16 VALÉRIE KABERGS – HANS AUSLOOS on the other. Therefore, assonance is reflected between both words, but there is also a play on meaning since the life-giving “work” of the righteous is contrasted with the sin-related “yield” of those who have evil plans. A second category of linguistic figures that cannot be seen as wordplay according to our proposed definition are those combina- tions that play on different meanings without sharing any identical or similar sound patterns. (1) The phenomenon of synonymous substi- tution is without a doubt ingenious from a literary perspective 43. In order to understand what exactly is meant by synonymous substitu- tion, one could refer to the proper noun hn+# in Genesis 26,21. Ac- cording to A. Strus, the Hebrew author tried to explain the name by using a semantic parallel between the noun hn+# (“accusation”) and the verb byr (“to dispute”) in verse 21. The “meaning” of the name hn+# would therefore be explained by relating it to the somewhat synonymous verb byr. However, as the use of synonyms only af- fects the aspect of meaning, whereas the sound of words does not play any role in this linguistic figure, synonymous substitution can- not be seen as a specific type of wordplay in our opinion. (2) Suc- cedanuous paronomasia refers to the substitution of an unusual term where one would normally expect a more familiar term 44. In pro- viding an example, Cherry mentions the proper noun Jesurun in Deuteronomy 32,15, which ― according to him ― “replaces” in this case the more common name Israel with the purpose of sarcasm. While one could say that there is some role for the meaning of words, sound patterns are, once again, not involved in the constitution of this particular linguistic figure. (3) In the same vein, the so-called “associative pun” can be mentioned. J.J. Glück argues that this fig- ure of word is “characterized by a twist in the diction, a play on phrase-components, when the different words within a phrase are forced together to create an entirely new image, overshadowing the usual associations of the respective words of the phrase” 45. Glück refers to the phrase “their uncircumcised heart” (lr(h Mbbl) in Leviticus 26,41, which should be interpreted metaphorically and not 43 Cf. GREENSTEIN, “Wordplay. Hebrew”, 969-970; A. STRUS, Nomen- Omen. La stylistique sonore des noms propres dans le Pentateuque (AnBib 80; Rome 1978) 62-64. 44 CHERRY, Paronomasia and Proper Names in the Old Testament, 31-32. 45 GLÜCK, Paronomasia in Biblical Literature, 72-75.