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Polysyndeton

Many-Ands

Polysyndeton is the figure in which the conjunction “and” is repeated before every member of an enumeration, instead of standing — as the ordinary laws of grammar prescribe — only before the last. The Holy Spirit uses this figure not to hurry the reader to a climax, but to halt at every member: each “and” invites attention to weigh, consider, and acknowledge the particular before passing on. Polysyndeton thus forms a pair with its opposite figure Asyndeton, and the two should be studied together.

Etymology

Greek πολυσύνδετον (polysýndeton), from πολύς (polys, “many”) and συνδετόν (syndetón, “bound together”) — from σύν (syn, “together”) and δεῖν (dein, “to bind”). In grammar syndeton means a conjunction; polysyndeton therefore literally “much bound together”, “many conjunctions”. The figure is also called Polysyntheton (from τίθημι, tithêmi, “to put”, “to place”) — “many puttings” of the same word, in this case “and”. Bullinger gives the English name as MANY-ANDS.

Definition

The law of grammar places the conjunction “and” only before the last member of an enumeration. This law may be legitimately broken in two ways for the sake of emphasis: by using NO ANDS (Asyndeton) or by using MANY ANDS (Polysyndeton). With Asyndeton attention is hurried to the climax at the end; with Polysyndeton there is never a climax — each separate particular asks for its own attention and its own weight. Bullinger observes that Polysyndeton is a special form of Anaphora (repetition at the beginning of successive sentences), in which the repeated word is always “and”.

The contrast comes out most sharply in Luke 14: in v. 13 (Asyndeton, no “ands” between “the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind”) the classes are skipped over so that the weight may rest on the blessing at the end. In v. 21 (Polysyndeton, five “ands”) those very same classes are each weighed individually — the servant must pause at every kind of need and act deliberately.

Bible examples

Old Testament — Polysyndeton expressing fullness and deliberateness:

• Gen. 8:22 — “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease”. The completeness of the covenant and the certainty of the divine promise are unfolded in a fourfold description.
• Gen. 19:12 — “Hast thou here any beside? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, and bring them out of this place”.
• Gen. 22:9-11 — Abraham’s obedience at Isaac’s offering, with each act marked separately: “And they came to the place… and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood, and Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife…“.
• Gen. 25:34 — “Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: and Esau despised his birthright”. There is no haste in the words, as there was none in Esau’s deed; each part is dwelt upon, showing he did not fall under sudden temptation but deliberately despised his birthright.
• Ex. 1:7 — “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding great, and the land was filled with them”.
• Josh. 7:11 — concerning Achan’s sin: five times in the Hebrew the word וְגַם (vegam, “and also”) is used to enumerate every part of the trespass.
• Josh. 7:24 — at the execution of judgment upon Achan, the conjunction stands twelve times: “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan… and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had…“.
• 1 Sam. 17:34-36 — David enhances to Saul each detail of his shepherding fight against the lion and the bear.
• 2 Kgs. 2:12,14 — Elisha’s response at Elijah’s translation, each gesture weighed apart.
• 2 Kgs. 5:26 — Elisha discloses Gehazi’s secret intentions: “Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?“.
• 1 Chr. 29:11-13 — David’s thanksgiving: “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine”.
• Ps. 107:35-37 — the blessings Jehovah bestows are set forth so that the reader is asked to dwell upon each particular.
• Isa. 2:11-19 — the completeness of the day of the LORD’s judgment is conveyed through Polysyndeton.

New Testament — Polysyndeton weighing every act or gift on its own:

• Matt. 7:25 — concerning the wise man on the rock: a fivefold “and” emphasises the perfect security (five being the number of grace): “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not…“.
• Matt. 24:29-31 — the wondrous events of the day of the Lord, with their order spelled out by repeated “ands”.
• Mark 3:31-35 — each part of the instructive scene is emphasised in turn.
• Luke 1:31-32 — the birth of the Lord Jesus is presented as in Isa. 9:6-7, with the “sufferings” overleaped — attention is called to all the wondrous separate parts of His glory.
• Luke 7:11-18 — in these eight verses there are no fewer than twenty “ands”, each introducing a fact for earnest consideration.
• Luke 7:38 — the woman’s devotion to the Lord is set forth in a gracious fivefold enumeration.
• Luke 10:27 — a fivefold description of the love which is “the fulfilling of the Law”.
• Luke 14:21 — the message to the servant: “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind” (key contrast with v. 13, see Asyndeton).
• Luke 15:20 — five particulars give the fulness of divine grace in receiving the lost son: “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him”.
• Luke 15:22-23 — an eightfold enumeration of gifts to the returning son, signifying the completeness of the blessing.
• John 10:27-28 — the riches of grace upon the Lord’s people, in a fivefold Polysyndeton.
• Acts 1:8 — “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.
• Rom. 8:29-30 — no climax, each great fact must be weighed alone: “Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate… and whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”.
• Rom. 9:4 — Israel’s possessions and privileges enumerated so that each gift demands separate attention.
• 1 Cor. 1:30 — “Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” — four equally weighty things, each to be studied apart.
• Rev. 1:11 — the seven churches are named separately, equal in importance and distinct in position: “Write… and send it unto the seven churches… unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea”.
• Rev. 3:17 — the Laodicean self-deception enumerated through Polysyndeton.
• Rev. 6:15 — at “the great day of his wrath” all classes of society are named to express the universality of the terror: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves…“.

Related figures

• asyndeton — the opposite figure: omission of “and” to hasten toward the climax; to be studied together
• anaphora — Polysyndeton is a special form: repetition of the word “and” at the beginning of successive sentences
• synonymia — frequently joined with Polysyndeton to lend weight to each member (cf. Isa. 2:11-19)
• correspondence — Polysyndeton often marks members within a chiastic structure (cf. 1 Chr. 29:11-13)

Source

E.W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible (1898), pp. 208-237.