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Tehillim are poems/songs. Yet, they do not follow the standard patterns for poetry and music that we are used to i.e. they rarely rhyme, they rarely have a consistent rhythm, etc.

I don't expect "music" written 3000 years ago to be similar to what I am used to, but I do seek to understand why they are written the way they are.

We do sing some of them today, with our own niggunim (tunes), and it works. Yet at the same time, my mind does question why rhythm and rhyme are so rare; seemingly such little value placed on them. Is there a specific reason for this, or is this just one of those questions that doesn't get off the ground because it is too contemporary- and western- centric?

Rabbi Kaii
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  • Tehillim were written with their own music that we no longer know. – Dude Mar 31 '24 at 00:45
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    Some questions to help you narrow your focus: What do you mean by the way they are? Why ask about rhyme and rhythm if you don't expect old poetry to conform to that? Do you have any exposure to other old poetry to which you wish to compare tehillim? – magicker72 Mar 31 '24 at 02:07
  • https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/13949/759 – Double AA Mar 31 '24 at 03:56
  • this just one of those questions that doesn't get off the ground because it is too contemporary- and western- centric. – N.T. Mar 31 '24 at 09:09
  • "Tehillim are poems/songs." - What's your source for the "poems" which is the basis for your question... – Danny Schoemann Mar 31 '24 at 12:11
  • @magicker72 I hear that and much appreciated. I guess my question is not borne out of any assumptions, but curiousity. It seems obvious to me that rhyme and rhythm are very valuable tools for effective poetry/music, in a self-evident way, and I would consider "what seems obvious to you is a bias, because old poetry does not conform" a great answer, especially if I learn something new about ancient Jewish poetry. – Rabbi Kaii Mar 31 '24 at 12:15
  • @DannySchoemann well, many of them start with "a poem/song by David"? I thought it is a self evident fact, and also well known that the Tehillim were sung in the Beit Hamikdash etc. – Rabbi Kaii Mar 31 '24 at 12:16
  • @RabbiKaii - which word are you translating as "poem"? (I have no issue with "song") – Danny Schoemann Mar 31 '24 at 12:35
  • @DannySchoemann songs are generally a type of poetry and I think that's as far as I am going with the word – Rabbi Kaii Mar 31 '24 at 12:36
  • Why do you believe that all poetry should rhyme ? We see many forms throughout history that don't. If we look through the history of Jewish poetry, non-incidental rhymes don't really appear until well after Kallir, who himself lived many hundreds of years after David – Noach MiFrankfurt Mar 31 '24 at 13:54
  • @NoachMiFrankfurt ? Most of R' Elazar Hakalir's piyutim rhyme. Rhyming started a bit before him. – Heshy Mar 31 '24 at 14:20
  • You two seem to know a LOT regarding what I seek to find out... – Rabbi Kaii Mar 31 '24 at 14:38

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