2. Antithetic parallelism. Here the thought of the first line is emphasized, or confirmed, by a contrasted thought expressed in the second. Thus

Pr. 10, I A wise son maketh a glad father,

But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Ps. 1, 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous;
But the way of the wicked shall perish.

This kind of parallelism is most frequent in gnomic poetry, where, from the nature of the subject-matter, antithetic truths are often contrasted.

3. Synthetic or constructive parallelism. Here the second line contains neither a repetition nor a contrast to the thought of the first, but in different ways supplements or completes it. The parallelism, therefore, is merely of form, and does not extend to the thought at all. E.g.—

Ps. 2, 6 Yet I have set my king

Upon Zion, my holy hill.

Pr. 15, 17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,
Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

26, 4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
Lest thou also be like unto him.

27, 8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest,

So is the man that wandereth from his place.

A comparison, a reason, a consequence, a motive, often constitutes one of the lines in a synthetic parallelism.

4. A fourth kind of parallelism, though of rare occurrence, is still sufficiently marked to be noticed by the side of those described by Lowth, viz. climactic parallelism (sometimes called "ascending rhythm"). Here the first line is itself incomplete, and the second line takes up words from it and completes them:

Ps. 29, 1 Give unto the LORD, O ye sons of the mighty,
Give unto the LORD glory and strength.

8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness;

The LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

Ex. 15, 16b Till thy people pass over, O LORD,

Till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased. .

By far the greater number of verses in the poetry of the OT. consist of distichs of one or other of the types that have been illustrated; though naturally every individual line is not constructed with the regularity of the examples selected (which, in

deed, especially in a long poem, would tend to monotony). The following are the other principal forms of the Hebrew verse:

1. Single lines, or monostichs. These are found but rarely, being generally used to express a thought with some emphasis at the beginning, or occasionally at the end, of a poem: Ps. 16, 1. 18, 1. 23, 1. 66, 1; Ex. 15, 18.

2. Verses of three lines, or tristichs. Here different types arise, according to the relation in which the several lines stand to one another. Sometimes, for instance, the three lines are synonymous, as—

Ps. 5, 11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice,

Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
And let them that love thy name be joyful in thee.

Sometimes a and b are parallel in thought, and c completes it

Ps. 2, 2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take council together,

Against Jehovah, and against his anointed.

Or b and c are parallel

Ps. 3, 7 Arise, Jehovah; save me, O my God:

For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone;
Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.

Or a and c may be parallel, and b be of the nature of a parenthesis

Ps. 4, 2 Answer me, when I call, O God of my righteousness;
Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress:
Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

3. Tetrastichs. Here generally a is parallel to b, and c is parallel to d; but the thought is only complete when the two couplets are combined; thus Gen. 49, 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;

And their wrath, for it was cruel:

I will divide them in Jacob,

And scatter them in Israel.

So Dt. 32, 21. 30. 38. 41. Is. 49, 4. 59, 3. 4 &c.
Sometimes, however, a is parallel to c, and b to ď—

Ps. 55, 21 His mouth was smooth as butter,
But his heart was war;

His words were softer than oil,

Yet were they drawn swords.

So Ps. 40, 14. 127, 1. Dt. 32, 42. Is. 30, 16. 44, 5. 49, 2.

Occasionally a corresponds to d, and b to c; this is called technically “introverted parallelism," but is of rare occurrence; see Pr. 23, 15 f. Is. 11, 13 (Cheyne), 59, 8.

Or a, b, c are parallel, but d is more or less independent —

Ps. 1, 3 And he is as a tree planted by streams of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,

And whose leaf doth not wither:

And whatsoever he doeth he maketh to prosper.

Or a is independent, and b, c, d are parallel —

Pr. 24, 12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew not this;

Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it?

And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?
And shall not he render to every man according to his work?

Or it may even happen that the four members stand in no determinate relation to one another; see e.g. Ps. 40, 17.

4. and 5. Verses of five lines (pentastichs) occur but seldom in the OT., and those of six lines (hexastichs) are still rarer; see for the former, Nu. 24, 8. Dt. 32, 14. 39. I Sa. 2, 10. Ps. 39, 12. Cant. 3, 4; for the latter, Nu. 24, 17. 1 Sa. 2, 8. Cant. 4, 8. Hab. 3, 17 (three distichs, closely united).

The finest and most perfect specimens of Hebrew poetry are, as a rule, those in which the parallelism is most complete (synonymous distichs and tetrastichs), varied by an occasional tristich (e.g. Job 28. 29–31. 38–39. Ps. 18. 29. 104. Pr. 8, 12 ff.; and in a quieter strain, Ps. 51. 81. 91. 103 &c.).

The prophets, though their diction is usually an elevated prose, manifest a strong tendency to enforce and emphasize their thought by casting it, more or less completely, into the form of parallel clauses (e.g. Is. I, 2. 3. 10. 18. 19. 20. 27. 29 &c.; 13, 10. 11. 12. 13 &c.; Am. 6, 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7 &c.). And sometimes they adopt a distinctly lyrical strain, as Is. 42, 10-12. 44, 23. 45, 8. But with the prophets the lines are very commonly longer than is the case in poetry (in the technical sense of the word); and the movement is less bright and rapid than that of the true lyrical style.

6. Biblical Style and Language Contrasted with those of
Western Nations.

[ADDISON, Spectator, No. 405.]

There is a certain coldness and indifference in the phrases of our European languages when they are compared with the Oriental forms of speech; and it happens very luckily that the Hebrew idioms run into the English tongue with a particular grace and beauty. Our language has received innumerable elegancies and improvements from that infusion of Hebraisms which are derived to it out of the poetical passages in Holy Writ. They give a force and energy to our expressions, warm and animate our language, and convey our thoughts in more ardent and intense phrases than any that are to be met with in our own tongue. There is something so pathetic in this kind of diction that it often sets the mind in a flame, and makes our hearts burn within us. . . . If any one would judge of the beauties of poetry that are to be met with in the Divine writings, and examine how kindly the Hebrew manners of speech mix and incorporate with the English language, after having perused the Book of Psalms let him read a literal translation of Horace or Pindar. He will find in these two last such an absurdity and confusion of style, with such a comparative poverty of imagination, as will make him very sensible of what I have been here advancing.

[STEDMAN, The Nature and Elements of Poetry, in the Century Magazine for May, 1892.]

The naïveté of the Davidic lyre is beyond question, and so is the superb unrestraint of the Hebrew prophecy and pæans. We feel the stress of human nature in its articulate moods. This gives to the poetry of the Scriptures an attribute possessed only by the most creative and impersonal literature of other tongues that of universality. Again, it was all designed for music, by the poets of a musical race, and the psalms were arranged by the first com

posers the leaders of the royal choir. It retains forever the fresh tone of an epoch when lyrical composition was the normal form of expression. Then its rhythm is free, unrestrained, in extreme opposition to that of classical and modern verse, relying merely upon antiphony, alliteration, and parallelism. Technical abandon, allied with directness of conception and faithful revelation of human life, makes for universality — makes of the Hebrew Scriptures a Bible, a world's book that can be translated into all tongues with surpassing effect, notably into a language almost as direct and elemental as its own, that of our Anglo-Saxon in its Jacobean strength and clarity.

It has been said of the Hebrew language that every word is and there are books of the Old Testament, neither a poem ; lyrical nor prophetic, so exquisite in kind that I call them models of impersonal art. Considered thus, the purely narrative idyls of Esther and Ruth have so much significance that I shall have occasion to recur to them with reference to poetic beauty and construction.

[CHATEAUBRIAND, Genius of Christianity, Part II., Bk. 5, Chaps. 3 and 4.]

So much has been written on the Bible, it has been so repeatedly commented upon, that perhaps the only method now left to make its beauties felt is to compare it with the works of Homer. Consecrated by ages, these poems have received from time a species of sanctity which justifies the parallel and obviates every idea of profanation. If Jacob and Nestor are not of the same family, both at least belong to the early ages of the world, and you feel that it is but a step from the palace of Pylos to the tents of Ishmael.

In what respect the Bible is more beautiful than Homer, what resemblances and what differences exist between it and the productions of that poet such are the subjects which we purpose to examine in these chapters. Let us consider these two monuments, which stand like solitary columns at the entrance to the temple of Genius, and form its simple peristyle.