What Did Angels Teach?
Updated: March 8, 2024
Hebrew Parallelism
Scholarly References
Scholarly References for Further Study
When Anglican bishop Robert Lowth ("De Sacra Poesi Hebræorum Prælectiones," 1753, Lecture xix.; and "Preliminary Dissertation to Isaiah," 1778, pp. 12-26) (read Latin manuscript here and more on Lowth Here)wrote of Biblical Hebrew Parallelism in the 1753, he only scratched the surface of the many types of Hebrew Parallelism available. His work was not translated into English until the 1900's. But even if Joseph Smith had read Lowth's work (which he did not), Lowth didn't provide enough depth to account for the breadth and depth of parallelism offered throughout the Book of Mormon. There was no 'source' to plagaerize Hebrew Parallelisms from in Joseph Smith's day. The only other explanation is that the Book of Mormon is what it states: a translated record of ancient Israelites.
Hebrew Poetic writing reached a pinacle in scholarly circle in the 1970-1990s, long after Joseph Smith. Many of the scholars listed below explain Hebrew poetic styles found within the Book of Mormon. Neither Joseph Smith nor any people of the 1800's restoration movement ever mentioned Hebrew Parallelism within the Book of Mormon. They were not aware.
Classic Scholarly References on Hebrew Poetry
Alonso Schökel, Luis. "A Manual of Hebrew Poetics." Roma: Editrice pontificio Istituto biblico, 1988.
Alter, Robert. "The Art of Biblical Poetry." New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, 1985.
Berlin, Adele. "The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism." Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1985.
Fokkelman, J. P. "Reading Biblical Poetry: An Introductory Guide." Translated by Ineke Smit. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2001.
Kugel, James L. "The Idea of Biblical Poetry: Parallelism and Its History." Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Lunn, Nicholas P. "Word-Order Variation in Biblical Hebrew Poetry: Differentiating Pragmatics and Poetics." Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 2006.
O'Connor, Michael Patrick. "Hebrew Verse Structure." Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns, 1980.
Petersen, David L., and Kent Harold Richards. "Interpreting Hebrew Poetry." Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1992.
Watson, Wilfred G. E. "Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to Its Techniques." London, UK: T & T Clark, 2005. Link to Book Online
Other References
(some of these are very scholarly, but can find lots biblical poetry paralleled in the Book of Mormon)
THE FORM OF HEBREW POETRY Parallelism
Hebrew_poetry_in_the_Bible_A_guide
Clues to Understanding Hebrew Poetry
Chiastic Patterns in Biblical Hebrew Poetry
http://www4.westminster.edu/staff/nak/courses/BibPoetry.htm
Good summary of Hebrew Poetic definitions
Jeff Benner
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/
Jeff Benner's Index of Poetry (articles and videos)
Jeff Benner Explains the Chiasm of Creation in Genesis 1, 2
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/god-yhwh/the-image-of-god-video.htm
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/god-yhwh/the-image-of-god.htm
Jeff Benner Books: His Name is One, Living Words, Hebrew Lexicon
https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hebrew-poetry
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11902-parallelism-in-hebrew-poetry
Article on Parallelism by Adele Berlin: http://individual.utoronto.ca/mfkolarcik/BerlinA_Parallelism-ABD.html (Berlin, Adele. "Parallelism." In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary vol. 5, pp. 154–162, New York: Doubleday, 1992.)
Also
https://www.sermon-preparation-tips.com/types-of-parallelism-in-hebrew-poetry/