A Primer of Biblical Hebrew Poetry

A Primer of Biblical Hebrew Poetry by David Mark Emanuel is an essential language resource for understanding Hebrew poetry in the Hebrew Bible. The textbook describes with examples the range of poetic techniques employed by the biblical poets—encompassing all poetic texts in the Hebrew Bible, including the psalms, wisdom and prophetic literature, and poetic lines embedded within Hebrew prose.

The book is organized into five main sections, beginning with a robust introduction on the idea of Hebrew poetry and where it is dispersed throughout the Hebrew Bible. Three primary chapters follow, addressing Masoretic, lexical, and morphological features, structural poetics, and specific Hebrew poetics. The book concludes with a summary chapter and two helpful appendices.

A Primer of Biblical Hebrew Poetry is intended for upper-level undergraduate students and seminary students who have already begun learning the Hebrew language. Emanuel’s clear explanations and examples are intended to support classroom teaching on Hebrew poetry, whether in a Hebrew readings class or in the context of book studies that include Hebrew poetry.

Author Biography

David Emanuel (PhD, Hebrew University) is adjunct professor at North Central University and formerly was professor of Hebrew Bible and language at Nyack College. He is author of From Bards to Biblical Exegesis: A Close Reading and Intertextual Analysis of Selected Exodus Psalms and An Intertextual Commentary to the Psalter: Juxtaposition and Allusion in Book I.