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Ambiguity and Poetry: Psalm 62 as Witness Cover

Ambiguity and Poetry: Psalm 62 as Witness

By: Ethan C. Jones  
Open Access
|Dec 2024

Abstract

Ambiguity is intrinsic and intended within biblical poetry. Psalm 62 demonstrates ways in which biblical poetry conveys this ambiguity. The form of poetry itself—its paratactic and terse shape—is the soil in which inference, reasoning, and imagination grow. There is, furthermore, an overlap between ambiguous language in general and ambiguity in poetry due to its form and intent. This essay directs modern notions of delimitation toward the realities of biblical poetry and encourages proper awareness and appreciation of ambiguity within Holy Scripture by considering its role within Psalm 62. Here the reader is challenged not only by the content of the psalm but by its form, repetition, and nuance so as to humble intellectual hubris, invite careful attention to detail, and prompt prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination and inspiration of Holy Scripture.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/perc-2024-0029 | Journal eISSN: 2284-7308 | Journal ISSN: 1224-984X
Language: English
Page range: 85 - 102
Published on: Dec 8, 2024
Published by: Emanuel University Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 3 issues per year

© 2024 Ethan C. Jones, published by Emanuel University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.