Adele Berlin begins her article by seeking to define what exactly she means by parallelism. Berlin explores the idea that “parallelism is the most prominent rhetorical figure in ancient Near Eastern poetry” (1). She defines parallelism itself as “the repetition of the same or related semantic content and/or grammatical structure in consecutive lines or verses” (1).
Parallelism manifest itself in many various ways throughout Scripture. The three main types and categories of parallelism that are found in Scripture are synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic. Synonymous parallelism is when “the same sense is expressed in different but equivalent terms” (3). The example Berlin gives is Psalm 112:1, in which the two lines of Scripture are in their sense the same, thus reinforcing the same idea from two angles, much like a surround-sound system. Antithetic parallelism is when “two lines correspond with one another by an opposition of terms and sentiments” (3). This expression is best summarized by two seemingly opposing ideas that in essence communicate a unified theme or idea. Finally, Berlin details synthetic parallelism, in which she cites Bishop Robert Lowth stating, “the parallelism consists only in the similar form of construction; in which word does not answer to word, and sentence to sentence, as equivalent or opposite; …show more content…
An important aspect of Scripture reading is knowing and understanding the kind of passage you are dealing with. Narrative will not be read or handled the same way as poetry. By knowing what kind of Scripture one is engaging with, the parallelism Berlin discusses can serve as a means to deepen one’s understanding of God’s word and who he is; thus, bringing about an understanding of the significance of the types and categories seen in
Parallelism manifest itself in many various ways throughout Scripture. The three main types and categories of parallelism that are found in Scripture are synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic. Synonymous parallelism is when “the same sense is expressed in different but equivalent terms” (3). The example Berlin gives is Psalm 112:1, in which the two lines of Scripture are in their sense the same, thus reinforcing the same idea from two angles, much like a surround-sound system. Antithetic parallelism is when “two lines correspond with one another by an opposition of terms and sentiments” (3). This expression is best summarized by two seemingly opposing ideas that in essence communicate a unified theme or idea. Finally, Berlin details synthetic parallelism, in which she cites Bishop Robert Lowth stating, “the parallelism consists only in the similar form of construction; in which word does not answer to word, and sentence to sentence, as equivalent or opposite; …show more content…
An important aspect of Scripture reading is knowing and understanding the kind of passage you are dealing with. Narrative will not be read or handled the same way as poetry. By knowing what kind of Scripture one is engaging with, the parallelism Berlin discusses can serve as a means to deepen one’s understanding of God’s word and who he is; thus, bringing about an understanding of the significance of the types and categories seen in