Although scholars point to similarities between Sirach and the book of Proverbs and sometimes characterize Ben Sira's relationship to biblical poetry as one of imitation (often unsuccessful imitation), this study considers the innovative and unique aspects of Sirach poetry, especially its use of parallelism, and demonstrates that Ben Sira does not rely exclusively on Proverbs or any other biblical book as a model. "Innovations in Hebrew Poetry" provides detailed readings and philological analysis for the nine poems in the Masada scroll, and general observations on many other Sirach and biblical poems complement the analysis. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

Innovation in Post-Biblical Hebrew Poetry analyzes the style of the hymnic poetry of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Building upon the structuralist foundations of poetic analysis derived by Roman Jakobson, and the system of rhetorical tropes designed by Belgian scholars known as ?Group ?,? Jobe examines hymnic poetry from the Rules of the Community, the Thanksgiving Hymns, and the Songs of the Sabbat Sacrifice. Special attention is paid to features of parallelism and to how it varies from biblical models. Innovation in Post-Biblical Hebrew Poetry analyzes the style of the hymnic poetry of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Building upon the structuralist foundations of poetic analysis derived by Roman Jakobson, and the system of rhetorical tropes designed by Belgian scholars known as ?Group ?,? Jobe examines hymnic poetry from the Rules of the Community, the Thanksgiving Hymns, and the Songs of the Sabbat Sacrifice. Special attention is paid to features of parallelism and to how it varies from biblical models.

This study tackles the neglected subject of word order in biblical Hebrew poetry. The fact that the order of clause constituents frequently differs from that found in prose has often been noted, but no systematic attempt has been offered by way of explanation. Here two separate factors are taken into consideration, that of purely poetic variation (defamiliarisation), and that of pragmatic markedness. The former is common to the poetic genre. In the latter case there is a discernible significance in the positioning of the words that has implications with respect to the matters of topic and focus. Using Lambrecht's theory of information structure and building on the insights of previous studies in biblical Hebrew narrative the present volume shows that marked topic and focus structures in Old Testament poetry are identical to those found in prose and are distinguishable from defamiliarised word order by means of the environment in which the latter is found. Here the common phenomenon of parallelism is seen to be an important factor in providing a secondary line in which defamiliarisation may freely occur. This work offers a new approach to the poetry of the Old Testament that will be an aid towards more accurate translation, exegesis, and discourse analysis of poetic texts.

David Fogel is undoubtedly the harbinger of modernism in Hebrew poetry. While other Hebrew poets wrote their poems in systematically measured rhythm, rigid rhyme, and metrical patterns, establishing and aesthetically sculpting "celebrated," symbolic themes, the poetry of David Fogel introduced a novel, innovative trend in Hebrew poetry. Accordingly, his poems are presented in a low-key rhythm of conversational Hebrew. Fogel's poetry introduced a new poetic option in Hebrew poetry, one that replaced the proclivity of "fireworks" with a serene, whispering tone. Topics are somber and subdued, the atmosphere in his poetry is bleak and murky, while quietly refraining from blatant complaint. Fogel is a poet of doom and gloom, while expressing the latter in the most moving fashion of acceptance and surrender. David Fogel tragically perished in the Holocaust in 1944. This anthology contains 75 of David Fogel's poems, translated by the author. "David Fogel's 'ars poetica' distinguishes itself with poetic beauty that had not been introduced, practiced, and displayed yet in modern Hebrew poetry. Undoubtedly, David Fogel's somber, Gothic atmosphere, subdued, melancholic tone, naturally fluent rhythm and meter, and 'mutely' practiced rhyme, topics and ideas are devoid of flowery symbolism. Prof. Yair Mazor's aesthetic probe into David Fogel's art of poetry analyzes meticulously and lucidly the David Fogel's poetic art. Hence, Prof. Mazor's study of David Fogel's poetry enables the readers to appreciate and even admire the poetry of David Fogel from the very depth of its artistic depth to its panoramic, breathtaking view point." -Professor Moshe Pelli, Director & Abe and Tess Wise Endowed Professor of Judaic Studies Interdisciplinary Program in Judaic Studies, University of Central Florida

The central feature of this book is an innovative critical approach, which understands medieval Hebrew poetry not only by revealing its ties with Arabic poetry but also by determining the specific characteristics by which it stubbornly distinguished itself from Arabic poetry.

This volume explores the language and poetic structure of the seven non-Masoretic poems preserved in the Dead Sea Scroll labeled 11Q5 or 11QPsa. It presents fresh readings of the Hebrew poems, which were last studied intensively almost fifty years ago, stressing their structural and conceptual coherence and incorporating insights gained from the scholarship of recent decades. Each chapter addresses a single poem and describes its poetic structure, including its use of parallelism and allusion to scripture, as well as specific problems related to the poem's interpretation. In addition, the book considers these poems in relation to what they reveal about the development of Hebrew poetry in the late Second Temple period.