Terminology Tuesday: Merism
Merism is a literary device that uses an abbreviated list to suggest the whole. The most common type of merism cites the poles of a list to suggest everything in between, though the term merism is also used to refer to more extensive, but not exhaustive, lists (see 3 below). Since a merism is a part for a whole, it is an example of synecdoche, which itself is subspecies of metonymy (a trope of association in which one term stands for another, typically broader, term) rather than metaphor (a trope of comparison). The English word merism derives through Latin merismus from Greek merismos (“dividing, partition”) and Greek meros (“part”).
1. The Scope of Merism
In the OT merism occurs most frequently in poetry, but it is also found in prose. Indeed, scholars often see the first appearance of merism to be in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” where “heavens” and “earth” are taken as two poles of a list that suggest the whole. In other words, it is another way of saying that God created everything. It must be admitted, however, that in this case “heaven” and “earth” might simply identify the whole; that is, there are no other parts, similar to saying “mother” and “father” to refer to parents.
Another example from a prose context is seen in 1 Kings 4:25: “During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree.” Dan, the northernmost significant settlement in the land, and Beersheba, the southernmost, represent all the cities and land between them.As we noted, however, merism occurs more frequently in poetry. Indeed, there is only one literary feature that is distinctive to poetry in Hebrew, *terseness (see 2). The most pervasive features (*parallelism and *imagery) also occur in prose (the existence of *meter is debatable at best). Merism is an example of a secondary poetical device—that is, one, like the *acrostic, that occurs only sporadically in Hebrew poetry. Examples, however, may be seen in the psalms and all the wisdom books (not to mention the poetical parts of the prophets).
2. The Function of Merism
In the preceding section we noted that most of the conventions of Hebrew poetry, including merism, are also found in prose. If one can speak of a distinctive difference between poetry and prose, it would have to do with length. Poetry is terse, saying a lot using few words. Poetry is compact language. Hebrew poetry is composed of typically short cola that form parallel lines (and at least occasionally *stanzas/strophes), while prose is made up of longer sentences grouped into paragraphs.The brevity of the poetic line is achieved in a number of ways. Metaphor, simile, *ellipsis and the suppression of conjunctions all contribute to the shortness of the line. Merism, as a device that uses abbreviated lists to suggest the whole, does this as well. Thus, the major function of merism is to enhance the terseness of the line, thereby producing a dramatic effect as well as necessitating a more active involvement of the interpreter/reader.Song of Songs 7:13 provides an example: “The mandrakes give forth their scent, and on our entrance is every precious gift; the new as well as the old I have treasured for you, my love.” This verse concludes one of the woman’s passionate speeches to her lover (Song 7:11–13 [see Longman, 199–202]). The second poetic line of this verse is quite vague. She has saved up or treasured “the new” and “the old” for her lover. This begs the question “New or old what?” Readers must engage their imagination to consider the matter. The immediately preceding context might suggest new and old sweet-smelling plants, but why old plants? It is likely that here “new” and “old” are used as a merism defined by “polar word-pairs” (Watson, 321). Thus, “new” and “old” might refer to all things. She has stored up or treasured everything near and dear to her for her lover. So from this example we see how the reader’s involvement is evoked by the merism. In addition, merism imparts more interest to the line. To say “new” and “old” is much more vivid, concrete and interesting than simply saying “everything.”
Some merisms, particularly those of the “polar word-pair” type, appear together with some frequency. The pair “young” and “old” is an example. Lamentations 2:21a bemoans the destruction of Jerusalem with this statement: “Young and old lie together in the dust of the street.” We may confidently recognize “young” and “old” as a polar word-pair merism. The poet certainly did not believe that the middle-aged were immune to the disaster. This text is not the only place where this word pair is used as a merism. Restricting our scope to the books covered in this dictionary, we can cite Job 29:8; Psalm 148:12. If we look beyond these books, we will find a number of other examples (e.g., Is 20:4; Ezek 9:6).
These examples supplement the evidence provided by other frequently occurring pairs of words in poetry to bolster a theory that ancient Hebrew poetry was originally *oral poetry, and, on the basis of analogies with ancient Greek (Homer) and modern Yugoslavian poetry, that ancient Hebrew poets constructed their work using a set metrical pattern and certain stereotyped word pairs (Watters; Gevirtz). Due to recent persuasive arguments against the presence of meter in Hebrew poetry, among other factors, this theory has declined, though not totally disappeared, in recent years.
3. Examples of Merism
An exhaustive list of examples of merism is impossible here. The following examples are just a sampling from the poetical books covered in this dictionary (*Job, *Psalms, *Proverbs, *Ecclesiastes, *Song of Songs, *Lamentations). In the process of examining these examples, we will also discern some variations between different types of merism.We have already referenced the use of the “young” and “old” merism in Job 29:8. In a prose context, Job 2:7 describes how the Accuser afflicted Job “from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.” The implication, of course, is that no part of his body escaped the disease. In the context of Job’s lament, as he expresses his desire to be among the dead, he says that “the small and the great” are there (Job 3:19). Understood rightly as merism, this means that everyone, regardless of social status, is there.
The psalms provide a number of examples of merism, though only a few will be cited here. Psalm 139:2–3 expresses awareness of God’s all-encompassing knowledge with two meristic statements: You know when I sit and when I rise; you discern my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Through the use of the polar opposites of sitting and rising as well as going out and lying down, the psalmist says that God is fully aware of his inner life as well as his actions.W. Watson (322) categorizes Psalm 148:7–12 as a list merism: Praise the LORD, from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and women, old men and children.
Whereas a polar word-pair merism simply names two items that are on opposite ends of a spectrum, intending to refer to everything in between, a list merism is more extensive, though not exhaustive. In this example, the first colon calls on “the earth” to praise the Lord. The following verses list a number of things from the earth that are to praise the Lord. It is not an exhaustive list; rather, it is a partial list suggestive of a full list.
In Psalm 74:12–17 God’s creative sovereignty is established by a series of merisms (G. Wilson [in a personal communication]) including day and night (all time), sun and moon (all the celestial bodies), summer and winter (all the seasons).
Proverbs 6:1, warning the wise person to avoid guaranteeing loans to everyone, speaks of the opposites “neighbor” and “stranger.” Proverbs 14:10 admits that no one can fully understand the emotions of another. The mention of “bitterness” and “joy” indicates the poles of the emotional spectrum and is a meristic way of referring to all the emotions.
One of the most memorable uses of merism occurs in the famous poem of Ecclesiastes 3:1–8. The poem lists fourteen areas of activity by citing their polar opposites. For instance, there is a time to be born and a time to die, citing, of course, the beginning and the end of one’s earthly existence. By citing the two extremes of life, it assumes that life as a whole has its appointed time.
A final example comes from the Song of Songs 4:16. Here the woman responds to the man’s loving admiration of her “garden,” which he described as locked, by opening it up for him with these words: Wake up, north wind, And come, south wind! Blow on my garden, and let its spices flow forth. Let my lover come into his garden and eat its choice fruit.
Here the words north and south stand here for all the winds. The woman thus is saying that she opens herself up completely to the man.
4. Conclusion
Merism is a device that contributes to the brevity of the poetic line. Rather than citing all the parts, it evokes the thought of a whole by citing just a few (most typically two and typically the opposite poles) of a list.
See also CHIASM; INCLUSIO; PARALLELISM; POETICS, TERMINOLOGY OF; TERSENESS.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. H. A. Brongers, “Merismus, Synekdoche und Hendiadys in der bibel-hebräischen Sprache,” OTS 14 (1965) 100–114; S. Gevirtz, Patterns in the Early Poetry of Israel (SAOC 32; Chicago; University of Chicago Press, 1963); A. M. Honeyman, “Merismus in Biblical Hebrew,” JBL 71 (1952) 11–18; J. Krašovec, Der Merismus im Biblisch-Hebräischen und Nordwest-semitischen (BibOr 33; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1977); T. Longman III, Song of Songs (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001); M. O’Connor, Hebrew Verse Structure (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980); W. G. E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to Its Techniques (2nd ed.; London: T & T Clark, 2005); W. Watters, Formula Criticism and the Poetry of the Old Testament (BZAW 138; Berlin: de Gruyter, 1976).
Longman, T., III. (2008). Merism. In P. Enns (Ed.), Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (pp. 464–466). Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press.
