There are many attributes to the making of a Psalm, like most literature, the Psalms have a structure, or feature, that it follows. However, the feature, or topic, for this dialogue is on what parallelism is, and why it is an important element of Hebrew poetry.
Parallelism can be defined, as Lucas would say, “words or phrases in one line [which] correspond in some way to those in the other.” Robert Deffinbaugh gives a great analogy of parallelism by referencing it to “stereo vision and stereo sound,” one mono sound or vision corresponds to the other, creating a stereo character. Numerous scholars have argued over parallelisms’ significance and relevance, which has caused various ideas of how to define the Psalms structure. Lucas references …show more content…
After listing Francis Landry’s “general characteristics” to differentiate poetry from prose, Lucas settles with Hebrew literature “having an element of subjectivity.” However, Landry’s points give way to different interpretations based on literary recognition. For instance, poetry has been said to have an emotional implicit message, whereas, prose is more direct. If poetry is viewed as prose, one might believe that David, in Psalms 22:12, was actually surrounded by bulls. This is definitely an exaggerated example, but the point is the same. Mays seems to agree that Hebrew Poetry “requires an imaginative, open, evocative reading that involves feeling as well as thought.” Therefore, poetry must be read carefully in the attempt to find spiritual value. Mays shares, one must recognize the different characters and associations of parallelism to grasp the entire meaning of the Psalm (7). In the same manner, C.S. Lewis recognizes that parallelism is “partially concealed on purpose” to give the writing “body.” Therefore, recognizing parallelism in the Hebrew poetry/literature is imperative to getting a correct implicit meaningful
Parallelism can be defined, as Lucas would say, “words or phrases in one line [which] correspond in some way to those in the other.” Robert Deffinbaugh gives a great analogy of parallelism by referencing it to “stereo vision and stereo sound,” one mono sound or vision corresponds to the other, creating a stereo character. Numerous scholars have argued over parallelisms’ significance and relevance, which has caused various ideas of how to define the Psalms structure. Lucas references …show more content…
After listing Francis Landry’s “general characteristics” to differentiate poetry from prose, Lucas settles with Hebrew literature “having an element of subjectivity.” However, Landry’s points give way to different interpretations based on literary recognition. For instance, poetry has been said to have an emotional implicit message, whereas, prose is more direct. If poetry is viewed as prose, one might believe that David, in Psalms 22:12, was actually surrounded by bulls. This is definitely an exaggerated example, but the point is the same. Mays seems to agree that Hebrew Poetry “requires an imaginative, open, evocative reading that involves feeling as well as thought.” Therefore, poetry must be read carefully in the attempt to find spiritual value. Mays shares, one must recognize the different characters and associations of parallelism to grasp the entire meaning of the Psalm (7). In the same manner, C.S. Lewis recognizes that parallelism is “partially concealed on purpose” to give the writing “body.” Therefore, recognizing parallelism in the Hebrew poetry/literature is imperative to getting a correct implicit meaningful