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isaiah_s_writing_style_-_repetition

Isaiah's Writing Style: Repetition

I remember reading somewhere that Hebrew poetry uses repetition a lot, instead of rhyme (and maybe meter). In Isaiah 2, this is really evident. The helpful part of this is that if you don't understand a phrase or sentence, the prophet always repeats himself, so you have a pair of analogies to use as similar sayings. They are often finished by testimony or admonition.

Isaiah 2:3
  • the mountain of the Lord / the house of the God of Jacob
  • he will teach of us his ways / we will walk in his paths
Isaiah 2:4
  • he shall judge among the nations / shall rebuke many people
  • they shall beat their swords into plowshares/ their spears into pruning hooks
Isaiah 2:5

An invitation

  • come ye / let us walk

His style is also helpful with confusing verses:

  • 2:7 - horses / chariots
  • 2:9 - the mean man / the great man
  • 2:10 - the rock / the dust
  • 2:11 - the lofty looks / the haughtiness
  • 2:12 - proud and lofty / lifted up
  • 2:13 - the cedars of Lebanon / high and lifted up / the oaks of Bashan
  • 2:15 - high towers / fenced walls
  • 2:19 - the holes of the rocks / the caves of the earth
  • 2:20 - the moles / the bats
  • 2:21 - the clefts of the rocks / the tops of the ragged rocks
isaiah_s_writing_style_-_repetition.txt · Last modified: 2012/11/14 11:09 by steve