The five so-called poetical books are not the only poetry in the Old Testament. There are stretches of unexcelled poetry in the writings of the prophets and mingled through the narrative sections of Scripture. In fact, the greatest amount of prophecy which was given the prophets by the Holy Spirit is in the form of Hebrew poetry. But Job through Song of Solomon is distinctly the poetic group of Old Testament Scriptures.
We ought to understand clearly that the term “poetical” refers only to their form. It must not be thought that they are simply the product of human imagination. There is glorious poetry here; but there is nothing of the fanciful or unreal. These poetic books portray real human experience and grapple with profound problems and express big realities. Especially do they concern themselves with the experience of the godly, in varying circumstances of this changeful life which is ours under the sun.
The nature of Hebrew poetry is quite different from the well-known English poetry in certain marked ways. For instance, ancient Hebrew poetry possesses neither meter nor rhyme. Its essential characteristics are a certain form of rhyme, meter, and imagery expressed in rhythm, which makes itself apparent both in rhythmical cadence of each separate clause, and in a rhythmical balance of clauses when they are combined in a verse.
In English poetry there is:
1. Rhyme or the parallelism of sound. This is a feature in English poetry in which the ending of each line has a word that sounds similar to the ending word of the second line or some other line in the current verse: viz., croon, tune, moon, spoon, June. This gives the pleasure of phonetic agreement. This is generally missing in blank verse, so-called.
2. Rhythm or the parallelism of time or meter. Here you have the pleasure of metric agreement. Without rhyme it is called blank verse, or rhythm without rhyme, viz., Da-Da, Da-Da, Da-Da, Da-da. By contrast, Hebrew poetry is very special in its form.
In Hebrew poetry one finds:
1. Rhyme or the parallelism of ideas, similar ideas arranged to balance or mirror each other. The rhyming of sound did not come into use until circa the 7th Century ad. Actually the Hebrew language has so many similar ending sounds that it would make no sense or be clever to use such a form.
2. Meter is “the molding of a line (or verse) to fit a preconceived shape made up of recurring sets” (Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, p. 88). It is an abstract way of analyzing poetry in any language, including the Hebrew Bible. However, it is not an easy tool for literary analysis, because no consensus exists on the meter of English poetry…or of the poetry of the Psalms. The results are ambiguous and controversial. Meter in Hebrew poetry is the balancing into equal parts of the Hebrew line. This has been lost in translation from Hebrew to English, because there are emphasized syllables in the Hebrew text.
3. Imagery is made up of many similies and metaphors which characterize poetry. For instance, in the book of Job the “brevity of life” is depicted by i) a weaver’s shuttle (7:6); ii) one’s breath (7:7); iii) a cloud (7:9); iv) a shadow (8:9); v) a runner (9:25); vi) a falcon (or eagle) (9:26); and vii) a flower (14:2).
Hebrew prosody is the science or art of metrical structure, rhyme and stanza forms. The best known characteristic of Hebrew poetry is the rhyming of ideas, also known as the parallelism of ideas. The first scholar to recognize this was Bishop Robert Lowthe, Professor of Poetry at Oxford in the middle of the 18th century (1753). He defined it as follows:
“The correspondence of one verse or one line with another. When a proposition or line is delivered and the second is subjoined to it or drawn under it, equivalent or contrasted with it, or in the sense similar to it in the form of grammatical construction, these are called Parallel lines.”
Notice this couplet of a Wordsworth poem:
“The swan upon St, Mary’s lake, Floats double, swan and shadow.”
In other words, the first line of a verse is the reality and the second line is expressed as the “shadow of the swan,” the second similar to the first.
Two of the most important elements of Hebrew poetry are the hundreds of figures of speech that are an integral part of the poetry and the various kinds of parallelism. To understand these is of the greatest importance for a true appreciation and interpretation of the poetic Scriptures.
There are at least seven main types of parallelism. Among these are the following:
1. Synonymous Parallelism, or Completive, where a poet states a thought in the first line. Then the same thought is repeated in different words in which the second line enforces the thought of the first:
The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof: The world, and they that dwell therein. For He hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? (Ps. 24:1-3)
There is triple parallelism in Psalm 1:1–
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly
standeth not in the way of sinners,
sitteth not in the seat of the scornful.
The most common and simplest of parallelism is the couplet: but this may be expanded into a triplet as above, or a quatrain, or even longer combinations in a variety of ways. Thus the three lines of a verse may be synonymous, iterative parallelism.
The floods have lifted up, O Jehovah, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. (Ps. 93:3)
2. Synthetic Parallelism or Constructive in which the second member or line explains or adds something to the first:
In Thy strength, O Jehovah, the king shall rejoice, And in Thy salvation how greatly shall he exult. (Ps. 21:1)
Another obvious example:
The law of the Lord is perfect, Converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, Making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, Rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord are pure, Enlightening the eyes. (Ps. 19:7-8)
3. Emblematic Parallelism. Here the second member or line is an illustration that explains the first, often using a simile or metaphor. Or the first line is the illustration and the second is the reality:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. (Ps. 23:1)
The first line is a reality, but the second is the similie. Have you laid down in green pastures and eaten forage lately?
Following is an example of the reverse where the emblem is first, the reality second.
As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, So panteth my soul after Thee, O God. (Ps. 42:1)
4. Antithetical or Contrastive Parallelism, in which the first line is emphasized by a contrasting thought. The thought expressed in the first line of a couplet is corroborated or elucidated by the affirmation of its opposite in the second line. This form of parallelism is particularly characteristic of the oldest collection of proverbs in the Book of Proverbs.
A faithful witness will not lie: But a false witness uttereth lies. (Prov. 14:5)
The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Ps. 1:6)
5. Climactic Parallelism in which the second line completes the first:
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, Give unto the Lord glory and strength. (Ps. 29:1)
6. Formal Parallelism, is one of form only without any logical relation between the clauses. The lines seem to be related by meter with no shadowing or juxtaposition.
Yet I have set up my king, Upon Zion my holy mountain. (Ps. 2:6)
7. Alphabetic or Acrostic Parallelism, a related form of parallelism in which verses or groups of verses begin each first line with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Eight or nine Psalms present various forms of alphabet structure. Psalms which are so involved are Psalms 9 & 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, & 145. In Psalms 111, and 112 each letter begins a line, and the lines are arranged in eight couplets and two triplets. In Psalm 119, each verse in a stanza of eight verses begins with the same letter and the letters are taken in regular succession. In Lamentations 3, each verse in a stanza of three verses begins with the same letter and the letters are taken in regular succession.
To understand Hebrew parallelism is not only poetically interesting, it is important in the interpretation of Scripture. The corresponding members in each parallel throw light on each other. Obscure words are often explained by this, inasmuch as the same idea usually lies at the base of both members of the parallel. It would appear in this fashion: one line is figurative, the other is literal; or one line is positive, the other is negative; or one line seems obscure, the other leaves no doubt.
One illustration would come from Psalm 11:4–
The Lord is in His holy temple, (Which temple, earthly or heavenly?) The Lord, His throne is in heaven. My brethren have acted deceitfully like a wadi, (What is that wadi like?) Like the torrents of wadis which vanish. (Job 6:15)
May the Holy Spirit teach us more perfectly the true meanings of God’s precious Word.