Poetic and Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament
RELG 301
Course Notes - Hebrew Poetry
Hebrew poetry is not like English poetry.
Hebrew poetry uses a pattern of repeated ideas, rather than rhyme.
Hebrew poetry is very compact; it often misses out verbs, which one has to fill in intuitively.
Hebrew poetry is used to convey truth, emotions, deep lessons of life.
Hebrew poetry often uses images and similes to convey its message.
Hebrew poetry was often sung, probably accompanied by an instrument such as a harp or kinnor (a kinnor is similar to a harp, but has the sound box at its base rather than on a vertical arm).
Parallelism
One of the distinguishing features of Hebrew poetry is Parallelism.
In parallelism, there are pairs of lines which express the same (or an antithetical) thought in different words.
The pair of similar lines is known as a stich, and each line is a hemistich.
The term was introduced by Bishop Robert Lowth of Oxford in 1741. Further refinements have been made by later scholars, who identified several types of parallelism.
Types of parallelism :
- Synonymous parallelism : the second hemistich restates the idea of the first, using different words.
- Antithetic parallelism : the second hemistich makes a contrasting statement
- Synthetic parallelism : the second hemistich repeats and develops the theme of the first statement
Examples of synonymous parallelism : Ps. 3:1, 49:1, 83:14, 103:13, Proverbs 19:5, 20:1, Isaiah 1:3,10, Amos 5:24; 8:10
Examples of antithetical parallelism : Ps. 1:6; 90:6, Proverbs 1:29; 10:1,12; 15:1; 19:4
Examples of synthetic parallelism : Ps. 19:7-9
There are several less-frequent forms of parallelism
- Climactic : the thought is developed or intensified over a series of lines, eg. Ps.19:7-14, 29:1-2, 103:20-22
- Chiasmic : the pattern of lines is a-b-c-d-c-b-a , with the main statement being in the center of the text.
Types of Poetry in the Hebrew Scriptures :
Many of the Psalms were used in the Temple, they include songs of worship and praise and thanksgiving, or supplication and lament. Other songs were in response to special events in the history of the nation, and some were in response to personal circumstances (laments, thanksgiving, love songs)
Communal songs involve the whole congregation or the nation, and use pronouns such as "we" and "us".
Individual songs are for use by one person, and use pronouns such as "I" and "me".
- Praise to God, eg. Ps. 8, 47, 93, 95-100, 104, 113, 135, 145-150, 1 Chron.16:8-36
- Communal Laments, for national calamities, eg. Ps. 60, 79, 80, 83
- Individual Laments, for personal misfortune. These may include a section of re-assurance. eg; Ps. 3-7, 10-13, 17-18, 22, 25, 27, 28, 35, 37-43, 54-57, 59, 61-64, 69-71, 73, 77, 86, 102, 140-143
- Pronouncements of reassurance : Ps 32, 46, 103, 121
- Communal thanksgivings : Ps. 95, 105, 107, 118, 136
- Individual thanksgivings : Ps. 92, 116
- Royal Psalms related to the king : Ps 2, 21, 45, 89, 110, 1 Chron.29:10-15
- Some Psalms are described as "Songs of Ascents". They may have been sung by pilgrims climbing the mountain road to Jerusalem : Ps.120-134
- Acrostics are poems which go through the alphabet in sequence. Each line starts with the next letter of the alphabet following the previous one. This construction is often associated with Wisdom Literature : Ps. 9, 34, 37; Proverbs 31:10-119; Pro. 31:10-31; Lamentations, chapters 1-4.
Ps. 119 takes the process one step further - there are 22 sections, following the sequence of the Hebrew alphabet, and each section of the psalm has lines beginning with the corresponding letter. - Victory Songs : Ex.15:1-18, 21, Judges 5:1-31, 1 Sam.18:7, 2 Sam.22:2-51
- Love songs : Song of Songs
- Blessings : Gen. 12:1-3, 27:27-29, 28:3-4, 49:1-27, Num.6:24-26, Num.24:3-9, Deut.28:2-13, Deut.33:1-29
- Curses : Num. 21:27-30, Deut.28:15-19
- Laments : 2 Sam.1:19-27, Lamentations.
- Didactic poems or Wisdom poems : Ps. 37, 119; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes
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