Dr. A. C. Gaebelein has written this helpful analysis of
the literary structure of Proverbs.
The literary form of these
Proverbs is mostly in the form of couplets. The two clauses of the couplet are
generally related to each other by what has been termed parallelism, according
to Hebrew poetry. (Hebrew poetry does not have rhyme or meter as our poetry
does. Hebrew poetry consists of a parallelism of ideas.) Three kinds of
parallelism have been pointed out:
1. Synonymous Parallelism. Here the
second clause restates what is given in the first clause. (It expresses the
same thought in a different way.)
Judgments are prepared for
scorners, And stripes for the back of fools [Prov. 19:29].
2.
Antithetic (Contrast) Parallelism. Here a truth, which is stated in the first
clause, is made stronger in the second clause by contrast with an opposite
truth.
The light of the righteous rejoiceth, But the lamp of the
wicked shall be put out [Prov. 13:9].
(You can see that the
second statement is stating the same truth but from the opposite point of view
by way of contrast.)
3. Synthetic Parallelism. The second clause develops
the thought of the first.
The terror of a king is as the roaring of
a lion; He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life
[Prov. 20:2].