Major poems of the Hebrew Bible : : at the interface of hermeneutics and structural analysis / / J.P. Fokkelman.

• Superior document: Studia Semitica Neerlandica. ; 37
• Author: Fokkelman, J. P.
• Place / Publishing House: Assen, The Netherlands : : Van Gorcum,, 1998-<2004>.
• Year of Publication: 1998
• Language: English
• Series: Studia Semitica Neerlandica 41.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (550 pages)
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; Preface /; Syllables, Colometrics, and Structural Analysis /; A Structural and Prosodic Description of 85 Psalms /; A Structural and Prosodic Description of Job 4-14: /; Conclusions /; Full Syllable Counts for Ninety-four Poems /; Full figures of all Psalms with a round average /; Overall List of 150 Psalms = 148 Poems /; Abbreviations /; Select Bibliography /; Corrections to Volume I /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
• ISBN: 9004358714
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: J.P. Fokkelman.

Volume II of Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible deals with 85 Psalms (83 poems) and the poems in Job 4-14, and aims at presenting an integrated prosodical theory which is able to bypass the highly controversial question of metrics. There are two approaches which initially are kept apart on grounds of method: structural analysis and the counting of the original, id est pre-Masoretic, syllables. Each poem receives a compact description of structure which gives a reasoned delimitation of cola, verses, and strophes. In a separate operation, the syllable counts for each word, colon, verse, strophe, stanza, section and poem are recorded in a comprehensive Appendix. All the poems under discussion show a precise integer as the average of syllables per colon. For half of them this is 8.00, the others have either 7.00 or 9.00. The 9.00 is a ceiling: there is no Psalm with a higher average. Combining the two approaches, the author shows that the poets themselves did count their syllables, and how they were able to mesh the syllable figures with the structural units of their compositions in a virtuoso combination. The greatest challenge of this enterprise is to delimit and objectify the correct colometry for all the songs, as the figure of syllables per colon depends on the right amount of cola. There are only about 30 Psalms which have a cola figure that can be considered beyond doubt. Fortunately, in the Book of Job the correct number of cola is certain for most chapters. Here we meet the number 8 again as a normative figure