Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture: The Poetic and Didactic Books of the Old Testament (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture 

The Poetic and Didactic Books of the Old Testament

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sunday, August 3, 2025)

In previous Sunday sermons, we briefly looked at the historical and prophetic books of the Old Testament. However, as we have emphasized, the Old Testament also includes a category of books called poetic, which refer to books written in a poetic manner. This category includes the Psalms of David, Job, Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, and the Wisdom of Sirach, that is, a total of seven books. As has been done so far, a brief analysis of these seven poetic books of the Old Testament will be made.

First of all, it should be emphasized that poetry is the oldest literary genre. Before the invention of writing, man expressed himself with wonder in hymns, laments, and outbursts of joy. After the invention of writing, he cultivated written prose. Thus, there is a difference between poetry and prose. Poems are letters in verse, the words have rhythm and meter, while prose consists of sentences that follow the rules of grammar and meanings are recorded in a logical sequence.

Thus, the Old Testament includes books that are written in prose, but it also has books that are written in poetic form, such as those mentioned above. They were called poetic books because they are expressed in poetic form. Poetry in the Hebrew language is divided into three categories: parallelism, that is, the thought of the first line is repeated with different phrasing in the other line; rhythm, as to the pronunciation of the words; and stanza, with the repetition of words or phrases, such as the refrain.

We will briefly look at the content of these poetic books.

First are the Psalms of David. These are poems of great value written by the Prophet David, and some of them are later. It is written that, just as Moses gave the Pentateuch, that is, five books, so David gave the Psalms, which according to some are divided into five books, like the Pentateuch, the first being from Psalms 1-40, the second from Psalms 41-71, the third from Psalms 72-88, the fourth from Psalms 89-105, and the fifth from Psalms 106-150. These psalms are not only poems that were read in sacred services, but they were chanted with the accompaniment of instruments and fulfilled many purposes. That is, they made the Jews remember their history with praise to God, they presented the physiology of heaven and earth, glorifying God, they refer to the incarnation of the Son and Word of God and they are prophetic, because they prophesy things related to the founding of the Church, they refer to the theology of the Holy Trinity, to the angels, they speak of the education of man and the healing of the passions, they present the value of the commandments of God.

The book of Job presents the life of a man who went through three situations in his life: the first was complete happiness, the second was complete misery, after months of suffering many trials, and the third was complete restoration by God for the patience he showed. The entire plot of this story takes place in dialogue with his wife, primarily with his three friends who came to visit him, which is, in fact, a tragic dialogue, the appearance of Elihu, and at the end the appearance of God who gives answers to all the questions that were asked. Many conclusions are drawn from this book - theological, social, etc. And, of course, it was considered by the Fathers of the Church that Job was a type of Christ, which also shows the temptations He received in His life, which is why it is read in the Church during Holy Week. The prologue of the book is written in prose, and then the monologue and dialogue of Job with his friends, the intervention of Elihu and the appearance of God are written in poetic form.

The book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon, as seen in the book's prologue: "Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, who reigned over Israel." The main theme of the book is wisdom, which is not the philosophical or scientific but the practical life, in order for man to live well. It refers to the fear of God, to piety, it speaks of wisdom and foolishness, justice and injustice, piety and impiety, pride and humility, honesty and dishonesty, love and hatred, anger and long-suffering, wealth and poverty, kindness and rudeness. It brings opposites such as man and God, parents and children, kings and subjects, man and woman, master and slave, friend and enemy, and gives various wise commands. It turns against evil, recommends the fear of God, love of neighbor, temperance, speaks of retribution, and all of this is presented as proverbs in the form of verses.

The book of Ecclesiastes is written in prose and poetry, that is, the literary form of the book is mixed, prose and poetry, which are clearly distinguished. The author of this book is considered to be King Solomon, who wrote it in his old age, while the other two, Proverbs and the Song of Songs, were written in his mature years and in his youthful life respectively. The title “Ecclesiastes” comes from the verb ekklesiazo which means to summon the Church, the people in a religious sense. The presentation of the book’s content is not methodical and systematic, but fragmentary. The summary of the work is contained in the prologue and epilogue and is encapsulated in the phrase: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” However, it can be divided into four parts. The first is a confessional experience of Solomon concerning the happiness of man. In the second part it is shown that man is very incapable of acquiring happiness by his own strength. The third part records some rules for the relative happiness of man on earth. The fourth part proves that true happiness on earth consists in the acquisition of practical wisdom, which is prudence.

The book Song of Songs is a poem, a lyrical song, and its full title is “Song of Songs, which is of Solomon.” The first half of the title, “Song of Songs,” is a Hebrew phrase, such as “Holy of Holies,” “King of Kings,” “Lord of Lords,” etc., which means that it is the most beautiful song, the incomparable song. The second half of the title states that it was written by King Solomon. The content of the book refers to the love of a young shepherd with a young shepherdess that goes through various phases and in the entire plot of the work, apart from the two, the daughters of Jerusalem and the intervention of the King participate. Various interpretations have been given, such as the historical, the typological, the parabolic, the allegorical, the ecclesiastical-hesychastic. The Neptic Fathers of the Church interpreted this book as the love of Christ for the Church, as the love of the faithful Christian for God with the corresponding transitions, namely the initial Grace, the contraction of Grace and the new coming of the Grace of God.

The book Wisdom of Solomon refers to "divine wisdom", the "universal wisdom", which teaches all virtue. Reading this book, one can distinguish various literary characteristics, that is, it has both Hebrew and Greek expression. Some believe that the idea of the book comes from Solomon, but was modified by someone later who knew the Greek language as well. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is general and theoretical, in which wisdom and its pleasant results are presented, and the second part sets forth the wonderful works of wisdom in certain events of Israelite history in contrast to idolatry.

The book Wisdom of Sirach belongs to the poetic and sophiological books of the Old Testament, and was written by someone who was a resident of Jerusalem, a member of the order of scribes. He devoted himself to the study of the Scriptures, traveled to foreign countries, mingled with people of all social classes, then settled in Jerusalem, where he opened a school and taught his countrymen the Holy Scripture and ethics. The purpose of the book is to protect the Jews from the dangers of the idolatrous influences of other peoples and to recommend them to remain in the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. For this purpose he expounds the greatness of God in the nature and history of Israel, and calls upon wise men to apply this teaching. This book, as we see in the 39th festal letter of Athanasius the Great, was used by the Church, among others, for the education of the Catechumens. In this letter, Athanasius the Great writes that apart from the canonical books, the Holy Fathers have decreed that they be read to those who wish to be catechized in the words of piety, and these are the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach, Esther, Judith, Tobit, the so-called Didache of the Apostles, and The Shepherd.

This means that the Old Testament is suitable for the teaching of catechumens, but also for us Christians to learn about our prehistory.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.