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Many (most?) piyyutim have some sort of rhyme to them. Unlike alphabetic acrostics, for example, rhyming does not appear in Tanach. What is the earliest source of rhymes in Jewish texts?

(If R' Elazar HaKalir was the son of R' Shimon bar Yochai, as some maintain, he was probably the first to use rhyming. But there are many who argue with this claim.)

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  • Almost all Hebrew rhymes because of hebrew rules of grammar.
    – avi
    May 7, 2014 at 9:04

1 Answer 1

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There is rhyming in Tanach. For example:

Genesis 4:23

וַיֹּאמֶר לֶמֶךְ לְנָשָׁיו: עָדָה וְצִלָּה שְׁמַעַן קוֹלִי \ נְשֵׁי לֶמֶך הַאְזֵנָּה אִמְרָתִי \ כִּי אִישׁ הָרַגְתִּי לְפִצְעִי \ וְיֶלֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִי

Deuteronomy 32:1-2, 6

וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ, אִמְרֵי-פִי \ יַעֲרֹף כַּמָּטָר לִקְחִי \ תִּזַּל כַּטַּל אִמְרָתִי

הֲלוֹא-הוּא אָבִיךָ קָּנֶךָ \ הוּא עָשְׂךָ וַיְכֹנְנֶךָ

Proverbs 6:9-10

עַד-מָתַי עָצֵל תִּשְׁכָּב \ מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ \ מְעַט שֵׁנוֹת \ מְעַט תְּנוּמוֹת \ מְעַט חִבֻּק יָדַיִם לִשְׁכָּב

Additional examples can be found in

Ha'Azinu and in V'Zoht ha'Bracha. [likchi - imrati; k's'irim - v'chirvivim; kanecha - vayechonenecha; yesovevenhu - y'vonenehu - yitzrenu; tumecha - v'urecha - chasidecha; etc.] Think of Shirat Devorah (Shoftim 5) [chadashim - she'arim; mashabim - la'she'arim; lakachu - nilchamu. Also Shmuel Bet 22 (sal'i - um'tzudati - u'mfalti).

Then of course most of Yeshayahu and in Trei Asar. [e.g. Yeshayahu 1: petza - v'chabura - u'maka tri'a; 3 (ha'avasim - v'hashvisim - v'hasaharonim; ha'machalatzot - v'hama'atafot- v'hamitpachot). (Source)

The Wikipedia article on Biblical Poetry contains additional information.

Recommended reading: "The Art of Biblical Poetry" by Robert Alter

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    My favourite: Exodus 29:35 rhymes ככה with אתכה.
    – magicker72
    May 6, 2014 at 18:42
  • @magicker72 especially since that's pretty much a made up word (the way we pronounce it) Jul 10, 2014 at 5:19
  • @Matt I'm not sure what you mean. Both words appear other times in Torah (eg. Num 8:26 or Num 22:33).
    – magicker72
    Jul 10, 2014 at 11:02
  • @magicker72 not the way it's pronounced there (אתכה) Jul 10, 2014 at 20:31
  • @Matt That's just the pausal form. It's very common (eg. לְךָ becomes לָךְ).
    – magicker72
    Jul 10, 2014 at 20:39

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