Thoughts to Keep in Mind: Reading Poetry in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament books of Genesis through Esther, we find mostly stories—narrative accounts that describe historical events from a spiritual perspective. Noah built an ark, Moses delivered Israel, Hannah prayed to have a son, and so on. Beginning with Job, we find a different writing style. In these books, Old Testament writers turned to poetic language to express deep feelings or monumental prophecies in a memorable way.We have already seen a few examples of poetry sprinkled throughout the historical books of the Old Testament. From the book of Job forward, we will see a lot more of it. The books of Job, Psalms, and Proverbs are almost entirely poetry, as are parts of prophetic books like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos. Because reading poetry is different from reading a story, understanding it often requires a different approach. Here are some thoughts that could help you find more meaning in Old Testament poetry.