Poetry

comprises one-third of Hebrew Bible—not found in only seven books: Lev, Ruth, Ezra, Neh, Est, Hag, Mal

primary characteristics of Hebrew poetry discovered by Robert Lowth in 1753, Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews: parallelism & meter

other characteristics: literary devices (figures of speech), exalted language, archaic language & references (mythological)—rhyme little if ever important

Parallelism

Synonymous (second stich repeats idea of first)

Ps 24:1-3—3 distichs, all synonymous: a b : a' b':

The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, a b
the world and those who dwell therein; a' b'
for he has founded it upon the seas, a b
and established it upon the rivers. a' b'
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? a b
And who shall stand in his holy place? a' b'

Jr 17:9-10a—2 distichs, incomplete synonymous:

Wicked the heart above-all a b c
And corrupt-it a' b'
I Yahweh try the-heart a b c d
test the-reins c' d'

Ps 103:7—1 distich, incomplete synonymous with compensation (ballast variant):

He-made-known his-ways to-Moses a b c
to-the-sons-of-Israel his-deeds C' b'

Antithetic (second stich contrasts with idea of first)

Ps 1:6—1 distich, incomplete antithetic:

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous a b c d
but the way of the wicked will perish c d' b'

Pr 15:17—1 distich, incomplete antithetic:

Better a-meal-of-vegetables and-love-there a b c
than-a-fattened-calf and-hatred-in-it b' c'

Synthetic (Formal) (second stich continues idea of first)

Ps 14:1a—1 distich, synthetic:

The-fool says in-his-heart,
"There-is-no God."

Ps 2:1-6—synthetic & synonymous:

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain? synonymous
The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together synonymous
against the Lord and his anointed, saying, synthetic
Let us burst their bonds asunder
and cast their cords from us. synonymous
He who sits in the heavens laughs,
the Lord has them in derision. synonymous
Then he will speak to them in his wrath
and terrify them in his fury, saying, synonymous
I have set my king
on Zion, my holy hill. synthetic

Other Types Suggested

emblematic (one literal, other figurative): Ps 103:11-13

stairlike/climactic (repetition with progression): Ps 29:1-2

chiastic (X-shaped, a b b a): Isa 59:8a

external parallelism extends concept to include relationship between larger units (e.g., strophes):

Isa 1:10—internal synthetic, external synonymous

Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom! synthetic
Give ear to the teaching of our God, synonymous
you people of Gomorrah synthetic

Meter

various methods of determining meter: syllables, stressed syllables, words, syntactic structures

meter subordinate to needs of parallelism

Literary Devices

1. word-pairs: pair of synonyms or near-synonyms frequently found in parallelism, often in a fixed order (hear / give ear; word / teaching; Yahweh / Elohim; Sodom / Gomorrah)

2. alliteration: repetition of consonants or vowels (Ps 58:5-6 [4-5 Eng], 20 of 58 consonants x or m)

3. paranomasia: word plays, puns

a. Amos 8:2: Cyiqf , Cq' ripe fruit, time is ripe

b. Isa 5:7b: xp@f#&;mi hn%'hiw: +p@f#$;mil; wqAy:wA

hqF(fc; hn%'hiw: hqFdFc;li

he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; good, blood

for righteousness, but behold, a cry. right, fright

c. Sus 54-59: sxi=non, sxi/sei clove/cleave pri=non, katapri/sh| yew/hew

4. metaphors: figurative language (Pss 69:1-2; 36:7)

5. personification: referring to of addressing non-human objects as human (Ps 24:7; 98:7-8)

6. mythological language: references to beings or events known from mythology rather than history (Pss 74:12-14; 18:4-19)

7. repetition (Ps 118:2-4, 10-12, 15-16)

8. inclusio: repetition of first line at close of section (Pss 8; 118)

9. chiasm: X-shaped pattern, a b b a, a b c b a, etc. (Ps 9:11-14, a b c b a)

10. alphabetic acrostic: each strophe or group of strophes begins with a successive letter of the alphabet (Pss 9-10; 119; Lam 1-4)

Exegesis of Poetry

take parallelism & literary devices into account when interpreting verses—ex:

Where there is no vision, the people perish;
But happy is he who keeps the law. (Prov 29:18)

I have killed a man for wounding me,
and a boy for striking me. (Gen 4:23)

Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors. (Ps 24:7)