ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a mashal that has been embedded within David’s speech to Saul in 1 Sam 24. It explores how the term mashal functions rhetorically in biblical texts when no example of what that particular mashal performance is given. The chapter argues that the specific verbal phrase framing several mashal compositions, nasa masal—which is typically translated “to take up a parable”—may reflect a metaphor of how the voice is carried to an audience in performance. It also examines the pragmatics of the mashal through a study of three different types of compositions. The chapter analyzes the various elements of the composition for its intersection with the qinah speech. It discusses how the term mashal functions rhetorically in biblical texts when no example of what that particular mashal performance is given. The chapter looks at the mashal in the context of the phrase in Deut 28:37 and how it functions in a constellation of similar types of phrases.
