Lace Made of Words – The Old Testament as a Poetry Collection
Our study of the Old Testament this year is exciting from several standpoints. It’s the “Superhero book” of the Standard Works. It features the dramatic stories of Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Joseph being sold into Egypt, Moses parting the Red Sea, Jonah and the Whale, and many other bigger-than-life accounts that have fueled many a blockbuster movie.
But it’s much more than that. It’s the foundation—the first book to tell of the Creation, the point of life, God’ plan of Salvation, the importance of eternal families, covenants, and how we can return to live with Him again. (Don’t miss The Pearl of Great Price.)
It’s the book that prepares Israel for the promised Messiah. Sister Tracy Y. Browing said that the law of Moses was meant to help Israel “focus on the Savior by practicing faith in Him, His sacrifice, and His laws and commandments in their lives…”
It brings us closer to the Lord. Jesus is Jehovah. Every story, every covenant, every detail relates to the Savior. Just as sacrificing the unblemished lamb, and Abraham sacrificing Isaac are types of Christ, we also learn of Him through every bit of symbolism in this book.
It foretells the Restoration: “And that seer will I bless… and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father…” (Genesis JST 50:33)
The power and majesty of the Old Testament is undisputed by millions of Christians. But many saints approach it with a bit of trepidation.
So, what I want to write about today is the amazing, incredible poetry we find there. As a lover of language, I find myself staring in amazement at some of the passages that were preserved for us. And, after 20 years of Adult Institute classes, I cannot adequately express my gratitude for the teachers who have shared these dazzling insights.
Why does poetry even matter? Because it penetrates our souls. Like our hymns, poetry seems to open another chamber in our hearts. Didn’t you gasp when you learned about chiasmus?
We tend to think of ancient people as being less learned (no cars, planes, TVs, cell phones—boy were they behind, right? Wrong). They had phenomenal, sophisticated literary devices for nearly three thousand years. Isaiah, standing in the city square, would recite truths three times—not to be redundant, but to help non-readers memorize what he was teaching. And, even better than Shakespeare, he knew exactly how to pull his audience in and teach them unforgettable truths.
But back to chiasmus. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s an ancient Hebraic literary style of creating art with words. A story is told, then in perfect symmetry, re-told in reverse, in an ABBA pattern. Like a beautiful mirror image of the original phrase or sentence, it stands in perfect balance. (Its rhythm also aids in memorization, a deliberate sculpture of verbal gymnastics.) Here’s a short example from Psalms 3:7–8:
Save me
O my God,
For thou hast smitten
All my enemies
On the cheek-bone
The teeth
Of the wicked
Thou hast broken.
To Yahweh
The salvation.
Hundreds of examples of this parallelism are found in the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah. But it’s also found in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Daniel, Amos, Zechariah, and others.
Sidenote: This style was completely unknown to the unlearned Joseph Smith. Then, in 1967, John W. Welch was serving a South German mission, attended a lecture on the New Testament, and learned of chiasmus. He thought he’d see if he could find any examples in the Book of Mormon. After all, it had ancient semitic origins. Whammo—it’s in 1st Nephi, Mosiah, 3rd Nephi, Enos, Helaman, and the entire chapter of Alma 36 is a chiasmus.
But let’s look at some of the poetic imagery offered by the Old Testament. Like pulling a warm blanket around us and closing our eyes, these passages hold us snugly in a timeless indulgence of wisdom and beauty.
The Norwegians have a word for those cozy moments by a fire with loved ones, when we relax and rejuvenate, bundle up and sip some hot cocoa: koselig, pronounced kooshly. Danes have a similar description for this: hygge, pronounced hoo-guh.
And this is the delicious encounter with Old Testament language that can leave us all feeling at home, at peace, and cared for by the many who recorded its scriptures eons ago.
The entire book of Isaiah is worth deep study—Joseph Smith quoted it often—but here are just a few of its beautiful phrasings:
Ch 1 v.18: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (And this is a Doctrinal Mastery verse for Seminary students this semester.)
Ch 3 v. 16: …daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet…
These are easy to visualize, right? Let’s continue.
Victor Ludlow spotted Isaiah’s wordplay in Chapter 5. He deliberately used similar-sounding words with opposite meanings: He speaks of justice (mishpat) and then bloodshed (mispach). We read “Instead of righteousness (tzedakah), the people bring forth a riotous cry (tse’akah). Ludlow said translators tried to preserve this literary device in English with “The Lord looked for true measures, But behold, massacres: the right, but behold riots.” Ludlow said, “This wording profoundly impacted the Hebrews; they felt there was inherent power in words that are mysteriously linked by similarity and contrast.”
And then Isaiah 9 contains, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Sound familiar? Can’t you just hear the music of Handel as you read it?
“A marvelous work and a wonder” comes from Isaiah 29. And earlier in that 29:11-12 is where Isaiah predicts a book that is sealed, “which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed”…
Have you ever heard the song, “Turn! Turn! Turn!”? The lyrics come from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. “To everything there is a season…”
But let’s move on to Ezekiel, who prophesied, “And join them on to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand” (37:15-17) This has particular meaning to members of the restored gospel.
Earlier Ezekiel quotes the Lord as saying, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh…and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” If that isn’t beautiful poetry, I don’t know what is.
Remember the hymn, “The Lord is My Shepherd?” It comes from Psalm 23. In fact, the entire Book of Psalms is loaded with figurative imagery and breathtaking descriptions, including, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalms 18:2) Can’t you just imagine sitting with these words and contemplating how the Lord is all of these things for you as well?
It ends with Psalm 150, a gorgeous doxology praising God’s power and glory.
Then comes Proverbs, with “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.” (Ch. 3, v.5-6) This should be familiar to all of us, right? It’s also another Seminary Doctrinal Mastery passage.
Just start reading Job 38-41 and you will hear the voice of the Lord in some of the most jaw-dropping poetry you’ll ever encounter.
We could go on and on. This is just a fraction of what awaits. But, this year, I hope we’ll all take an extra moment to appreciate the masterful wording, the bold murals of sweeping color and imagery that ancient prophets used to imprint such glorious truths upon our hearts. The Old Testament is absolutely stunning.
Joni Hilton teaches Seminary, and is the author of dozens of best-selling LDS books. She was a script writer for Music and the Spoken Word for 30 years, and has hundreds of life hacks on her Youtube Mom channel.