Most people are familiar with the poetic books of the Bible: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs (also Wisdom and Sirach in Catholic Bibles).

     Hebrew poetry can also be found in other books of the Old Testament. For instance, the very first poem in the Bible was spoken by Adam when he saw Eve for the first time:

 

"This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of man."

-Genesis 2:23

 

     This poem is what is known as a Stair-like parallelism, where the latter portions of the verse repeat and advance the thought of the first portion. It conveys the idea of mutual connectedness between the man and the woman, and well describes a new level achieved by Adam from no longer being alone. It reminds us that only after sin arose did that union become a matter of longing on the woman's part, and domination on the man's part.

     Some other notable examples of Hebrew poetry in the book of Genesis include Lamech's description of his violent response to an insult, Noah's curse upon Canaan, Melchizedek's blessing of Abram, and Jacob's blessings on Ephraim and Manasseh.

     The book of Exodus records a stirring song, sung by the Israelites after they had crossed the Red Sea.

     In the book of Numbers, another Stair-like verse serves as the priestly blessing for the nation of Israel. Also in Numbers are the especially moving poetic sayings of Balaam from when he tried to curse the nation of Israel but ended up blessing them instead and prophesied the arrival of their messiah:

 

"I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near.

A star will come out of Jacob,

a scepter will rise out of Israel."

-Numbers 24:17

 

     The final chapters of Deuteronomy record the last words of Moses to Israel in poetic verse, just before he was turned away from the Promised Land: His warning to the nation, which went unheeded, and his blessings upon each of the tribes of Israel by name.

     In the book of Joshua, we find an astronomical description of a day unlike any other, written poetically, when Joshua said to God:

 

"Sun, stand still over Gibeon,

and moon, over the valley of Aijalon!"

-Joshua 10:12

 

     Imagine the power God has over his creation, as illustrated in that one small poem. It is said of that day:

     "The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a human being. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!" -Joshua 10:13, 14

     In the book of Judges, there is the song of Deborah; and the riddle of Samson. In First Samuel we have the incomparable prayer of Hannah, recorded in poetry, in which she explains her faith in the the arrival of God's Kingdom. In Second Samuel we have David's dirge over Saul and Jonathan, which begins:

 

"A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel.

How the mighty have fallen!"

-2Samuel 1:19

 

     Toward the end of Second Samuel there are also the song of David and his last words, written in Hebrew verse. In Second Kings we have the words of God, who speaks poetically while delivering a comforting message through his prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah of Judah.

     Which brings us at last to the poem in First Chronicles, chapter 16, that David contributed to God. This is the final major poem in the Old Testament before the poetic books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

     After that, there are more poems in the books of the well-known prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. And in the lesser known prophets that follow, there are still more.

     It makes one almost regret that the Christian scriptures were written in Greek.