HCSB: Navigating the Horizons in Bible Translations by E. Ray Clendenen & David K. Stabnow

Author:E. Ray Clendenen & David K. Stabnow
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Bible
ISBN: 9781433614767
Publisher: B&H Books
Published: 2013-03-01T22:00:00+00:00

6

Issues in

Poetic & Prophetic Books

The sections of the Hebrew Old Testament referred to as Prophecy, Poetry, and Wisdom are mostly composed in poetic style. Adding to that the occasional songs of praise in the Historical section and the exalted prose here and there in the New Testament, it is reasonable to conclude that one-third of the Bible is in the form of poetry.1 A good translation philosophy needs to take this into consideration.

Prose is used to convey historical facts and doctrinal truth. One might say that we see the mind of God in prose. Poetry conveys emotions and ideals. The Holy Spirit of God inspired many people through the ages to express their thoughts and feelings in poetic form. Upon first seeing Eve, Adam expressed delight through poetry (Gn 2:23). Moses recorded God’s deep disappointment and strict judgment to Eve and Adam in poetic form (Gn 3:16–19). When God miraculously delivered Israel from the Egyptians at the Red Sea,

Moses and the Israelites broke out in song (Ex 15:1–18). David conveyed his depression, fear, rage, and praise for the benefit of future generations of God’s people (Pss 42; 55; 109; 145 respectively). Solomon bequeathed his son a collection of pithy maxims (Proverbs), explored the futility of mortality (Ecclesiastes), and composed a love song (Song of Songs). At God’s leading, Isaiah warned about judgment and consoled those who listened, Jeremiah warned and wept, and Ezekiel warned and envisioned. If prose reveals the mind of God, poetry unveils His heart.2

God chose to inspire a significant portion of Scripture as poetry. Therefore it is important for a translation to bring out as many of the nuances of Hebrew poetry as possible so that the student of Scripture has optimal access to the heart of the divine Author.

Poetic Style

Poetry in modern Western culture is not like poetry in the ancient Middle-eastern culture. Where we have meter and rhyme, the Hebrews had parallelism and chiasm (defined below). Where we have sonnets, the Bible features alphabetic acrostics. But modern and ancient poetry share an affinity for symbolic language, concrete images, profound expressions, concise phrases, and creative word choice.3

PARALLELISM

Hebrew poets generally didn’t try to make their words rhyme, though alliteration and assonance were used (see “Paranomasia, Assonance, and Other Wordplay” below). There is good evidence that a lamentation used a certain rhythm, but otherwise the existence of meter in Hebrew poetry is debatable. However, parallelism has long been recognized as the standard methodology of Hebrew poetry.

Much of Hebrew poetry exhibits clear parallelism. Long poems consist mostly of several pairs of lines (bicola), though tricola and quatrains are also common. The relationship between two lines of poetry has traditionally been described in one of three ways.

In synonymous parallelism the second line repeats the thoughts of the first line using synonyms (though an element such as the verb may be left out). However, the second line is not merely saying the same thing as the first line. There is usually something added or an intensification. For example, consider the two lines of Ps 2:4.

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