Radak at the seams

I've spent a lot of time looking at a 1491 Incunable (87.2) at the University of Sydney rare books collection, which contains, among the writings, the text of Psalms along with a commentary by Radak (Rabbi Qimḥi). But what I can't work out is whether the "book" divisions are his or by the printer. I am working with the latter assumption but am still trying to work it out. 

Here is the junction between book three and four. On the right (the top-outside-corner) is the Bible text, where a new psalm is indicated by a space either side of the the first word of Psalm 90, תְּפִלָה (n.b. without dagesh, against Leningradensis). Then on the left are Radak's comments, where we can see ברוך in square script with a space either side, telling us these are his comments on the last line of Psalm 89, and then his comments, then a large space, then, in square script, נשלם ספר שלישי   ספר רביעי   תפלה. That is, "end of the third book," a space, "fourth book," then a space, "prayer" and then, on the next line, back to Rashi script, with למשה איש האלדים, the first words of Psalm 90.

A few things to point out:

1. Biblical quotations and book divisions are written in square script. 
2. The words indicating the end and beginning of books aren't in Radak's commentary in sefaria.org.
3. Radak does however mention the first book and by extension all books; he has discussed it at the end of the first book, and says the author says this every time he completes a book.

The text is a little different to the one I can find on sefaria.org, mostly with the removal of the definite article in the electronic text. But it's hard to read and my Rashi-script-reading isn't great at the best of times.

Here is the end of Psalm 106 and the beginning of Psalm 107. The commentary covers the entire width of the page (we are down towards the bottom). The last line of Psalm 106 is discussed by being introduced with a gap either side of the first two words of 106, ברוך ידוה, that is, ברוך יהוה. Then we have his discussion, then a large gap after his discussion of this verse, before telling us that this is the end of the fourth book, נשלם ספר רביעי, then a new line, then ספר חמישי, book five, then a space either side of הודו, the first word of Psalm 107. 

A few things to point out:

1. These words indicating the old and new books aren't in Radak's commentary at sefaria.org. 
2. The words indicating the end of book four are written in Rashi script, as is the rest of the commentary. 
3. The words indicating the beginning of book five and the first word of the text of book five are in square script, as was the observed practice earlier

As mentioned above, I really struggle with Rashi script, and reading it off a 530 year old manuscript doesn't make it any easier. But with the line breaks of the Incunable, here is what I think it says, with the published text for comparison:

Incunable 87.2

  ברוך  ה׳ לעול׳
אמן ואמן דברי המשורר ראה ברוח הקודש שבות י
ישראל מהגלות ונתן הודא׳ לאל׳ או מחבר הספר א
אמ׳ כן בתכלית הספר תודה לאל כמו שכותבים ה
הסופרים׳ בהשלימם׳ הספר וכבר פירשנו הפסו׳ בתכלית 
הספר הראשון:

sefaria.org

ברוך. 
דברי המשורר ראה ברוח הקודש שיבת 
הגלות ונותן הודאה לאל יתב'. או מחבר הספר 
אמר כן בתכלית הספר תודה לאל יתב', כמו שכותבים 
הסופרים בהשלימם ספר, וכבר פירשנו הפסוק בתכלית 
ספר הראשון:

In terms of translation, I think it (Radak in the Incunable) says something like:

Blessed be Yhwh forever, amen and amen. The words of the singer who spoke by the Holy Spirit  about the return of Israel from the exile, and who gave praise to God. Or, the join of the book says it thus, in the context of the book, praise be to God, just as the scribes when writing in the completion of the book, and we have formerly interpreted the end in the midst of the first book.

Some notes:

• At the beginning the text includes a few more words from the Bible text, albeit in Rashi script. 
• ספר is always definite in the Incunable.
• The setting out of the text justifies each line by including the first letter of the next line where required. The Bible text follows a similar practice. The next line reduplicates any letters, printing the whole word.
• Some words are abbreviated by one letter, which seems unnecessary. 
• "Israel" is written in the Incunable, to specify whose return is referred to. Exile is prefixed with a mem.
• I'm always interested why sometimes the divine name and God is spelled with a qoph and here with a daleth: 'eloqim (elsewhere - Rashi from memory), or 'elodim (here), rather than 'elohim. But that's not really relevant here. The divine name in the commentary appears simply as ה׳, as in haShem. 

If it is true (as I suggest) that the book divisions were introduced by the printer, we can still say that Radak was aware of the book divisions, and the way they were concluded. It doesn't seem to have made any impact on his interpretation of the psalms, except for when he refers back to the first Book as he concludes his commentary on the third book. 

Otherwise, I don't really know much of anything about the transmission history of the medieval Rabbinic works, but there are clearly differences, even allowing for the errors I have certainly introduced. I would be very grateful for any enlightnment!

Psalm 33 as a continuation of Psalm 32

 I’ve been looking at the joins between psalms in Book 4 of the Psalter these last few weeks: where they are and aren’t, when they are consistent and when they aren’t. But I was looking at Psalm 33 for a different reason and noticed a couple of things.

 

1/ Psalm 33 is what Peter C. Ho would probably call some sort of acrostic. Not having a go at him but he calls things acrostics which most people in a million years wouldn't consider acrostics. In Psalm 33's case, it's certainly not an acrostic, but it does have22 verses, and it immediately precedes Ps34 which is an acrostic, so it sort of is even though it isn’t.

2/ Psalm 33 is one of the few untitled psalms in the first three books. Apart from Pss 1-2, this is the first since Ps 10 not to have a title. And that’s significant, because Ps 9-10 are often joined together, especially in the versions. The next one without a title is 43, which, again, is often joined to 42 beforehand.

3/ As you finish Ps 32 and move on to 33 you notice that pretty much all the vocab of the final verse of the former is present in the first verse of the latter. And with one exception, it’s in a chiastic order. The prefix for Yhwh is the same in both, and while the forms for רנן and ישר are different, we’ve got an ABCDCBAD layout on our hands:

שִׂמְחוּ בַיהוָה

וְגִילוּ צַדִּיקִים

וְהַרְנִינוּ

כָּל־יִשְׁרֵי־לֵב׃

רַנְּנוּ

צַדִּיקִים

בַּיהוָה

לַיְשָׁרִים נָאוָה תְהִלָּה׃

All of this together makes me wonder if this wasn’t some attempt to have us read 32 and 33 together. Although I have William Yarchin's amazing list of hundreds of manuscripts with variant segmentation, I am not aware of any manuscripts in which these two were read as one psalm, but it’s certainly tempting to do so.

33:1 feels just like a restatement of 32:11, perhaps a (poorly-done) exercise of rewriting in one’s own words. If (and here I’m getting into scary German approaches here) Psalm 32 finished at v7, Ps33 would be a fitting response. That is, 32:8-10 seems a bit out of place. Perhaps the compiler/editor thought 33 should be read rather as the better response to the psalm, where the faithful (חסיד) of 32:6 meet the faithfulness (חסד) of Yhwh in 33:22.

Where I’ve taken this in the preceding paragraph is all pretty wild and speculative, but where I started, the close and deliberate connection between Psalms 32 and 33 cannot be denied, by (1) the lack of title and (2) the reuse, in a chiastic order, of the same lexemes in neighbouring verses of the two. 

An extra verse in Psalm 118

There's this weird thing which happens in the Great Psalms Scroll in the 16th column. After Psalm 136, Psalm 118 follows directly on. That Psalm 118 follows Psalm 136 is not the weird thing. That sort of thing happens a lot, and is really interesting and quite fun, and has been keeping me entertained for months now.

But the weird thing, or things, are three-fold. 

The first is that Psalm 118 follows directly on, not starting on a new line, not signalling a new paragraph. (You can have a look at it here at the DSS library! Psalm 118 begins with the fourth word on the top right.)

The second is that we've already seen Psalm 118 in this scroll! Way back in the early columns, which are only fragmentary, the last few verses of Psalm 118 begins column vi and leads directly on to - you guessed it - Psalm 104! (The fragmentary columns are in lower case Roman numerals, while those parts of the whole scroll are either in capital Roman numerals, or, as per my practice, in normal numbers.)

The third thing however is the contents of Psalm 118 in column 16 aren't what we expect. It goes something like (and in this order) 118:1, 15-16, 8, 9α, 9β, 29. For this reason this isn't Psalm 118 proper, but what is called a "catena", meaning a connected series of texts; the connection being they are all drawn from Psalm 118. 

At first glance there are two versions of v9, what I'm calling 9α and 9β. But properly speaking, v8 and v9 are very similar; they are versions of each other. What we meet in this catena then is a third variation, and also much more interesting versions of the v8 and 9 we are familiar with.

Here are the normal v8 and 9 in Hebrew and then English:

8 טוֹב לַחֲסוֹת בַּיהוָה מִבְּטֹחַ בָּאָדָם׃

9 טוֹב לַחֲסוֹת בַּיהוָה מִבְּטֹחַ בִּנְדִיבִים׃

8 It is better to shelter in Yhwh than to trust in man.

9 It is better to shelter in Yhwh than to trust in nobles.

You notice a clear pattern: "It is better to shelter in Yhwh than to trust in X", where X can change. 

What is different in 11Q5 (this scroll we're looking at) is that each verse has more internal variation, as well as having a third permutation.

Again, in Hebrew then in English (you'll notice this is unpointed Hebrew text, and also that I haven't written Yhwh in Paleo-Hebrew as per the scroll, because I don't know how to make my computer do that.)

‏8 טוב לבטוח ביהוה מבטוח באדם׃

9α טוב לחסות ביהוה מבטוב בנדיבים׃

9β טוב לבטוב ביהוה מבטוח באלף עם׃

8 It is better to trust in Yhwh than to trust in man.

9α It is better to shelter in Yhwh than to depend on nobles.

9β It is better to depend on Yhwh than to trust in 1000 people.

The basic form is the same, but you can see there are more variations here. It's not just "better to shelter in Yhwh than to trust in X", but each verse begins with a different verb (trust, shelter, depend), and ends with another variation also. Notably there is no variation which has the same "shelter-trust" as per the Masoretic text. 

Another interesting point is the third variation, which seems to build on the first two: man > nobles > 1000 people. I also don't know the new verb, which I've translated "depend". It seems to be a synonym for "trust" but it has all the same letters as "good" (the first word in each clause translated as "better"). I probably need a dictionary of Qumran Hebrew to figure that one out with more certainty.

You might want to know why this extra clause, and that's certainly a good question, but one that's impossible to answer from this perspective. We may actually want to ask the question the other way: why did the Masoretic Text leave out that third clause, and standardise the form of the two clauses it retained? 

In any case, it's fascinating to see this additional clause, which while not adding anything new in terms of theology, certainly adds to the numbers game: sure, I would trust Yhwh better than one man, and better than some nobles. But an army? 1000 people? Well actually, yes, to trust in Yhwh is indeed still better. 

bal and 'aph in Psalm 16

I was having a look at Psalm 16 today and noted it uses the words בל bal and אף aph a few times (4x & 3x respectively); they also occur quite often together in Scripture.

Where else are they found?

To explain what I searched for, when I look up בל and אף and when they occur within the same chapter, Accordance tells me there are 69 hits in only 49 verses. Which means they often occur together - not just the same chapter but the same verse.

They're pretty popular together in Proverbs, a little bit through the other psalms, but it's really Isaiah where they occur lots and lots. Isaiah 26 has 7x בל and 3x אף; ch.33 also has 7x בל but only 1x אף. Isaiah 40:24 has three sets of  אף בל, and 44 has four of each. 

So what do they even mean?

I once wanted to try and write an article on בל but then realised (1) I had too much on and (2) I was well out of my depth. But it's a fascinating particle, it just means "not" but seems to have an emphatic force and is often used in poetic contexts. (I also wonder if it plays a similar role to μη but wondering is the most research I've done on the topic.)

Similarly אף seems to be emphatic, but it's positive: "surely." It's a homograph (written the same as) for the word for "nose" and also "anger" - think a bull with angry steam coming out of its nose. 

How are they helpful in understanding Psalm 16?

As I read through Psalm 16 I am struck by the certainty of the psalmist. They recognise that Yhwh alone is their hope, Yhwh alone is the giver of good things, Yhwh alone is the source of security in a turbulent world. These two particles then point to not just a description of Yhwh but to an appropriate commitment to him, of the creature to their creator. 

This is also not just a commitment of things that the psalmist would do in their love for Yhwh, but also a commitment of what they would not do. As the wonderful BCP prayer confesses, we ask God for forgiveness not just of sins committed, but also good omitted. This psalm however promises to both do the good and to not do the evil. 

The key verses; בל in bold, אף underlined

16:2 I said to Yhwh, You are my lord / my goodness is not anywhere but you;

16:4 They multiplied their sorrows, they run after others / I will certainly not pour out to them libations of blood / I will certainly not lift up their name on my lips.

16:6 Boundaries fell to me in pleasant [places] / Surely the possession is beautiful to me.

16:7 I will bless Yhwh who counsels me, / surely by night my kidneys instruct me.

16:8 I set Yhwh before me always, / for from my right hand I won’t be shaken.

16:9 Therefore my heart rejoices, my mass rejoices / surely my flesh dwells securely.

In sum

The psalmist exudes a confidence in God's character and protection which causes them to trust in God, to preach the gospel to themselves, because he is trustworthy and a certain shelter in the storm. 

The afflicted one cries out - Psalm 102

Psalm 102 is one of the rare psalms in Book IV to receive a title, and an intriguing one at that. So far we've had:

1. 90: A prayer of Moses the man of God
2. 92: A psalm, a song, for the Sabbath
3. 98: A psalm
4. 100: A psalm, for thanksgiving
5. 101: Davidic, a psalm
6. 102: A prayer of an afflicted one who has grown weak and pours out a lament before Yhwh
7. 103:Davidic

As you can see, this is long and unique among the psalter, but especially among 90-106. Commentators often work hard to find a time in the life of David or another king (often Hezekiah) to correlate to the experience described here, but I don't know this is particularly fruitful. 

What the title does give us however is some vocabulary which will be important throughout the psalm. For instance:

1. תפלה, a prayer, also 1x in v2(1) and 2x in v18(17)
2. ענה, to afflict, or, here, an afflicted one, also in v24(23) as a verb (Yhwh is the one who afflicted the psalmist), and also a homograph meaning "to answer" in v3(2) - perhaps a pun? "answer your afflicted one
3. √פנה, usually as לפני, meaning before, but also face, occurs 4x throughout the psalm, in v3(2), 11(10), 26(25) (meaning perhaps "before"), and 29(28). There's also the related verb meaning "to turn" in 18(17)

These three lexemes and related roots are important throughout the psalm; it as a whole stands as a prayer of the afflicted one, to the one who has afflicted them, that they might turn their face and respond.

Another word which is important from a Sitz in der Literatur perspective is the word for complaint (or praise? in Ps 104), שׂיח, which occurs at or near the beginning of four other psalms (55, 64, 142) and at the end of another (104). We also meet it the same number of times in Job (7:13; 9:27; 10:1; 21:4; 23:2). 

But these three repeated words go some way to explaining the recursive nature of the psalm, which seems to follow a back-and-forth pattern as follows:

1. Heading: for the one who suffers   1(0) 

2. Plea for Yhwh to hear   2-3(1-2) 

3. Explanation/description of human finitude  4-12(3-11) 

4. A plea to Yhwh the eternal one   13-16(12-15) 

5. Description of Yhwh’s eternal glory and concern for those who call out in their suffering   17-23(16-22) 

6. Plea based on the contrast of man’s brevity but Yhwh’s eternity   24-29(23-28) 

The net effect of this alternation is to call on Yhwh to show mercy from his eternity to this poor afflicted one whose days are brief, are only halfway done (25(24)).


As an exodus psalm (see my series) this looks back to the plight of Israel post-the golden calf incident, as Moses appeals for Yhwh not to destroy his people despite their great apostacy. In this connection it is noteworthy that the name of God that he revealed to Moses at the beginning of the exodus appears some nine times in this psalm. 

On the other side of the exodus, parts of this psalm are applied in praise to the other name, Jesus, as the one who sits on an eternal throne (Hebrews 1:10-12). This posits the people who know God through Jesus as the afflicted ones who cried out to God for rescue, and were answered in that prayer by the coming of Jesus to bring his salvation.

Keeping an eye out - Psalm 101

Psalm 101 is a David psalm, but not really. It is perhaps a psalm for David, or looking forward to a better David, rather than a psalm about David (one key is Yhwh's house (v2,7) was not constructed under David but his son, Solomon). It is the first David psalm for a while (not since Ps 86), and, with Psalm 103, is one of only two "David psalms" in Book IV.

It's an interesting psalm, which shifts quite a bit after the first four verses. That is, in the first four verses, each clause contains a verb, and although they are all related, any clause could stand on its own. 

1 Of steadfast love and justice shall I sing
you, Yhwh, shall I praise
2 I will closely attend to the blameless path
when will you come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart within your house
3 I will not set before my eyes worthless words
the deeds of deviants I hate
it will not cling to me
4 the heart of the crooked will turn from me
no evil shall I know

In the first half of this psalm we find mostly 1st person yiqtols, the "I will ..." verbs; only "I hate" is a qatal among the 1st person verbs. Nonetheless, the distribution of the verb is either at the front or the back of the clause. It seems more regular (to my ear) to have it at the front, while when it's at the back (v1a,b; 4b) it seems to highlight what precedes it (steadfast love and justice, Yhwh, no evil). 

The second half of the psalm, from 5-8, each line depends on two clauses to make sense, as follows:

5 the one slandering in secret their neighbour
        this one I will silence
the haughty eyed and arrogant hearted
        this one I will not endure

6     My eyes [will be] upon the faithful of the land
in order [that they] might dwell with me
        the one walking in blameless paths
this one will minister to me.

7 They will not dwell in the midst of my house,
        whoever does deceit.
        whoever speaks falsely
will not be be established before my eyes.

8 By morning I will destroy
        all the wicked of the land
in order to cut off from the city of Yhwh
        all doers of iniquity

As you can see, you need both clauses to say something. Who will not dwell in my house? Whoever does deceit. And so on. Verse 8 is really the only verse which seems to be one thought over four clauses. 5-7 however are all good examples of synonymous parallelism, where both halves say essentially the same thing. 

There might be some overarching structure, with Yhwh only in the first and last verses, and your house // my house (v2, 7). There's also a contrast between the "faithful of the land" who will dwell there, (v6) and the "wicked of the land" who will be cut off (v8).

As a whole, this psalm feels unfinished, with no development. If anything, it feels like a downwards spiral, from praising to destruction, from calling on Yhwh to act at the beginning, while at the end committing to enact human judgement. I would almost prefer to read this psalm in the reverse order, where we move from human action to trusting and praising Yhwh alone. 

So I'm not really sure what to do with this psalm. It could be I'm tired after a week of travel and sickness and classes I can't see why anyone would have this psalm as their favourite. 

As an exodus psalm, this almost feels like Moses speaking to the Israelites after they have been caught in their idolatry and no more will he put up with sinfulness among the people. Only those who match their words (1-2b) with their actions (2c-4) will be those who may come into Yhwh's promised rest. 

The Exodus Psalms

A number of years ago I wrote about Book IV of the Psalter, in some circles known as the Exodus Collection. I've been slowly working through them after reading them both on my own and with the insightful MC, and here are the links to the pages, which I'll keep updating as I get to them.

• Psalm 90
• Psalm 91
• Psalm 92
• Psalm 93
• Psalm 94
• Psalm 95
• Psalm 96
• Psalm 97
• Psalm 98
• Psalm 99
• Psalm 100
• Psalm 101
• Psalm 102
• Psalm 103
• Psalm 104
• Psalm 105
• Psalm 106

Thanking God in Psalm 100

 Psalm 100 is one of the shorter psalms in the Psalter, coming in at only five verses. It has a heading, "Psalm, for thanksgiving," which is more expansive than 98's "Psalm", but doesn't give us much more information. However, that this psalm is "for thanksgiving" is reinforced throughout the psalm, as v4a encourages entry to be "in thanksgiving", and v4c is an imperative to "give thanks." This whole psalm is a noisy and an active psalm. 1b has all the earth shouting, 2a joyfully serving, 2b entering with rejoicing, 4c giving thanks, 4d blessing his name. And I can only imagine the acknowledging (v3) was similarly vocalised.

Structure

The psalm could be divided in two, with the first half (1b-3) praising Yhwh as God the creator (all the earth; he made us, his sheep), while the second (4-5) praises Yhwh as God the king (his gates, his courtyard).

There are a couple of noteworthy features in this psalm. The first is what appears to be an ABAB structure; two pairs of alternating panels. The first (1b-2, 4) give instructions to give thanks and praise, while the second (3, 5) explain the reasons that Yhwh is praiseworthy.

A 1-2 Shout, serve, enter before. All the earth.

B 3 Why? Because we are his creation, his people, his sheep.

A 4 Enter, thank, bless.

B 5 Why? Because Yhwh is good, steadfast, faithful.

This leads to the second feature, which (and I could be wrong here) are the two cases of ellipses. The first ellipsis is uncontroversial and rather assumed, in v4 באו (enter, come) is implied:

enter his gates in thanksgiving,

[enter] his courtyard in praise.

The second however relies on the alternating panels, and assumes the דעו (acknowledge, make known) of the first B panel (v3) is implied in the second B panel, v5, so that we have:

3 Acknowledge that Yhwh, he is God...

5 [Acknowledge] that Yhwh is good...

There's also one fun little text issue, which could really go either way. In v3, after "he made us," the written text (ketiv) has "and not we ourselves" (i.e., we did not make ourselves). Although true, this sounds a bit weird. So the read text (qere) suggests "and for him are we" (i.e. and we are his, or we are made for him). The qere makes more sense in the context, and due to their being homophones, it seems simplest to trust the Masoretes' suggestion here.

Psalm 100 as an Exodus psalm

Throughout Book IV I've been asking how we might read these psalms as Exodus psalms, and there's a nice little shout out to Exodus 3 here in the last line of the psalm. His goodness, his steadfast love, and his faithfulness are his characteristics forever, from generation to generation. And in Exodus 3, where Yhwh reveals his name to Moses, he concludes with,

This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. (Exodus 3:15)

Exodus has לדר דר, while the psalm has עד־דר ודר. So not the same, but the repeated דר (generation) in the context of Yhwh's character seems fitting. It's also worth briefly noting that similar phrases (the double דר) occurs in Book IV at 90:1 (בדר ודר); 102:13 (לדר ודר), 25 (דור ודורים) and 106:31 (לדר ודר). So 16 times outside of Book IV and 5 times within. So it's not quite unique to Book IV (unlike the use of Moses and Aaron, for instance) but it seems that the context matches.

The other potential link might be the repeated use of בוא (enter, come) in this psalm, which might link with the similar use in Exodus 15:17-18

You will bring (בוא) them in

you will plant them in a mountain of your inheritance

a place you made for your dwelling, Yhwh

a holy place, Lord, founded by your hands.

Yhwh will reign forever and ever.

What is a promise in Exodus 15 has become a reality to celebrate in Psalm 100. The promise to bring them in is answered with them entering the gates, his courtyard. The promise that there will be a holy place for Yhwh to dwell is precisely where Israel now "serve Yhwh with joy" (2a).

Psalm 100 as Christian Scripture

How doe we read Psalm 100 as Christian Scripture? There are plenty of images here which point to Jesus, perhaps primary being his identity as the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. The one who made us, who spoke creation into being, is the same one who gave himself for his sheep. Romans 12 encourages the response to this in similar language and with a similar dynamic, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices as your true and living worship. 

Exalt Yhwh our Holy God - Psalm 99

 I'm up to Psalm 99 in my meander through Book IV of the Psalter (90-106), and it's a shorter one, only nine verses, but nonetheless some really interesting features.

Holy Holy Holy

There is a repeated refrain, which seems to conclude each of the three stanzas: Holy is he! Following that gives us 1-3, 4-5, 6-9, and then another feature sticks out, namely the description of Yhwh at the beginning of the first two stanzas, v1 begins "Yhwh reigns," while v4 starts with "and a mighty king," both the noun "king" and the verb "to reign" are from the root מלך mlk.

The third stanza begins describing not Yhwh but three of the most important figures of the exodus and pre-monarchy period: Moses, Aaron and Samuel. Interestingly, David is not mentioned, which could well be because he as king is certainly not the focus of this psalm; Yhwh is king, and Samuel is not important because he anointed the first two kings of Israel, but because he called on Yhwh, and Yhwh answered him.

You could then summarise the three stanzas as:

1-3 Yhwh reigns over the earth

4-5 Yhwh is the king who establishes justice

6-9 Yhwh answers the pleas of his servants

Apart from concluding with a "holy" phrase, the final verse of each stanza is a tricolon, whreas the other verses are all bicola.

Speech

One interesting factor in this psalm is where Yhwh is addressed. In three places and 5 times total Yhwh is addressed by the psalmist:

3a They praise your name; 

4c You established uprightness,

4d justice and righteousness have you worked in Jacob. 

8b You answered them

8c A God who carries away [sin] were you for them.

Each of these are roughly in the middle of a stanza, which gives further shape to the structure mentioned above. The first two also bookend reported speech, which comes in 3b-4b, bridging the first two stanzas:

“Great and awesome;

Holy is he!”

And, “Mighty king

he loves justice!”

Call and Response

If we were to divide the poem into two roughly even halves, 1-5, 6-9, with the speech at the centre, the psalm takes on a different shape and a different emphasis. The first half focusses on the peoples praising Yhwh who establishes uprightness, justice and righteousness. The second moves its attention to the three aforementioned figures, and the remarkable thing it is for Yhwh to answer them and to respond to their pleas to deal with sin. Both halves then conclude with a near-identical refrain:

Exalt Yhwh our God (5a/9a)

and bow down before his footstool (5b) / holy hill (9b)

Holy is he (5c) / Holy is Yhwh our God (9c)

Both halves also contain the 2nd person address in the centre, so that the stanzas run:

Statement about Yhwh and his people (1/6)

Location of Yhwh (Zion v2/pillar of cloud v7)

2nd person address (3-4/8)

Exalt our holy God Yhwh in a location (footstool v5/holy hill v9)

To me this structure seems more satisfactory, and explains the movements in the text.

Psalm 99 and the exodus

This psalm is clearly written after the exodus; the references to Zion (v2) and Samuel (v6) show that it is from a later time. And yet, the absence of any reference to David (except perhaps by allusion through "Zion") suggests that the author was not interested in going back to the time of the monarchy. More important are images which remind them of the exodus journey, with the cherubim (v1; cf Ex 25:18) and the pillar of cloud (v7; cf Ex 13:21; 19:9), not to mention the decrees and statues which are linked to the exodus (v7; cf Dt 4:45).

One odd lexeme is עלילה 'alylah (99:8d) which occurs fairly rarely in the Bible (24x), and here is usually translated "misdeeds." It's a little confusing; in Psalm 103 and 105 it's the deeds or decrees of Yhwh, whereas in Deuteronomy 22 it means slander. Although it's not described with the same vocabulary, I wonder if the times Moses and Aaron sin could be described as slander? And if it's their sin which was carried away? The alternative is that v8 is speaking more generally of Israel's sin, dealt with by the priests.

In any case, this psalm looks back to a time when Yhwh was honoured as king, when he spoke and the people responded in praise—the optimists' memory of the exodus!

Psalm 99 as Christian Scripture

By harking back to time when Yhwh was acknowledged as king, this implies a time when Yhwh was not acknowledged as such. What greater (worse?) time could there be for that than when Jesus was ignored as king. He was neither praised nor exalted above all peoples (v2-3), even though he spoke clearly to his people (v6-7). Despite this, he was the one who carried away our sin, dealing with our slander (v8). Our praise then is directed not to the temple, but to the holy hill (v9) on which he died, worshipping at the cross the one who, though being holy, died for sin.

Singing the new song - Psalm 98

 Psalm 98 is a bit loud:

• v1 sing
• v4 make noise, break forth, exult, praise
• v5 make music
• v6 make noise
• v7 roar
• v8 clap hands, exult

Why the racket? In v1-3 the psalmist looks back for reasons:

• Yhwh has done wonders
• Yhwh has wrought salvation
• Yhwh has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness

Three times Yhwh's salvation is mentioned:

1. In v1 it is seen in his right hand and his holy arm.
2. In v2 he has made his salvation known before the nations.
3. In v3 the ends of the earth have seen his salvation.

And it is his faithfulness in the past that means those who sing this psalm can look forward in the final verse:

• he is coming to judge the earth
• he will judge the cosmos with righteousness
• and he will judge peoples with uprightness.

The beginning and the end of the psalm then speak of his acts of salvation, some past, some yet to come. And the praise in the centre of the psalm looks backward and forwards in light of this. The noise from the peoples (singing and playing instruments) in v4-6 seems to be looking back to what has gone before, while the noise from creation in v7-8 (the sea and cosmos roaring, rivers clapping, mountains exulting) looks forward to the salvation which is to come.

1-3 Past salvation

4-6 The people rejoice and give thanks

7-8 All creation makes noise looking forward

9 Salvation to come

Of course, this unravels a riddle from v1 which didn't become apparent until we hit the end.

Sing a new song because he has done wonders.

What is confusing is the new song refers to past events, things which have already happened and already been revealed. But at the end we see that the new song begins with the old story, in order to look to the future with confidence.

Psalm 98 as an exodus psalm

For those who came in late, part of my project in going through Psalms 90-106 is to think through them as potentially telling the story of the exodus. And in this psalm v1 in particular shouts out to me as an exodus psalm. The נפלאות (wonders) sung of here consistently speak of the wonders done in rescuing Israel from Egypt (cf Exodus 3:20; 34:10; Micah 7:15). Similarly, the mention of "his right hand, his holy arm" is a clear call-back to the language of Exodus 6-7 (6:1,1,6,8;7:4,5) as Yhwh promises Moses that his mighty hand will bring them salvation.

Psalms 98 recalls Yhwh's salvation out of Egypt, and looks forward (as does Micah, above) to his future acts salvation along similar lines.

Psalm 98 as Christian Scripture

The creation language of this psalm directs me to the language in Romans 8 as Paul writes of the groaning of creation; here the creation has a certainty which causes it to pre-emptively sing and rejoice.

Psalm 98 proclaims Yhwh as the king (v6); this side of the cross we know Jesus as the king who gave his life to bring salvation, and we look back to that event for our hope in the future and in living now, trusting that God continues to remember his steadfast love and faithfulness (v2) for all who call on his name, for all who know his salvation, even tot he ends of the earth (v3).

Rejoice, Yhwh Reigns - Psalm 97

Continuing my stroll through Book IV of the Psalter, Psalm 97 is a fun one. There's lots of interesting imagery, and also lots of repeated vocab and/or synonyms.

The imagery of the heavens and earth is particularly invigorating, as we think about the earth and coastlands rejoicing, about cloud and darkness surrounding Yhwh, about creation being lit up by his lightning, and the earth in response writhing and mountains melting.

The pantheon of gods also feature, as their existence is not so much denied as relativised. Yhwh here is Yhwh Elyon - most high - who is over all the earth, far above other gods (97:9). Worship of their images is shameful, for even those gods worship Yhwh (97:7)!

In terms of the vocabulary of this psalm, we have rejoicing (2x), be glad (3x), worship (1x) and praise (1x). This vocab alone pushes us to think of this psalm as a song. The other area of repeated vocabulary are in terms of the character and actions of Yhwh, with righteous/ness (4x), judgements/s (2x), uprightness (1x), glory (1x) and holiness (1x). Some of these are Yhwh's, others are reflected in his people .

The structure of this psalm is certainly tricky, but I think I've got some idea. If this works, after the heading (Yhwh reigns!), it's a two-part psalm, with both halves in an ABCBA structure.

Heading 1a Yhwh reigns!

A1 1b-c Earth and coast: rejoice!

B1 2 Yhwh's righteousness and judgement

C1 3-5 Yhwh is boss over creation

B1` 6 All have seen his righteousness and glory

A1` 7 Idolaters, be ashamed; gods, worship!

A2 8a-b Zion and Judah: rejoice!

B2 8c Yhwh's judgements

C2 9-10 Yhwh Elyon guards and delivers his people

B2` 11 Light sown to righteousness, gladness to upright heart

A2` You righteous: rejoice!

The two halves tell a similar story regarding the character of Yhwh and how it is reflected and embodied among his people. The focus is however different. In the first section (1b-7), the key idea is "Yhwh is boss over creation" with the ethical implication, "Don't commit idolatry." In the second section (8-12), Yhwh is still sovereign, but this is to do with the hope for his people. So the idea is more, "Yhwh Elyon guards and delivers," with the ethical implication, "Don't love evil."

Although this psalm is very elevated in its subject matter, in the heavens and with the pantheon, the rubber certainly hits the road in both instances. Flee idolatry and flee evil are evergreen commands, just as relevant then as now.

Psalm 97 as an Exodus psalm

Reading various commentators, the majority of focus is on how this psalm is grounded in or responds to Canaanite mythologies. While I don't deny that may be part of it, what I don't see is an attempt to ground the reading of this and similar psalms in the imagery we are already provided in the Scriptures. In particular, the language of v2-5 seem easily linked to Exodus 19:16-19, as Sinai is covered in cloud and smoke and there's fire and trembling mountains, followed by Yhwh's self-revelation in the giving of the Decalogue. So while there may be other things going on, it seems a mistake to so quickly ignore the key moment in Israel's history: a theophany followed by the law. 

Sing the new song of Yhwh - Psalm 96

 In my walk through the Exodus psalms, I've come to Psalm 96, a psalm I knew first as a song. It's a wonderful praise psalm, and it clearly tends toward singing: if there were no song (and there are many), someone would have to write one.

The first thing one notes when going through the Hebrew is what a balanced psalm it is. Some of that is evident in this table:

Sing to Yhwh the saviour (1-6)	Ascribe to Yhwh the king (7-13)
Sing to Yhwh x3 Followed by three imperatives (bless, spread, recount), with a fourth implied (recount) Followed by two כי (for) clauses	Ascribe to Yhwh x3 Followed by five more imperatives (carry, come, worship, tremble, say) Followed by two כי (for) clauses
Yhwh 5x Nations 1x, peoples 2x (NPP) Heavens 1x Might 1x Majesty 1x Holy place 1x	Yhwh 6x Nations 1x, peoples 2x (PNP) Heavens 1x Might 1x Majesty 1x Holiness 1x

A psalm of two halves

The psalm divides into two halves, each half beginning with a triple imperative to Yhwh: 3x Sing to Yhwh begins the first half, while 3x Ascribe to Yhwh begins the second. These introductions are then followed by a series of imperatives, and then two explanatory כי clauses. In both halves there is some indication that there is a wrong being overcome by Yhwh. In v4-5 the problem is the honour stolen from Yhwh and bestowed on foreign gods, but those who sing this psalm know that it is Yhwh who made the heavens and not the insignificant (אלילים) gods of the peoples. The problem in the second half would seem to be injustice, because the solution in v13 is that Yhwh comes to judge the earth, to judge the cosmos in righteousness, his peoples with truth.

Yhwh rules

In both halves the overriding concern is to establish Yhwh's rule. In the first half this is primarily in the spiritual realm - in the heavens - against other gods. In the second half this primarily in the physical realm, seen by the word earth (3x) and cosmos (2x) as the areas in which his rule should be known. Interestingly, the phrase which seems to introduce that in the first half is to "spread the good news (בשר) of his salvation", whereas in the second it is to "say ... Yhwh reigns." Perhaps the idea of salvation is therefore to be understood with reference to what gods are able to do, or not do, as the case may be, whereas rule is set up in contrast to earthly rulers. Who can save? Not the gods; only Yhwh. Who can govern justly? Not the kings; only Yhwh.

Gospelling

It's perhaps noteworthy that this psalm contains the "gospelling" word בשר (basar), best known among Christians from the Romans 10:15 quotation of Isaiah 52:7, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" It only appears in three psalms, 40:10; 68:11(12), and here in 96:2. In Samuel it's more strictly a messenger word - it can good or bad news that is brought (9x in 1-2 Samuel, and a 10th in 1 Kg 1:42), but it elsewhere seems to be positive news that is brought and proclaimed. That is most clearly the case here, as it is the salvation of Yhwh which is to be proclaimed, and recounted among the nations. It is linked to the wonders (נפלאות) of Yhwh among the peoples (96:3), which is the keyword linking this psalm to Book IV's Exodus meta-narrative.

Wonders in Exodus 3:20

The root lexeme פלא occurs only twice in Exodus, and as such its usage in Psalm 96 could be referring to either. The first is in Exodus 3:20, "I will strike the Egyptians with wonders that I will perform in their midst." This introduces the many plagues which are to follow, and explicitly explains the context for these plagues is to be in their midst - to be seen (and experienced) by all the people. This links well with the description in our psalm, and could easily be what it being referred to. It links also with the judgement which concludes the psalm, as the wonders in Egypt are judgement on the Egyptians, and especially on their Pharaoh, for enslaving Israel.

Wonders in Exodus 34:10

The second occurrence is at one of the high points in Exodus, at 34:10, after Moses beheld the glory of Yhwh. This too links to the judgement of Yhwh (v7), but by v10 is looking forward to inheriting the promised land and the newly formed covenant with Israel. Yhwh tells Moses, "I am making a covenant before all your people; I will do wonders not done in all the land and in all the nations. The people in whose midst you are will see the deeds of Yhwh, that they are awesome, which I am doing with you." (Ex 34:10) You can see that this situation could well also be what is referred to in this psalm. Indeed, it seems impossible to adjudicate, and maybe that's the point.

Sing Yhwh's song

This psalm proclaims the salvation of Yhwh; it looks back to his saving work, it looks back to his wonders in rescuing and in causing his people to inherit his promises. But it uses that as a foundation to call the people of God to praise him. The gods of the nations are insignificant, but Yhwh made the heavens. He judges in righteousness and truth, and these are the messages which should be proclaimed in heaven and on earth, across the the earth and throughout the cosmos.

Reflection on Psalm 95: a call to listen

Psalm 95 comes a third of the way into the Exodus psalms (90-106), and harkens back to a key moment in Israel’s wilderness wanderings – that point when the spies return from searching out the land but draw back in fear of the land. It is clearly a psalm of two halves, beginning with praise before applying the lesson learned in Exodus 17 and Numbers 14 to whatever the new situation requires.

95:1-7c

The psalm begins with four noisy verbs: praise, shout, “greet with acclaim”, and “shout with songs.” The first half ends with verbs not of noise but of action: worship, bow down, kneel down. To tie the beginning and end together further, it begins with “Yhwh, the rock of our salvation” and ends with “Yhwh our maker.” To be the saviour is not explained further, but maker is, as Yhwh is the great God, the great king, who holds the extremes of the earth and possesses the heights of the mountains; he made the sea and formed the dry ground.

Finally, to close off the first half, the phrase “his hand” occurs thrice, in v4, v5, and finally in v7, as “the sheep of his hand.” This causes us to reflect on his creating and guiding both macro and the micro, the impersonal and the personal.

95:7d-11

The second section of the psalm concludes somewhat abruptly, with a hanging oath phrase, “if they come to my rest…” which we might extrapolate to “they will never come to my rest,” or “so help me if they ever try to come to my rest,” – which is indeed what happened, as those who went up were slaughtered. We can see then that this psalm conflates two incidents: the arguments at Massah/Meribah in Exodus 17, and the rebellion in Numbers 14 after the spies returned. But these stories are tied together together in the similar diseased hearts that are apparent, with testing, trying, stray hearts, not knowing God’s ways.

But the key, holding it all together, in terms of application, is the near-homonyms which bookend this section: shema’ and sheva’, to hear his voice, and to heed his vow. To not hear his voice means he will fulfil his vow – and in this case it means to be destroyed, to be condemned to a generation-long wandering. But to heed his voice means to receive the promises, to enter his rest, to know Yhwh as both maker, but also as saviour.

This is a call to worship, to prayer, but also to listening. Listening means, in context, taking careful notice of the past. God has spoken clearly in the past, through word and deed. In his acts of creation in the beginning, and his acts of rescue in the wilderness. But also through his words of promise and his words of rebuke. We listen to God and take his warnings at face-value, not rejecting his ways, not testing him, but listening to him and to the one he has sent, our creator and our redeemer.

Psalm 95 as Christian Scripture

Reading this psalm as Christian Scripture, we aren’t seeking to tune in to hear God speak in a new and special way, but to listen to the words God has already spoken, which he still speaks today: words of creation, words of warning, words of redemption, words of guiding and guarding. We can see this especially in the use of this psalm in the NT, as the warning and encouragement is repeated to the people of the new covenant, so that they do not turn back or grumble or test God – that they do not harden their hearts. And it is this word—this promise/warning—which is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing soul and marrow. It challenges us: do you worship? Do you praise? Do you listen? Do you know him in his mighty works? Do you know him as the great king above all gods? And do you listen to him as he speaks through his Son, the word become flesh, and he promises that all his sheep will hear his voice.

Psalm 94 - The God who takes notice

This psalm has four parts which explain the logic of the psalm

94:1 Heading: Yhwh is the avenging God

A 94:2-7 Problem: The wicked are unrestrained

B 94:8-19 Answer: Yhwh takes notice and will act

A' 94:20-23 Result: The wicked will be repaid

The wicked which encircle the suppliant also encircle the structure of the psalm. There are a few different words, such as רשׁע (rasha`, wicked 4x: 94:3,3,13,21); רע/רעה/רעע (ra', evil, 3x: 94:13 (evil days), 16 (evildoers), 23 (evil)); און (awon, iniquity 3x 94:4,16,23). They are clustered in 3-4, 13-16, 21-23), at the beginning and the end to explain the problem and hoped-for result, and in the centre to explain the context against which they call out to God for rescue. 

The description of God in this psalm is twofold. Firstly with reference to God's power and protection, Yhwh is an avenging God, he is the judge of the earth, he is a helper, the one who sustains, a stronghold and a rock of refuge (1-2, 17-18, 22)

Secondly, God is the teacher, the instructor, the one who sees and the one who knows (8-12). And this is where this psalm stands out. They scoff in v7, "Yah will not see us; the God of Jacob will not take notice." The response in v8-11 is an expansive retort, using the same verb בין (bin), "Take notice! ... Wise up! Does the one who made ears not hear, the one who formed the eye, does he not take notice?" 

Because he is the creator of the ears and eyes, to scoff "he will not notice" is to demonstrate a dangerous ignorance regarding the information gathering abilities and activities of Yhwh. The psalmist plays on the fluidity of the verb יסר (yasar, to instruct/warn/rebuke) to explain that the one who instructs nations  with knowledge also reproves them (10), but he also gives this to individuals, to the one who is thereby blessed (12). 

This all explains the way Yhwh cares for his people in the following verses, and in particular, in the context of evil. It is not a military victory that is explicitly promised, but a true knowledge of God and of the cosmos, which gives a calm, which soothes one's soul (v19). 

Is this an Exodus psalm?

I've been arguing that 90-106 (Book IV) is an Exodus collection. How then does this psalm work in that context? It does seem as if there is something of a flow, working through the Exodus story bit by bit, but here, it appears to jump forward to the giving of the law from 20-23, but especially the importance of the law in the context of evil as is described in Exodus 23:2, "Don't follow after the many in doing evil". Rather, be instructed by Yhwh to stand firm in his teaching (תורה, torah), v12 - this word providing the other link back. 

In this way, perhaps Psalm 94 is a hidden wisdom psalm rather than a psalm for rescue. For although the default desire is for divine intervention, in this psalm it is the instruction of Yhwh, which, even if not rescuing, enables one to stand firm despite the evil which encircles, which, if nothing else, is surely one of the key messages from the entire Exodus experience.

Hallelujah!

I'm getting to the end of my psalm per day reflection that I've been sending out to people from church (plus a few others) and in the last few I'm coming across the phrase "Hallelujah" quite a bit. You probably know that it means "Praise Yah", where Yah is short for Yahweh (or, as I choose to write it, Yhwh). It's one of those transliterations, which is to say "Hallelujah" isn't a translation, nor is "Hosanna" or "Baptise" or "Amen" - they have acquired meanings in English but they are not translations. (For those who are interested, Hosanna means save us, baptise means wash or overwhelm, amen is to do with agreement or trust).

Hallelujah is mostly two words, sometimes joined with a maqqep (essentially a Hebrew hyphen), sometimes separated, and once they are joined into one word. Oh, and they all occur in the last third of the psalter, as follows:

• Hallelu-Yah 17 (102:19; 104:35; 105:45; 106:48; 113:9; 115:17; 115:18; 116:19; 117:2; 135:3, 21; 146:1, 10; 147:20; 148:14; 149:9; 150:6b)
• Hallelu Yah 9 (111:1; 112:1; 113:1; 135:1; 147:1; 148:1; 149:1; 150:1, 6a*)
• Hallelujah 1 (106:1)

I think this is all of them - it's from a software search and I haven't double checked it. But you'll notice a couple of things:

1. The two words joined with a maqqep is by far the most common. 
2. There is one case (150:6a) where the verb takes a different form, it's tehallel yah (all breath will praise Yah).
3. Every time the standard form occurs without a maqqep, and including the time where they're joined (106:1), is in the first line of the psalm. The hyphenated form never occurs at the beginning of a psalm, and with the exception of 150:6a, the un-hyphenated form only occurs at the beginning. 
4. If the form begins the psalm, it often occurs later on also. Of the nine which begin with Hallelu Yah or Halleljuah, seven have Hallelu-Yah later on. 
5. As mentioned already, they are all in the last third of the psalter, and are clustered in a few groups: 102-106 (but not 103), 113-117 (but not 114), 146-150, with 135 the only one on its own. 

It's also noteworthy that the phrase Hallelujah (or Allelujah in the KJV) has come into English, perhaps not from the Psalms, but from the book of Revelation, where it is transliterated from Hebrew to Greek and then into English. It occurs four times in Revelation 19:1-6, and is the noise of those in heaven roaring praises to God for destroying Babylon, vindicating his saints, and bringing them to the wedding feast of the Lamb. 

What do we make of all this? I'm not yet sure. But it's interesting! It's also wonderful that we say it so much - and I think probably preserving the meaning - Praise Yah for his powerful works of rescue and redemption on earth, and for the future he is bringing about through the Lord Jesus. Hallelujah indeed!

 

The acrostic pair: Psalms 111-112

I'm on the home stretch now with my daily psalm blast,* but was fascinated by this diptych, two short alphabetic acrostic poems which play off each other in fascinating ways. There are a few other acrostic psalms, 9-10 (when read as one psalm); 25; 34; 37; 119; 145, and outside the psalter there are also the poem of the noble wife in Proverbs 31 and the first four chapters of Lamentations.

There are three reasons you might write an acrostic psalm:

1. you ran out of ideas (which kid hasn't written an acrostic and passed it off as an actual poem)
2. you want people to remember it (I almost memorised Prov 31 and found the acrostics helpful)
3. you want to get across the totality of something - the whole picture. In Lamentations it's the completeness of the destruction - an a-z of suffering.

Moving past the first two options, what is the whole story being told in these two psalms? Put simply, Psalm 111 tells the whole story of God's goodness and faithfulness, while Psalm 112 tells the whole story of the person who has learned from and lives out God's goodness and faithfulness.

Hallelujah!

There are multiple allusions and more specific links between the two, beginning with the heading, Hallelujah! or, Praise Yah! Of course, this is not unique to these two, and seems to be part of a Hallelujah collection, which goes from 111 perhaps until 118, because they all have Hallelujah at the beginning, or sometimes the end, depending on the psalm and which manuscript you're looking at. The Septuagint seems to read it in different spots, and if you look at the Leningrad Codex, you can see that it has its own line, so it's up to the copyist/translator/interpreter to assign it to the one above or below. 

I should also add that 113-118 are called the Hallel Psalms, or the Egyptian Hallel psalms, and are associated with the Passover meal. Why they begin at 113 and not 111 is a question I don't know the answer to and am not really that interested in, except to say that it does seem a little odd to not include these two, especially considering the exodus allusions in Ps 111.

Yhwh and the Man

After the heading we are introduced to the characters which will be the focus of each psalm. Unsurprisingly Ps 111 has Yhwh as the focus: "I will extol Yhwh with all my heart." Ps 112 however begins in a way which immediately brings us back to the opening words of Ps 2: "Blessed is the one who fears Yhwh." The first two words, as with Ps 2, are literally "blessed person," to which English translations necessarily add the verb and the article, "Blessed is the person," (אשׁרי־איש, ashrei 'ish). This person is then further defined as one who fears Yhwh, which gives definition to and explains the course of their whole life. "Yhwh" occurs 4x in Ps 111 (111:1,2,4,10); but only 2x in 112 (112:1,7); nonetheless the location of this psalm alongside, and the parallels with the description of Yhwh in the preceding psalm, make it clear that this person has learned how to live from their Lord.

Parallelomania
What then are these parallels? We can describe these in a few categories:
1. Exact parallels

• 1a (א) has Yhwh as the object; in 111 of praise, in 112 of fear.
• 3b (ה) we find the exact same clause, וְצִדְקָתוֹ עֹמֶדֶת לָעַד, "and his righteousness endures forever."
• 4b (ח) begins with the same phrase, חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם, "gracious and compassionate," in 111 describing Yhwh, in 112 adding "and righteous", although I almost misread it as "are the righteous." Interestingly many versions add "is Yhwh," which seems to be either copying across from 111 and/or trying to avoid associating such terms with a mere mortal. 

2. Related but not exact

• The word חפץ (to delight) occurs in 112:1b (the verb) and 111:2b (an adjective as a substantive), in both cases describing the people who delight in Yhwh. 
• Another word, ישׁר (to be upright) also occurs in two forms; in 112:4a acting as a subjunctive (the upright ones) and in 111:8a to describe the character of Yhwh (enacted in uprightness).
• Everlasting/eternity occurs a few times in the middle of the psalms (111:5a; 112:6a, 6b), but the closest parallel actually occurs in both 9b's, albeit with different lexemes (עולם elsewhere in these two psalms except for עד in 111:10c; 112:9b). The similarities between the psalms at 9b is telling: the God who ordains his covenant forever (111) is lived out in the person whose righteousness endures forever (112).
• A similar parallel is found in the words covenant words: covenant, justice/judgement, precepts, which, apart from in 111:9b and 111:10b, also occurs in both 5b's: the God who remembers his covenant forever (111) is reflected in the person who conducts their affairs with justice (112). 
• זכר (to remember) occurs thrice (111:4a, 5b; 112:6b), with the parallel being that just as Yhwh - his wonders and his covenant - will be remembered forever (in 111), so too will be the memory of the righteous (112).
• Perhaps a final comment on rough parallels is the verb ירא (to fear), which comes in 111:5, 9; 112:1, 7, 8. The final two (112:7a, 8a) are both negated, showing that the one fears Yhwh (111:5, 9; 112:1) has nothing to fear from this world (112:7, 8).

3. The endings

The final verse of the psalms (the verse 10s), each containing the final three letters of the alphabets, act as a conclusion. Ps 111 reuses the familiar proverb, that the fear of Yhwh is the beginning of wisdom, and concludes with "to him belongs eternal praise." 

In one sense then, Ps 112 could slot in between the second-last and last verses of Ps 111. Ps 112 describes the person who fears Yhwh, who follows his precepts, and whose life is a reflection of the character of Yhwh, living out what they've learned. Their life is then an example of returning to Yhwh eternal praise (111:10c). 

The conclusion of Ps 112 is different, in that it describes the opposite group to the upright. Nothing is said about them, what they believe, where they are from, nor what they have done to others. The other point to mention is that those who fear Yhwh in the book of Proverbs are so often contrasted with the wicked, those who reject the teaching of Yhwh, and whose way is frustrated by the righteous. In this way the final verse of each psalm describes people in the traditional proverbial black and white way: one either trusts in Yhwh and follows in his paths, reflecting his glory, OR one rejects him, and what they long for will come to naught.

* My hope was 150 days of a psalm a day would take us to the end of Covid, but it looks like I may have to move on to some other books before that hope is realised!

Translating Psalm 6

The structure of this psalm in terms of the relationship of the cola to each other is quite difficult to establish. Here's my attempt. The bold is just to help see the parallel elements, whether bold or not. 8b is the most confusing element, but after reflection, it could be reusing "my eye" from 8a, and linking its condition to the adversaries in 8b-9a.

Anyway, it's not pretty (I've tried to maintain the word order where possible), but it's powerful nonetheless. The solitary colon in 4b is extra stark when the parallelism between 3d and 4a is seen. 

One thing we didn't discuss was v11, which is an ABBA structure, around the inclusio of בושׁ (to be ashamed) in 11a,d. The verse reuses בהל (to be terrified) from 4a, as well as שׁוב (to return/turn back) from v5 (interesting that שׁוב and בושׁ are mirror images of each other!). v11 also provides the third synonym for adversaries, with "those hostile to me" (8b), "doers of iniquity" (9a), and "my enemies" (11). 

1 For the director, with strings, on the eight.

A David psalm.

2 Yhwh, do not, in your anger, rebuke me.

and do not, in your wrath, discipline me.

3 Be gracious to me, Yhwh,

for feeble am I.

Heal me, Yhwh,

for dismayed are my bones.

4 And my soul is terrified greatly,

and you—Yhwh—how long?

5 Return, Yhwh,

rescue my soul,

save me

because of your steadfast love.

6 For none among the dead remembers you,

in Sheol who praises you?

7 I am weary with my groans;

I flood all the night my bed,

with my tears my couch I soak.

8 Wasting away from grief is my eye,

[my eye] has shriveled, because of all those hostile to me.

9 Away from me—all doers of iniquity,

for Yhwh hears my weeping,

10 Yhwh hears my supplication,

Yhwh my prayer accepts.

11 They will be ashamed,

and they’ll be terrified greatly, all my enemies,

they will turn back

and be put to shame immediately.

Psalm 122 - an ode for Jerusalem

Psalm 122 - An ode to Jerusalem

Psalm 122 is the third in the songs of ascent, and the first which is also a psalm of David (v1). It tells the story of someone who, no sooner do they say "let's go to the house of Yhwh" (v1), than they are there (v2)! As it unfolds it seems like the psalm is essentially a song of praise to Jerusalem. This is the first of the songs of ascent which make it clear just where the ascent is toward. 120 described the current location, 121 had the singer lifting their eyes towards the mountains, but now in 122 we find out the place to which they are wanting to go, and the particular mountains of desire, are the mountains of Jerusalem. 

It is similarly interesting to note the use of Jerusalem and Zion through these psalms. Jerusalem occurs, for the first time in the collection, thrice in this psalm, and then again in 125 and 128; while Zion, a more common word in the collection (7 rather than 5), appears quite regularly from 125, once per psalm, until the end, missing only 127, 130 and 131. At this point then the focus is the city and the temple - the house of Yhwh (בית יהוה occurs in the first and last verses).

Structure

The psalm is in three parts, with 1-2 describing the journey, from "let's go!" to "here we are". 3-5 describes Jerusalem herself, the type of city she is, how she is the destination of all tribes of Israel, and the house of David which is fundamental to her identity. 6-9 returns to the characters of 1-2, with the prayers they make for her. 

1-2 the journey to Jerusalem
3-5 the beauty of the destination
6-9 the prayers for Jerusalem

There are a few things in favour of this structure. "Jerusalem" appears at the end of 1-2, and at the beginning of 3-5 and 6-9, giving each of the three stanzas something to say about her. Second, with any three-part structure, it gives rise to the possibility of chiastic ruminations. As an ABA structure, both A sections talk about the house of Yhwh (rather than a temple or tabernacle), while the B section talks about the house of David (rather than the sons of David).  

One issue with this three part structure is that the subject in v6 is 3p - "they", while in 7 there is no explicit subject - "may there be", and in v8-9 it is 1s - "I will say," "I will seek." Who then is the "they" of v6 who are asking for the peace of Jerusalem? One possibility is the "thrones" of v5, that is, the ones who sit on those thrones. They would then be not just thrones of judgement/justice, but also thrones of prayer, such that the justice they seek will result in the peace of Jerusalem. While I think this would merit further thought, at the moment I think it's probably best to say that the third section divides in two, with v6-7 more general, and v8-9 the psalmist's specific prayers (this is underlined by the identical syntax in v8 and v9).

Whatever the case, it is also true that the divisions are never impermeable. 1-2 introduces Jerusalem, which 3-5 describes. 3-5 talk about the people who are in Jerusalem, and 6-9 describes their prayers. 

The Journey (122:1-2)

This song for going up begins with a communal scene. there are those אמרים לי (who said to me) בית יהוה נלך (to the house of Yhwh let's go!). Perhaps we still have the people of Meshek and Qedar from 120 in our minds, who are encouraging each other with the joy ahead of the journey; hence, שמחתי (I rejoiced). The freedom granted the psalmist allows them to say "let's go" and then to immediately be there. In line with the idea of each psalm progressing us ever so slightly closer to the temple, with this psalm we are only at the gates: "Standing were our feet / in the gates of Jerusalem." There is a distance to go until we will see Aaron (Ps 133) and the Holy Place (Ps 134). 

The gates will have to do for now, but that is most fitting for our theme, because the gates are where decisions of justice are made. In Psalm 127:5 the NIV translates שׁער (gate) "court", to depict the place where the elders sit and make decisions for the community. Jerusalem is then not just the place where God makes his presence known, but it is also where his justice dwells and the source, from which it will cover the nations.

3-5 The Destination (122:3-5)

Jerusalem is described in fawning ways: she is built like a city / which is joined to herself together. This describes her as more than buildings and walls and people, but as a unit, a unity, of people and building and commerce and cult, built by and around and for Yhwh. 

We might imagine Jerusalem as a place where burnt offerings (עלה) go up (עלה), but this psalm rather emphasises the people who go up (עלה). It is not just individuals like the psalmist with his brother and friend (v8), but tribes. And again, not just any tribes, but שׁבטי־יה - tribes of Yah. They exist because of him, and that they might praise him. 

The phrase "statutes of Israel / to praise the name of Yhwh" is a little confusing, and has some interesting textual evidences. It could be an aside, with עדות לישראל in brackets, telling us that there was a commandment which meant all the tribes of Israel occasionally had to go up to Jerusalem. This could be talking about one of the festivals, even though that doesn't seem to be in the picture in the rest of the psalm. CSB does put it in brackets, while NIV rearranges the verse to have it as a conclusion, but they and most EVV reach essentially the same conclusion. One alternative is to follow the LXX and read עדת ישראל (congregation of Israel) instead, which is an interesting solution. We would then have a triple description of those going up: "the tribes / the tribes of Yah / the congregation of Israel / to praise the name of Yhwh." I really don't know how to decide upon a preferred text, except to say that it seems the EVV have gone with the lectio difficilior and left the clunky (but by no means impossible to understand) "statutes for Israel". 

Twice in v5 the thrones are mentioned. 5a is the verbal clause: "For there sat the thrones of justice;" 5b is in apposition: "the thrones of the house of David." The use of ישׁב (to sit/dwell) evokes not just the seats but also those who sit or sat in them. The purpose of these thrones is judgement/justice, or judgement which enables justice. The house of David have and will have this role eschatologically, which is also reflected in 132:12, the most davidic of all these psalms - the throne belongs to David, which is given to David's sons as a reward for their covenant faithfulness. As God's son (Ps 2:12), the Davidide is the one to whom Yhwh has entrusted his righteous judgement. 

6-9 The Prayers (122:6-9)

There have been a lot of שׁ (sh, š) sounds in this psalm so far (about 21 of that sound in 78 words), and the first four words of (five) in this verse have שׁ (sh, š): šaʾᵃlû šᵉlôm yᵉrûšālāim yı̂šlāyû ʾōhᵃḇāyı̂ḵ (for a similar pattern, see also the first half of v4: šeššom ʿālû šᵉḇāṭim šiḇṭē-yah). 6-7 describe the prayers, with 6a what they ask for, the peace of Jerusalem. And, as Zenger reminds us, Jerusalem (ירושׁלם) can be (mis-)understood as the city of peace (עיר־שׁלם), such that they ask for peace for the city of peace. 6c-7 fill out the content of that peace:

• 6b security for the ones who love you
• 7a peace within your ramparts
• 7b prosperity within your citadels

There is an increasing greatness in the objects: the ones who wish Jerusalem well, the walls of Jerusalem, the strong buildings within the city.  And there is more rhyming of š within those three wishes: שׁלה (security, 6b), שׁלום (peace, 7a), שׁלוה (prosperity, 7b). 

6-7 thus work together as a sub-unit, 8-9 are similarly linked with their identical syntax. 

For the sake of

my brothers and friends/the house of Yhwh our God

I will say/I will seek

peace [be] in you/goodness for you

As such, the final two verses also return us to the beginning of the psalm, as the identity of "the ones who said to me" (v1) is revealed as the family and friends of the psalmist. Together they journeyed and together they stood in the city's gates (v2). Similarly we have the second mention of the house of Yhwh (v1 and v9). Wishing for peace within her (8b) and seeking her good (9b) should be seen not just in the present but more importantly in perpetuity. If Jerusalem is to continue to host the house of Yhwh, the thrones of justice, the house of David, and is to continue to be the destination for pilgrims and tribes, for brothers and friends, then these are the appropriate wishes from the psalmist and all who have sung this song.

Praying and Singing

This psalm is both an ode to Jerusalem, but also an encouragement to raise our voices to sing and speak and pray. 

• v1a I rejoice
• v4b to praise
• v6a they ask/pray
• v7a may there be peace
• v8b I will say "peace in you". 

We don't know the history of how these psalms (120-134) became the songs, but in their present form they certainly constitute a collection which are to be for the praise of Yhwh, for his city, for his king. And as they cause the eyes of the singers to be lifted, they transform the experience, the past, the present and the future, for those who sing these songs. They are a reminder that there is a bigger picture beyond one's own struggles and history, which is Yhwh's victory and future. 

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).