How to Read the Bible as Literature: 5

How to Read the Bible as Literature: . . . and Get More Out of It: Chapter Five  Types of Biblical Poetry   

Chapter Five 

Types of Biblical Poetry 

 

TO CALL SOMETHING POETRY is to identify the special idiom in which it is written. 

Virtually any literary genre can be written in poetry. In the Bible we find such di- 

verse forms as poetic narrative (the Book of Job), poetic satire (much of Old 

Testament prophecy), and poetic discourse (parts of the Sermon on the Mount). 

Mainly, though, poetry implies various types of short poems, and it is the purpose 

of this chapter to describe the leading biblical examples. 

 

LYRIC POETRY 

A Definition of Lyric 

 

What most people mean by “poem” is a lyric poem. A lyric can be defined as a 

short poem, often intended to be sung, that expresses the thoughts and especially 

the feelings of a speaker. Breaking that definition into its individual parts yields 

the following anatomy of lyric as a genre. 

 

Lyrics Are Brief 

 

To begin, lyrics are brief. They express a feeling or insight at the moment of great- 

est intensity, and we all know that such moments cannot be prolonged indefi- 

nitely. The fact that lyrics are often sung likewise accounts for their characteristic 

brevity. Because of this brevity, lyrics are self-contained, even when they appear in 

collections like the Old Testament Book of Psalms. As part of this self- 

containedness, lyrics usually have a single controlling topic or theme (which may 

be an emotion rather than an idea). This unifying theme is stated early in the 

poem and exercises a formative influence on the poem’s development. Unless a 

reader identifies the unifying theme, a lyric will remain a series of fragments, and 

nothing can be more disastrous to the unified impact that is a hallmark of lyric. 

 

Theme and Variation 

 

The best means of grasping the unity of a lyric is to recognize that it is built on the 

principle of theme and variation. On the one hand, there is a unifying idea or emo- 

tion that controls the entire poem. The details by which this theme is developed 

are the variations. This principle places a twofold obligation on the reader: to 

determine the theme that covers everything in the poem, and to discover how 

each part contributes to that theme. Some of the Old Testament Psalms are, in 

fact, very miscellaneous and consist of a series of loosely related ideas. But most 

of them become unified wholes if a reader exercises patience and creativity in 

looking for a unifying theme. 

 

Lyrics Are Personal and Subjective 

 

A lyric is also personal and subjective. Lyric poets present their own thoughts and 

feelings directly, not through a story about characters viewed from the outside. 

The speaker in a lyric speaks in the first person, using the “I” or “we” pronoun. As 

readers we usually overhear the speaker, who may address anyone—God, himself, 

the stars, a group, enemies—but who rarely conveys the impression of speaking 

to the reader. 

 

Lyrics Are Reflective or Emotional 

 

Whereas stories present a series of events, a lyric presents either a sequence of 

ideas or a series of emotions. In other words, lyrics are either reflective/meditative 

or emotional. Emotion, especially, is often considered the differentiating element 

of lyric. We should not go to a lyric looking for a story; we will find only occasional 

snatches of narrative to explain the poet’s emotion or to elaborate such feelings as 

praise or despair. Because lyrics are often emotional, and because even reflective 

lyrics tend to be mood poems, a good question to ask of a lyric poem is, “How 

does this poem make me feel?” 

 

How Poets Express Emotion 

 

It is not easy to put emotion into words, and the means of doing so are rather lim- 

ited. They include use of exclamation, hyperbole, emotive words, vivid description 

of the stimulus for the emotion (thereby evoking a similar feeling in the reader), 

projecting a feeling onto external nature, or describing parallels to the speaker’s 

situation (as when the psalmist in Psalm 102 compares his loneliness to an owl 

and “a bird alone on a housetop”). 

 

Lyrics Are Concentrated 

 

Lyrics are concentrated and compressed. They are moments of intensity, very dif- 

ferent from a drawn-out story with highs and lows of feeling. Stories have occa- 

sional moments of epiphany (heightened insight or feeling), but lyrics are mo- 

ments of epiphany, without the surrounding narrative context. They are intense 

and packed with meanings. We must therefore emphatically not expect a lyric to 

cover the whole territory on a given topic. Lyric captures a moment and does not 

give a reasoned philosophy on a subject. It would be foolish to take such state- 

ments as “whatever he does prospers” (Ps. 1:3) or “no harm will befall you” (Ps. 

91:10) out of their lyric context and treat them as absolutes. 

 

Lyrics Are Abrupt in Movement 

 

Because lyrics are heightened speech, they often contain abrupt shifts and lack the 

smooth transitions of narrative. C. S. Lewis speaks of “the emotional rather than 

logical connections” in lyrics.¹ Such abrupt jumps of course demand tremendous 

alertness and even interpretive creativity on the part of the reader. 

 

The Voice of Response 

 

Lyric is preeminently a poet’s response to a stimulus. In the lyric poetry of the Bible 

the poets are always busy responding to something that has moved them—God, 

their enemies, a personal crisis, nature, victory, defeat, a beloved, and so on. One 

of the most helpful things to do with a lyric is to identify the exact stimulus to 

which the poet is responding. 

 

Three-Part Structure: 1. Statement of Theme 

 

The overwhelming majority of lyrics are built on the rule of three-part structure. 

They begin with a statement of theme, which is also the idea or emotion or situ- 

ation to which the poet is responding. Ways of stating the theme are varied: a de- 

scription (Ps. 121:1), a situation that is hinted at (Ps. 2:1), an invocation (Ps. 3:1), 

an address to an implied human audience (Ps. 107:1), an idea (Ps. 19:1). Regard- 

less of how the theme is stated, it alerts the reader to what will control the entire 

poem. 

 

2. Development of the Theme 

 

The main part of any lyric is the development of the controlling theme. There are 

four ways of doing this, and many poems combine them: 

1.Repetition, in which the controlling emotion or idea is simply restated in dif- 

ferent words or images (Ps. 32:1–5). 

2.The listing or catalog technique, in which the poet names and perhaps re- 

sponds to various aspects of the theme (Ps. 23 or any of the praise 

psalms). 

3.The principle of association, in which the poet branches out from the initial 

emotion or idea to related ones. A common pattern in the Psalms is move- 

ment from God’s character to his acts, or vice versa. In Psalm 19, the poet 

moves from God’s revelation of himself in nature to his revelation in the 

moral law. 

4.Contrast, in which the poet is led to consider the opposite emotion or phe- 

nomenon as he develops the main theme (Ps. 1). 

3. Resolution 

 

In the last, brief part of a lyric, the emotion or meditation is resolved into a con- 

cluding thought, feeling, or attitude. Lyrics do not simply end; they are rounded 

off with a note of finality. In the Psalms this is often a brief prayer or wish. 

 

Explicating a Lyric 

 

The key to a good discussion or explication of a lyric is to have an orderly and dis- 

cernible procedure, so a reader or listener knows what is going on. The best plan 

of attack is to move from the large to the small, according to the following four- 

fold procedure. 

1.Identifying the topic, theme (what the poem says about the topic), under- 

lying situation or occasion (if one is implied). This part of the explication 

should produce an understanding of what unifies the poem. 

2.Laying out the structure of the poem, including the following consid- 

erations (using whichever ones are appropriate for a given poem): 

•Identifying whether the primary controlling element is expository (a sequence 

of ideas or emotions), descriptive (of either character or scene), or dramatic 

(an address to an implied listener). 

•Dividing the poem into its topical units from beginning to end, thus show- 

ing the sequential flow of the poem. 

•Identifying underlying contrasts that organize the poem. 

•Determining whether a given unit develops the theme through repetition, 

catalog, association, or contrast. 

•Applying the framework of theme and variation. 

3.Progressing through the poem unit by unit and analyzing the poetic “tex- 

ture” (in contrast to the “structure” already discussed). This means identi- 

fying and exploring the meanings of the figures of speech and poetic devices 

discussed in the previous chapter of this book. We should isolate whatever 

unit lends itself to separate consideration; it might be an individual image 

or figure of speech, a line, a verse, or a group of verses. 

4.Techniques of versification (in biblical poetry, parallelism) or patterning 

that make up part of the artistry and seem worthy of comment. For exam- 

ple, the imagery in Psalm 1 is organized around an envelope pattern in 

which the metaphors of the assembly and the path appear early and late, 

with harvest imagery occurring in the middle. After we have said all that we 

wish to say about the structure and meaning of a biblical lyric, there tends 

to remain a residue of artistic beauty that simply deserves comment and 

admiration. 

Most Short Poems Are Types of Lyric 

 

It is by now apparent that when we speak of “a poem,” we usually mean a lyric 

poem. In fact, most of the additional categories I am about to describe are sub- 

types of lyric. The further traits of each of these subtypes may provide a supple- 

mental framework for organizing an analysis of them. But even in such cases it is 

necessary to make use of the lyric considerations that I have noted. A lament 

psalm or praise psalm, for example, does not bypass the general features of lyric 

but rather builds on them. 

 

TYPES OF PSALMS 

Let me say at the outset that biblical scholars have identified so many types of 

psalms, and made so many arbitrary and subtle distinctions, that the whole enter- 

prise is in danger of collapsing under its own weight.² I say this because sooner or 

later it may be liberating to realize that we are under no obligation to use a compli- 

cated system of classification. All of the Psalms are lyrics, and we can do an excel- 

lent job with any psalm by using what we know about poetic language and lyric 

form. We should also note that classification of the Psalms rests largely on ele- 

ments of content or subject matter, not on literary form as such. 

 

Lament Psalms 

 

The largest category of psalms is the lament psalm, which can be either private or 

communal. A lament psalm consists of the following five elements, which (note 

well) may appear in any order and which can occur more than once in a given psalm. 

1.An invocation or introductory cry to God, which is sometimes expanded by the 

addition of epithets (titles) and often already includes an element of peti- 

tion. 

2.The lament or complaint: a definition of the distress; a description of the cri- 

sis; the stimulus that accounts for the entire lament. Most lament poems 

are “occasional poems,” arising from a particular occasion in the poet’s life, 

which is usually hinted at in the complaint section. 

3.Petition or supplication. 

4.Statement of confidence in God. 

5.Vow to praise God, or simply praise of God. 

Psalms 10, 35, 38, 51, 74, and 77 are typical lament psalms.³ 

 

Psalm 54 as a Lament Psalm 

 

Psalm 54 (RSV) illustrates the form of the lament psalm in succinct fashion. It re- 

verses the normal order of events by beginning with the petition or supplication: 

Save me, O God, by thy name, 

and vindicate me by thy might. 

This is followed by the cry to God to hear the prayer (the element that usually 

comes first): 

Hear my prayer, O God; 

give ear to the words of my mouth. 

The lament or complaint, as so often in the Psalms, defines the crisis in terms of 

threat from personal enemies: 

For insolent men have risen against me, 

ruthless men seek my life; 

they do not set God before them. 

The poet then asserts his confidence in God: 

Behold, God is my helper; 

the LORD is the upholder of my life. 

He will requite my enemies with evil; 

in thy faithfulness put an end to them. 

The poet ends with a vow to praise God: 

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee; 

I will give thanks to thy name, O LORD, for 

it is good. 

 

For thou hast delivered me from every trouble, 

and my eye has looked in triumph on my 

enemies. 

 

Praise Psalms 

 

The second major grouping of psalms is the psalms of praise. The English word “to 

praise” originally meant “to appraise; to set a price on.” From this came the idea 

that to praise means “to commend the worth of.” The psalms of praise, theo- 

centric in emphasis, direct praise to God. Such poems are the voice of response 

to the worthiness of God. 

 

Elements of Praise 

 

The elements of praise (not to be confused with the form of praise psalms dis- 

cussed below) are what give these poems their distinctive traits. One of these ele- 

ments is the elevation and exaltation of the person being praised. A second one is 

the directing of the speaker’s whole being away from himself or herself toward the 

object of praise. Psalms of praise are filled with the speaker’s feelings, but we do 

not look at the speaker. Instead, we share his feelings as a way of experiencing the 

worthiness of God. In the words of C. S. Lewis, “The poet is not a man who asks 

me to look at him; he is a man who says ‘look at that’ and points.’ ”⁴ Another 

ingredient of much praise is testimony. Praise, in other words, has a communal 

dimension to it, and it often occurs in a worship setting. 

 

Declarative and Descriptive Praise 

 

There are two main types of praise in the Psalms. Declarative or narrative praise ex- 

tols God’s activity on a particular occasion. Its main thrust is that God has done 

such and such on a specific occasion. Descriptive praise describes God’s qualities 

or the acts that he does perpetually. Its thrust is that God is this or that, or that he 

habitually does these things. Descriptive praise, in other words, is not occasional 

in the way that declarative praise is. Both types can be either private or communal. 

 

The Form of the Praise Psalm 

 

The psalm of praise has a fixed form, just as the lament has. There are three parts. 

1.The introduction to praise regularly consists of one or more of the following 

elements: (a) a call or exhortation to sing to the Lord, to praise, to exalt; (b) 

the naming of the person or group to whom the exhortation is directed; (c) 

mention of the mode of praise. Psalm 149:1–3 is an introduction possessing 

all three elements. 

2.Development of the praise ordinarily begins with a motivational section or 

phrase in which the poet gives the reason for the call to praise. The most 

important part of any psalm of praise is what follows, namely, the catalog 

(listing) of the praiseworthy acts or qualities of God. 

3.The conclusion or resolution of the praise ends the poem on a note of finality. 

It often takes the form of a brief prayer or wish. 

This three-part structure is obviously a specific manifestation of the three-part 

lyric structure noted earlier in this chapter. 

 

The Catalog of Praise 

 

The most crucial element in a praise psalm is the catalog of praiseworthy acts or 

qualities of God. Accordingly, a necessary part of explicating such a poem is to di- 

vide the catalog into its topical units. Such a division will show the remarkable 

range in most psalms of praise. It might also uncover the presence of declarative 

praise and descriptive praise in the same catalog. Typical psalms of praise include 

Psalms 18, 30, 65, 66, 96, 97, 103, 107, 124, 136, and 139.⁵ 

 

Worship Psalms 

 

Worship psalms, also known as songs of Zion, are an important category. They do 

not have a fixed form like lament and praise psalms, but they are readily identified 

by the presence of references to worship in Jerusalem. Many of these poems also 

allude to the pilgrimages that were a regular part of Old Testament religious expe- 

rience (in fact, the heading “A Song of Ascents” for Psalms 120–134 shows that 

these pilgrim songs were sung or recited on the trips to Jerusalem). Worship 

psalms are among the most beautiful in the Psalter and are well represented by 

Psalms 27, 42–43, 48, 84, 121, 122, 125, 137. 

 

Nature Poems 

 

Nature poems are also a high point of the Psalms. Although nature finds its way 

indirectly into dozens of psalms, there are five psalms that we can call nature 

poems—Psalms 8, 19, 29, 104, and 148. They all share common traits: they take 

some aspect of nature as their subject; they praise nature for its beauty, power, 

provision, and so forth; and they describe nature in evocative word-pictures that 

awaken our own experiences of nature. Needless to say, the poet in each of these 

poems does not treat nature as the highest good but allows nature to become the 

occasion for praising God, the creator of nature. 

 

SUMMARY 

 

The psalms of lament and the psalms of praise are the two primary lyric types in 

the Psalter. A host of smaller categories fill out the Psalms. In addition to the cate- 

gories of worship psalms and nature poems discussed above, there are descrip- 

tive-medi-tative poems (such as Psalm 1 on the godly person or Psalm 119 on the 

law of God), royal psalms that deal with the king, penitential psalms (prayers for 

forgiveness), and imprecatory psalms (psalms calling misfortune on one’s ene- 

mies). Psalms such as 23 lack the opening call to praise of the praise psalms, but 

in every other way belong to that type. 

 

LOVE LYRICS 

The Bible contains some of the most beautiful love poetry in the world. It ap- 

pears mainly in the Song of Solomon. The best way to understand this frequently 

misinterpreted book is simply to compare it with the love poetry that one can find 

in a standard anthology of English poetry. 

 

Types of Love Poems in the Song of Solomon 

 

My present purpose will be served by simply categorizing the types of love poems 

in the Song of Solomon. The largest category is pastoral love poems, in which the 

setting is an idealized rural world and the characters are described metaphorically 

as shepherds and shepherdesses. Such poetry describes in rural images and 

metaphors the delights of the love relationship. In the pastoral invitation to love 

the lover invites the beloved to share the life of happy, fulfilled love by metaphor- 

ically picturing that life of shared love as a walk in nature (Song of Sol. 2:10–15; 

7:10–13). 

A blazon is a love poem that praises the beauty and virtue of the beloved, usu- 

ally by comparing features of the beloved to objects of nature (e.g., 2:3). In an em- 

blematic blazon, the lover lists the features of the beloved and compares them to 

objects or emblems in nature (4:1–7; 5:10–16; 6:4–10; 7:1–9). The key to inter- 

preting such poems is to realize that they are symbolic rather than pictorial; literally 

pictured, these comparisons are ludicrous. An epithalamion is a poem celebrating 

a wedding (Song of Sol. 2:3–5:1; and Ps. 45).⁶ 

 

ENCOMIUM 

Definition of an Encomium 

 

One of the most appealing of all lyric forms in the Bible is the encomium. An en- 

comium is a lyric (whether in poetry or prose) that praises either an abstract qual- 

ity or a general character type. The conventional formulas in an encomium are 

these: 

1.An introduction to the topic that will be praised. 

2.The distinguished and ancient ancestry of the subject. 

3.The praiseworthy acts and/or attributes of the subject. 

4.The indispensable or superior nature of the subject. 

5.A conclusion urging the reader to emulate the subject. 

Encomia in the Bible 

 

A few biblical encomia are in prose rather than poetry, but the prose is so tightly 

packed with imagery and so highly patterned that it is virtually poetic in effect. 

Psalms 1, 15, 112, and 128 all praise the godly person (a general character type). 

Proverbs 31:10–31 is an acrostic poem that paints a composite portrait of the ideal 

wife. John 1:1–18 and Colossians 1:15–20 praise Christ with the conventional en- 

comiastic motifs. Hebrews 11 (and 12:1–2) and 1 Corinthians 13 (and 14:1) praise 

the abstract qualities of faith and love respectively. The portrait of the Suffering 

Servant in Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is a reversal or parody of the conventional formulas.⁷ 

 

Further Reading 

Hermann Gunkel’s seminal monograph The Psalms: A Form-Critical 

Introduction, trans. Thomas M. Homer (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1967), remains a 

good brief introduction to types of Psalms. Arthur Weiser, The Psalms: A 

Commentary, trans. Herbert Hartwell (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1962), written 

from a liberal theological perspective, is particularly thorough on analyzing the 

types of Psalms. 

Full explications of specimens of all the types discussed in this chapter appear 

in my book The Literature of the Bible, pp. 121–230. C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the 

Psalms (New York: Macmillan, 1958), is a thematic study of the Psalms that shows 

great sensitivity to the lyric and poetic form in which those themes are presented. 

 

 

¹Reflections on the Psalms (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1958), 3. 

²The strengths and limitations of these classifications are well represented by 

the books of Claus Westermann, including the following: The Praise of God in the 

Psalms, trans. Keith R. Crim (Richmond: John Knox, 1965); and The Psalms: Struc- 

ture, Content, and Message, trans. Ralph D. Gehrke (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 

1980). 

³They are explicated in my book The Literature of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zon- 

dervan, 1974), 138–44. 

⁴E. M. W. Tillyard and C. S. Lewis, The Personal Heresy (London: Oxford Univer- 

sity Press, 1939), 11. 

⁵They are explicated in Ryken, Literature of the Bible, 146–64. 

⁶For explications of the poems in the Song of Solomon, see Ryken, Literature of 

the Bible, 217–30 and 234–35. 

⁷Detailed explications of these passages appear in Ryken, Literature of the Bible, 

201–14.

How to Read the Bible as Literature: 4

How to Read the Bible as Literature: . . . and Get More Out of It: Chapter Four  The Poetry of the Bible   

Chapter Four 

The Poetry of the Bible 

 

The Prevalence of Poetry in the Bible 

NEXT TO STORY, poetry is the most prevalent type of writing in the Bible. Some 

books of the Bible are entirely poetic in form: Psalms, Song of Solomon, Proverbs, 

Lamentations. Many others are mainly poetic: Job, Ecclesiastes (in which even the 

prose passages achieve poetic effects), Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, and numerous other 

prophetic books. There is no book in the Bible that does not require the ability to 

interpret poetry to some degree, because every book includes some figurative lan- 

guage. Even the speech of Jesus and the writing in the New Testament epistles 

make consistent use of concrete imagery and figures of speech. 

 

Psalm 1 as an Example of Poetry 

 

What, then, is poetry? We can best begin with an actual example, Psalm 1: 

¹Blessed is the man 

who does not walk in the counsel of the 

wicked, 

or stand in the way of sinners, 

or sit in the seat of mockers. 

²But his delight is in the law of the Lord, 

and on his law he meditates day and 

night. 

³He is like a tree planted by streams of water, 

which yields its fruit in season 

and whose leaf does not wither. 

Whatever he does prospers. 

⁴Not so the wicked! 

They are like chaff 

that the wind blows away, 

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the 

judgment, 

nor sinners in the assembly of the 

righteous. 

⁶For the Lord watches over the way of the 

righteous, 

but the way of the wicked will perish. 

 

Pattern and Design in Psalm 1 

 

Even the external arrangement of the material strikes us as more highly patterned 

than expository prose. This portrait of the godly person alternates between posi- 

tive and negative descriptions. The opening beatitude, strongly positive, is fol- 

lowed by three lines that describe this person negatively, in terms of what he does 

not do. This is followed by the positive description in verse 2. Verse 3 has a posi- 

tive–nega-tive–posi-tive sequence. Verse 4 balances a negative construction with a 

positive one. Verse 5 consists of two negatives, while verse 6 culminates the 

whole movement with balanced positive and negative assertions. 

 

Parallelism of Lines 

 

The individual lines, as well as the overall movement of the poem, are also highly 

patterned. Virtually the entire poem falls into pairs or triplets of lines that express 

the same idea in different words. This is the verse form known as parallelism and 

is an obviously poetic way of speaking. Poetry like this is more concentrated and 

more artistic than prose. 

 

A Language of Images 

 

Psalm 1 also shows that poetry is a language of images. It puts us in touch with 

such tangible realities as pathway, seat, tree, water, leaf, chaff, and law court. 

Poets are never content with pure abstraction, though they usually include enough 

conceptual commentary (words such as “blessed,” “the wicked,” “the righteous”) 

to allow us to know what the images mean. 

 

Figurative Language 

 

Psalm 1 is also figurative rather than literal much of the time. The second line 

speaks of walking in the counsel of the wicked. The wicked do not literally walk 

down a path called “The Counsel of the Wicked.” They do not literally pass legis- 

lation or conduct legal seminars entitled “The Counsel of the Wicked.” Nor do 

people literally stand together on a platform called ‘‘The Way of Sinners.” People 

in a scoffing mood do not take turns sitting in a chair with a sign over it that reads 

‘‘The Seat of Scoffers.” Verse 1 is thoroughly metaphoric rather than literal. 

 

Poetic License 

 

Poetry, it is clear, uses what is commonly called poetic license. Another example 

occurs in verse 2, which states that the godly person meditates on God’s law “day 

and night.” There are several possible interpretations of this statement, none of 

them literal. No one consciously reflects on God’s law twenty-four hours a day. 

Perhaps the statement is a hyperbole—an exaggerated way of showing how thor- 

oughly the godly person is controlled by God’s law. Perhaps, on the other hand, it 

is the word “meditates” that is used figuratively to mean “is influenced by” rather 

than “consciously thinks about.” Or perhaps “day and night” is a colloquial ex- 

pression meaning “in the morning and in the evening.” 

 

Comparison as a Poetic Device 

 

Another poetic tendency illustrated by Psalm 1 is the strategy of comparing one 

thing to another. The poetic imagination is adept at seeing resemblances and 

using one area of human experience to cast light on another area. The produc- 

tiveness of a godly person is like that of a tree beside a stream. Wicked people are 

like the chaff blown away during the process of winnowing. The long-term, cumu- 

lative nature of a person’s lifestyle is like walking step by step down a path. 

 

SUMMARY 

 

What is poetry? Psalm 1 supplies some good initial answers. Poetry is a language 

of images. It uses many comparisons. It is inherently fictional, stating things that 

are not literally true or comparing one thing to something else that it is literally 

not. Poetry is also more concentrated and more highly patterned than ordinary 

discourse. In short, poets do things with language and sentence structure that 

people do not ordinarily do when speaking. 

 

Poetry as a Special Language 

 

From the specific example of Psalm 1 we can make some generalizations that will 

apply to all biblical poetry. Poetry is above all a special use of language. Poets 

speak a language all their own. The poetic idiom uses the resources of language in 

a way that ordinary prose discourse does not, at least not with the same frequency 

or density. 

Let me say at once that parallelism, the verse form in which virtually all biblical 

poetry is written, is not the most essential thing that a reader needs to know about 

biblical poetry. Much more crucial to the reading of biblical poetry is the ability to 

identify and interpret the devices of poetic language.¹ 

 

Thinking in Images 

 

The most basic of all poetic principles is that poets think and write in images. By 

“images” I simply mean words that evoke a sensory experience in our imagi- 

nation. Poetry avoids the abstract as much as possible. The poets of the Bible 

constantly put us into a world of water and sheep and lions and rocks and arrows 

and grass. Virtually any passage of biblical poetry will illustrate how consistently 

concrete poetry is. 

 

Reading Poetry with Imagination 

 

This is yet another evidence that the Bible is a work of imagination (the image- 

making capacity we have). The corresponding ability that is required of readers is 

that they allow the images of poetry to become as real and sensory as possible. 

Readers of poetry need to think in images, just as poets do. Poetry is affective in 

nature, and it affects us partly through its sensory vividness. 

 

Conveying the Universal Through the Particular 

 

Poetry offers us a series of experiences of whatever topic the poet is writing about. 

If we continually translate the images into abstractions, we distort the poem as a 

piece of writing and miss the fullness of its experiential meanings. It is true that 

the Psalms are not about grass and horses and rocks, but the approach of poetry 

to the universal or conceptual is always through the particular and concrete. Tradi- 

tional approaches to biblical poetry have been entirely too theological and concep- 

tual. When I read some of this commentary I frequently get the impression that 

biblical scholars are commenting on a theological essay instead of a poem. 

The first rule for reading biblical poetry, then, can be stated thus: poetry is a 

language of images that the reader must experience as a series of imagined sensory 

situations. The more visual we can become, the better we will function as readers 

of biblical poetry. In fact, our experience of biblical poetry would be revolutionized 

if commentaries made extensive use of pictures such as photographs and 

drawings.² 

 

Simile and Metaphor Defined 

 

Next to the use of concrete imagery, the use of simile and metaphor is the most 

pervasive element of biblical poetry. The essential feature of both is comparison. 

A simile draws a correspondence between two things by using the explicit formula 

“like” or “as”: 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water (Ps. 1:3). 

 

As the deer pants for streams of water, 

so my soul pants for you, O God (Ps. 42:1). 

 

Metaphor adopts a bolder strategy. It omits the “like” or “as” and asserts that A is 

B: “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1); “their throat is an open grave” (Ps. 5:9); 

“men whose teeth are spears and arrows, / whose tongues sharp swords” (Ps. 

57:4). 

 

Correspondence as the Essential Element 

 

Both metaphor and simile operate on the premise of similarity between two 

things. When the psalmist writes that God’s law “is a lamp to my feet / and a light 

for my path” (119:105), he is drawing a connection between the properties of light 

used to illuminate a pathway for walking and the moral effect of God’s law on a 

person’s behavior. When a nature poet says that God “makes the clouds his char- 

iot” (Ps. 104:3), he intends us to see a correspondence between the swift move- 

ment of clouds across the sky and that of a chariot over a road. 

 

Comparisons Require a Transfer of Meaning 

 

Several corollaries follow from the fact that metaphor and simile are based on 

comparison. They both secure an effect on one level and then ask the reader to 

transfer that meaning to another level (in this they are like the New Testament 

parables). The word “metaphor” itself implies such a transfer, since it is based on 

the Greek words meta, meaning “over,” and pherein, meaning “to carry.” When the 

psalmist speaks of someone “who dwells in the shelter of the Most High” (91:1), 

the first task of the reader is to reflect on the human experience of living in a 

home. These domestic associations of security, safety, provision, protection, love, 

and belonging must then be transferred from a human, family context to the realm 

of faith in God. 

 

The Indirection of Simile and Metaphor 

 

It is also obvious that metaphor and simile work by indirection. This is what 

Robert Frost had in mind when he defined poetry as “saying one thing and mean- 

ing another.”³ The psalmist says that “the LORD God is a sun and shield” (84:11), 

but he means that God is the ultimate source of all life and provision and that God 

protects people from harm. The poet says that he lies “in the midst of lions” (Ps. 

57:4), but he means that his enemies’ slander inflicts pain and destroys him in a 

number of nonphysical ways. 

 

The Twofold Nature of Simile and Metaphor 

 

The importance of this indirection is that it disqualifies the usual tendency to talk 

about the theology of the Psalms as though the text were expository prose or a 

theological outline. Metaphor and simile are bifocal statements. We need to look 

first at one half of a comparison and then transfer certain meanings to the other 

half. The exposition of biblical poetry needs to do justice to the richness of mean- 

ings that metaphor and simile convey, and this means not quickly reducing the 

two-pronged statement of metaphor or simile to a single direct statement. There is 

an irreducible quality to metaphor and simile that we should respect, both as read- 

ers and expositors. 

 

The Logic of Simile and Metaphor 

 

Another aspect of metaphor and simile is that they are a form of logic rather than 

illogic. The connection between the two halves of the comparison is a real con- 

nection. It can be validated on the basis of observation and rational analysis. 

When the poet asks God to “set a guard over my mouth” and “keep watch over 

the door of my lips” (Ps. 141:3), we need to explore by what logic care in one’s 

speech can be compared to a soldier or prison guard watching the door of a 

house or prison. If the threat of death on the battlefield can be described as the 

rope of a strangler and the water of a flood (Ps. 18:4), we must look for a logical 

explanation behind the poet’s assertion. 

 

Simile and Metaphor Are Rooted in Reality 

 

This is another way of saying that metaphor and simile are rooted in reality. The 

two halves of the comparison are not illusory but real. In the metaphor that de- 

clares God to be “father to the fatherless” (Ps. 68:5), for example, the bond be- 

tween human fathers and the character of God is real. There are qualities (e.g., 

love, care, provision, nurture, discipline) inherent in being a good father that are 

also true of God’s character and acts. The poet is not simply decorating an idea 

that could as well be stated without the father metaphor. Nor is his attribution of 

the name “father” to God arbitrary. Poets do not invent comparisons but discover 

them. They could not create metaphor and simile if they tried; the relationship be- 

tween the two phenomena joined in a metaphor or simile either exists in reality or 

does not exist. The poet’s quest is to discover the right expressive metaphors and 

similes for his particular subject matter. 

 

The Extralogical Meanings of Simile and Metaphor 

 

But metaphor and simile, though a form of logic, also go beyond abstract or men- 

tal logic. For one thing, they offer an experience of the topic being presented. As a 

result, the total meaning that is transferred from the one phenomenon to the other 

is partly nonverbal or extralogical. When a biblical poet pictures God’s provision 

as God’s making him “lie down in green pastures” and leading him “beside quiet 

waters” (Ps. 23:2), the poet taps feelings and memories within us that can never 

be adequately put into words. Metaphor and simile are affective as well as intel- 

lectual, experiential and intuitive as well as verbal and logical. A metaphor or sim- 

ile involves “both a thinking and a seeing,” as Paul Ricoeur has said.⁴ This is an- 

other way of saying that the total meaning of a metaphor or simile can never be 

fully expressed in intellectual or propositional terms for the simple reason that it 

speaks to more than our intellect or reason. If a proposition adequately stated the 

truth the poet wishes to communicate, the metaphor or simile would be unnec- 

essary. 

 

The Need to Identify the Literal Reference 

 

What interpretive obligations do metaphor and simile place on a reader? Chiefly 

two. The reader’s first responsibility is to identify the literal or physical reference 

that forms the foundation of the comparison. That identification must be specific 

rather than vague, and detailed rather than superficial. This will be most evident if 

we consider an example that is unfamiliar to our own experience, such as that 

found in Psalm 16:5–6 (RSV): 

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; 

thou boldest my lot. 

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 

yea, I have a goodly heritage. 

The impact of this extended metaphor describing God’s blessing depends on the 

reader’s getting the literal picture first. That picture has to do with real estate, and 

it alludes to the allotment of land when the Israelites settled in Canaan. The indi- 

vidual portions were determined by lot (cf. Num. 26:56 and 36:2). The “lines” are 

the measuring lines of a surveyor. The metaphor, then, compares God’s favor to 

receiving a fertile, well-situated piece of land, both for one’s own use and as an 

inheritance to pass on to one’s posterity. 

 

The Need to Interpret the Metaphor and Simile 

 

Having identified the literal meaning of the comparison, the reader’s second task 

is to interpret what the comparison means. We must accept the poet’s implied 

invitation to discover the meaning. In keeping with the nature of metaphor and 

simile, interpretation consists of discovering the nature of the similarity between 

the two halves of the comparison. More often than not, the connections are mul- 

tiple. In finding the correspondences, we are exploring the logic and aptness of 

the comparison. 

What, for example, is the logic of comparing “tongues” (meaning speech) to 

“sharp arrows” (Ps. 57:4)? The correspondence between slander and arrows is 

multiple: both are inflicted from a position of secrecy, both therefore render the 

victim defenseless, both destroy or injure a person, both cause pain. There is even 

a physical similarity between the flinch caused by an arrow and that caused by an 

overheard verbal attack on oneself. 

 

Communicating Total Experience 

 

We should not be afraid of the fact that the meanings transferred from one half of 

the comparison to the other are only partly intellectual or ideational. Some of the 

meanings are affective or intuitive, and some are extraverbal. We all have, for 

example, certain feelings about green pastures and still waters that can never be 

fully verbalized. Similarly, when the poet prays “May they be blotted out of the 

book of life / and not be listed with the righteous” (Ps. 69:28), he awakens within 

us fears that can never be adequately expressed in words—fears, let us say, of not 

having a bank deposit credited or of having our name omitted from the official list 

of passengers on an international flight. 

 

Readers Must Be Active 

 

Metaphor and simile place immense demands on a reader. They require far more 

activity than a direct propositional statement. Metaphor and simile first demand 

that we take the time to let the literal situation sink in. Then we must make a trans- 

fer of meaning(s) to the topic or experience the poem is about. Taking the tasks of 

identification and interpretation seriously would revolutionize commentary on 

biblical poetry. Such commentary might profitably include some photographs to 

enhance a reader’s grasp of the literal level of the comparison. 

 

The Advantages of Simile and Metaphor 

 

Why do poets use so many similes and metaphors? One advantage of metaphor 

and simile is vividness and concreteness. They are one way of overcoming the 

limitations of abstraction. Metaphor and simile achieve wholeness of expression 

by appealing to the full range of human experience, not simply to the rational 

intellect. They also possess freshness of expression and thereby overcome the 

cliché effect of stereotyped language. This arresting strangeness not only captures 

a reader’s initial attention; it also makes a statement memorable. The comment 

that “the Bible tells me how to live” slides out of the mind as quickly as it enters, 

but its metaphoric counterpart, “Your word is a lamp to my feet” (Ps. 119:105), is 

aphoristic and unforgettable. 

 

The Meditative Effect of Simile and Metaphor 

 

Metaphor and simile have another built-in tendency that accords well with the 

purpose of the Bible: they force a reader to ponder or meditate on a statement. 

Simile and metaphor resist immediate assimilation. They contain a retarding ele- 

ment, stemming the current of ideas (and in this are very similar to Hebrew paral- 

lelism). 

The prominence of simile and metaphor in biblical poetry makes the following 

rule the most crucial of all for reading the poetry of the Bible: whenever you find a 

statement that compares one thing to another, first meditate on the literal or physical 

half of the comparison and then analyze how many correspondences can appropriately 

be drawn between that situation and the subject of the poem. 

Of course such a procedure takes time. Poetry is a meditative or reflective 

form. It deliberately compresses many meanings into a few words or a single pic- 

ture. This is an advantage, not a liability, if only we will respect the reflective na- 

ture of poetry. 

 

Simile and Metaphor Occur Throughout the Bible 

 

I have taken my examples of metaphor and simile from the Psalms, but everything 

that I have said applies whenever we find a metaphor or simile. Even the most 

heavily theological parts of the Bible, such as the New Testament Epistles, make 

use of metaphor and simile, and for the same reasons that I have stated. When we 

read that believers are “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s 

household” (Eph. 2:19), we need to identify and interpret these two metaphors in 

exactly the manner I have outlined. The same rules apply when Jesus calls himself 

the Light of the world or the Bread of heaven. 

 

Poetic Symbols 

 

Image, metaphor, and simile are the backbone of poetry. Perhaps we can add sym- 

bol to the list, since it is often interchangeable with the others. A symbol is a con- 

crete image that points to or embodies other meanings. Thus, light is a common 

biblical symbol for God, goodness, truth, blessing, etc. Milk and honey are Old 

Testament symbols for material prosperity, and the throne for political power. But 

in most of these instances it makes little difference whether we call them images, 

metaphors, or symbols. The important thing is that we first construct the literal 

picture and then attach the right corresponding meaning(s) to them. 

 

Allusion as a Poetic Form 

 

Image, metaphor, simile, and symbol are the “basics” of poetry, but there are 

other figures of speech that we also need to identify and interpret. One is allusion. 

An allusion is a reference to past literature or history. As with metaphor and sim- 

ile, we first need to identify the source of the allusion and then interpret what as- 

pects of that earlier situation are relevant to the context in which the allusion ap- 

pears. 

 

Identifying and Interpreting Allusions 

 

Psalm 133:1–2 provides a good example: 

How good and pleasant it is 

when brothers live together in unity! 

It is like precious oil poured on the head, 

running down on the beard, 

running down on Aaron’s beard, 

down upon the collar of his robes. 

The fellowship the pilgrims experience en route to Jerusalem to worship God in 

the temple is like oil (simile), but not just any oil. It is specifically like the oil of 

Aaron (allusion). The passage to which this alludes is Exodus 30:22–33, where we 

learn that this oil was a “sacred anointing oil” that was used only in connection 

with official worship at the tabernacle or temple. Having identified the source of 

the allusion, we can interpret it: the fellowship of the pilgrims is, like the anointing 

oil, a holy thing and a preparation for worship at the temple. 

 

Apostrophe as a Figure of Speech 

 

The figure of speech known as apostrophe is a direct address to someone or some- 

thing absent as though the person or thing were present and capable of listening. 

The range of things that are apostrophized in biblical poetry is too great to be 

neatly categorized. From the Psalms come these specimens: “Therefore, you 

kings, be wise; / be warned, you rulers of the earth” (2:10); “Away from me, all you 

who do evil” (6:8); “Lift up your heads, O you gates” (24:7); “Love the LORD, all 

his saints” (31:23); “Glorious things are said of you, O city of God” (87:3); “Praise 

the LORD, O my soul” (103:1). The supreme example is Psalm 148, which from 

start to finish is a catalog of apostrophes. 

 

Why Poets Use Apostrophe 

 

Why do poets use so many apostrophes? Apostrophe is one of the best ways to 

express strong feeling in poetry. In fact, apostrophes tend to create a sense of ex- 

citement. More often than not, poets break into apostrophe suddenly and without 

warning, as though the statement were blurted out, breaking the bounds of deco- 

rum and interrupting the flow of thought. 

 

Responding to Apostrophes 

 

How should we as readers respond to poetic apostrophes? We need to be recep- 

tive to the emotional intensity they represent. It is also a commonplace that the 

poet’s function is to say, in effect, “Look at that,” and point. Poets rarely point so 

directly as when they apostrophize something. Since apostrophes are often 

sprung on us without forewarning or preparation, as readers we must be prepared 

to take them in stride when they break the flow of thought. And certainly we must 

accept them as yet another evidence of how filled with license poetry tends to be. 

After all, if we heard someone in real life talking to a tree or absent person in this 

way we would wonder what ailed the speaker. 

 

Personification 

 

Apostrophe is often combined with personification, which consists of treating 

something nonhuman (and frequently inanimate) as though it were a human 

capable of acting or responding. Almost anything can become personified in bib- 

lical poetry. One of the largest categories is abstractions: “Send forth your light 

and your truth, / . . . let them bring me to your holy mountain” (Ps. 43:3). Else- 

where nations or tribes are treated as though they were a single person acting with 

a unified purpose: 

Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; 

and Dan, why did he linger by the ships? 

Asher remained on the seacoast 

and stayed in his coves (Judg. 5:17). 

Parts of the body are sometimes personified: “their tongue struts through the 

earth” (Ps. 73:9 RSV). But the largest category of personifications in the Bible con- 

sists of aspects of nature treated as if they were people: “Let the rivers clap their 

hands, / let the mountains sing together for joy” (Ps. 98:8). 

 

Why Poets Personify 

 

Why do poets so readily personify inanimate things? The purposes are several. 

Personification makes something vivid and concrete. It is also a prime way of at- 

tributing human emotions to something nonhuman, in effect showing how the 

poet feels about it. Personification is a natural way of expressing excitement about 

something. It can also be used to show a close kinship between people and the 

subject of a poem, especially when that subject is nature. Finally, personification 

can suggest a group of people or the forces of nature acting with a unified pur- 

pose. 

 

Personification and the Reader 

 

What does personification demand of a reader? We first need to identify it when 

we encounter it. We should be responsive to the sheer vividness that personi- 

fication confers on its object. We can also analyze the specific function of personi- 

fication in a given passage. Mainly, though, we need to realize again that poetry is 

inherently fictional rather than factual. Poets are always playing the game of make- 

believe, imagining something that is literally nonexistent or untrue. Poetic license 

is the liberation of the imagination, for biblical readers as well as biblical poets. 

 

Hyperbole as a Figure of Speech 

 

Hyperbole, conscious exaggeration for the sake of effect, is another figure of 

speech that uses obvious poetic license. It does so as a way of expressing strong 

feeling. Hyperbole does not pretend to be factual. Indeed, it advertises its lack of 

literal truth: “My tears have been my food day and night” (Ps. 42:3); “Yea, by thee I 

can crush a troop; / and by my God I can leap over a wall” (Ps. 18:29 RSV); “I beat 

[my enemies] fine as dust borne on the wind” (Ps. 18:42). 

 

Hyperbole as Emotional Truth 

 

How should we understand such exaggerations? We must avoid foolish attempts 

to press them into literal statements. Hyperbole does not express literal, factual 

truth. Instead it expresses emotional truth. Hyperbole is the voice of conviction. It 

captures the spirit of an event or inner experience. After all, when do people use 

hyperbole in ordinary discourse? They use it either when they feel strongly about 

something (“I wrote till my hand fell off”) or when they are trying to be persuasive 

(“Everybody agrees that the test was unfair”). 

 

How Figures of Speech Are Alike 

 

I have discussed the leading figures of speech individually, but we can learn a lot 

by also seeing what they have in common. Look closely at the following spec- 

imens of figurative language: 

 

Metaphor: “The Lord God is a sun and shield” (Ps. 84:11). 

Simile: “Your tongue ... is like a sharpened razor” (Ps. 52:2). 

Symbol: “Light is shed upon the righteous” (Ps. 97:11). 

Allusion: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made” (Ps. 33:6). 

Apostrophe: “Lift up your heads, O you gates” (Ps. 24:7). 

Personification: “Then all of the trees of the forest will sing for joy” (Ps. 96:12). 

Hyperbole: “All night long I flood my bed with weeping” (Ps. 6:6). 

 

Vividness and Concentration 

 

These diverse figures of speech tend toward similar effects. They are governed by 

the impulse to be concrete and vivid. They are usually a way of achieving tremen- 

dous concentration, of saying much in little. They tend to be a shorthand way of 

suggesting a multiplicity of meanings, connotations, overtones, or associations, 

and as such they are a way of achieving wholeness of expression. 

 

Comparison and Poetic License 

 

Most of these figures of speech use the principle of comparison. They use one 

area of human experience to shed light on another area. In one way or another, 

they operate on the principle that A is like B. This is not limited to the obvious 

examples of metaphor and simile. With personification, for example, the object is 

treated as though it were a person. In using such comparisons, poets obviously 

resort to poetic license. They operate on the principle “it is as though . . instead of 

confining themselves to what literally exists. 

 

What Figures of Speech Require of Readers 

 

We should note, finally, that all of the figures of speech cited above place similar 

responsibilities on a reader. First a reader must recognize or identify the figure of 

speech. This usually involves sensing an element of strangeness in an utterance, 

since figures of speech differ from our ordinary, straightforward way of speaking. 

Then a reader must interpret the figure. This usually entails drawing a connection 

or correspondence between two things. It always involves determining how the 

figure of speech is apt or suitable for what is being discussed, and what meanings 

are communicated by the figure. “Why this figure of speech hereV’ is always a 

good interpretive question to ask. 

 

Additional Figures 

 

In addition to the figures of speech discussed thus far, several others appear often 

enough that we should note them. Metonymy is the substitution of one word for 

another word closely associated with it. When Nathan tells David that “the sword 

will never depart from your house” (2 Sam. 12:10), he uses two metonymies: he 

means that violence will persist within Daviďs family. Synecdoche occurs when a 

part is used to stand for the whole, as in the petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us 

today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). Paradox is a leading feature of New Testament 

discourse. It consists of an apparent contradiction that, upon analysis, can be 

seen to express a truth. Paradox always imposes on the reader the obligation to re- 

solve the apparent contradiction. For example, the proverb that states “the mercy 

of the wicked is cruel” (Prov. 12:10 RSV) means that even the best acts of wicked 

people harm other creatures. 

 

Do Not Be Frightened by Technical Terminology 

 

It would be a pity if anyone would be scared off by such technical terms as 

“metaphor” and “metonymy.” If such terms are too unwieldy, the catchall terms 

“image” and “symbol” will prove adequate. The important thing is to identify 

something as being figurative and then explore what meanings are conveyed by it. 

It is also important to realize that simply pigeonholing a figure of speech with the 

right label is relatively useless. What matters is that we interpret the figures of 

speech and explore what meanings they communicate. 

 

How to Know When to Interpret Figuratively 

 

How can we know when to interpret a statement figuratively? There is only one 

main common-sense rule of interpretation to apply: interpret as figurative any state- 

ment that does not make sense at a literal level in the context in which it appears. The 

chief exception is simile, which is literally true but announces that it is a figure of 

speech by using the comparative formula “like” or “as.” 

 

Figurative Statements Do Not Make Sense at the Literal Level 

 

We know that the statement that the wicked “clothe themselves with violence” 

(Ps. 73:6) is metaphoric because people do not literally wear violence. The state- 

ment that “my tears have been my food day and night” (Ps. 42:3) has to be hyper- 

bole because it is a literal impossibility. Sometimes the context of a statement 

alerts us to its figurative nature. For example, the statement that “light is shed 

upon the righteous” (Ps. 97:11) could be literally, physically true, but the context 

makes it clear that this claim is made for the righteous only, not the wicked. We 

know that the light of the sun dawns for everyone, not just the righteous. By log- 

ical necessity, therefore, light in this context must mean Goďs blessing and favor, 

not literal, physical light. 

 

The Portrayal of God in Human Terms 

 

The poetic portrayal of God in the Bible represents a special category. I prefer to 

call it anthropomorphism (the portrayal of deity in human terms) and let it go at 

that. Such anthropomorphism sooner or later includes most of the standard fig- 

ures of speech, but it is usually arbitrary to decide which term is most accurate. 

Consider the statement “your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy” (Exod. 

15:6). Exactly what should we call this? It could be considered metonymy, inas- 

much as it was God’s power over nature, and not literally his hand, that con- 

quered the Egyptians. It is synecdoche if we consider that the right hand stands 

for the whole being of God. The hand could be regarded as a metaphor for God’s 

power, or as a symbol of that power. The whole enterprise of labeling quickly col- 

lapses under the weight of its own complexity. The simplest solution is to be 

aware that the transcendent God of the Bible is repeatedly portrayed in earthly and 

human terms and that such descriptions are of course figurative rather than lit- 

eral. The word “anthropomorphism” seems to cover the phenomenon as ade- 

quately as any other (provided we learn to spell it correctly!). 

 

SUMMARY 

 

More than anything else, poetry means a special idiom or language. Poetry is 

heightened speech used to express intensified feeling or insight. Its special lan- 

guage consists of concrete imagery and figures of speech. These figures of speech 

appear in concentrated form in the poetic parts of the Bible and in random form in 

the prose sections. Whenever they appear, they require the kind of analysis I have 

outlined. 

 

Poetic Parallelism 

 

What, then, about the parallelism we hear so much about? It is the verse form in 

which virtually all biblical poetry is written. Strictly defined, parallelism consists of 

two or more lines that use different words to express the same or similar ideas in 

similar grammatical form. 

 

Types of Biblical Parallelism 

 

The most frequently used kind of parrallelism is synonymous parallelism. It con- 

sists of expressing similar content more than once in consecutive lines in similar 

grammatical form or sentence structure: 

He who sits in the heavens laughs; 

the LORD has them in derision (Ps. 2:4). 

 

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the 

judgment, 

nor sinners in the assembly of the 

righteous (Ps. 1:5). 

 

Antithetic parallelism occurs when the second line states the truth of the first in a 

negative way or when it in some way introduces a contrast: 

For the LORD watches over the way 

of the righteous, 

but the way of the wicked will perish 

(Ps. 1:6). 

That night—let thick darkness seize it! 

let it not rejoice among the days of the year (Job 3:6). 

In climactic parallelism the second line completes the first by repeating part of the 

first line and then adding to it: 

Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, 

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength (Ps. 29:1). 

In climactic parallelism the meaning of the statement is incomplete until the sec- 

ond line completes it. 

Most scholars list a fourth type of parallelism, which they call synthetic paral- 

lelism (“growing parallelism”). It consists of a pair of lines that together form a 

complete unit and in which the second line completes or expands the thought 

introduced in the first line (but without repeating part of it, as climactic paral- 

lelism does): 

Thou didst set the earth on its foundations, 

so that it should never be shaken (Ps. 104:5 RSV). 

 

He guides me in paths of righteousness 

for his name’s sake (Ps. 23:3). 

To call this a form of parallelism is inaccurate, since the two lines are not parallel 

to each other. They are simply two lines that belong together. No other identifying 

term has gained wide acceptance, however, and it is such a prevalent form in bib- 

lical poetry that we need some label for it. “Synthetic parallelism” should therefore 

be retained. 

 

The Parallelism Is Often Partial 

 

There is a caution we must remember in regard to biblical parallelism: very often it 

is not whole lines that are parallel to each other but parts of lines. Along with the 

symmetry, there is typically an element of asymmetry. For example, only the last 

phrase of the line “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” is 

echoed in the next line, “the holy place where the Most High dwells” (Ps. 46:4). 

So, too, with this verse: 

God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1). 

To make the second line exactly parallel, we would have to change it to something 

like “The LORD is our fortress and shield.” Hebrew parallelism is not a straitjacket. 

It is a beautiful example of freedom within form. As someone has stated: 

 

It is clear that there is repetition in the parallel lines. But almost invariably 

something is added, and it is precisely the combination of what is repeated 

and what is added that makes of parallelism the artistic form that it is. This 

intimate relation between old and new elements is an important feature of He- 

brew composition and Hebrew thought. On the one hand we observe form 

and pattern; on the other form and pattern are radically altered.⁵ 

 

Parallelism as a Form of Recurrence 

 

The specific types of parallelism can be differentiated, but what they all have in 

common is the principle of repetition or recurrence or rhythm that is the basis of 

all verse forms. In English poetry this principle takes the form of rhyme and reg- 

ular meter, which are lost when something is translated. The repetition of thought 

or content that we find in biblical parallelism survives in translations. More impor- 

tant than learning to pigeonhole types of parallelism is simply being receptive to 

the momentum and rhythm that are set up by such parallelism. The general prin- 

ciple is that lines are not self-contained. They belong with at least one other line. 

When we hear one footstep, we wait for the other foot to fall, as it were. 

 

Parallelism as Verbal Artistry 

 

What purposes are served by such parallelism? Several, but the most important is 

the artistic beauty of skillfully handled language. C. S. Lewis writes: 

 

In reality it is a very pure example of what all pattern, and therefore all art, in- 

volves. The principle of art has been defined by someone as “the same in the 

other”. . . . “Parallelism” is the characteristically Hebrew form of the same in 

the other. . . . If we have any taste for poetry we shall enjoy this feature of the 

Psalms.⁶ 

 

If it is not accepted simply as something artistic, Lewis adds, a reader will either 

be led astray “in his effort to get a different meaning out of each half of the verse 

or else feel that it is rather silly.”⁷ Poetry is an art form, an example of verbal 

craftsmanship. We should not press the parallelism of biblical poetry at once in a 

utilitarian direction. It is beautiful and delightful in itself. 

 

Parallelism as a Mnemonic Device 

 

Parallelism is also a mnemonic device (an aid to memorization, recitation, or even 

improvisation), as well as something that assists listening. What C. S. Lewis says 

about the parallelism of Jesus’ sayings is equally true of biblical parallelism in gen- 

eral: 

 

We may, if we like, see in this an exclusively practical and didactic purpose; by 

giving to truths which are infinitely worth remembering this rhythmic and 

incantatory expression, He made them almost impossible to forget.⁸ 

 

We should note in this regard that the poetic parts of the Bible were originally oral 

literature, from the Psalms sung in worship to the oral pronouncements of the 

prophets, who sometimes showed prodigious feats of memory (for a notable 

example, see Jer. 36). Parallelism makes an utterance oratorical in the sense that 

its effect is particularly clear when we hear it. 

 

The Meditative Effect of Parallelism 

 

A further result of parallelism is its meditative effect. Parallelism focuses attention 

on a thought. It resists rapid movement away from an idea and a resultant dissi- 

pation of impact. Parallelism, writes a biblical scholar, 

 

has within it a retarding element, stemming the current of ideas. The poet al- 

lows himself plenty of time. A scene, before being succeeded by another, is 

presented twice, in different lights. All the content is squeezed out of it. Its 

finest nuances are utilized.⁹ 

 

The effect of parallelism is comparable to turning a prism in the light, insuring 

that we will look at the colors of a statement at least twice. Needless to say, this 

accords perfectly with the meditative purpose of the Bible and the nature of poetic 

language. 

Parallelism is more than an artistic bonus, though it is that, too. The words in a 

parallel construction enhance each other, whether through synonym or contrast or 

completion. It is an important part of interpretation to notice how the parallel 

members interact with each other, together saying more than either could say by 

itself. 

 

SUMMARY 

 

Poetry is heightened speech. It compels attention and involvement not only 

through its special idiom, but also through its distinctive syntax (sentence pat- 

terns). Biblical poetry uses the highly patterned structures of parallelism in its 

 

How to Read the Bible as Literature:3

How to Read the Bible as Literature: . . . and Get More Out of It: Chapter Three  Types of Biblical Stories   

Chapter Three 

Types of Biblical Stories 

 

IN ADDITION TO THE GENERAL FEATURES of stories noted in the preceding chapter, 

there are a number of traits that are characteristic of more specialized narrative 

genres. These subtypes within the general category of narrative have their own 

procedures and rules of interpretation. Two of these subtypes, parable and gospel, 

will receive separate treatment in later chapters. 

 

HEROIC NARRATIVE 

 

A Definition of Heroic Narrative 

 

The largest branch of narrative is heroic narrative. Hero stories are built around 

the life and exploits of a protagonist. Such stories spring from one of the most 

universal impulses of literature—the desire to embody accepted norms of behav- 

ior or representative struggles in the story of a character whose experience is typ- 

ical of people in general. 

 

Literary Heroes 

 

The following definition of a literary hero is a good starting point for discussing 

heroic narrative: 

 

A traditional. . .hero must be more than merely the leading figure or protag- 

onist of a literary work. The true hero expresses an accepted social and moral 

norm; his experience reenacts the important conflicts of the community which 

produces him; he is endowed with qualities that capture the popular imagi- 

nation. It must also be remarked that the hero is able to act, and to act for 

good. Most important of all, the narrative of his experience suggests that life 

has both a significant pattern and an end.¹ 

 

The practical import of this definition is simple: both the dynamics of the action 

and the meanings the storyteller is trying to get across will be concentrated in the 

central hero. In interpreting a hero story, therefore, we cannot go wrong if we 

focus on the protagonist. The hero’s conflicts and encounters comprise the plot 

of the story, and we can organize our understanding and discussion of the story 

around them. 

 

Ways of Portraying a Hero 

 

Determining the precise identity of a literary hero is a prime task whenever we read 

a heroic narrative. The hero’s identity is revealed chiefly through six means: the 

hero’s (1) personal traits and abilities, (2) actions, (3) motivations, (4) responses 

to events or people, (5) relationships, and (6) roles. 

 

The Hero Is Representative of Humanity 

 

A literary hero or heroine is representative. The purpose behind the storyteller’s 

selection of specific heroes and events is that they in some sense capture the 

universal human situation. It is a commonplace that whereas the historian tells us 

what happened, the writer of literary narrative tells us what happens. The hero sto- 

ries of the Bible do more than set the historical record straight. They are also 

models or paradigms of the religious experience of the human race. They capture 

what is true for us and for people around us. Characters like Joseph and Ruth and 

David do not stay within their stories in the Bible; they merge with our own experi- 

ences as we begin to “build bridges” between their stories and our own. 

 

The Hero as an Ideal 

 

Usually such representative heroes are exemplary of some ideal, though they need 

not be wholly good (in the Bible they rarely are completely idealized). Stories tend 

to get written about people whose character and exploits we can look up to. The 

stories of the Bible are no exception. They give us a memorable gallery of moral 

and spiritual models to emulate. 

 

Conveying an Ideal by Negative Example 

 

On the other hand, stories can also inculcate a positive ideal by negative example. 

They can indirectly encourage good behavior by telling the story of a hero who 

failed to measure up to such a standard. Some of the most foolish misreadings of 

biblical stories I have encountered have come from a misguided assumption that 

we are intended to approve of the behavior of biblical heroes in virtually every 

episode in which they figure. One of the distinctive features of the Bible is how 

deeply flawed its heroes and heroines are. The Bible portrays most of its protag- 

onists as Cromwell wished to be painted—warts and all. 

 

Hero Stories Are More Than Moral Fables 

 

Of course, in describing hero stories as moral or spiritual examples, I run the risk 

of making them appear to be simplistic moral fables. This is emphatically not true 

of heroic narrative in the Bible. All we need to do is dip into biblical scholarship 

and literary criticism to sense that these stories are subtle, frequently complex to 

interpret, and usually characterized by a kind of cryptic understatement or mystery 

that requires the reader to supply an abundance of interpretation. The moment we 

reduce the moral or spiritual meaning of the hero’s experience to an idea, we have 

turned the story into a platitude and robbed it of its power. 

 

How Stories Picture Reality 

 

The antidote lies in respecting how stories work. The values or virtues that are 

inculcated by a hero story like that of Joseph or Ruth are embodied in the protag- 

onist’s character and life. The strategy of literature is to give form and shape to 

human experience by projecting it onto a character. A story can communicate 

truth or reality or knowledge simply by picturing some aspect of human expe- 

rience. A story conveys truth whenever we can say, “This is the way life is.” 

In other words, “the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, 

not an abstraction.”² To say that the story of Abraham embodies an ideal of faith 

is not to offer that interpretation as a substitute for the story but as a pair of eyes 

by which to see what the story itself means. As readers we must preserve the in- 

tegrity of the story as a story, while at the same time realizing that “all narrative. . 

.possesses. . .some quality of parable.”³ 

 

Questions to Ask of Hero Stories 

 

Since a literary hero incarnates a society’s views of reality, morality, and values, 

the following issues are good ones to explore when reflecting on hero stories. 

1.The view of people. What kind of beings are people? How can people 

achieve meaning in life? What is the proper end or goal for a person? What 

is humanity’s origin and what is its destination? 

2.The religious view. Does the story postulate a transcendental realm? If so, 

what is its nature? How is the other world related to this world? How can a 

person be vitally related to God? 

3.The view of society. What is the nature of the human community? What is 

the individual’s role in society? What is the nature of the individual’s obliga- 

tions to his or her fellow humans? 

4.The question of values. What does the story postulate as the highest value 

in life? Is it a person (God, self, some individual, people in general), an 

institution (state, church, home), an abstract quality (love, truth, beauty, 

order), or something physical like nature? 

SUMMARY 

 

Hero stories focus on the struggles and triumphs of the protagonist. The central 

hero or heroine is representative of a whole group and is usually a largely exem- 

plary character, at least by the end of the story. The hero or heroine’s destiny is an 

implied comment about life and reality. 

 

EPIC 

A Definition of Epic 

 

Epic is a species within the class of heroic narrative. It is long narrative, a hero 

story on the grand scale. A single heroic narrative does not rate as an epic because 

it lacks epic scope. Epic is an encyclopedic form that includes as much as pos- 

sible. Northrop Frye calls it “the story of all things.”⁴ Epic is so expansive that it 

sums up a whole age; one scholar claims that “the supreme role of epic lies in its 

capacity to focus a society’s self-awareness.”⁵ 

 

The Story of a Nation 

 

As part of this expansiveness, epic always has a strong nationalistic interest. The 

epic hero’s story deals with more than a personal destiny; his story represents the 

destiny of a whole nation. Historical allusions therefore abound in epics, which 

tend to portray the significant and formative events in the life of a nation. The 

“great primary epics deal with their cultures at some primitive moment of crisis.”⁶ 

Common epic motifs include kingdom, conquest, warfare, and dominion. In one 

way or another, epic portrays epoch-making events in the life of a nation. 

 

Supernatural Element 

 

Supernatural settings, characters, and events have always been a hallmark of epic. 

Events in such stories occur on a cosmic stage that includes an “other” world as 

well as the earth. Supernatural agents enter the human world and participate in the 

action. This, too, is one of the means by which epics give us images of greatness 

and mystery. 

 

Epic Structure 

 

Despite its expansiveness, an epic is tightly structured. One authority, after listing 

“amplitude, breadth, inclusiveness” as epic traits, goes on to say that “exuber- 

ance. . .is not enough in itself; there must be a control commensurate with the 

amount included.”⁷ Epics therefore always have a unifying hero. The action is con- 

structed around a central epic feat, which usually consists of winning a battle and 

establishing a kingdom. Many epics have been structured as a quest toward a 

goal. Because of its sheer length and scope, an epic always has a mildly episodic 

plot (we can’t remember the whole story at once, for example), but the wealth of 

detail is firmly controlled by an overall design. 

 

The Epic of the Exodus 

 

The most obviously epic work in the Bible is the epic of the Exodus. For literary 

purposes, the key narrative sections are Exodus 1–20 and 32–34; Numbers 10–14, 

16–17, and 20–24; and Deuteronomy 32–34 (a retrospective interpretive framework 

for the whole epic, from the mouth of the epic hero himself). Several things make 

the story of the Exodus an epic. It meets the test of long narrative. It is nation- 

alistic in emphasis, recording the formation of Israel as a nation and depicting the 

decisive events in the early history of the nation. This story, composed at a mo- 

ment of national self-consciousness, was a definitive repository of the religious, 

moral, and political ideals of the society that produced it. The story is set in his- 

tory and filled with historical allusions. It is unified partly by a normative hero and 

partly by the quest for the Promised Land. The world of the story is alive with 

supernatural intervention. 

 

Old Testament Historical Books 

 

If the historical chronicles of the Old Testament are to be approached as liter- 

ature, epic is a fruitful rubric under which to study them. The Book of Joshua, for 

example, is unified by the motif of Israel’s conquest of Canaan and its quest to 

establish itself in the Promised Land, all under the direction of Joshua. The Book 

of Judges lacks a unifying hero and is perhaps better viewed as a collection of 

separate hero stories, though certain features of the book resemble epic. The story 

of David is definitely an epic story. David, in fact, is the closest parallel in the Bible 

to the epic hero of the Western tradition: he is the warrior who conquers his ene- 

mies, the political ruler, and the representative person of his culture. 

 

Genesis 

 

The Book of Genesis also approximates the epic genre. It is atypical in having four 

patriarchs instead of a single hero as the epic protagonist. But in other respects it 

meets epic expectations. It is a moderately long story that traces the early ancestry 

of a nation. Because of the covenant theme that pervades the story, it is a story of 

destiny. This is much more than the history of individual heroes or even of a fam- 

ily; it is nothing less than the beginning of salvation history, the history of the 

whole human race viewed from the perspective of God’s acts of redemption and 

judgment. And Genesis possesses to a greater degree than perhaps any other bib- 

lical story the quality of elemental human experience that epic is so adept at cap- 

turing. 

 

The Book of Revelation 

 

The New Testament Book of Revelation is also an epic, though not exactly a typ- 

ical one. It is a story of great and heightened battle conducted in part by super- 

natural beings using supernatural means of warfare. The setting is cosmic. The 

story recounts the exploits of a hero who conquers his enemies and establishes 

his eternal empire. There are scenes set in heaven, where decisions are made that 

are then enacted on earth, in a manner reminiscent of the councils of the gods in 

conventional epics. There are also visions of future history, another epic conven- 

tion. And the style of Revelation is closer to the exalted style of conventional epic 

than is true of any other book in the Bible. Revelation is filled with similes, cata- 

logs, epithets, allusions, repeated formulas, and sheer verbal and imagistic exu- 

berance. 

 

The Epic Aura of the Bible 

 

Although the Pentateuch, the Book of Joshua, the story of David, and the Book of 

Revelation are the only full-fledged epics in the Bible, it is also apparent that the 

Bible as a whole is frequently epic-like. It has the “feel” of other ancient epic liter- 

ature. The continuous presence of God as a character in the stories alone would 

make it similar to epic literature. The nationalistic tone and focus of the Old Testa- 

ment lend an epic aura to the stories and even to the prophecies. The framework 

of epic literature, therefore, is continuously relevant to the literary study of biblical 

narrative, and other epics are more likely to furnish literary parallels than modern 

novels. 

 

COMEDY 

Comic Plots 

 

When speaking of comedy as a type of story, literary critics do not mean a humor- 

ous story but rather one with a certain shape of plot. Comedy is the story of the 

happy ending. It is usually a U-shaped story that begins in prosperity, descends 

into tragedy, and rises again to end happily. The first phase of this pattern is often 

omitted, but the upward movement from misery to happiness is essential. 

 

Story Elements in a Comic Plot 

 

The main elements of such a comic plot are easy to identify. The overall progres- 

sion is from problem to solution, from bondage to freedom. The plot consists of 

a series of obstacles that must be overcome en route to the happy ending. Often 

these obstacles are characters who stand in the way of happiness, but external cir- 

cumstances or inner personality traits can also constitute the obstacles to fulfill- 

ment. In comic stories the protagonist is gradually assimilated into society (in 

contrast to tragedy, where the hero becomes progressively isolated from society). 

The typical ending of a comedy is a marriage, feast, reconciliation, or victory over 

enemies. Two contrasting ways of concluding a comic story are the conversion of 

villainous characters and the expulsion of such characters from the scene of fes- 

tivity or triumph. 

 

Plot Devices 

 

The overall comic movement from bondage to freedom is accompanied by a host 

of familiar story elements that have become virtually synonymous with literary 

comedy: disguise, mistaken identity, character transformation from bad to good, 

surprise, miracle, providential assistance to good characters, sudden reversal of 

misfortune, rescue from disaster, poetic justice, the motif of lost and found, rever- 

sal of conventional expectations (as when the younger child is preferred over the 

older), sudden release. Whereas tragedy stresses what is inevitable, comedy is 

built around the unforeseeable. 

 

Comedy as the Dominant Biblical Form 

 

It is a commonplace of literary criticism that comedy rather than tragedy is the 

dominant narrative form of the Bible and the Christian gospel.⁸ The Bible as a 

whole begins with a perfect world, descends into the misery of fallen history, and 

ends with a new world of total happiness and victory over evil. Within this overall 

comic structure occur numerous smaller U-shaped stories of the type described 

above. Perhaps the stories of Joseph and Ruth are prototypical, but in fact such 

stories dominate biblical narrative. There are even stories (including the Book of 

Job and the four Gospels) that are often considered to be tragedies but that are 

actually comic in structure if we take the ending of the story into account. 

 

TRAGEDY 

Tragedy has held an honored position in literature generally. It is less pervasive 

in the Bible than in literature as a whole, but it is nonetheless an important biblical 

form. 

 

The Story of a Fall 

 

At the level of plot or action, tragedy is the story of exceptional calamity. It por- 

trays a movement from prosperity to catastrophe. Because it depicts a change of 

fortune, tragedy must be differentiated from pathos, which depicts unmitigated 

suffering from the very start. Tragedy focuses on what we most fear and wish to 

avoid facing—the destructive potential of evil. 

 

The Tragic Hero 

 

In tragedy the focus is on the tragic protagonist, who until modern times was a 

person of high social standing. Such a tragic hero, usually a king or ruler, is 

greater than common humanity, though not superior to the natural order and to 

moral criticism. The high position of a tragic hero at the beginning of the story 

goes beyond his or her belonging to the social elite; this exalted figure is under- 

stood to be representative of general humanity. Ordinarily a tragic hero possesses 

something that we can call greatness of spirit. All of this grandeur is brought tum- 

bling down by a final trait of the tragic hero—a tragic flaw of character. Aristotle’s 

word for it was hamartia (translated “sin” in the New Testament), a missing of the 

mark. Aristotle described it as “some great error or frailty,” some “defect which is 

painful or destructive.” In other words, tragedy always portrays caused suffering. 

 

The Plot of Tragedy 

 

The plot of tragedy focuses on human choice. The story begins with the protag- 

onist facing a dilemma that demands a choice. Drawn in two or more directions, 

the tragic hero makes a tragic choice that leads inevitably to catastrophe and suf- 

fering. This means that a tragic hero is always responsible for the downfall (since it 

is the result of choice and action by the hero). Usually the tragic hero is also de- 

serving of the downfall, since the choice involved some frailty of character (though 

in literary tragedy generally the punishment is disproportionately great compared 

with the fault). Often a tragic hero achieves some measure of moral perception as 

a result of his or her suffering. 

 

A Definition of Tragedy 

 

To summarize, tragic stories tend to unfold according to the following tragic pat- 

tern of action: dilemma /choice /catastrophe /suffering /perception/ death. 

Tragedy can be defined as a narrative form in which a protagonist of high degree 

and greatness of spirit undertakes an action (makes a choice) within a given tragic 

world and as a result inevitably falls from prosperity to a state of physical and spir- 

itual suffering, sometimes attaining perception. 

 

Biblical Tragedies 

 

The prototypical biblical tragedy is the story of the Fall in Genesis 3. The great 

masterpiece of biblical tragedy is the story of Saul in 1 Samuel.⁹ If we keep in mind 

that tragedy assigns a specific cause to the hero’s downfall and localizes the 

beginning of woe at a particular point in the hero’s life, the story of David as nar- 

rated in 1 and 2 Samuel adheres to a tragic pattern, since David’s tragic sufferings 

begin with the Bathsheba/Uriah incident. The story of Samson (Judg. 13–16) is 

also a tragedy. Some of the parables of Jesus also enact the tragic pattern.¹⁰ 

 

The Book of Job and the Gospels 

 

In addition to these full-fledged tragedies, there are two major instances of biblical 

narrative where the definition of literary tragedy partly fits the story, even though 

the story as a whole is comic. Because tragedy deals with human suffering, the 

Book of Job has repeatedly been discussed in terms of literary tragedy, although 

the story as a whole has the U-shaped movement and happy ending of comedy. 

The same situation is true of the four Gospels: they conclude with the happy end- 

ing of a comic plot, but much of the action before that falls into the pattern of 

literary tragedy.¹¹ 

 

The Relative Absence of Tragedy in the Bible 

 

The most remarkable thing about the Bible and literary tragedy is that there are so 

few tragedies in the Bible. In a book so concerned with sin and the judgment upon 

sin, we might expect to find an abundance of tragedy. Yet as Northrop Frye puts it, 

“The Bible is not very friendly to tragic themes.”¹² The Bible focuses its attention 

on the redemptive potential of human tragedy. While never minimizing the facts 

of human evil and suffering, the Bible is, however, preoccupied with more than 

what is tragic in human suffering. The result is a collection of stories of potential 

tragedy—stories on which a modern writer could base a tragedy but which in their 

biblical version avoid a tragic ending through the intervention of human repen- 

tance and divine forgiveness. 

 

Further Reading 

Even when critics do not use the term “heroic narrative,” the commonest ap- 

proach to the stories of the Old Testament is some version of what I have defined 

under that heading. Specimens of such commentary can be found in Images of 

Man and God: Old Testament Short Stories in Literary Focus, ed. Burke O. Long 

(Sheffield: Almond, 1981). Explications of selected Old Testament stories are 

given in my book The Literature of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974) in 

chapters on heroic narrative (pp. 45-78), the epic of the Exodus (pp. 81-92), and 

biblical tragedy (pp. 95-106). 

 

 

¹Walter Houghton and G. Robert Stange, ed., Victorian Poetry and Poetics (Bos- 

ton: Houghton Mifflin, 1968), xxiii. 

²Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners, ed. Sally and Robert Fitzgerald 

(New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1957), 73. 

³Frank Kermode, “Interpretive Continuities and the New Testament,” Raritan, 

Spring 1982, 36. 

⁴The Return of Eden: Five Essays on Milton’s Epics (Toronto: University of Toron- 

to Press, 1965), 3. 

⁵Hugh M. Richmond, The Christian Revolutionary: John Milton (Berkeley: Univ- 

ersity of California Press, 1974), 124. 

⁶Richmond, 124. 

⁷E. M. W. Tillyard, The English Epic and Its Background (London: Chatto and 

Windus, 1966), 6, 8. 

⁸For good discussions, see the following: Frederick Buechner, Telling the 

Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale (New York: Harper and Row, 

1977), 49–98; Nelvin Vos, The Drama of Comedy: Victim and Victor (Richmond: 

John Knox Press, 1966); Paul H. Grawe, Comedy in Space, Time, and the Imagi- 

nation (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1983), 267–99; Northrop Frye, The Great Code (New 

York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982), 169–98. 

⁹The best discussion of a biblical tragedy that I have seen is the analysis of the 

Saul story by Edwin M. Good, Irony in the Old Testament (Philadelphia: West- 

minster, 1965), 56–80. 

¹⁰For a preliminary discussion, see Dan Otto Via, Jr., The Parables: Their Literary 

and Existential Dimension (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967), especially 110–44. 

¹¹On the tragic dimension of the Gospels, see especially Roger L. Cox, 

“Tragedy and the Gospel Narratives,” Yale Review, 57 (1968), 545–70; and Gilbert 

G. Bilezikian, The Liberated Gospel: A Comparison of the Gospel of Mark and Greek 

Tragedy (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1977). 

¹²The Great Code, 181.