Poetic Books

In the Bible

Protestant tradition divides the 39 books of the Old Testament into the Law (the Pentateuch), the Historical Books, the Poetic Books, the Major Prophets, and the Minor Prophets. The Poetic Books comprise five of these books.

• Job: Deals with the suffering of the righteous Job, his debates with his friends, and God's answer. Apart from the narrative sections at the beginning and end, the book is written mostly in poetry.
• Psalms: A collection of 150 prayers and songs of praise, divided into five books. It includes psalms of praise, thanksgiving, lament, and repentance. Many psalms bear the name of David in their superscriptions.
• Proverbs: A collection of practical wisdom in the form of short sayings. The opening superscription bears the name of Solomon (Proverbs 1:1).
• Ecclesiastes: Reflects on the transience of human life with the refrain "Vanity of vanities." The book closes with an exhortation to fear God (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
• Song of Solomon: A poem celebrating the love between a man and a woman. Its Hebrew title means "the Song of Songs."

Background

The Korean term for this group, siga, means "poems and songs." The classification is therefore based on literary form rather than content. The chief feature of Hebrew poetry is parallelism rather than meter. In parallelism, a second line repeats, contrasts with, or develops the meaning of the preceding line.

In the Hebrew Bible (the Masoretic Text), these books are placed, along with others, among the Writings. The present arrangement is generally understood to have become established in the Christian biblical tradition following the Septuagint. Poetic form is not limited to these five books; Lamentations and substantial portions of the prophetic books are also written in poetry.

Connection with the New Testament

The New Testament frequently quotes the Poetic Books, especially the Psalms.

• After his resurrection, Jesus spoke of the things written concerning him "in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms" (Luke 24:44).
• On the cross, Jesus cried out the words of Psalm 22:1 (Mark 15:34).
• "The stone which the builders refused" (Psalm 118:22) is applied to Christ in the New Testament.
• Proverbs 3:11–12 is quoted in Hebrews 12:5–6 to explain chastening and discipline.
• Paul exhorted the church to speak to one another "in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19).

Interpretation and Issues

• Scope: The Catholic Church includes in its grouping of "Poetic and Wisdom Books" not only these five books but also the deuterocanonical books of Wisdom and Sirach. The Poetic Books and wisdom literature overlap but are not synonymous; wisdom literature usually refers to Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
• Song of Solomon: Some interpreters read it literally as a love song. Jewish tradition, by contrast, has maintained an allegorical reading in terms of the relationship between God and Israel, and Christian tradition in terms of the relationship between Christ and the church.
• Authorship: The traditional view holds that David and Solomon, who are named in the superscriptions, were the authors. Another view regards these names as indicating dedication or tradition. The author and date of composition of Job are unknown.
• Psalmody in worship: The Reformed tradition, influenced by John Calvin, has placed great importance on singing metrical psalms. Some Presbyterian churches still sing only psalms in worship.

In the Korean Church

The responsive readings printed in the back of the hymnal are drawn largely from the Psalms. Psalm 23 is frequently read at funeral services and during pastoral visits. The practice of reading one chapter of Proverbs, which has 31 chapters, each day so as to finish the book in a month is also widely known among church members. Many gospel songs set verses from the Psalms to music.