(Part 1)

JBTM Jeffrey G. Audirsch
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Literary Characteristics of Biblical Poetry
Many Jews and Christians are drawn to biblical poetry due to its vivid and figurative
character. To interpret adequately biblical poetry, we must be familiar with the plethora
of literary features. In this section, I will discuss several of the most prominent literary
features. As mentioned earlier, biblical poetry is known for its terseness—that is, short
lines, few words, and few conjunctions. Thus, terseness adds to the explosive nature of
poetry, meaning every word is ripe for interpretation.
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding. (Prov 5:3)
1
A time to be born, and a time to die. (Eccl 3:1)
Next, imagery is an overarching literary feature with many others falling under its umbrella.
“Images are the glory, perhaps the essence of poetry,” notes Luis Alonso Schökel. 33 For
this reason, we must do our best to define and understand these images. That being said,
imagery evokes “a sensory experience in our imagination” 34 that can be described as “word
pictures.” 35 Since imagery is an overarching literary feature, one example will suffice:
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Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Jer 4:4a)
In this text, the imagery of circumcising one’s heart is vivid and, to be completely
honest, unfathomable. To physically circumcise one’s heart would actually bring about
death; however, when interpreted figuratively, Jeremiah is challenging the Judahites and
Jerusalemites despite the impossibility of imagery evoked.
Probably the most recognizable types of imagery are simile and metaphor. A simile is
a comparison is made between two things while utilizing “like” and/or “as” (e.g., see Song
4). 36 The comparison being made is typically explicit. 37
“Parallelism,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry, & Writings, ed. Tremper Longman III
and Peter Enns (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 502–15.
33
Alonso Schökel, A Manual of Hebrew Poetry, 95.
34
Leland Ryken, Read the Bible as Literature (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 90.
35
Ernest C. Lucas, “Terminology of Poetics,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry, &
Writings, ed. Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 522.
36
For an in-depth analysis of similes in biblical poetry, especially Hosea see David L. Petersen and
Kent Harold Richards, Interpreting Hebrew Poetry, ed. Gene M. Tucker, Guides to Biblical Scholarship
(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 50–60.
37
G. B. Caird, The Language and Imagery of the Bible (Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox, 1980),