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to
Poetic
Literature
Purpose
Poems
express
heightened
emotional
language
in
a
timeless
and
memorable
form.
Poetry
lends
itself
to
easy
memorization
and
recitationa
crucial
feature
for
a
society
in
which
not
everyone
could
read
and
printed
copies
of
Scripture
were
scarce.
Poetry
also
has
a
way
of
transcending
timethough
these
poems
were
all
prompted
by
specific
situations
in
life
(sometimes
recorded
in
the
title
or
first
verse
of
a
psalm),
a
person
does
not
have
to
understand
every
detail
of
what
was
going
on
in
a
poets
life
to
grasp
the
depth,
emotion,
and
meaning
of
their
poetry.
Parallelism
Instead
of
elaborate
rhyme
and
meter
that
we
value
in
poems
today,
the
beauty
of
Hebrew
poetry
depended
on
a
feature
called
parallelism.
Adjacent
lines
in
a
Hebrew
poem
echo
each
other.
Understanding
parallelism
will
help
you
know
when
you
are
reading
a
poem
and
follow
the
poets
train
of
thought.
These
are
the
most
common
forms
of
parallelism:
Category
Synonymous
Parallelism
The
same
thought
is
expressed
in
two
or
more
adjacent
lines
Antithetic
Parallelism
Adjacent
lines
express
opposite
thoughts
Synthetic
Parallelism
The
second
line
builds
on
the
first
line
with
a
related
thought,
forming
a
complete
unit.
Example
Psalm
139:13
(NASB)
Line
1:
For
You
formed
my
inward
parts;
Line
2:
You
wove
me
in
my
mothers
womb.
Proverbs
13:1
(NASB)
Line
1:
A
wise
son
accepts
his
fathers
discipline,
Line
2:
But
a
scoffer
does
not
listen
to
rebuke.
Ecclesiastes
1:7
(NASB)
Line
1:
All
the
rivers
flow
into
the
sea,
Line
2:
Yet
the
sea
is
not
full.
Categories of Poetry
Poetry could be used for many different occasions in life. When studying poetry, it is helpful to ask, When might the Israelites have used this poem or psalm? The main three categories are as follows, and each of these has many subcategories: Praise Poetry: Expresses thanksgiving and gratitude for who He is or for what He has done (or will do in the future). Examples: Psalm 2, Psalm 145, Psalm 78. Lament Poetry: Expresses extreme sadness or frustration with circumstances in life and cries out to God for help. Examples: Psalm 94, Psalm 51, Psalm 10. Wisdom Poetry: Provides principles for how to live a wise and godly life. Focuses on the path of life and the two roads a person can take: the way of the wise and the way of the fool. Wise living is based on Gods Word and the fear of the Lord. Examples: Psalm 1, Psalm 119, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes.