We have made it to the second major section of the Old Testament. Because we are entering into an entirely new section, we’ll begin our introduction in a different format so that we can dig a little deeper into what it means to be in the poetical section of the Bible.
What you first need to know is that just because we are in a poetical section, it does not mean that you will not find poetry in other places. It just means that this is the literary form that most dominates the five books that make up this section. If you remember, the literary style is like listening to different inflections in a conversation. If you are warning an individual of danger and you call out their name, you’ll use a tone that is consistent with the situation. If you are using that same person’s name in a regular conversation, then your tone of voice is going to be completely different.
This is the best way to think about the different literary forms. The literary form we just moved from are the historical books and they are written in the ‘prose’ form. In other words, they are written in just everyday speech and narrative. As we move into the form of poetry, we’ll see something different.
The form of poetry is rooted in experience. That is to say, what you are reading is the experience of the heart. Therefore, some of what you see in poetry is extreme or exaggerated in order to get the reader’s attention to what the heart is doing or what someone is going through.
Another difference when attempting to sift through the difference of poetry and prose in relation to the Bible, is the fact that in the Bible you are dealing with Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry is completely different from English poetry. English poetry has to do with rhythm and rhyme more than anything else. However, Hebrew poetry has to do with parallelism or construction and doesn’t rhyme at all. This is the bedrock of this style of poetry. That said, Hebrew poetry is much easier to translate than English poetry. If a certain person wanted to translate English poetry properly, they would have to try to make the sounds similar in order for it to make sense. But because poetry in Hebrew has to do with parallels and not rhyme, it can be understood immediately after translation.
However, there is a catch. There are different forms of Hebrew poetry for which you need to be on the lookout. The reason it is important to know these forms is because they can determine how one interprets the Bible. Let’s go through these forms, and for each an example will be provided:
1) Comprehensive- This is the most common form of Hebrew Poetry and offers a balanced repetition. A good example of this is found in Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
In line one, you see the words, “God is our refuge and strength…” This is a starting statement, but the Psalmist wanted to give an additional or more comprehensive thought to go along with this, and so you read, “… a very present help in trouble.” The second phrase balances the first and provides the reader with a more comprehensive understanding by way of parallelism.
2) Elaborative- This type of parallelism takes a phrase and elaborates on the thought exponentially in order to make the most powerful statement possible. An example of elaborative poetry can be found in Proverbs 30:17, “The eye that mocketh his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”
Notice how there is no question as to what is being discussed here. A child who dishonors his parents is the subject, and strong, elaborating information is given for clarity as to what the result will be in terms of this lifestyle.
3) Contrastive- In this form of poetry, the first line or passage will contrast with the parallel portion. Psalm 1 can be used as an example for this form. In the first 3 verses you see the characteristics of the righteous, and then in the latter 3 verses, you see the contrasting truth of the ungodly. Here are verses 3 and 4 that speak to this contrasting disposition, “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”
It is easy to see the parallel contrast. The righteous do one thing, while the unrighteous do another.