Bible Dictionaries
Acrostic

Holman Bible Dictionary

Literary device by which each section of a literary work begins with the succeeding letter of the alphabet. Thus in Psalm 119:1 the first eight verses begin with aleph , the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; the next eight with beth , the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the pattern is continued through Psalm 119:169-176 , which each begin with taw , the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Other examples in the Bible include Psalm 9-10; Psalm 25:1; Psalm 34:1; Psalm 37:1; Psalm 111:1; Psalm 112:1; Psalm 145:1; Proverbs 31:10-31; Lamentations 1:1; Lamentations 2:1; Lamentations 3:1; Lamentations 4:1 . The acrostic style helped people memorize the poem and expressed completeness of subject matter from A to Z.