“The Psalms as Poetry”

Outline of Chap. 2 of

Transformed by Praise:  The Purpose and Message of the Psalms

by Mark D. Futato (P&R, 2002), 29-50.

Hebrew poetry is a type of literature that uses parallelism and imagery in high frequency.  Since Hebrew prose can contain parallelism and imagery in high frequency, it is the high frequency of these features – the consistent and sustained use of them – that distinguishes poetry from prose.

Poetry in Parts

The Colon

A colon is a subunit of a poetic line:  Ps. 111:1 “I will extol the LORD with all my heart” (first colon).  “In the counsel of the upright and in the assembly” (second colon).  Each verse is segmented into cola (pl.).

The Line

A line is a unit of poetry comprising one or more cola.

Ps. 111 “Praise the Lord.” – made up of one colon, or monocolon.

Ps. 111:1 “I will extol the LORD with all my heart” (colon A) and “in the counsel of the upright and in the assembly” (colon B). – a poetic line formed with two cola, or bicolon – much more frequent.

Modern editions sometimes use indentions to indicate the cola (NIV, not NASB).  The first colon (colon A) will be on the left margin.  The second colon (colon B) will always be one indention in.  Sometimes there will be a third indention because there wasn’t enough room in the column to get the entire colon on one line.

Ps. 111:9-10 we find three cola, or tricolon.

The Strophe

Just as similar cola are grouped together to form a line, similar lines are grouped together to form a strophe.  A strophe is a group of lines that are more closely related to each other than they are to the surrounding lines.  A strophe is in poetry what a paragraph is in prose.

Modern translations indicate the division between two strophes by placing a blank line between the two.  The blank line functions like the indention that marks the beginning of a new paragraph in English prose.

In the NIV, Ps. 111 is divided into three strophes.  V. 1 is the first strophe, and expresses the psalmist’s intention to praise the Lord.  The second strophe is made up of vv. 2-9 and contains the praise proper, as these verses recount who God is and what he has done.  V. 10 forms the final strophe, which concludes the poem with a wisdom saying.  The NASB breaks it into vv. 1-6 as the first strophe and vv. 7-10 as the second strophe.

Segmenting a poem into strophes helps us better understand the flow of the poet’s thought and thereby helps us to better understand the poem.

The Stanza

Some poems will have strophes that are more closely related to each other than they are to the surrounding strophes.  We call a group of closely related strophes a stanza.  Stanzas tend to occur in longer psalms, like 139.

Ps. 139 is made up of 2 stanzas, vv. 1-18 and 19-24.  The first stanza is a reflection on the nature of God and is divided into three strophes.  The first (vv. 1-6) reflects on God’s knowledge, the second (vv. 7-12) on his presence, and the third (vv. 13-18) on his care.

The second stanza is a response to this reflection and comprises two strophes.  The first (vv. 19-22) is a resolution to be like God, and the second (vv. 23-24) is a request for an ever-deepening intimacy with God.

Segmenting a poem into stanzas helps us to better understand the flow of the poet’s thought and thereby helps us to better understand the poem.

Thoughts in Parallelism

Hebrew poets expressed their thoughts in poetic lines made from a number of cola.  There is a certain flow of thought from one colon to the next, a particular relationship between the cola.  We call this relationship parallelism.

What is Parallelism?

Correspondence.  “Parallelism refers to the correspondence which occurs between the phrases of a poetic line” (Longman).  Longman uses “phrase” for what we have been calling colon, so parallelism is a relationship of correspondence between the cola of a poetic line.

There is a parallelism that occurs in Hebrew grammar (grammatical parallelism) but does not carry over into English translation.  Therefore, we will use parallelism on the level of meaning.

Correspondence in meaning.  Parallelism is the correspondence in meaning that exists between the cola of a poetic line (117:1; 118:28).  Note the correspondence between the two cola are similar in meaning but not necessarily identical. 

How Does Parallelism Work?

An Older Understanding.  An older understanding of parallelism saw parallelism working basically in three ways:

1.Synonymous – saying the same thing twice in different words.

2.Antithetical – saying the same thing twice with opposite words like “remember” and “don’t forget.”

3.Synthetic – the second colon did not say the same thing again in either different or opposite words but added a new idea to the first colon.

A New Understanding

Parallelism is the art of saying something similar twice with a difference added in the second colon.  The difference comes in a variety of shapes and sizes.

96:1 “Sing to the LORD” ties the two cola together.  The first colon tells us what is to be sung, the second adds the idea of who is to do the singing.

96:2 – the second colon amplifies the idea of praising the name of God

96:3 – “among the nations” and “among all peoples” ties the two colon together.  But what does “declare his glory” mean?  How do we do that?  The second colon provides the information – We declare God’s glory by declaring his marvelous deeds.

128:1 – What does “fear the LORD” mean?  The second colon provides the meaning – fearing the Lord is walking in his ways.

112:1 – The second colon is similar – fearing the Lord is delighting in his commands.  Together, the fear of the Lord is delighting in learning the Lord’s commands and delighting in putting those commandments into practice in our daily living.

116:1 – What kind of voice did God hear?  The second colon tells us:  a cry of mercy.  God not only hears out voice when it speaks words of joyful thanksgiving, he also hears our voice when it is full of pain.  That is why we love him.

Read the psalm slowly reflecting on how the second colon adds to the sense of the first.

Pictures in Words

Poetry is the language of images.  An image is a picture made out of words.  The high frequency of pictures painted with words is one factor that has made the message of the Psalms so accessible to God’s people throughout the ages.

Images Are Concrete

Images are pictures of concrete actions or things.  “The poets of the Bible constantly put us into a world of water and sheep and lions and rocks and arrows and grass.” 

One of the first tasks in experiencing an image is to experience the concreteness of the image as fully as possible on a literal level.  Before asking about the meaning of an image, it’s helpful to sit with it and think about the literal picture.  Getting a concrete picture in your mind’s eye from your experience facilitates your understanding of the image and the meaning of the text (Ps. 11:1; 37:6; 36:6).

Images can have different meanings in different texts.  A second principle to keep in the mind is that the picture an image evokes in one text may be different from the picture evoked by the same image in a different text (Ps. 51:7; 68:14).

Images have three parts.  There are three components of an image:

The topic:  is the subject about which the text is speaking.

The vehicle:  is the figurative part of the image, the part that transports the tenor.

The tenor:  is the point of similarity between the topic and tenor.

Ps. 10:9 – “He lies in wait like a lion.”

The topic = “he;” the vehicle = “lion;” the tenor = “lies in wait.”

Sometimes the “tenor” is not specified.  The task of the interpreter is to determine which of a number of possible tenors is the point of similarity being evoked.

Images invite reflection.  Images invite us to reflect on the point of similarity between the topic and the vehicle.  This is always the case, especially when the tenor is left unstated.  Your task in reading a psalm is to figure out which of all possible tenors is the tenor that is being evoked in the poem.

Reflection takes practice. 

Ps. 5:9b – topic = “their throat”; vehicle = “an open grave”; tenor = ? – an open grave would smell terrible (John 11:39), therefore, “stench” is the tenor – “Their throat is foul like the stench of an open grave.”

Also, “throat” is a metonymy (see below) of “speech” meaning that the speech of the adversaries is full of deception and is thereby as foul as the stench of an open grave.

Ps. 127:4 – topic = “sons”; vehicle = “arrows”; tenor = ? – arrows are defense weaponary – when a man is being accused and needs to be defended, his sons are there as a mighty source of defense.

Reflection can be flexible.  Sometimes the image is not defined and there is a benefit for not knowing to facilitate the ease of application and expand the possibilities (e.g. thorn in the flesh).  The nature of the imagery allows you to apply an image in a multiplicity of directions.  Your reflection can be flexible.

Images Come in a Variety of Types

Similes and Metaphors – both are comparisons.  A simile compares with the use of “like” or “as” (Ps. 172:4).  A metaphor compares without the use of “like” or “as” (Ps. 23:1).

Metonymy – is the exchange of one noun for another with which is it commonly associated (Ps. 5:9b; “throat” – “speech/talk”; 17:7 “hand” – “power.”

Synecdoche – expresses the whole of something by referring to only a part of that whole (44:6 “bow” and “sword” – military weaponry).

Hyperbole – is saying more than is literally intended; is exaggeration for rhetorical impact (107:26; “all” in 118:10).

Breviloquence – is related to the words “brief” and “eloquent” and is the omission of words for the sake of brevity – “briefly eloquent” (65:12-13 – “clothed with gladness” – hills are filled with gladness, because of their fruitfulness the farmer is glad).