Brief Commentaries on St. John Chapter Six, Part Four: The Poetic Parallelism of St. John 6: 50 – 51

Ancient authors wrote differently than modern authors of poetry, prose and narrative. The ancient authors wrote using fixed forms that aided in imparting meaning and emphasis. These forms were also employed to aid in memorization of their works. These fixed forms abound in the Christian Scriptures — both Old and New Testaments. One such literary form is parallelism. Parallelism is found throughout the poetry of the Old Testament, and then especially in the Psalms. These poetic structures can also be found in the New Testament, and one such example can be found in St. John 6: 50 – 51. Before examining this text, let’s first consider the three basic types of parallelism found in the Scriptures: synonymous, antithetical, and synthetic/stair-step (although scholars can define other types in addition to these three). I quote from Psalms — Reading and Studying the Book of Praises by W. H. Bellinger, Jr. (Hendrickson Publishers, 1990), 13.

Synonymous parallelism. The second line enhances the thought of the first by way of closely related statement:
What is man that thou art mindful of him,
and the son of man that thou dost care for him? (Ps 8:4)…
Antithetical parallelism. The second line may complete a thought by presenting a contrast to the first line:
For the wicked shall be cut off;
but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land. (Ps 37:9)…
[Synthetic] Stair-step parallelism. The second line may continue the thought of the first and take it a step further:
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods. (Ps 95:3)

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