| PSALMS - OVERVIEW, PART THREE |
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The Way of Life Spiritual Development Center |
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Psalms Overview, Part Three
Features of the Psalms
Parallelism is one formal feature of the psalms that can be observed in English. A study Bible will help you with this feature.
Two lines of a psalm are called couplets.
Synonymous Parallelism: The second line repeats the first line in a more creative and expressive way. Sometimes it is connected by the word, "and" or the connection is implied.
Example: .
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
1. Look at heavens in the first line. The synonym is the skies in the second line.
2. Look at declare in the first line. Its synonym in the second line is proclaim.
3. Look at the phrase the glory of God in the first line. Its synonym in the second line is the work of his hands.
Read the rest of Psalm 19:1. See if you can use the same method.
1. Day after day is synonymous with what? Yes, night after night.
2. Pour forth is synonymous with what? Yes, display.
3. Speech is parallelled to what? Yes, knowledge.
You got it! Make a promise to yourself that you will read all the psalms keeping this synonymous parallelism in mind which is common in many of the psalms.
Antithetic Parallelism: The second line contrasts or is opposite of the first line. Sometimes the lines are connected by the word, "but."
Example: Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment
but his favor lasts a lifetime.
Anger is the opposite of favor; moment is the opposite of lifetime. They are connected with the word "but."
Progressive or Synthetic Parallelism: The first line is repeated in the second line with some added information.
Example: Psalm 93:3
The floods have lifted up, O Lord.
The floods have lifted up their voice.
Emblematic Parallelism: One line is figurative and the other line tells you what the lines are actually about.
Stairlike or Climactic Parallelism: Repetition and development are in successive lines.
Figures of Speech
Figurative language is a term used to refer to words being used with a non-literal sense to represent something to the than their usual literal meaning. Below are some of the most commonly used figures of speech.
1. Simile is a comparison between two things using the words "like" or "as" to compare the two things.
2. Metaphor is calling one thing something else because of its likeness without using "like" or "as."
3. Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration. The statement is not true. It on;y paints a better picture.
4. Personification is speaking to an inanimate object as if it was a person.
5. Anthropomorphism is ascribing human physical characteristics to things that are not human.
6. Irony is when language is used to mean the opposite of its literal sense.
7. Euphemism is a way of using a more pleasant word or statement to be less offensive.
8. Rhetoric Question is a question that is asked to make a point, but it does not require an answer.
There are many other figures of speech, but the above ones are present in the psalms. The simile and metaphor are the most popular ones.
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| Last updated 2025/09/04 18:07:40 EDT | Hits 199 |
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