There are three basic types of literature in the Bible: narrative, poetry, and discourse, and each type communicates in a different way. Last month we talked about reading Bible stories; this week we’re talking about poetry. Did you know that one out of every three chapters in the Bible is poetry? When you think of poetry in the Bible, you probably think of the Psalms, or maybe the Song of Solomon—but there’s a lot more poetry in the Bible than that. In fact, Hebrew prophets tended to also be poets. You can’t tell as easily once it’s been translated into English, but when the prophets wrote down their prophecies from God they were writing deep, sophisticated poetry. Even the Apostle Paul incorporates some poetry into his writings! (I’m glad we don’t expect that from our pastors now—I can’t imagine writing an entire sermon in verse!) So why do we care that there is so much poetry in the Bible? Because poetry is read differently from other kinds of writing. When you see a passage of s
(or, A Fragment of Theology)