Hebrew Poetry

Course will offer a broad selection of biblical poetic texts of different genres and time periods, in order to familiarize students with the distinctive features of Hebrew poetry: both its conventional literary constraints and its artistic range. A survey of scholarly attempts to define the “poetic” in Hebrew verse, ancient comparative non-biblical poetic traditions, textual/philological issues, poetic themes. Prerequisite: three semesters of Biblical Hebrew. Evaluation: weekly preparation of assigned texts, class participation, readings, mid-term quiz, final exam.