FORM ANALYSIS - analyzing the literary forms in the biblical materials in an effort to better understand the intent and content of the literature. Form analysis looks not just at the written literary form but also at the oral literary form that lies behind it. The hymn form probably arose in the cult to be used to praise the deity. When a passage in the Hebrew Bible employs the hymn form, the recognition that the form was used in the cult for praise helps us to understand the passage better. The passage usually praises God but can be used to praise something else, perhaps in a mocking way. In either case recognition of the form and its Sitz im Leben ("setting in life") helps us think about the passage in the way the author intended. Form analysis has identified forms that came from the cult (e.g., hymn), legal system (e.g., controversy speech), royal messenger system (e.g., prophetic messenger speeches), tribal narratives (e.g., legends), everyday life (e.g., lament), and other sources. The phrase "form analysis" is a translation of the German term Formgeschichte ("history of form"). An earlier term coined by the Old Testament scholar Hermann Gunkel was Gattungsgeschichte ("history of literary types"). See also Forms of Prophetic Speech