Warren D. Carter

Vienna Int’l Chapel

18.May.03

    

What  Does  God  Want  from  Us ?

 

An introduction to a little-known approach of understanding ancient Hebrew literature – which provides some clues about the answer to this important question for Christians living in today’s world … from the ages old book of Deuteronomy.  A survey of the fifth book of Moses will give us an overview from the traditional perspective, including insights into Semitic cultures.  Join us for this look into the Father’s heart!

 

Deuteronomy  Structure – Poetry

    

 

Structure:  

“… form and structure are so firmly united that the latter cannot be understood properly unless the significance of the former is grasped clearly.”   R.K. Harrison, 1984, p.512

 

structure is  very important – note that carefully balanced structures exist at virtually all levels of analysis … this is a work of literary art in poetic form, subject to the restraints of the musical media and traditions of ancient Israel.

 

Semitic poetry from antiquity does not necessarily rhyme, as we Westerners think of rhyme. 

§         assonance – parts of words sounding alike,

§         alliteration – the repetition of initial sounds,

§         consonance – the repetition of consonants but not necessarily vowels,  and

§         rhyme – where the endings of words sound alike

     

are not typical poetic patterns in Hebrew poetry.

 

While the stanza is not an essential element of Hebrew poetry, it can be seen in a number of places, e.g.  the Ps 119 is an example of 8-line stanzas.  This is also an example of an acrostic or alphabetic poem, where each group of 8 lines starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet in consecutive order, Psalms 25/ 34/ 37/ 111/ 112  are also alphabetic in construction.  The book of Lamentations is also constructed on a similar alphabetic plan.

 

The essential element of ancient Hebrew poetry is parallelism – where the sentiment of one line is echoed in the next.  There are various forms of parallelism, often expressed in sets of 2 or 3 lines (but 4, 5, 6, 7, and even more lines are possible – as seen with the 8 line stanzas in Ps 119):

 

 

Ø      synonymous – where the 1st line’s thought is repeated in the 2nd , sometimes with slightly different words e.g. 

·          Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man;
Preserve me from the violent man.  Ps 140:1

Ø      progressive – where the 2nd line expands on the idea of the 1st , e.g.

·          There the wicked cease from their raging,
There the weary are at rest.  Job 3:17

Ø      climactic – where characteristic words are repeated and form a  “ladder”  on which the thought expands to completion or is emphatically reiterated, e.g.

·          He will not suffer they foot to be moved:
He that keepeth thee will not slumber;
Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber or sleep.  Ps 121:3-4

Ø      antithetic – where the thought of one line is made more clear by a contrasting thought of another, e.g. 

·          The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;
But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.  Matt 8:20

·          The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger;
But they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.  Ps 34:10

Ø      comparative – is where the idea of one line is explained by comparison with something else that is familiar, e.g. 

·          As the deer pants for the water,
So my soul pants after You, O God.  Ps 42:1

Ø      synthetic or constructive – where there is parallelism in structure, but the 1st merely lays a foundation from which the 2nd builds a new thought, e.g.

·          Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you also be like him.  Pr 26:4

·          Lift up your heads, O ye gates;  Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors:
and the King of Glory shall come in!   Ps 24:9

·          He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in due season;
His leaf also shall not wither;
And whatsoever he does shall prosper.

 

Synthetic parallelism appears in various forms in Hebrew poetry.  We can clearly see patterns of alternation & introversion, where patterns of repetition in thought or idea either alternate  (1-2, 1-2, 1-2), or follow a certain flow only to have that flow repeated back in reverse order  (1-2-3-4, 4-3-2-1).  These patterns can repeat extensively, sometimes even encompassing more than one chapter/ Psalm/ Proverb.

 

 

alternation:

 

Ps 26

prayer  v.1a

      profession  v.1b

prayer  v.2

      profession  v.3-8

prayer  v.9-10

      profession  v.11a

prayer  v.11b

      profession  v.12

 

 

Ezekiel 36:26-27a

I will give you a new heart

      and put a new spirit within you;

I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh …

      and I will put My Spirit within you

 

 

introversion:

 

Deut 32:16

They provoked Him to jealousy

      with strange gods

      with abominations

they provoked Him to anger

 

I Cor 1:24b-25

Christ the power of God

      and the wisdom of God

      Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men,

and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

 

 

Matt 3:10-12

the ax is laid unto the root of the trees … hewn down … cast into fire

      I baptize you with water unto repentance

             but He who comes after me is mightier than I

             whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:

      He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire

and His winnowing fork is in His hand … thoroughly clean … burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire

 

 

The 10 Commandments – Deut 5:6-21

#1 + #2:   thought  v.6-10

      #3:   word  v.11

             #4 + #5:  deed  v.12-16          common phrase:   “the Lord thy God” – our duty to God

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

             #6, #7, + #8:  deed  v.17-19   common phrase:   “thou shalt not” – our duty to others

      #9:   word  v.20

#10:   thought  v.21

 

 

 

 

extended  alternation:

 

Ps 135

A.  Exhortation to praise  v.1-5

       B.  Creative wonders  v.6-7

              C.  Deliverance from Egypt  v.8-9

                    D.  Deliverance on the journey  v.10-11

                            E.  Gift of the Land  v.12

                                   F.  Goodness to His people  v.13-14

                                          G.  False gods  v.15-18

                                                 H.  Praise  v.19-21

 

 

Ps 136

A.  Exhortation to praise  v.1-3

       B.  Creative wonders  v.4-9

              C.  Deliverance from Egypt  v.10-15

                     D.  Deliverance on the journey  v.16-20

                            E.  Gift of the Land  v.21-22

                                   F.  Goodness to His people  v.23-24

                                          G.  The one true God  v.25

                                                 H.  Praise  v.26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

extended  introversion:

 

Song of Moses – Deut 32:1-43

A.  Call to hear and the reason  v.1-6

     B.  God’s goodness to Israel  v.7-14

          C.  Israel returns evil for good  v.15-19

               D.  Divine reflections while God is hidden from Israel  v.20

                    E.  God provoked by Israel’s idolatry  v.21

                    E.  God threatens Israel with judgment  v.22-25

               D.  Divine reflections while Israel is scattered from God  v.26-33

          C.  Israel returns evil for good  v.34-38

     B.  God’s vengeance on the enemies of Israel  v.39-42

A.  Call to rejoice and the reason  v.43

 

 

 

 

This introverted parallel structure, especially the extended versions we see in Scripture, have been called  chiasmus  or  chiastic  structures.  This is due to the  “hour-glass”  or  X-shaped  outline that often results – chi being the Greek name for the letter  “X”.  It is this pattern that typifies Hebrew logic in antiquity, indeed of many cultures in the near east at that time (and today??), where the primary thought or suggestion or principle lies at the middle of the structure or discussion – the focal point, if you will.

 

To practice a little bit, take another look at the 10 Commandments outline.  Following the chiastic line of thought, the focal point of the law is our behaviour/ how we live our lives – in line with James’ statement that faith without works is dead … or Christ when He says love God and your neighbor as yourself.  Or look at the Song of Moses above, where the same point is being made in the middle verses, if you want to live a blessed life, love God and live your lives in such a way as to show that you have no other gods before Him.  The key then, is to look for the center point in the Scripture you are studying.

 

This is in contrast to our modern western reasoning process which focuses on the end-point.  We proceed from givens, to assumptions, to formula or methodology, to proof – with the final thought or statement representing the culmination of the data collection, evidence, and exercise of the theorem,  that establishes a fact or law or principle.  More like:    A + B = C     or     if A and B, then C.

 

It is this basic understanding of Hebrew thought and poetry that we want to use as a lens to better understand Scripture in general … and Deuteronomy in particular.  In general, so that we can have a deeper insight to the real meaning and focus of various passages, chapters, books, and even the Bible in its entirety.  …  And specifically, so that we can answer the question posed by the title of the Sunday School class:   What Does God Want from Us?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dt poetry - What Does God Want from Us

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