Transcript The Psalms - Appalachian State University

Hebrew Poetry
Reading Psalms and Job
Parallelism
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Robert Lowth (17101787) made the idea of
Hebrew poetic
parallelism popular

Expression of the same
idea, its antithesis, or a
building on it in different
words. Three basic
forms.
Synonymous Parallelism

The heavens are telling
the glory of God; and
the firmament proclaims
his handiwork. Ps 19:1
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A= the heavens
A1= the firmament
B= telling
B1=proclaims
C= glory of God
C1= his handiwork

The major idea is
reiterated in synonyms;
the previous pattern is
the basic one:
A B C A1 B1 C1
Antithetic Parallelism
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Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing;
shall come home with shouts
of joy, carrying their sheaves.
126:6
In this case, the balance is
with opposite thoughts
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Go out – coming home
Weeping – shouts of joy
Bearing the seed for sowing –
carrying their sheaves
Another example: The
wicked borrow and do not
pay back, but the righteous
are generous and keep giving
(37:21)
Synthetic Parallelism
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I am poured out like
water, and all my bones
are out of joint; my heart
is like wax; it is melted
within my breast Ps
22:14
Loosest and most
difficult of Lowth’s
categories

The idea builds – a
synthesis is created

Not the same words, but
the same idea keeps
growing and developing
Other Kinds of Balance

Statement and reason

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Blessed be the Lord!
for he has heard the voice of
my supplication. (28:6)
Question and Answer; or
answer and question

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For you are the God in whom I
have taken refuge; why have
you cast me off ?
Abstract to concrete


Even my bosom friend in
whom I trusted; who ate of my
bread, has lifted the heel
against me. (41:9)
Repetition

O Israel, trust in the Lord! He
is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the
Lord! He is their help and
their shield. You who fear the
Lord! He is their help and
their shield. (115:9-11)
Poetry

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As in many languages,
poetry in Hebrew is
figurative and you need
to explore the ideas
You can expect to see
alliteration, assonance,
rhyme – but, of course,
in Hebrew

Repetitions are frequent

Clear forms will appear
in some types
The Book

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Tehillim – “praises” from the verb hallel or “to praise”
Cultic texts – used in community worship
“Hymnbook of the Second Temple” because the final collection
is post-exilic
Dead Sea Scrolls (below) has Psalms, but not in the same order
Some Notes on How Many

150 Psalms in English texts

Five Books

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
Codex Leningradensis has
149 (114 and 115 are
combined)

Many Greek manuscripts
have 151; Psalm 151 is also in
the DSS

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Pss 1-41 Davidic Psalms
Pss 42-49 Elohistic Psalter;
“Sons of Korah”
Pss 73-89 Mostly community
laments – Pss 73-83 associated
with Asaph
Pss 90-106 Kingship of
YHWH
Pss 107-150 Davidic,
pilgrimage, and individual
laments
Key Terms

Invocation – asks for God’s
presence or attention

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But I trust in you, O Lord; I say,
“You are my God.” My times are
in your hand; deliver me from the
hand of my enemies and
persecutors. 31:14-15
General

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Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord,
O my soul! I will praise the Lord
as long as I live; I will sing praises
to my God all my life long. 146:12
Call to praise

All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my
name for a curse. 102:8
Petition – requests
intervention/action

Praise
Hear my voice, O God, in my
complaint; preserve my life from
my dread enemy. 64:1
Lament – a complaint; explains a
problem and feeling of isolation

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Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all the earth. Worship the Lord
with gladness; come into his
presence with singing. 100:1-2
Vow of praise

I will come into your house with
burnt offerings; I will pay you my
vows, those that my lips uttered
and those that my lips promised
when I was in trouble. 66:13-14
Psalms Scholarship

Hermann Gunkel (18621932)

German scholar

Form Criticism identified 5
primary types of Psalms

Sitz im leben – setting in life
– an idea pioneered by
Sigmund Mowinckel
Gunkel’s Psalm Types

Hymns of Praise
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Also there are 5 sub-types
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Individual Laments
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Individual Thanksgiving
Psalms
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Communal Laments
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Royal Psalms
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Songs of Pilgrimage
Community Thanksgiving
Wisdom
Torah and Prophetic Liturgies
Mixed
Hymns of Praise

Intro or call to worship

Reason for worship

Call repeated
Praise the Lord, all you
nations! Extol him all
you peoples!
For great is his steadfast
love toward us, and the
faithfulness of the Lord
endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
(Psalm 117)
Individual Lament

Most frequent type of Psalm

Give a pattern for prayer:
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Invocation
Complaint – articulation of the
problem
Confession of trust in God
Petition for intervention and
action needed to solve the
problem
Vow to tell of God’s saving work
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear
me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those
who go down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my supplication, as I cry to you for
help, as I lift up my hands toward your most holy
sanctuary.
Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who
are workers of evil, who speak peace with their
neighbors, while mischief is in their hearts.
Repay them according to their work, and according to
the evil of their deeds; repay them according to
the work of their hands; render them their due
reward.
Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, or
the work of his hands, he will break them down
and build them up no more.
Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the sound of my
pleadings. The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, so I am helped, and my
heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to
him.
The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving
refuge of the anointed. O save your people, and
bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry
them forever. (Psalm 28)
Individual Thanksgiving
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Nine of these psalms
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Psalm 30
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Intro tells you why
thanks are being given
What was going on with
the person
Trust in God and
promise to make an
offering
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V1 I will extol you, O
Lord, for you have drawn
me up, and did not let my
foes rejoice over me
Vv 8-11 what was asked
and given
V12 so that my sould may
praise you and not be
silent. O Lord my God, I
will give thanks to you
forever.
Community Laments

Structured much like
individual laments

They discuss times of
national tragedy
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Praise of God is key

Psalm 137 most famous
example
Royal Psalms

Psalms concerning the
monarchy and events
associated with it

Coronation (Pss 2, 72,
101, 110), great victories
(Pss 20, 21, 89), royal
weddings (Ps 45)

No one clear structure

From various differing
times and about different
rulers
Miscellaneous

Psalm 1 – Wisdom – Sets up
not only the first collection
but the whole book

Psalm 119 extols the Torah
and is the longest Psalm at
176 verses (also an alphabetic
acrostic with 8 lines for each
of the 22 letters; others –
some incomplete – 25, 34,
1111, 112, 145)

Psalms pilgrims sang going
up to Jerusalem are key
toward the end; 122 most
famous (although 121 is my
favorite)
Some Uses of Psalms
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Congregational – with both
vocal and instrumental
musical scores
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Singing, shouting, instruments
(Pss 33, 150)
Dancing (Pss 149, 150)
In temple (134, 135)
Call and response (136)
Liturgies
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Offerings (66)
Processions (24, 48, 132)
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Festivals
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Special Fasts
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Songs of Ascent (120-134)
Crises (44, 60, 90)
Individual Uses
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See previous texts
Book of Job

Prose prologue and
epilogue – chapters 1 and
2; 42:7-17
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Poetic Body of Text
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Three Cycle of Speeches
Between Job and His
Friends – Eliphaz, Bildad
and Zophar – chapters 331

A monologue chastising
Job and the friends from
a previously unknown
Elihu (chapters 32-37)
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Two speeches from God
and Job’s responses
(chapters 38:1-42:6)
Other “Jobs”
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Mesopotamian
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“A Man and His God” or a
Sumerian Job
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Debate on whether bad things
happen to good people and what
that says about God
“The Dialogue Between a Master
and His Slave”
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“The Admonitions of Ipuwer”
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Closer to Ecclesiastes than Job
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Laments wickedness that the gods
allow humans to do
“The Dispute Between a Man and
His Ba”
Humans must do rituals to ward
off trouble
“The Babylonian Theodicy”
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Egyptian
“I will Praise the Lord of
Wisdom”
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Humans sinful from birth and
that explains suffering

Suicide as an answer to human
suffering and whether or not it
should be allowed
“The Tale of the Eloquent
Peasant”

Debates again over the rights of
humans; more human than divine
Job’s Suffering
Job and His Three Friends
Chagall
Job Praying
Chagall
Job in Despair
William Blake
Job and His Daughters
William Blake
Job and His Family Restored to Prosperity