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Chapter One

The Individual Collections

Hymns and Laments in
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

During good times peoples of the ancient Near East raised their voices in praise of their gods, thanking them for providential care and promising loyalty in thought and deed. Among other things, the god being addressed is credited with creating everything that exists and providing sustenance for all creatures; recognized as sole deity, unique among the pantheon of gods; extolled as powerful conqueror of all foes, including the dragon chaos; lauded as champion of the poor and defenseless; celebrated as healer and judge; viewed as shepherd, father, and king; characterized as merciful and forgiving; and recognized as mysterious and invisible yet near enough to answer prayer.

    A few of these hymns focus entirely on the well-being of a king, whose health and prosperity are closely tied up with that of his subjects. Some of these hymns are occasioned by official events such as the king's enthronement, while others provide legitimating credentials and offer religious sanction for his actions. The language of election while in the womb, divine protection, and extraordinary attributes functions as society's means of assuring itself that order will prevail and that loyalty will be rewarded.

    During periods of adversity the people cried out in pain, informing the gods of their suffering and imploring them to intervene on their behalf. These prayers normally took the form of laments, sometimes national and at other times personal.These lamentations cover far-reaching calamities such as the burning of the city Ur, with which Abraham is associated in biblical tradition, and private misery of various kinds. The question "How long?" occurs with relentless abandon, as if to underline the speaker's inability to comprehend any legitimate reason for the distress. Protests of innocence intermingle with admission of wrongdoing, but both of these pale in comparison with the emphasis on the incomprehensibility of the deity's actions. Even that acknowledgment of human finitude is overshadowed by the description of misery, for which no relief is in sight. Nevertheless, the liturgical use of these texts suggests that those persons who utter them do so in expectation of successfully influencing the deity being addressed.

The Book of Psalms

The actual authors of the psalms in the Bible are unknown, although tradition has provided several names ranging from Moses to little-known temple singers centuries later. King David either has been credited with the authorship of the majority of individual psalms or has been associated with them in some way. Most of them were probably written anonymously, like the preponderance of literature in the ancient world. The compositions eventually gained acceptance as expressions of communal concerns and were used in the cult of the temple and in synagogues.

    Unlike much biblical literature, these psalms originated from below. They constitute human praise and requests for help, in short, prayers. The only internal attempt to describe the psalms notes that "The prayers of David, son of Jesse, have ended" (Ps 72:20); this observation applies only to the first two divisions (3-41, 42-72). The books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible join them in expressing human speech. Most other books purport to present God's revelation to humanity or give an account of divine action as understood by the authors. Exceptions do occur: for example, Song of Songs, the book of Esther, and in a different way the beautiful book of Ruth.

    Brief superscriptions offer the oldest interpretive clue for the psalms. Their authenticity cannot be proven, but they provide a convenient way of introducing the various themes of the prayers. Only twenty-four psalms lack an inscription, the remaining one hundred and twenty-six being associated with David (in all, seventy-three psalms), Solomon (72), Moses (90), or musical guilds (Asaph, Korah, and Ethan). Musical notations appear as headings of a host of psalms: mizmôr (fifty-seven times), lamnasséah (fifty-five times), and šîr (thirty times). The precise meaning of these and other notations has not survived, although they probably offered clues about melodies and identified specific types of songs. The inscription šîr hamma'alôt (Song of the Ascents, with the following variations: Song for the Ascents in 121; Song of the Ascents for David in 122, 124, 131, 133; Song of the Ascents for Solomon in 127) is the only one that occurs in an integral unit, fifteen consecutive psalms. All other inscriptions are scattered throughout the Psalter.

Psalms Attributed to David

Seventy-three psalms, nearly half of the total in the Bible, bear a superscription in which the name David appears. Virtually all the psalms in Book I fall into this group, as do eighteen psalms from Book II. The third and fourth books have only one and two respectively, whereas Book V has fifteen superscriptions referring to David. The Septuagint extends the total number to eighty-five. Many of these superscriptions take the form of the preposition lámed attached to the name David. The resulting linguistic form has several meanings: to or for David, concerning David, or by David. It does not necessarily suggest Davidic authorship, although later interpreters may have read the expression this way.

    Thirteen of the seventy-three superscriptions mention specific incidents in David's life as reported in 1 and 2 Samuel. Rather than examining all the psalms attributed to David, we shall take a quick look at these thirteen (3, 7, 18, 34, 51-52, 54, 56-57, 59-60, 63, 142). The dominant theme in this small group, lament, gives these psalms a sense of sameness. A cry for help coupled with deep trust in the one to whom the prayer is addressed runs throughout both collections. Occasionally, the complaint recedes entirely and an expression of confidence stands alone.

    The Sixty-third Psalm best exemplifies this boundless optimism. It voices the intensity of emotional intimacy between the psalmist and God, a love that rivals that of a man and a woman. Physical desire for water by a parched land provides the simile for the depth of intimacy enjoyed here. Indeed, the psalmist even considers God's love the highest good, better than life itself, and thinks such ardor will endure until his dying moment. In the shadow of divine wings the poet finds rest; the single comment about danger takes the form of confidence that foes will die. Here we encounter the only reference to a king in these psalms. David's sojourn in the wilderness of Judah seems an appropriate setting for this beautiful psalm.

    Psalm 34, an acrostic with one Hebrew letter missing (waw) and with two letters transposed (ayin and pe), voices thanks for victory and Yahweh's continued protection. The heavy manner in which the psalmist draws attention to the educative task sets this psalm apart, especially the appeal to children, with promise of instruction in religion, which entails integrity and turning away from evil. Yahweh's fondness for the brokenhearted gives voice to a comforting assurance that not one bone of a just person will be broken. Yahweh's protection of David when he feigned madness before Abimelech was thought to be an appropriate occasion for this psalm. According to 1 Sam 21:13-16, David used this ploy in the presence of Achish, not Abimelech.

    One psalm in this group is a duplicate of the royal thanksgiving for victory attributed to David in 1 Samuel 22. The original superscription recurs in the Psalter, with the addition of the honorific "the servant of the Lord" after David's name. We shall treat this psalm in the section on biblical hymns outside the Psalter.

    The majority of laments give the impression of having been composed for use by a single individual, but exceptions such as Psalm 60 lend a communal dimension to the voice of distress. Here the superscription refers to traditional lore that David fought against Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah and that Joab slew 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. Eschatological language of judgment occurs in this psalm, especially the cup of wine that God forces the condemned to drink and the splitting of the earth. Similarly, the psalm's primary interest, the allocation of land to the just, belongs to scenes of a final judgment. Two images, the casting of a sandal over an area and the description of Edom as a washbowl, emphasize God's ownership. The tone of the psalm derives from its initial sense of divine rejection and the agonizing question, "Do you no longer march with our armies?" The twofold appeal for help further emphasizes the despairing attitude before the deity who owns the territories that have fallen out of the control of God's people.

    Psalm 52 goes on the attack against arrogant slanderers. The psalmist believes that God will uproot such evildoers while causing the poet to take root in God's house like an olive tree. The application to an event in David's life seems forced, for the complaint of the psalm concerns slander rather than exposure of someone's hiding place, in this instance David's residence with Ahimelech (1 Sam 21:2-10). Psalm 54 is connected with similar disclosure, this time by Ziphites who told Saul that David was hiding in their midst (1 Sam 23:19). This psalm implores the deity for help and promises generous gifts in return.

    Seldom does a psalmist insist on innocence, but Psalm 7 rules out personal iniquity as a basis for discomfiture. The psalmist believes so strongly in this claim that he is willing to risk the future on it: "If I am guilty, let my enemy prevail." The justice of Yahweh is taken for granted here, but that does not rule out an appeal for convincing demonstration that evil returns to its perpetrator and that sinners conceive and give birth to nothing of consequence. How this affirmation of divine justice pertains to David's relationship with Cush the Benjaminite is not clear. Psalm 3, which announces that Yahweh heard the psalmist's cry and became a shield against many foes, is a much clearer instance of a fit between its content and the superscription. The association of this psalm with the occasion of Absalom's rebellion does not require much imagination, although the threefold use of the Hebrew term selah points to liturgical use and thus to a general rather than specific occasion.

    Psalm 51, one of seven penitential psalms according to the later Church, has been linked to David's repentance over his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his command that Joab arrange for the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite. At least one verse (v. 20) rules out Davidic authorship, for its reference to the broken walls of Jerusalem demands a date after 587 BCE. Furthermore, the psalmist's restriction of sins to the vertical dimension hardly applies to David, who wronged both God and at least two people. These observations do nothing to detract from the enormous spiritual power of the confession. The psalmist recognizes sin as the human condition and pleads for cleansing that will make sounds of praise ring forth. Yahweh's fondness of a contrite spirit receives special mention here, together with the need for divine instruction. The prerequisite for a proper cult, a pure heart, also surfaces in this psalm.

    Requests for Yahweh's mercy characterize Psalms 56 and 57. The first of these, linked with David when Philistines seized him at Gath (1 Sam 21:10-15), admits that enemies surround the poet but expresses complete trust in divine protection. Confident that mere flesh cannot prevail against God's chosen, the psalmist believes that his tears are stored in a vial, indeed that his name is recorded in a heavenly scroll. The twofold reference to mere flesh varies the language, using basar in the first instance and 'adam in the second. Psalm 57 describes the speaker's plight in graphic detail, but the problem appears to be slander, not danger from lions. The psalmist personifies the lyre and harp, urging them to awake (cf. 108:3), and expresses trust in God Most High, whose love and faithfulness reach the heavens. Nevertheless, a twofold refrain in verses 6 and 12 pleads with God to appear. The superscription refers to David's flight from Saul into a cave.

    Psalm 142 also mentions David's attempt to hide in a cave. The psalmist has a keen sense of entrapment with no escape in sight, but this situation only reinforces a conviction of divine support. Boldly the poet begs for rescue from prison. Psalm 59 depicts an innocent individual who has been ambushed by powerful enemies. The reference to nations fits badly with the superscription, which mentions Saul's emissaries who are searching for David. The arrogance of the peoples who question God's ability to hear anything provokes laughter above and an appeal from below for a divine show of force on Jacob's behalf. A refrain in verses 7 and 15 emphasizes the recurrence of the threat.

The Songs of Ascents (120-134)

This group of Ascent psalms seems to have been associated with pilgrimages to Jerusalem, although only Psalm 122 actually alludes to a journey with Zion as its goal. Curiously, the language of at least three other psalms connects them with sacred processions into the holy city (24, 43, 84). The expression ma'alôt (ascending) has given rise to different theories about its connotation. Three views grow out of the sense of physical ascent, while others stress the symbolic use of the word.

Return from Exile

On the basis of Ezra 7:9, where hamma'alâ occurs with reference to Judean exiles returning to Jerusalem from Babylon, some interpreters have understood the inscription to Psalms 120-134 as a reference to these pilgrims. This explanation runs into difficulty, for Psalms 122 and 134 imply that a temple was standing at the time. That was not true in 539 BCE. Indeed, the dedication of the second temple did not take place until 516, largely the result of activity spurred on by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.

Annual Pilgrimages

Others understand the inscription in light of the three annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem mandated in Deut 16:16 and Exod 23:13-17; 34:18-23. Nowhere, however, does the word ma'alôt appear in connection with these three festivals (Passover, Weeks, and Sukkot or Booths).

Climbing the Steps inside the Temple

Biblical reference to Levites ascending steps within the temple (Exod 20:26 and 1 Kings 10:19-20) generated speculation in the Mishnah that ma'alôt refers to priestly activity. In Mid. 2:5 one reads: "Fifteen steps led up from within it [Court of the Women] to the Court of the Israelites, corresponding to the fifteen Songs of Ascents in the Psalms, and upon them the Levites used to sing...." Another text, Sukk. 5:4, remarks that numerous Levites played several musical instruments on the fifteen steps leading from the Court of the Israelites, corresponding to the fifteen Songs of Ascents. The presence of four words from the levitical blessing in Num 6:24-26 (bless, protect, be gracious to, peace) has led one scholar to see the rationale for the inscription in the Levites' pronunciation of this blessing on the steps of the temple.

With Elevated Voice

On the basis of 2 Chron 20:19, where Levites are said to have praised Yahweh with a loud, raised voice, some critics have understood the inscription in the sense of a high pitch. This view had the endorsement of the eminent Jewish interpreter Saadiah Gaon (882-942), according to an observation by David Kimhe (1160-1235) in his commentary on Psalms.

A Poetic Device: Stairstep Structure

A notable feature of many of these psalms is their ascending structure, the frequent use of incremental parallelism. In the first colon the poet introduces an image that leads on to its completion in the second colon, as in Ps 121:2 ("My help comes from Yahweh, the maker of heaven and earth"). Words in one verse are repeated in later verses as well. This stylistic device of incrementalism occurs frequently in psalms outside the unit under discussion and cannot supply the key to the meaning of the inscription.

Rising from Adversity

Jeremiah's counsel to sing and praise Yahweh for delivering the poor from evildoers (Jer 20:13) has been understood as a key to the noun šîr in the inscriptions. In this view, the songs are expressions of gratitude for deliverances from threatening circumstances. Of the fifteen psalms, however, only Psalms 120 and 124 actually accord with such a reading.

Advance in Spiritual Life

The sublimity of the religious sentiments in some of these psalms, especially 121; 123:1-3; and 131, has led scholars to view the group as an expression of spiritual growth. The Songs of Ascents do not, however, have a monopoly on such elevated feelings, nor do they sustain this lofty spirituality (cf. 129).

    What can be said, then, about the meaning of the inscription? Because several of the psalms are appropriate for pilgrims (122) and their enthusiasm for Zion (125, 126-129, 132-134), some association with pilgrims seems justified, especially if one broadens the interpretation to include progress in spiritual growth. Some of the psalms may originally have been sung by pilgrims, and others were probably added to give the collection abiding value for persons residing in Jerusalem and its immediate environs. The lasting impression that songs of rejoicing by individuals journeying to Jerusalem made on the prophet Isaiah (30:29) strengthens this interpretation.

    As a group, these psalms stand out for reasons other than their inscriptions. With only eighteen verses, Psalm 132 is the longest of the group; all the others have fewer than nine verses, and Psalms 131, 133, and 134 have only three verses each. Apart from Psalm 117, the shortest psalm in the Bible is 134. (By contrast, the longest psalm, 119, with 176 verses, stands just before the Song of Ascents.) Moreover, these psalms abound in rare words and use others proportionately more than anywhere else.

    This collection of 101 verses employs rich images for the intimacy enjoyed between worshippers and Yahweh. The notion of watching over someone (šmr, six times in vv. 3-8) pervades Psalm 121, echoing numerous references to divine protection. In Psalm 123, dependence on Yahweh's favor is graphically likened to male and female slaves looking to their masters for signs of kindness. The hills surrounding Zion evoke the comforting thought of encompassing divine arms (125:2). Weeping transformed into shouts of joy over bountiful crops signals restored fortunes in Psalm 126:5-6. Children resemble arrows in a quiver (127:3-5), and speech as arrows with flaming tips echoes the devastating force of slander (120:2, 4). Persons who fear Yahweh can count on domestic tranquility, with wives like vines and children resembling olive trees (128:1-4). In company with Job of old, they will see their grandchildren (128:6). The devout soul waits for Yahweh as eagerly as a sentinel anticipates dawn's light (130:5-6). A humble worshipper calms an anxious mind just as mothers quiet their weaned children (131). Unity is like precious ointment running down Aaron's beard and the collar of his robe (133).

    Repeated expressions also highlight this unit. The divine epithet, "maker of heaven and earth," occurs three times (121:2; 124:8; 134:3), and the adverbial expression denoting endurance, "now and for a long time," appears an equal number of times (121:8; 125:2; 131:3). In Psalm 121 the close relationship with Yahweh is reinforced by pronominal suffixes (ka, ten times) and frequent uses of the divine name written as YHWH without vowels and known to scholars as the Tetragrammaton (four times, six more times implicitly). Puns on the name šalem (peace) abound in Ps 122:6-7, and the inclusio "house of Yahweh" marks verses 1 and 9. A hint in Ps 124:1 and 129:1 ("Let Israel say ...") suggests antiphonal chant, the voice of the people urged on by the poet. Reasoned argument, brought to a temporary conclusion only to be resumed promptly, marks Ps 124:1-5. An echo of the danger inherent to unpunished evil, the seducing of good people to abandon the way of integrity, connects Psalm 125 to the problem envisioned in the earlier Psalm 73. The vanity of human endeavor, apart from divine surveillance and active support, comes to expression in Ps 127:1-2.

    The association of Psalm 127 with the name Solomon in the inscription was an extrapolation from the topic of verse 1, building a house. The reference to Yahweh's guarding the city suggested to someone Solomon's construction of the temple over which Yahweh stood guard. The reason for adding the name David to the inscription of four psalms of this group is less obvious, apart from the recognizable tendency to connect as many psalms as possible to him. Notably, the psalm that replaces the absolute divine promise to David with a conditional sentence ("If your sons keep my covenant, and the laws that I teach them, their sons will successively occupy your throne forever," 132:12) does not mention him in the inscription.

    Do the fifteen psalms show any movement that might explain their present order? Progress from a cry of distress to complete confidence has been detected, with Jerusalem occupying a central role in the threefold process of spiritual maturation (120-122, 123-128, 129-134). The second psalm in the series already casts suspicion on such an analysis, for it breathes an atmosphere of trust in Yahweh's protection.

(Continues...)

WHAT DID THE BIBLICAL WRITERS KNOW AND WHEN DID THEY KNOW IT?
What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel

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By William G. Dever

Copyright © 2001 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. All rights reserved.