It may come as a surprise to many sincere students of the Bible to learn that a considerable proportion of the Old Testament is written in poetry; an interesting fact seldom, if ever, clearly suggested in our Authorized Version as commonly printed. If one turns, however, to the Hebrew text, or to such modern renderings as those prepared by Dr. Smith and by Professor Moffatt, where much of the verse of the original is reproduced as such, he will find immediate evidence of the wide use of this type of writing, not only in Psalms and the Song of Solomon, where one might well expect to find it, but also in Proverbs and in Lamentations, in Job and in many of the books of the prophets, with scattered poetical passages even in the historical books.
One authority on the Old Testament even goes so far as to affirm that, in his judgment, "the presence of poetry must be recognized if one would gain any adequate knowledge of the Scriptures" (Hastings: Shorter Bible Dictionary, p. 736a), for, as the same writer adds (ibid.), "Poetry must be interpreted as poetry."
Now the poetry of the Hebrews, like that of other races, may be classified under various headings; and it is usual to refer to Psalms and the book of Lamentations as representing lyric poetry; Proverbs is regarded as didactic verse, while many scholars feel that the poems known as Job and the Song of Solomon, are primarily dramatic in their form.
