Hiding meaning

John Ciardi writes ( How Does A Poem Mean? ) about poets who delight in hiding away meanings, often etymological, in the words they use: “they do not insist that every reader respond to them; it is enough that such touches delight the writer and are ready to delight the reader who is able to respond to them.”

On what grounds does Barr decide that the biblical writers did not take similar delight in hidden meanings? Why does he think they would write more like linguists than like poets?

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