(Psalm 26, verse 1)

There can also be an antithetical parallelism:

They will stagger and fall, but we will rise and stand firm.

(Psalm 19, verse 9)

Other options are also possible, but these two are the most illustrative. Parallelism can be complete (as in the above examples) or partial, when the number of elements in the "segments" is not the same, or, if they are equal, not all have their parallel. It can be straight, as in the first of the above examples, or inverted, chiastic, as in the second.

As for the system of versification in the European sense, the metrical organization of verse, it stubbornly defies definition. It can only be argued that the biblical verse was accentuated, that equal-sized "segments" were quite often and equally stressed, with the number of iqts from 2 to 4, depending on the length of the "segment", and that three-stressed "segments" predominated. But the main fact remains the metrical instability of biblical poetry.

And finally, the phonetic organization of the Bible verse. It was developed to a high degree – from simple alliterations and assonances to complex, sophisticated, effective sound writing and even consonances in the endings of "segments", although there is no need to talk about rhyme in the poetry of ancient Jewry. (It should be noted, by the way, that the use of the concept of a stanza is also unfounded, so to speak, anachronistic.)

Now let's return to our psalm, starting with the end, with phonetics and metrics. It is immediately apparent that verse 2 contains a "rhyme" that returns as internal in verse 3. The abundance of alliterations on the "sh" scattered throughout the text is also noticeable. Attention is drawn to the assonances "ey" ("ye") and "ai" ("ya"), concentrated in the second half-verses. In a word, the "instrumentation" does not seem accidental, but deliberate and purposeful. The distribution of ikts is almost regular (three in long "segments", two in short ones).

With parallelisms, however, everything is not so clear. The obvious synonymous parallelism is represented by verse 2. There are commentators who see the first half of verse 6 as a kind of summary of verses 4 and 5, and the second half of verse 6 as a summary of verses 2 and 3. Then we have a "macrochiasm" that encompasses all the verses mentioned above. This interpretation, however, seems too bold. On the contrary, if one agrees with Duhud in his understanding of the second "section" of verse 3 ("will bring me to rich pastures"), and his arguments are by no means lightweight, then there is an inverted synonymous parallelism with the first "segment" of verse 2 ("he will lay me down in a grassy place").

Итак, стилистический уровень библейской поэзии, и в частности псалмов. Она беспримерно (без сравнения — если воспользоваться церковнославянизмом) богата образностью — на этот счет существует общее согласие. Образы черпались из всех без изъятия сфер бытия, от самых возвышенных до самых низменных. И независимо от сферы образы всегда конкретны, наглядны, «вещны». Это связано с качествами — или, если взглянуть с противоположной точки зрения, слабостями — самого еврейского языка библейской эпохи, а именно со сравнительной бедностью его средствами выражения отвлеченных понятий и отношений. Отсюда — простота, пусть серьезная, важная, торжественная даже, но всетаки простота, в известном смысле заземленность библейского текста. А между тем и по-русски, и на других языках эти тексты взвились под стилистические небеса и при этом потеряли «вещность», обескровились. Тут действовал, по-видимому, главным образом психологический мотив: Священное Писание должно быть возвышенным, иначе какое же оно священное? Кстати, та же беда постигла и христианский канон, повествовательные его части (Четвероевангелие, Деяния Апостолов), греческий язык которых по-простонародному незамысловат, неуклюж, а случается, и неграмотен.

Проверим это на переводе нашего псалма в Синодальной Библии.

1. Господь — Пастырь мой: я ни в чем не буду нуждаться.

2. Он покоит меня на злачных пажитях и водит меня к водам тихим.

3. Подкрепляет душу мою, направляет меня на стези правды ради имени Своего.