Some Types of Parallelism in the Psalms
I. Parallelism: pairing of a line with one or more lines that are linguistically equivalent
A. Synonomous: two lines repeating the same text (example: Psalm 59)
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"O Lord, do not rebuke me in your wratch
Nor chasten me in your displeasure." (38:1)
B. Antithetical: statement followed by its opposite (example: Psalm 49: 6-10)
"Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
But we will remember the name of our Lord." (20:7)
C. Synthetic: an extension of the same thought in one line: (example: Psalm 148)
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"O sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth." (96:1)
D. Progressive: two synthetic parallel lines (example: Psalm 126: 4-6)
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"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it
Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes in vain." (127:1)
E. Stepped: refrain reinforcing the progression (example: Psalm 136)
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"Let Israel declare:
His steadfast love is eternal
Let the house of Aaron declare
His steadfast love is eternal." (118: 2-3)