Understanding the Art of Biblical Poetry through the KJ3 Literal Translation
Welcome to Hebrew Poetry! Unlike modern Western poetry that relies on rhyme and meter, Hebrew poetry uses sophisticated literary devices like parallelism, chiastic structures, and acrostics. Understanding these patterns reveals deeper layers of meaning in the Psalms, Proverbs, and other poetic books of Scripture.
This interactive study guide will help you recognize and analyze these beautiful structures that the ancient authors used to convey God's truth.
Imagine the difference between a newspaper article and a song. Both tell you something, but the song uses special patterns to make you feel the message, not just understand it.
Hebrew poetry does the same thing! It uses special patterns to help us:
Example from Psalm 23:1
"Jehovah is my Shepherd; I shall not lack."
โ Psalm 23:1 (KJ3)
This verse has two parts that work together:
The second part explains what the first part means for our lives. This is one type of parallelism!
Poetry appears throughout the Bible, but especially in:
But poetic sections also appear in Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, and many other books!
| Device | What It Does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Parallelism | Two or more lines that mirror, contrast, or build on each other | Psalm 19:1 |
| Chiasm | A symmetrical "sandwich" structure (A-B-C-B'-A') | Psalm 67 |
| Acrostic | Each line or section begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet | Psalm 119 |
These patterns aren't just artistic flourishesโthey carry theological significance:
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
โ Proverbs 1:7 (KJ3)
Notice how the two lines contrast:
The contrast makes both truths clearer. You can't understand one without the other!
Robert Lowth (1753) first identified Hebrew parallelism, calling it parallelismus membrorum ("parallelism of members"). Modern scholars like James Kugel have refined our understanding:
"A, and what's more, B" โ The second line doesn't just repeat the first; it intensifies, specifies, or completes it.
This means we should always ask: "How does B take A further?"
Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens are recounting the glory of God,
and the expanse proclaims His handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
โ Psalm 19:1-2 (KJ3)
Notice the precise grammatical mirroring:
The parallel structure creates a "grid" of meaning where each element illuminates its counterpart.
Adele Berlin (The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, 1985) identified four dimensions of parallelism:
Robert Alter (The Art of Biblical Poetry, 1985) emphasized the dynamic quality: B typically heightens, intensifies, or focuses A rather than simply restating it.
Hebrew poets used conventional pairings that would have been immediately recognizable to ancient readers:
| Hebrew Pair | Translation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ืฉึธืืึทืึดื // ืึถืจึถืฅ | heavens // earth | Ps. 148:1, 7 |
| ืืึนื // ืึทืึฐืึธื | day // night | Ps. 19:2 |
| ืฆึทืึดึผืืง // ืจึธืฉึธืืข | righteous // wicked | Ps. 1:6 |
| ืึถืกึถื // ืึฑืึถืช | lovingkindness // truth | Ps. 25:10 |
Understanding word pairs helps us:
Parallelism is when two or more lines say related things. It's like when you look in a mirrorโyou see the same person, but from a different angle!
There are three main types:
Both lines express the same idea in different words
The heavens are recounting the glory of God,
and the expanse proclaims His handiwork.
โ Psalm 19:1 (KJ3)
Lines express opposite ideas to create contrast
For Jehovah knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
โ Psalm 1:6 (KJ3)
The contrast shows us: there are only two paths, and they lead to very different places!
The second line builds on or completes the first
I have set Jehovah always before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
โ Psalm 16:8 (KJ3)
Line A: What I do (set Jehovah before me)
Line B: What happens because of it (I won't be shaken)
The second line doesn't repeat the firstโit shows the result!
While synonymous, antithetical, and synthetic are the main categories, scholars have identified additional patterns:
As a father has compassion on his children,
so Jehovah has compassion on those who fear Him.
โ Psalm 103:13 (KJ3)
Line A (Image): A father with his children (something we understand)
Line B (Meaning): Jehovah with His people (the spiritual truth)
The earthly picture helps us grasp the heavenly reality!
Ascribe to Jehovah, O sons of the mighty,
ascribe to Jehovah glory and strength.
Ascribe to Jehovah the glory of His name;
worship Jehovah in holy majesty.
โ Psalm 29:1-2 (KJ3)
Notice how "Ascribe to Jehovah" repeats, but each time the thought ascends:
Proverbs especially loves antithetical parallelism:
A wise son makes a father glad,
but a foolish son is his mother's grief.
โ Proverbs 10:1 (KJ3)
Treasures of wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.
โ Proverbs 10:2 (KJ3)
Jehovah will not allow the soul of the righteous to hunger,
but He thrusts away the desire of the wicked.
โ Proverbs 10:3 (KJ3)
Most proverbs in chapters 10-15 follow this pattern:
At the advanced level, we examine how grammatical structures create parallelism:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of Jehovah our God.
โ Psalm 20:7 (KJ3)
In Hebrew, the verb "trust" appears only once but applies to both "chariots" and "horses." This ellipsis:
Psalm 51:1
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
โ Psalm 51:1 (KJ3)
The structure forms a "sandwich":
This places God's lovingkindness and mercy at the centerโthe foundation of David's appeal!
James Kugel argues that the traditional categories (synonymous, antithetical, synthetic) are misleading because they suggest B merely repeats A. Instead, B always advances the thought:
Psalm 114:1-2
When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign lip,
Judah became His sanctuary,
Israel His dominion.
โ Psalm 114:1-2 (KJ3)
Verse 1 โ Specification:
Verse 2 โ Chiastic Intensification:
Lexical Pairs:
While we lose most sound play in translation, Hebrew poetry uses:
Isaiah 5:7 (Famous Wordplay)
ืึทืึฐืงึทื ืึฐืึดืฉึฐืืคึธึผื ืึฐืึดื ึตึผื ืึดืฉึฐืืคึธึผื
ืึดืฆึฐืึธืงึธื ืึฐืึดื ึตึผื ืฆึฐืขึธืงึธื
He looked for mishpat (justice) but behold, mispach (bloodshed);
for tsedaqah (righteousness) but behold, tse'aqah (a cry).
โ Isaiah 5:7
The words sound almost identical but mean opposite things:
The near-rhyme creates bitter irony: what sounded like it should be there was replaced by something that sounds similar but is horrifically different.
A chiasm (KY-azm) is like a sandwich:
The center of a chiasm is usually the main point!
A: Our soul has escaped
B: like a bird
X: from the snare
B': of the fowlers;
A': the snare is broken and we have escaped.
โ Psalm 124:7 (KJ3)
The snare is at the center because that's what we escaped from!
A (v.1): God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
B (v.2): That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
C (v.3): Let the peoples thank You, O God; let all the peoples thank You.
X (v.4): Let the nations be glad and sing for joy;
for You will judge the peoples fairly
and lead the nations on earth. Selah.
C' (v.5): Let the peoples thank You, O God; let all the peoples thank You.
B' (v.6): The earth has yielded her produce; God, our God, shall bless us.
A' (v.7): God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
โ Psalm 67 (KJ3)
The center (v.4) contains the purpose of the whole psalm:
Not every pattern is an intentional chiasm. Valid criteria include:
Title: A Psalm of David, when he fled from the face of his son Absalom.
A (v.1-2): Jehovah, how my foes have multiplied! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, There is no deliverance for him in God. Selah.
B (v.3): But You, O Jehovah, are a shield for me; my glory, and the One lifting up my head.
X (v.4): I cried to Jehovah with my voice, and He answered me out of His holy hill. Selah.
B' (v.5-6): I laid down and slept; I awakened, for Jehovah upholds me. I will not fear ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
A' (v.7-8): Rise up, O Jehovah! Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs to Jehovah. Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah.
โ Psalm 3 (KJ3)
| Element | Content | Correspondence |
|---|---|---|
| A (v.1-2) | Many enemies, "no deliverance" | Crisis โ Resolution |
| A' (v.7-8) | "Save me!" โ "Salvation belongs to Jehovah" | |
| B (v.3) | Jehovah is shield, lifts head | Confidence in God |
| B' (v.5-6) | Slept peacefully, not afraid | |
| X (v.4) | "I cried... He answered" | CENTER: Prayer & Answer |
Key Insight: The center reveals that David's confidence (B/B') and victory (A') come from one thing: he cried to God, and God answered. Prayer is the hinge of the psalm.
Scholars have identified chiastic structures spanning:
Caution: The larger the proposed chiasm, the more subjective the analysis becomes.
Gordon Wenham identified this famous chiasm:
The center โ "God remembered Noah" โ is the theological heart of the flood narrative. It's not about water levels or animal logistics; it's about God's covenant faithfulness.
This structure also reveals that the flood narrative is a carefully crafted literary unit, not a haphazard combination of sources.
An acrostic is a poem where each line (or section) starts with the next letter of the alphabet. In English, it would be:
All things bright and beautiful...
Brightness fills the sky...
Creation sings God's praise...
Hebrew has 22 letters, so Hebrew acrostics have 22 sections!
Here are the 22 Hebrew letters (read right to left):
In order (left to right for English readers):
Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Dalet, He, Vav, Zayin, Chet, Tet, Yod, Kaph, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Pe, Tsade, Qoph, Resh, Shin, Tav
Psalm 119 is the most famous acrostic in the Bible:
A-shre ("Blessed are the perfect in the way, who walk in the Law of Jehovah.")
โ Psalm 119:1 (Each of verses 1-8 begins with Aleph in Hebrew)
B-ammeh ("How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word.")
โ Psalm 119:9 (Each of verses 9-16 begins with Bet)
G-mol ("Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your Word.")
โ Psalm 119:17 (Each of verses 17-24 begins with Gimel)
| Text | Structure | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Psalm 9-10 | Partial (broken) | Originally one psalm? |
| Psalm 25 | 22 verses | Slightly irregular |
| Psalm 34 | 22 verses | Missing one letter (Vav) |
| Psalm 37 | Every other verse | Two lines per letter |
| Psalm 111 | 22 half-lines | Compact form |
| Psalm 112 | 22 half-lines | Mirrors Psalm 111 |
| Psalm 119 | 8 lines ร 22 | Most elaborate |
| Psalm 145 | 22 verses | Missing Nun (in MT) |
| Proverbs 31:10-31 | 22 verses | The "Virtuous Woman" |
| Lamentations 1-4 | 22 verses each | Ch. 3 is triple acrostic |
Each verse begins with the next Hebrew letter
"A woman of valor who can find? For her value is far above rubies." (v.10)
"The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he has no lack of gain." (v.11)
"She deals to him good, and not evil, all the days of her life." (v.12)
... continues through all 22 letters ...
"Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates." (v.31)
โ Proverbs 31:10-31 (KJ3)
The A-to-Z structure suggests:
Lamentations uses acrostic structure to contain overwhelming emotion:
Why would a grief poem use such rigid structure?
"The acrostic form suggests that the grief, though overwhelming, is not without boundaries. There is an end to sorrowโa Tav after Aleph. The very alphabet that structures the lament also limits it."
โ Adapted from Delbert Hillers, Lamentations (AB)
Lamentations 3:22-24 (at the center)
ื Chet verses:
"The mercies of Jehovah! For we are not consumed, for His compassions do not fail.
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him."
โ Lamentations 3:22-24 (KJ3)
These famous verses occur at the center of the book's center chapterโthe very heart of Lamentations. The acrostic structure draws our attention there, revealing that even in the darkest grief, God's faithfulness is the central truth.
In the standard Hebrew text (MT), Psalm 145 skips the letter Nun (ื ). However, the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPsแต) and Septuagint include a Nun verse:
"Faithful is God in all His words, and gracious in all His deeds."
This textual variant raises questions about:
W.G.E. Watson (Classical Hebrew Poetry) identifies several functions:
Psalm 119 uses eight near-synonyms for God's Word, creating a secondary pattern:
| Hebrew | Term | Nuance |
|---|---|---|
| ืชึผืึนืจึธื | Torah/Law | Instruction, teaching |
| ืขึตืืึผืช | Testimonies | Witness, covenant stipulations |
| ืคึดึผืงึผืึผืึดืื | Precepts | Appointed orders |
| ืึปืงึดึผืื | Statutes | Inscribed decrees |
| ืึดืฆึฐืึนืช | Commandments | Direct orders |
| ืึดืฉึฐืืคึธึผืึดืื | Judgments | Legal decisions, case law |
| ืึธึผืึธืจ | Word | Speech, matter |
| ืึดืึฐืจึธื | Promise/Word | Saying, utterance |
Nearly every verse contains at least one of these terms. The repetition with variation creates a meditation on the multifaceted nature of Scripture.
These psalms show a partial, broken acrostic pattern. Scholars debate whether:
The LXX treats Psalms 9-10 as a single psalm, supporting the view that they originally formed one acrostic unit.
The study of acrostics reminds us that:
Read each verse and decide: is it Synonymous, Antithetical, or Synthetic?
"A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger."
โ Proverbs 15:1
"The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows His handiwork."
โ Psalm 19:1
"I will praise Jehovah with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation."
โ Psalm 111:1
Answer the questions above!
Read each passage and identify the poetic device being used.
A: "Unless Jehovah builds the house,
B: its builders labor in vain.
A': Unless Jehovah guards the city,
B': the guard keeps watch in vain."
โ Psalm 127:1
"Jehovah, how Your enemies roar!
How those who hate You have lifted up their head!"
โ Psalm 83:2
"As a father has compassion on his children,
so Jehovah has compassion on those who fear Him."
โ Psalm 103:13
Answer the questions above!
Map the chiastic structure of this passage.
Psalm 1:1-2
(1) Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly,
and does not stand in the way of sinners,
and does not sit in the seat of scorners;
(2) but his delight is in the Law of Jehovah,
and in His Law he meditates day and night.
โ Psalm 1:1-2 (KJ3)
Identify the following patterns in this passage:
1. Verb Progression (Increasing involvement):
2. Noun Progression (Increasing hardening):
3. The Great Contrast (ืึดึผื ืึดื โ "but rather"):
4. Chiastic Element in Verse 2:
A: his delight is
B: in the Law of Jehovah
B': in His Law
A': he meditates
The Law is at the centerโthe object of both delight and meditation!
Psalm 51 is David's penitential prayer after his sin with Bathsheba. Analyze its structure.
Psalm 51 (selected verses)
vv.1-2: Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
vv.3-4: For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done evil in Your sight...
vv.5-6: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You make me to know wisdom.
vv.7-9: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness... Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
vv.10-12: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
vv.13-17: Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall return to You... O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
โ Psalm 51 (KJ3, abbreviated)
1. Sin Vocabulary:
The multiplicity suggests David's sin cannot be captured by one termโit has many dimensions.
2. Possible Chiastic Structure:
A (1-2): Appeal to God's mercy โ cleanse me
B (3-6): Confession โ my sin, Your desire for truth
C (7-9): Purification โ wash me, joy
X (10-12): CREATE, RENEW, RESTORE
C' (13-15): Restoration โ teach, declare praise
B' (16-17): True sacrifice โ broken spirit
A' (18-19): Appeal for Zion โ acceptable sacrifices
3. Theological Insight:
If this structure holds, the center (vv.10-12) reveals David's deepest need: not merely forgiveness (which the outer sections address) but transformation. The verbs are striking:
David needs nothing less than a new creationโsomething only God can perform.