What is synthetic parallelism in Hebrew poetry?
Answered from the commentary of Arno Clemens Gaebelein, Arend Remmers and Morrish Bible Dictionary
Synthetic parallelism is a form of Hebrew poetic parallelism in which the second clause develops, completes, or expands the thought of the first. The two members may contain different ideas, joined by an affinity between them. Most descriptions emphasize this development or completion; one account also allows the halves to express the same sentiment or explain it. For example, in Psalm 22:4, the final clause completes and expands the thought of the first.
Verses: Psalms 22:4
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What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
In saying this we have already mentioned one style of Hebrew poetry, which is alliteration. Alliteration means that the beginning of words is similar and not the ending of words. One variety of alliteration is to have each verse begin with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, as we find it in Ps. 9, 10, 25, 34, 47, 111, 112, 145 as well as in Proverbs 31:10-31 and Lam. 1-4 (compare also Ps. 119). The often very pictorial comparisons are a further element of Hebrew poetry (see Ps. 1:3; 22:12-16).
The most important characteristic however is parallelism. Parallelism means that a statement is stressed or extended by repetition. One distinguishes three kinds of parallelisms:
a) Synonymous parallelism, for example Ps. 49:1 "Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world." - The same thought is expressed twice with different words.
b) Antithetic (contrasted) parallelism, for example Ps. 1:6 "For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." - The thought of the first sentence is stressed by the contrast in the final clause.
c) Synthetic (connecting) parallelism, for example Ps. 22:4 "Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them." - The final clause completes and expands the thought of the first sentence.
Synthetic Parallelism. The second clause develops the thought of the first.
The synthetical or constructive, in which the two members contain two disparate ideas, which, however, are connected by a certain affinity between them, as in Proverbs 1:7:
In some stanzas, called 'synthetical,' one half corresponds to the other, either in expressing the same sentiment or explaining it: thus - "But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; Therefore shall ye flee: And, We will ride upon the swift; Therefore shall they that pursue you be swift." Isa. 30:16,
Other stanzas are called 'antithetical,' in which the second half is the reverse of the first: as "The memory of the just is blessed: But the name of the wicked shall rot." Prov. 10:7
The Proverbs is a book of poetry. The proverbs vary in style: some are antithetical couplets, one being the opposite of the other, as "a wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." Others are synthetical, the second sentence enforcing the first, as "The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." See POETRY.
It needs to be explained that Hebrew poetry is different from the poetry of Occidental languages. It knows nothing of rhymed verses, though a rhythmical arrangement is quite often noticeable. The fundamental law of Hebrew poetry is parallelism, which is also very frequently found in the other books which ar not classed as poetical. This parallelism has been
divided in a threefold form. The synonymous, in which the same sentiment is repeated in different but equivalent words, as in Ps. 25:4, "Show me Thy ways O LORD, Teach me Thy paths"; the antithetical, in which the parallel members express the opposite sides of the same thought as in Psalm 20:8.
The literary form of these proverbs is mostly in the form of couplets or distichs. The two clauses of the couplet are generally related to each other by what has been termed parallelism, according to Hebrew poetry. Three kinds of parallelism have been pointed out.
Synonymous Parallelism. Here the second clause restates what is given in the first clause.
Antithetic Parallelism. Here a truth which is stated in the first clause is made stronger in the second clause by contrast with an opposite truth.
From these simple examples the form of the stanzas varies in many ways. The first example we meet with is what Lamech said to his wives. It will be seen that it is in parallelism, or correspondence. "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." Gen. 4:23-24.
Hebrew parallelism is again made to do duty in interpreting Isaiah xlii. 5, lvii. 16. Mr. Constable would have it that Parallelism consists in merely using synonymous expressions in the "parallel" sentences. This is a false and unworthy conception of it, which would reduce it to mere tautology. It is not so, as every verse in which it is used bears witness. How unworthy a repetition would it be to make Isaiah say, as Mr. C. would: "He that giveth breath to the people upon it, and breath (spirit) to them that walk therein."* Yet these are proofs, he considers, that establish the identity of the breath of life with the Spirit.
Verses
- Psalms 22:4Our fathers confided in thee they confided, and thou didst deliver them.