Parallelismus

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

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  • The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.

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Parallelismus: a method of structuring verse into pairs of lines found in ancient Hebrew and familiar from the Bible. It involves repetition with variation (sometimes antithetical) of grammatical patterns and semantic reference, as in Genesis 49:6-7:

in their anger they slew a man, | and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; | and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, | and scatter them in Israel.

in their anger they slew a man, | and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; | and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, | and scatter them in Israel.

78 words

Citation: Groves, Peter Lewis. "Parallelismus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 June 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5527, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5527 Parallelismus 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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