PROVERBS 20: TYPES OF HEBREW POETRY

 

                                 Proverbs 20 (collage, 1994)

The foundation of all Hebrew poetry in the Old Testament is based two or three lines of roughly the same length with each line expressing the same idea. But in practice, the inspired authors exercised a great deal of freedom in applying this model. A good example is the variety of types of parallelism exhibited in the poetic saying found in Proverbs 20.

Identical, or Synonymous, Parallelism – The parallel lines in a verse express basically the same thought with each element of each line presented in the same order. The last line often expands on the idea in the first.

    “Take a man's garment when he has given surety for a stranger, and

     hold him in pledge      when he gives surety        for foreigners.” (Proverbs 20:16)

Additional examples are seen in verses 9, 18, 23, and 30.

Antithetic Parallelism – Two examples of opposite behavior are compared with one another.

    “Love not sleep, lest you come to   poverty;

     open your eyes, and you will         have plenty of bread.” (Proverbs 20:13)

“The glory of young men is their strength, but

  the beauty of old men    is their gray hair.” (Proverbs 20:29)

Similar examples are found in verses 3 and 6. The presence of “but” linking the two lines is often an indication of this type of parallelism.

Symbolic Parallelism – Similes or metaphors are utilized in one line and restated in literal terms in the other one.

    “The dread wrath of a king is like the growling of a lion; FIGURATIVE

    he who provokes him to anger forfeits his life.” LITERAL (Proverbs 20:2)

    “There is gold, and abundance of costly stones; LITERAL

    but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.” FIGURATIVE (Proverbs 20:15)

Introverted, or Chiastic, Parallelism – Each line of the poem expresses the same basic idea, but the elements of each sentence are presented in opposite order.

    “Loyalty and faithfulness

            preserve

                    the king, and

                    his throne

            is upheld

    by righteousness.” (Proverbs 20:28)

The same sort of mirror-image format appears in verses 8 and 24.

Incomplete Parallelism – Each line expresses the same idea, but one of the elements is missing in the second line.

    “ Wine             is   a mocker,

      strong drink (is) a brawler.” (Proverbs 20:1a)

“A wise king winnows                   the wicked,

and (he)        drives the wheel over them.” (Proverbs 20:26)

Note that the verb is omitted in the first example and the subject in the second one. These omissions are often done so that each pair of lines in a verse ends up to be approximately the same length.

Synthetic Parallelism – The second line merely continues the thought of the first line with no duplication. In this case, “parallelism” is really a misnomer. Basically, these are just literal sentences divided in the middle.

“Diverse weights and diverse measures

                                                               are an abomination to the LORD.” (Proverbs 20:10)

“If one curses his father or his mother,

                                                              his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.” (Proverbs 20:20)

Stair-Step Parallelism – This type is similar to synthetic parallelism except for the fact that the last element in the first line has its counterpart in the first element of the second line.

“An inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning

                                                 in the end will not be blessed.” (Proverbs 20:21)

Since the parallel elements here are actually contrasted with one another, this could be considered a mixed type: antithetic stair-step parallelism. Other examples of mixed types in Proverbs 20 are shown below.

Symbolic Antithetic

“The purpose in a man's mind is like deep water,

but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Proverbs 20:5)

Introverted Antithetic

“'It is bad, it is bad,' says the buyer; but

when he goes away, then he boasts.” (Proverbs 20:14)

Symbolic Introverted

    “The spirit

            of man

                    is the lamp of the LORD,

                    searching

            his

    innermost parts.” (Proverbs 20:27)

As you can see, the various types of parallelism are all at the disposal of the poets to be utilized singly or in combination with one another in creative ways in order to get their points across to the audience in memorable ways.