3. The metre of Lyrics is in the main the same as that of Wisdom poetry. But in the strictest kinds of lyrics the structure is further determined by the musical performance. A lyric may be a solo, or the matter may be arranged for 'antiphonal' performance between different performers, e.g. choruses of Men and of Women. Antiphonal and antistrophic structure go easily together: see Deborah's Song, page [152]. The musical performance also introduces the 'refrain,' a passage recurring (with or without changes for musical effect): for example see The Song of Moses and Miriam (page 149).
4. A characteristic metrical system in Biblical verse is the 'Doom form.' Here the thread of the poem is in what, for form and spirit, may be called prose; but this prose is interrupted at intervals by lyric verse, celebrating or realising what the prose brings forward. This is chiefly found in prophecies of 'doom,' or denunciation of the foes of Israel (hence the name): the prose is a Divine word of denunciation, the lyrics are mostly impersonal celebrations of what the Divine speaker says. The form is easily collected from examples; see pages 175-181.
STORY
Story as a form of literature differs from History by its appeal to the imagination and emotions, whereas History addresses itself to our sense of record and scientific explanation. It is of no consequence whether the matter of the story be historic fact or invention; in the one case the writer selects, in the other case he frames, such details as will have the desired effect in presenting the story to the mind of the reader. The stories of the Bible are scattered through the history, of which they form a part; thus a reader of the Bible in its ordinary versions may be required at any moment to alter the character of his attention without anything to warn him of the change. In the Modern Reader's Bible (volumes Genesis, The Exodus, The Judges, The Kings) the stories are separated from the surrounding matter by titles. Selections of these stories enter into the present volume.
i. Joseph and his Brethren. This is one of the most elaborate and artistically beautiful stories in all literature. It emphasises an important place in the Biblical history, Joseph being a link between the Children of Israel and the world empire of Egypt. Among elements of story beauty note the personality of Joseph, its attractiveness wherever he goes and its gradual maturing. Note also the sketches of varied life which make a background to the story as it moves along—glimpses of shepherd life, of caravan trading, of palace life in Egypt. But the main interest will be the 'plot'—the technical term for the harmony that binds the different parts of a story into one whole. In the present case there are three 'motives' underlying the plot. (1) What has been called the 'oracular action': the interest of mystic dream oracles gradually becoming clear as the oracles are fulfilled. (2) The development of an ironic situation—Joseph recognising his brethren but not recognised by them: once developed this situation is prolonged to the utmost by the hero's conflict of feelings, between resentment and family affection. (3) Beneath all other motives is the providential overruling of human events for high purposes (compare page [27]).
ii. The Witness of Balaam. The place of this story in the main history is indicated by its title: the 'Exodus' is the period of development for Israel from a family to a nation, and towards the close of the period Balaam, an outsider, bears witness in spite of himself to the growing numbers of the nation and to its glorious future.—In literary form it is a 'mixed epic' or 'canti-fable': a story in prose that breaks into verse at appropriate places. (Compare the expression took up his parable: the parable is an undefined term for a more specialised literary form occurring in the course of more general literature, such as a fable in the midst of a discourse, or a poem in the midst of prose.)—Its interest rests partly upon the conception of the 'Blessing and the Curse': there is the superstitious idea of the efficacy of these in the minds of Balak and his people, while the true Blessing comes from the prophetic vision accorded to Balaam by God. [Compare 'The Stolen Blessing' in the Genesis volume.] In character Balaam is a sincere worshipper of Jehovah outside the ranks of Jehovah's people, who however from interested motives conforms to the heathen world around him as far as he can. [Outside this story the general history shows him as yielding at last to material interest and acting as tempter to Israel: compare Revelation, chapter ii. 14.]—The third paragraph (page 34) is the famous story of Balaam's Ass. It is the opinion of some that this is a fable interwoven with the main story: it is in favour of this view that the following paragraph, So Balaam went with the princes of Balak, etc., seems the natural continuation of the second paragraph; while the princes of Balak are ignored in the story of the Ass.
iii. The Crowning of Abimelech. This occupies an important place in the general history. Originally Israel is ruled only by the invisible Jehovah; gradually the secularising forces around lead to the institution of visible kings. This story is the first attempt at crowning a king, the work of a faction, with civil war and ruin as a result.—It is a story of war and adventure. [Compare the Raid on Michmash, or The Feud of Saul and David in the Judges volume.]—Its interest also rests upon the bitter fable of Jotham in scorn of kingship: the fable has the effect of a curse since it is literally fulfilled.
iv. Samson's Wedding Feast. This illustrates a variety of story called 'Idyl': the word is almost equivalent to 'trifle,' and the term is applied to incidents of love or domestic life in contradistinction to graver matters of history. [Three Idyl Stories (Ruth, Esther, Tobit) are contained in the Biblical Idyls volume of this series.]—Characteristic of such a story is the game of riddles; the original riddle, answer, and rejoinder are all in single couplets.—It is not a pure idyl; feats of hero strength form another interest, as with other stories of Samson.
v-vii. These are Prophetic Stories. As the secularising tendency in Israel towards visible kings prevails against the original conception of a spiritual rule by an invisible God there arises an order of 'prophets,' who stand forth as representatives of the invisible Jehovah, and are thus often in opposition to the external government. So in the history of The Kings stories of these prophets, with their miraculous powers, take the place of the stories of heroes and their feats in earlier parts of the history. During the captivity in Babylon, Daniel in a similar way represents the Hebrew God against the king and hierarchy of Babylon.
vii. Page 63. I have followed a tradition that the mystic writing on the wall was interpreted by Daniel reading downward instead of across [or rather, down, up, down: the form of writing known as boustrophedon, that is, the way an ox turns in a furrow]. If the handwriting was in an unknown alphabet Daniel must have said so, or why should his interpretation be accepted at once? But if the characters were those to which the beholders were accustomed, but arranged in an unthought-of direction, it is easy to realise the puzzle of the audience and the instantaneous acceptance of the solution.