Biblical Poetry and the Art of Close Reading

This volume explores the aesthetic dimensions of biblical poetry, offering close readings of poems across the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Composed of essays by fifteen leading scholars of biblical poetry, it offers creative and insightful close readings of poems from across the canon of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (Psalms, wisdom poetry, Song of Songs, prophecy, and poetry in biblical narrative). The essays build on recent advances in our understanding of biblical poetry and engage a variety of theoretical perspectives and current trends in the study of literature. They demonstrate the rewards of careful attention to textual detail, and they provide models of the practice of close reading for students, scholars, and general readers. They also highlight the rich aesthetic value of the biblical poetic corpus and offer reflection on the nature of poetry itself as a meaningful and enduring form of art.

Part I. The Psalms: 1. Words that devour: discursive praxes and structural strategies in Psalm 50 Carolyn J. Sharp; 2. 'Silence is praise': art and knowledge in Psalm 65 Elaine T. James; 3. The glory of creation in Psalm 104 Robert Alter; Part II. Poetry in Wisdom Literature: 4. Bildad lectures Job: a close reading of Job 8 Edward L. Greenstein; 5. Poetry as pedagogy in Proverbs 5 Anne W. Stewart; 6. The unity and futility of poetry in Qohelet Simeon Chavel; Part III. The Song of Songs: 7. Structure, sound, and sense: a close reading of chapter one of the Song of Songs Tod Linafelt; 8. How is a love poem (Song 4:1–7) like the beloved? The importance of emotion in reading biblical poetry Sarah Zhang; Part IV. Poetry in the Prophetic Books: 9. Isaiah's love song: a reading of Isaiah 5:1–7 F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp; 10. Poetry, language, and statecraft in Isaiah 18 J. Blake Couey; 11. The servant in poetic juxtaposition in Isaiah 49:1–13 Katie M. Heffelfinger; 12. 'It is a lamentation – it has become a lamentation!': subverting genre in Ezekiel 19 Sean Burt; 13. The enduring day of wrath: Zephaniah 1, the Sibylline Oracles, and the Dies Irae Julia M. O'Brien; Part V. Poetry in Biblical Narrative: 14. YHWH's poesie: the Gnadenformel (Exodus 34:6b–7), the book of Exodus, and beyond Brent A. Strawn; 15. The decipherment of sorrow: David's lament in 2 Samuel 1:17–27 Steven Weitzman.

J. Blake Couey is Associate Professor of Religion at Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota. He is the author of Reading the Poetry of First Isaiah: The Most Perfect Model of the Prophetic Poetry (2015), and he is currently working on a commentary on Isaiah 1–39.
Elaine T. James is Assistant Professor of Theology at St Catherine University, Minnesota. She is the author of Landscapes of the Song of Songs: Poetry and Place (2017), and is currently working on a handbook on biblical poetry, and a book on biblical aesthetics.