three times? What are the common characteristics of these discourses, and what is the origin of this phenomenon? The first part of this study is devoted to the presentation of the general characteristics of ועתה; the second part concerns the persuasive character of these discourses; the third part consists in the analysis of the function of the double or triple ועתה in the structure of the discourses analysed, comparing it with classical rhetoric; the fourth part identifies the sphere of the discourses with multiple ועתה; finally, the fifth part is devoted to the importance of the argumentation introduced by the first ועתה in a specific discourse related to the plea for pardon ("deprecatio"), and to the origins of this rhetorical stratagem.