10 QUESTIONS FROM POETRY TO CHRISTIANITY

© Carlos Padilla – October 2023

1.- Does the Bible have other poetic books apart from the book of Psalms?

The Bible, and especially the Old Testament, as part of Hebrew poetry, counts with several books which are classified as poetic and/or sapiential. The first book we find in the Biblical order is the book of Job, followed by the most famous, the book of Psalms, with 150. Following the order of the canon of the Bible is the book of the known Proverbs, with 31 (of which we may suggest reading one each day of the month to acquire wisdom). Then Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. But we count with poetry in many of the books of the prophets (Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, or Zechariah, in prose, as well as great portions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel and Amos).

“Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Psalm-poetical-books.htm

 

2.- Does the Christian only dedicate poetry to God?

God is the focus of the poetry of the Bible, of Christianity and of the believer of the Old Testament. Jesus Christ – Yahshua is our focus today, to Whom we worship and bless, from the heart, for He is our saviour for eternal life. But also the Church itself, the brethren in the faith, prophecies and the exhortations of wisdom so we may fear God with reverence and so we come to His presence searching His love and salvation, are objectives of the poetry of the Christian. Some samples would be the Sermon of the Mount with the Beatitudes, in Matthew 5, or the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb, in Revelation 15:3-4, which says:

“Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways,
o King of the saints! ⁴ Who shall not fear You, o Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.”

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/philosophical-and-existential-questions-to-christianity/

 

3.- What are the subjects and the thesis of the poetic books of the Bible?

Job tells of the affliction of the just, and its general thesis is the suffering, the problem of pain. Psalms tells of the worship of the just, and its general thesis is the adoration, the way to worship God. Proverbs tells of the wisdom of the just, and its general thesis is the wisdom, the behaviour of the believer. Ecclesiastes tells of the serenity of the just, and its general thesis is the futility, the insanity of the forgetting about God. Song of Songs tells of the happiness of the just, and its general thesis is love, the art of loving in the marriage, but mainly in loving God.

“ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. ¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. ¹⁵ That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.” Ecclesiastes 3:10-15.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Psalm-poetical-books.htm

 

4.- Is the book of Job an applicable story to the life of every believer?

The story of Job is one of the greatest and touching stories that have ever been written about the live of a just man, to his own eyes, and to the eyes of others, who realises how, before God, no one can be just, and therefore needs a greater justifier, who is Jesus Christ, and Who we find in allegory in his friend Elihu, (Job 33 and 37) who offers him a poetry of how man depends on God and on His grace. The life of Job, who had it all, and who lost it all, to the point of near death, and to whom God gives all back in a greater way and measure, puts us in perspective of how, even though we live in a just way and love God and our neighbour, our justice and our blessing do not have a compensation cause-effect, as the oriental philosophies propose, through “karma”, but that the just shall live by faith (Hebrews 10:38), even though he does every good work, and loves God, may be tested and deprived of all blessings in some moment of his life. This is why Job is so important to the believer, who must live each day depending on God, in Jesus Christ – Yahshua, trusting God with all his heart, and being patient in the midst of tribulation, when it comes, and rejoicing in the grace and blessings when God gives them, guided by the Holy Spirit until he arrives to the eternal Kingdom of God. Also, he must count on prayer and support of his friends in the faith, whether his closest family or companions in the faith, from the Church.

“Then Job answered Yahweh and said: ² “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. ³ You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ⁴ Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ ⁵ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. ⁶ Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/FaithTests.htm

5.- Is Song of Songs an erotic book, and how can it be holy?

Not only it is erotic, but also spiritual, and holy at the same time. This book is inspired by God for the two kinds of marriage that every person who believes in God and in Jesus Christ as Saviour. The first and more important marriage is the one of the human soul with God: “…because I am married to you…” (Jeremiah 3:14). This is a spiritual and sacred marital relationship.

The second marriage is between a man and a woman, in which God has blessed sex, intimacy, affection, friendship, trust and love, within that relationship that God created, and that Adam and Eve started, and from whom the history of humanity begins. Marriage is holy, and it also is the sexual relationship blessed by God; something that some branches of Christianity and other religions see as sin, which is a doctrinal error. In fact, Catholicism wrongly prohibits marriage of priests and of nuns, when God created the Levitical priesthood by inheritance, from fathers to sons. Celibacy must be optional for those who indeed have the gift. In the same way, the New Testament teaches that: “The priest…the husband of one wife…” (1 Timothy 3:2). That is why, in Protestantism, priests are married in their majority. This is a sacred carnal relationship. Enjoy Song of Songs, but don’t only see it as for the carnal marriage, see it also as a symbolical and spiritual way of your relationship with God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit.

“Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.” Songs 4:6.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Psalm-poetical-books.htm

 

6.- What type of poetry is there and which do we find in the Bible?

Poetry belongs to the lyrical literary gerne. But we can also classify some Biblical Texts as poetical at the same time as they belong to other literary gernes like the narrative, the dramatical or the didactical. Therefore, in the Bible we find all the styles of poetry: epical poetry (it tells stories and feats), dramatical poetry (Job, or Song of Songs), lyrical poetry (Psalms), didactical poetry (Proverbs, or Psalms), coral poetry, and bucolic poetry.

But Biblical poetry has different characteristics than the rest, and this is due to the fact that Hebrew does not depend on the metrics of other languages like Castilian, where metrics and meter are use in the poem, but with the symmetry of the clauses, as J.M. González Campa – Evangelical Focus, explains. That characteristic of Hebrew poetry has kept the original sense, precisely by not being able of changing its sense in translation, lacking rime and metric.

Finally and briefly to point out the three parallel styles of Hebrew poetry in the Bible in the Old Testament. Synonymous parallelism: In this case the author’s thought, reflected in the first verse is completed by the second, sometimes with other words or repeating. An example would be Psalm 92:12: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; He shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon.” Antithetical parallelism: In this case the second verse is a contrast of the thinking of the first. Ex.: Proverb 3:5: “Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” And the Synthetical Parallelism: In this third case the first verse gives the pattern, but the second develops the idea. Ex.: Psalm 21:1: The king shall have joy in Your strength, o Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!”

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Psalm-poetical-books.htm

 

7.- Who are the authors of the poetic and sapiential books of the Bible?

The book of Psalms counts with various authors: king David wrote 73. Asaph 12. The sons of Korah 10. Solomon 2. Herman Ezrahite 1. Ethan Ezrahite 1. Moses 1. Anonymous 50.

The book of Proverbs also has several authors: king Solomon 1:1 – 10:1 – 25:1. The wise 22:17 – 24:23. Agur 30:1. King Lemuel 31:1.

The book of Job, according to William Mac Donald, in his Commentary, points out that the Jewish tradition assigns it to Moses, tough some do it to Elihu, Solomon, Hezekiah, or Esdras. The evidence of the Text is similar to other Writings of 1.900 B.C. in the patriarchal era. But, because Job lived after all this another 140 year and lived those tribulations, it could well be the more feasible author, as some erudite have mentioned.

Song of Songs declares itself as being authored by king Solomon, about the year 1.000 B.C.

Ecclesiastes has been for a long time assigned to Solomon, although may erudite don’t believe so due to expressions that the book contains, that look as of a later time, the deeds it tells, do coincide with the experience and description of Solomon.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Canon.htm

 

8.- How are poetry and praise to God linked?

In my Bible Study about Prise, I wrote the following: If you have noticed that your church is not joyful, it does not prosper, that there is no unity for projects of the Lord, etc., question yourself about praise inside your congregation, if it exists at all, and whether it is worthy and of spiritual excellence to the Lord our God, as Psalm 33 reminds us. So, my beloved brethren, pastors, leaders or responsible of the churches or congregations, this is a fundamental part of your ministry and a proof of love to God, unity of the people of the Lord.

Sacrifice. Praise and preaching are both a way to confess and give thanks to the name of God, that we must understand and experience this as a spiritual sacrifice of love to God, as the Scripture says: …Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips that openly profess His Name. Hebrews 13:15. Therefore be hopeful, organize your worship and praise the Lord, because the Lord enthrones in the praises of His people.

I also included in this Study, of which I put a link down below: As Gospel music I recommend: “When the Saints go marching in”, from Louis Armstrong with more than 140 versions from other authors and today sung around the world in praise, or “Nobody knows The Trouble I’ve Seen.” “Amen”, from Accor Singers. “Oh Happy Day”, from The Edwin Hawdins Singers. “Let my people go”, or “Down the river side”, from Soul Gospel. “Glory, Glory HalleluYah”, from Jo Ann Pickens. “We Shall Overcome”, from Bishop Paul S. Morton, SR & The Greater St. Stephen Mass Choir. And finally, “Silent Night” from Carle Frederiks.

These Gospel songs tell and transmit the experience of faith of the Christian soul, of its hope on the coming of the Kingdom o God, and of the longed-for return of the beloved Lord Jesus Christ – Yahshua, while the Holy Spirit takes us from the hand until that great day. What I mean with this is that praise depends on poetry. And the joy of our soul and of our spirit depends on our praise to God. This is the close dependence between poetry and praise.

 

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Praise.htm

 

9.- Are there poetic Texts in the New Testament?

The New Testament contains poetry, but not specific books dedicated like in the Old Testament. Whether in the Gospels as in the book of Acts, the Epistles and in Revelation we can find poetic Texts or that refer to. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21:5-36, as well as the text of the Greek poets to which the apostle Paul refers to in his speech at Mars Hill, at the Aeropagus, Acts 17:22-31 “in Him we live, and we move, and have our being,” who’s Greek authors were Epimenides of Crete, Aratus of Cilic, and Clemens the Stoic. Bible Gateway Bible Encyclopaedia. But the more significant poetic Text from Paul is in his first letter to Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory”. Other passages that we know well, many times without noticing, are the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, the Benedictus in 68-79, the Gloria in Excelsis in 2:14, or Nunc Dimittis in 2:29-32.

But I think that the most famous poetic Text is in the Semon of the Mount, in Matthew 5. And of course, the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation, which includes, as well as Apocalyptic Texts of the three Gospels mentioned at the beginning, Hymns like Revelation 4:8, of the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb in 15:3-4, or the Condemnation of Babylon the Great. There is no book that evokes better the imagination of the symbols and the allegory to show us the glory of God, and of His coming Kingdom than the book of Revelation and its poetry.

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/The-Coming-of-Jesus-Christ-John.htm

 

10.- How are the 5 subjects of Psalms with the 5 book of the Pentateuch?

The first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, dedicate a subject to each book, equally the five blocks of Psalms: Genesis to man, the creation and the fall, and Psalms 1 to 41 to the worship of esteem. Exodus to Israel, the ruin and the redemption, and Psalms 42 to 72 to the worship of astonishment. Leviticus to the Sanctuary, worship and the Temple, and Psalms 73 to 89 to the worship of ceremony. Numbers to the desert, the danger and the protection, and Psalms 90 to 106 to the worship of submission. And Deuteronomy to the Law, the worship and the Word, and Psalms 107 to 150 to the worship of praise: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” (Psalm 150).

Read a Bible Study about this subject at:

https://www.yahshua.net/Genesis.htm

 

CONCLUSION

The Bible counts with books dedicated specifically to poetry. This group of books is known as poetic and sapiential books. Not only Psalms, but Song of Songs, and in many books of the Bible, not specifical of poetry, we find poetry, because the soul that loves God, like that of their authors, will always praise God, whether with poetry or with songs of praise and worship, including those in the Bible. The “Divine Words” as Cervantes called them in “Don Quixote 1, 37), or the 154 sonnets of Shakespeare related to the 150 Psalms of the Bible, are an irrefutable proof that both genius of literature and poetry knew and read the Bible, and they did in times of its prohibition and of the Inquisition. In the case of Cervantes, version Reina Valera, and in the case of Shakespeare, King James Bible. Both authors died in 1616. To such point the Quixote has influenced the Spanish society that it is called the “Spanish Bible” according to the evangelical writer, pastor, and communicator Juan Antonio Monroy. Not in vain, philosophers, psychologists, religious and literary have studied the Quixote in depth and appreciated its great value, and its link to the Bible, and discovered in the Quixote a mystical-messianic Christianity. Others like Charles Dickens use to say that the Bible is the best book that has ever existed and will exist in the world, or Fyodor Dostoyevsky in whom the book of Job produced a great impact in his life, or the desire of Erasmus of Rotterdam that all would read the Bible, with emphasis in poetry, or the words of Miguel de Unamuno: “Your Word does not die, never dies, because it lives. Your Omnipotent Word does not die, because it is live itself, and life does not die, vivifies.”

Poetry is part of the human soul, as it is music, and with both, man relates with his neighbour. But it must be God who will first receive the emanation of the love of our soul because it was Him who gave us those gifts. Poetry is a language of love, and love is of God who has inspired those who love Him to reflect His heart in us and towards Him. And Jesus himself says: “I am the truth” (John 14:6) and those Words are poetry, are philosophy and are light to our spirit.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. ³ He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23. Amen.