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Difficulty: MediumInferences and Implicit Meaning

Prior to the 1929 discovery of the Ras Shamra tablet archives in modern-day Syria, scholars of ancient Near Eastern literature generally regarded the distinctive poetic feature of bicolic parallelism—the repetition of a single thought across two paired lines using synonymous phrases—as an invention unique to Hebrew psalmody. The excavation of Ugaritic cuneiform texts, dated to the fourteenth century BCE, dramatically undermined this assumption by revealing nearly identical structural parallelisms and shared epic formulas in a North Semitic dialect that predated early Biblical compositions by several centuries. However, early mid-twentieth-century Ugaritologists often overcorrected, asserting that biblical poetry was merely a regional derivative of Ugaritic heroic literature. Recent comparative syntactical analyses have challenged this derivative model, demonstrating that while Ugaritic and early Hebrew shared a common West Semitic poetic repertoire, Hebrew poets systematically modified traditional formulas—specifically by altering the standard order of verb-first clauses in second parallel lines—to highlight theological contrast rather than thematic continuity. Thus, the presence of Ugaritic parallelisms in Biblical text reflects adaptation of a shared regional literary tradition rather than uncritical adoption of Ugaritic models.

The passage implies which of the following regarding mid-twentieth-century Ugaritologists?

  1. They overstated the degree to which Hebrew poetic structure depended directly on Ugaritic literary models.Answer
  2. B
    They failed to recognize the structural presence of bicolic parallelism within the Ras Shamra tablets.
  3. C
    They demonstrated that Ugaritic epic poetry originated from earlier West Semitic religious texts.
  4. D
    They focused exclusively on verb-order alterations in second parallel lines while ignoring broad thematic structures.
  5. E
    They displayed complete hostility toward comparative literary methods in analyzing ancient Near Eastern texts.

Answer

Mid-twentieth-century Ugaritologists overstated the degree to which Hebrew poetic structure depended directly on Ugaritic literary models.
The passage explicitly states that mid-twentieth-century Ugaritologists 'overcorrected' by asserting biblical poetry was 'merely a regional derivative' of Ugaritic literature, a view that recent research has challenged. This implies that these scholars overstated the direct dependence of Hebrew poetic forms on Ugaritic models.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Locate references to mid-twentieth-century Ugaritologists in the passage.
Found text stating that early mid-twentieth-century Ugaritologists 'often overcorrected, asserting that biblical poetry was merely a regional derivative of Ugaritic heroic literature.'
Direct passage evidence provides the foundation for evaluating implicit claims about these scholars.
2
Analyze how subsequent evidence modifies or evaluates their claim.
The author notes that recent syntactical analyses 'challenged this derivative model,' showing that Hebrew poets adapted rather than uncritically adopted shared traditions.
Contrasting the mid-twentieth-century stance with recent findings confirms that those scholars overestimated the direct derivative dependency.
3
Select the option that accurately captures this unstated implication.
The statement that they overstated the degree of direct dependency accurately reflects the passage's description of their 'overcorrection' and 'derivative model.'
This inference directly aligns with passage facts without introducing unsupported extrapolations.

Key Concept

Drawing Valid Inferences from Academic Passage Evidence
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Topics

Inferences and Implicit Meaning

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