Hebrew life and thought; being interpretative studies in the literature of Israel

From the Publisher

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

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Hebrew life and thought; being interpretative studies in the literature of Israel

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CHAPTER III THE POETRY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT I In the poetry of a nation the heart of a nation is revealed. The poetry of the Bible shows the heart of Israel it is the utterance of friendship between God and man; and the poetry of Hebrew prophet and psalmist remains to this day the best expression of the emotions of the heart toward God. Among all peoples the first expression, not only of men's feeling, but of their thought, is made in poetry. One reason for this we have seen; verse aids the memory and guards against change a very important matter when the memory is the only medium by which thought can be preserved. A deeper reason is that poetry, being the language both of emotion and of imagination, is the natural vehicle of utterance in the infancy of peoples as of individuals; for in infancy the imagination is most vivid and the emotions most clamorous for expression.1 '"Poetry is the mother-tongue of the human race." J. G. Hamfolfn (1730-88), quoted in the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. " Poetry." 65 an From the very beginning, poetry was allied with religion. It was so with the nations of the East; it was not less so with the pagan nations of Europe. As a brilliant French writer has said, Paganism was the son of Poetry, and permitted his mother access to his altars. But pagan altars are not her first home. Poetry was holy before it was superstitious; that is, it was first of all the genuine expression of the aspiration of the soul toward the best it knew. The difference between Hebrew poetry and that of all other peoples is that, while the latter degenerated into superstition, and thus became the expression of ignoble emotions, Hebrew poetry never lost its early character. It wasthe child of holiness, as Israel was the child of God. We find no Lucretius or ...

Editorial Reviews -

Hebrew life and thought; being interpretative studies in the literature of Israel

From the Publisher

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Features -

Hebrew life and thought; being interpretative studies in the literature of Israel

Read an Excerpt

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER III THE POETRY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT I In the poetry of a nation the heart of a nation is revealed. The poetry of the Bible shows the heart of Israel it is the utterance of friendship between God and man; and the poetry of Hebrew prophet and psalmist remains to this day the best expression of the emotions of the heart toward God. Among all peoples the first expression, not only of men's feeling, but of their thought, is made in poetry. One reason for this we have seen; verse aids the memory and guards against change a very important matter when the memory is the only medium by which thought can be preserved. A deeper reason is that poetry, being the language both of emotion and of imagination, is the natural vehicle of utterance in the infancy of peoples as of individuals; for in infancy the imagination is most vivid and the emotions most clamorous for expression.1 '"Poetry is the mother-tongue of the human race." J. G. Hamfolfn (1730-88), quoted in the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. " Poetry." 65 an From the very beginning, poetry was allied with religion. It was so with the nations of the East; it was not less so with the pagan nations of Europe. As a brilliant French writer has said, Paganism was the son of Poetry, and permitted his mother access to his altars. But pagan altars are not her first home. Poetry was holy before it was superstitious; that is, it was first of all the genuine expression of the aspiration of the soul toward the best it knew. The difference between Hebrew poetry and that of all other peoples is that, while the latter degenerated into superstition, and thus became the expression of ignoble emotions, Hebrew poetry never lost its early character. It wasthe child of holiness, as Israel was the child of God. We find no Lucretius or ...

Synopsis

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.