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Literary styles used in the Bible

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Even though the Bible is a religious text, it is also a literary masterpiece, which uses various literary styles in the presentation of its content. As a library of books, each book in the Bible has a style of writing, which enhances the effectiveness of the message to the readers (Tanzer, 2012). The following chart offers a direct comparison by showing the difference in style of writing and content between a psalm and a passage in 2 Kings. Historical Narrative in 2 Kings | Poetry in Psalms | The book uses historical narratives as a style of writing. Its main content is a continuation of the history in 1 Kings. The history opens with the translation of Elijah into Heaven, and ends with the story of ungodly Jews moving to Babylon (Tanzer, 2012). Chapter One of 2 Kings sets the record of its documentation of what happened in the past, appearing in prosaic style. This passage assumes that its contents are the actual records of what transpired, and does not give much room for evaluation (Wilt, 2014). | Chapter One, just like the entire books of Psalms employs the poetic style in the presentation of its contents. The content is presented in the form of a poem, which gives the book a distinct structure. Unlike in Chapter One of 2 Kings, characterized by narration, there is an element of meter, alphabetic matching, as well as rhythm in the book of Psalms. Furthermore, there is a sense of hyperbole and fantasy in the content, which makes the message more poetic, enhancing its effectiveness to the readers (Gaebelein, 2013). |

As a wrap up therefore, it is evident that even though different books of the Bible have different styles of writing, there are common themes that underlie in them. For instance, the first chapters in both 2 Kings and Psalms share a common theme, in which there are consequences for the godly and the ungodly. While the people who live godly live receive their due rewards, the ungodly ones stand to suffer as a punishment for their unworthy lives.
References
Gaebelein, A. C. (2013). Annotated Bible. Book On Demand Limited.
Tanzer, S. J. (2012). Biblical Interpretation in the Hodayot. A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism, 255-275.
Wilt, T. (2014). Bible translation: Frames of reference. Routledge.

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