4. There are many emblematic couplets:

A word fitly spoken,

Is like apples of gold in baskets of silver.

As an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold,

So is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.1

As cold water to a thirsty soul,

So is good news from a far country.2

They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but on the contrary, sinners.3

The book of Proverbs in its first great collection contains 376 couplets, of every variety. The second great collection is also composed chiefly of couplets, although specimens of other forms occur.5 The Wisdom of Jesus has a large number also.6

II. THE TRIPLET

The tristich, or triplet, of three lines is not common in Hebrew poetry. There are only eight in the entire book of Proverbs.7

1. The synonymous triplet is most frequent.

The priests' blessing is a fine specimen of a synonymous tristich.

Yahweh bless thee and keep thee;

Yahweh let His face shine upon thee and be gracious to thee;
Yahweh lift up His face upon thee and give thee peace.

The oldest of the sayings of the Jewish Fathers is of this form:

This is followed by another triplet, progressive to it.

For every one that asketh, receiveth,

And he that seeketh, findeth,

And to him that knocketh it shall be opened.1

2. The antithetical triplet takes the form of one antithetical line to two other lines. Sometimes the antithesis appears in one line, sometimes in another.

These examples will suffice:

Seest thou a man diligent in his business?

He shall stand before kings;

He shall not stand before mean men.2

Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not;

But go not to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity:
Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.3

The foxes have holes,

And the birds of the heaven nests;

But the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.1

3. Progressive triplets are more frequent, but the progression is seldom thorough-going.

These specimens show the variety of method:

Go not forth hastily to strive,

Lest in the end, therefore, what wilt thou do,
When thy neighbour hath put thee to shame ? 5

Be ye of the disciples of Aaron :

Loving peace and pursuing peace,

Loving mankind and bringing them nigh.

4. The emblematic tristich may be illustrated by the following specimens :

As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,

So is a faithful messenger to them that send him ;

For he refresheth the soul of his masters.7

III. THE TETRASTICH

The tetrastich is formed from the distich, and consists generally of pairs balanced over against one another, but sometimes of three lines against one; rarely there is a steady march of thought to the end.

The oracle respecting Jacob and Esau' is an example of balanced pairs:

Two nations are in thy womb,

And two peoples will separate themselves from thy bowels;

And people will prevail over people,

And the elder will serve the younger.

The pairs are synonymous within themselves, but progressive with reference to one another.

The blessing of Ephraim by Jacob is an example of antithetical pairs:

He also will become a people,

And he also will grow great;

But yet the younger will become greater,

And his seed abundance of nations.2

The song of the well is an interesting and beautiful example of a more involved kind of parallelism, where the second and third lines constitute a synonymous pair; while at the same time, as a pair, they are progressive to the first line, and are followed by a fourth line progressive to themselves:

Spring up well! Sing to it!

Well that princes have dug;

The nobles of the people have bored,

With sceptre, with their staves.3

The dirge of David over Abner presents a similar specimen, where, however, the first and fourth lines are synonymous with one another, as well as the second and third lines:

Was Abner to die as a fool dieth?

Thy hands were not bound,

And thy feet were not put in fetters:

As one falling before the children of wickedness, thou didst fall.*

A fine example of a tetrastich, progressive throughout, is found

1 Gen. 2528.

2 Gen. 4819.

saic insertion of

3 Nu. 2117. 18.

The measures of the last two lines are spoiled by the later pro8, 12, and T, none of which are needed for the sense.

4 2 Sam. 333. 34.

in the extract from an ancient ode describing the Gadites who joined David's band:

Heroes of valour, men, a host,

For battle, wielders of shield and spear;

And their faces were faces of a lion,

And like roes upon the mountains for swiftness.1

The blessing of Abram by Melchizedek is composed of two progressive couplets:

Blessed be Abram of God Most High,

Founder of heaven and earth;

And blessed be God Most High,

Who hath delivered thine adversaries into thine hand.2

The tetrastich is quite frequent in Proverbs. The little supplementary collection of the Words of the Wise has no fewer than fourteen of them. The second great collection of the proverbs of Solomon 5 has four examples, the words of Agur one, and the collection of Aluqa one.8

These may suffice as specimens:

6

The eye that mocketh at his father,
And despiseth to obey his mother,

The ravens of the valley shall pick it out,

And the young eagles shall eat it.8

The second couplet gives the punishment for the sin of violation of the parental law, which violation is stated in the first couplet. The following tetrameter is a fine specimen of two couplets, in which the first gives the comparison, the second the explanation: Take away the dross from the silver,

And there cometh forth a vessel for the finer.
Take away the wicked from before the king,

And his throne shall be established in righteousness.

A third specimen is also of two couplets:

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink :
For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head,
And Yahweh shall reward thee.10

The second couplet gives the reasons for the conduct recommended in the first.

11 Chr. 128.

2 Gen. 1419.

8 Prov. 2217-24.

4 Prov. 2222-23. 24-25. 26-27, 2310-11. 13-14. 15-16. 17-18, 241-2. 3-4. 5-6. 15–16. 17-18. 19-20, 21-22

Jesus gives many sentences of this type:

No household servant1 can have two masters:
For either he will hate the one and love the other;

Or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.2

This is a fine specimen of introverted parallelism. The following have two progressive couplets:

Every idle word that men speak,

They shall give account thereof in 3 the judgment;

For by thy words thou shalt be justified,

And by thy words thou shalt be condemned.1

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,

Neither cast your pearls before the swine,

Lest haply they trample them under their feet,
And turn and rend you.5

An interesting specimen of the tetrastich is: "

If ye forgive men their trespasses,

Your Father will also forgive you your trespasses;
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,

Neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

This is composed of two antithetical couplets. It is inserted by Matthew immediately after the Lord's Prayer. But it is not given by Luke in that context.

IV. THE PENTASTICH

The pentastich is usually a combination of the distich and tristich. A beautiful specimen is given in a strophe of an ode of victory over the Canaanites at Bethhoron, which has been lost.10

1 Matthew omits oixérŋs of Luke, probably in order to generalize, as usual in his collection of the Wisdom of Jesus (Mt. 5–7). 2 Mt. 624 Lk. 1613.

3 It is common in Matthew to insert day before judgment in order to make the reference more distinct to the ultimate day of doom. See my Messiah of the Gospels, p. 240.

4 Mt. 1236-37.

5 Mt. 76.

6 Mt. 614-15 Mk. 1125-26

=

7 The connective yàp has been inserted in order to attach the logion to its context in the Gospel.

8 The evangelist inserts " heavenly "before Father in the first couplet, but not in the second. This is in accord with the peculiar usage of our Matthew. See my Messiah of the Gospels, p. 79.

9 Matthew omits "trespasses " in the second line, but the measure requires it, as well as the antithetical statement in the fourth line.

10 Jos. 1012-13. See p. 337, where it is cited.