Thyatira's Chiasm - Revelation 2:19

There's so much going on in Revelation in terms of structure. One interesting feature of the book is where irregular constructions are used to highlight something. In 2:19, as Jesus outlines the commendable things in the Thyatiran church, there is this odd construction with the word σου (of you) occurring, not after each item, nor only after the whole list, but before and after the list of five positive traits.

οἶδά 

σου 

τὰ ἔργα 

καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην 

καὶ τὴν πίστιν 

καὶ τὴν διακονίαν 

καὶ τὴν ὑπομονήν 

σου

"I know of you, the works and the love and the faith and the service and the endurance, of you." It should just be translated "I know your works and your love and your faith and your service and your endurance," but "your" only occurs before and after the list.

Why? It could be, perhaps, that it's trying to draw attention to this group of admirable traits present in Thyatira, despite the difficult context they find themselves in. And, above all of them, it could be that the central one--their faith/trust/belief--is what is of supreme importance.

When this letter (2:18-29) begins wrapping it, it returns to the idea of trust. 2:25 reads,

"Only this: what you have, hold on to it, until I come." 

It is only by their faith in Christ, and not the teaching of Jezebel (20-23a), the deep things of Satan (24), that they have can be certain of conquering and keeping the works of Jesus until the end (26). 

So it could just be that John didn't want to write σου out five times, but he did write it twice, including once before the list begins, so I think it's fair to say there was some purpose in doing so. It could have been to draw attention to the whole list, or it could be to draw especial attention to the central idea: your faith/trust/belief in Jesus.

Psalm 126 - when Yhwh sparks joy

With Psalm 126 we have the first explicit hint that these psalms may not be literal, but hopeful. Maybe they aren't actually on their way to Zion, but are hoping and imagining and dreaming. The exiles of Judah, far from home, whose temple has been destroyed, imagine themselves en route, walking from their homelands up through the mountains towards Zion. 

In part, this is clear from the two halves of the psalm (1-3, 4-6), which describe in the first half an unreal journey towards Zion ("we thought we were dreaming"), but then in the second half discover they aren't on their way at all, but merely hope and dream and plead to be returned. 

The two halves share a similar structure:

1-3
A Yhwh returned the returning ones
B We were like dreamers
C From sad exiles to joyous returnees

4-6
A Yhwh, return us returning ones
B Like streams of the Negev
C From sad exiles to joyous returnees

שׁוב

In the first clause of both halves there is a double use of שׁוב, first as the verb (to return, bring back), and then as the noun (the ones who return). This lexeme is common throughout the Hebrew Bible both in the context of exiles physically returning, but also of hearts returning in penitence to the God they have wronged. As such, this psalm could be using both senses of the lexeme, Yhwh returning the penitent ones, who are in exile because of their sin, but have turned their hearts back to their faithful God and await his rescue. There is however no context of sin in this psalm, just that they are in exile. It is not too much to infer that from the context (it's not as if they were in Babylon on holiday), but it's still not explicit. For that reason, I think it's emphasising the movement of people toward Zion, but I could be persuaded otherwise.

נגב

In the second clause of both halves is another comparison with כ, in both cases describing themselves. In 1c they were like dreamers, or, perhaps better translated, "we thought we were dreaming." The unreality of the exile being reversed is brought to the fore - who could imagine that the exile could be so spectacularly reversed. In 4b the image of a stream describes water in a dry place. Negev (נגב) has three potential but related meanings. It can just mean "south," and then can also be a place name, "the south." But what is the south like? It is dry, arid, so Negev could just as easily mean "the desert," and is used as a synonym for מדבר (desert, wilderness) in Isaiah 21:1. So what is being described here? At the very least, it is water in the desert. But to say more than that means choosing between two options. The first is a desert stream or an oasis, an unexpected delight of water in a place that is otherwise completely dry and incapable of supporting life. To be like such a stream in the Negev is for the return to Zion to make the returnees a source of life where it is least expected. The alternate is to be like the streams which appear in the wilderness after a yearly or ten-yearly rain. Like Lake Eyre in South Australia, an arid salt plain, used for setting land-speed records because it is in the middle of nowhere, dry and flat--except for the rare occasion when rivers form as if out of nowhere, turn the salt flats into a lake, and attract a plethora of wildlife and make countless hidden and dormant plants flower. This is a lovely image, of the change wrought by Yhwh by breaking their exile and enacting their return. Never having been to the Negev (or Lake Eyre, for that matter), I'm not sure which is more likely, although I have been told that there is indeed the odd river running through the Negev which may point to the former.

Sparking Joy

With apologies to Marie Kondo, the psalm moves on in both halves to suggest the joy that would fill the mouths and tongues of Judah when she is returned to Judah. In the first half, the previous state is not described, but only the change to the new. 

• 2a Laughter filled our mouths,
• 2b songs of joy [filled] our tongues,
• 2d, 3a the nations say of us, and we say of ourselves, that Yhwh has done great things for us,
• 3b we are overjoyed. 

In the second half the change from sorry to joy is described more fully, with two illustrations of this change:

• 5 The ones who sow in tears
• shall reap with in songs of joy.
• 6 The ones who go out weeping, carrying bags of seed
• will come back in songs of joy, carrying sheaves.

There are three words used to describe this joy. Laughter (שׂחוק) occurs once, as does overjoyed (שׂמח). They have two letters in common: שׂ and ח, which may well be deliberate, as these two words begin and conclude the first C section (v2a; v3b). 

The third word, רנן/רנה occurs three times (2b, 5b, 6c), and it seems to be an onomatopoeic word, meaning a song of joy, to rejoice, an exultation, a cry of jubilation (to choose a few options from HALOT). The fact that it can mean a cry of victory may also be part of the meaning here - one does not simply get released from captivity - there must be some sort of military victory to release the exile. But if that is implicit in the first half, in the second the meaning shifts to the farmer, sowing their seed in tears, but on their return reap in songs of joy. There is a change from little (seeds) to plenty (sheaves), which is descriptive of the hoped-for abundance that Yhwh will bring about on their return to the promised land. 

Perhaps one last thing is the repetition in 2d and 3a, where the exclamation "Yhwh has done great things for them" is first on the lips of the nations, but then is on the lips of the returnees: "Great things has Yhwh done for us." Such repetition on different lips is not uncommon in the songs of ascent - Psalm 132 is probably the best example of this. 

Whether originally understood or not, this points to a greater comprehending of Yhwh's goodness and sovereignty by those who were not called God's people, with the trajectory being that they might become God's people. The eschatological hope which this psalm points to is that it is not just the exiles who come to Jerusalem, but that as they go about their journey, singing these songs of ascent, that the nations will pick up their songs, and join in with them, coming also to Zion to worship Yhwh as their God also (cf. Zech 8:20-23).

Psalm 125 - the straight and the crooked

With Psalm 125 we enter the middle third of the psalms, and it's your classic goodies and baddies psalm. The closing stanza makes the contrast clear:

4 Do good—Yhwh–to the good ones,

and to the upright in their hearts.

5 But for the ones who turn to their crookedness,

Yhwh will cause the doers of evil to walk away.

The rest of the psalm similarly describes who the good are (v1-2), and what the problem with the wicked is (v3). Outside of these verse are two short refrains, first the heading "a song for going up", and finally, "Peace be upon Israel" (see the same conclusion to Ps 128). The structure of the psalm could then be described as follows:

שׁיר המעלות | A song for going up

A 1b-2 the good

B 3 the wicked

A' 4 the good

B' 6 the wicked

שׁלום על־ישׂראל | Peace be upon Israel

The ones who trust

Psalm 125 reuses a verb we are familiar with from Ps 121 - the verb מוט (to totter). It can be (depending on the declension) a homophone with a much more familiar verb מות (to die), but is spelled with a different (but much more infrequently used) "t"; it is spelled with a tet instead of a taw. In this psalm in particular that links well with a number of other lexemes which are also spelled with a tet, including v1 הבטחים (the ones who trust), and in v4 היטיבה ... לטובים (do good ... to the good ones). In the opening refrain then we have the ones who trust in Yhwh who will not totter, and then in the closing section they bid Yhwh to do good to the ones who are or do good. The final ט is in the first verb of v5, the verb נטה (to turn), for those who turn to do evil, in contrast with the ones whose heart is straight (v4b).

In v1 then, the ones who trust in Yhwh are like (כ, our favourite comparative) Mount Zion. We are told that "he" (presumably Mount Zion) will not totter, but will dwell forever. The unmoving mountains have the same stability as do those who trust in Yhwh. This is an interesting move, as my assumption when I began to translate the psalm was that it was Yhwh who was unmoving, who would not totter. But instead, it is by trusting in Yhwh that stability ensues. 

A further unexpected move follows in v2, which is the parallel the psalmist draws between the mountains around Zion and Yhwh. In v2a they make the move from Zion to the mountains which surround her and are "for her" (לָהּ), but then rather than saying (as I would expect) that the mountains are like the ones who trust in Yhwh and surround him, the illustration is flipped: Yhwh surrounds (for) his people (לעמו), from now and forever. 

Psalm 125:1-2 then explains that to trust Yhwh is for Yhwh to be for his people, to surround them, for them, from now and forever.

The problem with the wicked

The wicked are introduced in v3, not by what they do, but by what they have, or wield: a scepter. The closest we have to the phrase "the scepter of the wicked" is perhaps the line in Isaiah 14:5, 

שׁבר יהוה מטה רשׁעים שׁבט משׁלים

Yhwh broke the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.

If the order is correct, then the psalmist has combined the two Isaianic phrases "rod of the wicked/scepter of the rulers" into one, "scepter of the wicked. And what is the problem with their scepter? It is that is is upon the allotment of the righteous - it affects and controls and limits their prosperity, their enjoyment of the goodness of God's creation. And of course the problem with that is what that may lead to: the righteous sending out their hands in malice (v3c-d). Where wickedness abounds, the righteous will be tempted towards responding with evil  This can be either in fighting against evil (a righteous uprising), or in participating in evil, having learned that "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." 

Again, in another unexpected turn, the problem with the evil is not their evil deeds per se, but that by their continuing evil reign, they will corrupt or encourage to violence the righteous.

The straight and the crooked

The concluding stanza contrasts the two types of people described in the psalm with two new terms. v4b now calls the good (v4a) the upright/straight in heart, and they are contrasted with in v5a the ones who turn to their crookedness. The straight in heart are the ones who do good, who are good, and to whom Yhwh will do good. But the crooked in heart, the ones who incline towards, rather than resisting, their wickedness, will be forced to walk away (יוליכם) by Yhwh. 

It is only here that we have the acts of the wicked described in any way, as they are called "the doers of iniquity (את־פעלי האון). This, plus their scepter upon the allotment of the righteous (v3a-b), and then the final prayer for "peace [to] be upon Israel" perhaps give us an insight into the situation which Israel is in at the time of the psalm's composition. A time when wickedness reigns, and when others are being tempted to join in with their evil (v3c-d), sounds a lot like the time of many of the Israelite kings. No longer is Israel a place where righteousness reigns, where the people follow their king in trusting Yhwh. But instead, this psalm is needed to encourage Israel to once again trust in Yhwh of Zion, with the encouragement that he alone is trustworthy, and that the reign of the wicked will end. 

Only when the reign of the wicked is ended can Israel finally be at peace, be whole and complete, as they dwell together, surrounded by their trustworthy God, knowing that they will be safe and secure as they trust in him. 

Joshua 1 chiasm

We've started reading through Joshua in our fortnightly pastors' meetings. There's a fascinating chiasm in the second paragraph:

Having success in following Yhwh is only possible when Joshua is bound to the book of the law, both for himself as well as for his people. Being bound to the book looks like following them obediently, meditating in it, and doing all that is written in it. Success in taking the land and occupying it (inheriting, ירשׁ, ch2) is the promise which is predicated on this obedience.

There is also some beautiful symmetry in the two sets of negative commands: "I will not desert you and I will not leave you (v5)" is matched with "do not be afraid, do not be discouraged (v9)." And of course Yhwh will not leave you, because, in the first and last clauses, Yhwh has promised that he will be with Joshua, as he was with Moses, wherever he should walk.


Also of note is the command to "be strong and courageous," which occurs above as spoken by Yhwh to Joshua (3x), but also occurs as the last two words of the chapter. However, when they occur at the end of the chapter it is not Yhwh speaking but the tribes to the east of the Jordan, and not quite as a condition of following Joshua, but as a hope and a blessing.

What we have then is a command from above and below, Joshua being commissioned both by his God and by his people, to be strong and courageous in what he does and how he does it.


Perhaps finally it is worth restating the original context: this is not a promise for physical prosperity to all people at all times. It is a promise to Joshua for success in occupying the promised land, and for Yhwh to be with him to grant him success in so doing. I'm not saying you should send back your coffee cups with "be strong and courageous," just to say that being strong and courageous and gaining success and prosperity have very specific referents in this descriptive, not prescriptive, passage. That is all.

Structures of the songs of ascent

One important question for the songs of ascent (Psalms 120-134) is how are they have been arranged to be read. The psalter as a whole does not follow any order such as length (like the Qur'an for instance) or chronology, so a lot of recent work on the psalms in general has been on the arrangement. Someone has deliberately divided the psalter into five books, with little doxologies in the final few verses to conclude them, so it seems the organisation has intruded into the text of at least four psalms in the psalter.

But what about the songs of ascent? Is there any structure or logic to the ordering? Here are a few suggestions which range from the interesting but untested to the influential. 

Concentric structure

Peter J. Williams suggests a concentric structure as follows (supplemented by James Bejon):

120-126 (7 psalms)

Yhwh occurs 24 times

Yah occurs once

2 David psalms (122,124)

House 3 times

Dwell/Sit 3 times

127
Yhwh occurs 3 times
Yah occurs once
Only Solomon psalm in the collection
House once
Dwell/Sit once

128-134 (7 psalms)

Yhwh occurs 24 times

Yah occurs once

2 David psalms (122,124)

House 3 times

Dwell/Sit 3 times

For Williams, this shows that the central focus is that Yhwh is needed to build house and a dynasty.

The problem with any numerological thesis are the exceptions. To his groups of 7, I could also add:

• Son (2 in, 5 after)
• Eye (5 before, 2 after)
• Zion (2 before, 5 after)
• Shalom (6 before, 1 after)

Other common words are David (3 before, 6 after), bless (1 before, 8 after), guard/guardian (6 before, 2 in, 4 after), and Israel (4 before, 5 after). If there were a numerological arrangement, then these other lexemes which break the pattern are greatly inconvenient. I discuss this at length in my book with reference to Addison G. Wright who went a bit number crazy in Ecclesiastes, resorting to adjusting the text where it didn't fit his thesis, so convinced was he that he was correct. 

Narrative order

Derek Kidner (Tyndale) has a different approach, reading them together as a story. He isn't able to find a place for each psalm in the collection, but senses that there is some orderly progression in the collection. For instance:

Ps 120: distant pilgrims
Ps 122: into Jerusalem
Pss 133-134: in the temple

The idea is that each psalm was sung at a different point in the journey, with 123-132 obviously much smaller steps (the pilgrim is already in Jerusalem by this point!), but as a whole, the collection is ordered moving from out to in. I think with some adaptation this theory is workable, but is it right? I don't know.

David Mitchell has a much larger sweep, and describes the metanarrative of the psalter like this:

Ps 45: the King comes
Ps 50: Israel gathered in
Pss 73-83: nations gather for war
Ps 87: the King cut off
Ps 110: rescued by messianic King
Pss 111-118:  songs of messianic victory
Pss 120-134:  ascent of all Israel to celebrate feast of tabernacles

He develops this in another book (which I haven't read) specifically about pss 120-134, which sounds interesting but from reading the synopsis (hidden codes?) perhaps a bit far off the deep end for me.

Three groups

Perhaps the most interesting approach for me (I think I have become a Zenger fanboy) is the three-part approach described by Erich Zenger (Herders/Hermeneia). Each group of five psalms has its own narrative arc:

120-124
lament—history—praise
          125-129
          the wicked—life under God—the wicked
130-134
lament—history—praise

There is something aesthetically satisfying about this, in that the groupings aren't too big, and it does have a certain explanatory power. Also, after engaging a little with Williams and Bejon on twitter, I wonder whether the two theories could be combined of the groups of three with a larger concentric pattern. 

Whatever the editors initially intended, the number one sign is the "songs of ascent" in the heading. This links all these 15 psalms together as one unit, to be read as one unit, and to be understood on reflection and with reference to one another.

Ultimately, the proof is in the reading. Which of the structures help us read the book better? I don't know yet - but when I work it out I'll be sure to get back to you!