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Free Bible Study Lessons on Poetry
Bible Lesson 1: How to interpret Poetry?

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Summary of the video on "How to interpret Biblical Poetry."

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In these free Bible study lessons on Poetry you will experience how easy it is to interpret the poetry. The good news is that you use the same GPS method of the previous modules. The only difference is in step A (analysis) of START of the First Process of Understanding.

I trust that you will enjoy the free Bible study lessons on Poetry. Have fun!

You need to take the following in consideration when you analyze Poetry.

Characteristics of Poetry

_ To interpret the poetry parts of Bible books, we need to understand the characteristics of Poetry.

The most prominent characteristics of Biblical poetry are the use of: 

  • Parallelisms
  • Similes
  • Metaphors
  • Personification
  • Hyperbole

Parallelisms

Parallelism is the expression of one idea in two or more different ways. It means that there is a connection between two successive lines.

The connection is that the two lines express the same meaning in a different way.  It is called similar parallelism.

The two lines can also express the opposite meaning. It is called contrasting parallelism.

An Example of Similar Parallelism:

Psalm 6

1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
   or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint; 
   heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony. (NIV)

An Example of Contrasting Parallelism:

Proverbs 13

3 Those who guard their lips preserve their lives,
  but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.
4 A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,
  but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. (NIV)

The advantages of parallelism:

  • It creates balance and beauty;
  • It highlights the themes;
  • It involves your emotion and
  • It stimulates your imagination.

Similes

A simile is a comparison between people or things that uses “like” or “as” — A is like B:

Examples

9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. (Song of Songs 2: NIV)

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
  which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
   whatever they do prospers.  (Psalm 1: NIV)

Metaphor

Metaphors describe something in terms of something else, so creating a picture which throws light on the thing described.

Examples

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path.  (Psalm 119: NIV)

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
   the LORD bestows favor and honor;  (Psalm 84: NIV)

Personification

Assigning the characteristics of a human to lifeless objects.

Examples

1 Wisdom has built her house;
   she has set up its seven pillars (Proverbs 9: NIV)
11 Let the rivers clap their hands;
     Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, (Psalm 98: NKJV)

Hyperbole

Conscious exaggeration for emotional effect and to emphasize a point.

Examples

29 In your strength I can crush an army; 
     
   with my God I can scale any wall. (Psalm 18: NLT)
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
   All night long I flood my bed with weeping
   and drench my couch with tears. (Psalm 6: NIV)



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