![]() ![]() Refrains may vary in length from one to five co. 6 Commenting on refrain-psalms, Raabe notes, “The refrains mark the stanza divisions of these poems.” 7 ![]() Watson notes that ancient Near Eastern and biblical Hebrew poets used refrains to segment poems. Literary studies universally agree that the refrain plays an important role as a structuring device that determines the framework of poems in which it occurs. Preminger’s definition of the refrain is generally deemed the classic one: “A line, lines, or part of a line repeated verbatim at intervals throughout a poem, usually at regular intervals, and most often at the end of a stanza.” 4 Adapting Preminger’s definition to account for the unique nature of Hebrew poetry, van der Lugt writes, “I define a refrain as follows: a repetition of an unbroken series of words, roughly in the same sequence and encompassing at least a colon, with a framing function on the level of the macrostructure of a poem.” 5įunction of refrains. 3 Becoming more sensitive to refrains in Hebrew poetry in general places one in a better position to consider their important role in the Song. 2 Recent studies that have focused on the so-called refrain-poems in Psalms have made a Scholars have shown interest in the refrain in Hebrew poetry throughout the twentieth century. The Refrain in Hebrew Poetry and the Song of Songs The purpose of this article is to examine afresh two features that provide a roadmap to the literary structure of the Song, namely, its poetic refrains and its parallel panels. 1 Having been alerted to the pitfalls of past misadventures and heartened by the promises of contemporary literary approaches, the way is now clear to reconsider the enigma of this labyrinth from a fresh perspective. In the Psalter a poetic line generally coincides with a Masoretic verse. 6 In the Hebrew Bible a poetic line or line of poetry is composed of two or three cola. The two previous installments in this series surveyed various approaches to the literary structure of the Song of Songs. Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, with special reference to the First Book of the Psalter (Old Testament Studies 53), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2006. Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry III: Psalms 90-150 and Psalm 1 (OTS 63 Leiden: Brill, 2014), 45. ![]() Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry: With Special Reference to the First Book of the Psalter. Johnston is Associate Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas. selected portions of poetry in the Hebrew Bible. The Enigmatic Genre and Structure of the Song of Songs, Part 3 Article: The Enigmatic Genre and Structure of the Song of Songs, Part 3 ![]()
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