Euphemismen in der hebraischen Bibel.

• Author: Noegel, Scott B.
• Position: Book Review

Euphemismen in der hebraischen Bibel. By STEFAN SCHORCH. Orientalia Biblica et Christiana, vol. 12. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2000. Pp. xiii + 323. DM 178.

The presence of euphemisms in the Hebrew Bible has long been observed, but until now an exhaustive treatment of the phenomenon has not appeared. In addition, scholars typically have treated the topic of euphemism in a rather general way with little attention to the broad range of linguistic phenomena represented by the term, or the literary, sociological, or historical contexts in which euphemisms occur. It is in this light that the monograph under review represents a welcome, if not long overdue, contribution. A revised version of the author's 1998 dissertation at the University of Leipzig,' this book offers a careful and exhaustive examination of euphemistic linguistic phenomena in the Hebrew Bible. Its close attention to a variety of contexts and its methodological sophistication make it a useful and informative resource.

Schorch begins his investigation by reviewing the various theoretical approaches to the study of euphemism, and by establishing the parameters and methodology for his own work. Building upon recent linguistic approaches to euphemism in other languages, he distinguishes between the functions of euphemisms and the motivations for their use, and asserts that any investigation into motives must consider issues of semantic range and context. Thus, Schorch sets Out to establish the semantic ranges for the various euphemisms under discussion and to analyze the linguistic strategies at work in their formation (e.g., avoidance, substitution). His approach necessitates a brief review of previous research comparing euphemism with a variety of speech phenomena (e.g., dysphemism, lying, addad words, double entendres, and a variety of tropes).

Having established the groundwork for his investigation, Schorch then examines the topic of euphemism from three diachronic perspectives. The first involves a survey of euphemisms represented by textual corrections ([LANGUAGE NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and by variants in the textual witnesses. In this section Schorch first collects the euphemisms that appear in the recensions of the text of Samuel (i.e., 4QSam (3), Septuagint [LXX], Masoretic Text [MT]), and then organizes them into seven thematic categories.

In the first category Schorch places variants that constitute euphemistic references to death. Here he includes the MT and 4QSam (3) versions of 1 Sam 1:11 in which...