WHAT IS PARALLELISM?

Bible poetry’s greatest technique is not to rhyme sounds, as in much English poetry, but to “rhyme” ideas—that is, to put two or more lines together that somehow match each other. We should be grateful to God that this is the mainstay of biblical poetry because it translates nicely into nearly all languages and not too much beauty is lost in the translation process. Our Lord Himself also frequently spoke in parallelism. (Carefully reread, e.g., Matthew 5–7 and John 13–17 after studying the following notes.)

We would like to present some examples of the main types of Hebrew parallelism.

1. SYNONYMOUS PARALLELISM
As the name implies, this type has the second or parallel line saying about the same thing as the first—for emphasis. Proverbs is especially full of these:

In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death (Prov. 12:28).

I am the rose of Sharon,
And the lily of the valleys (Song 2:1).

2 Peter 1:1
Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ


Ephesians 1:2
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 22:1
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Glory