Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 152:608 (Oct 1995)
Article: The Hermeneutics of Biblical Lyric Poetry
Author: Daniel J. Estes

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BSac 152:608 (Oct 95) p. 413

The Hermeneutics of Biblical Lyric Poetry

Daniel J. Estes

[Daniel J. Estes is Assistant Academic Vice-president and Associate Professor of Bible, Cedarville College, Cedarville, Ohio.]

The recent surge in the popularity of literary approaches to biblical interpretation raises important hermeneutical questions. For some, viewing the Bible as literature means treating it as a human literary artifact, thus rendering it suitable for teaching in public schools and universities.1 From another direction, a literary study of the Bible is seen as a necessary remedy to the narrow agendas of traditional biblical scholarship. In modern times biblical studies have progressed along two tracks. Historical criticism, especially nurtured in the universities, has focused on philology, grammar, sources, and redactional history. Theological criticism, especially cultivated in the seminaries, has often reduced the Bible to a system of abstractions and propositions.2 Although both historical criticism and theological criticism have legitimate concerns, in practice they fail to read the Bible adequately on its own terms before using its data for other purposes. As Thompson notes:

When biblical interpretation is dominated by historical and theological concerns, the world in the Bible tends to be passed by too quickly in order to relate it to one of the other two worlds. At its

BSac 152:608 (Oct 95) p. 414

worst such biblical interpretation tends to level out the fantastic world of the Bible for the sake of either historical credibility or theological viability. It does not allow a reader time to enjoy and to savor that wondrous world.3

Literary Criticism

Although in modern times literary criticism of the Bible has not received the same level of scholarly attention given to historical and theological issues, there is a long history of literary interpretation of biblical texts. Early Christian writers drew frequent analogies between the genres of Greek and Latin literature and the Scriptures.4 Although the early Jewish exegetes largely followed the lead of Rabbi Akiba into midrash, Rabbi Ishmael represented a minority position that “the Torah uses language as human beings do” (Sanhedrin 64b).5

In the 18th century Robert Lowth applied neoclassical concepts of literary criticism to the Bible. His analysis of Hebrew poetry, though recently challenged by James Kugel6 and others, still remains a significant...

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