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Isaiah’s book contains particular challenges that may discourage and deter some people from reading and understanding it. In fact, over many years of teaching Isaiah to various groups, including both general audiences and scholars, I have noticed how people often express frustration with Isaiah because it is so difficult to understand. I agree that Isaiah’s words are daunting at first; that being the case, in this chapter, it is my intent to unlock one of the barriers to comprehending Isaiah—his poetry.

Most of the book of Isaiah is composed of poetry that is both ancient and complex. The book includes scores of poems, and a single poem may be composed of multiple two-lined parallelisms that work together to drive home a teaching or prophecy. In total, there are over one thousand two-lined parallelisms in Isaiah. Because of the background knowledge needed to understand these parallelisms, Isaiah’s poetry presents a challenge to those who are seeking to comprehend it.

At first glance, the literary figures Isaiah employs seem to make the book of Isaiah a “closed” book—as though readers need a secret password or a special key to understand its contents. However, unlocking this closed book simply requires practices such as serious study, devoted time, and attention to the Holy Ghost.

Understanding Isaiah’s Poetry—Poetic Parallelisms

James L. Kugel points out that poetic parallelism is “the basic feature of biblical songs—and, for that matter, of most of the sayings, proverbs, laws, laments, blessings, curses, prayers, and speeches found in the Bible.”[1] Examples of parallelisms number in the thousands in poetic works (such as Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, and other biblical works), with more than one thousand instances of parallelism in the book of Isaiah alone. In some cases, such as in Proverbs and Isaiah, entire chapters are filled exclusively with two-lined poetic parallelisms.

Isaiah’s book is comprised of scores of poems; a single poem may be comprised of multiple parallelisms, which work together to drive home the point (or points) that the prophet is emphasizing. For example, Isaiah 1:2–31 constitutes a long poem, which consists of about forty-six parallelisms. Like numerous examples of modern poetry, Isaiah’s poetry displays qualities of beauty and has power to influence our emotions and sensibilities. But Isaiah’s poetry has a different character and method of expression than modern poetry, which sometimes features rhyming schemes and other distinctive approaches. In addition, Isaiah’s poetry is different in purpose: it constitutes canonized scripture, revealed from the Lord (through the Holy Ghost; see 2 Peter 1:19–21).

So, what is a parallelism? A parallelism generally consists of two lines[2] where each line has features or expressions that parallel or correspond with the other. For the two-lined parallelism, line one sets forth an important truth, and then line two broadens, restates, or punctuates the truth of line one. We would state that two such lines are parallel with each other (hence the term “poetic parallelism”), or that they correspond with each other in some way. Furthermore, the two lines in a parallelism are thematically tied together in a unified manner. The second line, writes Kugel, is “not expected to be (or regarded as) mere restatement” of the first half, but is meant to “add to it, often particularizing, defining, or expanding the meaning, and yet also to harken back” to it.[3]

For example, in the parallelism “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth” (Isaiah 1:2), hear parallels give ear, and earth parallels heavens. The prophet thus sets forth his ideas in line one and then reconfigures them in line two. This reconfiguration may serve to emphasize the words of line one, to broaden, to punctuate, or to add further knowledge or light.

Hebrew poetic parallelism was not a mere literary trick—it has a higher purpose. Prophets and poets created parallelisms to teach significant doctrines about the Lord; about his character, divine attributes, and qualities; about his workings with individuals, families, peoples, and nations; and more. When we understand this form of poetry, Isaiah and other scriptural texts become more understandable and meaningful. In a parallelism, both lines are equally important.

Isaiah masterfully and artistically wrote poetry that may well be without equal in history. In total, he included more than 1,100 parallelisms in his writings; an in-depth study of Isaiah’s parallelisms would take a lifetime. As we gain an appreciation of the parallelism in Isaiah’s writings, we will better understand his words, especially those that pertain to Jesus Christ and his Atonement.

Isaiah’s Parallelisms—A Variety of Configurations

Isaiah presented his parallelisms in a variety of configurations (see table 6.1). The great majority of his two-lined parallelisms may be labeled synonymous parallelism, antithetical parallelism, or emblematic parallelism. I have briefly defined each of these parallelistic structures in table 6.1. Note also the brief definition of chiasmus, which will be dealt with more fully later in this chapter.

Table 6.1. Definitions of Poetic Parallelisms

The following detailed categories of parallelisms and examples of configurations will serve to introduce this poetic phenomenon to the reader. Note that I am presenting representative examples rather than a comprehensive listing of all of the parallelisms in the book of Isaiah.

Synonymous Parallelisms

In this section, I have included five examples of parallelisms that feature synonyms (or near synonyms) within two lines of Isaiah’s poetry:

Israel doth not know,

my people doth not consider. (1:3)

In this two-lined parallelism, Israel parallels my people, and doth not know is analogous to doth not consider.

The whole head is sick;

and the whole heart faint. (1:5)

In this two-lined parallelism, the whole head corresponds with the whole heart (since the head and the heart are both body parts), and sick parallels faint.

Your country is desolate,

Your cities are burned with fire. (1:7)

This two-line parallelism features corresponding geographical terms (country and cities) as well as words that describe destruction (desolate and burned with fire).

Note that a few of Isaiah’s parallelisms are very short, consisting of two or three words only, as the following example illustrates:

Wash you,

make you clean. (1:16)

Other parallelisms consist of longer sentences:

For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired,

and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. (1:29)

Antithetical or Opposites Parallelisms

Isaiah also wrote parallelisms that feature opposites (called antithetical parallelisms). For instance,

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword. (1:19–20)

In this example, Isaiah contrasts terms or ideas in the two lines: willing and obedient in line one stands opposite to refuse and rebel in line two; also, ye shall eat the good things of the land contrasts with ye shall be devoured with the sword.

The following is another example of a parallelism that features opposites:

Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart,

But ye shall . . . howl for vexation of spirit. (65:14)

In this passage, sing stands opposite of howl, and joy of heart is contrary to vexation of spirit.

Emblematic Parallelisms

Many of Isaiah’s parallelisms feature various symbolic (or emblematic) forms, including instances of implication, metaphor, metonymy, personification, simile, and synecdoche—hence the name “emblematic parallelism.”[4]

There are scores of emblematic parallelism in Isaiah’s two-line parallelisms, but I will present only two examples in this section. The first example contains the two metaphorical terms vineyard and plant, one in each line:

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. (5:7)

The second example presents two similes (metaphors that use like or as to compare two different things in a symbolic manner), one in each line:

We should have been as Sodom,

And we should have been like unto Gomorrah. (1:9)

This parallelism contains three corresponding elements: repetition of the phrase we should have been; the parallel units like and as; and reference to the two cities Sodom and Gomorrah, which were both destroyed because of wickedness.

Beyond the three main categories of parallelism—synonymous parallelism, antithetical parallelism, and emblematic parallelism—there exist several subcategories of parallelisms, all of which contain synonymous, antithetical, or emblematic elements. I have provided some examples below.

Parallelisms with Identical Words or Phrases

When Isaiah constructed parallelisms, he sometimes utilized identical words or phrases in the two lines. For example, in the following parallelism, the prophet repeats the phrase “thou hast increased the nation,” which serves to emphasize the words that are restated:

Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord,

thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified. (26:15)

In the following example, the words say, A confederacy are repeated at the end of the lines:

Say ye not, A confederacy,

to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy. (8:12)

Gender-Matched Parallelisms

Isaiah presents a number of parallelisms in which both genders are paired. In the first example that follows, sons is paired with daughters, and the words their arms parallel their shoulders. In the second example the name Abraham is paired with Sarah, and the words your father parallel that bare you.

And thy shall bring thy sons in their arms,

and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. (49:22)

Look unto Abraham your father,

and unto Sarah, that bare you. (51:2)

Rhetorical Questions Parallelisms

Isaiah employed rhetorical questions in several parallelisms, as the following example illustrates:

Hast thou not known?

hast thou not heard? (40:28)

In another example, each line of the first parallelism begins with the interrogative particle who, which is used to introduce each rhetorical question. Additionally, heard in line one parallels seen in line two, and such a thing in line one parallels such things in line two.

Who hath heard such a thing?

who hath seen such things? (66:8)

Parallelisms Showing Progression

A number of parallelisms in Isaiah’s writings show a progression of sense from line one to line two. In one example, Isaiah presents a courtroom scene, in which the Lord first pleads the cause of the people and then judges them:

The Lord standeth up to plead,

and standeth to judge the people. (3:13)

Numbers Parallelisms

In poetic parallelisms, numbers correspond when the same number is repeated within the passage (fifty/fifty, thousand/thousand, and so on), or when a sequence of numbers is presented wherein the second number is larger than the first. An example occurs in Isaiah 17:6, where the first line reads two or three and the second line reads four or five:

Two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough,

four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof.

Resultative Relationship Parallelisms

From time to time, a parallelism presents a resultative relationship between the two lines. One example in Isaiah states that a virgin would conceive and then bear a son. Line one prophesies of a conception, and line two prophesies of the results of that conception—the birth of a son:

Behold, a virgin shall conceive,

and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (7:14)

Parallelisms with Lists

On occasion Isaiah presents lists of things in multiple parallelisms. The following two parallelisms list four body parts—eyes, ears, heart, and tongue:

And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim,

and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge,

and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. (32:3–4)

Similarly, Isaiah 11:6–8 lists thirteen animals in four separate parallelisms—wolf, lamb, leopard, kid, calf, young lion, fatling, cow, bear, lion, ox, asp, and cockatrice.

Linguistic and Grammatical Parallelisms

Another category of parallelisms features those that involve specific references to linguistics and grammar. Isaiah’s writings include a host of parallelistic configurations that pertain to the Hebrew language, such as structures that are parallel in their linguistics, grammar, syntax, semantics, phonology, and lexical meanings. As Adele Berlin explains, “Parallel can be viewed as a linguistic phenomenon involving linguistic equivalences and/or contrasts that may occur on the level of the word, the line, or larger areas of text. (For the most part, biblical parallelism operates at the level of the line.)”[5] Many scholars have studied and written about these types of parallelisms.[6]

The Old Testament features thousands of parallelisms and, as Berlin writes, “Because there are infinite possibilities for activating linguistic equivalences, there are infinite possibilities for constructing parallelisms. No parallelism is ‘better’ or ‘more complete’ than any other. Each is constructed for its own purpose and context. The device of parallelism is extraordinarily flexible, and its expressive capabilities and appeal are enormous, as the poets of the ANE discovered long ago.”[7]

For the purposes of this present volume, I will simply set forth a handful of linguistic and grammatical parallelisms from Isaiah that will serve to illustrate this category of parallelism.

Grammatical Parallelisms[8]

Some parallelisms present various elements of grammar that correspond with each other. In other words, Isaiah may use the same or similar grammatical forms (for example, nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions) in the corresponding lines. Berlin writes, “The grammatical aspect of parallelism—grammatical equivalence and/or contrast—is one of the fundamental aspects of biblical parallelism.”[9] There are numerous instances of grammatical parallelisms in Isaiah. Again, I am providing representative examples, rather than a comprehensive listing of all such parallelisms in Isaiah:

Parallelisms featuring masculine and feminine nouns. In Hebrew grammar, nouns are either feminine or masculine, a distinction lost in the English translation. Note in the following example that the nouns dust and stubble in Hebrew are masculine, and the nouns sword and bow are feminine. These words are presented in a particular pattern, with each line featuring a masculine noun followed by a feminine noun (as indicated in the brackets):

He gave them as the dust [masculine] to his sword [feminine],

and as driven stubble [masculine] to his bow [feminine]? (41:2)

In addition to the gender parallels in the example just cited, there are correspondences between small particles that blow in the wind (dust and driven stubble) and weapons (sword and bow).

In another example, Isaiah employs a similar parallelism, but the feminine noun occurs first, then the masculine noun follows:

Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way [feminine] in the sea [masculine],

and a path [feminine] in the mighty waters [masculine]. (43:16; emphasis added)

Parallelisms with specific word order. Isaiah arranges a number of parallelisms into a particular grammatical word order (or syntactical order) wherein certain grammatical aspects of line one correspond with those of line two. For example, each of the two lines in the following passage features the same corresponding grammatical aspects: imperative (hear, give ear to), object (the word of the Lord, the law of our God), and subject (rulers of Sodom, people of Gomorrah):

Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom;

Give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. (1:10)

In the next example, each line (in the Hebrew text) features the subject, negative particle, and verb:

Israel doth not know,

My people doth not consider. (1:3)

Parallelisms that feature identical Hebrew verbal roots. For example, the Hebrew verb ’khl is found in the following example, first as an active verb in line one (“eat”) and then as a passive verb in line two (literally “eaten”; “devoured” in KJV):

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat ��’khl] the good of the land:

But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured ��’khl] with the sword. (1:19–20; emphasis added)

The following is another example of corresponding active and passive verbs:

Woe to thee that spoilest [active verb],

and thou wast not spoiled [passive verb]. (33:1; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature different inflections of an identical Hebrew verbal root.

As one whom his mother comforteth [third feminine singular],

so will I comfort [first common singular] you. (66:13; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature a singular demonstrative adjective versus a plural demonstrative adjective.

Who hath heard such a thing? [Hebrew ����’t, singular]

who hath seen such things? [Hebrew ’elleh, plural.] (66:8; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature a singular verb versus a plural verb.

Every valley shall be exalted [singular],

and every mountain and hill shall be made low [plural]. (40:4; emphasis added; see also 2:4)

Parallelisms that feature antithetical adjectives. For example, small is found in line one and great in line two. Note also that, for emphasis, “small” in the Hebrew is singular and “great” is plural:

For a small moment have I forsaken thee;

but with great mercies will I gather thee. (54:7; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature a positive versus a negative statement. For example, a positive statement is found in line one and a negative in line two:

the sun shall be darkened in his going forth,

and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. (13:10; emphasis added)

And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,

and your agreement with hell shall not stand. (28:18; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature the same verbal root but different verbal stems.[10]

But the wicked are like the troubled [Hebrew garash, �Ծ����‘a�� stem] sea,

when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up [Hebrew garash, qal stem] mire and dirt. (57:20; emphasis added; see also 66:13, �辱‘e�� and ���‘a�� stems)

Parallelisms that feature perfect/imperfect (Hebrew qtl/yqtl) verbs of the same root.

then shall his yoke depart [perfect, Hebrew sur] from off them,

and his burden depart [imperfect, Hebrew sur] from off their shoulders. (14:25; emphasis added; see also 60:16)

Parallelisms that feature feminine and masculine adjectives of the same root.

Shall a land be born in one [Hebrew masculine adjective] day?

Shall a nation be brought forth in one [Hebrew feminine adjective] moment? (66:8; English Standard Version; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature a singular versus a plural noun in the two lines.

That confirmeth the word of his servant [singular],

and performeth the counsel of his messengers [plural]. (44:26; emphasis added)

Parallelisms that feature a contrast in grammatical mood.

Is there a God beside me [interrogative sentence]?

yea, there is no God; I know not any [declarative sentence]. (44:8)

Note that the implied response to the question in line one is a negative, and that the explicit response in line two is also a negative.

Parallelisms that feature a rhetorical question(s) followed by a response(s). In the following example there are two rhetorical questions followed by three correct responses:

Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know?

and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous [two rhetorical questions]?

yea, there is none that sheweth,

yea, there is none that declareth,

yea, there is none that heareth your words [three responses]. (41:26)

Semantic Parallelisms

Semantic parallelisms deal with the meanings of specific words and the way that they are used in the two parallel lines. A rather broad category, semantics may deal with the sense of a word, the lexical (that is, dictionary) meaning, or the relationship between two words or phrases. For example, in the following parallelism, one may study the meanings of the words mercy and truth and how those meanings work together in the parallelism:

And in mercy shall the throne be established:

and he shall sit upon it in truth. (16:5)

A second example:

The ox knoweth his owner,

and the ass his master’s crib. (1:3)

Here, ox and ass are semantically related. Why did Isaiah use these two words together rather than pair ox (or ass) with a different animal, such as a lamb, cat, goat, lion, and so forth?

Phonological Parallelisms

Phonological parallelisms deal with “sound equivalences”[11] or rhyming sounds in the parallelism. One scholarly source defines this phenomenon as “any kind of echoing between words . . . (e.g., assonance, consonance, alliteration, etc.).”[12] Rhyming sounds in the Hebrew Bible function differently than rhyming in English poetry, which often features end or final rhymes for metrical purposes. Instead, rhyming schemes in the Hebrew may appear anywhere in the verse and “the purpose of such inner, internal, or medial rhymes is then more rhetorical than metrical.”[13] Unfortunately for non-Hebrew speakers, the sound equivalences exist only in Hebrew and cannot be translated into other languages such as English.

The following example of sound equivalences in Isaiah illustrates phonological parallelisms:

He looked for judgment [mishpat], but behold oppression [mispach];

for righteousness [tzedaqah], but behold a cry [�ٳ���‘a�粹��]. (5:7)[14]

The words in italics are from the Hebrew but are placed in English characters. In this passage, the Hebrew words that are translated as “judgment” and “oppression” are similar sounding words, as are the words “righteousness” and “cry.” Note the beauty and power of Isaiah’s words when expressed with their original rhyming sounds: the Lord “looked for mishpat, but behold mispach; for tzedaqah, but behold �ٳ���‘a�粹��.”

The following are two additional instances of sound equivalences in Isaiah’s poetry:

Whose fire ��’or lo] is in Zion,

and whose furnace [tannur lo] is in Jerusalem (31:9, ESV)

Who hath measured the waters [mayim] in the hollow of his hand,

and meted out heaven [shamayim] with the span. (40:12)

In the second example, the verse not only presents the sound pair of mayim and shamayim, but it also features the following chiastic elements:

A measured

B hollow of his hand

C waters [mayim]

C heaven [shamayim]

B the span

A meted out.

Note that the chiastic elements are evident in the Hebrew but not in the King James Version.

These examples of parallelism demonstrate the great variety of configurations that exist in Isaiah’s writings. There are many other arrangements that are not mentioned here, and it is highly probable that students of Isaiah will continue to discover additional configurations in the coming years and decades.

Why Did Isaiah Employ Parallelisms?

The question may be asked, Why did Isaiah (and many other Old Testament prophets and writers) compose so many of their words and prophecies in a parallelistic format? There are many possible reasons. One reason is that two-lined parallelisms in ancient Hebrew literature served a variety of purposes: to emphasize a doctrine or teaching, to encourage learning and memorization, to facilitate singing and oral comprehension, and to maintain the sacred, age-old tradition of presenting God’s word in poetic fashion. Additionally, inspired poetry presents significant doctrines regarding the Lord, his character, divine attributes, and qualities; his workings with individuals, families, peoples, and nations; and more.

Berlin sums up in this way: “Parallelism, then, consists of a network of equivalences and/or contrasts involving many aspects and levels of language. Moreover, by means of these linguistic equivalences and contrasts, parallelism calls attention to itself and to the message which it bears. Parallelism embodies the poetic function, and the poetic function heightens the focus of the message.”[15]

Chiasmus—A Special Category of Parallelism

In addition to the various parallelisms previously discussed, there is another category of parallelism, called chiasmus. This poetic device is an inverted or mirrored parallelism, or in other words, a presentation of a series of words or thoughts followed by a second presentation of similar words or thoughts but in reverse order. Hundreds of chiasms of various sizes appear in the Old Testament, and about a hundred exist in the book of Isaiah alone (see Appendix 1. Representative List of Chiasms in the Book of Isaiah).

Isaiah was exceptionally artistic and creative as he formulated his chiasms; he wrote short chiasms with as few as four terms and others that comprise several lines. He wrote chiasms that featured keywords, word pairs (synonymous and antithetical), proper names, nouns, and verbs. He also wrote a variety of grammatically focused chiasms that included parallelism in their syntactic, structural, or thematic configurations. Lundbom summarized the basic concept of the chiasm: “Chiasmus is an inversion of words, word cognates, fixed pairs, syntactic units, and even sounds in the bicolon, the verse, and the larger composition.”[16] In this section, I will present several examples of chiasmus in Isaiah.

An example of a simple chiasmus is found in Isaiah 5:20, where the antithetical terms evil and good are presented once and then again in reverse order. The verse presents two other simple chiasms (also with antithetical elements): darkness/light/ /light/darkness followed by bitter/sweet/ /sweet/bitter. I have formatted the chiasms using ABBA patterns, with bold font, for ease of reading:

A Woe unto them that call evil

B good, and

B good

A evil;

A that put darkness

B for light,

B and light

A for darkness;

A that put bitter

B for sweet,

B and sweet

A for bitter!

In Isaiah 6:10, Isaiah presents the anatomical parts “heart,” “ears,” and “eyes” and then repeats them in reverse order:

A Make the heart of this people fat,

B and make their ears heavy,

C and shut their eyes;

C lest they see with their eyes,

B and hear with their ears,

A and understand with their heart.

In Isaiah 53:7, the prophet submits a verb followed by a negative particle in the two A lines and the synonymous terms lamb and sheep in the two B lines.

A yet he opened not his mouth:

B he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,

B and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,

A so he openeth not his mouth.

Isaiah 60:1–3 puts forward a longer example of chiasmus (14 lines) that contrasts light (“shine,” “glory,” “brightness”) with darkness (translation by the author):

A Arise,

B shine,

C for your light has come,

D and the glory

E of the LORD

F has risen upon you.

G For, behold, the darkness will cover the earth,

G and gross darkness the people,

F but will arise upon you,

E the LORD

D and his glory will appear on you.

C And the nations will come to you light,

B and kings to the brightness

A of your rising.

There exist many other chiastic configurations in Isaiah, including the following:

• Keywords: “salvation/righteousness/ /righteousness/salvation” (59:16–17)
• Verbal phrase/identical term: “I will give/name/ /name/I will give” (56:5, based on the Hebrew)
• Proper names: “Moab/Kir-hareseth/Heshbon/Sibmah/Jazer/ /Jazer/Sibmah/Heshbon/Kir-haresh/Moab” (16:7–12)
• Inverted syntax chiasmus (verbs at the beginning and ending): “will come forth/rod/ /branch/will grow” (11:1, based on the Hebrew)
• List (of animals) enveloped with two verbal phrases: “I am full/rams, fed beasts/ /bullocks, lambs, male goats/I do not desire” (1:11, based on the Hebrew)
• Verbal phrases/geographical proper names (with figure of personification): “has stumbled/Jerusalem/ /Judah/has fallen” (3:8, based on the Hebrew)
• Verbal phrase with noun and possessive pronoun: “is removed/your iniquity/ /your sin/atoned” (6:7, based on the Hebrew)
• Emblematic, with two similes: “he opened not his mouth/ as a lamb/ /as a sheep/he openeth not his mouth” (53:7)
• Possessive pronoun my (referring to the Lord): “to beautify/the place of my sanctuary/ /the place of my feet/make . . . glorious” (60:13, based on the Hebrew)
• Six-component inverted syntax (verbs in the center): “Lord/Ahaz/ask/ /ask/Ahaz/Lord” (7:10–12)
• Verbs in the center, enveloped with “your mother”: “your mother/put you away/sold/ /sold/put you away/your mother” (50:1, based on the Hebrew)
• Perfect/imperfect (Hebrew qtl/yqtl) verbs of the same root at the beginning and the end: “Thou shalt also suck/the milk of the Gentiles/ /the breast of kings/and shalt suck” (60:16, based on the Hebrew)

Meaning Behind Mechanics

In the examples above I have provided the mechanics of parallelisms and chiasms. I have also demonstrated how to recognize the structures of parallelism in Isaiah’s words, how to classify the category of a parallelism (such as synonymous, antithetical, and so forth). But understanding the mechanics of these parallelisms is just the beginning; the next step is to study Isaiah’s parallelisms, thereby bringing light to the crucial doctrinal messages they contain regarding Jesus Christ and his Atonement; the Restoration of the gospel; God’s judgments against the wicked, the building of Zion; the prophecies concerning the last days and the Millennium; and much more. We must always look beyond the mechanics in order to learn how Isaiah’s words apply to each of us. And we cannot forget to pray and inquire of the Lord: What does Isaiah mean here, in this passage? What do Isaiah’s words mean to me in the twenty-first century? A careful study of Isaiah’s important messages will take a lifetime of study for each of us, but it will be a most fruitful study, because each of Isaiah’s parallelisms is packed with important meaning. To me personally, Isaiah’s words are priceless, valued above all the treasures of the earth.

Notes

[1] Kugel, Idea of Biblical Poetry, 1.

[2] Although a parallelism generally consists of two lines, three- and four-lined cases do exist.

[3] Kugel, Idea of Biblical Poetry, 8.

[4] For a discussion of these six figurative speech mechanisms, together with definitions and examples from Isaiah, see chapter 11 in this volume. Although students of Isaiah can comprehend emblematic parallelisms without knowing these terms, readers’ comprehension of Isaiah is certainly enhanced by understanding these rhetorical devices.

[5] For a discussion of the four components, see Berlin, “Parallelism,” 157–160.

[6] See for example, Berlin, “Parallelism,” 157–160; Berlin, “Aspects of Biblical Parallelism,” 17–33; Collins, Line-Forms in Hebrew Poetry; Geller, Parallelism in Early Biblical Poetry; and Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry.

[7] Berlin, “Parallelism,” 160.

[8] For more on grammatical parallelisms, see Geller, Parallelism in Early Biblical Poetry, 15–29. The best treatment is by Berlin, Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, 31–63. In this work, Berlin subdivides grammatical aspects into morphologic parallelism and syntactic parallelism. Also, in 1966 Roman Jakobson brought forward the great import of examining the grammatical aspects of parallelisms. “Pervasive parallelism inevitably activates all the levels of language—the distinctive features, inherent and prosodic, the morphologic and syntactic categories and forms, the lexical units and their semantic classes in both their convergences and divergences acquire an autonomous poetic value.” Jakobson, “Grammatical Parallelism,” 423.

[9] Berlin, Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, 31.

[10] Biblical Hebrew features seven basic verbal stems or aspects as well as other less common stems.

[11] Berlin, “Parallelism,” 159.

[12] Arthur Melville Clark and Harold Whitehall, “Rhyme,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry, 705. See also Polan, In the Ways of Justice, 127, 148, 157, 267; Polan points out several instances of assonance in Isaiah’s text.

[13] Clark and Whitehall, “Rhyme,” 706. For sixteen examples of alliteration in Isaiah, see Boadt, “Alliteration in Second Isaiah,” 353–63; these examples include Isaiah 40:9; 45:14c; 46:3b; and 46:8.

[14] Note that I have used the transliteration style as expressed in transliterations from Accordance 11, version 11.1.2b1 (OakTree Software, November 2015).

[15] Berlin, Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, 141.

[16] Lundbom, Biblical Rhetoric, 174.