Biblical Eloquence in Amos 5
Amos 5 is a chapter where the prophet Amos tells “the people of Israel are exhorted to seek the Lord and do good so that they may live.” (chapter heading)
There are several short verses (most ranging from two to three lines) that describe what the righteous do and how they behave. Consequences of the defiant and wicked are also mentioned.
15. Hate the evil, and love the good,
and establish judgment in the gate
24. But let judgment run down as waters,
and righteousness as a mighty stream.
The structure of both of these verses hold parallelisms. Verse 15 has a comparison and contrast, which is also known as syncrisis. When one is told “to hate the evil” it may be implied to also “love the good” but both are explicitly proclaimed. In verse 24, the rhetorical device used is homoioteleuton, which is a parallelism in the ending words of each clause. “Waters” and “a mighty stream” are essentially synonymous. Parallelism creates a balance and a pattern to help instill the message to the audience.
It's amazing the power a simple renaming through parallelism can do. It adds a new depth and dimension to the word being personified. In this example you can also see simile. Nice selection.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis, Kelly. I think the antithesis here is also poetic. And the stark contrast between hate and love then evil and good is made even more clear through the parallelism you pointed out.
ReplyDeleteI never really took Amos as much of a poetic writer, but the more posts I read, the more I realize that poetics was infused almost effortlessly with every prophets scriptures. This especially paints a vivid picture in my mind and forces me to also realize how important it is to remain righteous. Nice analysis Kelly!
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