Acrostic psalms normally have 22 verses to coincide with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The first type of this is seen in the combining of Psalm 9 and Psalm 10. The next in the psalter is Psalm 25. The next few are Psalm 34, Psalm 37, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, Psalm 119, and Psalm 145. Psalm 119 is a special case in that it is created around eight verses for each letter, which results in 176 verses. As an oddity, there are eight acrostic psalms, 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, which, when combined, make 176, which is the number of verses in Psalm 119. The other psalms are created around one verse for each letter, which results in 22 verses. This style of writing is also evident in Proverbs 31.10-31 when the author speaks of the virtuous woman. The book of Lamentations is a series of acrostics. Chapters 1-2 and 4-5 have 22 verses while chapter 3 has 66 verses because it devotes three verses for each letter.
The writers of acrostic literature need to place great thought into each verse in order to achieve this genre due to the self-imposed fetter. Try it with English. Write a letter in the comment section of this post using the 26 letters of our alphabet to create a cohesive and interesting unit of literature that makes sense.
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