Parallelism can encompass more than one line, but it is also concerned with the two or more parts of a single line in which the two parts cola are parallel in some way. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the university of chester for the degree of doctor of. The general intertwining of rhetoric and poetry is vast and we only lightly illustrate it in this subsection. We learned about the two easiest forms, synthetic and antithetic, and how to recognize them.
I remember taking a seminary course in which i learned about the various kinds of hebrew parallelism and realized that. In addition to parallelism, means of hebrew poetry that stands out is imageri. Hebrew poetry uses all the figures of speech of english poetry. Here, in a style typical of hebrew poetry, the second verset uses parallel words and syntax to develop the ideas of the first verset foes oppress people trample. Psalms and the christian characteristics of hebrew poetry introduction 1. The meter of the line is superimposed on the grammar and takes priority over the sentence structure used in prose. Here are some examples from the hebrew bible to illustrate such parallelisms. A major literary device in hebrew poetry is parallelism. Before we get into the background of the psalms themselves, it may prove helpful to notice some things about hebrew poetry 2.
Types of parallelism in hebrew poetry sermon preparation. Ever since robert lowths 1753 study, lectures on the sacred poetry of the hebrews, biblical scholars have known that ancient hebrew writers relied on. It is because such constructions are commonly repeated in english whereas. I state that one of the characteristics of hebrew poetry is parallelism. The nature of hebrew poetry hebrew poetry, so characteristic of the wisdom literature of the old testament job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and song of solomon, is unlike english poetry which emphasizes rhyme and meter. Poetic language in the psalms is set within the structure of biblical poetry. Parallelism in hebrew poetry demonstrates a major error in. Lewis the student of hebrew poetry may pity the pivot pattern.
Nevertheless, the pivot pattern is largely ignored by scholarship. The preoccupation with word pairs focused attention on the similarities between hebrew and ugaritic poetry, and on certain of their lexical aspects, but it did so. A little understanding of how the hebrew poetry works will help us better appreciate these bible books. Bible poetry rarely relies on devices such as rhyme or meter, but often on a device called parallelism defined in chamberss dictionary as a balanced construction of a verse or sentence, where one part repeats the form or meaning of the. These books include job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of solomon, lamentations, and a few of the prophetic books. Many books of the old testament were written as poetry. The type of parallelism that expands an idea is named synthetic parallelism. Hebrew poetry in the bible comparisons it is generally known that the bible is rich in poetry. The most common and repeated structure is parallelism. Biblical poetry is predominately written in this verse form. D e external complete parallelism giveearto theteaching ofourgod a b c youpeople ofgomorrah. The most striking characteristic of hebrew poetry is parallelism.
Question 4 describe the points of view of eliphaz, bildad, and zophar. What is the literary device of emblematic parallelism used. This feature can be found in any poetic passage, and sometimes even in narrative, although it is more common in the psalms and proverbs. We see parallelism when two or more lines of a hebrew poem correspond closely with one another in order to make a point. Not even the parallelismus membrorum is an absolutely certain indication of ancient hebrew poetry. The idea of similar or contrasting couplet is a helpful concept, but it is a part of the technique of both poetry and prose writers, but the 21 books are still significantly different from the 3.
What is the literary device of synthetic parallelism used. Parallelism is best described as two or more lines that use different words but similar grammatical form to explain the same idea. Introduction to hebrew poetry christian theologetics. In poetry, parallel lines can be analogous by way of structure or content. In other words, biblical poetry consists of a distinctive type of sentence structure and it is called parallelism. There are three major types of parallelism in hebrew poetry. Often, the parallelism is synonymous the same idea is restated in different words, side by side see psalm 40.
This is essentially what parallelism in poetry is, but i have found that it goes much further than that much further. Visual representations of biblical poetic parallelism. Parallelism defines the relationship between ideas contained within the poem. But in fact these songs and prayers are true hebrew poetry, standing along a spectrum from slightly more than lofty prose to elegant poetry, often as far removed from hebrew prose as shakespeare and longfellow are removed from the morning newspaper. The phenomenon of building the thought in successive poetic lines is certainly in hebrew poetry synthetic or formal parallelism the relationship here is that of analogy that is metaphor or simile. Synonymous parallelism is perhaps the easiest to spot while reading. The poetry of the old testament is rich with the images picture painting. Poets use parallelism for a variety of reasons, perhaps the main one being for emphasis. Hebrew poetry has much in common with canaanite poetry. This occurs when two or more lines of poetry are set in balance to each other.
The following discuss the different types of parallelisms within the book of proverbs. Three main characteristics of hebrew poetry terseness. Unlike some modern poetry that rhymes, the main poetic forms of the psalms, indeed of hebrew poetry, are elegantly crafted lines that structure how one thought or idea is related to another. However, some time it loses its mind attracting force.
It is basically thoughtbased in balanced, parallel lines. Over a question of nomenclature, whether parallelism should be. Either by repetition or by antithesis the opposite thought or by. Parallelism the basic principle of hebrew poetry is the repetition, elaboration, or variation on the sense of a line this parallelism may be semantic andor grammatical. Parallelism in hebrew poetry ever since robert lowths 1753 study, lectures on the sacred poetry of the hebrews, biblical scholars have known that ancient hebrew writers relied on parallelism to. Parallelism is pervasive throughout many of these poetic books and contributes meter and cadence to the poem. This parallelism occurs in the portions of the hebrew bible that are at the same time marked frequently by the socalled dialectus poetica. Synonymous parallelism is a poetic literary device which involves the repetition of one idea in successive lines. A verse containing antithetical parallelism will bring together opposing ideas in marked contrast. What is the literary device of emblematic parallelism used in hebrew poetry. Translatable poetry parallelism in old testament hebrew. In the last post, we entered into the realm of hebrew poetry, and specifically into parallelism. Even in translation many of the psalms have a beauty and elegance that mark them at the very least as elevated prose. Hebrew parallelism generally presents itself in one of the following three formats.
Parallelism, used in often in hebrew poetry, is defined as. Not only does this help to better understand the nature of the psalms, but can also assist in proper interpretation of this portion of scripture. The first variety, synonymous parallelism, reproduces the same thought in successive stichoi, and is the least complex form of parallelism in heb. Appreciating the parallelism of hebrew poetry i have always been fascinated by the parallelism which characterizes hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry exhibits parallelism as its chief characteristic. Parallelism, used in often in hebrew poetry, is defined as 1 see answer answer 3.
The first half of a verse will make a statement, and the second half. Three primary types of parallelism occur in hebrew poetry. There are numerous types of parallelism used in hebrew poetry, including synonymous parallelism, emblematic parallelism, and antithetical parallelism. Of the three kinds of poetry which are illustrated by the hebrew literature, the lyric occupies the foremost place. I am concentrating on five types of parallelism that are commonin the bible, but may not be easily identified by the average christian. Job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, song of solomon, and lamentations. Hebrew poetry, the use of parallelism is prevalent and it can be found in psalms. Lament, praise, wisdom watch for parallelism and imagery well talk more about imagery in the class on the song of songs. Ugaritic scholars have learned a lot about the polytheistic ancient near east from a study of poetry. In the oldest postbiblical hebrew poetic productions extant, that is, the liturgy, the principle of parallelism is existent, though not exhibiting the regularity and symmetry of the biblical poetry. Ever since lowth, parallelism has been the traditional starting place for people to describe hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry asbury bible commentary bible gateway. It has been suggested that it is a characteristic style of canaanite or ancient semitic poetry. Hebrew poetry is most similar to poetry written in.
In hindsight, one should have expected hebrew to make use of such a device. Those versions that useabab and baba have changed the chiasm and thus have taken outthe hebrew. Basic types of hebrew parallelism bethel university. Psalms and the christian characteristics of hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry has flexible meter, with a similar number of stressed syllables per line. A common literary feature of hebrew poetry in the old testament is called parallelism, in which the words of two or more lines of text are directly related in some way. Hebrew poetry three main characteristics of hebrew poetry terseness imagerysymbolism parallelism hebrew parallelism not rhythmic meter, not rhyming sounds but rhyming meaning parallelism second line somehow reinforces the meaning of the first not 2 distinct thoughts prov. Parallelism can make your writing more forceful, interesting, and clear.
Harr is di stinguishes three main types of parallelism as structural characteristics of hebrew poetry. An analysis of parallelism in stichographic, hymnic and sapiential. That literature abounds with illustrations of all forms of lyrical poetry, in its most manifold and wideembracing compass, from such short ejaculations as the songs of the two lamechs and psal 15. Hebrew poetry encyclopedia of the bible bible gateway. At the end of the last blog posting, we ended discussing the characteristics of hebrew poetry. Terms in this set 9 what is the most important feature of hebrew poetry. This parallelism occurs in the portions of the hebrew bible that are at the same time marked. Parallelism in hebrew poetry and the psalms in particular. But parallel lines can also affect poetry differently, giving them a childlike. Parallelism in hebrew poetry chart adapted from john b. For example in the book of psalms god is described in many ways. Parallelism and imageri, in hebrew poetry terang tuhan. It is now generally conceded that parallelism is the. Emblematic parallelism is a poetic device often used in the book of proverbs.
Typically, the lines display parallelism of thought rather than parallelism of rhyme or sound. It is sufficient here to refer to such prayers as leel baruk, ahabah rabbah, ezrat abotenu, and the shemoneh esreh. Like the hebrew language itself, the pivot pattern is quintessentially economical. The term parallel refers to two things that are analogous to each other. However, the concept of the forms of hebrew poetry often refers to the various genres, or types, of. Emblematic parallelism is one of several varieties of parallelism found in the poetic books of the bible others include synonymous parallelism, antithetical parallelism, and synthetic parallelism. Form, in other words, is apparent in hebrew poetry at all levels. First, there is what is known as a straight line parallelism or an aa, bb, pattern of parallelism in which consecutive lines parallel each other and help interpret one another.
It helps to link related ideas and to emphasize the relationships between them. The wisdom books of job, psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, and song of solomon are wholly poetic. By contrast, biblical poetry is characterized by the presence of parallel structure 7. This post furthers the investigation, delving into two more forms that are a bit more complicated and identifying them will take a little extra effort. Greek poetry is characterized by the presence of meter and rhyme. It is one of several types of parallelism used in hebrew poetry the other types being synonymous parallelism, syntheti.
This paper will define these types of parallelism, give examples of each type found in the poetic books of scripture, and examine the importance of parallelism. The ancient hebrews identified poetical portions in their sacred texts, as shown by their. Antithetical parallelism provides an antithesis, or contrast. Poetry, hebrew definition and meaning bible dictionary. Parallelism parallelism refers to the use of identical grammatical structures for related words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence or a paragraph. Some of the basic literary features of hebrew poetry are the following. Pdf aspects of the principle of parallelism in hebrew. For it was he who founded it and planted it firm upon the sea upon the waters beneath. Seven types of parallelism in hebrew poetry more free. The archaeological discovery north of israel at ugarit ras shamra has helped scholars understand ot poetry.
582 1221 239 1550 1297 35 1060 1125 1564 432 1404 1098 1361 668 1264 1107 1552 1157 391 1001 640 884 1261 1072 1017 837 631 1132 239 1218 1373 278 1138 413 445 286 552