|
On Thu, 4 Oct 2007 21:02:47 -0400, "Paul" <paulq_1998@yahoo.com>
wrote:
From Psalm 113
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
So I take that to mean when the sun goes down, we can all raise a little
hell.
It is a rhetorical device, commonly used in the bible, where the
limits of a particular span are used to indicate a more expansive
continuum.
If you read an advert for say, a US transport firm, that claimed that
they sent parcels "from New Mexico to Alaska, from New York to San
Francisco", you would interpret that as "we send from anywhere in the
US to anywhere in the US".
This is exactly the same thing, but relies on local assumptions and
knowledge for its proper interpretation.
Ancient people in the Levant would have understood the phrase "from
the rising of the sun to its setting" to mean "all the time".
(There is a word for this rhetorical device, but I'll be danged if I
can remember it. Sounds like "Metape" (pron "Meta-pee"), but that
can't be right as it is a part of classical architecture, esp. masonry
columns.)
That those from outside the early middle eastern culture do not
interpret it this way is not at all surprising, but it stems from
ignorance of the cultural assumptions.
Well, you *did* ask for comments and interpretations! ;)
.
|
