Video Transcript: Hebrew Parallelism in Psalms and Proverbs

Now that we've gone through the books of job and Psalms, it's important to reflect again  on how Hebrew parallelism and communication works. In Psalms job and the Proverbs.  It switches a little bit between job and Psalms and then the Proverbs and we have to  understand that something new and different is going on. parallelism is the primary  element by which Hebrew poetry expresses itself, but that parallelism comes in a variety of kinds. Now there are different forms of Hebrew parallelism, three are dominant, and  one is dominant above the rest. synonymous parallelism, as we've looked at before, is  the most prominent form of expression of Hebrew poetry. synonymous parallelism is  when two or more Hebrew lines say the same thing using different words. Like in Psalm 88, verse three, My soul is full of troubles, my life draws nearer to sheol notice that the  two lines say exactly the same thing, person in difficult times, that are life threatening,  but they said in different words, and in the Restatement comes the reitterance  reaffirmation of a particular theme. That's fundamental foundational to Hebrew poetry.  He established a decree in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, Psalm 78, verse five,  again, two lines, saying the same thing Jacob and Israel, Israel was the other name given to Jacob when Jacob wrestled with God. So they're the same peoples and decree and law are the same. And establishing and appointing are the same. So you have, you have three ideas in each line or three concepts that are strung together and reiterated in the second  line, in different words, but the very, very same concepts, synonymous parallelism, two  or more lines that say the same thing using different words. Now, antithetic is important  to look at, because we're now transitioning between job and Psalms into the Proverbs.  And here's where the Proverbs really pick up on a new concept or a new idea or make  better use of a particular form of Hebrew poetry, two lines that declare opposite ideas in  order to support the same conclusion. Psalm 119 has an example of that in song in verse  113, I hate to double minded, but I love your law. I dislike what's going on over here, but I love this. I hate that which is duplicitous, but I love that which is singular, two different ideas, which is an expression together form the same conclusion. This is where I belong, not over there. And I do that by rejecting that, and by gravitating toward that they have  the same ultimate conclusion, but expressed in opposite ideas. Again, Psalm 78, verse  50, He did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. If God  does not spare someone from death, it is because God permits or wills, someone to  engage in things that will bring destruction. So he did not spare them from death, but  gave their lives over to the plague, opposite ideas that when brought next to one another  form of singular conclusion or idea. A third form of parallelism in Hebrew poetry is  what we call stairlike, and here's where we have a number of lines that seem to build  upon one another. So that an idea that's expressed in some of the earlier statements  becomes now the means by which to raise the ideas into a new level or to a new form of  that, or a broader expansion of that. Psalm 103, verses two through five, Bless the Lord,  oh, my soul, and do not forget all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals  all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast  love and mercy who satisfies you with good things as long as you live, so that your  youth is renewed like the eagle's. So you start out with a prayer for blessing and you end

up with a renewed life and in between, you have a number of synonymous parallelisms.  But then you have parallelism, which which builds upon the last thing, if God For if God is beneficial, it's because he forgives your iniquity and if God forgives your iniquity,  which is this inner kind of thing. It's also true that God blesses you in the outward way  so your diseases are healed. And if that's true, then you're no longer in danger of death.  So he redeemed your life from the pit, which is an you for a euphemism for the idea of  to die, you don't die. And because you are redeemed from the pit, you were established  in honor and splendor. So he crowns you a steadfast love and mercy, and you keep going up and up and up. So you see a number of things which take you from a prone and  defeated position all the way to the heights of glory, and mercy. So the parallelism is  found in the individual relationship between the lines, but in the overall effect as well  moving from a lower position to a higher position, almost like walking up the stairs.  Now, there are other things that don't translate quite as well in Hebrew poetry.  Regardless of how well the translators do, rhythm and meter that cadence for repetition  and recitation, the beats that happen in the line, some of it comes across better in some  of our translations. But most of it doesn't capture the pounding rhythms of Hebrew  language and poetry, assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds and consonants the  repetition of consonant sounds. Of course, if you're translating these Hebrew terms into  English terms or other language terms, you will lose that entirely. As well as alliteration  which is the repetition of word beginning letters, you simply lose that when you  translate the Hebrew poetry into other languages, and some other subtle and complex  literary devices like enveloping. We did see that in Psalm 118. The first and the last  verses are Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his steadfast love endures forever,  almost like the package into which the rest of the Psalm is placed. And the rest of the  Psalm is an expression of how that goodness of the Lord comes to expression in  individual and corporate lives in the community. And one of the others that I briefly  mentioned, we went over briefly, but now I'd like to take a greater look at it is the idea of chiasm. chiasm is built, or the term comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an  English x. Now, that may not mean a lot to us in terms of how we understand poetry  itself. But we're not to think about the letter x, we're to think instead about the form of  the letter X, two lines crossing over one another one going in one direction, and one  going in the other direction. And that's what we find in psalms like Psalm 114. Notice  that each of the couplets in the Psalm that is each pair of two lines is synonymous  parallelism. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from people of a strange  language, those are two ideas that are formed in synonymous parallelism, Israel and  house of Jacob mean the same thing went out. And then the assumption of going out in  the second line from Egypt, and people have a strange language, again, parallel ideas.  Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel as Dominion pero. synonymous parallelism, the  sea looked and fled back, Jordan turned back synonymous parallelism, the mountain  skipped like rams, the hills like lambs, synonymous parallelism. Now, something  interesting takes place, continuing the synonymous parallelism, ideas in clumps, or in  sections are repeated. Notice the lines the sea looked and fled, Jordan turn back. Now 

suddenly, why is it OC that you flee or Jordan that you turn back? There's a repetition of  exactly the same thing only now posed as a question. And the lines that follow to the  mountain skipped like rams, the hills like lambs, or mountains that you skipped, like  rams, oh hills, like lambs. The middle part is a mirror reflection. The verses that talk  about the sea and Jordan fleeing, become questions, the verse that talks about the  mountains and hills dancing, become reflected as questions so that the midpoint of the  song becomes the mirror. Whatever happens in the first half of the song is now going to  happen again in reverse order in the second half of the song. When you look in the  mirror, you see everything that is standing before the mirror, but you see it in reverse,  idea or or presence, those things that are closest to the mirror look closest, those things  that are further away, look further away. And so there's this reversion of the appearance  of things. So the first idea in the psalm we just throw one out from Egypt, the house of  Jacob From the people of a strange language, Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel as  dominion is the last thing in the Psalm as well tremble, own Earth at the presence of the  Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob. Notice the repetition of the key ideas, who  turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. And the central  elements, again reverse their position as well. What was stated up front is stated in a  different way, in the end, Israel was taken out of Egypt, and remember the shaking and  trembling that happened at that time, in order that the people of Israel would become a  solid and secure sanctuary for God. Now, at the end, those who don't have that become  just a pool, and those that are not in that confidence with God become those who shake.  So the whole idea of the psalm is that of whatever was stated upfront is stated in reverse  order, in the second half chasm. There are many examples of this in Hebrew poetry,  sometimes in a smaller, limited amount, and sometimes in a much more expansive  amount, and also storytelling, the story of Rahab and Joshua chapter two is told in  chiastic form, so that every element of the story in the first half is repeated in the second  half in reverse order. And the key idea is located right in the middle. The story of Ehud,  the judge, in the book of Judges in chapter three is the same kind of thing. And  throughout the whole of the Bible, there are different expressions of chiasm as not  something we often look at, but something that's essential to our understanding of how  the Psalms function, and we ought to pay attention to it when those things happen. But  getting back to the transition now, from Psalms to Proverbs, it's important to see that in  the Psalms, most of the parallelism is synonymous parallelism, two lines that repeat the  same basic idea in different words, probably as much as 85% of the psalms are made up  of a kind of synonymous parallelism, it accentuates ideas by repeating and restating  those ideas. When we move into the Proverbs, we'll find that most of the parallelism  after the opening lectures on wisdom in Chapters one through nine, is antithetic, perhaps up to 85%. So almost the reverse of what happens in the Psalms happens in the  Proverbs. Still poetry expressed in parallelism, but now a different kind of parallelism in job and Psalms. synonymous parallelism, mostly in Proverbs, mostly antithetic.  parallelism. That means that the idea or the process by which proverbs are stated, is best  expressed through antithetic. parallelism. antithetic parallelism, accentuates proverbial 

ideas by showing the contrast between this and that between the good and the bad  between the right and the wrong. And so most of the proverbs two liners mostly are  antithetic parallelism, good thing to keep in mind throughout the reading of the  proverbs. Here's just the opening of Proverbs chapter 10. Notice that these are proverbs  of Solomon. But now look at the Proverbs themselves. Each one of these two lines is an  individual proverb. Now they're coupled, or they're heaped up next to one another, but  the original ideas that someone would toss off Solomon would toss up just these two  liners. Okay? A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his  mother. Notice the opposites, joy coming to a parent with wisdom and heartbreak to a  parent, when there's foolishness or ill will or inappropriate behaviors. Again, ill gotten  treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death. So if something is stolen or inappropriately, purloined, it may make me feel good for a time but it can keep  me from the challenges that face all of us including death. However, righteousness a  relationship with God, not only prevents death from having the last word, but sees me  through death into life and it has eternal value. So you see the opposites that are there in  this antithetic parallelism. Another what the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,  but he thwarts the craving of the wicked, opposite ideas that together form a singular  conclusion. Don't do that, do that or do this and that will not happen to you. Lazy hands  make for poverty but diligent hands bring wealth. Laziness brings Shame brings loss  brings lack, but diligence or engaging in the work that one's supposed to do, will  produce its rewards and its wealth. A he who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son  but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. Blessings crowned the head of the  righteous but violence overwhelms the mouths of the wicked. The name of the righteous is used in blessings but the name of the wicked will rot out. The wise heart accepts  commands but the chattering fool comes to ruin antithetic parallelism, every one of  them. Most of the proverbs, exist in antithetic parallelism, that's the standard language of heap of Hebrew poetry to express proverbial ideas. It may be well to look at these things further, you can find more about them particularly in my book, Covenant Documents.