The Poetic Books of the Old Testament I. Hebrew Poetry A. Six Poetic Books of the Old Testament 1. Job 2. Psalms 3. Proverbs 4. Ecclesiastes 5. Song of Solomon 6. Lamentations B. Eight Literary Devices in Hebrew Poetry 1. Parallelism: A rhythm of thought. a. Synonymous Parallelism: 1) The first and second lines have similar thoughts but are stated in different words. 2) Ex: Isaiah 1:3, "The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." b. Anti-thetic Parallelism: 1) The second line expresses the thought of the first by a contradictory or opposing statement. 2) Proverbs 10:1ff: " A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brief to his mother." c. Synthetic Parallelism: 1) The second line continues or advances the thought of the first. This is also called formal, progressive, projection or expanded parallelism. 2) Ex. Psalm 2:1: "Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?" d. Emblematic Parallelism: 1) One line will make a literal statement, but the next line will repeat that with the form of a figure. 2) Ex. Psalm 42:1: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." e. Chiastic Parallelism (Inverted): 1) Possesses a four-line structure (ABBA). 2) Psalm 30:8-10: "To you, O Lord, I called; To the Lord I cried for mercy; What gain is there in my destruction, In my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord, be my help" f. Stair like Parallelism: 1) Climactic or repetitive structure.
29
2) Psalm 3:1-2: "O Lord, how many re my goes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." g. Incomplete Parallelism: 1) The parallelism is not always complete. 2) This is a sort of catchall category 2. Meter: the arrangement of accented and unaccented syllables. a. Qinah: 3/2 meter, the meter of lament. b. Mashal: 3/3 meter lends itself to the Proverbs 3. Assonance: a. Def. Similar sounds in the accented vowel. Rarely reproduced in the English text from the Hebrew text. b. Ex. Ezekiel 27:27 4. Alliteration: a. Def. Words or syllables that begin with the same sound. b. Ex. Psalm 22:6 5. Acrostic: a. Def. An alphabetical arrangement of words. b. Ex. Psalm 119 6. Paronomasia a. Def. A play on words b. Ex. Amos 8:2 7. Rhyme: a. Def. Rhyme of sound seldom used in Hebrew poetry b. Ex. Genesis 1:2 8. Onomatopoeia a. Def. The sound suggests the meaning of the word b. Ex. Hiss, Splash, Buzz C. Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry 1. It is simple and straightforward. 2. It is sincere. 3. It is imaginative, using figurative language and expressions. 4. It is essentially religious in subject. 5. It is subjective, growing out of personal experience of the writer. II. Job A. Person 1. We are not sure he was Jewish but he worshipped Yahweh. 2. Job was very devout and lived in the land of Uz. 3. Uz was probably North of Edom on the other side of the Jordan. 4. Uz was NOT in the land of Canaan. B. Age: 15:9-10 seems to imply that Job was young, perhaps not over 40 years. C. Family 1. Job was married. 2. Job had 10 children.
30
D. Date 1. The setting of Job is the patriarchal period. 2. Job was likely written in the early 2nd millennium B.C. 3. Scoffield says it was written before the beginning of the Law (5th to 13th century B.C.) 4. Most scholars propose @ 700 - 20 B.C. E. Historicity 1. W. F. Albright says Job was a historical person contemporary with the patriarchs. 2. E. W. Hengstenberg says Job was a historical person but the story is poetically idealized. 3. Most German scholars propose that Job is pure fiction. 4. F. B. Huey says the story would be hard to invent unless it actually happened. F. Structure 1. Job possesses a very deliberate form and structure. a. Prologue b. Long section of speeches c. Chapter 32 - Eli d. God appears. G. Purpose 1. To teach the patience of a good man under testing. 2. To deal with the problem of innocent suffering. (Interestingly, no specific answer or solution is provided beyond faith in God.) H. Outline 1. Prologue: Chapters 1-2 2. Dialogue of Job and his friends: Chapter 3-31 3. The Speeches of Elihu: Chapter 32-39 4. The Speeches of God: Chapter38: 1-42:6 5. Epilogue: Chapter 42:2-17 I. How to study the book of Job 1. Read through in a modern translation very rapidly. 2. Then make a more detailed study of the book. J. Contents 1. 1:6-22 a. "Satan" means to oppose or to obstruct. b. The text implies the following: 1) Satan does have access to the presence of God. 2) Satan's power is limited to what God allows. 3. Satan's function is to accuse humans before God. 2. Chapter 42: Job's Confession and Repentance a. Job did not get any specific answer as to why he was suffering. b. Why do the innocent suffer? 1) We suffer sometimes as punishment, but not always. (Hebrews, disobedience leads to suffering.)
31
2) We suffer because of Christian commitment. (1 Peter, written in a time of persecution by Nero.) 3) We suffer in order to grow spiritually. (James 1, Trials of faith produce patience.) 4) We suffer as an encouragement to others. (Nouwen, The Wounded Healer) c. What to do when we experience suffering? 1) Don't exaggerate your suffering. 2) Affirm that God is with you in suffering. 3) Recall God will not put more on us than we can bear. 4) Recognize that the end may not come in this lifetime. 5) Admit there will always be a mystery about suffering. III. Psalms A. Unique Things about the Psalms 1. The longest and shortest chapters in the Bible are located in the Psalms. (119 and 117) 2. These are words primarily addressed to God. B. Authorship 1. David wrote 73 Psalms 2. Sons of Korah 3. Sons of Asaph 4. Moses 5. Solomon 6. One third of the Psalms are authorless C. Titles: The titles give us four types of information 1. Author 2. The type of psalm (i.e. a song, a prayer, etc) 3. Musical Instructions 4. The occasion when the Psalm was to be used. D. How to Study the Psalms 1. Devotionally 2. Thematically 3. Theological Emphasis 4. Source critical analysis 5. Make an analysis of the situation that brought forth the particular psalm. E. Form Criticism and the Psalms 1. Hermann Gunkel pioneered Form Critical Studies on the Psalms (1901). 2. Gunkel protested against Wellhausen ad Source Critical Studies. 3. Gunkel showed that Royal Psalms were Pre-exilic. 4. Gunkel put to rest the Wellhausen Theory of late dating. E. Five Major Types of forms in the Psalms 1. Hymn: a praise of God 2. Royal: Deals with God as a ruling king. 3. Individual Lament: Some calamity has come upon the individual. 4. Communal Lament: Some calamity has come upon the community.
32
5. Imprecatory Psalms: The Psalmist curses his enemies or asks God to. IV. Proverbs A. Authorship 1. Solomon 2. Ague 3. Lemuel B. Date: 715-667 B.C. C. How much foreign influence? 1. Portions are compared to Egyptian Proverbs 2. It should be remembered that all humanity has similar experiences. 3. Do we limit God by saying that there is no way he could use "secular" sources to inspire divine scriptures? D. How should we study the book of Proverbs? 1. Thematically: about wisdom 2. Sequentially: verse-by-verse 3. Devotionally: for personal use E. Outline 1. A Father's Praise of Wisdom: 1-9 2. The Proverbs of Solomon: 10:1-22:16 3. The Words of the Wise Men: 22:17-24:22 4. Further Words of the Wise Men: 24:23 - 33 4. The Collection of Hezekiah: 25-29 5. The Words of Agur: 30 6. The Words of Lemuel: 31:1-9 7. The Virtuous Wife: 31:10-31 V. Ecclesiastes A. Background 1. A time when the pursuit of material possessions was very important (2:4-8) 2. A time when religious people were hypocritical (7:20). 3. A time when unqualified people were in control of the government (10:6-7). 4. A time when people were easily bored (6:2). 5. A time when there was a great deal of human suffering (4:1-3). B. Authorship: Traditionally Solomon though he is never mentioned C. The Person Described: Qoheleth or "the Preacher" 1. The riches person of his time. 2. The smartest person of his time. 3. A practical person: he has worked. 4. A middle of the road person 5. A Self-Indulgent Person 6. A Worldly Person (wants to enjoy the best of both worlds) 7. A religious person who give advice. D. The Preacher's Search for Meaning in Life: 3 Routes 1. Knowledge
33
2. Pleasure 3. Hard Work E. Purpose: Shows the emptiness when there is no belief in God. The closing verses are a desperate leap of faith: Fear God and keep his commandments. F. Conclusion: Do the above and God will eventually bring things into perspective. VII. Song of Solomon or Song of Songs A. Title: Song of Songs denotes "the most excellent of songs." B. The Megilloth: the scrolls read at the various Hebrew festive occasions 1. Song of Songs: Passover 2. Ruth: Pentecost 3. Ecclesiastes: Feast of Booths 4. Esther: Purim 5. Lamentations: Anniversary of the Destruction of Jerusalem C. Authorship: Solomon, authorship is related to the dating of the book D. Date: 1. Contains numerous references to locations within one kingdom. 2. This political unity existed only in the time of David and Solomon. 3. This helps us to date the work within the time of Solomon's reign. E. Interpretations: Apart from Revelation no biblical book has inspired so many varied interpretations. 1. The early rabbis and Church Fathers interpreted the book as an allegory. 2. A drama between Solomon and the Shulammite shepherdess. 3. A literal interpretation of a grooms love for his bride. 4. A didactic moral interpretation emphasizing the purity of true love. F. Outline: 1. The Longing of the Bride for the Bridegroom 1:1-2:7 2. Increasing Love; the Praises of the Maiden: 2:8-3:5 3. Praises of King Solomon; the Espousal; Praise of the Bride: 3:6-5:1 4. The Bride's Longing for the Bridegroom: 5:2-6:9 5. Descriptive Passages on the Beauty of the Bride: 6:10-8:4 6. Concluding Section: The Durability of True Love: 8:5-14 G. Contents
34