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An Evaluation of Psalm 119 as Constrained Writing

Alphabetical acrostic poems in the Hebrew Bible frequently provoke adverse critical commentary for violating current literary aesthetic tastes. Both the format and the length of the most elaborate alphabetical acrostic—Psalm 119—challenge the interpreter's tolerance for repetition and sustained poetic musings on Torah, perhaps discouraging consideration of these dynamics as meaningful literary constraints. While the corpus of existing scholarly literature attests to penetrating analysis of thought progressions of each stanza in the psalm and the employment of Torah words, no systematic investigations of compositional virtuosity under the psalmist's chosen acrostic literary constraint currently exist.Employing "constrained writing" theory illuminated by reference to contemporary examples, the present study sketches the contours of constraint in Psalm 119. The study contrasts stanzas disclosing evidence of least and greatest constraint, then focuses upon the most constrained stanzas in an attempt to determine a hierarchy of literary constraint among them. The result is a more refined apprehension of the literary artistry of the Great Psalm.