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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Creation: Written as Prose or Poetry? | Gen 2:1 | Emmaus | 30778 | ||
Lionstrong, In your initial post and a follow up to me you state: "I see the creation account as brief prose, not poetic verse." "I see the repetitions, ...but I see it as prosaic repetitions, not poetic." My response would be that I see Genesis 1 as poetic narrative or poetic prose, if that is not an oxymoron. Technically you may be correct. But I have difficulty seeing scripture as "prosaic" in the "matter of fact, commonplace, un-poetic" dictionary description of the word. I am sure you did not mean it in that sense, but rather simply as not poetry. As I said in my first post I do not hold myself out as a Hebrew Scholar. I hope Jethro responds to you question. Perhaps he is better acquainted with the Hebrew forms. In at least two Catholic commentaries that I possess Genesis 1 is described as "hymn like" or a "highly structured, hymn like account of creation." That would fall into a broad definition of poetry or poetic, but perhaps not a technical definition of Hebrew poetry. One Catholic biblical theologian who I believe would subscribe to that broader concept of Genesis 1 is Scott Hahn. I would not consider him "liberal." On the other hand I do not know what your definition of conservative is. Our exchange has caused me to reread a variety of sources about narrative and poetic writing and how they are related. My first real poetry textbook, An Introduction to Poetry by X. J. Kennedy, published 1966 by Little Brown and Co. says this on page 332: “It is doubtful that anyone can draw an immoveable boundary between poetry and prose, nor does such an attempt seem necessary. Certain prose needs only to be arranged in lines to be seen as poetry—especially prose that conveys strong emotion in vivid, physical imagery and in terse, figurative rhythmical language.” Another book by Robert Alter, a Jewish scholar, titled The Art of Biblical Narrative, published by Basic Books in 1981 has this to say on page 97: “Perhaps the conceptual matrix for this way of using repetition is to be sought in biblical poetry, which, as in most cultures, antedates prose as a vehicle of literary expression.” This in an interesting topic but may be off the point you are trying to make about Genesis 1. How exactly do you see it beyond the narrative prose construction? Emmaus |
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2 | Creation: Written as Prose or Poetry? | Gen 2:1 | Lionstrong | 30808 | ||
Hello Emmaus Moses was a top notch writer! Gen 1 is true history, written in non-figurative prose language, yet, to the credit of Moses and the One who inspired him, it is very well and powerfully written. That's how I see it, Emmaus. Thank you for you thorough response. Peace, Lionstrong |
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