Topic Posted by:Larry Stephey
(BibleHaiku@hotmail.com
) Organization:Bible Haiku
Date Posted: Tue Feb 25 17:01:44 US/Eastern 2003
Topic Description: There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of haiku in the
English translations of the Bible.
We have found Bible haiku in every book of the
Bible. In the New International Version, Job has at least
35 verbatim (word-for-word) Bible haiku. Some of these
consist of two or even three consecutive verses, each of
which is a complete Bible verse.
A haiku is a verse form of Japanese origin,
consisting of three lines of five, seven, and five
syllables, respectively, usually containing a seasonal
reference.
There are two kinds of Bible haiku, those taken directly
from the Bible word-for-word, and those that were inspired
by the Bible.
One of the first ones found, taken directly from the Bible
with not a word altered or left out, is:
By the breath of God
Ice is given, and the broad
Waters are frozen.
Job 37:10 (NIV, complete verse)
Here is one that is not a complete verse:
I always thank God
For you because of his grace
Given you in Christ…
1 Corinthians 1:4 (NIV, excerpt)
Here is one "inspired by" a Bible verse:
I was crucified
With Christ and no longer live,
But Christ lives in me.
Galatians 2:20 (inspired by)
See the website for more:
http://groups.msn.com/BibleHaikus
The "Documents" link on the website has MS Word files with
hundreds of Bible Haiku. The site is easy to join, and it
is easy to resign from the site. To see the main page you
do not have to join the site, but to see the documents, you
do.
This project and website were started in January 2001.
When you find a Bible haiku, or are inspired to write one,
please post it in this forum with its citation (Book,
Chapter, Verse, Version) in the topic line, like the
citations below the three Bible haiku on this page.
Be sure to tell us whether yours was "inspired by" a verse
in the Bible, or is verbatim from the Bible. If it is
verbatim, please include the version you found it in, e.g.,
AMP is the Amplified Bible
ASV is the American Standard Version
CEV is the Contemporary English Version
ESV is the English Standard Version
KJ21 is the 21st Century King James version
KJV is the King James Version
NAS is the New American Standard Bible
NASU is the New American Standard - Updated edition
NIV is the New International Version
NKJV is the New King James Version
NLT is the New Living Translation
RSV is the Revised Standard Version
TLB is The Living Bible
Also let us know if the verbatim Bible haiku is a complete
verse or a verse excerpt.
Here are some guidelines to discovering Bible haiku:
For this new way of using the haiku form, the haiku need
not have a seasonal reference.
Hyphenation of words between lines is not valid.
For complete verses of 17 syllables, the number of syllables
per line may vary from the usual, e.g., the Bible haiku may
have 6-6-5 syllables, or 5-5-7.
Line breaks may be added to keep to the haiku verse form,
and capitalization of the first word of each line is
encouraged.
The expression in the Bible haiku should be a complete
thought, even if it is not a complete verse.
Words in the Bible spoken by Jesus or God usually have
quotation marks.
Use the ellipsis (...) if the actual verse starts or ends
before or after the Bible haiku. See example above for the
verbatim excerpt. Otherwise use the actual punctuation
from the Bible.
And finally, the Bible haiku should remain true to the
spirit of the original verse if it is not a complete verse,
or if it was inspired by a verse. A note of explanation is
in order if the Bible haiku is so out of context that the
original meaning is lost when it stands alone. Put the note
below the citation. For instance it may be useful to
identify the speaker, or the historical context of the
verse.
Your commentary is also welcome, to explain the significance
of the verse to you, or to tell us any insights you gained
when you found the Bible haiku, or meditated on the verse.
They are easy to find. Try Proverbs.
Bible Haiku Project Partners (R)
