Interpreting Hebrew Poetry

by David L. Petersen, Kent Harold Richards

Here is a convenient introduction to the unique aspects of interpreting the one-third of the Hebrew Bible that is in poetic form. Numerous are the occasions when a failure to distinguish poetry from prose in the Old Testament has resulted in flawed interpretation. Robert Lowth's Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews (1753, 1787), marked a turning point of major proportions by focusing on the importance of parallelism of lines. But new studies of the past decade now require significant adjustments to Lowth's analyses. Interpreting Hebrew Poetry offers an authoritative introduction to this discussion of parallelism, meter and rhythm, and poetic style. It also provides by way of example a poetic analysis of Deuteronomy 32, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Psalm 1.

Genres: Biblical Studies, Reference, Religion

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 5, 1989

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished Interpreting Hebrew Poetry by David L. Peterson. His overall argument is that the analysis of Hebrew poetry has focused too much on parallelism. He agrees with most of his predecessors that there is no conclusive demonstration that meter is an important, or even present, Hebrew poetic device. All efforts have failed to yield a consistent metrical scheme in Hebrew poems within the Biblical corpus. However, poetic rhythm is present and must be understood as distinct from meter.

    Parallelism remains the essential feature of Hebrew poetry. However, Peterson maintains that parallelism is challenging to classify effectively. Past classification systems of Hebraic parallelism are too limiting and must be updated to account for advances in linguistics and poetic analysis. For instance, past interpreters mostly ignored morphologic and grammatical parallelism by previous interpreters, and Peterson holds that it is another key aspect of Hebrew poetry.

    Additionally, other poetic devices are heavily used in Hebrew poetry and have been largely ignored in past analyses. Simile, metaphor, stanza, and strophe are all poetic devices used in the Biblical corpus and deserve our attention.

    Peterson's book was a short but practical introduction to the study of Hebrew Poetry. It will be an important reference in any interpretation of Hebrew poetry I undertake in the future.  

[Timothy Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief yet helpful overview. His emphasis of simile seems misplaced.