Interpreting the Psalmsunderstanding the beauty of biblical poetry
Poetic Terminology• Metaphor: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things (more direct)
Poetic Terminology• Metaphor: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things (more direct)• Simile: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things using “like” or “as”
Poetic Terminology• Metaphor: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things (more direct)• Simile: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things using “like” or “as”
• Personification: Attributing human characteristics to non-human or inanimate objects
Poetic Terminology• Metaphor: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things (more direct)• Simile: Comparison between two
seeming unlike things using “like” or “as” • Personification: Attributing human
characteristics to non-human or inanimate objects
• Apostrophe: A direct address to someone or something absent as though they were present and capable of listening
Poetic Terminology• Metonymy: The substitution of one
word for another word closely associated with it.
Poetic Terminology• Metonymy: The substitution of one
word for another word closely associated with it.
• Synecdoche: When a part is used to stand for the whole.
Poetic Terminology• Metonymy: The substitution of one
word for another word closely associated with it.
• Synecdoche: When a part is used to stand for the whole.
• Hyperbole: Conscious exaggeration for the sake of effect.
Poetic Terminology• Metonymy: The substitution of one
word for another word closely associated with it.
• Synecdoche: When a part is used to stand for the whole.
• Hyperbole: Conscious exaggeration for the sake of effect.
• Paradox: An apparent contradiction that, upon analysis, can be seen to express a truth (the reader has the obligation to resolve the conflict).
Types of PsalmsLyric Poems: a short poem, often intended to be sung, that expresses the thoughts and especially the feelings of a speaker. Personal and SubjectiveReflective and EmotionalConcentrated and CompressedResponse to StimulusStructure: 1. Statement of theme2. Development of theme3. Resolution
Types of PsalmsLyric Poems• Lament• Praise• Worship Psalms (songs of Zion) • Nature Poems • Psalms of Ascent
Types of PsalmsLyric PoemsLove Poems: • Song of Solomon
Types of PsalmsLyric PoemsLove Poems
Encomium: -a lyric that praises either an abstract quality or a general character type.
Psalm 1• 1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in
the counsel of the wicked,Nor stand in the path of sinners,Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,And in His law he meditates day and night.3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,Which yields its fruit in its seasonAnd its leaf does not wither;And in whatever he does, he prospers.
• 4 The wicked are not so,But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,But the way of the wicked will perish.
Types of PsalmsLyric Poems• Lament: • Praise: • Worship Psalms (songs of Zion): • Nature Poems: • Psalms of Ascent: Love Poems: • Songs of SolomonEncomium: -a lyric that praises either an abstract quality or a general character type.