The books of the founders of what is now called «Rhetorical biblical analysis» are very difficult to find in thHistory and founding textse libraries. They are therefore available to the public here. It is now possible to find some of them on the net. We would be very grateful if readers pointed out any mistakes that may have slipped into our own editions.
The history of Biblical and Semitic rhetoric
This history is available in R. Meynet, Rhetorical Analysis. An Introduction to Biblical Rhetoric, JSOT.S 256, Sheffield 1998, 43-166.
Updated, these pages are also available here: History.
Founding Fathers
Robert Lowth (1710-1787)
Robert LOWTH (1710-1787) was professor at Oxford, after what he became bishop of Oxford, then of London. He is considered the father of rhetorical analysis. In 1753 he published his Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews he taught in Oxford between 1741 and 1751. The most famous one is the nineteen one, on the parallelism of the members, which represents the first principle of biblical and Semitic rhetoric.
- De sacra poesi Hebraeorum, Oxford 1753.
- Leçons sur la poésie sacrée des Hébreux traduites pour la première fois en français du latin du Dr Lowth (trad. M. Sicard; 2 vol.; Lyon, 1812): «Dix-neuvième leçon»; (sur le parallélisme des membres).
- «Diciannovesima lezione».
- Isaiah. «Preliminary Dissertation», 1778.
- Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, Boston 1815.
John Jebb (1775-1833)
- Sacred Literature, Londres, T. Cadell & W. Davies, 1820.
- Charles Forster, Life of John Jebb, with a Selection from His Letters, 2 vol., London 1836.
- Charles Forster, The Life of John Jebb, D.D. F.R.S. Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe with a Selection from His Letters, London 1836.
- Charles Forster, ed., Thirty Years’ Correspondence Between John Jebb and Alexander Knox, Philadelphia 1835, vol. I.
- Charles Forster, ed., Thirty Years’ Correspondence Between John Jebb and Alexander Knox, Philadelphia 1835, vol. II.
- See also Thirty Years’ Correspondence Between John Jebb and Alexander Knox, 2 vol., Philadelphia 1835.
Thomas Boys (1792-1880)
- Tactica Sacra. An Attempt to Develope, and to Exhibit to the Eye by Tabular Arrangements, a General Rule of Composition Prevailing in the Holy Scriptures, T. Hamilton, London 1824.
- A Key to the Book of the Psalms, L.B. Seeley & Sons, London 1825. (The book is available in Google Book Search, in PDF format.)
John Forbes (1802-1898)
- Symmetrical Structure of Scripture: or the Principles of Scripture Parallelism Exemplified, in an Analysis of the Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and Other Passages of the Sacred Volume, Edinburgh 1854.
- Analytical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Tracing the Train of Thought by the Aid of Parallelism, with Notes and Dissertations on the Principal Difficulties Connected with the Exposition of the Epistle, Edinburgh 1868.