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Judges 5:24-31
This chapter tells a tale of the murder of Sisera, as well as, the consequences that accompany this climatic murder. The verse begins by the recognition of Jael as the most blessed woman of the land, and provides examples of the things she does to make her blessed. As verse 25 explains, Sisera asks Jael for water, and she brings him the finest milk in the land, hence illustrating the reason why he is considered as a blessed woman. The next two verses, verse 26 and 27 describe the murder of Sisera in Jael’s hands. The concluding verses describe the consequences of the murder of Sisera both for his mother, as well as, of Jael herself.
In the analysis of literary works, paraphrasing is important to facilitate comprehension of the text by readers. In the case of the analysis of Judges 5:24-31, paraphrasing is particularly necessary because of the way the text is placed and used in the verse. For example, the verse begins by stating that Jael is a blessed woman. However, the verse does not directly explain why she is a blessed woman, and for that reason, paraphrasing is necessary to help readers and the audience to understand the Jael’s significance, and the rationale behind this significance. Paraphrasing can also be used to aid readers in understanding the meaning of words as placed in the text. For example, in verse 28 through to 30, the writer describes the reactions of Sisera’s mother after the discovery of her son’s death. Various words are used for this description, some of which are easily incomprehensible for the readers. For that reason, paraphrasing assists readers in gaining full understanding of the events taking place.
Tone is another literary technique that is used for the analysis of texts. In literature, tone refers to the feelings and thoughts possessed by the writer during the development of the literary text. In essence, tone as used in literature is brought out by the use of various adjectives as a way of describing feeling and thought in the text. In this text for example, tone is brought out using words such as crushed, shattered, wailed, and rises. These words describe the feelings and events that take place before and after the death of Sisera in Jael’s hands. Whereas words such as crushed and shattered illustrate the dramatic events of the murder, the adjective, wailed, illustrates the feelings of Sisera’s mother after the discovery of his death. Accordingly, in terms of tone, the passage take the reader through an array of different emotions from the vibrant and calculated murder as explained in verse 26 and 27 to the agonizing consequences of the final realization of the murder of Sisera. Sisera’s murder by Jael best illustrates the use of tone in the passage. The tone variation begins from the time when Jael is plotting the murder to the time she actually performs it, and finally to the time Sisera’s mother drastically realizes that her son will not be returning from battle. Notably, the tone of the passage takes a surprising turn when the readers realize that Sisera’s mother is not gloomy because of her son, but rather the loot he was to return with. This then gives the passage a cold yet wistful mood because of the two loses that Sisera’s mother faces at the time. Conclusively the tone of the passage changes to a sarcastic tone when Jael realizes the consequences of her actions and does not feel guilty about her actions.
