How to Read Biblical Poetry

The poems found in the Old Testament are part of the Word of God, and it's important to learn how to read and understand them.

Poems are prime examples of the “poetic function” of language, composed with a “focus on the language for its own sake.” Their study entails several fundamental convictions:

1. That they are poems;
2. That the goal is not to “condense” or “summarize” the poem in a prose statement (e.g., “This poem means . . .” or “ . . . says . . .”);
3. That study requires contemplation—a patient receptivity rather than an insistent probing;
4. That the poem’s text is the primary witness to the poem, not its proposed history (i.e., the details of the poet’s life, or when or why it was composed);
5. That the poet wrote with concentration focused on every nuance of the linguistic resources at his or her command; and
6. That we cannot know what the biblical poet was thinking when composing a line or poem or choosing a particular word or verbal form.

We read biblical poems with the conviction that each poem is a word from God, which leads us to expect that the poem will discuss or suggest some aspect of God and his relationship with what he has made, is redeeming, and sustains, and which we will want therefore to hear and understand. And this makes us even more diligent students of the text.

The poetic function of language suggests that noticing the details of the poet’s language ought to strengthen our ability to appreciate the fruit of the poet’s labors and that our ability to appreciate the poet’s creativity is a necessary part of a genuine poetic encounter—the aesthetic appreciation that rewards close study is also an aspect of understanding.

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