(Part 1)

JBTM Jeffrey G. Audirsch
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what poetry is rather than define it. 10 That being said, three characteristics seem to describe
biblical poetry: terseness, parallelism, and figurative language. First, biblical poetry is
notably terse. 11 This means poetry, as speech, is both compact and concentrated in content
and message. 12 Second, poetry is distinguished from prose by the prevalence of linguistic
features: parallelism, repetition of words/phrases, syntactic structures, the absence of
Hebrew prose particles (e.g., direct object marker ‘eth, the definite article ha, relative
clause marker ‘asher), unusual/marked syntactical structures (e.g., inclusios and chiasms),
emphasis on phonology (e.g., assonance, alliteration, rhyme, etc.), direct speech, and
poetry forms. 13 Third, poetry contains a heightened use of figurative language as well as
a larger use of affective devices (e.g., hyperbole, irony, allusion, etc.). 14 Collectively, these
characteristics emphasize the purpose of poetry which is “to instruct while it gives pleasure;
instruction being the end, and pleasure the means.” 15
Parallelism
The study of biblical parallelism can be traced to Robert Lowth’s seminal work on
Hebrew poetry in “Lecture XIX” in De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum Praelectiones Academicae
Oxonii Habitae. 16 Elsewhere, Lowth provides a definition of parallelism:
example, see Tremper Longmann III, “Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation,” in Foundations
of Contemporary Interpretation, ed. Moisés Silva (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 169; cf. Robert
Alter, “The Poetic and Wisdom Books,” in The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation, ed.
John Barton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 226–27; Andreas J. Köstenberger and
Richard D. Patterson, Invitation to Biblical Interpretation: Exploring the Hermeneutical Triad of History,
Literature, and Theology (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 265.
10
One important feature of poetry is it being a speech event that is typically based on a historical
event or a hypothetical encounter with God or his people. See Wendland, “The Discourse Analysis of
Hebrew Poetry,” 5. Although most attention is given to the written form of biblical poetry—especially
modern interpretation—it is meant for oral recitation. See Alonso Schökel, A Manual of Hebrew Poetics,
20. On the orality of poetry, see Walter E. Brown and Jeffrey J. Rankin, “Oral Poetry,” in Dictionary of
the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry, & Writings, eds. Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns (Downers
Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 497–501.
11
Longmann, “Literary Approaches,” 170.
12
J. P. Fokkelman, Reading Biblical Poetry: An Introductory Guide, trans. Ineke Smit (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox, 2001), 15.
13
For the complete outline of the aforementioned features, see Wendland, “The Discourse Analysis
of Hebrew Poetry,” 3–5. Given the scope and purpose of this essay only a few of the linguistic features
will be discussed.
14
See Longmann, “Literary Approaches,” 169; cf. Robert H. Stein, A Basic Guide to Interpreting the
Bible: Playing by the Rules, 2 nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), 109.
15
Robert Lowth, Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, trans. George Gregory (Andover:
Flagg and Gould, 1929), 2.
16
Robert Lowth, De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum Praelectiones Academicae Oxonii Habitae (London:
Clarendon, 1753). By the time of his death in 1787, the original Latin work was translated into English.