Shapes of the Psalms

S E A V E R C O L L E G E R E L I G I O N D I V I S I O N

SHAPES OF THE PSALMS

by Dr. Chris Heard

Larger Structures in Biblical Poetry

The most basic building block of a biblical poem is a parallelistic couplet, two lines that go together as a unit.

If you’re not familiar with parallelism, please view my presentation called Parallelism in Biblical Poetry.

Of course, biblical poets did more than just string couplets together.

The biblical poets combined parallelism with other, larger structures to produce complex and beautiful poetry.

This presentation introduces four of the larger structures that biblical psalmists used to shape their poems.

Refrains or recurring verses are easy to spot. They’re like the choruses of modern songs on the radio.

Take a look at Psalm 46. Notice that verses 7 and 11 are identical. That’s a refrain.

Refrains don’t have to be precisely identical, just like choruses in modern songs don’t have to be precisely identical.

For example, Psalm 99:5 and 99:9 seem to be a refrain, even though the wording changes slightly.

A refrain that occurs only at the beginning and end of a poem or poetic unit can be called an inclusion or envelope.

To see an inclusion or envelope in action, check out Psalm 8. Notice that the first and last verses are identical.

Biblical poets sometimes would nest or embed envelopes within envelopes within envelopes …

… a little bit like a stacking matryoshka.

Nesting envelopes inside envelopes produces a concentric structure.

Sometimes the concentric structure has a center point that stands alone.

How can you say to your brother or sister, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,”

when there’s a log in your own eye?You deceive yourself!

First take the log out of your eye,and then you’ll see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s or sister’s eye.

— Matthew 7:4–5, CEB

A

B C B'

A'

Sometimes the concentric structure doesn’t have a central pivot point.

The Sabbath was createdfor humans;humans

weren’t created for the Sabbath.— Mark 2:27, CEB

A B B'A'

These concentric structures often depend more on corresponding ideas than on repeated words.

Please read Psalm 49 before proceeding. Can you perceive a concentric structure in Psalm 49?

Don’t fear wealthy persecutors (49:5-9)Both wise and foolish people die (49:10–13)Fools die, but God will save the poet (49:14–15)

Don’t be intimidated by wealthy people (49:16–20)

A B B'A'

Some scholars prefer to use the word chiasm for concentric structures …

… because you can indent the lines to look like half of the Greek letter chi, which resembles an X.

XHow can you say to your brother or sister, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,”

when there’s a log in your own eye?You deceive yourself!

First take the log out of your eye,and then you’ll see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s or sister’s eye.

— Matthew 7:4–5, CEB

A

B C B'

A'

XThe Sabbath was createdfor humans;humans

weren’t created for the Sabbath.— Mark 2:27, CEB

A B B'A'

Finally, let’s look at something different: acrostic psalms.

An acrostic poem is one where the first letter of each line spells out something.

Biblical psalmists liked alphabetic acrostics, as if the first five lines of their poems started with A, B, C, D, and E.

It’s pretty difficult to translate a Hebrew alphabetic acrostic into English in a way that results in an English alphabetic acrostic, but some people have tried.

Agree not to fret yourself because of the wicked,be not envious of wrongdoers!

Be confident in the LORD, and do good;so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.

Commit your way to the LORD;trust in him, and he will act.

Do not worry about the LORD’s deeds,but wait patiently for him.

— Psalm 37:1a, 2–4, J. Hempel

Unless you can read Hebrew, you probably won’t spot alphabetic acrostics in the psalms.

But knowing about them helps you understand the structure of the longest psalm, Psalm 119.

In most Bibles, you’ll see the name of a Hebrew letter before Psalm 119:1, 9, 17, 25, and so on.

Psalm 119 (CEB)   ALEF

1 Those whose way is blameless—who walk in the LORD’s Instruction—are truly happy!

2 Those who guard God’s laws are truly happy!They seek God with all their hearts …

  BET 9 How can young people keep their paths pure?

By guarding them according to what you’ve said.10 I have sought you with all my heart.

Don’t let me stray from any of your commandments!

א

ב

In Psalm 119, verses 1–8 all start with the Hebrew letter alef, verses 9–16 all start with bet, and so on.

It’s sort of like an alphabetic acrostic gone wild.

And that’s why Psalm 119 is so long:

22 letters× 8 verses per letter

= 176 verses.

Refrains, inclusions, concentric structures, and alphabetic acrostics aren’t the only larger structures that biblical poets used.

But they’re pretty easy to understand and spot (except alphabetic acrostics, unless you’re reading Hebrew) …

… and learning about them can help you better enjoy the biblical psalms as poetry.

For Further Study

David L. PetersenInterpreting Hebrew Poetry Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992

Credits

“King David Playing the Harp” by Hendrick ter Brugghen, c. 1688. Oil on canvas. National Museum in Warsaw. Public domain due to age.

Matryoshka doll photo by Wikimedia Commons user Fanghong, modified by Gnomz007. Used under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-SA) license.

Slideshow by Dr. Chris Heard of Pepperdine University. Supported by a Faculty Innovation in Technology and Learning Grant, 2009–10.

Hempel’s acrostic translation of Psalm 37 quoted from S.E. Gillingham, The Poems and Psalms of the Hebrew Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 196–197.