Robert Lowth focused on the similarities between lines. He saw Hebrew poetry as a repetition of similarity: the second line repeats the ideas of the first line in some way, or at least its length. Word pairs serve as the building blocks of this parallelism.

James Kugel has emphasized the importance of sequence. As Kugel argues: “There is A, and what’s more there is B.” The second does not merely repeat the first in some way, but it moves the thought forward.

Similarity and sequence, taken together, capture the fundamental movement of biblical poetry. Sometimes the emphasis falls more on similarity and at other times on sequence. While it is impossible and unnecessary to describe every possibility, this section outlines some basic relationships of similarity and sequence in parallel lines to help readers imagine the possibilities. By recognizing these relationships, we can follow how the psalmist shapes and develops the couplet, the stanza, and the whole poem. Some couplets have a complexity that allows them to fit into several categories. Any zeal to categorize these couplets should focus rather on better insight into the whole psalm and not on the “correct” answer.

Scholars often indicate the similarity between lines by assigning each element a letter. For example, “abc || abc” indicates that each line has three elements, and all three have a similar word pair. On the other hand, “abc || bc” indicates that the second line is parallel to the second and third elements of the line.

5.1. Similar Parallelism

Similar parallelism may be found at all four of Berlin’s levels: sound, grammar, word, and idea. However, I shall focus on the word pairs.

a. similar ideas without parallel word pairs

Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your steadfast love. (Ps 31:16)

Here the ideas are similar even though expressed in different ways. Berlin calls this “semantic parallelism.” Kugel would surely argue that the second line brings something new and important. He might point to “steadfast love” and its connection to covenant.

b. full similarity of ideas, words, and even grammar: abc || abc

Here each element of the first line is paired with an element of the second, as in Ps 149:2 where the grammar is also parallel:

c. elliptical parallelism: abc || bc or a variation

Ellipsis refers to an omitted word or phrase from a previous line that a reader must supply to make sense of the second line. Ps 96:13 omits “he will judge” in the second line.

The standard meter,  3+2,, is visible in this verse.

Ellipsis produces conciseness that contributes to density—a value for poets.

d. parallelism with substitution: abc || bcd and the like

Amos 1:2 omits “the LORD” and replaces it in the second line with a new element: “his voice.”

e. apposition: abc || a or abc || b or abc || c

Apposition describes a noun followed by an explanatory noun or phrase. Here it refers to the use of the second line to explain one element in the first line. Isaiah 63:15 expands on “heaven” in the second line.

In Ps 125:1, the second line describes “Mount Zion” with contrasting verbs.

In Isa 28:15, the second line describes “you scoffers” in the first.

Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.

f. repetition of one or more element(s): ab || ac or the like

The second line repeats one or more of the elements from the first line while adding new elements as in Ps 93:3-4:

abc   The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
abd   the floods have lifted up their voice;
abd’  the floods lift up their roaring.

efg   More majestic than the thunders, of mighty waters,
ehf   more majestic than the waves, of the sea,
eij    majestic on high is the LORD!

g. chiasm: ab || ba

Chiasm (pronounced: KAI-asm) takes its name from the Greek letter ‘chi’ or ‘X’ because the arrangement of the two lines looks like the letter “X” if you draw a line between the pairs, as in Ps 91:14.

This arrangement creates a strong sense of unity between the two lines.

Ps 33:6 also has a chiastic form but adds a middle term that serves both lines. .

Chiasm appears often in Hebrew poetry. See other examples in Pss 50:11; 51:1; 82:1; 91:14. As with all poetic craft, its importance lies in its contribution to the whole, and we should be able to explain this and not just identify it.

h. contrasting parallelism

Here the two lines make the same point by stating some contrast. Ps 21:2 states what God has given to and has not withheld from the king.

positive:    You have given him his heart’s desire,
negative:   and have not withheld the request of his lips.

Wisdom literature is forever contrasting the ways of the righteous and the wicked, as in Ps 37:21.

The wicked borrow, and do not pay back,
but the righteous are generous and keep giving;

i. a group of three-line: a tercet

While the couplet is the basic unit of biblical poetry, three lines, called a tercet, are not uncommon. While full similar parallelism (aaa) is possible, the tercet often take the form of 2+1 or 1+2: aab or abb, as in Ps 90:7.

a  A thousand may fall at your side,
a  ten thousand at your right hand,
b  but it will not come near you.

The doubling of ‘a’ makes the contrast of ‘b’ that much stronger. Likewise, the doubling of the second line (abb) brings a different emphasis. The relationships of these three-line units can be as complex as those for couplets.

Ps 86:9 gives us three verbs that describe a sequence of actions which we consider in the next section.

a  All the nations you have made shall come
b  and bow down before you, O LORD,
c  and shall glorify your name.

5.2. Sequential Parallelism

Sequence refers to elements that typically follow one another. The sequential relationship may be circumstantial, such as time, place, cause, or result. As both Kugel and Alter argue, the sequence develops the thought, emotion, or action. As Kugel says:

What [Lowth’s] synonymous reading…lacked was a recognition of the fact of B’s afterwardness. It conceived of the two as happening simultaneously and consequently failed to see that B must inevitably be understood as A’s completion (13).

Without the ability to move the text forward, it can only repeat itself and quickly becomes trite.

An exhaustive treatment would be impossible and unnecessary because poets always seek new combinations. Below are some typical strategies used in biblical poetry.

a. the second line grammatically completing the first

Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem. (Ps 126:2)

Nothing in the first line is similar to anything in the second line, but it completes the idea of the first, as also in Ps 61:2.

From the end of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is faint.

b. lines of sequential actions

Ps 80:8-9 describes the sequence of events from Egypt to the promised land.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.

c. an independent clause and a subordinate clause or vice versa

Subordinate clauses and phrases express place, time, manner, cause, purpose, result, condition, or serve to introduce a substantive clause. The examples below have sequential verbs.

When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles. (Ps 34:17)

If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the LORD would not have listened. (Ps 66:18)

Give victory with your right hand, and answer us,
so that those whom you love may be rescued. (Ps 60:5)

I have made you a tester and a refiner among my people
so that you may know and test their ways. (Jer. 6:27)

Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me. (Ps 66:20)

How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. (Ps 147:1)

O sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things. (Ps 98:1)

d. statement and quotation

Ps 87:5 begins with a statement followed by a quote.

And of Zion it will be said:
“Each one was born in it.”

e. statement and question

A question may be joined to a statement as in Psalm 118:6:

The LORD is with me; I am not afraid;
what can mortals do against me?

There are other types of sequential statements, but these examples convey the basic idea.

5.3. The Combination of Similarity and Sequence

Though the examples above have focused on either similarity or sequence, Kugel would argue that they combine both and so belong here. Again, similarity and sequence are not different categories, but two dimensions that combine to create emphasis and nuance while moving the thought forward. Our ability to recognize both provides us with insight into the movement and concerns of the text. Rather than focusing only on similarity, we must look for the difference between the two lines. The similarity allows us to see the difference more clearly.

Psalm 20 opens with similar lines:

The second line replaces “in the day of trouble” with “the name” and “of Jacob” to link God’s presence to the people. The verbs also shift from “answer, to “protect” which is the answer to the prayer, and Kugel would insist that “protection” is the “more” added by the second line.

Below are three basic combinations, but the possibilities are endless. A fourth follows but can only be seen in Hebrew.

a. the difference of similar words: abc || abc

Because similar words are also different, their differences can play a crucial role, as in Ps 1:1 which is clearer in the translation of the New American Bible (Revised Edition):

Blessed is the man
who does not walk | in the counsel | of the wicked
nor stand | in the way | of sinners
nor sit | in the company | with scoffers.

The verbs shift from movement to standing in place to rest: walk > stand > sit. Taken together they embrace key moments of life. The last three terms begin with a state of being (“the wicked”) and move to active involvement (“sinning”) and end in a state of disdain (“scoffers”). All refer to those who do not keep the Torah, but the differences are significant and add intensity. The three middle terms are not similar, but the parallelism invites us to connect them.

b. substitution with a new element: abc || abd etc.

Often the second line drops some element from the first and replaces it with a new element as in Ps 96:1 where the second line names those who are to sing.

abc:   O sing to the LORD a new song;
abd:   sing to the LORD, all the earth.

c. step parallelism: ab || bc

Step parallelism uses the last element to connect to the first element of the next line—the repetition adding emphasis, as in Ps 97:5 — ab ‖ bc

d. Janus parallelism

For the sake of completeness, I include Janus parallelism, which English cannot reproduce. The Roman god Janus had a face in both the front and back of his head and so could look backward as well as forward. Janus parallelism uses a word with two different meanings: one relating to what has preceded it and the other meaning to what follows, as in this example, which appears in the Song of Songs 2:12:

The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of zāmîr has come,
and the voice of the turtledove.

The Hebrew word zāmîr can mean either “pruning” or “song,” and in this context, it means “pruning” in relation to the first line and “song” in relation to the third line. Since Janus parallelism depends on the meaning of the Hebrew, it is lost in translation.

5.4. Stanzas and Larger Groups

Although the couplet is the basic unit of biblical poetry, the sense of the text often indicates that couplets belong together and so form larger units which we call stanzas in English.

Traditionally, stanzas of English poetry are uniform in length, and the poets make these divisions clear in their manuscripts. However, Hebrew manuscripts do not preserve larger units. The word “selah” appears mainly in the Book of Psalms (seventy-one times), and it seems to have served as a liturgical or musical marker. However, it is not used consistently.

Divisions in translations today come from an editor, and various editors divide the same poem in different ways for good reasons. Any division that can be defended is viable. The New Revised Standard Version divides Psalm 29 into six stanzas, and the New American Bible (Revised Edition) divides it into three stanzas. Both of those translations tend to divide psalms into larger groups. The Grail Psalter, however, tends to divide psalms into groups of four, five, and six lines for singing. Even so, I find these smaller groups reasonable.

Ps 139:11-12 begins with an “if” clause (v. 11) followed by “then” clauses (v. 12); light and darkness hold the five lines today with the last being the most important.

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

With this, we come to the end of our consideration of poetic techniques which biblical poets used to craft their poems. These elements are not separate from poetic language and genre which we shall explore in the next two parts. Still repetition at various levels, word pairs, and parallelism provide the framework for this poetry.

5.5. Exercises for Chapter 5

Vocabulary

• apposition: a word or phrase is in apposition when it follows and explains another word. §5.1e
• chiasm (pronounced: KAI-asum): the arrangement ab | ba in which the second line ends with what the first began, and the second line begins with what ends the first line. §5.1g
      a Those who love me | b I will deliver
      b I will protect       | a those who know my name.
• ellipsis: the omission of a word or phrase from a previous line that a reader must supply to make sense of the second line. §5.1c
• tercet: a group of three lines.§5.1i

Questions

1. Analyze the parallel lines of Psalm 148.

• The repetition clearly indicates that the psalm divides into two main sections. Where does it divide?
• Each of those sections then divides into two parts. Where are those divisions?
• The word “praise” repeats often, but where and how does it change?
• The psalm creates both a sense of God being near and far. How does that work?

2. Analyze the parallel lines of Psalm 27 or 33. Mark ‘S’ for mainly similar; ‘C’ for mainly contrasting; ‘Q’ for sequential, or ‘S&Q’ for a combination.