Las paráfrases bíblicas de Fray Luís de León : poética, retórica y hermenéutica

Abstract

Paraphrases of biblical texts in Romance verse are complex devices which deserve a multifaceted approach, analyzing the linguistic, stylistic – but also exegetic and hermeneutic – aspects of their textual codification. They are, ultimately, a type of biblical interpretation, rather than a mere laboratory
of poetic creation or a religious substitute for secular poetry, as they have usually been considered. Therefore, to a certain extent, they are a sort of covert Romance exegesis, a theological exercise which was forbidden by the strict post-Tridentine rules. Fray Luis de Leon’s biblical paraphrases in verse form show three different creative activities: 1) they are translations from a previous text; 2) they create poetry with a Spanish sound, since the original text was also in verse; and 3) they attempt at building a new genre of biblical hermeneutics.