Bible Studies

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Poetry in the Scriptures

The Scriptures are full of poetic writings. The primary structure of Hebrew poetry is called parallelism. This type of poetic structure relies on the balance of thought, not the balance of sound. Easily translated into any language, three basic types of parallelism are:

Synonymous; The repetition of thought.
Ps 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song,
and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Antithetical; The contrast of thought.
Ps 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
and not to covetousness.

Synthetic; The compliment of thought.
Ps 19:7 The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul:
the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple.

About one third of the Scriptures are poetry. Jesus spoke with eloquence and the Apostle Paul even quoted poets of the day. Poetry could be defined as “the language from the heart”. God wants us to know how beautiful he really is.

Ps 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined.

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