Parallelism

Use in Scripture

In Hebrew poetry, the pairing of lines is more prominent than regular end rhyme or a fixed number of syllables. This paired structure is called parallelism. It occurs throughout the poetic texts of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, and Lamentations, as well as in the poetic passages of prophetic books such as Isaiah. It is commonly divided into the following types.

• Synonymous parallelism: The second line restates the meaning of the first in different words. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork" (Psalm 19:1).
• Antithetic parallelism: The second line sharpens the first by stating a contrasting idea. "A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother" (Proverbs 10:1). This type is especially common in Proverbs.
• Synthetic parallelism: The second line takes up the first and extends the thought or adds a consequence (Psalm 23:1).
• Climactic (staircase) parallelism: The same words are repeated as the thought builds step by step (Psalm 29:1-2).

Background and Scholarship

The first person to describe this structure systematically is generally held to be Robert Lowth, an English Anglican clergyman. In his lectures on Hebrew poetry, published in 1753, he called it the "parallelism of lines" and divided it into three categories: synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic. This classification is still widely used in introductory works. Similar paired structures are also found in other poetry of the ancient Near East, particularly in the Ugaritic texts. Since the late twentieth century, scholars have held that the second line does not simply repeat the first; rather, it often makes the meaning of the first line more specific or more intense.

Continuation in the New Testament

The same structure carries over into the New Testament. One example is the saying of Jesus, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find" (Matthew 7:7). Mary's song, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" (Luke 1:46-47), likewise follows the paired structure of Old Testament poetry.

Interpretation and Debated Points

Many commentators recommend reading the two lines of synonymous parallelism as a single thought emphasized through repetition rather than separating them into two distinct teachings.

A passage frequently discussed in this connection is the account of the Triumphal Entry. The phrase in Zechariah 9:9, "riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass," is read as parallelism that describes a single animal twice. Matthew 21:2-7, however, speaks of two animals, a donkey and a colt.

• Some scholars hold that Matthew understood the parallelism literally as referring to two animals.
• Other interpreters hold that two animals were actually present: Mark, Luke, and John recorded only one of them, while Matthew mentioned both in order to emphasize the fulfillment of the prophecy.

In the Korean Church

Most of the responsive readings printed in Korean hymnals are drawn from the Psalms. When the leader and the congregation read alternately, the paired lines take the form of call and response. Some translations, such as the Revised New Korean Standard Version, set out poetic texts line by line. As a result, the parallel structure is more readily visible than in the New Korean Revised Version, which prints verses continuously like prose paragraphs.