Interpreting Hebrew Poetry (Guides to Biblical Scholarship Old Testament)

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 Lowths 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 Lowths 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.