Poetry

VIEW:39 DATA:01-04-2020

POETRY.—1. The presence of poetry in the Bible is natural and fitting. As it is the form of composition which is easiest to memorize, whether in the earlier stages of a literature, or later in the expression of common religious experience, it is natural that poetry should be preserved, and should be the preserver of Hebrew thought. As the form of literature which is concrete in its pictures, it is to be expected that the Hebrew people, to whom abstract thought and terminology are almost unknown, would employ it very freely. As the literature of emotion and imagination, it is naturally used to express religious emotion and religious ideals. It does not suffice, however, to state the fitness of poetry to satisfy in a measure the purposes for which the Bible was written. Does it actually contain poetry? The answer is to be found only by examination of its contents, and only an affirmative answer is possible. Though the Psalms have not been written in poetical form for two thousand years, yet their poetry cannot be obscured. Scholars may differ as to the forms and laws of Hebrew poetry, yet they do not venture to say that none is to be found in the Bible.
The presence of poetry must he recognized if one would gain any adequate knowledge of the Scriptures. Otherwise correct interpretation is impossible. From failure in this respect in the past, our theology has suffered, the warfare between the Bible and science has been intensified if not caused, and Christians have lost immeasurably the comfort and spiritual help available from this kind of literature. Poetry must be interpreted as poetry. To apply to it the same principles of exegesis as are applied to prose is highly absurd; for in attempting to mark the differences between prose and poetry we must go below the form of language, and note that there is a distinctly poetic mode of thought and range of ideas. The facts of experience are so grouped and wrought upon by the imagination as to become a new creation. The singer is not bound to time or place; he speaks in figure without knowing that it is a figure; he speaks in hyperbole because he does not have the sense of proportion. The poetry of the thought affects also the vocahulary of the singer; it modifies his word meanings, and affects his grammar. It alters his literary style, and there arises a distinct study, that of literature as poetry—a study in which the attempt is made to discover how poetical forms express the poetical thought of the writer.
2. In treating the poetry of the Bible we are concerned chiefly with the OT. The NT has a few poetical sections (see Hymn), but these are confessedly Hebrew in character, and do not call for independent treatment here. As compared with the OT, the NT contains very little poetry, for the obvious reason that Christianity, early and late, has largely found the Hebrew Psalter sufficient for its devotional purposes.
3. What are the characteristics of Hebrew poetry? They must be found from an inductive study of recognized poetical sections of the OT. A certain part of the Scriptures is clearly poetry; a certain other part is clearly prose. Between the two there is a great amount of literature, especially in the prophetical books, about which there is a difference of opinion. It is called poetry or prose according to the scholar’s definitions and his zeal in making emendations. There are prose poems, products of real poetical imagination, and artistic in form, but lacking in poetic rhythm. These doubtful passages should he left out of account until the essential principles of the poetry of the Hebrew people are determined, and then the test can be reasonably applied to them. Such has not always been the mode of procedure on the part of scholars. Sometimes their aim seems to have been to discover new examples, whether by direct study or by inexact methods. One cannot look very deeply into the subject without discovering the most extreme differences of opinion among scholars. There is abundant reason for this state of things. The very reasons which make the presence of poetry in the Bible natural and fitting, operate to make its definition difficult. The more natural the poetic expression of thought and feeling, the freer it will be from conventional regulation, and the less sharp will be the difference between the prose and the poetical literature of a people. And again, in Hebrew so many facts are lost upon which we are wont to place dependence in such a study, that until we get new light from without, any scheme of Hebrew metre must be merely a working hypothesis, and no complete system can be expected. There is not a commanding tradition of the pronunciation of the language, whether we think of vowels, syllables, or accent. We have no knowledge of Hebrew music of a character that would aid in determining the rhythm of the poems that were sung to its accompaniment. Even the consonantal text is corrupt, in many places confessedly so; and there is almost no place so certain that a new scholar does not feel himself free to arise and emend it, and so win his spurs. Under these circumstances wide differences of opinion are to be expected, and their existence must be endured patiently. If there is any ridicule justifiable, it should he expended, with extreme caution, upon those who, ignoring these many points of uncertainty which necessarily limit the value of their inductions, formulate an elaborate and microscopically minute system of metre, and then turn confidently round and use the system to emend the text so as to bring it to its original condition. Rhythmical considerations may to a certain extent enter into literary and textual criticism, but unsupported they cannot be convincing.
The OT is not quite destitute of evidence that the Hebrews themselves were conscious of a difference between their prose and their poetry. They had special names for ‘proverb’ and ‘song’; they provided the Psalms with headings, some of which must have been musical directions; they made alphabetical poems, the several lines or stanzas of which begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order. These lines and stanzas are of equal length and similar rhythm. Some of the poems inserted in the prose books are written and printed line by line, as Exo_15:1-27, Deu_32:1-52, Jdg_5:1-31, 2Sa_22:1-51; and for the three poetical books of the canon the Massoretes of later times provided a special system of pointing, thereby recognizing a distinction that must have had its basis in tradition, although the special pointing was not to preserve the poetic value.
Passing over, with the brief allusion already made, the peculiarities of thought, of vocabulary, and of grammar which poetry reveals, the features that one expects to find in OT poetry concern the line, and the stanza or strophe. (1) The line is so constructed that when it is read aloud it sounds agreeable to the ear by virtue of a distinct rhythm; this rhythm is repeated with little or no variation from line to line; the end of the line coincides with a break in the sense. The line is properly regarded as the unit of poetical expression. It is commonly of a length to be uttered with a single breath, and, if sung, a brief strain of music suffices to accompany it. The fundamental importance of the line makes it desirable to determine, if possible, what are the rules for its length, and what is the nature of the measurement that secures the rhythmical effect so universally recognizable. The history of the search for a satisfactory system of metre cannot be given here. Classical models, with quantity as a basis, were long ago abandoned; one group of scholars discard the Massoretic accents, and attempt an explanation on the basis of Syriac metre, counting syllables, and accenting alternate ones; but the predominant theories are accentual. Of these some have reckoned only the rises (accented syllables), and others count the falls also, permitting only a certain number of them to intervene between rises. This number is made to depend on the metrical value of the syllables, which, according to some scholars, is determined by the number of morœ, or time units, which they contain.
It should be remembered that we are dealing with an early form of an ancient literature, and that this literature is an Oriental one. This creates a very strong presumption against an elaborate and minute system of metre. The Hebrew language was indeed dominated by tradition, which made it difficult to alter established practice; but in case the tradition was one of freedom on the part of the writer to construct his poem as he chose, it naturally operated to keep him free from the complicated rules which spring up in the later periods of the life of a language.
Until the contrary is shown on other grounds, it must be assumed that the Hebrew accent system, differing traditionally from Arabic and Syriac, differed from them actually; and as the traditional grammatical forms depend largely upon the accent, the natural Inference is that it is an important feature of the language. If so, it may he supposed that it is important also in poetry. The view that seems best to suit the facts as they exist, that makes the smallest demands in the way of departure from ordinary prose style, and that yields at the same time results reasonably satisfying to the poetic feeling, is this: the line was composed of a definite number of accents, or, as ordinarily each word had one accent, of a definite number of words. This view does not fit all the lines of every poem; but the possibility of exceptions at the will of the writer is a part of the theory. Moreover, the percentage of exceptions is very likely not greater than that of probable corruptions in the text. It is not to be counted as an exception when, in order to secure the regular number of accents, two short words must be pronounced as one, as is so often done for other reasons with the insertion of a maqqeph (־), or when a word exceptionally long and heavy must be pronounced with two accents for the same purpose. (2) The next higher unit is the group of lines taken together. The name strophe might be applied to all such groups, but it is usually reserved for the larger groups. The smallest group—the couplet or distich—exhibits the most characteristic feature of the poetry of the language, namely Parallelism, a name given by Lowth in 1753. The lines are so related to each other that there is a correspondence of parts, both in form and in sense. It is not confined exclusively to poetry, for it is nothing but the development of the idea of balance and euphony of parts which is found in elevated prose style, especially such as is uttered orally. The mind more easily grasps the thought of a second clause, if fashioned like an earlier one. It is less occupied with the form, for that is already familiar. It is also, and doubtless for that very reason, more agreeable to the ear. What is desirable in prose, and often used there, becomes the rule in poetry, as one may easily understand when one considers the necessity of a uniform line for the sake of easy utterance with musical accompaniment. It is by its persistence and uniformity that parallelism certifies to the poetical nature of a passage. This parallelism is of the utmost importance in determining the meaning of a verse. While its adoption as a poetical form has a logical basis, once let it become the rule for such composition, and it cannot fail to operate to modify the thought as well as the form. What would otherwise appear to be a careful choice of synonyms, for example, perhaps to secure climacteric effect, may be simply the operation of this principle. So the unusual position of a word in a clause may be traceable to this rather than to a desire to secure special emphasis. Several distinct forms of parallelism have been observed.
(a) Synonymous parallelism.—The thought of the two lines is synonymous, and so are the several terms by which the thought is expressed.
How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy whom Jahweh hath not defied?—(Num_23:8).
(b) Antithetic parallelism.—The second line expresses the same real truth as the first, but it does it antithetically. The form is truly parallel, and one member of the lines is synonymous, the other two contrasted. This is especially common in proverbs.
A wise son maketh a glad father,
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.—(Pro_10:1).
(c) Stair-like or ascending rhythm.—The thought of the first line is repeated in part, or, if entirely, more briefly, so that the second line can add a further item of thought, thus rising above the parallel line.
Till thy people pass over, Jahweh,
Till thy people pass over, which thou hast purchased.—(Exo_15:6).
(d) Synthetic parallelism.—The thought of the second line is entirely different or supplementary, none of the first being repeated. The distich remains in parallelism, for the two lines correspond in form.
Answer not a fool according to his folly,
Lest thou also be like unto him.—(Pro_26:4).
Other varieties are often singled out for discussion, and it will not be supposed that a typical form is always to be discovered. The variations and combinations are very numerous, and the study of them is full of interest and novelty.
The two-line group, or distich, has been considered above, as the simplest in which parallelism can be observed. It is also by far the commonest. Three lines grouped in a similar way are not uncommon. In this case the first and second may be synonymous, and the third synthetic to them; or other combinations may be found. Moreover, distiches may be arranged in pairs, with the same parallelism as between single lines of the distich. It often occurs that several lines are grouped together so regularly that a stanza or strophe is recognizable. It may be marked off by a line repeated as a refrain, or by a special initial letter, in alphabetical poems; but such indications are not of common occurrence. Absolute regularity in length is not often found, and scholars often attempt to secure it by assuming the loss or insertion of a couplet or two. There is also no specific principle distinct from the parallelism above mentioned, to form the basis of a strophical division. It seems likely, then, that strophes are not to be regarded as an essential feature of Hebrew poetry, like the stanzas of a hymn that is to be sung; but that the grouping is entirely optional and ordinarily logical—a literary feature. Rhyme and assonance are known in the language, but are not used persistently throughout a poem, and cannot be anticipated or reduced to rule when present.
3. By far the greater part of the OT poetry is of course religious and ethical, as the Psalms, Proverbs, and Job (see artt.). Outside of these books, however, is an interesting and by no means small amount of poetry which the Bible student may profitably study for its literary and historical value.
In family and social life, poetry evidently had a large place. Marriage occasions furnished the very best opportunity for the composition of songs, and for their execution to the accompaniment of music. Such are the songs in the Book of Canticles. The wedding song evidently furnished the model of the passage Isa_5:1 ff. Lamentation for the dead is also an evidence. The finest example is that of David over Saul and Jonathan (2Sa_1:17 ff.). A part of a lament by him over Abner is found in 2Sa_3:33 f. The tenderness and fitness of these utterances are very different from the stereotyped dirges of which there is notice in Jer_9:16 (17). The character of these may be seen from the Book of Lamentations, where the poet laments over the city as over a person. The first four of the five poems of this book are alphabetical, a strong mark of artificiality, which is further emphasized by the choice of a peculiar rhythm, known as the elegiac rhythm. There is a long line, commonly broken by a cæsura. The first half contains three beats or rises, the ordinary length of the Hebrew line. The second half has hut two. In ordinary rhythm it would have three, and would form a second line in parallelism with the first. The same rhythm is detected in a few passages of similar import in the prophets. There are allusions, too numerous to cite, to the use of songs at feasts of various kinds, and at the drunken revels against which the prophets protest. Num_21:17 f. is claimed to he an example of the songs often sung to celebrate the discovery of a spring or the successful digging of a well. The religious use of poetry is scarcely to be distinguished from its national use. For when Jahweh could be addressed as the God of the hosts of Israel, poems composed to incite or reward bravery could not fail to make use of religious as well as of patriotic emotions to secure their end. See, for example, Jdg_5:1-31.
O. H. Gates.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

The peculiarity of the Hebrew poetical age is that it was always historical and true, never mythical, as the early age of national lays in all other nations, as Hindostan, Greece, and Rome. The oldest portions of Old Testament history, namely, the Pentateuch, have the least of the poetical and imaginative element. Elijah, the father of the prophets, was no poet; nor were the prophets poets strictly, except insofar as in their teachings they were lifted up to the poetic modes of thought and expression. The schools of the prophets diffused a religious spirit, lyric instruments were used to accompany their prophesyings; but David it was (Amo_6:5) who molded lyric effusions of devotion into a permanent and more perfect style.
Poetry in other countries was the earliest form of composition, being most easily retained in the memory; and compositions in the early ages were diffused more by oral recitation than by reading, books being scarce and in many places unknown. But the earliest Hebrew Scriptures (the Pentateuch) have less of the poetic element than the later; so entirely has the divine Author guarded against the mythical admixture which is found in early heathen lays.
HEBREW VERSIFICATION. Oriental poetry embalmed its sentiments in terse, proverbial sentences, called mashal.
I. Acrosticism or alphabetical arrangement was adopted in combining sentiments, the mutual connection of which was loose (Lamentations 1). No traces of it exist before David, who doubtless originated it (Psalm 25; Psalm 34; Psalm 37; Psalm 145). In later alphabetical psalms there is more regularity than in David's, and less simplicity; as Psalm 111; 112, have every half verse marked by a letter, and Psalm 119 has a letter appropriated to every eight verses.
II. The same verse in some cases was repeated at regular intervals (Psalm 42; Psalm 107).
III. Parallelism is the characteristic form of Hebrew poetry. Its peculiar excellence is that, whereas poetry of other nations suffers much by translation, (for the versification depends on the recurrence of certain sounds at regular intervals), Hebrew poetry suffers but little, for its principle is the parallel correspondence of thoughts, not sounds, thought/rhythm Ewald designates it; a remarkable proof that from the first the Spirit designed Holy Scripture for nations of every tongue. Rabbi Azariah anticipated Bishop Lowth in the theory of parallelism. Parallelism affords a clue to the meaning of many passages, the sense of a word being explained by the corresponding word in the parallel clause. The Masoretic punctuation marks the metrical arrangement by distinctive accents; the thought in the inspired volume is more prominent than the form. The earliest instance of parallelism is in Enoch's prophecy (Jud_1:14) and Lamech's parody of it (Gen_4:23-24). (See LAMECH.) The kinds distinguished are:
(1) the synonymous parallelism, in which the second repeats the first with or without increase of force (Psa_22:27; Isa_15:1), sometimes with double parallelism (Isa_1:15);
(2) the antithetic, in which the idea of the second clause is the converse of that in the first (Pro_10:1);
(3) the synthetic or competing, where there is a correspondence between different sentences, noun answering to noun, verb to verb, member to member, the sentiment in each being enforced by accessory ideas (Isa_55:6-7). Also alternate (Isa_51:19), "desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword," desolation by famine and destruction by the sword, introverted, where the fourth answers to the first and the third to the second (Mat_7:6). Epic poetry, as having its proper sphere in a mythical, heroic age, is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Nor is the drama; though dramatic elements occur in Job, the Song of Solomon, and some psalms, as Psalm 32, where occur transitions, without introduction, from speaking of God to speaking to God; Psa_132:8-10; Psa_132:14, where the psalmist's prayer and God's answer beautifully correspond. The whole period before David furnished no psalm to the psalter, except Psalm 90, by Moses, and possibly Psalm 91. The book of the wars of the Lord (Num_21:14; Num_21:17; Num_21:27) and the book of Jasher (the upright) or the worthies of Israel (Jeshurun: Deu_32:15, compare 2Sa_1:18; 1Sa_18:7) were secular.
David's spiritual songs gained such a hold of the nation that worldly songs thenceforth held a low place (Isa_5:12; Amo_6:5). Israel's song at the Red Sea (Exodus 15), the priests' benediction (Num_5:22-26), Moses' chant at the moving and resting of the ark Num_9:35-36), Deborah's song (Judges 5), and Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2) laid the foundation for the full outburst of psalmody in David's days; and are in part appropriated in some of the psalms. The national religious awakening under Samuel, with which are connected the schools of the prophets (1Sa_10:5-11; 1Sa_19:19-24) having a lyrical character, immediately prepared the way. David, combining creative poetical genius with a special gift of the Spirit, produced the psalms which form the chief part of the psalter, and on which the subsequent writers of psalms mainly lean. Persecution in part fitted him for his work; as was well said, "where would have been David's psalms if he had not been persecuted?"
SACRED SINGERS. When David became king be gave psalmody a leading place in the public liturgy. A sacred choir was formed, himself at its head; then followed the three chief musicians, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun; then Asaph's four sons, Jeduthun's six, and Heman's 14. Each of these sons had 12 singers under him, 288 in all. Besides, there were 4,000 Levite singers (1 Chronicles 25); Asaph with his company was with the ark on Zion; Heman and Jeduthun with the tabernacle at Gibeon (1Ch_16:37-42).
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Stringed instruments predominated in the sacred music, psalteries and harps; cymbals were only for occasions of special joy (Psa_150:5). Trumpets with loud hoarse note accompanied the bringing in of the ark (1Ch_15:24); also at the temple's consecration (2Ch_5:12); also at the restoration of temple worship under Hezekiah (2Ch_29:26-27); also at the founding of the second temple (Ezr_3:10). David invented, or improved, some of the instruments (1Ch_23:5; 2Ch_7:6; Neh_12:36). The poetical books are Job, Psalms. Proverbs, and the Song of Solomon. Simplicity and freshness are combined with sublimity. "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by" the Hebrew poet, "and His word was upon his tongue" (2Sa_23:2). Even the music was put in charge of spiritually gifted men, and Heman was "the king's seer in the words of God" (1Ch_25:1; 1Ch_25:5). The sacred poet represents the personal experiences of the children of God and of the whole church.
Scripture poetry supplies a want not provided for by the law, inspired and sanctioned devotional forms to express in public worship and in private the feelings of pious Israelites. The Psalms draw forth front beneath the legal types their hidden essence and spirit, adapting them to the various spiritual exigencies of individual and congregational life. Nature's testimony to the unseen, God's glory and goodness, is also embodied in the inspired poetry of the Psalms. The psalter is the Israelite's book of devotion. enabling him to enter into the spirit of the services of the sanctuary, and so to feel his need of Messiah, whose coming the Psalms announce. Christ in His inner life as the Godman, and in His past, present, and future relations to the church and the world, is the ultimate theme throughout. It furnishes to us also divinely sanctioned language to express prayer and thanksgiving to God and communion with our fellow saints. Besides parallelism, poetic expressions distinguish Hebrew poetry from prose.
David's lament over Jonathan is a beautiful specimen of another feature of Hebrew poetry, the strophe; three strophes being marked by the thrice recurrence of the dirge, sung by the chorus; the first dirge sung by the whole body of singers representing Israel; the second by a chorus of damsels; the third by a chorus of youths (2Sa_1:17; 2Sa_1:27). The predominant style of lyrical poetry is apparently derived front an earlier terse and sententious kind, resembling that of Proverbs. The Eastern mind embodies thought in pithy maxims; hence maashal, "proverb," is used for poetry in general.
Solomon probably embodied in Proverbs preexisting popular wise sayings, under the Spirit's guidance. Finally, Hebrew poetry is essentially national, yet universal and speaking to the heart and spiritual sensibilities of universal man. The Hebrew poet sought not self or fame, as the pagan poets, but was inspired by God's Spirit to meet the want which his own and his nation's aspirations after God created The selection for the psalter was made not with reference to the beauty of the pieces, but to their adaptation for public worship. Hence several odes of the highest order are not included: Moses' songs (Exodus 15; 30), Deborah's (Judges 5), Hannah's (1 Samuel 2), Hezekiah's (Isa_38:9-20), Habakkuk's (Habakkuk 3), and even David's dirge over Saul and Jonathan.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Much of the Old Testament is written in poetry. This applies especially to the Psalms, the wisdom books and the prophetical books, though poems and songs are scattered throughout the prose narratives of other book (see SINGING).
Unlike English poetry, Hebrew poetry has no rhyme or metre. It relies for its expression and style upon a rhythm of sound and thought produced by a careful arrangement of words and sentences. The form that is most common in the Bible is called parallelism. This form can be varied and developed in many ways, but basically it consists of sentences arranged so as to balance each other.
If the first part of a verse contains the main thought, the following part (or parts) may add weight to this thought by repeating it in a slightly different form (Psa_27:1; Psa_104:7; Isa_2:7; Isa_5:20-22). In some cases the two parts of a verse may be arranged to contrast with each other by stating two opposite truths (Psa_37:9; Pro_19:4; Pro_19:12). Alternatively, the second part may add to the first for the purpose of giving an application or leading to a climax (Psa_56:4; Psa_68:18; Jer_31:20).
Poetry was sometimes written in the form of an acrostic based on the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. In the simple acrostic, the first word of each verse began with a different letter, the sequence following the order of the Hebrew alphabet from the first letter to the last (e.g. Psalms 25; Psalms 34; Lamentations Chapters 1, 2 and 4). Other acrostics were divided into twenty-two sections of a number of verses each, with all the verses in each section beginning with the same letter. Psalms 119 has twenty-two sections of eight verses each; Lamentations Chapter 3 has twenty-two sections of three verses each.
The New Testament, though written in Greek and mainly in prose, contains quotations from Old Testament poems. It also records poems from its own era that the writers composed in the Hebrew style discussed above (Luk_1:46-55; Luk_1:68-79; Luk_2:29-32). In addition there are quotations from what appear to be early Christian hymns (Eph_5:14; 1Ti_3:16) and occasional quotations from Greek poetry (Act_17:28; Tit_1:12).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

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