The Psalter: PS 42/43-72 (Rhetorica Biblica Et Semitica, 33) 9789042947108, 9789042947115, 9042947101

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pontificia universitas gregoriana rhetorica biblica et semitica

The second book of the Psalter, like the first, third and fifth books, forms a highly elaborate composition. Indeed, not only each of its thirty psalms is well composed, but also each of the “sequences” that bring out two or three psalms; and finally, the five “sections” arranged in a concentric manner around the five psalms “in a low voice” (Ps 56–60). Two complementary movements form and animate the entire second book. On the one hand, evil and violence are everywhere, as are enemies. First of all, they are those from outside, pagan peoples who trample on Israel; but the psalmist later discovers that enemies from within are no less violent, and that violence comes even from his closest friends, those in whom he puts all his trust. Sin, that has always been rooted in the depths of their hearts, marks all human beings. Its most pernicious form is a “lie” which, like the lion and the viper, hides itself to attack more effectively. It is certainly no coincidence that “the serpent” is mentioned right at the centre of the central section, reminding us of the deadly venom of the serpent at the beginning which was injected into the whole of humanity. On the other hand, salvation is meant for all those who trust in God, in his faithfulness and in his truth. Hence the thanksgiving that resounds throughout the book, right to the end. It resounds not only in the mouth of the people of Israel, saved by God, but also on the lips of all the other peoples; the pagan nations, who are bringing gifts to the Temple, lifting up their hands in prayer to the one God, who is King of all the earth. They, who at the beginning of the book were presented as the enemies and oppressors of the chosen people, will join Israel at the end of the book in the same blessing promised to Abraham: “By your offspring shall all the nations of the earth blessed themselves” (Gen 22:18). The Author: Roland Meynet is Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology (Gregorian University – Rome). Among his publications are a commentary on the Third Gospel, Luke: The Gospel of the Children of Israel (awarded the Grand Prix de philosophie from the Académie française in 2006), and on the Second Gospel, L’évangile de Marc, the Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric, A New Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels, Called to Freedom, and The Psalter: Book One (1–41). Secretary of the International Society for the Study of Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, and editor of the series “Rhetorica biblica et semitica”.

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Roland Meynet  The Psalter. Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

Roland Meynet, The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43 –72)

Roland Meynet

THE PSALTER

Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

PEETERS

09/08/2021 10:55

THE PSALTER

Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

Roland Meynet

THE PSALTER Book Two (Ps 42/43–72) Rhetorica Biblica et Semitica XXXIII Translated by Bernard Witek

PEETERS leuven – paris – bristol, ct 2021

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF BIBLICAL AND SEMITIC RHETORIC

Many scholarly societies exit whose purpose is the study of rhetoric. The best known is the “International Society for the History of Rhetoric”. The RBS is the only one: • devoted exclusively to study Semitic literature, mainly the Bible, but also the other texts, such as Islamic texts; • which consequently sets out to list and describe the specific laws of a rhetoric that presided over the elaboration of the texts whose importance is in no way inferior to those of the Greek and Latin of which the modern Western civilization is heir. We should not forget either that the same Western civilization is also the heir of the Judeo-Christian tradition which has its origins in the Bible, that is in the Semitic world. More broadly, the texts that we are studying are the founding texts of the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Such a scientific study, the first condition for a better mutual knowledge, can only contribute to the rapprochement between those who claim to belong to these various traditions.

The RBS promotes and supports training, research and publications:

• especially in the biblical field, both New and the Old Testament; • but also in the field of other Semitic texts, in particular those of Islam; • and also of authors who have been nourished by the biblical texts, such as St. Benedict

and Pascal.



For this purpose, the RBS organises international conference in even years, the proceedings of which are published in the this series; • every year, training seminars on its methodology, in different languages. • an

The RBS welcomes and brings together first of all researchers and university professors who, in various academic institutions, work in the field of biblical and Semitic rhetoric. It encourages in all ways students, especially doctoral students, in the learning of its own technique. It is also open to all those who are interested in its activities and wish to support them. International Society for the Study of Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric Pontificia Università Gregoriana – Piazza della Pilotta, 4 – 00187 Rome (Italy) For more information on the RBS, visit, www.retoricabiblicaesemitica.org. ISBN 978-90-429-4710-8 eISBN 978-90-429-4711-5 D/2021/0602/125 A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. © 2021, Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval devices or systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, except the quotation of brief passages for review purposes.

Rhetorica Biblica et Semitica Many imagine that classical rhetoric, inherited from the Greeks through the Romans, is universal. It is indeed the one that seems to govern modern culture, which the West has spread throughout the world. The time has now come to abandon such ethnocentrism: classical rhetoric is not the only one in the world. The Hebrew Bible, whose texts were written mainly in Hebrew but also in Aramaic, obeys a rhetoric quite different from the Greek-Roman rhetoric. It should therefore be recognised that another rhetoric exists, the “Hebrew rhetoric”. As for the other biblical texts, from the Old and the New Testaments, which were either translated or written directly in Greek, they largely obey the same laws. We are therefore entitled to speak not only of Hebrew rhetoric, but more broadly of “biblical rhetoric”. Moreover, the same laws were then recognised as operative in Akkadian, Ugaritic and other texts, preceding the Hebrew Bible, then in the Arabic texts of the Islamic Tradition and the Koran, subsequent to the biblical literature. It should therefore be admitted that this rhetoric is not only biblical, and we can say that all these texts, which belong to the same cultural area, belong to the same rhetoric, which we will call “Semitic rhetoric”. Contrary to the impression that the Western reader inevitably gets, the texts of the Semitic tradition are very well composed, provided that they are analysed according to the laws of rhetoric that govern them. We know that the form of the text, its layout, is the main door which opens the access to the meaning. Not that composition directly and automatically provides the meaning. However, when formal analysis allows us to make a reasonable division of the text, to define its context more objectively, to highlight the organisation of the work at the different levels of its composition, the conditions are thus met which allow us to undertake the work of interpretation on a less subjective and fragmentary basis.

INTRODUCTION The commentaries on the fifth, first and third books of the Psalter already published, it was opportune to turn to the second book. A friend pointed out to me that my itinerary is not linear, however, it resembles the biblical fashion of composing. Indeed, without realizing it clearly, I began with the extremities, then focused on the book that occupies the centre of the composition, and ending with the two books on either side of the centre. The advantage of starting at the extremities is that one of the two limits of the text of these books is indisputable: the first book begins with Ps 1 and the fifth book ends with Ps 150! These two books are the most developed: the last one (Ps 107–150) contains forty-four psalms, the first one (Ps 1–41) forty-one psalms. Having verified that each of the extreme books is composed and indeed well composed, it was natural to study the composition of the third book which occupies the centre of the Psalter (Ps 73–89). In fact, if that book were to prove to be also well composed, it would indicate the ending of the second book (Ps 42– 72) and the beginning of the fourth one (Ps 90–106). The composition of the second book is not at all inferior to that of the fifth, the first and the third books. As usual, I worked “with my bare hands”, that is, without looking at what others did before me, so as to avoid the risk of being put on a track from which it would then be difficult to get off. It should be pointed out that there are not many studies concerning the composition of the second book. To my knowledge, they are limited to an article by Gianni Barbiero (2010)1 and to de Stefan Attard’s thesis, published in 2015, which follows and develops it.2 Barbiero, an acknowledged expert on the Psalms, is of the opinion that the second book (Ps 42–72) and the third book (73–89) form a structured whole: Psalms of Korah Ps 42–49

Psalm of Asaph Ps 50

Psalms of David Ps 51–72

Psalms of Asaph Ps 73–83

Psalms of Korah Ps 84–89

A

B

C

B’

A’

Such arrangement would be confirmed by the so-called “Elohistic Psalter”, since the name “Yhwh” is almost entirely replaced by “Elohim”. However, this only applies to Ps 42–83.

1

G. BARBIERO, “Il secondo e il terzo libro dei Salmi (Sal 42–89): due libri paralleli”. S.M. ATTARD, The Implications of Davidic Repentance. A Synchronic Analysis of Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42–72). 2

8

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72) In the second book Barbiero distinguishes two parts:

1) “The First Collection of the Korachite Psalms (Ps 42–49)”, where the first two psalms (Ps 42/43–44) find their response in the subsequent epithalam (Ps 45); in the centre, the triptych of Ps 46–48, with Ps 49 forming an inclusion with the first two psalms and concluding the whole. 2) “The Second Davidic Psalter (Ps [50]51–72)”, which is subdivided into seven: Ps 50–51; 52–55; 56–60; 61–64; 65–68; 69–71; 72. It goes without saying that, within the limits of an article, the presentation could not be developed, especially since the second book occupies only the first half of the article (p. 148–162). Stefan Attard follows Barbiero’s proposal in the thesis he wrote under his supervision but modifies it to some extent. For him, the first part of the book extends to Ps 51, grouping together the psalms of Korah, the psalm of Asaph (Ps 50) and the Miserere which responds to the preceding one. This set is subdivided into four: Ps 42–44; 45–48; 49; 50–51. The author then examines the “hermeneutical implications” of Ps 49–51, before looking at the whole. As for the rest, “The Psalms of David 2”, he faithfully follows Barbiero’s divisions, but introduces a second level of analysis. After studying the two groups of Ps 52–55 and 56–60, he devotes a chapter to “the whole of Ps 52–60”; and likewise after the analysis of Ps 61–64 and 65–68, he returns to Ps 61–68. Attard presents a purely synchronic methodology which he adopts, that of Close Reading.3 The only common grouping between Barbiero’s and Attard’s and my proposals is that of Ps 56–60, those which contain in their titles the term miktām, translated as “in a low voice”. According to my analysis, the second book is organised into five sections, with two sections comprising seven psalms at the extremities (Ps 42/43–49 and 66–72) and three shorter ones of five or six psalms (Ps 50–55; 56– 60; 61–65). The group of five “in a low voice” psalms forms the central section of the book. It should be added that some commentaries make groupings that generally overlap with those presented above. The first one to be mentioned is Tiziano Lorenzin (2001) with his seven subdivisions which are those of Barbiero, apart from Ps 69–72 which form his last grouping. As for Jean-Luc Vesco (2006), as Barbiero he distinguishes between “The Collection of the Sons of Korah (Ps 42– 49)” and “Ps 50 and the Second Davidic Collection (Ps 50–72)”. Within the second part there are only four subdivisions:

3

S.M. ATTARD, The Implications of Davidic Repentance, 20–32.

Introduction

9

– “Davidic psalms of supplication (Ps 51–64)”, – “Songs and psalms of thanksgiving (Ps 65–68)”, – “Davidic psalms of supplication (Ps 69–71)”, – “David’s prayer for Solomon, or the portrait of the future king (Ps 72)”. The methodology used in this volume is that of biblical-Semitic rhetorical analysis4 and the commentary is conducted at all levels of composition, starting with that of the “segment” and ending with that of the “book”.

4

Exposed in R. MEYNET, Traité de rhétorique biblique (2007, 2011); and its English translation, Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric (2012).

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AJSL al. AnBib AncB BetM BJ BN BVC CBQ chap. Diss. ed. EeV e.g. Fs. Gr. Joüon JSOT.S LeDiv LiBi lit. NICOT NRTh OTE OTL p. par. RB RBS ReBib ReBibSem RBSem repr. RevBib RhBib RhSem RivBib RSR trans. TG

American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature alii, others Analecta biblica Anchor Bible Bet Miqra Bible de Jérusalem Biblische Notizen Bible et Vie Chrétienne Catholic Biblical Quarterly chapter Dissertation editor, edited Esprit et Vie for example Festschrift Gregorianum P. Joüon, Grammaire de l’hébreu biblique, Rome 1923 Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Supplement Series Lectio Divina Lire la Bible literally The New International Commentary on the Old Testament Nouvelle Revue Théologique Old Testament Essays Old Testament Library page, pages paragraph Revue biblique International Society for the Study of Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric Retorica biblica (EDB) Retorica Biblica e Semitica (G&B Press) Rhetorica Biblica et Semitica (Peeters) reprint Revista Bíblica Rhétorique biblique (Cerf) Rhétorique sémitique (Lethielleux, Gabalda) Rivista Biblica Recherches de Science Religieuse translation, translated Tesi Gregoriana

12 Traité Treatise TOB v. vol. VT VT.S WBC

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72) R. Meynet, Traité de rhétorique biblique, RhSem 4, Paris 2007; RhSem 12, Pendé 2013 Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric, International Studies in the History of Rhetoric 3, Leyden – Boston 2012 Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible verse, verses volume, volumes Vetus Testamentum Vetus Testamentum. Supplement World Biblical Commentary

The commentaries on the psalms are referred to only by the name/s of the author/s in lower case, followed by the volume and page/s number/s; e.g., Weiser, 232; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 303. The references to the three volumes of my commentary on the psalms are abbreviated: Le Psautier. Cinquième livre; Le Psautier. Premier livre; Le Psautier = The Psalter. Book One; Troisième livre. The abbreviations of the biblical books follow The SBL Handbook of Style.

GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS

1. TERMS DESIGNATING RHETORICAL UNITS Very often in the exegetical works the terms “section”, “passage”, and in particular “piece”, “part”, etc., are not used consistently. Here is a list of terms designating the textual units at their successive levels. THE “LOWER” (OR NON-AUTONOMOUS) LEVELS Apart from the first two (the term and the member), the lower level units are formed of one, two or three units of the preceding level. TERM

The term generally corresponds to a “lexeme”, or word that is found in the lexicon: noun, adjective, verb, adverb.

MEMBER

The member is a syntagma, or group of “terms” linked together by close syntactic relations. The “member” is the minimal rhetorical unit; it may happen that the member consists of a single term (the term of Greek origin is “stich”).

SEGMENT

The segment comprises one, two or three members; there are “unimember” segments (the term of Greek origin is “monostich”), “bimember” segments (or “distichs”), and “trimember” segments (or “tristichs”).

PIECE

The piece comprises one, two or three segments.

PART

The part comprises one, two or three pieces.

THE “UPPER” (OR AUTONOMOUS) LEVELS They are all formed of either one or several units from the previous level. PASSAGE

The passage—the equivalent of the exegetes’ “pericope”—is formed of one or more parts.

SEQUENCE

The sequence is formed of one or more passages.

SECTION

The section is formed of one or more sequences.

BOOK

Finally, the book is formed of one or more sections.

It is sometimes necessary to use the intermediary levels of “subpart”, “subsequence” and “subsection”; these intermediary units have the same definition as the part, sequence and section.

14

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

SIDE

The side is a textual complex that precedes or follows the centre of a construction; if the centre is bipartite, the side corresponds to each of the two halves of the construction. 2. TERMS DESIGNATING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN SYMMETRICAL UNITS

TOTAL SYMMETRIES PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION

Composition figure in which the units in paired relations are arranged in parallel fashion: A B C D E | A’B’C’D’E’. When two units parallel to each other frame a single element, we talk about parallelism referring to the symmetry between these two units, but we consider the whole (the upper level unit) as a concentric construction: A | x | A’. “Parallel construction” is also called “parallelism” (as opposed to “concentrism”).

MIRROR CONSTRUCTION

Composition figure in which the units in paired relations are arranged in an antiparallel or “mirrored” fashion: A B C D E | E’D’C’B’A’. Like the parallel construction, the mirror construction does not have a centre; like the concentric construction, the related elements mirror each other. When the construction comprises only four units, it is also called “chiasmus”: A B | B’A’.

CONCENTRIC CONSTRUCTION

Composition figure where concentrically: A B C D E element (this element can organisation). “Concentric construction” opposed to “parallelism”).

the symmetrical units are arranged | x | E’D’C’B’A’, around the central be a unit of any level of textual can also be called “concentrism” (as

ELLIPTIC CONSTRUCTION

Composition figure where the two focal points of the ellipse articulate the other textual units: A | x | B | x | A’.

Glossary of Technical Terms

15

PARTIAL SYMMETRIES INITIAL TERMS

Identical or similar terms or syntagmas that mark the beginning of symmetrical textual units; the “anaphora” of classical rhetoric.

FINAL TERMS

Identical or similar terms or syntagmas that mark the end of symmetrical textual units; the “epiphora” of classical rhetoric.

EXTREME TERMS

Identical or similar terms or syntagmas that mark the extremities of a textual unit; the “inclusion” of traditional exegesis.

MEDIAN TERMS

Identical or similar terms or syntagmas that mark the end of a textual unit and the beginning of the unit symmetrical to it; the “hook-word” or “linking-word” of traditional exegesis.

CENTRAL TERMS

Identical or similar terms or syntagmas that mark the centres of two symmetrical textual units.

For more details, see R. MEYNET, Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric, International Studies in the History of Rhetoric 3, Leyden – Boston 2012, 129–145. MAIN REWRITING RULES – Within the member, the terms are usually separated by spaces; – Each member is usually rewritten on a single line; – Segments are separated by a blank line; – Pieces are separated by a broken line; – Part is delimited by two continuous lines; the same applies to the subparts. – Within the passage, the parts are framed (unless they are very short, such as an introduction or a conclusion); the subparts are arranged in adjoining frames; – Within the sequence or subsequence, the passages, rewritten in prose, are arranged in frames separated by a blank line; – Within the sequence, the passages of subsequence are arranged in adjoining frames. On the rewriting rules, see Treatise, chap. 4, 187–299.

OUR KING SAVES US FROM ALL OUR ENEMIES First Section Ps 42/43–49

18

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

The first section comprises seven psalms organised into three sequences. Each of the extreme sequences (Ps 42/43–45 and 47–49) comprises three psalms, while the central sequence comprises only one psalm (Ps 46):

The peoples

will give thanks

YHWH OF HOSTS WITH US,

All the peoples

will sing psalms

to the king of the Lord

A CITADEL FOR US!

to our King

Ps 42/43–45

Ps 46

Ps 47–49

I. THE PEOPLES WILL GIVE THANKS TO THE KING OF THE LORD The First Sequence: Ps 42/43–45 1. PSALM 42/43 TEXT 42 1 For the music director, an instruction, of the sons of Korah. 2 As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God; 3 my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and shall I see the face of God? 4 My tears have been my food day and night, when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 5 These things I remember, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to the house of God, among the voice of shouts of joy and of thanksgiving of a crowd keeping festival. 6 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of his face. 7 My God, over me my soul is collapsing, that is why I remember you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the mountain Insignificant. 8 Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your waves and your billows have passed over me. 9 By day Yhwh commands his faithfulness and by night his song is with me, prayer to the God of my life. 10 I will say to God, my Rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I walk in gloom, under the oppression of 11 In the breaking of my bones, my adversaries insult me the enemy?” when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 12 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and why are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of my face and my God. 43 1 Judge me, God, and defend my cause against an unfaithful people; against a man of deceit and falsehood deliver me. 2 Because you (are) the God of my strength: why do you reject me? Why do I walk away in gloom, under the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send your light and your truth: they will guide me, they will make me come to the mountain of your holiness and to your tents. 4 And I will come to the altar of God, to the God of the joy of my exultation. And I will give you thanks on the cithara, O God, my God. 5 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and why are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of my face and my God. V. 42:1 “AN INSTRUCTION”

The term maśkîl occurs in the titles of thirteen psalms (Ps 32; 42; 44; 45, etc.). The BJ and Osty translate it as “poem”, the TOB as “instruction”. The verb is found in Ps 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you...”; It probably refers to a sapiential poem.1 V. 42:5 “I WENT FORTH WITH THE MULTITUDE...”

Already the ancient versions witness to the difficulty of the text. The term sāk is a hapax and therefore it is difficult to grasp its meaning. Whatever may be the case, the meaning of the verse does not present an insurmountable difficulty.2

1 In the case of Ps 32, 74, 78, 142, following the BJ, I have translated it as “poem”; in the case of Ps 88 and 89, as “instruction”. 2 See BARBIERO, Perché, o Dio, 18 (from now on referred as Barbiero).

20

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

V. 42:6 “THE SALVATION OF HIS FACE”

The other refrains (Ps 42:12; 43:5) end with “the salvation of my face and my God”. The Masoretic text has “the salvation of his face” and begins verse 7 with “my God”. Following the Septuagint, many contemporaries reject “my God” at the end of the first refrain, preceding it with the coordinating “and”;3 they also correct “his face” to “my face”. In this way, the “refrain” becomes “formally identical”. That is not the only difference between the three occurrences of the refrain: indeed, whereas in 42:12 and 43:5 the second verb is preceded by “and why” (“and why are you rumbling”), in 42:6 the second “why” is omitted (“and are you rumbling”).4 We follow the Masoretic text. V. 42:7 “AND OF THE HERMONS, FROM THE MOUNTAIN INSIGNIFICANT”

“Mizar” is often understood as a proper name, but it is impossible to localise this mountain. The Septuagint translates it as “a small mountain”. Since the verb ṣā’ar means “to be insignificant”,5 it could qualify “the Hermons”, which would be a way of mocking the plural of majesty of Mount Hermon, as opposed to “the mountain of your holiness” of 43:3–4 where the Temple is located. COMPOSITION While in the Masoretic text, the Septuagint and the Vulgate they are considered as two separate psalms, most modern commentators believe that they form a single composition.6 All recognise the repetition of the refrain which organises the psalm into three units. Ravasi calls them: “the nostalgic past (42:2–6); the tragic present (42:7–12); the bright future (43:1–5)”.7 The composition of the first sequence (Ps 42–49) as well as that of the book as a whole support this position. Each part comprises two subparts, the second one consists of the repetition of the “refrain”. THE FIRST PART (42:2–6) The first subpart (42:2–5) is a long lamentation, the second one (6) is a short encouragement that the psalmist addresses to himself. The first piece of the first subpart (2–3) compares the thirst for God with that of the deer (2); the last two segments develop the second member of the first segment (2b). Only the final segment reveals where the water that can quench the psalmist’s thirst is to be found: in the Temple where “the face of God” can be seen (6cde). In the second piece (4), in place of the thirst of the first piece, the psalmist’s daily 3

Weiser, 346; Kraus, I, 436–437; Ravasi, I, 755; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 700–701. Some supplement it (Ravasi, I, 755; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 700–701; deClaissé-Walford – al., 400–405), others delete it in 42:12 and 43:5 (e.g., Lorenzin, 184–186). 5 In Gen 19:20–22 the name of the city of Zoar where Lot takes refuge means “the little one”. 6 An exception is deClaissé-Walford – al., 404. 7 Ravasi, I, 764. 4

Psalm 42/43

21

“food” consists of continuous tears caused by the sarcasm of the enemies. The third piece (5) opposes this situation with that of the past when the psalmist joyfully participated in the Temple liturgy. : 2 As a deer : so MY SOUL

longs for longs for

streams you,

:: 3 thirsts :: for GOD,

MY SOUL

for GOD,

:: When :: and shall I see

shall I come the FACE

of water, O GOD;

the living one.

of GOD? ·································································································································

+ 4 (They) have been for me, my tears, + day and night,

food

+ when they say + “Where is

all the day:

to me your GOD?”

·································································································································

- 5 These things - and I pour out

I remember, over me

MY SOUL:

. I went forth . I led them

with the multitude, to the house

of GOD,

. among the voice . of a crowd

of shouts of joy keeping festival.

and OF THANKSGIVING

are you collapsing, over me?

MY SOUL,

+ 6 Why + and are you rumbling · Wait for · because still · the salvation

GOD, I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, of his FACE.

In the second subpart (6) the psalmist encourages himself: responding to the “why” of discouragement and of lamentation (6ab), he answers that hoping in “God” and in the “salvation of his face” will still allow him to “give thanks” (6cde). The last segment is of ABA’ type: “the salvation of his face” can indeed be interpreted as the second complement of “wait for”, in apposition to “God”, the first direct object complement. Between the subparts, “I will give thanks” in the future tense (6d) is related to “thanksgiving” in the past tense (5e); “his face” of 6e corresponds to “the face of God” in 3d. The name “God” occurs four times in the first piece (2b, 3a, 3b, 3d), once in each of the next two pieces (4d, 5d), and once in the second subpart (6c). “My soul” occurs in 2b, 3a, 5b and 6a.

22

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

THE SECOND PART (42:7–12) + 7 My God, – that is why – from the land – and of the Hermons, + 8 Deep + at the voice + all you waves

over me

MY SOUL

I remember you, of Jordan from the mountain

Insignificant.

to deep of the cataracts, and your billows

IS COLLAPSING,

calls over me

have passed.

····························································································································· + 9 By day commands YHWH his faithfulness

:: and by night :: prayer

his song to the GOD

is with me, of my life.

:: 10 I will say

to GOD,

my Rock:

.. “Why .. Why .. under the oppression

have you forgotten me? in gloom do I walk, of the enemy?”

·····························································································································

– 11 In the breaking – insult me – when they say

of my bones, my adversaries to me

= “Where is

your GOD?”

+ 12 Why + and why

ARE YOU COLLAPSING, are you rumbling

· Wait for · because still · the salvation

GOD, I will give him thanks, of my face

all the day:

MY SOUL,

over me?

and my God.

The first subpart (42:7–11) is again a long supplication. Introduced by “that is why” (7b), the trimember 7bcd expresses the consequence of the initial unimember (7a). The third segment (8) gives the reason why the psalmist’s soul “is collapsing” (7a). In the second piece (9–10), the first segment (9) describes the relationship of trust between the Lord, who manifests his “faithfulness” “by day”, and the faithful who offers him songs and prayers “by night”. The next unimember (10a) patterns the previous member (9c) and introduces a double question. The third piece (11) reports the blasphemous question that the psalmist’s “adversaries” ask him. “Adversaries” (11b) refer back to “enemy” at the end of the preceding piece (10d). The second subpart (12) starts with a double question which is answered in the subsequent trimember.

Psalm 42/43

23

THE THIRD PART (43:1–5) + 1 JUDGE ME, – against a people

O GOD, unfaithful;

and DEFEND

– against a man + DELIVER ME.

of deceit

and falsehood

my cause

································································································································· = 2 Because you (are) the GOD of my strength:

.. why .. Why = under the oppression

do you reject me? in gloom of the enemy?

do I walk away,

·································································································································

+ 3 SEND : they : will make me come

your light will guide me, to the mountain

and your truth:

:: And I will come . to the GOD

to the altar of the joy

of GOD, of my exultation.

:: Ad I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS . O GOD,

on the cithara, my GOD.

+ 5 Why + and why

are you collapsing, are you rumbling

4

· Wait for · because still · the salvation

GOD, I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, of my FACE

of your holiness and to your tents.

MY SOUL,

over me?

and my God.

The first subpart (43:1–4) is a long supplication. Its first piece (1) has a mirrored composition, with the imperatives at the extremities and the complements in between. A similar phenomenon is found in the second piece (2), where the two questions introduced by “why” are framed by the two opponents, “the God of my strength” (2a) and “the oppression of the enemy” (2d). The third piece (3–4) is more developed. It begins with an imperative addressed to God, as in the first piece. In the first segment (3) the subjects of the last two members are “your light and your truth”; in the next two segments (4) the psalmist is the subject of the verbs. The first two segments are linked by the verbs of the same root, “to make come” and “to come” (3c, 4a). The second subpart (43:5) has the same composition as the final subparts of the first two parts (42:6, 12).

24

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 42 1 For the music director, an instruction, of the sons of Korah. 2

As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O GOD; 3 my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When SHALL I COME and shall I see THE FACE of God? + 4 My tears have been my food, day and night, + when they say to me all the day: “WHERE IS YOUR GOD?” 5

These things I REMEMBER, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to the house of God, among the voice of shouts of joy and of THANKSGIVING of a crowd keeping festival. 6

WHY are you collapsing, my soul, and are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, the salvation of HIS FACE.

7

MY GOD, over me my soul is collapsing, that is why I REMEMBER you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from THE MOUNTAIN Insignificant. 8 Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your waves and your billows have passed over me. 9 By day Yhwh commands his faithfulness and by night his song is with me, prayer to the God of my life. = 10 I will say to God, my Rock: = WHY do I walk in gloom,

“W WHY have you forgotten me? under the oppression of the enemy?”

+ 11 In the breaking of my bones, my adversaries insult me + when they say to me all the day: “WHERE IS YOUR GOD?” 12

WHY are you collapsing, my soul, and WHY are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, the salvation of MY FACE and MY GOD!

43 1 Judge me, O GOD, and defend my cause against an unfaithful people; against a man of deceit and falsehood deliver me. = 2 Because you are the God of my strength: WHY do you reject me? = WHY do I walk away in gloom, “under the oppression of the enemy? 3

Send your light and your truth: they will guide me, they will make me come to THE MOUNTAIN of your holiness and to your tents. 4 And I WILL COME to the altar of God, to the God of the joy of my exultation. And I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS on the cithara, O GOD, MY GOD. 5

WHY are you collapsing, my soul, and WHY are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, the salvation of MY FACE and MY GOD!

Psalm 42/43

25

The three parts are parallel. The second subparts (42:6, 12; 34:5) are very similar to each other, to the extent that they are often referred to as “refrains”: the last two are indeed identical (42:12; 43:5), but the first one (42:6) omits the last term, “and my God”, and has “the salvation of his face” instead of “the salvation of my face”, thus discreetly evoking “the face to face” between God and the psalmist. The first subparts (42:2–5, 7–11; 43:1–4) are more developed. The first two subparts are laments, the last one is a supplication. The first two are linked in particular through verses 4 and 11, whose second members are almost identical, ending with the same question of the enemies: “Where is your God?” The last two subparts are linked through verses 42:10 and 43:2 which contain two almost identical questions beginning with “Why?” Accordingly, the first central subpart ends with these two kinds of “refrains”, the first one in 42:10 announcing the last part (43:2) and the second one in 42:11 recalling the first part (42:4). It is an example of “the law of crossing at the centre”.8 The extreme parts begin with the simple vocative, “O God” (42:2; 43:1), while the central part has “my God” (42:7); the latter vocative is taken up again at the end of the first subpart of the last part, emphasized by the repetition: “O God, my God” (43:4b); “my God” also returns at the end of 42:12 and 43:5. The first subparts end with “thanksgiving” and “I will give you thanks” (42:5c; 43:4b). It can be pointed out that the two occurrences of “I remember” (42:5, 7) link the first two parts and that “I shall come” (43:4) forms an inclusion with “I will come” (42:3). In the last two parts, “the mountain Insignificant” (42:7b) is opposed to “the mountain of your holiness” (43:3). Moreover, “the God of my life” in 42:9 recalls “the living God” of 42:3, establishing a relationship of the same type as that evoked by “the salvation of his face” (42:6c) and “the salvation of my face” (42:12c; 43:5c). The living God is the one who makes me alive, who communicates his life to me. The three parts are marked by nine “whys”, four addressed to God (42:10a, 10b; 43:2a, 2b) and five addressed to himself (42:6, 12a; 43:5a). “Thanksgiving” and “giving thanks” occur five times (42:5c, 6b, 12b; 43:4b, 5b).

CONTEXT THE THIRST FOR GOD In the desert, the people had the fundamental and emblematic experience that only the Lord could quench their thirst (Neh 9:15, 20; Wis 11:4-8). Ps 63 also begins with the same metaphor: “O God, my God, you are, I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh languishes for you, in a dry and weary land, without water” (63:2).9 8 9

R. MEYNET, “Le leggi della retorica biblica. A proposito della ‘legge dell’intreccio al centro’”. See p. 262.

26

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

The theme will be taken up again in the Johannine writings (John 4:13–14), all the way to the end of the Apocalypse: 5

Then the One sitting on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He also said: “Write this: for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life freely”. (Rev 21:5–6)

FACE TO FACE The play on God’s face and the psalmist’s face at the end of the “refrains” may remind us of the privileged relationship between God and Moses. Of course, the one in a bush, “he covered his face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Exod 3:6). It is also said that Moses, unable to see the face of the Lord, would only see him from behind (Exod 33:20–22). Nevertheless, “Yhwh used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exod 33:11; see Num 12:6–8; 14:14).

INTERPRETATION FROM ONE MOUNTAIN TO ANOTHER ONE “From the land of the Jordan”, “from the mountain Insignificant” of the Hermons (Ps 42:7), the psalmist recalls the only mountain that is valuable, “the mountain of your holiness” (43:4), where “the house of God” is located (42:4). On the northern border of the country, in Galilee, far from the Temple, from its festive crowds exulting in thanksgiving, he feels in some way exiled. The memory of his participation in the cult and its songs makes him feel an unquenchable thirst that the flowing waters of the Jordan cannot quench. “When shall I come and see the face of God?” (42:3) THE DESIRE FOR FACE TO FACE From birth to death, a person is illuminated by the light of the face of those who love him or her. Like the beloved ones in the Song of Songs: “Let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely” (Song 2:14). That is what every faithful Jew expects from the blessing of the priests: “May Yhwh bless you and keep you! May Yhwh make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you! May Yhwh show you his face and bring you peace!” (Num 6:24–26). Everyone dreams of talking to the Lord like Moses, face to face: everyone does it one day or another, some do it day after day. Listening to the psalmist’s voice, psalm after psalm—taking his words to heart—one cannot avoid imagining him as a child who looks up into his father’s face, looking him straight in the eye.10 10

Thérèse of Lisieux chose as her religious name: Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.

Psalm 42/43

27

A FLURRY OF QUESTIONS?

It is primarily the repeated question of those who, day after day, mock the psalmist by asking him where his God is (Ps 42:4, 11), the God who forsakes him, submerged by the waters of his waves and cataracts. The psalmist’s worst suffering, the one that makes him weep, that breaks his bones, is being forced to bear the fact that the God in whom he continues to put his trust is the object of such derision. Therefore, four “whys” are addressed to God (42:10a, 10b; 43:2a, 2b), the God whom the psalmist calls his “Rock” (42:10), his “strength” (43:2). Like the nagging whys that a child keeps asking his or her father. Finally, as if appeased, the fivefold “why” that the psalmist addresses to his soul, to calm it and invite it to “give thanks” for the “salvation” that he is sure to obtain (42:6, 12; 43:5). “I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS ON THE CITHARA” (43:4) The psalmist does not remain a prisoner, neither of the questions of his opponents, nor of those he addresses to his God, nor of those he poses to himself. He is patient, he “waits” for God’s “salvation” and knows that the time will come when he will be able to give him thanks. He begins with lamenting and recalling the happy days when he could give thanks in the house of God with the festive multitudes (42:5), but no sooner has he recalled that remote past than he projects himself into the future, when “still” he will be able to resume his thanksgiving (42:6). And finally, he sees himself returning to the holy mountain, bringing the sacrifices of thanksgiving to “the altar of God” (43:4a). The collapsing and the rumblings will not have the last word. The last word is the name of the saviour, “O God, my God” (43:4c).

2. PSALM 44 TEXT 1 For

the music director, of the sons of Korah, an instruction. 2 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 You (with) your hand, you disinherited nations and you planted them, you destroyed countries and you made place for them. 4 Because not by their sword did they inherit the land and their arm did not save them, because your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, because you loved them. 5 You are my king, O God, commanding the salvations of Jacob; 6 through you we pushed back our adversaries, in your name we trampled our aggressors. 7 Because not in my bow did I trust and my sword did not save me; 8 because you saved us from our adversaries and you confused our haters, 9 in God we were praising all the day and to your name we were giving thanks forever. 10 But you have rejected us and you have dishonoured us, and you did not go out anymore with our armies; 11 you made us turn back from the adversary and our haters have plundered us. 12 You have given us as sheep for butchery and you have dispersed us among the nations; 13 you have sold your people without profit and you have gained nothing on their price. 14 You make us an insult to our neighbours, a fable and a derision to our entourages; 15 you make us the proverb among the nations, a shaking of the head among the countries. 16 All the day my dishonour (is) before me and shame covers my face, 17 under the clamours of insulter and of blasphemer, in the face of the enemy and of the avenger. 18 All this has come over us and not that we have forgotten you and not that we have betrayed your covenant; 19 not that our heart has gone back and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread darkness over us. 21 If we have forgotten the name of our God and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would not God have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed all the day, we are considered as sheep for slaughter. 24 Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord? Wake up, do not reject us forever! 25 Why do you hide your face, do you forget our misery and our oppression? 26 Because our soul collapses in the dust, our belly clings to the ground. 27 Rise up as our help and redeem us for the sake of your faithfulness. V. 3: “YOU (WITH) YOUR HAND, YOU DISINHERITED NATIONS”

Many join the first two words to the preceding segment. The Masoretic punctuation is preferable.1 The Septuagint has made the text easier by deleting “you” and making “your hand” the subject of “dispossessed” which changes from the second to the third person. V. 5: “YOU ARE MY KING, O GOD, COMMANDING...”

Many follow the Septuagint which replaces the imperative of the Masoretic text with a participle.2 The composition of the psalm recommends this solution.

1 2

See Joüon, 151b. Hakham also mentions this possibility.

30

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

V. 6–9: “THROUGH YOU WE PUSHED BACK OUR ADVERSARIES...”

As in the Septuagint, some translate the verbs in verses 6–7 with the future tenses,3 others render them with the present tense,4 others with the past tenses;5 and finally, others with the past tenses for 8 and 9 following the alternation of perfect and imperfect tenses in the Hebrew text. The logic of the psalm as the composition shows it suggests that the whole should be read in the past tense6.

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into three parts. The first one concerns the happy past (2–9), the second one the present of misfortune (10–17), the third one the future based on a claim of innocence (18–27). THE FIRST PART (2–9) The first part comprises two subparts. The first subpart (2–4) + 2 O God, + our fathers

with our ears have recounted

we have heard, to us

– the work – in the days

that you did of old:

in their days,

:: 3 You (with) :: nations :: you destroyed

YOUR HAND, YOU DISINHERITED

countries

and you planted them, and you made place for them.

·······························································································································

- 4 BECAUSE not - and THEIR ARM

by their sword did not save

.. BECAUSE YOUR RIGHT HAND .. and the light

and YOUR ARM, of your face,

DID THEY INHERIT

the land

them,

= BECAUSE you loved them.

In the first piece (2–3) the second segment (2cd) is the subject of what the fathers “have recounted” (2b) and their children “have heard”' (2a). The third segment (3) reveals the content of the “work” accomplished by God (2c): the first 3

Thus Vesco, 402; deClaissé-Walford – al., 410. Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 715; also Osty. 5 Ravasi, I, 775; Hakham, I, 250; Lorenzin, 186. 6 Thus the BJ and the TOB. 4

Psalm 44

31

member (3a) emphasises twice the subject of the subsequent verbs. Introduced by “because”, the second piece (4) makes the content of the first piece explicit by placing the efficacious action of “the right hand” and of the “arm” of God in opposition to the inaction of the “arm” of the fathers. “The light” of the face of God is opposed to the “sword” of people. “Did they inherit” (4a) is opposed to “you disinherited” (3b). The second subpart (5–9) + 5 You are + commanding

MY king,

– 6 through you – in YOUR NAME

OUR

THE SALVATIONS

ADVERSARIES

WE TRAMPLED

O GOD, of Jacob; WE PUSHED BACK, OUR

aggressors.

·····························································································································

- 7 BECAUSE not - and MY sword

DID

:: 8 BECAUSE YOU SAVED US :: and OUR haters

from OUR ADVERSARIES you confused,

= 9 in GOD = and to YOUR NAME

in MY bow not SAVE ME;

did I trust

WE WERE PRAISING

all the day

forever

WE WERE GIVING THANKS.

In the first piece (5–6), the first segment (5) attributes “the salvations” to God alone; in the second segment (6), the subject of the verbs of salvation is “we”, but the first terms of each member, “through you” and “in your name”, emphasize the real “subject” which is God himself. The second piece (7–9) begins with a repetition of the same idea, by opposing God’s salvation (8) to the inability of the psalmist (7); the last segment (9) speaks of the only action that people can accomplish, that of “praising” and “giving thanks” for the salvation received. The final segments of each piece are related (6 & 9), not only by their first terms, but also by the verbs in the first person plural. “The salvations” of the first piece (5b) are echoed in the second piece by the two occurrences of the verb “to save” (7b & 8a). The two occurrences of “God” form an inclusion (5a & 9a). The first two segments of both pieces are in the first person singular (5 & 7), while the subsequent segments are in the first person plural (6, 8–9). It is therefore an individual who speaks throughout the subpart, but he does so on behalf of the whole people.

32

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

The whole of the first part (2–9) .. 2 O GOD, .. our fathers

with our ears have recounted

we have heard, to us

+ the work + in the days

that you did of old:

in their days,

+ 3 You (with) + NATIONS + you destroyed

your hand, you uprooted

and you planted them,

COUNTRIES and you made place for them. ······························································································································· • 4 BECAUSE not by their SWORD did they inherit the land

• and their arm

DID NOT SAVE

them,

:: BECAUSE your right hand and your arm, :: and the light of your face, = BECAUSE you loved them. + 5 You are + commanding

my king, the salvations

O GOD, of Jacob;

+ 6 through you + in your name

OUR ADVERSARIES

we pushed back,

OUR AGGRESSORS. ······························································································································· • 7 BECAUSE not in my bow did I trust

• and my SWORD

we trampled

DID NOT SAVE ME; ME

:: 8 BECAUSE you saved us from OUR ADVERSARIES :: and OUR HATERS you confused, = 9 in GOD = and to your name

we were praising forever

all the day we were giving thanks.

Both subparts are parallel. They begin with the name “God” in apostrophe (2a & 5a). In the first pieces (2–3 & 5–6), “nations” and “countries” (3bc) are later qualified as “our adversaries” and “our aggressors” (6ab). While in the first piece of the first subpart (2–3) God alone is the actor of salvation, in the symmetrical piece (5–6) the “we” who seem to be associated with him are in fact beneficiaries of God’s salvation. In the second pieces (4 & 7–9), the same opposition is found within the first two segments (4a–4d & 7–8), which begin with “because”; “sword” and the verb “to save” are repeated in the first segments (4ab & 7). The last segments (4e & 9) are complementary: God’s love is answered by the praise and thanksgiving of their recipients.

Psalm 44

33

THE SECOND PART (10–17) This part has two subparts. The first subpart (10–13) + 10 But you have rejected us + and you did not go out anymore

and you have dishonoured us, with our armies;

– 11 you made us turn – and OUR HATERS

back have plundered

from THE ADVERSARY us.

································································································································

:: 12 You have given us :: and among THE NATIONS

as sheep you have dispersed us;

for butchery

- 13 you have sold - and you have gained nothing

your people on their price.

without profit

In the first piece (10–11), all the verbs are in the same modality, past tenses in the second person singular, except for the last one whose subject is “our haters” (11b); but if they were able to rob us, it is because the Lord subjected us to them. The second piece (12–13) is even more terrifying than the first one: in fact, instead of situating himself on a military perspective, he makes a painful irony accusing the Lord of having sent them to the slaughterhouse (12) and even for nothing (13). “The adversary” and the “haters” of the first piece (11ab) are identified as the pagan “nations” (12b). The second subpart (14–17) – 14 You make us :: a fable

AN INSULT

and a derision

to our neighbours, to our entourages;

– 15 you make us :: a shaking

the proverb of the head

among the nations, among the countries.

········································································································

– 16 All the day :: and shame

my dishonour my face

(is) before me covers me,

– 17 under the clamours :: in the face

of INSULTER of the enemy

and of blasphemer, and of the avenger.

The segments of the first piece are parallel, with an expansion from one segment to the other one: from “neighbours” and “entourages” (14) to “nations” and “countries” (15). The subject in the first piece is God (14–15), in the second piece the psalmist (16–17). there is a shift from plural to singular. “The enemy” and “the avenger” in 17b refer to the adversaries who are found at the end of each

34

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

member of the segments of the first piece (14–15). “An insult” and “insulter” form an inclusion. The whole of the second part (10–17) + 10 But you have rejected us + and you did not go out anymore

and you HAVE DISHONOURED us, with our armies;

– 11 you made us turn – and our haters

back have plundered

from the adversary adversary us.

······························································································································

+ 12 You have given us + and among THE NATIONS

as sheep you have dispersed us;

for butchery

– 13 you have sold – and you have gained nothing

your people on their price.

without profit

– 14 You make us :: a fable

an insult and a derision

to OUR NEIGHBOURS, to OUR ENTOURAGES;

– 15 you make us :: a shaking

the proverb of the head

among THE NATIONS, among THE COUNTRIES.

······························································································································ my DISHONOUR (is) before me

– 16 All the day :: and shame 17

– under the clamours :: in the face

my face

covers me,

of insulter of the enemy enemy

and of blasphemer, and of the avenger. avenger

The second subpart tells of the consequences on the people (14–15) and on the psalmist (16–17), of the actions that God is reproached for in the first subpart (10– 13); the first person of the psalmist intervenes only in the last piece (16–17). “Dishonour” (16a) at the beginning of the last piece corresponds to “you have dishonoured” at the beginning of the first piece (10a); the pair “the enemy” and “the avenger” (17b) at the end of the last piece recalls that of “the adversary” and “the hater” at the end of the first piece (11). “The nations” from the second piece in the first subpart (12b) are found again in the first piece in the second subpart, accompanied by “neighbours”, “entourages” and “countries” (14–15). THE THIRD PART (18–27) The first subpart (18–23) The third segment of the first piece (20) develops the first half of the first member: “All this has come to us” (18a). The claim of innocence of the first piece (18–19) is repeated in a different form in the first two segments of the second

Psalm 44

35

piece (21–22); “we have forgotten” (18a & 21a) and “heart” (19a & 22b) are repeated, and “our hands” (21b) recall “our steps” (19b). – 18 Al this – and not (that)

has come to us and not (that) WE HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU we have betrayed your covenant;

– 19 not (that) has gone – and have deviated

back our steps

:: 20 YES, you have crushed us in a place :: and you have spread over us

our HEART from

your path.

of jackals darkness.

································································································································· 21

– If WE HAVE FORGOTTEN – and have stretched out

the name our hands

of our God to a god

– 22 would not – because as for him,

God he knows

have discovered this, the secrets the HEART?

:: 23 YES, on your account :: we are considered

we are killed as sheep

all the day, for slaughter.

foreign,

The final segments of both pieces begin with “yes” (20a & 23a). The last segment (23) talks about the consequence of God’s action concerning “us” described in the symmetrical segment (20). The second subpart (24–27) + 24 AWAKE, + WAKE UP,

why do not reject us

do you sleep, forever!

O Lord?

················································································································

- 25 Why - do you forget

your face our misery

do you hide, and our oppression?

- 26 Because collapses - clings

in the dust to the ground

our soul, our belly.

················································································································ 27

+ RISE UP + and REDEEM US

as a help for the sake of

to us your faithfulness.

Each member of the extreme pieces begins with an imperative addressed to “the Lord” (24 & 27): the three synonyms, “awake”, “wake up”, “rise up”, prepare for the final “redeem us” which expresses the psalmist’s desire. The central piece begins with a question (25) motivated by the situation in which the people find themselves (26); “your face” (25a) is matched by the pair “our soul” and “our

36

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

belly” (26). The central question (25) was prepared by another question at the beginning, which begins with the same “why” (24a). The whole of the third part (18–27) – 18 All this – and not (that)

has come to us we have betrayed

and not (that) your covenant;

– 19 not (that) has gone – and have deviated

back our steps

OUR HEART

in a place over us

of jackals darkness.

20

:: Yes, you have crushed us :: and you have spread

from

WE HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU

your path.

·································································································································

– 21 If WE HAVE FORGOTTEN – and have stretched out

OUR HANDS

of our God to a god,

– would not – because as for him,

God he knows

have discovered this, the secrets OF HEART?

:: 23 Yes, on your account :: we are considered

we are killed as sheep

all the day, for slaughter.

+ 24 Awake, + Wake up,

why do not reject us

do you sleep, forever!

22

the name

a foreign one,

O Lord?

·································································································································

:: 25 Why :: DO YOU FORGET

our misery

do you hide, and our oppression?

:: 26 Because collapses :: clings

in the dust to the ground

OUR SOUL, OUR BELLY.

YOUR FACE

································································································································· 27

+ Rise up + and redeem us

as a help for the sake of

to us your faithfulness.

The claim of innocence of the first subpart (18–23) is followed by a supplication in the second subpart (24–27). While the complainants profess not to have “forgotten” the Lord (18a & 21a), they accuse him of having “forgotten” them (25b). “All the day” (23a) and “forever” (24b) link both subparts. The body parts mark each subpart: beginning with “heart” (19a & 22b) and “hands” (21b), followed by “face” (25a), “soul” and “belly” (26ab).

Psalm 44

37

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM Relations between the extreme parts 2

O GOD, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 you (with) your hand, you disinherited nations and you planted them, you destroyed countries and made place for them. 4 Because not by their sword did they inherit the land and their arm did not save them, because your right hand and your arm, and THE LIGHT of YOUR FACE, because you loved them. 5 6

You are my king, O GOD, commanding the salvations of Jacob; through you we pushed back our adversaries, in YOUR NAME we trampled our AGGRESSORS. 7

Because not in my bow did I trust and my sword did not save me, because you saved us from our adversaries and you confused our haters; 9 in GOD we were praising ALL THE DAY and to YOUR NAME we were giving thanks FOREVER. 8

[...] 18

All this has come over us and not that we have forgotten you and not that we have betrayed your covenant; 19 not that our heart has gone back and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread DARKNESS over us. 21 22

If we have forgotten THE NAME of our GOD and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, would not GOD have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed ALL THE DAY, we are considered as sheep for slaughter.

24

Awake, why do you sleep, O LORD? 25 26

27

Wake up, do not reject us FOREVER!

Why do you hide YOUR FACE, do you forget our misery and our oppression? Because our soul collapses in the dust, our belly clings to the ground.

RISE UP as our help

and redeem us for the sake of your faithfulness.

Each part is formed of two subparts. – The divine names occur three times in each part (2a, 5, 9, 21, 22, 24). – “The light” of 4b is opposed to “darkness” in 20. – God used to shine the light of his “face” (4b), now he hides his “face” (25). – “Your name” occurs in 6, 9 and 21. – “Aggressors” (6) and “rise up” (27) derive from the same root (qwm). – “All day” and “forever” at the end of the first part (9) are repeated as median terms in both subparts of the last part (23 & 24). – The five “because” in the first part (4abc & 7–8) and the two “yes” in the last (20.23) translate the same particle kî. – The negation occurs in 4[2x], 7[2x] and in 18[2x], 19. While the first part recalls the past of the faithfulness of God and also that of those who did not put their trust in themselves, the last part is set in the present where the faithful claim their past innocence, the misfortune in which they find themselves and, finally, they appeal to the Lord for help.

38

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

Relations between the central part and the other two parts 44 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, an instruction. 2

O GOD, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 You with your hand, you disinherited NATIONS and you planted them, you destroyed COUNTRIES and made place for them. 4

Because not by their sword did they inherit the land and their arm did not save them, because your right hand and your arm, and the light of YOUR FACE, because you loved them. 5 6

You are my king, O GOD, commanding the salvations of Jacob; through you we pushed back our ADVERSARIES, in YOUR NAME we trampled our aggressors. 7

Because not in my bow did I trust and my sword did not save me, because you saved us from our ADVERSARIES and you confused our HATERS; 9 in GOD we were praising ALL THE DAY and to YOUR NAME we were giving thanks forever. 8

10

But, YOU HAVE REJECTED US and you have dishonoured us, and you did not go out anymore with our armies; 11 you made us TURN BACK from THE ADVERSARY and our HATERS have plundered us. 12 13 14 15

You have given us as SHEEP FOR BUTCHERY and you have dispersed us among the NATIONS; you have sold your people without profit and you have gained nothing on their price. You make us an insult to our neighbours, a fable and a derision to our entourages; you make us the proverb among the NATIONS, a shaking of the head among the COUNTRIES.

16 ALL THE DAY my dishonour is before me and shame 17 under the clamours of insulter and of blasphemer,

covers my FACE, in THE FACE of the enemy and of the avenger.

18

All this has come over us and not that we have forgotten you and not that we have betrayed your covenant; 19 not that our heart HAS GONE BACK and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread darkness over us. 21 22

If we have forgotten THE NAME of our GOD and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, would not GOD have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed ALL THE DAY, we are considered as SHEEP FOR SLAUGHTER.

24

Awake, why do you sleep, O LORD? 25 26

27

Wake up, DO NOT REJECT US forever!

Why do you hide YOUR FACE, do you forget our misery and our oppression? Because our soul collapses in the dust, our belly clings to the ground.

Rise up, as a help to us and redeem us for the sake of your faithfulness.

– “You have rejected us” at the beginning of the central part (10) is taken up by “do not reject us” at the beginning of the last subpart (24). – “Turn back” (11) is echoed by “has gone back” at the beginning of the last part (19).

Psalm 44

39

– “Adversary” and “hater” (11) are already found in the preceding subpart, and both terms are in plural (6 & 8). – “Sheep for butchery” (12) has its equivalent at the end of the first subpart of the last part in “sheep for slaughter” (13). – “Nations” and “countries” (15) are already found together in the first part (3b); “nations” appear also in 12. – “All the day” (16) occurs at the end of the second subpart of the first part (9) and at the end of the first subpart of the last part (23). – “Face” (16 & 17) is also found in the extreme subparts (4b & 25). – The change from the first person plural to the first person singular in the second subpart of the central part (16) was already confirmed in the second subpart of the first part (5 & 7). It should also be pointed out that the “name” (6, 9, 21) of “God”, the “Lord” (2, 5, 9, 21, 22, 24) is totally absent in the central part.

CONTEXT THE CONQUEST OF THE LAND The first part (2–9) deals with the conquest of the land after the sojourn in the desert. The psalmist uses the verb “to inherit” to make it clear that it is a free gift that owes nothing to the sword and arm of the sons of Israel. That is stated in Deut 8:17–18, 17 Beware of saying in your heart: My strength and the might of my own hand have given me the power to act like this.” 18 Remember Yhwh your God, he was the one who gave you the strength to act effectively like this, thus keeping them, as today, the covenant which he swore to your ancestors.

“The sword” and “the bow” of Ps 44:4, 7 are found in Josh 24:12 where the land is “given”, 12

I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13 And now I have given you a country for which you have not toiled, towns you have not built, although you live in them, vineyards and olive groves you have not planted, although you eat their fruit.

The book of Joshua insists throughout that it is the Lord who “gives” the country to the children of Israel. These are God’s words addressed to Joshua right from the beginning: 1

After the death of Moses, the servant of Yhwh, Yhwh spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. (Josh 1:1–3)

40

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

It is the Lord who “gives” the city of Ai to Joshua and to the people of Israel (Josh 8:7, 18); and it will continue to be so throughout the book (Josh 10:8, 10, 11, 20, 30, 32, 42; 11:6, 8; 13:6). THE EXILE The first part (Ps 44:2–9) recalled the gift of the land. The central part (44:10– 17) opposes it directly, since it is now about the loss of the land, the exile: “You have dispersed us among the nations” (44:12). The time of the psalm’s utterance is thus that of the Babylonian exile, that of remembering (44:2–9) the ancient days prior to the monarchy.

INTERPRETATION THE ENIGMA OF THE FIRST PERSON The double shift from the first person plural to the first person singular (44:5, 7 & 16) is surprising and problematic. Some believe that the first person is that of a king.7 For others: “Verse 6 may have been spoken by a king in the past, but it applies just as well to someone who speaks on behalf of the community”.8 In the second part, situated at the time of the exile, the “I” (44:16) could be considered as that of the king. In the first part, on the other hand, it is rather difficult to think of the time of the monarchy, as the description clearly recalls the time of the conquest. It is therefore better to interpret that here and there the first person is that of the psalmist, a singular speaker who represents the “we” of the whole people.9 “THE WORK THAT YOU DID” (44:2) The conquest of the land is the work of the Lord and of him alone. The psalmist emphasises this very strongly throughout the first part: It is God, it is his hand that has dispossessed the nations of the land promised to the fathers and has planted in their place the children of Israel. It was not the human arm, sword and bow that could do this. And the same applies to the present situation (44:10–17), which is so painfully opposed to the former one: God is the one who has “rejected” his people and no longer goes out with his armies; he is the one who has sold them for nothing; he is the one who makes them the insult of their neighbours, who causes their disgrace and shame.

7 Thus Ravasi, I, 786, 788; Weiser (355) and Hakham (I, 250), more cautiously, speak of a king or a head of the army; and even more broadly, deClaissé-Walford – al., 412. 8 Kraus, I, 447; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti (I, 723) think that it could be a “liturgical presider”. 9 See, e.g., Lorenzin, 197.

Psalm 44

41

A SURPRISING CLAIM OF INNOCENCE After all this complaining, one would expect a confession of sins, in the fashion of the book of Judges, where systematically the people’s unfaithfulness is the cause of their misfortunes. Overwhelmed by oppression, the people of Israel acknowledge their guilt and the Lord sends them a judge who saves them from the hands of their enemies. That is not the case here, on the contrary, since the people insist on their innocence. If all the salvations of the past are attributed to God alone and not to the people who are only the beneficiaries, if the present misfortunes are also the work of God alone, it is understandable that the psalmist, in the name of the whole community, does not consider himself at all guilty of what happens to him. THE FINAL SUPPLICATION Since everything depends on God alone, it is natural that the psalm ends with a persistent request for salvation. The psalmist returns, once again, to the state of radical despondency in which he finds himself, crushed in the dust, and asks his Lord “why” he has forgotten him, why he sleeps. However, his complaint is firmly framed by four imperatives that might seem offensive, but which clearly mark the total trust he places in the only one who can redeem him.

3. PSALM 45 TEXT 1 For the music director, on “The Lilies”; of the sons of Korah, an instruction, a love song. 2 My heart is stirred by a beautiful word: Myself, I recite my work to the king, my tongue (is) the reedpen of a skilful scribe. 3 You are handsome more than the sons of Adam, grace is poured upon your lips: that is why God has blessed you forever. 4 Gird your sword on your thigh, O valiant one, your magnificence and your splendour. 5 Your splendour: soar, ride, for the cause of truth, of humility, of righteousness and let your right hand teach you wonders! 6 Your arrows are sharp, peoples fall under you, in the heart of the enemies of the king. 7 Your throne, O God, forever and ever, a sceptre of uprightness, the sceptre of your kingdom! 8 You love righteousness and you hate wickedness; that is why God, your God, has anointed you, with the oil of gladness more than your friends. 9 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all your garments, from ivory palaces the citharas rejoice you. 10 Daughters of kings among your beloved; the Lady stands at your right hand, in gold of Ophir. 11 Hear, daughter, observe and incline your ear, and forget your people and your house of your father. 12 And the king will desire your beauty: because he (is) your Lord, and bow down to him! 13 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face will cheer up the richest of the people. 14 The daughter of the king (is) all splendid within, robed in golden clothing; 15 in brocade she is led to the king, virgins behind her, her companions are brought to you; 16 they are led in joy and exultation, they enter into the palace of the king. 17 In the place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. 18 I will remember your name in every generation and generation, that is why the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever.

V. 5A: “YOUR SPLENDOUR: SOAR...”

The verse begins with the same term with which the preceding verse ended, used as median terms or anadiplosis.1 We can understand that the following says what the splendour of the king consists in: “Your splendour is to soar...” V. 5B: “OF HUMILITY, OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”

The last two words of the verse are in appositional relationship. The first one, ‘anwâ, is a hapax, presumably for ‘ănāwâ, “humility”; but it could be in place of ‘aniyyâ, a synonym of dābar, translated as “for the cause of”, which would make a nice parallelism: “for the cause of truth and for the matter of righteousness”.2 V. 7: “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, FOREVER AND EVER...”

“God” can be understood as a vocative, the earthly king receiving, as “the son of God” (Ps 2), the same name as his father; it was common in the ancient East to “deify” the king, but in the Hebrew Bible this would be the only case.3 For others, “God” would refer to the king’s “throne”, a concise expression, actually meaning:

1

Barbiero, 59. See Hakham, I, 258. 3 Kraus, I, 451; Ravasi, I, 812. 2

44

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

“Your throne is the throne of God”,4 as it stated in 1 Chr 29:23, “Solomon sat on the throne of Yhwh as king, in place of David his father”. The fact that this is the only time that the king of Israel is called “God” does not necessarily mean that this should be dismissed. A similar phenomenon is found in Ps 112, where it is the only time in the Hebrew Bible that man is described as “tender and merciful” (ḥanûn weraḥûm, 112:4b); everywhere else— and in particular in Ps 111:4b—this double qualifier is applied exclusively to the Lord.5 V. 10: “THE LADY”

Many understand, as the Septuagint and Syriac did it, that “the Lady” who stands at the right hand of the king is his future wife, the queen.6 The term šēgal occurs only once more in the Hebrew Bible, in Neh 2:6, where it refers to the wife of King Artaxerxes. Others consider that it as referring to “the great Lady” (gebîrâ), in other words the queen-mother (1 Kgs 15:13) whose role in Israel was more important than that of the wife, who was in reality only one of the wives in the harem.7 COMPOSITION After the title (1) and a short introduction (2), the body of the song comprises two long parts (3–9 & 11–18) framing a very brief part (10). INTRODUCTION (2) + 2 Is stirred :: I recite, + my tongue (is)

my heart myself, the reed-pen

by the word my work of a scribe

beautiful: to the king, skilful.

At the extremities are the words that are born in the “heart” and that come out on the “tongue”, to be written down. In the centre, the recipient of the poem is mentioned.

4

Hakham, I, 258. See Le Psautier. Cinquième livre, 90–92. 6 E.g., Ravasi, I, 815; Vesco, 418; deClaissé-Walford – al., 420; Barbiero, 60. 7 Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 736–739; Lorenzin, 200. See A. CAQUOT, “Cinq observations sur le Psaume 45”, 259–261; Ch. SCHROEDER, “‘A Love Song’: Psalm 45 in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Marriage Texts”, 428. 5

Psalm 45

45

THE FIRST PART (3–9) + 3 You are handsome + is poured + THAT IS WHY

more than the sons of Adam, grace upon your lips: has blessed you GOD

– 4 Gird – your magnificence

your sword on your thigh, and your SPLENDOUR.

FOREVER.

O valiant one,

································································································································ : 5 YOUR SPLENDOUR: soar, ride, : for the cause of truth, of humility, OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

: and let (it) teaches you wonders 6

- YOUR arrows - peoples - in the heart

(are) sharp, under you of the enemies

: 7 YOUR throne, : a sceptre

O GOD, of uprightness,

your right hand! fall, of the king. FOREVER

AND EVER,

the sceptre

of your kingdom!

································································································································

+ 8 You love + THAT IS WHY + with the oil

RIGHTEOUSNESS

has anointed you of gladness

and you hate wickedness; GOD, YOUR GOD, more than your friends.

– 9 Myrrh – from palaces

and aloes, of ivory

cassia, the citharas

all your garments, rejoice you.

In the extreme pieces the initial trimembers comprise two quite similar members (3c & 8b); additionally, “more than” occurs in 3a and 8c. The magnificence and splendour are shown by the wearing of the royal sword (4) and by the luxury of the garments and the palaces (9). The central piece differs from the other two by the fact that its three segments begin with nouns accompanied by the possessive pronouns: “Your splendour”, “Your arrows”, “Your throne” (5a, 6a, 7a). The extreme segments are corresponding to each other, with “uprightness” (7b) recalling “truth”, “humility” and “righteousness” (5b). The central segment (6) features the “people”, “the enemies” whose hearts are pieced by arrows. The last two segments end with “the king” and “kingdom” (6c & 7b). The two occurrences of “splendour” act as median terms for the first two pieces; in addition, “forever” in 3c announces “forever and ever” in 7a. “Righteousness” occurs at the beginning of the last two pieces (5b & 8a).

46

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

THE LAST PART (11–18) + 11 Hear, + and incline + and forget

DAUGHTER, YOUR PEOPLE

and the house

– 12 And will desire – because he (is)

THE KING

your beauty: and bow down to him!

observe

your ear,

your Lord,

– 13 And THE DAUGHTER of Tyre – you face will cheer up

with a gift, the richest

OF YOUR FATHER.

OF THE PEOPLE.

·································································································································

: 14 All splendid : in clothing

THE DAUGHTER

OF THE KING

of gold

robed;

: 15 in brocade . virgins

she is led behind her,

to THE KING, her companions

16

. they are led in joy . they enter into the palace

within,

are brought to you;

and exultation, OF THE KING.

·································································································································

+ 17 In the place OF YOUR FATHERS shall be + you will make them PRINCES in all

the earth.

– 18 I will remember – that is why

and generation, forever and ever.

your name THE PEOPLES

in every generation will give you thanks

YOUR SONS;

The bride will have to forget her father (11) in order to bow down to the one who becomes her “Lord” (12); the gifts of the richest “people” of the city of Tyre (called “the daughter of Tyre”, 13) will console her and help her to forget her own “people” (11c). In the last piece (17–18), the forgotten “fathers” will give way to the bride’s sons (17a) whose future is mentioned. They will become “princes” and their fame will spread everywhere, “in all the earth”, and forever, “in every generation and generation”. “The peoples” will join their voices with the psalmist’s in giving thanks to him “forever and ever”. The central piece (14–16) focuses on the description of the procession that leads the king’s daughter and her companions to the king. THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM The two main parts deal with the king (3–9) and the woman who is to become his wife (11–18). At the beginnings, the “daughter” (11) corresponds to “the sons” (3) and “your beauty” (12) to “you are handsome” (3). Terms from the semantic field of kingship abound: “king” (6, 12, 14, 15, 16), “throne”, “sceptre” and “kingdom”, (7), “has anointed you” (8), “princes” (17). “Forever” and “forever and ever” (3 & 7) are matched at the end by “in every generation and generation” and “forever and ever” (18). “Palace” is repeated in 9 and 16, “joy” (16) recalls “rejoice you” (9). We can add the triple repetition of “that is why” (3, 8, 18).

Psalm 45 1

47

For the music director, on “The Lilies”; of the sons of Korah, an instruction, a love song.

2

My heart is stirred by a beautiful word: tongue is the reed-pen of a skilful scribe.

myself, I recite my work to the KING,

my

3

YOU ARE HANDSOME more than THE SONS of Adam, grace is poured upon your lips: that is why GOD has blessed you forever. 4 Gird your sword on your thigh, O valiant one, your magnificence and splendour. 5

Your splendour: soar, ride, for the cause of truth, of humility, of righteousness and let YOUR RIGHT HAND teach you wonders! 6 Your arrows are sharp, peoples fall under you, in the heart of the enemies of the KING. 7 Your throne, O GOD, forever and ever, a sceptre of uprightness, the sceptre of your KINGDOM! 8

You love righteousness and you hate wickedness; that is why GOD, YOUR GOD, has anointed you, with the oil of gladness more than your friends. 9 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all your garments, from ivory PALACES the citharas REJOICE YOU. 10

DAUGHTERS stands in GOLD

of KINGS the Lady of Ophir.

among your beloved; at YOUR RIGHT HAND,

11

Hear, DAUGHTER, observe and incline your ear, and forget your people and your house of your father. 12 And the KING will desire YOUR BEAUTY: because he is your Lord, and bow down to him! 13 And THE DAUGHTER of Tyre with a gift, your face will cheer up the richest of the people. 14

THE DAUGHTER of the KING is all splendid within, robed in GOLDEN clothing; in brocade she is led to the KING, virgins behind her, her companions are brought to you; 16 they are led in JOY and exultation, they enter into the PALACE of the KING. 15

17

In the place of your fathers shall be YOUR SONS; you will make them PRINCES in all the earth. 18 I will remember your name in every generation and generation, that is why the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever.

Verse 10 links the two parts of the poem. The term “daughters” in 10a announces its three occurrences in the next part (11, 13, 14), “the king” is found on either side of the centre (2, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16). “Your right hand” (10b) is found in the preceding part (5). The “gold” of 10c announces its synonym in 14; it can refer to the garments woven of gold as in 14, but also to the jewels, and even the crown.

48

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

CONTEXT KING SOLOMON ON HIS WEDDING DAY Ps 45 has always been compared with the Song of Songs. Song 3:6–11 is one of the closest texts to the psalm: 6

What is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, breathing of myrrh and frankincense and every exotic perfume? 7 Here comes Solomon’s litter. Around it are sixty champions, the flower of the warriors of Israel: 8 all of them skilled swordsmen, expert in war. Each man has his sword on his thigh, against alarms by night; 9 King Solomon has had a palanquin made of wood from Lebanon; 10 He has had the posts made of silver, the canopy of gold, the seat of purple; its interior inlaid with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. 11 Come and see, O daughters of Zion, King Solomon, wearing the diadem with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, on the day of his heart’s joy.

We find the incense (Song 3:6b; Ps 45:9a), “the sword on his thigh” (Song 3:8b; Ps 45:4a), and also the king’s mother “on his wedding day” (Song 3:11; Ps 45:10). THE BEAUTY The beauty of the king that the poet praises at the beginning (Ps 45:3) may recall the description of the beloved in the Song of Songs (Song 5:10–16): 10

My beloved is fresh and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. 11 His head is golden, purest gold; his locks are palm fronds and black as the raven. 12 His eyes are like doves beside the water-courses, bathing themselves in milk, perching on a fountain-rim. 13 His cheeks are like beds of spices, yielding fragrance. His lips are anemones;

dripping with virgin myrrh.

14

His arms are like rods of gold, set with chrysolite; His belly a block of ivory covered with sapphires; 15 His legs are alabaster columns set in sockets of pure gold. His appearance is that of Lebanon, unrivalled as the cedars. 16 His palate is sweetness itself, and it is nothing but delight. This is my beloved! This is my companion, daughters of Jerusalem.

At the centre of the description are not only his “lips”, as at the beginning of the first part of the psalm (Ps 45:3), but also the “myrrh”, as at the end of the same part (Ps 45:9)8. However, while the Song of Songs elaborates on the physical 8

See R. MEYNET, “La composition du Cantique des Cantiques: la section centrale (Ct 3,1– 7,11)”.

Psalm 45

49

qualities of the beloved by detailing the various parts of his body, Ps 45 is very discreet about the king’s physique, but emphasises his warlike qualities and his love of righteousness. The first and most visible quality of the king is his beauty. For instance, Saul, the first king of Israel, “a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the Israelites there was no one more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than anyone else” (1 Sam 9:2). Similarly concerning David: “he had ruddy cheeks, with fine eyes and an attractive appearance” (1 Sam 16:12; 17:42). The beauty refers not only to the king, but also to his wife, which recalls the beginning of the love duet on which the first section of the Song of Songs focuses: * 1 15 Behold you are : Behold you are : Your eyes

beautiful, beautiful! of doves.

MY COMPANION!

= 16 Behold you are : Yes, : Yes,

handsome, sweet! our bed

MY BELOVED!

verdant.

····································································································

*

* 17 The beams * our panelling

of our house

of cedars, of cypress.

= 2 1 I am =

a daffodil

of Sharon,

AN ANEMONE of the valleys. ···································································································· 2 Like AN ANEMONE among the thistles, : so MY COMPANION among the daughters.

= 3 Like the apple tree : so MY BELOVED

among the trees among

of the wood, young men.

MESSIANIC REREADING Some think that the divine anointing of Ps 45:8 is not of the royal consecration, like that of Saul (1 Sam 10:1), of David (1 Sam 16:13), of Solomon (1 Kgs 1:39), that the “oil of gladness” is of the perfume poured on the head of the young bridegroom.9 It would only be at a later stage, after the exile and thus after the end of the monarchy, that the verse would have acquired a messianic value. In any case, that is how the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews reads it when he applies it to Christ, the Son of God: 7

In speaking of the angels he says: “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire”, 8 he says to the Son: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever”, and: “a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. That is why, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Heb 1:8–9) 9

E.g., Barbiero, 73.

50

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

INTERPRETATION “YOU ARE HANDSOME”, “YOU LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS” The king must obviously be handsome, for this is a sign that God “has blessed him” (Ps 45:3). “Grace” on his lips (45:3), the ceremonial sword on his side, “magnificence and splendour” (45:4), dressed in clothes perfumed from the best extracts, living in “ivory palaces” vibrating with the chords of citharas (45:9), all this contributes to the king’s attractiveness. But that is not the main thing: he must be the champion of “truth, humility and righteousness” (45:5). God “anointed” him king not because of his physical attractiveness and the luxury of his house, but because he loves “righteousness” and hates wickedness (45:8). It is in this the true beauty, the beauty of his heart, is shown. “ARROWS” AND “SCEPTRE” To love righteousness and hate wickedness (45:8) is not just a matter of sentiment, especially for a king. Righteousness must be defended, arms in hand, the wicked neutralised by the same means. Therefore, the king will soar and ride, launching from his right hand the sharp arrows that will hit the enemy in the heart and bring him down (45:5–6). His sceptre is not primarily a ceremonial jewel to signify and make known his kingship, it is the mace weapon, a smasher that strikes down the wicked and restores “righteousness”. BUILD THE HOUSE The young king is called upon to think not only of the present, of the beauty of his reign, of his courage, of the righteousness that he must defend and promote. He has to think about the future, about building a “house”, about perpetuating his lineage. And if he were to forget it, his mother, the queen, would always be there, at his side, to remind him, even to think for him... And there are some exegetes think that she is the one who addresses the future wife throughout the second part of the poem (45:11–18). Since the queen-mother cannot promise to commemorate her name from age to age (45:18), it is better to consider that it is the psalmist who continues to speak throughout the poem. THE COUPLE AND THE GENERATIONS After addressing the young king, the psalmist turns to the future queen, while she is still in the palace where she was born, grew up and was living until this day. It is true that she will have to leave her father’s house, to forget it and enter another palace, but she is the one who will build her husband’s house, who will give him sons, and who, having become “queen-mother” in her turn, she will make them “princes in all the earth” (45:17). It is her name that will be remembered throughout the ages (45:18). Fascinated by her beauty, by the richness of the gifts

Psalm 45

51

given to her, by the gold embellishments, and by the young women who accompany her, it is perhaps not surprising that she is recognised as having a special place, not only alongside her husband, but also and above all in the course of generations. GOD’S MESSIAH As in the case of the Song of Songs, the messianic reading emerged quite naturally.10 The young king, portrayed by the psalmist at the time of his marriage, is the one to whom God had given the royal anointing, establishing him as his “son”, as the psalmist sings in Ps 2: 7

I will proclaim the decree of Yhwh: He said to me: “You are my son, I myself, today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me and I will give the nations as your inheritance, and as your dominion the ends of the earth.”

With his foreign wife and the young women who accompany her, the Gentile nations enter into a covenant with the King of Israel and his God. The disciples of Jesus saw in their master the one who received the royal anointing, the “Christ”; seeing the crowds from all nations entering his Church, they understood that the messianic times had now arrived.

10

See, among others, Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 745–748.

4. THE PEOPLES WILL GIVE THANKS TO THE KING OF THE LORD COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 42/43 1 For the music director, an instruction, of the sons of Korah. 2 As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God; 3 my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and shall I see THE FACE of God? 4 My tears have been my food day and night, when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 5 These things I remember, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to the house of God, among the voice of shouts of joy and of THANKSGIVING of a crowd keeping festival. 6 WHY ARE YOU COLLAPSING, my soul, and are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, THE SALVATION of HIS FACE. 7 My God, my soul IS COLLAPSING over me, that is why I remember you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the mountain Insignificant. 8 Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your waves and your billows have passed over me. 9 By day Yhwh commands his faithfulness and by night his song is with me, prayer to the God of my life. 10 I will say to God, my Rock: “WHY HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ME? WHY do I walk in gloom, under the oppression of THE ENEMY?” 11 In the breaking of my bones, my ADVERSARIES insult me when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 12 WHY ARE YOU COLLAPSING, my soul, and WHY are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, THE SALVATION of MY FACE and my God.

43 1 JUDGE ME, God, and DEFEND my cause against an unfaithful PEOPLE; against a man of deceit and falsehood, DELIVER ME. 2 Because you are the God of my strength: WHY DO YOU REJECT ME? WHY do I walk away in gloom, under the oppression of THE ENEMY? 3 SEND your light and your truth: they will guide me, they will make me come to the mountain of your holiness and to your tents. 4 And I will come to the altar of God, to the God of the joy of my exultation. And I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS on the CITHARA, O God, my God. 5 WHY ARE YOU COLLAPSING, my soul, and WHY are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, THE SALVATION of MY FACE and my God. Ps 44 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, an instruction. 2 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 You with your hand, you disinherited NATIONS and you planted them, you destroyed COUNTRIES and you made place for them. 4 Because not by their SWORD did they inherit the land and their arm DID NOT SAVE THEM, because your right hand and your arm, and the light of YOUR FACE, because you loved them. 5 You are MY KING, O God, commanding THE SALVATIONS of Jacob; 6 through you we pushed back our ADVERSARIES, in your name we trampled our AGGRESSORS. 7 Because not in my bow did I trust and my SWORD DID NOT SAVE ME; 8 because YOU SAVED US from our ADVERSARIES and you confused our HATERS, 9 in God we were praising all the day and to your name WE WERE GIVING THANKS forever. 10 But you have rejected us and you have dishonoured us, and you did not go out anymore with our armies; 11 you

made us turn back from the ADVERSARY and our HATERS have plundered us. 12 You have given us as sheep for butchery and you have dispersed us among the NATIONS; 13 you have sold your PEOPLE without profit and you have gained nothing on their price. 14 You make us an insult to our NEIGHBOURS, a fable and a derision to our ENTOURAGES; 15 you make us the proverb among the NATIONS, a shaking of the head among THE COUNTRIES. 16 All the day my dishonour is before me and shame covers MY FACE, 17 under the clamours of insulter and of blasphemer, in THE FACE of THE ENEMY and of the avenger. 18 All

this has come over us and NOT THAT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU and not that we have betrayed your covenant; that our heart has gone back and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread darkness over us. 21 IF WE HAVE FORGOTTEN the name of our God and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would not God have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed all the day, we are considered as sheep for slaughter. 24 AWAKE, WHY do you sleep, O Lord? WAKE UP, DO NOT REJECT US forever! 25 WHY do you hide YOUR FACE, DO YOU FORGET our misery and our oppression? 26 Because our soul COLLAPSES in the dust, our belly clings to the ground. 27 RISE UP as our help and REDEEM US for the sake of your faithfulness. 19 not

Sequence 42/43–45

53

Ps 45 1 For the music director, on “The Lilies”; of the sons of Korah, an instruction, a love song. 2 My heart is stirred by a beautiful word: Myself, I recite my work to THE KING, my tongue is the reed-pen of a skilful scribe. 3 You are handsome more than the sons of Adam, grace is poured upon your lips: that is why God has blessed you forever. 4 Gird your SWORD on your thigh, O valiant one, your magnificence and your splendour. 5 Your splendour: soar, ride, for the cause of truth, of humility, of righteousness and let your right hand teach you wonders! 6 Your arrows are sharp, PEOPLES fall under you, in the heart of the ENEMIES of THE KING. 7 Your THRONE, O God, forever and ever, a SCEPTRE of uprightness, THE SCEPTRE of your KINGDOM! 8 You love righteousness and you hate wickedness; that is why God, your God, HAS ANOINTED YOU, with the oil of gladness more than your friends. 9 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all your garments, from ivory palaces the CITHARAS rejoice you. 10 Daughters

of KINGS among your beloved; the Lady stands at your right hand, in gold of Ophir.

11 Hear, daughter, observe and incline your ear, and FORGET YOUR PEOPLE and your house of your father. 12 And

will desire your beauty: because he is your Lord, and bow down to him! 13 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face will cheer up the richest OF THE PEOPLE. 14 The daughter of THE KING all splendid within, robed in golden clothing; 15 in brocade she is led to THE KING, virgins behind her, her companions are brought to you; 16 they are led in joy and exultation, they enter into the palace of THE KING. 17 In the place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them PRINCES IN ALL THE EARTH. 18 I will remember your name in every generation and generation, that is why THE PEOPLES WILL GIVE YOU THANKS forever and ever. THE KING

The three psalms are related according to the AAB pattern. There are many links between the first two psalms: – “Why?” occurs nine times in the first psalm (42:6, 10[2x], 12[2x]; 43:2[2x], 5[2x]) and twice at the end of the second psalm (44:24–25); – The term “my soul”, which occurs frequently in the first psalm (42:2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12; 43:5), appears only once at the end of the second one (44:26); – “Face” is repeated four times in the first psalm (42:3, 6, 12; 43:5) and three times in the second one (44:4, 16, 25); – “Collapsing” occurs four times in the first psalm (42:6, 7, 12; 43:5), once at the end of the second one (44:26); – “Oppression” is found twice in the first psalm (42:10; 43:2) and once in the second one (44:25); – “To insult/insulter” occurs once in the first psalm (42:11), twice in the second one (44:14, 17). – The verb “to reject” occurs in 43:2 and 44:24; – The terms “salvation/to save” occur three times in the first psalm (42:6, 12; 43:5) and four times in the second one (44:4, 5, 7, 8); – “Faithfulness” is found once in each psalm (42:9; 44:27); Each psalm is organised into three parts which are parallel to each other. In the first parts the psalmist recalls a happy past: when he led the multitude to the Temple with joy (42:5), when the Lord saved his people (44:2–9). In the second parts he is lamenting the present oppressive situation (42:8–11; 44:10–17). In the third parts he appeals to the Lord for help (43:1–3; 44:24–27); these are the only parts containing imperatives (43:1[3x], 3; 44:24[3x], 27[2x]). While the first psalm is entirely in the first person singular, the second one is entirely in the first person plural.

54

First Section (Ps 42/43–49) The connections between the last psalm and the other two.

Ps 42/43 1 For the music director, an instruction, of the sons of Korah. 2 As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God; 3 my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and shall I see THE FACE of God? 4 My tears have been my food day and night, when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 5 These things I remember, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to the house of God, among the voice of shouts of joy and of THANKSGIVING of a crowd keeping festival. 6 WHY ARE YOU COLLAPSING, my soul, and are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, THE SALVATION of HIS FACE. 7 My God, my soul IS COLLAPSING over me, that is why I remember you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the mountain Insignificant. 8 Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your waves and your billows have passed over me. 9 By day Yhwh commands his faithfulness and by night his song is with me, prayer to the God of my life. 10 I will say to God, my Rock: “WHY HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ME? WHY do I walk in gloom, under the oppression of THE ENEMY?” 11 In the breaking of my bones, my ADVERSARIES insult me when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 12 WHY ARE YOU COLLAPSING, my soul, and WHY are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, THE SALVATION of MY FACE and my God.

43 1 JUDGE ME, God, and DEFEND my cause against an unfaithful PEOPLE; against a man of deceit and falsehood, DELIVER ME. 2 Because you are the God of my strength: WHY DO YOU REJECT ME? WHY do I walk away in gloom, under the oppression of THE ENEMY? 3 SEND your light and your truth: they will guide me, they will make me come to the mountain of your holiness and to your tents. 4 And I will come to the altar of God, to the God of the joy of my exultation. And I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS on the CITHARA, O God, my God. 5 WHY ARE YOU COLLAPSING, my soul, and WHY are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, THE SALVATION of MY FACE and my God. Ps 44 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, an instruction. 2 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 You with your hand, you disinherited NATIONS and you planted them, you destroyed COUNTRIES and you made place for them. 4 Because not by their SWORD did they inherit the land and their arm DID NOT SAVE THEM, because your right hand and your arm, and the light of YOUR FACE, because you loved them. 5 You are MY KING, O God, commanding THE SALVATIONS of Jacob; 6 through you we pushed back our ADVERSARIES, in your name we trampled our AGGRESSORS. 7 Because not in my bow did I trust and my SWORD DID NOT SAVE ME; 8 because YOU SAVED US from our ADVERSARIES and you confused our HATERS, 9 in God we were praising all the day and to your name WE WERE GIVING THANKS forever. 10 But you have rejected us and you have dishonoured us, and you did not go out anymore with our armies; 11 you

made us turn back from the ADVERSARY and our HATERS have plundered us. 12 You have given us as sheep for butchery and you have dispersed us among the NATIONS; 13 you have sold your PEOPLE without profit and you have gained nothing on their price. 14 You make us an insult to our NEIGHBOURS, a fable and a derision to our ENTOURAGES; 15 you make us the proverb among the NATIONS, a shaking of the head among THE COUNTRIES. 16 All the day my dishonour (is) before me and shame covers MY FACE, 17 under the clamours of insulter and of blasphemer, in THE FACE of THE ENEMY and of the avenger. 18 All

this has come over us and NOT THAT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN YOU and not that we have betrayed your covenant; that our heart has gone back and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread darkness over us. 21 IF WE HAVE FORGOTTEN the name of our God and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would not God have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed all the day, we are considered as sheep for slaughter. 24 AWAKE, WHY do you sleep, O Lord? WAKE UP, DO NOT REJECT US forever! 25 WHY do you hide YOUR FACE, DO YOU FORGET our misery and our oppression? 26 Because our soul COLLAPSES in the dust, our belly clings to the ground. 27 RISE UP as our help and REDEEM US for the sake of your faithfulness. 19 not

Sequence 42/43–45

55

Ps 45 1 For the music director, on “The Lilies”; of the sons of Korah, an instruction, a love song. 2 My heart is stirred by a beautiful word: Myself, I recite my work to THE KING, my tongue is the reed-pen of a skilful scribe. 3 You are handsome more than the sons of Adam, grace is poured upon your lips: that is why God has blessed you forever. 4 Gird your SWORD on your thigh, O valiant one, your magnificence and your splendour. 5 Your splendour: soar, ride, for the cause of truth, of humility, of righteousness and let your right hand teach you wonders! 6 Your arrows are sharp, PEOPLES fall under you, in the heart of the ENEMIES of THE KING. 7 Your THRONE, O God, forever and ever, a SCEPTRE of uprightness, THE SCEPTRE of your KINGDOM! 8 You love righteousness and you hate wickedness; that is why God, your God, HAS ANOINTED YOU, with the oil of gladness more than your friends. 9 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all your garments, from ivory palaces the CITHARAS rejoice you. 10 Daughters

of KINGS among your beloved; the Lady stands at your right hand, in gold of Ophir.

11 Hear, daughter, observe and incline your ear, and FORGET YOUR PEOPLE and your house of your father. 12 And

will desire your beauty: because he is your Lord, and bow down to him! 13 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face will cheer up the richest OF THE PEOPLE. 14 The daughter of THE KING all splendid within, robed in golden clothing; 15 in brocade she is led to THE KING, virgins behind her, her companions are brought to you; 16 they are led in joy and exultation, they enter into the palace of THE KING. 17 In the place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them PRINCES IN ALL THE EARTH. 18 I will remember your name in every generation and generation, that is why THE PEOPLES WILL GIVE YOU THANKS forever and ever. THE KING

– These three psalms are the only ones in the section that in the title are qualified as “an instruction”; – The term “enemy/s” appears everywhere (42:10; 43:2; 44:17; 45:6); it is accompanied by “adversary/s”, “haters”, “aggressors”, as well as “nations”, “people/s”, “countries”, “neighbours”, “entourages” (42:11; 43:1; 44:3, 6[2x], 8[2x], 11[2x], 12, 13; 45:6). The last occurrences of “people/s” (45:11, 13, 18) differ from the previous ones because they will offer gifts and will finally “give thanks” to the Lord; – “To forget” is used once in the first psalm (42:10), three times in the second one (44:18, 21, 25), and once in the third one (45:11); – “Sword” occurs in 44:4, 7 and 45:4; this term is accompanied by “bow” (44:7) and “arrows” (45:6); – “Thanksgiving/to give thanks” appears five times in the first psalm (42:5, 6, 12; 43:4, 5), and once in each of the other two (44:9; 45:18); – The couple “joy and exultation” is found in 43:4 and 45:16; – “Truth” is repeated in 43:3 and 45:5; – The two processions frame the sequence, “to the house of God” (42:5), “to the palace of the king” (45:15–16); – The “cithara/s” is found in 43:4 and 45:9; – The last psalm celebrates the wedding of Israel’s “king” but insists on the fact that the “kingdom” belongs to God (45:7). In the preceding psalm, the psalmist invokes the Lord as his king: “You are my King, O God” (44:5); – The last psalm with “forever” (45:3), “in every generation and generation”, “forever and ever” (45:18) and even “in the place of your fathers shall your sons be” (45:17), corresponds to the two previous psalms where similar expressions refer to the misfortune: “all the day” (42:11; 44:9, 16, 23), “forever” (44:24).

56

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

INTERPRETATION “WHY?” The first psalm is marked throughout by questions introduced by “why”. Most of them the psalmist addresses to his soul. But there are two that he poses to God: “Why have you forgotten me?” (42:10) and “Why do you reject me?” (43:2). These two questions reappear at the end of the second psalm, accompanied by the same verbs (44:24–25). The situation of the psalmist in the first psalm and of all the people in the second psalm seems desperate. Indeed they find themselves under the “oppression” caused by their “enemies” and in the midst of the “insults” of their “adversaries” who ask them a question that hurts the most: “Where is your God?” (42:4, 11). REMEMBERING THE GOOD OLD DAYS Both, the individual in the first psalm and his people in the second psalm, begin by making references to a joyful and happy past that prompted them to “give thanks” (42:5; 44:9). For the first one, it is a prompt but enthusiastic reminder of his participation in the joyful liturgy “in the house of God”, with “the multitude”, of “a crowd keeping festival” which “gives thanks” (42:5). The second one takes over at length (44:2–9), recounting what the fathers were saying about the conquest of the land after leaving the desert, insisting with pleasure on the fact that it was not by their strength that they had been saved from their enemies, but by the love of their Lord alone. The singular of 44:7 is mixed with the plural of all those around it, thus linking the two psalms. CONCLUDING SUPPLICATION Both psalms end with a series of imperatives addressed to God, all calling for help. “Judge me”, “defend my cause”, “deliver me”, “send your light and your truth” (43:1, 3); “Awake”, “wake up”, “do not reject us forever” (44:24), and, as a final outburst, “Rise up as our help and redeem us for the sake of your faithfulness” (44:27). In the first psalm, the supplication leads to the prospect of returning to the Temple, in “exultation” and thanksgiving “on the cithara” (43:3– 4). In the second psalm, on the contrary, the future seems totally blocked, “darkness” or “the shadow of death” are spread over the people (44:20): “we are killed”, “considered as sheep for slaughter” (44:23). But if the people continue to cry out to their God for help, it is because they have not lost their hope of being heard (44:24–27). THE KING’S ANSWER The first two psalms are marked by a long series of “whys”. The second one focuses on a description of the misfortune of the people, robbed and mocked “all the day” by the enemies around them, and it ends with a cry for help to God by

Sequence 42/43–45

57

those who see themselves rejected “forever” (44:24). The last psalm then presents itself as an expected response. The “king” invoked by the psalmist (44:5) is now acclaimed as the one who promotes “righteousness” “forever and ever” (45:7). He subdues kings with “the sword” and with his “arrows” that pierce the hearts of his enemies (45:4-6). Moreover, the covenant made with his neighbours will turn his adversaries into partners; and finally, “the peoples will give thanks” to the God of Israel “forever and ever” (45:18). The “love song” (45:1), composed by a “skilful scribe” in honour of the king who marries the daughter of the king of Tyre, thus becomes a “love song” for the whole people who will find “joy and exultation” (43:4; 45:16) at the sound of the “harp” (43:4; 45:9). Such is the “instruction” provided by the three psalms as a whole.

II. YHWH OF HOSTS WITH US, A CITADEL FOR US! The Second Sequence: Ps 46 TEXT 1 For

the music director, of the sons of Korah, for young women, a song. 2 God (is) our refuge and strength, a very present help in anguish. 3 That is why we shall not fear when the earth changes, when the mountains shake in the heart of the seas; 4 its waters rumble, seethe, the mountains tremble at his rising. Pause 5 A river, its channels rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High; 6 God (is) in her, she is not shaken, God helps her when the morning dawns. 7 Peoples rumbled, kingdoms were shaken, he gave voice, the earth melts. 8 Yhwh of hosts with us, our citadel, the God of Jacob! Pause 9 “Come and contemplate the great deeds of Yhwh, who causes destructions on the earth: 10 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, he breaks the bow and he shatters the spear, the shields he burns with fire. 11 Stop and know that I (am) God, I am exalted above the peoples, I am exalted on the earth!” 12 Yhwh of hosts with us, our citadel, the God of Jacob! Pause.

V. 1 “FOR YOUNG WOMEN”

Ps 46 is the only one that has ‘al-’ălāmôt in its title. Because of the preposition ‘al-, it is sometimes interpreted as “on (the tune of)”, like the previous psalm where “on The Lilies” is found. But since ‘ălāmôt means “young women”, it can be understood as a reminder of the companions of the king’s young wife and understood as a song for such voices.1 V. 4: “ITS WATERS”, “HIS RISING”

Most believe that the two pronouns in the masculine singular refer to “the seas” (plural of intensity), the agreement is made according to the meaning and not according to the number; however, the referent could also be “God” mentioned at the beginning of verse 2.2 V. 10: “THE SHIELDS HE BURNS”

The first term, ‘ăgālôt, means “chariots”, but never refers to war chariots; the Septuagint and the Targum read ‘ăgilôt, “shields”, which seems preferable.

1 2

Lorenzin, 202; Barbiero, 86. See Hakham, I, 265.

60

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

COMPOSITION After the title, the psalm comprises three parts (2–4, 5–8 & 9–12), each ending with the selâ, “pause”. THE FIRST PART (2–4) : 2 God (is) : a help

for us in anguishes,

refuge present

and strength, greatly.

······················································································································ 3

+ That is why + when shake,

we shall not fear the mountains,

when changes in the heart

the earth, of the seas;

+ 4 (they) rumble, + tremble,

(they) seethe, the mountains,

its waters, at his rising.

Pause

Beginning with “that is why” (3a), the second piece expresses the consequence of the statements of the first piece. The “anguishes” (2b) are illustrated in the second piece by the worst that can happen when creation is undone, the separation between “the waters” and “the earth” is abolished (3). The last verse duplicates the preceding one, but it can be interpreted as going even further, if one understands that the rumbling of the waters and the lifting of the mountains are caused by God. THE SECOND PART (5–8) + 5 A river, + the holy

its channels dwelling

rejoice of the MOST HIGH;

+ 6 GOD (is) + helps her,

in her, GOD,

she is not shaken, when downs

the morning.

peoples, voice,

were shaken, melts,

kingdoms, the earth.

7

– Rumbled, – he gave

the city of GOD,

····························································································································· 8

: YHWH : citadel

of hosts for us,

with us, the GOD

of Jacob!

Pause

The first two segments (5–6) describe “the city of God” watered by the still waters of its channels; being the dwelling place of God, helped by him, she cannot be shaken. In contrast, the third segment (7) shows “peoples” and “kingdoms” “shaken” because the earth “melts” under them. In the second piece (8), the “us” of the people acclaim their God.

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61

THE THIRD PART (9–12) + 9 COME, + who

causes

the great deeds destruction

of YHWH, ON THE EARTH:

:: 10 He makes cease :: the bow :: the shields

wars he breaks he burns

to the ends and he shatters with fire.

of the earth, the spear,

+ 11 STOP + I am exalted

AND KNOW

that I (am) I am exalted

GOD,

CONTEMPLATE

above the peoples,

ON THE EARTH!

·····························································································································

: 12 YHWH : citadel

of hosts for us,

with us, the GOD

of Jacob!

Pause

In the first two segments (9–10), the psalmist invites to contemplate the deeds of God (9), which consist in destroying all weapons of war (10). In the third segment (11) it is clear that God himself is speaking because of all the first person singular pronouns. The extreme segments (9 & 11) begin equally with two imperatives, the first members end with a divine name and the second members with “on the earth”. Consequently, it is possible to think that the whole of the first piece is pronounced by the Lord, even though the verbs that have God as their subject are in the third person and not the first person.3 This phenomenon is not uncommon: 14

O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

15

At once I would subdue their enemies and against their oppressors I would turn my hand;

16

the haters of Yhwh would flatter him, and it would be their time forever. 17

And he would make him eat the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. (Ps 81:14–17)

3

Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 756.

62

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, of the sons of Korah, for young women, a song. : 2 GOD is .. a HELP

for us in anguishes,

REFUGE

present

and STRENGTH, greatly.

································································································································ 3

That is why when SHAKE,

we shall not fear the mountains,

when changes in the heart

4

seethe, the mountains,

its waters, at his rising.

A river, the holy

its channels dwelling

rejoice of the Most High;

6

GOD is her,

in her, GOD,

SHE IS NOT SHAKEN, when downs

the morning.

RUMBLED, he gave

PEOPLES,

WERE SHAKEN, melts,

THE EARTH.

RUMBLE,

tremble, 5

HELPS 7

voice,

THE EARTH,

of the seas; Pause the city of GOD,

kingdoms,

····························································································································

: 8 YHWH .. CITADEL

of hosts for us,

with us, the GOD

of Jacob!

9

“Come, who

contemplate causes

the great deeds destructions

of YHWH, ON THE EARTH:

10

He makes cease the bow the shields

wars he breaks he burns

to the ends and he shatters with fire.

of THE EARTH, the spear,

11

and know above the PEOPLES,

that I am I am exalted

GOD,

Stop I am exalted

Pause

ON THE EARTH!”

····························································································································

: 12 YHWH .. CITADEL

of hosts for us,

with us, the GOD

of Jacob!

Pause

The last two parts (5–8 & 9–12) end with the same piece (8 & 12) and so their two occurrences act as final terms; the first part (2–4) begins with a similar piece where “God is for us” (2a) corresponds to “Yhwh [...] with us” and “citadel for us” (8 & 12), where “refuge and strength, a help” (2) are synonyms of “citadel” (8b & 12b) and they announce the “hosts” (8a & 12a). In this way, the segments 2 and 12 have the function of extreme terms.

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63

The first two parts are framed by the two short extreme pieces (2 & 8). The pair “to shake” and “to rumble” of 3–4 is found in 6a and 7a. The “earth” is found at the end of 3a and 7b. The “seas” and “waters” of the first part (3b, 4a) are followed by “a river” and its “channels” at the beginning of the second part (5a). The verb “to help” in 6b recalls the noun “help” at the beginning of the first part (2b). The last two parts are linked by their second pieces which are identical (8 & 12). The “peoples” are found at the end of the first pieces (7a & 11b). “The earth” occurs once in the first two parts (3a & 7b) and three times in the last part (9b, 10a & 11b). The last member of the first piece of the last part can be considered as a kind of summary of all that precedes it: “I am exalted above the peoples” (11b) refers back to the second part (7a) and “I am exalted on the earth” (11b) recalls the first part (3a). Furthermore, if the first piece of the last part is pronounced entirely by God, its function as the conclusion of the whole psalm is better understood.

CONTEXT THE END OF THE WORLD The first part describes a situation in which creation is unravelling in a return to the initial chaos, with the waters of the seas taking over the land, swallowing up the solidity of the mountains on which the world rests: 9

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”. 10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the waters that were gathered together he called “seas”. And God saw that it was good. (Gen 1:9–10)

THE RIVER OF EDEN The “river” of which the psalm speaks can hardly be identified with the Kidron, which does not give rise to any “channel” and does not irrigate Jerusalem. Rather, it seems to refer to the river mentioned in the second creation story: “A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches” (Gen 2:10). Such a reference agrees with the context which presents the situation of the first part as a de-creation.

INTERPRETATION The three parts of the psalm are being entitled as: “Protection against natural disasters”, “Protection against political disasters”, “Protection against war”.4 However legitimate these titles may be, characterising the content of the psalm in

4

Lorenzin, 201–202.

64

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

such a way they may appear to some extent reductive, in view of the use of mythological language. “ANGUISHES” (PS 46:2B) The “anguishes” with which “Jacob” (46:8, 12) is confronted—the “us” (46:2a) in whose name the psalmist unfolds his “song” (46:1)—are first evoked in dramatic terms that suggest the end of the world, the collapse of its eternal foundations, the reversal of creation (46:3–4). Such language can without doubt be applied to earthquakes, tremors, and tidal waves, where the boundaries between sea and land are suddenly abolished. However, the same expressions are commonly used for the great struggles of life, some bereavements, some separations, and all kinds of major crises, when “everything falls apart” for the victim, when “life has stopped forever”. “WARS” Among all the anguishes of life, that of war is most affecting the whole population, the “us” of the community. There are not only the individuals who are affected, who suffer, who fear for their life, it is the whole society to which the individuals belong. The hostile “peoples” and “kingdoms” (46:7) are presented in the same way as the clashing elements of creation (46:3–4). It is not easier to escape war than to escape an earthquake or a tidal wave. Borders between peoples and kingdoms are crossed by armies invading other people’s lands, and chaos overturns everything. THE CITY OF GOD In contrast to situations where everything is unsteady, “the city of God”, his “holy dwelling” place, is characterised by calm and stability (46:5). While the waters of the sea rumble and seethe (46:4), a channelised river flows peacefully through the kingdom of God. The opposition between the two worlds—between the two cities—is not limited to this difference in nature. God is “refuge and strength, a help in anguishes” (46:2). He allows himself to be found by those who call upon him in trouble. It is enough for him to “give voice” for the earth to be melted (46:7b), for “the mountains to tremble at his lifting” (46:4b). It was through his voice that the world was created, and it is through his voice that it is shaken, and the forces of evil are subdued. THE GREAT DEEDS OF GOD The “great deeds” of the Lord that he himself invites us to contemplate are “destructions” (46:9). Such as the flood intended to wipe out evil from the surface of the earth. This evil is that of war (46:10), which means, the systematic destruction regularly carried out, and not only in biblical times. What Yhwh, the

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65

God of Jacob-Israel, desires eliminated is that destruction, which has its beginning with Cain killing his brother. And that is most probably the reason why he is invoked as “Yhwh of hosts” (46:8a, 12a). Paradoxically, the God of armies is the one who destroys the bow, the spear, the shields, who puts an end to the reign of military weapons (46:10).

III. ALL THE PEOPLES WILL SING PSALMS TO OUR KING The Third Sequence: Ps 47–49 1. PSALM 47 TEXT 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm.

2 All you peoples, clap your hands,

acclaim God with the voice of shouts of joy! Yhwh, the Most High, is fearsome, the great King over all the earth. 4 He subdues peoples under us and countries under our feet. 5 He chose for us our inheritance, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. 6 God ascends with acclamation, Yhwh, with the voice of a shofar. 7 Sing psalms to God, sing psalms, sing psalms to our King, sing psalms! 8 Yes, God (is) the King of all the earth: sing psalms of instruction! 9 God reigns over the nations, God sits on his throne of holiness. 10 The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. Yes, the shields of the earth (belong) to God, he ascended greatly. 3 Yes,

V. 4: “HE SUBDUES”

The hiphil of dābar is found yet only in Ps 18:48. It is believed to mean “to subdue”, “to prostrate”. V. 8: “SING PSALMS OF INSTRUCTION”

The term maśkîl occurs in the titles of thirteen psalms (see p. 19). V. 10B: “THE PEOPLE OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM”

The Septuagint, the Syriac and the Vulgate read ‘im (“with”) in place of ‘am (“people”). The meaning is quite similar, but the Masoretic text, which presents the lectio difficilior, is stronger. It identifies all peoples with the chosen people.1 V. 10C: “THE SHIELDS”

In the metaphorical sense, “the shields” are those who protect their people; they refer to “the princes” of the preceding verse.

COMPOSITION After the title, the psalm is organised into two parallel parts (2–6 & 7–10).

1

See, e.g., Vesco, 434.

68

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

THE FIRST PART (2–6) = 2 All YOU PEOPLES, = ACCLAIM 3

:: Yes, YHWH, :: the King

clap GOD

your hands, WITH THE VOICE

of shouts of joy!

the MOST HIGH, great

is fearsome, over all

the earth.

······························································································································· – 4 He subdues PEOPLES under us

– and countries

under

our feet.

– 5 He chose – the pride

for us of Jacob,

our inheritance, whom

+ 6 Ascends, + YHWH,

GOD, WITH THE VOICE

WITH ACCLAMATION,

he loves.

of a shofar.

The first piece (2–3) is an invitation addressed to “all the peoples” to acclaim “God”. The second segment (3) is a kind of expansion that specifies who “God” is: “Yhwh”, “the Most High”, “fearsome”, “the King”. “All you peoples” (2a) and “all the earth” (3b) form an inclusion. The second piece (4–6) describes what God does: “he subdues”, “he chose”, “ascends”. The two occurrences of “peoples” (2a & 4a) play the role of initial terms; “acclaim” and “acclamation” plus “God” and “with the voice” have the function of extreme terms (2, 6). THE SECOND PART (7–10) = 7 Sing psalms = sing psalms

to GOD, to our KING,

sing psalms, sing psalms!

:: 8 Yes, THE KING :: sing psalms

OF ALL THE EARTH,

GOD:

of instruction!

······························································································································· + 9 REIGNS, GOD, over the nations, + GOD sits on HIS THRONE of holiness.

– 10 The princes – the people

of the peoples of the GOD

are gathered together, of Abraham.

+ Yes, to GOD (belong) + greatly,

the shields he ascended.

OF THE EARTH,

The first piece (7–8) is marked by the fivefold repetition of “sing psalms”: the two occurrences of “king” link both segments. The second piece (9–10) details how God acts as “the king of all the earth” (8a): in the extreme segments “the nations” (9a) are related to “the earth” (10c), “he sits” (9b) is related to “he ascended” (10d). In the centre (10ab), “the peoples” of the nations and “the people” of Israel become one.

Psalm 47

69

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director,

of the sons of Korah, a psalm.

= 2 All YOU PEOPLES, = acclaim

clap GOD

your hands, with the voice

of shouts of joy!

the MOST HIGH, great

is fearsome, over all

the earth.

3

:: Yes, YHWH, :: THE KING

······························································································································· – 4 He subdues PEOPLES under us – and COUNTRIES under our feet.

– 5 He chose – the pride

for us of JACOB,

our inheritance, whom

GOD, with the voice

with acclamation, of a shofar.

= 7 Sing psalms = sing psalms

to GOD, to our KING,

sing psalms, sing psalms!

:: 8 Yes, THE KING :: sing psalms

of all the earth, of instruction!

GOD:

6

+ ASCENDS, + YHWH,

he loves.

······························································································································· – 9 REIGNS, GOD, over THE NATIONS, – GOD sits on HIS THRONE of holiness.

– 10 The princes – THE PEOPLE

OF THE PEOPLES of the GOD

are gathered together, of ABRAHAM.

+ Yes, to GOD belong + greatly,

the shields

of the earth,

HE ASCENDED.

Both parts are parallel: their first pieces (2–3 & 7–8) comprising imperatives (2ab, 7ab, 8b) invite to praise “God” (2b & 7a), as “king” (3b, 7b, 8a). “All the earth” is repeated in the second segments (3b & 8a). The second pieces (4–6 & 9– 10), which are of the same length, provide some reasons why God should be acclaimed by singing of psalms. The term “people/s” occurs in 4a and 10ab, “countries” and “nations” occur in 4b and 9a; “Jacob” and “Abraham” are found in the same position (5b & 10b) and both occurrences of the verb “to ascend” act as final terms (6a & 10d). It should be pointed out that the five occurrences of “sing psalms” at the beginning of the second part (7–8) refer back to the word “psalm” at the end of the title (1).

70

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

CONTEXT PS 117 The shortest psalm in the Psalter invites all nations to give thanks to God for the good he has done to Israel: + 1 PRAISE + glorify him,

YHWH,

ALL THE NATIONS, ALL THE COUNTRIES;

:: 2 because is strong :: and the loyalty

FOR US

his faithfulness forever.

= PRAISE

of YHWH YAH!

INHERITANCE OF THE NATIONS Verse 5 of Ps 47 recalls Ps 2:8, “Ask of me, and I will give the nations as your inheritance, and as your dominion the ends of the earth”. JACOB’S ELECTION Verse 5 of Ps 47 reminds us that Jacob-Israel was loved among all and chosen from among all the nations to become the Lord’s inheritance. That is stated in the first words of the Lord when the people arrived at Sinai, words addressed to “the house of Jacob”: 3

Then Moses went up to God. Yhwh called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: 4 You have seen for yourselves what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you away on eagle's wings and brought you to me. 5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine.” (Exod 19:3–5)

BLESSING OF ABRAHAM Verse 10 of Ps 47 refers to the promise God made to Abraham in the first words addressed to him: 1

Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred and your father's house for a country which I shall show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing! 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:1–3; see also 18:18; 22:18).

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71

INTERPRETATION “ALL YOU PEOPLES” (PS 47:2A) The very first word of the psalm identifies its recipients: they are “all the peoples” who are invited to clap their hands to acclaim God with shouts of joy. As for those who issue this invitation, they can be recognised in the second piece (47:4–6): they are the “us” of the people of Israel. The reason why Gentiles are called to praise “Yhwh” may seem surprising, to say the least, if not totally absurd. It would be because God has subjected them to Israel that they must acclaim him. The chosen people would demand of those who are placed under their feet an attitude that would be nothing else than the purest masochism. “THE PEOPLE OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM” The second part of the psalm solves the riddle (47:7–10). Yhwh is not only the God of Israel: he is the king of the all the earth. Each of the invitatories repeats this (47:3, 8). And as such, all peoples are invited to acclaim him. He is their God, as he is the God of Israel. The blessing of Abraham, the Lord’s first chosen one, foresaw that all would be blessed through him; they would be blessed when they will bless one chosen from among them. Thus, they see themselves integrated into the one people of God. Mutual recognition is the only way out of jealousy which, like that of Cain, can only lead to death. All peoples are brothers: they comprise the pagan nations but also and primarily Israel. Such is the “instruction” (47:8b) of this psalm.

2. PSALM 48 TEXT 1 A song, a psalm, of the sons of Korah. 2 Great (is) Yhwh and greatly praised in the city of our God, the mountain of his holiness. 3 Beautiful in elevation, joy of all the earth, the mountain of Zion, summit of Zaphon, the city of the great king: 4 God in his palaces has revealed himself as a citadel. 5 Because, behold, kings made alliance, they advanced together. 6 They saw, yes they were astounded, they panicked, they decamped, 7 a trembling seized them there, a pain of childbirth; 8 by the east wind the ships of Tarshish were broken. 9 As we have heard so we have seen in the city of Yhwh of hosts, in the city of our God: God will make it firm forever. 10 We meditate, O God, on your faithfulness in the midst of your Temple; 11 as your name, O God, so your praise, to the ends of the earth! Your right hand is full of righteousness, 12 the mountain of Zion rejoices; the daughters of Judah exult for the sake of your judgments. 13 Go around Zion and walk through it, count its towers, 14 put your hearts to its ramparts, detail its palaces, in order to recount to future generations 15 that he (is) God, our God forever and ever, he (is the one) who guides us until death!

V. 3: “IN ELEVATION”

The term nôp is a hapax, but it is found in other Semitic languages; thus, in Arabic, nāfa means “to be high, elevated”. V. 4: “PALACES”

These are not ordinary residences, but fortified houses. Osty translates as “fortified castles”, Vesco as “dungeons”. V. 14: “ITS RAMPARTS”

Given the context, most translate ḥêlâ as a term of the same semantic field as “towers” and “palaces”.1 The Septuagint renders it as “power”. V. 15: “UNTIL DEATH”

The last word of the psalm is problematic since ancient times. In place of ‘almût, “until death”, of the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint reads ‘olâmôt, “for ages” which would be a counterpart to “forever and ever” of the preceding member. The last term of the psalm could announce the next psalm which deals with the same subject.2

1 In this way, the BJ has “its walls”; but the term is in the singular, Osty renders it as “its enclosure” and the TOB as “its rampart”. 2 See, e.g., Ravasi, I, 866–867; Vesco, 438.

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

74 COMPOSITION

The psalm consists of three parts arranged concentrically around verse 9. The extreme parts (2–8 & 10–15) are more developed; each one is formed of two subparts. As for the central part (9), it is the size of a piece formed of two segments. THE FIRST PART (2–8) The first subpart (2–4) + 2 Great (is) + in the city

YHWH of OUR GOD,

and praised the mountain

greatly of his holiness.

:: 3 Beautiful :: the mountain :: the city

in elevation, of Zion, of the king,

joy summit the great one.

of all the earth, of Zaphon,

+ 4 GOD + has revealed himself

in his palaces as a citadel.

The extreme segments (2 & 4) have God as their subject, while the subject of the central trimember (3) is Mount Zion, his “city”: God’s name is repeated and its two complements of place are corresponding to each other: “in the city” (2b), “in its palaces” (4a). In the central trimember, after the double predicate (3a), comes the double subject (3b) followed by an apposition (3c). “The mountain of his holiness” (2b) is named “the mountain of Zion” at the centre of the central trimember (3b). The second subpart (5–8) While the first piece (5) portrays the coalition of kings advancing confidently, the second piece (6–8) focuses on their destruction: surprise and panic (6), pain of childbirth (7), disaster of crumbling fleet (8). The last two segments take up the classic metaphors used to describe the most terrible events.

Psalm 48 – 5 Because, behold, – they advanced

KINGS

75 made alliance,

together.

················································································································ :: 6 THEY saw, yes, they were astounded,

:: they panicked, 7

they decamped,

:: a trembling :: a pain

seized them of childbirth;

= 8 by a wind = were broken

of the east the ships

there,

of Tarshish.

The whole of the part (2–8) The two subparts are linked by “because” (5a). The “kings” of 5a are opposed to God, “the king, the great one” (3c). The proper names “Zaphon” and “Tarshish” are related, being two pagan places in the same region, the second one referring to Tyre in the south of the Phoenician coast, the first one in the far north. “Citadel” and “ships” (4b & 8b) could be considered as final terms insofar as they are two antagonistic forces, that of Jerusalem and that of Tyre: God has protected his people in his “citadel” (4), the east wind, God’s wind, has broken the strength of the enemy (8).3 + 2 Great (is) + in the city

Yhwh of our God,

and praised the mountain

greatly of his holiness.

:: 3 Beautiful :: the mountain :: the city

in elevation, of Zion,

joy summit the great one.

of all the earth, of ZAPHON,

4

= God = has revealed himself – 5 Because, behold, – they advanced

OF THE KING,

in his palaces as a citadel. KINGS

made alliance,

together.

·························································································································

:: 6 They :: they panicked,

saw, they decamped,

yes, they were astounded,

:: 7 a trembling :: a pain

seized them of childbirth;

there,

= 8 by a wind = were broken

3

of the east the ships

of TARSHISH.

The Hebrew text uses the same preposition that accompanies “his palaces” and “a wind of the east”.

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

76 THE SECOND PART (9) + 9 As .. in the city .. in the city

we have heard of YHWH of OUR GOD;

so we have seen of hosts,

= GOD

will make it firm

forever.

The first segment is an ABB trimember: its last two members are complements of place and they are parallel. The final unimember expresses what “we have heard” and indeed what “we have seen” (9a). THE THIRD PART (10–15) The first subpart (10–12) + 10 We meditate, – in the midst

O GOD, of your Temple;

on your faithfulness

+ 11 as your name, – to the ends

O GOD, of the earth!

so your praise,

····································································································

:: Of righteousness .. 12 rejoices

is full the mountain

your right hand, of Zion;

.. exult :: for the sake of

the daughters your judgments.

of Judah

The two segments of the first piece (10–11b) are parallel in terms of form and complementary concerning the meaning. The second members are complements of place: the first one is confined to the Temple in Jerusalem, while the second one expands everywhere. In the first members, the Lord’s “faithfulness” is meditated upon by the people of Israel exclusively (“we”), while his “name” is praised by all the peoples. The second piece (11c–12) also contains two bimembers, organised into a mirrored fashion. At the extremities, “judgments” (12c) correspond to “righteousness” (11c); between them there are synonymous terms “rejoices” and “exult” (12ab); “Judah” (12b) corresponds to “Zion” (12a). The second subpart (13–15) The first piece (13–14b) has five imperatives, two at the extremities of the first member, the other three at the beginning of the subsequent members. From “Zion” are named “its towers”, “its ramparts” and “its palaces”. The second piece includes a closing phrase (14c) followed by three juxtaposed complements (15). In both pieces the two proper nouns related to each other: “Zion” and “God” (13a & 15a).

Psalm 48 + 13 Go around + count

Zion its towers,

and walk through it,

+ 14 put + detail

your hearts its palaces,

to its ramparts,

77

·····················································································································

= in order 15

: that he (is) : OUR GOD : he (is the one)

to recount

to generations,

GOD, forever who guides us

and ever, until death!

the future ones,

The whole of the part (10–15) The name of “God” appears at the extremities (10a, 11a & 15ab), the name of “Zion” in the median pieces (12a &13a). The entire section is situated in Jerusalem, in the “Temple” (10b) as mentioned at the beginning of the first subpart, and the beginning of the second subpart is dedicated to the admiration of “its towers”, “its ramparts” and “its palaces” (13b–14). + 10 We meditate, – in the midst

GOD, of YOUR TEMPLE;

on your faithfulness

+ 11 as your name, – to the ends

GOD, of the earth!

so your praise,

·····························································································································

:: Of righteousness .. 12 rejoices

is full the mountain

your right hand, of ZION;

.. exult :: for the sake of

the daughters your judgments.

of Judah

+ 13 Go around + count

ZION ITS TOWERS,

and walk through it,

+ 14 put + detail

your hearts

to ITS RAMPARTS,

ITS PALACES,

·····························································································································

= in order

to recount

to generations,

: 15 that he (is) : OUR GOD : he (is the one)

GOD, forever who guides us

and ever, until death!

the future ones,

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

78 THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

A song, a psalm, of the sons of Korah. 2

Great is YHWH and greatly PRAISED in the city of OUR GOD, THE MOUNTAIN of his holiness. Beautiful in elevation, joy of all THE EARTH, THE MOUNTAIN of ZION, summit of Zaphon, the city of the great king: 4 GOD in HIS PALACES has revealed himself as a citadel. 3

5

Because, behold, kings made alliance,

they advanced together.

6

They saw, yes they were astounded, they panicked, they decamped, a trembling seized them there, a pain of childbirth; 8 by the east wind the ships of Tarshish were broken. 7

9

As we have heard so we have seen in the city of YHWH OF HOSTS, in the city of OUR GOD; GOD will make it firm forever. 10 11

We meditate, O GOD, on your faithfulness in the midst of your Temple; as your name, O GOD, so YOUR PRAISE, to the ends of THE EARTH!

Your right hand is full of righteousness, 12 rejoices THE MOUNTAIN of ZION; the daughters of Judah exult for the sake of your judgments. 13 14

Go around ZION and walk through it, count its towers, put your hearts to its ramparts, detail ITS PALACES,

in order to recount to future generations 15 that he is GOD, OUR GOD forever and ever, he is the one who guides us until death!

The extreme subparts (2–4 & 13–14) have in common “God” (4 & 15a), “our God” (2 & 15b), “his/its palaces” (4 & 14a) accompanied by “citadel” (4) and “its towers” and “its ramparts” (13 & 14a). In the first subpart (2–4) the psalmist describes Mount Zion as a “citadel”, in the last subpart (13–14) he calls to contemplate it in order to recount the praises of God. The second subpart of the first part (5–8) and the first one of the last part (10–12) have no common vocabulary. However, they are correlated: one is the account of the defeat of the kings, the other one is the rejoicing in the Temple for the “faithfulness” of the Lord. It should be pointed out that the penultimate subpart is linked to the first one by three repetitions: “praised” / “your praise” (2 & 11a), “the mountain of Zion” (3b, 12a, and “the mountain” in 2), “the earth” (3 & 11a). The central part is linked to the first one by the repetition of “to see” (6 & 9a) and “in the city of our God” (2 & 9c). “Forever” (9d) and “forever and ever” (15b) act as final terms for the last two parts.

Psalm 48

79

CONTEXT “MOUNT ZAPHON” AND “THE SHIPS OF TARSHIS” (PS 48:4, 8) Mount Zaphon, now djebel al-’aqra’, is situated on the Syrian-Turkish border on the Mediterranean coast, north of Ugarit. It was the mythical home of Baal and the entire pagan pantheon of Phoenicia and Canaan. The ships of Tarshish were large ships built by Tyre to trade with the distant countries of the West, as far as Spain. According to the book of Jonah, Tarshish refers to the region most opposite to Nineveh, which lies to the east of Israel (Jonah 1:3; 4:2). Concerning the Phoenician fleet, this would be an image linked to that of Mount Zaphon. According to Isa 2:16, “The ships of Tarshish” are among all high objects that the Lord will bring down: 11

Human pride will lower its eyes, human arrogance will be humbled, Yhwh alone will be exalted, on that day. 12 Yes, That will be a day for Yahweh Sabaoth, for all who are majestic and haughty, for all who are proud, to be brought low; 13 for all the cedars of Lebanon, high and proud, and for all the oaks of Bashan; 14 for all the high mountains and for all the proud hills; 15 for every lofty tower and for every towering wall; 16 for all the ships of Tarshish and for everything held precious. 17 Human pride will be humbled, human arrogance brought low, and Yhwh alone will be exalted, on that day. (Isa 2:11–17; see also Isa 23:1, 14; 60:9)

“THE EAST WIND” It is this wind that drove back the Sea of Reeds in order that the people of Israel could escape from Pharaoh and his army (Exod 14:21); in the Song of Moses it is called “your wind” (Exod 15:10), that is, “the wind of Yhwh” (Hos 13:15). It is the east wind that destroys the fleet of Tyre: 25

Ships of Tarshish sailed on your business; you were full and heavily loaded far out to sea. 26 Your rowers have brought you into the high seas. The east wind has wrecked you in the heart of the seas. 27 Your riches, your goods, your cargo, your seamen, your sailors, your caulkers, your commercial agents, all the warriors you carry, and all the passengers who are aboard will founder far out to sea on the day of your shipwreck ... (Ezek 27:25–27)

INTERPRETATION “THE GREAT KING” (PS 48:3) “Yhwh”, the God of Israel, is solemnly presented in his city, located on Mount Zion, a holy mountain, higher than Zaphon, “joy of all the earth”. He is “great”, that is “the great king” who dominates all, “a citadel” able to protect his people

80

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

from all assaults, from the coalition of kings who were advancing against them. As in the days of the liberation of the land of the slaves, his wind falls on his enemies and breaks the pride and power of the fleet of Tyre. The true God imposes himself with all his height on the gods of the pagans and on those who serve them, on Zaphon and Tarshish. AS BEFORE AND FOREVER The centre of a concentric composition has been recognised for a long time as the pivot, the turning point of the text. That is particularly the case here. If what “we have seen” is the defeat of the kings arrayed against Israel of which the psalmist has just spoken (Ps 48:5–8), what “we have heard” refers to great deeds of the past, and it is not difficult to think of the founding stories of the birth of the people of Israel through the waters of the Sea of Reeds, where the wind of Yhwh swallowed up the enemy as it sent the ships of Tarshish to the depths of the sea. As for the end of the central part, it foresees that the Lord will “make firm” the city of the great king “forever” (48:9), throughout the “future generations” (48:14) to which will be recounted what God has just accomplished in his faithfulness, through which “he guides us until death”, “forever and ever” (48:15). THE CENTRE AND CIRCUMFERENCE The Song of the Moses that celebrates the passage of the Sea of Reeds does not stop on its other shore. It continues the trajectory that will carry the sons of Israel from slavery in the land of Egypt to the sanctuary of God, “on the mountain of his inheritance” (Exod 15:17). The whole psalm is situated at the centre of the people of Israel, “in the city of our God”, on “the mountain of his holiness” (Ps 48:2), but which at the same time is the “joy of all the earth” (48:3). It is “in the midst of your Temple” that the people celebrate the “faithfulness” of God (48:10) who has restored “righteousness” by saving his people, but his “praise”, “like his name”, will extend “to the ends of the earth” (48:11). The centre is set on “the mountain of Zion” (48:3, 12), the place where the Lord has chosen to dwell, but from there he radiates everywhere, to Tarshish and to Zaphon, to the people of Israel and to all the Gentile nations, “to the ends of the earth” (48:11).

2. PSALM 49 TEXT 1 For

the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 Hear this, all you peoples, give ear, all you inhabitants of the world, 3 also you children of Adam, also you children of man, together rich and poor! 4 My mouth will speak wisdom, and the whisper of my heart of understandings; 5 I will incline my ear to a proverb, I will open my enigma on the cithara. 6 Why should I fear in the days of evil (when) the fault of my heelers surrounds me? 7 They trust in their possession and they praise themselves of the abundance of their wealth. 8 A redeeming brother cannot redeem a man, he cannot give God his ransom; 9 and it is costly the redemption of their soul and it will be lacking forever. 10 And he shall live on for eternity, he shall not see the pit! 11 Yes, he will see (that) the wise will die, together with the fool and the senseless will perish, and they will leave their possession to others. 12 Their tombs (will be) their houses forever, their dwellings from generation to generation; they gave their names over the lands! 13 And the adam in luxury does not spend the night, he is like the animals that disappear. 14 This (is) their way, confidence in themselves and after them they are pleased with their mouth. 15 Like sheep for Sheol they are set, death pastures them; and the upright trample them in the morning and their Rock erases Sheol from his palace. 16 Surely, God will redeem my soul, from the hand of Sheol, yes, he will take me. 17 Do not fear when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds. 18 Yes, in his death he will take nothing, his glory will not go down after him. 19 Because he blessed his soul in his life, and they thank you that you took care of yourself. 20 He will go to the generation of his fathers, for eternity they will not see the light. 21 The adam in luxury and does not understand, he is like the animals that disappear. V. 3: “ALSO YOU CHILDREN OF ADAM ALSO YOU CHILDREN OF MAN”

It is possible to understand that “children of Adam” and “children of man” are synonymous, and that the repetition is a way of insisting on and expressing the totality, without exception. However, the fact that the two terms are paralleled through “also [...] also [...]” suggests that they are two antithetical or, at least, complementary terms.1 As for example in Deut 32:25, Outside the sword will deprive them of children, inside it will be terror. also young man infant

also young woman, with the old man.

The “children of Adam” are the ordinary people, the “children of man” are the important people. As it appears in Ps 62:10, Only a breath a lie,

the children the children

of Adam, of man;

in balances less than a breath

will go up together.

they,

1

See, e.g., Hakham, I, 280; Barbiero, 138.

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

82

It would therefore be the same opposition as in the second member of the segment: “children of Adam” = “the poor”, “children of man” = “the rich”. V. 6B: “(WHEN) THE FAULT OF MY HEELERS SURROUNDS ME”

An asyndetic clause,2 the second member of the verse is enigmatic. Indeed, its second term (‘ăqēbay, “my heels”) is problematic. Without the need of changing its vocalisation, it is possible to take the word in its figurative sense, hence translating it as “my heelers”. V. 9B: “IT WILL BE LACKING FOREVER”

The problem is to identify the subject of the verb: “the redemption”, that is, “the ransom”, “their soul”, or even “a man”.3 The most likely is “the redemption” because of the parallelism. V. 12: “THEIR TOMBS”

The versions read qbrm, “their tombs”, in place of qrbm, “their interior”, of the Hebrew text. V. 15CD: “AND THEIR ROCK...”

The first three members of the verse do not pose a major problem. The remaining one is understood in quite different ways: “Their features are fading in the underworld, they are far from their palaces” (TOB), “and their rock is decaying in Sheol for lack of a habitation for him”,4 “and their Rock is there to destroy the Sheol from his palace”.5 It is possible to consider that the ending of the verse is a bimember segment where “their Rock” is that of the upright and where “erases” corresponds to “trample”.

COMPOSITION THE FIRST PART (2–10) In the first subpart, the psalmist invites all the peoples (2), all the individuals (3) to listen to his wisdom speech (4), an enigmatic speech (5). The enigma of the central question (6) is answered in the last subpart by describing—the “heelers”: they trust in their wealth (7), they believe they are eternal (10), but all this is not enough to pay for the redemption of a person (8–9).

2

Joüon, 159c. Barbiero, 139. 4 Vesco, 444. 5 Barbiero, 140. 3

Psalm 49

83

+ 2 Hear + give ear,

this, all you habitants

all you peoples, of the world,

+ 3 all you children + together

of Adam, RICH

also you children and poor!

OF MAN,

························································································································ 4

– My mouth – and the whisper

will speak of my hearth

wisdom, of understandings;

– 5 I will incline – I will open

to a proverb on the cithara

my ear, my enigma.

should I fear of my heelers

in the days surround me?

in their possession of their WEALTH

they praise themselves.

6

Why (when) the fault

+ 7 They trust + and of the abundance

of evil

························································································································

– 8 A brother – he cannot give

redeeming God

cannot redeem his ransom;

– 9 and it is costly – and it will be lacking

the redemption forever.

of their soul

A MAN,

························································································································ 10

+ And he shall live on + he shall not see

for eternity, the pit!

The extreme subparts have the same number of bimember segments. The word “man” is repeated there (3a & 8a), “rich” and “wealth” also occur there (3b & 7b). The wisdom (4–5) that the psalmist is going to expose to the “children of man” who are the “rich” (2–3) is expressed in the central piece of the last subpart (8–9), in opposition to what they believe (7, 10). The central question (6) is a way of affirming that there is nothing to fear from the powerful, even if their “fault”, their error, may seem to oppress the wise person when he finds himself in misfortune. This misfortune is undoubtedly imposed on them by the rich.

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

84 THE SECOND PART (11–12) + 11 Yes, he will see + together with = and they will leave

(that) the wise the fool to others

WILL DIE,

+ 12 THEIR TOMBS + their dwellings = they gave

(will be) their houses from generation their names

forever, to generation; over

and the senseless THEIR POSSESSION.

WILL PERISH,

THE LANDS!

Both trimembers are parallel. Their first two members say that all, “wise” and foolish, “will die” (11ab) and that it will be “forever” (12ab). Their third members refer to their “possession” which they will have to give up (11c), although they have put their names on it (12c). THE THIRD PART (13–21) The extreme subparts (13–16 & 18–21) are corresponding to each other in a mirrored manner. The first and the last pieces (13 & 21) differ only by the last term of their first segment, terms which are, however, paronomastically related: bal-yālîn (“does not spend the night”) welō’ yābîn (“and does not understand”). The central pieces are the most developed (14–15 & 19–20). They begin with bimembers (14 & 19) which put in parallel “their way” and “his life” that they appreciated (14a & 19a) and that was also appreciated by others (14b & 19b); then in contrast comes the final fate of these people: “Sheol” (15) without “light” (20). Like the extreme pieces, the median pieces are the size of a single bimember segment (16 & 18). Introduced by an emphatic particle, “Surely” and “Yes”, they contrast the final fate of the psalmist and of the man who trusts in his wealth. The Lord will “take” the one out of “Sheol”, the other one in his “death” will “take nothing” of his “glory”, that is, of his possessions. In the short central subpart (17), the psalmist addresses the reader, the one who makes his/her own meditation, that he/she has nothing to fear from the rich. “A man” (’îš) who “gets rich” refers to “the adam” at the extremities (13a & 21a) who lives “in luxury”; “glory” (17b) is repeated in the next verse (18b). The whole part is marked by terms that belong to the semantic field of death: they “disappear” (13b & 21b), “Sheol” (15a, 15d, 16b), “death” (15b & 18a).

Psalm 49 + 13 And the adam + he is like

in luxury luxury the animals animals

85 does not SPEND THE NIGHT, THAT DISAPPEAR.

··································································································································

:: 14 This (is) .. and after them

their way, with their mouth

confidence they are pleased.

– 15 Like sheep – DEATH

for SHEOL pasture them;

they are set,

– and trample – and their Rock

them erases

the upright SHEOL

in themselves

in the morning from his palace.

······························································································································

· 16 Surely, God · from the hand

17

Do not fear when abounds

· 18 Yes, in HIS DEATH · will not go down

will redeem of SHEOL,

my soul, yes, HE WILL TAKE me.

when gets rich, rich the glory

a man, man of his house.

he WILL TAKE after him

nothing, his glory.

······························································································································ 19

:: Because his soul .. and they thank you

in his life that you took care

he blessed, of yourself.

– 20 He will go – for eternity

to the generation they will not see

of his fathers, the light.

··································································································································

+ 21 The adam + he is like

in luxury luxury the animals animals

and does not UNDERSTAND, THAT DISAPPEAR.

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

86 THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2

Hear this, all you peoples, give ear, all you inhabitants of the world, 3 also you children of Adam, also you CHILDREN OF MAN, together RICH and poor! 4 My mouth will speak wisdom, and the whisper of my heart OF UNDERSTANDINGS; 5 I will incline my ear to a PROVERB, I will open my enigma on the cithara. • 6 WHY SHOULD I FEAR • when the fault

in the days of my heelers

of evil surrounds me?

7

They trust in their POSSESSION and they praise themselves of THE ABUNDANCE of their 8 A REDEEMING brother CANNOT REDEEM a man, he cannot give GOD his RANSOM; 9 and it IS COSTLY THE REDEMPTION of their soul and it will be lacking forever. 10 and he shall live on for eternity, HE SHALL NOT SEE THE PIT! WEALTH.

11

Yes, HE WILL SEE that the wise WILL DIE, together with the fool and the senseless WILL PERISH, and they will leave their POSSESSION to others. 12

Their TOMBS will be their houses forever, their dwellings from generation to generation; they gave their names over the lands! 13

But the adam in LUXURY does not spend the night, HE IS LIKE the animals that 14 This is their way, confidence in themselves and after them they are pleased with their mouth. 15 Like sheep for SHEOL they are set, DEATH pastures them; and the upright trample them in the morning and their Rock erases SHEOL from his palace. 16 Surely, GOD WILL REDEEM my soul, from the hand of SHEOL, yes, he will take me. DISAPPEAR.

• 17 DO NOT FEAR • when ABOUNDS

when GETS RICH THE GLORY

A MAN,

of his house.

18

Yes, in his DEATH he will not take ANYTHING, HIS GLORY will not go down after him. Because he blessed his soul in his life, and they thank you that you took care of yourself. 20 He will go to the generation of his fathers, for eternity THEY WILL NOT 21 SEE the light. The adam in LUXURY AND DOES NOT UNDERSTAND, HE IS LIKE animals that DISAPPEAR. 19

With nine and ten bimembers respectively, the extreme parts are clearly more developed than the central part (11–12); the latter distinguishes itself from the other two not only by its brevity but also because it is the only one formed of trimember segments.

Psalm 49

87

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME PARTS – “Of understandings” at the beginning (4) is opposed to “does not understand” at the end (21); both terms derive from the same root. – “God” is linked to “redeem/redemption” and “soul” (8–9 & 16). – “Proverb” (5) is of the same root as “he is like” (13 & 21); “for eternity” occurs in 10 and 20; “mouth” in 4 and 14; “he shall live on” of 10 is taken up by “life” in 19, “abundance” of 7 by “abounds” in 17b. – The “children of Adam” and “children of man” found at the beginning of the first part (3) are echoed at the extremities and in the centre of the last part with “the adam” (13 & 21) and “a man” (17). – Terms belonging to the semantic field of wealth abound: “rich” (3), “possession” and “wealth” (7), “ransom” (8), “costly” (9); “luxury” (13 & 21), “gets rich” (17), “anything” (18) and even “glory” (17 & 18). – The last word of the first part, “the pit” (10), belongs to the semantic field of death, which is much present in the last part: “disappear” (13, 21), “death” (15 & 18), “Sheol” (15[2x] & 16). – In final terms, “he shall not see the pit”, “they will not see the light” (10 & 20). – In central terms, verses 6 and 17 where the psalmist, speaking of himself asks “Why should I fear?” (6) and then tells the reader “Do not fear” (17). LINKS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL PART AND THE OTHER PARTS – “He shall not see the pit” (10) and “he will see that the wise will die” (11) play the role of median terms between the first two parts. – The last word of the central part, translated as “lands” (12), is of the same root (’ădāmôt) as “Adam” (’ādām, 3 & 13); both terms play the role of median terms for the last two part (12 & 13). – Terms from the semantic field of death: “will die”, “will perish” (11), “tombs” (12), like “the pit” at the end of the first part (10), and in the third part like “disappear” (13 & 21), “death” (15 & 18), “Sheol” (15[2x] & 16). – The word “possession” (11) is already found in the first part in 7 and “lands” (12) belongs to the same semantic field of wealth together with “rich” (3), “wealth” (7), “ransom” (8), “costly” (9); in the second part to the same semantic field belong, “luxury” (13 &21), “gets rich” (17), “anything” (18) and also “glory” (17 & 18). – “Wisdom” (4) announces “the wise” (11); moreover “the fool” (kesîl, 11) is of the same root as the term translated as “confidence” (kēsel, 14).6 – “Forever” (12) is already found in 9 and “from generation to generation” (12) announces “to the generation of his fathers” in the last part (20). – The word “houses” in 12 is repeated in the singular in 17 at the centre of the third part. – Finally, “together” occurs in 3 and 11. 6

Vesco (444) translates as “a foolish assurance”. See Barbiero, 11.

88

First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

CONTEXT HUMUS – HUMAN According to Gen 2:7, man was taken from the earth, the human (’ādām) from the humus (’ădāmâ): “Then Yhwh God formed the human from the dust of the humus.” And in Gen 3:19 he says to Adam: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, until you return to the humus, since you were taken from it. For you are dust and to dust you shall return”. “FOOL! THIS NIGHT YOUR SOUL WILL BE DEMANDED FROM YOU” (LUKE 12:20) “The adam in luxury does not spend the night” (Ps 49:13) is taken up again in the parable of the rich fool, “the rich man whose property had brought him good returns” (Luke 12:13–21). “God said to him, ‘You fool!’, this very night your life will be demanded from you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20).

INTERPRETATION A WISDOM POEM FOR EVERYONE Obviously, the speaker is an Israelite—one of the “sons of Korah”, as the title specifies it (Ps 49:1)—but he is addressing not only the children of Israel. Fight from the beginning he calls on “all the inhabitants of the world” (49:2) to listen to his words of wisdom (49:4). He wants everyone to listen to him, not only the poor like him, but also the rich. The rich are certainly the ones who need to listen to him the most, they who do not understand any more than animals do (49:21). However, the poor are not to be left out, as they would have every reason to be afraid of being stepped on or trampled on by the rich. “DO NOT FEAR” (49:17) Wisdom for the poor consists in not fearing the threats of the rich. As soon as the psalmist has announced that his mouth is going to “speak wisdom” (49:4–5), he gives—so to speak—the good example: “Why should I fear in the days of evil?” (49:6). It is not even clear what kind “evil” he is talking about, and the obscurity of the second part of the verse makes it difficult to understand what exactly he is talking about. However, already in the next verse, the agents of evil are named: they are those who “trust in their possession” (49:7) and believe themselves to be eternal (49:10). In a symmetrical position, at the centre of the last part, the reader, the one who makes the psalmist’s prayer his/her own, is also invited not to fear: “Do not fear when a man gets rich” (49:17a). This time the threat is clearly identified and confirmed by the second member, “when the glory of his house abounds” (49:17b).

Psalm 49

89

TO SEE THE PIT Wisdom consists in opening one’s eyes, in looking in the face of things. But the rich are blind: they set their eyes only on their “possessions” and do not want to see that they will not live “for eternity”, thinking that “they shall not see the pit” (49:10). At the centre of his poem, the psalmist insists in all ways on the final fate of the rich (49:11–12). When he begins with the statement that the rich “will see that the wise will die”, it is to make them understand that it would be “foolish” and “senseless” to believe that they will not have to leave their goods to others and that their only eternal “house” will be their “tombs”, even if they have put their names on their lands. The rich will take nothing to their grave and “the glory” of their “house” will not follow them (49:17–18). The only thing that will remain for them “for eternity” is their blindness (49:20). REDEMPTION OF THE SOUL The rich are convinced that everything can be bought. They think that with “the abundance of their wealth” (49:7) they can pay their brother’s “ransom”, that they can even buy God (49:8). The wise person, on the other hand, knows that the redemption of a person is “costly”, so much so that he or she “will be lacking forever” (49:9). No matter how rich somebody is, he or she is not able to redeem anyone. The psalmist, in his wisdom and faith, knows that only God can redeem his soul, and he is convinced that he will snatch him from the clutches of Sheol (49:16). It is not “death” that is their shepherd (49:15), it is God who will lead them to pasture. WE ARE NOT ANIMALS The wise person, on the other hand, who has been able to decipher the “enigma” of life and death, will discovered where the real wealth lies, the wealth that alone brings true life, salvation. Unlike many others, the wise person in this psalm pronounces God’s name only twice, and as if incidentally (49:8, 16). It is as if he wanted to discreetly lead the reader, his brother or sister, to find the key to his enigma in the one who alone can discover it. Those whom God takes by the hand pulling them out of Sheol are not animals, they are the “children of Adam” (49:3), they are his children.

3. ALL THE PEOPLE WILL SING PSALMS TO OUR KING (PS 47–49) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 47 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 ALL YOU PEOPLES, clap your hands, acclaim God with the voice of shouts of joy! 3 Yes, Yhwh, the Most High, is fearsome, THE GREAT KING OVER ALL THE EARTH. 4 He subdues PEOPLES under us and NATIONS under our feet. 5 He chose for us our inheritance, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. 6 God ascends with acclamation, Yhwh, with the voice of a shofar. 7 Sing psalms to God, sing psalms, sing psalms to our KING, sing psalms! 8 Yes, God is THE KING of ALL THE EARTH: sing psalms of instruction! 9 God REIGNS over THE NATIONS, God sits on his throne of HOLINESS. 10 The princes OF THE PEOPLES are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. Yes, the shields OF THE EARTH belong to God, he ascended GREATLY. Ps 48 1 A song, a psalm, of the sons of Korah. 2 GREAT is Yhwh and GREATLY praised in in the city of our God, the mountain of his HOLINESS. 3 Beautiful in elevation, joy of ALL THE EARTH, the mountain of Zion, summit of Zaphon, the city of the great KING: 4 God in his palaces has revealed himself as a citadel. 5 Because, behold, KINGS made alliance, they advanced together. 6 They saw, yes they were astounded, they panicked, they decamped, 7 a trembling seized them there, a pain of childbirth; 8 by the east wind the ships of Tarshish were broken. 9 As we have heard so we have seen in in the city of Yhwh of hosts, in the city of our God: God will make it firm forever. 10 We meditate, O God, on your faithfulness in the midst of your Temple Temple; 11 as your name, O God, so your praise, TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH! Your right hand is full of righteousness, 12 the mountain of Zion rejoices; the daughters of Judah exult for the sake of your judgments. 13 Go around Zion and walk through it, count its towers, 14 put your hearts to its RAMPARTS, detail its palaces, in order to recount to future generations 15 that he is God, our God is forever and ever, he is the one who guides us until DEATH! Ps 49 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 Hear this, ALL YOU PEOPLES, give ear, ALL YOU INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD, 3 also you children of Adam, also you children of man, together rich and poor! 4 My mouth will speak wisdom, and the whisper of my heart of understandings; 5 I will incline my ear to a proverb, I will open my enigma on the cithara. 6 Why should I fear in the days of evil when the fault of my heelers surrounds me? 7 They trust in their POSSESSION and they praise themselves of the abundance of their wealth. 8 A redeeming brother cannot redeem a man, he cannot give God his ransom; 9 and it is costly the redemption of their soul and it will be lacking forever. 10 And he shall live on for eternity, he shall not see the pit! 11 Yes, he will see that the wise WILL DIE, together with the fool and the senseless will perish, and they will leave their POSSESSION to others. 12 Their tombs tombs will be their houses forever, their dwellings from generation to generation; they gave their names over the lands! 13 And the adam in luxury does not spend the night, he is like the animals that disappear. 14 This is their way, confidence in themselves and after them they are pleased with their mouth. 15 Like sheep for Sheol they are set, DEATH pastures them; and the upright trample them in the morning and their Rock erases Sheol from his palace. 16 Surely, God will redeem my soul, from the hand of Sheol, yes, he will take me. 17 Do not fear when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds. 18 Yes, in his DEATH he will take nothing, his glory will not go down after him. 19 Because he blessed his soul in his life, and they thank you that you took care of yourself. 20 He will go to the generation of his fathers, for eternity they will not see the light. 21 The adam in luxury and does not understand, he is like the animals that disappear.

The three psalms are organised according to the BAA pattern.

Sequence 47–49

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Relations between the last two psalms can be described as complementary. The penultimate psalm ends with “death” (48:15), a root that is repeated three times in the next psalm (49:11, 15, 18), in addition to it, terms from the same semantic field: “the pit” (49:10), “to perish” (49:11), “tombs” (49:12), “to disappear” (49:13, 21), “Sheol” (49:15[2x], 16). All these terms that go downwards are opposed in the penultimate psalm to those that go upwards, “in elevation” (48:3), in the first place “the mountain” that is repeated three times (48:2, 3, 12), to which we should add the terms designating the same place of God’s presence: “the city” (48:2, 9[2x]), “summit” (48:3), “the city” (48:3), “palaces” (48:4, 14), “your Temple” (48:10), “its towers” (48:13). As for the term translated here as “ramparts” (48:14), but whose meaning is not at all certain, it is the same term translated as “possession” in 49:7, 11. The Septuagint translates ḥêlâ of Ps 48:14 as dynamis, “power”, and similarly ḥêlām of Ps 49:7. On the other hand, it renders the same term in 49:11 as “wealth”.1 Therefore, in the penultimate psalm the power is that of God, and in the last one, it is that of the riches in which man puts his trust. In the same way, praise is given to God in the penultimate psalm (48:2, 11), but in the next psalm people “praise themselves” for their wealth (49:7). Again, in the same manner, we may notice that in the penultimate psalm, God is described as “great” (lit. “abundant”, 48:3) and that in the last psalm, there are “wealth” and “glory” of people that “abound” (49:7, 17). Still in the same direction, while in the penultimate psalm it is said that God will establish his city “forever” (48:9) and that this will be recounted “to future generations” (48:14), “forever and ever” (48:15), in the last psalm, the rich think that they will live “for eternity” (49:10), but their tombs will be their dwellings “forever”, “from generation to generation” (49:12), and “for eternity they will not see the light” (49:20). At the beginning of the penultimate psalm, the city of God is called “joy of all the earth” (48:3); at the beginning of the last psalm, the psalmist invites “all the peoples”, “all the inhabitants of the world” to listen to what he is going to say (49:2). The centre of the penultimate psalm begins with the binomial “hear” and “see” (48:9); the same verbs are repeated at the beginning of the last psalm (“hear”, 49:2) and at its centre (“he will see”, 49:11). As for the first psalm, it begins like the last one with an invitation addressed to “all you peoples” (47:1; 49:2); the two occurrences of “all the earth” (47:3, 8) find an echo at the beginning of the next psalm (48:3). In the first two psalms, God is called “King” (47:3, 7, 8, 9; 48:3) in relation to “kings” and “the princes of the peoples” (47:10; 48:5). These two psalms are linked by the median terms, “holiness” (47:9; 48:2) and “greatly” (47:10; 48:2); in initial terms God is called “great” (47:3; 48:2).

1

See Vesco, 437, note 5, 444.

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INTERPRETATION LISTEN TO WISDOM AND SEE THE TRUTH When the psalmist invites “all the inhabitants of the world” to hear him (49:2), it is because he has acquired wisdom by listening to what has been told to him about God, which he has seen with his own eyes to be true (48:9); and he will tell it in turn to the “future generations”, that God alone is “forever and ever” and that he “guides us until death” (48:14–15); moreover, that he will redeem us and pull us out of “the hand of Sheol” (49:16). If “children of Adam” and “children of man”, “rich and poor” (49:3) would listen to the voice of the one who speaks wisdom and opens his enigma (49:5), they would see the truth that no one “will live on for eternity”, everyone “will see the pit” (49:10). THE TRUE ABUNDANCE Those who “praise themselves of the abundance of their wealth” (49:7) are senseless. Therefore, there is nothing to fear “when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds” (49:17). For only one is “abundant”, is “great” (48:3), the King, Yhwh, the only one who is “praised” (48:2), whose “praise” extends like his name “to the ends of the earth” (48:11). “Our God is forever and ever” (48:15). The rich person, on the other hand, “does not spend the night” (49:13) and “in his death he will take nothing” (49:18) from the abundance of his wealth, leaving his possessions to others (49:11). THE TRUE DWELLING PLACE For s foolish person, wealth is “the glory of his house” (49:17). But such building cannot last for a long time. The only one that will stand the test of time will be “the pit”, and “their tombs will be their houses forever, their dwellings from generation to generation” (49:12). On the other hand, there is a dwelling place that “God will make it firm forever” (48:9): it is the one he inhabits, his “Temple”, in the midst of “the city” with its “towers” and “palaces”, built on “the mountain of his holiness”, built above all on his “faithfulness” (48:10), on the “righteousness” of which “his right hand is full” (48:11), on his “judgements” that make the daughters of Zion rejoice (48:12). What will be told “to future generations” is that the only one who remains “forever and ever” is “our God” (48:14–15). “SING PSALMS OF INSTRUCTION” (47:8) In the last psalm, the psalmist expounds his “wisdom” and his “understandings”, his “proverb” and his “enigma” to the ears of “all the peoples” (49:4). In this way, the “instruction” that all the peoples are invited to “sing in psalms” (47:8) is revealed. They will have to recognise that the God of Israel is

Sequence 47–49

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“the Most High”, “fearsome”, “the great king over all the earth” (47:3; 48:2); that he disperses the coalition of kings who “advanced together” against the city of God (48:5–7), that therefore Israel should not fear “in the days of evil when the fault of his heelers surrounds him” (49:6). The instruction that they are to receive and sing in the psalms (47:7) is to recognise that “the abundance of their wealth” in which “they praise themselves” and “the possession” in which “they trust” (49:7) cannot withstand “the great king” who rules “all the earth” (48:3). “Do not fear when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds. Yes, in his death he will take nothing, his glory will not go down after him” (49:17–18).

IV. OUR KING SAVES US FROM ALL OUR ENEMIES 1. COMPOSITION OF THE FIRST SECTION The seven psalms of the section are organised into three sequences. Each of the extreme sequences contains three psalms, while the central sequence contains only one. The peoples

will give thanks

YHWH OF HOSTS WITH US,

All the peoples

will sing psalms

to the king of the Lord

A CITADEL FOR US!

to our King

Ps 42/43–45

Ps 46

Ps 47–49

We will start with examining the relations between the extreme sequences which correspond to each other in a mirrored fashion (Ps 42/43–45 & Ps 47–49). After that we will examine the relations between the central sequence (Ps 46) and the other sequences.

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First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 42/43–45 AND PS 47–49) The first sequence is of an AAB type, conversely the last one is of a BAA type. The extreme psalms (Ps 42/43–44 and Ps 48–49) The first two psalms (Ps 42/43–44) and the last two (Ps 48–49) are related in parallel. Psalms 42/43 and 48 Ps 42 1 For the music director, an instruction, of the sons of Korah. 2 As

a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. 3 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and shall I see the face of God? 4 My tears have been my food day and night, when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 5 These things I remember, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to THE HOUSE OF GOD, among the voice of shouts of joy and of thanksgiving of a crowd keeping festival. 6 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of his face. 7 My God, over me my soul is collapsing, that is why I remember you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the mountain Insignificant. 8 Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your waves and your billows have passed over me. 9 By day Yhwh commands his faithfulness and by night his song is with me, prayer to the God of my life. 10 I will say to God, my Rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I walk in gloom, under the oppression of the enemy?” 11 In the breaking of my bones, my adversaries insult me when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 12 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and why are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of my face and my God.

43 1 Judge me, God, and defend my cause against an unfaithful people; against a man of deceit and falsehood deliver me. 2 Because you are the God of my strength: why do you reject me? Why do I walk away in gloom, under the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send your light and your truth: THEY WILL GUIDE ME, they will make me come TO THE MOUNTAIN OF YOUR HOLINESS and to your tents. 4 And I will come to THE ALTAR OF GOD, to the God of the joy of my EXULTATION. And I will give you thanks on the cithara, O God, my God. 5 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and why are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of my face and my God.

The Temple is mentioned in both psalms. In the first psalm the psalmist first recalls his participation in the thanksgiving of the crowd in “the house of God” (42:5); then he affirms his confidence in the help of God’s light and truth that will allow him to come again to “the mountain of his holiness” and “to the altar of God” (43:3–4). In the symmetrical psalm he also speaks of “the mountain of his holiness” (48:2), also refers to “the mountain of Zion” (48:2, 12), “the city of our God” (48:2, 9), “the city of Yhwh” (48:9), where “the Temple” is located (48:10).

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Ps 48 1 A song, a psalm, of the sons of Korah. 2 Great

is Yhwh and greatly praised in IN THE CITY OF OUR GOD, THE MOUNTAIN OF HIS HOLINESS. in elevation, joy of all the earth is THE MOUNTAIN OF ZION, summit of Zaphon, the city of the great king: 4 God in his palaces has revealed himself as a citadel. 3 Beautiful

5 Because,

behold, kings made alliance, they advanced together. 6 They saw, yes they were astounded, they panicked, they decamped, 7 a trembling seized them there, a pain of childbirth; 8 by the east wind the ships of Tarshish were broken. 9 As

we have heard so we have seen in THE CITY OF YHWH of hosts, in THE CITY OF OUR GOD: God will make it firm forever.

10 We

meditate, O God, on your faithfulness IN THE MIDST OF YOUR TEMPLE; 11 as your name, O God, so your praise, to the ends of the earth! Your right hand is full of righteousness, 12 THE MOUNTAIN OF ZION rejoices; the daughters of Judah EXULT for the sake of your judgments.

13 Go

around Zion and walk through it, count its towers, 14 put your hearts to its ramparts, detail its palaces, in order to recount to future generations 15 that he is God, our God forever and ever, he is the one WHO GUIDES US until death!

In the first psalm, the psalmist puts his faith in God’s “faithfulness” in spite of the misfortune that befalls him (42:9), and in the other psalm, the whole congregation meditates on God’s “faithfulness” in the Temple (48:10). In the first psalm, the psalmist hopes to return to the Temple in “exultation” (43:4); in the other psalm, there are the daughters of Judah who “exult” (48:12). Finally, at the end of the first psalm, the psalmist asks for God’s “light” and “truth” that will “guide” him towards his house (43:3), and at the end of the last psalm, the psalmist invites the faithful to recount to future generations that the Lord “will guide us” until the end (48:14–15).

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First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

Psalms 44 and 49 Ps 44 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, an instruction. 2 God, WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 You with your hand, you disinherited nations and you planted them, you destroyed countries and you made place for them. 4 Because not by their sword did they inherit THE LAND and their arm did not save them, because your right hand and your arm, and THE LIGHT of your face, because you loved them. 5 You are my king, O God, commanding the salvations of Jacob; 6 through you we pushed back our adversaries, IN YOUR NAME we trampled our aggressors. 7 Because not in my bow DID I TRUST and my sword did not save me; 8 because you saved us from our adversaries and you confused our haters, 9 in God WE ARE PRAISING all the day and to YOUR NAME WE WERE GIVING THANKS forever. 10 But

you have rejected us and you have dishonoured us, and you did not go out anymore with our armies; 11 you made us turn back from the adversary and our haters have plundered us. 12 You have given us as sheep for butchery and you have dispersed us among THE NATIONS; 13 you have sold your people without profit and you have gained nothing on their price. 14 You make us an insult to OUR NEIGHBOURS, a fable and a derision to OUR ENTOURAGES; 15 you make us the proverb among THE NATIONS, a shaking of the head among THE COUNTRIES. 16 All the day my dishonour is before me and shame covers my face, 17 under the clamours of insulter and of blasphemer, in the face of the enemy and of the avenger. 18 All

this has come over us and not that we have forgotten you and not that we have betrayed your covenant; 19 not that our heart has gone back and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread darkness over us. 21 If we have forgotten THE NAME of our God and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would not God have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed all the day, we are considered as sheep for slaughter. 24 Awake, WHY do you sleep, O Lord? Wake up, do not reject us forever! 25 WHY do you hide your face, do you forget our misery and our oppression? 26 Because our soul collapses in the dust, our belly clings to the ground. 27 Rise up as our help and REDEEM US for the sake of your faithfulness.

At first glance, these two psalms have little to do with each other, as they are of very different literary genres: the first one is a long complaint, while the other one is of a sapiential type. “To hear” (šm’) and “ears / give ear” (’zn, 44:2; 49:2) play the role of initial terms. The two occurrences of “fathers” (44:2; 49:20) and “light” (44:4; 49:20) have the function of extreme terms.

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Ps 49 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 HEAR this, ALL YOU PEOPLES, GIVE EAR, ALL YOU INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD, 3 also you children of Adam, also you children of man, together rich and poor! 4 My mouth will speak wisdom, and the whisper of my heart of understandings; 5 I will incline my EAR to a proverb, I will open my enigma on the cithara. 6 WHY

should I fear in the days of evil when the fault of my heelers surrounds me?

7 THEY

TRUST in their possession and THEY PRAISE THEMSELVES of the abundance of their wealth. 8 A REDEEMING brother cannot REDEEM a man, he cannot give God his ransom; 9 and it is costly THE REDEMPTION of their soul and it will be lacking forever. 10 And he shall live on for eternity, he shall not see the pit! 11 Yes,

he will see that the wise will die, together with the fool and the senseless will perish, and they will leave their possession to others. 12 Their tombs will be their houses forever, their dwellings from generation to generation; they gave THEIR NAMES over THE LANDS! 13 And

the adam in luxury does not spend the night, he is like the animals that disappear. 14 This is their way, CONFIDENCE in themselves and after them they are pleased with their mouth. 15 Like sheep for Sheol they are set, death pastures them; and the upright trample them in the morning and their Rock erases Sheol from his palace. 16 Surely, God WILL REDEEM my soul, from the hand of Sheol, yes, he will take me. 17 Do not fear when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds. 18 Yes, in his death he will take nothing, his glory will not go down after him. 19 Because he blessed his soul in his life, and THEY THANK YOU that you took care of yourself. 20 He will go to the generation of his fathers, for eternity they will not see THE LIGHT. 21 The adam in luxury and does not understand, he is like the animals that disappear.

– “All you peoples” and “all you inhabitants of the world” at the beginning of the last psalm (49:2) recall “our neighbours”, “our entourages”, “the nations”, and “the countries” at the centre of Ps 44 (14–15); – “Not did I trust” (44:7) is opposed to “they trust” (49:7; followed in 49:14 by “confidence in themselves”, which derives from another root); – “To redeem / redemption” is found in 44:27 and 49:8, 9, 16; – The term “their names” (49:12) is opposed to “in your name” (44:6, followed by “your name” in 44:9 and “the name” in 44:21); – “To give thanks” occurs in 44:9 and 49:19; – The “why” of 44:24, 25 is taken up in 49:6; – “All the day” (44:9, 16) and “forever” (49:24) correspond to “for eternity” (49:10, 20), “forever” and “from generation to generation” (49:12); – “Proverb” appears in 44:15 and 49:5.

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First Section (Ps 42/43–49)

Median psalms (Ps 45 and 47) Ps 45 1 For the music director, on “The Lilies”; of the sons of Korah, an instruction, a love song. 2 My heart is stirred by a beautiful word: Myself, I recite my work to THE KING, my tongue is the reed-pen of a skilful scribe. 3 You are handsome more than the sons of Adam, grace is poured upon your lips: that is why God has blessed you forever. 4 Gird your sword on your thigh, O valiant one, your magnificence and your splendour. 5 Your splendour: soar, ride, for the cause of truth, of humility, of righteousness and let your right hand teach you wonders! 6 Your arrows are sharp, PEO PEOPLES fall under you, in the heart of the enemies of THE KING. 7 YOUR THRONE, O GOD, forever and ever, A SCEPTRE of uprightness, THE SCEPTRE of your KINGDOM! 8 You love righteousness and you hate wickedness; that is why God, your God, HAS ANOINTED YOU with the oil of gladness more than your friends. 9 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all your garments, from ivory palaces the citharas rejoice you. 10 Daughters of

KINGS among your beloved; the Lady stands at your right hand, in gold of Ophir.

11 Hear,

daughter, observe and incline your ear, and forget YOUR PEO PEOPLE and your house of your father. 12 And THE KING will desire your beauty: because he is your Lord, and bow down to him! 13 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face will cheer up the richest of THE PEO PEOPLE. 14 The daughter of THE KING is all splendid within, robed in golden clothing; 15 in brocade she is led to THE KING, virgins behind her, her companions are brought to you; 16 they are led in joy and exultation, they enter into the palace of THE KING. 17 In the place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them PRINCES IN ALL THE EARTH. EARTH 18 I will remember your name in every generation and generation, that is why THE PEO PEOPLES will give you thanks forever and ever. [...] Ps 47 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 ALL YOU PEOPLES, clap your hands, acclaim GOD with the voice of shouts of joy! 3 Yes, YHWH the Most High, is fearsome, the great KING OVER ALL THE EARTH. EARTH 4 He subdues PEO PEOPLES under us 5 and NATIONS under our feet. He chose for us our inheritance, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. 6 GOD ascends with acclamation, YHWH, with the voice of a shofar. psalms to GOD, sing psalms, sing psalms to our KING, sing psalms! 8 Yes, GOD is THE KING of ALL THE EARTH: EARTH sing psalms of instruction! 9 GOD REIGNS over THE NATIONS, GOD sits on his THRONE of holiness. 10 The PRINCES of THE PEO PEOPLES are gathered together, the people of the GOD of Abraham. Yes, the shields of THE EARTH belong to GOD, he ascended greatly. 7 Sing

Ps 45 is an epithalam in honour of the king of Israel; however, it also celebrates the kingship of “God” whose name appears only once in the poem (45:7). In contrast, the divine names “Yhwh” and “God” occur ten times in the symmetrical psalm (47:2, 3, 6[2x], 7, 8, 9[2x], 10[2x]): the “king” whom the psalmist invites to “acclaim” is no one else than the Lord himself. God is king “over all the earth” (47:3, 8, 10) and the earthly king will make his sons princes “in all the earth” (45:17). Both subdue “peoples” and “nations” (45:6; 47:4). At the end of each psalm, “the peoples will give thanks” to the king (45:18), the peoples unite with Israel to become one people: “the princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham” (47:10).

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RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL SEQUENCE AND THE OTHER TWO SEQUENCES (PS 42/43–45; 46; 47–49 Ps 46 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, for young women, a song. 2 God

is our refuge and strength, strength a very present help in anguish,. 3 That is why we shall not fear when the earth changes, when the mountains shake in the heart of the seas; 4 its waters rumble, seethe, the mountains tremble at his rising. 5 A river, its channels rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High; 6 God is in her, she is not shaken, God helps her when the morning dawns. 7 Peoples rumbled, rumbled KINGDOMS were shaken, he gave voice, the earth melts. 8 Yhwh of hosts with us, our citadel, citadel the God of Jacob! 9 “Come and contemplate the great deeds of Yhwh, who causes destructions on the earth: 10 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, he breaks the bow and he shatters the spear, the shields he burns with fire. 11 Stop and know that I am God, I am exalted above the peoples, I am exalted on the earth!” 12 Yhwh of hosts with us, our

citadel, citadel the God of Jacob!

Hostile peoples are present throughout the section: they “oppress” and “insult” the psalmist by asking “Where is your God? (42:4, 10–11; 43:1–2). Whereas in the past the Lord dispossessed “nations” and destroyed “countries” (44:3, 6, 8), now Israel has to retreat before his “adversaries” and face their “insults” (44:10– 17, 23, 25). The king will pierce the hearts of his enemies with his arrows, and peoples will fall under him (45:6); indeed, they will give thanks to him forever and ever (45:18). In the first psalm of the second side of the section, “all the peoples” subjected to Israel (47:4) and to God (47:9) are invited to acclaim God (47:2), finally gathered together to form one people with the people of Abraham (47:10). “Kings made alliances” but God causes them to flee and breaks their ships (48:5–8). Finally, “all the peoples”, “all the inhabitants of the world”, that is, all the nations, including Israel, are invited to listen to wisdom. In the central psalm, the “anguishes” caused by the attacks of the enemies are emphatically presented as an earthquake (46:3–4); in fact, what “rumble” and “shake” are “peoples” and “kingdoms” (46:7). In this way are summarised all the misfortunes which throughout the section fall upon Israel. It can be observed that from one part to the next, God’s help always prevails over the evil, so much so that at the end the evil—the “wars”, “bow”, “spear” and “shields”—is totally destroyed. It should be pointed out that the term “kingdoms” (46:7) echoes all the terms of the same root especially in the two psalms that frame the central psalm (45; 47), but also in 44:5 and then in 48:3, 5. The “house of God”, his “city” on the “mountain”, is mentioned not only in Ps 42/43 and in Ps 48, as we have already seen it, but also at the heart of the central psalm: “A river, its channels, rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High; God is in her, she is not shaken, God helps her when the morning dawns” (46:5–6).

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The terms “salvation” and “to save” are found only in the first two psalms (42:6, 12; 43:5; 44:4, 5, 7, 8), but they are already accompanied in the ending of Ps 44 by two terms belonging to the same semantic field: “help” and “to redeem”. In the central psalm, “help” (46:2, 6) is accompanied by “refuge and strength” (46:2) and “citadel” (46:8, 12), which is repeated in the subsequent psalm (48:4). As for “to redeem”, it is found in the last psalm: “Surely, God will redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol” (49:16). The verb “to fear” (“we shall not fear”, 46:3) is found at the centres of the two parts of the last psalm: “Why should I fear?” (49:6), “Do not fear” (49:17).

2. INTERPRETATION WHY? The single final “why” (49:6) pulverises at once the swarm of eleven initial “whys”. Indeed, the section begins with a flurry of anguished questions: “Why are you collapsing, my soul, and [why] are you rumbling over me?” (42:6, 12; 43:5), “Why do I walk in gloom/sad, under the oppression of the enemy?” (42:10; 43:2), “Why have you forgotten?” (42:10), “Why do you sleep, O Lord?” (44:24), “Why do you hide your face, do you forget our misery and our oppression?” (44:25). As usual, a question is answered by another question. At the end of the section, in fact, comes the answer to the initial questions: “Why should I fear in the days of evil when the fault of my heelers surrounds me?” (49:6) which is echoed a little later by: “Do not fear when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds” (49:17). At the centre of the section, the confession of faith resounds: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in anguish. That is why we shall not fear when the earth changes, when the mountains shake in the heart of the seas” (46:2– 3). The whole section relies on these three pillars, as if the path taken by the psalmist, and proposed to the one who makes his words his or her own, consisted in moving from fear to confidence. “WHERE IS YOUR GOD?” (42:4, 11) Another question precedes the psalmist’s “whys” and provokes him in a pernicious way: “Where is your God?” (42:4, 11). This perfidious question— which could be heard today!—is addressed to the psalmist by those who persecute him. The psalmist has to hear it “all the day” (42:4), which makes him cry “day and night” (42:4) and breaks his bones (42:11). Through such “insult”—a “fable” and “derision”, “proverb” and “shaking of the head” among the pagan nations, “dishonour” and “shame” (44:14–17)— “the oppression of the enemy” (42:10; 43:2) touches him at the most sensitive point, that of his faith, of the thirst of his soul (42:2–3). The blasphemous question is also answered obstinately right from the beginning and throughout. The God of the psalmist, the God of Israel, is found

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in his “house” (42:5); the central psalm insists at its heart: “in the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High” (46:5). And Ps 48 returns to this with force: in his “Temple”, in “his city”, “on the mountain of his holiness” of which he has made a “citadel” (48:2–4) to shelter his people against the assaults of their enemies. But even more than in a place, however holy, the God of Israel is found in his “faithfulness” to the covenant (42:9; 44:27; 48:10), in his “righteousness” (45:5, 8; 48:11), his “truth” (43:3; 45:5), his “light” (43:3; 44:4; 49:20), in his “great deeds” (46:9), in short in his “salvation” (42:6, 12; 43:6; 44:4, 5, 7, 8). “THE GREAT KING OVER ALL THE EARTH” (47:3) The God of Israel is not only a local god, the god of one people among others. He is certainly the one whom the psalmist calls “my king” (44:5), whom the whole people invoke as “our God” (47:7; 48:2, 9, 15). “Yhwh” is also “the Most High, is fearsome, the great King over all the earth” (47:3); “Yes, God is the King of all the earth [...] God reigns over the nations” (47:8, 9). When the peoples “rumble”, it is the king of heaven who makes “the kingdoms” shake, revealing himself to be “the citadel” that protects Jacob (46:7–8). The skilful scribe announced that peoples would fall under the king of Israel (45:6), and the subsequent psalm repeats this even more forcefully: “He subdues peoples under us and countries under our feet” (47:4). THE NATIONS AND THE PEOPLE OF ABRAHAM Foreign peoples and pagan nations are present in each of the seven psalms of the section. They are the “enemies” of the psalmist and of Israel as a whole, his “adversaries”, his “aggressors”, who “hate” him, “insult” him and blaspheme, who “rumble” as the earth “rumbles” when it is shaken by the earthquake (46:4– 7), those whose “kings made alliance, they advanced together” against Zion (48:5), those whose “fault” follows in the footsteps of the righteous and surrounds him (49:6). All these enemies will be subjected by God to Israel and its king (45:6; 47:4). However, this submission will not only be the fruit of violence, of arrows that will hit the king’s enemies in the heart; the covenants that Israel will make with them will cause peoples to “give him thanks forever and ever” (45:18). When God “exalts himself above the peoples” (46:11), it is because “he makes wars cease to the ends of the earth”, breaking the bow, shattering the spear, burning the shields (46:10). That is why the psalmist can invite “all the peoples” to clap their hands and acclaim God, acclaim Yhwh, the God of Israel, because he is the king of all the earth and not just of the chosen people (47:2–3). When Yhwh “ascends with acclamation” of all (47:6), it is because he has gathered all the peoples, united them in the one “the people of Abraham” (47:10), according to the promise given to the first one whom he had chosen among all and for all (Gen 12:3).

THE LORD WHO FORGIVES SIN GIVES SALVATION Second Section Ps 50–55

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

The second section comprises six psalms organised into three sequences, each one formed of two psalms:

“You are blameless

in your judgment”

Will they not understand, the workers of iniquity?

“By your power

vindicate me”

Ps 50–51

Ps 52–53

Ps 54–55

I. “YOU ARE BLAMELESS IN YOUR JUDGMENT” The First Sequence: Ps 50–51 1. PSALM 50 TEXT 1 A psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, Yhwh, speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, God shines forth. 3 May our God come and may he not be silent, a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest. 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to arbitrate his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed my covenant by sacrifice”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because God himself is judge. 7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you, I (am) God, your God! 8 Not for your sacrifices I accuse you and your burnt offerings (that are) before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, (nor) goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field (are) for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the blood of goats? 14 Make a sacrifice of confession to God and pay your vows to the Most High; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and you will glorify me.” 16 And God said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your mouth; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you? 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share (is) with adulterers; 19 you send your mouth with evil and your tongue plots deceit. 20 You sit, you speak against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 21 These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I accuse you and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to deliver! 23 The one who makes a sacrifice of confession glorifies me, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the salvation of God.”

V. 10: “THE MOUNTAINS BY THE THOUSANDS”

“By the thousands” qualifies the “mountains”, not directly the “animals”. V. 14: “CONFESSION”

The term tôdâ is most often translated as “thanksgiving” (Ps 26:7; 107:22; 116:17; 147:7); in such cases it refers to celebrating, confessing the wonders of God: “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness, for his wonders for the sons of Adam! Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and recount his deeds in songs of joy” (Ps 107:21–22). On the other hand, in a context of sin, the same term designates the recognition, the confession of own fault. That is the case in this psalm in verses 14 and 23.1 V. 23: “AND THE ONE WHO SETS A WAY”

This brief expression can only be understood through the parallelism with the preceding member. After confessing his sin, the man is called to change his ways, to rectify his conduct. 1

See P. BOVATI, Ristabilire la giustizia, 80–84 (especially, 84); See also Barbiero, 202–206.

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COMPOSITION The psalm comprises four parts organised in parallel. The first part (1b–6) introduces a speech of God (7–15) which rebounds (16b–23), this time addressed to the “wicked” (16a). THE FIRST PART (1B–6) + 1b The GOD + speaks + from the rising 2

: from Zion, : GOD

OF GODS, and CALLS of the sun

YHWH,

of perfect shines forth.

beauty,

THE EARTH

to its setting;

·········································································································· = 3 May come, OUR GOD, and may he not be silent;

= a fire = and around him

before him there is a tempest,

devours a great one.

··········································································································

+ 4 HE CALLS + and THE EARTH

the heavens to arbitrate

above his people:

:: 5 “Gather to me :: who sealed

my faithful my covenant

by sacrifice”.

+ 6 And declared + because GOD

the heavens is judge

his righteousness he himself!

In the first piece (1b–2), the second segment indicates the place (2) from which the Lord calls the whole world (1): the word of God comes from Israel. The third piece (4–6) is built around the words of God (5). In the extreme segments the announcement of the heavens (6a) corresponds to God’s call addressed to them (4a); in the same position “arbitrate” and “judge” belong to the same semantic field. The extreme pieces begin with the verb “to call” + “the earth”. At the centre (3) there is an evocation of theophany. THE SECOND PART (7–15) In the first subpart the final member (7c) states in what capacity God will “speak” and “testify” against his people (7ab). The extreme pieces of the second subpart are parallel (8–9 & 12–13). In their second segments (9 & 13) God refuses the offering of animals, “bulls” (translating two synonymous terms) and “goats”. Marked by negation, the first segments are complementary (8 & 12): God does not reproach his people for not offering him “sacrifices” and “burnt offerings” which are numerous (8), he affirms that he does not need and does not want them (12). At the centre (10–11) we find the reason for

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such a refusal: for everything is his, “all the creatures”, “the animals”, “all the birds”, “all the beasts”. :: 7 “Hear, :: O Israel,

O my people, I WILL TESTIFY

and I WILL SPEAK, against you;

.. GOD,

YOUR GOD,

I (am)!

– 8 Not for your SACRIFICES I ACCUSE you – and your burnt offerings (that are) before me 9

always;

· I will not take · from your sheepfolds

from your house a BULL, GOATS. ·······································································································

= 10 Because to me = the animals

all the creatures on the mountains

of the forest, by the thousands;

= 11 I know = and all the beasts

all the birds of the field

of the mountains (are) for me.

·······································································································

– 12 If I am hungry, – because are mine

I shall not tell the world

you, and its contents;

· 13 am I to eat · and the blood

the flesh of GOATS,

of BULLS am I to drink?

+ 14 MAKE A SACRIFICE + and pay

to GOD to THE MOST HIGH

of confession your vows;

:: 15 and Call upon me :: I will liberate you

in the day of anguish, and you will glorify me.”

In the last subpart (14–15) the first three members begin with imperatives. While in the first segment (14) God asks his people to perform two rites for him, in the second one (15) he invites them to trust him completely for liberation. The last words of the extreme members are complementary, “confession” (14a) is the recognition of sin, the glorification of God (15b) is the recognition and confession of his greatness and goodness. In the last two subparts God tells what he refuses (8–13) and then what he asks for (14–15); and the first subpart (7) could be considered as introducing the other two, inviting the people to listen to the words that follow. However, the extreme parts are marked by imperatives and they are the only ones where divine names are pronounced. The first commandment given by God to the people is to hear him (7a) and the last will be to call upon him (15a).

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THE THIRD PART (16A) The second part of God’s speech is introduced by a very short narrative phrase: “And God said to the wicked”. THE FOURTH PART (16B–23) + “What is it up to you + and to take

to enumerate my covenant

my decrees in YOUR MOUTH;

:: 17 and as for you, :: and YOU CAST

you hate

discipline

MY WORDS behind you? ······························································································································· – 18 IF YOU SEE a thief, you are pleased with him

– and with

adulterers

your share;

– 19 YOUR MOUTH – and your tongue

YOU SEND

plots

with evil deceit;

– 20 you sit, – against the son

against your brother of your mother

YOU SPEAK,

you give

dishonour.

·······························································································································

:: 21 These things :: Do you think .. I accuse you

you do, that I am and make it clear

and am I to be silent? really like you? to your eyes.

:: 22 Understand .. least I lacerate,

this, and no one

you who forget to deliver!

+ 23 He who makes a sacrifice of confession + and the one who sets a way = I WILL MAKE HIM SEE the salvation

God,

glorifies me, of God.”

The two bimembers of the first piece (16b–17) form a single question; they are syntactically parallel and semantically opposed. The second piece (18–20) details the content of 17: theft and adultery (18), lies (19) and slander against the brother (20). While the first piece denounces the conduct of the “wicked”, the last one, which also begins with questions (21ab), states what God will do in response to all his sins. In the first two segments the accusation leads to accusation and threat (21c & 22b); on the contrary, the last segment envisages confession of sin and conversion (23ab), which will result in “the salvation of God”. Hence, the extreme pieces correspond to each other in a mirrored way: good (16bc) – bad (17) / bad (21–22) – good (23). There are many repetitions in the first two pieces: “my mouth” (16c & 19a), “you cast”, “you send” (17b & 19a), “my words”, “you speak” (17b & 20a). The second piece begins with “If you see” (18a) and the last one ends with “I will make him see” (23c).

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THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

A psalm of Asaph. THE GOD OF GODS, YHWH, SPEAKS and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, GOD shines forth. 3 May OUR GOD come and may he not be silent; a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest. 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to arbitrate his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed MY COVENANT BY SACRIFICE”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because GOD himself is judge. 7

“Hear, O my people, and I WILL SPEAK, GOD, YOUR GOD!

O Israel, I will testify against you,

I am

8

Not for your SACRIFICES I ACCUSE you and your burnt offerings that are before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the blood of goats? 14

MAKE A SACRIFICE of CONFESSION to GOD and pay your vows to THE MOST HIGH; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and YOU WILL GLORIFY ME.”

16

And GOD said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take MY COVENANT in your mouth; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my WORDS behind you? 18

If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; you send your mouth with evil and your tongue plots deceit. 20 You sit, YOU SPEAK against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 19

21

These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I ACCUSE YOU and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to deliver! 23 The one who MAKES A SACRIFICE of CONFESSION GLORIFIES ME, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the salvation of GOD.”

The second narrative part (16a) is much shorter than the first one (1b–6). While the first part of the speech (7–15) is addressed to the “faithful” (5a), the second one (16b–23) is addressed to the “wicked” (16a).

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Both parts of the discourse end in a similar way with “making a sacrifice”, “confession”, “glorifying” and “God” (14–15 & 23). 1

A psalm of Asaph. THE GOD OF GODS, YHWH, SPEAKS and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, GOD shines forth. 3 May OUR GOD come and may he not be silent; a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest. 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to arbitrate his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed MY COVENANT BY SACRIFICE”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because GOD himself is judge. 7

“Hear, O my people, and I WILL SPEAK, GOD, YOUR GOD!

O Israel, I will testify against you,

I am

8

Not for your SACRIFICES I ACCUSE you and your burnt offerings that are before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the blood of goats? 14

MAKE A SACRIFICE of CONFESSION to GOD and pay your vows to THE MOST HIGH; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and YOU WILL GLORIFY ME.”

16

And GOD said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take MY COVENANT in your mouth; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my WORDS behind you? 18

If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; you send your mouth with evil and your tongue plots deceit. 20 You sit, YOU SPEAK against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 19

21

These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I ACCUSE YOU and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to deliver! 23 The one who MAKES A SACRIFICE of CONFESSION GLORIFIES ME, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the salvation of GOD.”

There are also other noteworthy repetitions: – “To speak”, “words” (1b, 7, 17 & 20); – “My covenant” (5 & 16b);

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– “Make a sacrifice”, “sacrifice/s” (5, 8, 14 & 23); – “I accuse you” (8 &21); – “Not to be silent”, with God as its subject (3& 21).

CONTEXT ACCUSATION Bilateral controversy (rîb) involves the accusation and the response of the accused. Ps 50 is a long accusation and the subsequent psalm is the response of the accused who confesses his sin.2 Isa 1:10–20 is another example of God’s accusation against his people, the people of Israel, who do not neglect offering him sacrifices, but who have defiled themselves by their “perverse actions” and whose hands are “full of blood” (see also Amos 5:18–27; Mic 6:1–8). ONCE, TWICE The conclusion of Ps 62 seems to correspond to the double discourse of God in Ps 50: Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this: – “that strength belongs to God, and to you, O Lord, faithfulness, – that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds”. (Ps 62:12–13)

INTERPRETATION THE FAITHFUL AND THE WICKED God first addresses his “faithful”: “Gather to me my faithful who sealed my covenant by sacrifice” (Ps 50:5). Afterwards, he addresses “the wicked” (50:16a). Are we talking about two different addressees or, on the contrary, about the one and the same group, “the people” of Israel (50:4, 7)? One might think that the former ones are those who faithfully comply with the Law and punctually offer the Lord the sacrifices that the Law prescribes, while “the wicked” in all respects is comparable to the first character in the parable of the unjust judge and the troublesome widow, the judge who “had neither fear of God nor respect for people” (Luke 18:2). Indeed, the wicked one, a thief, an adulterer and a liar, disregards the most fundamental commandments. Yet this wicked person is not ungodly like the judge in the parable: he enumerates God’s decrees and brings his 2

See P. BOVATI, Ristabilire la giustizia, I. “La controversia giuridica (RÎB)”, 19–148; on accusation see chap. 2, “L’accusa”, 51–77.

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covenant to his mouth (Ps 50:16b). He is a “faithful” one to the Lord. What the people are accused of is not their cultic practice of the Law through sacrifices, but their social conduct, which takes no account of the commandments towards their neighbour as laid down in the Decalogue. It is not the first table of the ten words that he is unfaithful to, but the second one. JUSTIFICATION The accusation develops in two stages. One might have expected a reverse order, with God addressing first the wicked one who has the Law and the covenant in his mouth (50:16) but who does evil: theft, adultery, false testimony. Then comes the less serious case of the “faithful” to the covenant, those who punctually offer all the blood sacrifices required by the Law (50:8–13). But that is not what God reproaches them for; what the Lord testifies to (50:7) is the justification that they believe they have acquired through their sacrifices, whereas righteousness belongs only to God, as the heavens announce it (50:6). The order adopted by the psalmist is undoubtedly very meaningful, inciting the reader to reflect on what constitutes the root of sin, a form of idolatry through which one puts oneself in the place of God, and the “judge” which he is. Therefore, he concludes with an invitation given to the faithful to call upon him “in the day of anguish”, for glory belongs only to the one who can save them (50:15). The sin of the Pharisee is certainly more serious than that of the publican who confesses his sin (Luke 18:9–14). CONFESSION All are called to “confess” in the same movement their sin and the glory of God (Ps 50:14–15, 23). Admitting one’s sin is to recognise that one has broken the covenant, and by this very fact to confess the righteousness of the partner, the righteousness of God. It is to give thanks for the divine righteousness which, instead of chastising, “liberates” (50:15) and saves (50:23); but which could not save if the sinner were not acknowledging his or her fault and making his or her way straight. Acknowledging one’s sin and acknowledging God’s salvation by giving thanks are the two inseparable sides of the same confession. THE FIRE OF THE STORM God speaks without tiring; he cannot be silent (50:3, 21). But, as at Sinai, he speaks in a storm and fire. “A fire before him devours” (50:3), a tempest that shakes and trembles. This means that the revelation that will follow, in double sense, should be a test, a purification like that of the crucible. The accusation is intended to shake the false convictions of the faithful, to burn away the false pretences of the wicked. This cannot happen without some violence. But that is the violence of love, which has only one desire, that of liberating his people and saving the wicked.

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THE POWER OF WITNESSES It is not different from calling witnesses, whose presence has the function of creating a salutary fear. They cannot be other human beings, some other people. It is “the earth” in its entirety, “from the rising of the sun to its setting” (50:1). But that is not enough, “the heavens” are also summoned as witnesses of the judgment that the Lord of the earth and the heavens will pronounce against his people (50:4). That is the solemnity of an accusation that would be very difficult to resist. If “the heavens recount the glory of God” (Ps 19:2), if they “declare his righteousness” (50:6), the faithful who reveal themselves to be wicked can only do the same to confess the glory of their Saviour (50:15, 23).

2. PSALM 51 TEXT 1 For

the music director, a psalm, of David, 2 when came to him the prophet Nathan, after he had come to Bathsheba. 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my transgressions! 4 Greatly wash me from my fault and purify me from my sin! 5 Because myself I know my transgressions and my sin (is) before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in fault I was born and in sin my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. 9 You will purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be pure; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10 You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from my sins and all my faults wipe away! 12 A pure heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 Make return to me the gladness of your salvation and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. 15 I will teach the transgressors your ways and the sinners will return to you! 16 Deliver me from bloods, O God, the God of my salvation: my tongue will acclaim your righteousness. 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer (it), a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken breath; a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars. V. 8: “IN THE KIDNEYS”

Following the Targum and the rabbinic tradition, the Hebrew term ṭuḥôt (found only in Job 38:36) is translated as “kidneys”; this meaning is supported by that of the corresponding term in the second member, sātum, which means “that which is hidden”, translated here as “private”, but which could be rendered as “heart”.1

COMPOSITION The psalm is composed of five parts, arranged in an elliptical manner. The analysis will be carried out in a more detailed way than usual.2 THE FIRST PART (3–8) It is formed of two subparts (3–4 & 5–8); the second one, which begins with “because”, gives the reasons for the supplication that the first subpart develops.

1 2

See Hakham, I, 299. See R. MEYNET, “Analyse rhétorique du Psaume 51. Hommage critique à Marc Girard”.

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The first subpart (3–4) + 3 Have mercy on me, O God, + according to THE ABUNDANCE of your compassion 4

= ABUNDANTLY = and from MY SIN

according to your faithfulness, WIPE AWAY

MY TRANSGRESSIONS.

from MY FAULT,

WASH ME PURIFY ME.

Both segments are linked together by “abundance” (3b) and “abundantly” (4a) which act as “medial terms”, but also by the synonymous syntagmas “wipe away my transgressions” (3b), “wash me from my fault” (4a) and “from my sin purify me” (4b). The first verb, “have mercy on me” (3a), differs from the other three by the fact that it less specific. The second subpart (5–8) All five bimember segments of the part are organised into two pieces. – 5 Because my transgressions, – and my sin

myself before me

I know always.

– 6 Against you, – and the evil

you alone, in your eyes

I have sinned I have done,

you are RIGHTEOUS you are BLAMELESS

in your word, in your judgment.

= so that =

The first piece (5–6) consists of three bimember segments. The last segment (6cd) is syntactically linked to the second one (6ab) by “so that”. Expressing God’s righteousness (“you are righteous”, “you are blameless”), it contrasts with the first two where the psalmist confesses his sin (“transgressions” in 5a, “sin” in 5b & 6a, and “evil” in 6b). The first two segments are linked by the median terms, “my sin” and “I have sinned”. It should be pointed out the progression from 5 to 6ab: not only have I sinned (“myself” and “before me” are found in the same position), but also my sin is against God (“you alone” and “in your eyes” are found in the identical position). The second piece (7–8) comprises two bimember segments: + 7 Behold, + and

in FAULT in SIN

– 8 Behold, – and

LOYALTY

you want

in private

WISDOM

I was born conceived me

my mother. in the kidneys you teach me.

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The unity of this piece is marked by the initial terms “Behold” (7a & 8a); moreover, both second members begin with “and in” (7b & 8b). “Fault” and “sin” (7) are opposed to “loyalty” and “wisdom” (8); the same preposition “in” introduces the couple “fault” and “sin” (7) and the couple “the kidneys” and “private” (8). It should be pointed out that there is a progression between the two members of verse 7: sin does not only go back to birth (7a) but even to conception (7b); and similarly between the two members of verse 8: God not only “wants” loyalty and wisdom (8a), but he also “teaches” them (8b). In view of the parallelism of the two segments, it is legitimate to wonder in addition to the opposition between “fault” – “sin” and “loyalty” – “wisdom”, whether there could be another semantic connection between them. These two segments put the psalmist in relation with two different characters: his “mother” (7), then God whom he addresses (8). While the psalmist recognizes that his sin, the sinful human condition, goes back to his origin, that is, to his mother’s womb (7), he also recognizes that it is not God’s desire (8); what God wants is a restoration that also re-joins an individual at his or her root, in the depths of his or her being, in his or her “kidneys”. While sin affects humans at their origin, the source of “loyalty” and “wisdom” is even more original since it is rooted in God. Unless we understand that these two segments are not opposed but complementary: the “loyalty” and “wisdom” taught by God could consist precisely in the fact that a person recognizes that he or she is a sinner from the very beginning. The two pieces form a unit (5–8) of concentric composition according to the formula AB // C // AB. In fact, 7 corresponds to 5 and 8 to 6ab: : 5 Because my transgressions, : and my sin before me always.

MYSELF, I KNOW

= 6 against you, you alone, I have sinned = and the evil in your eyes I have done ······························································

so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgment. ······························································

: 7 Behold, in fault I was born : and in sin conceived me my mother. = 8 Behold, LOYALTY you want in the kidneys = and in private WISDOM YOU MAKE ME KNOW.

One of the strongest indications of the unity of these verses is the inclusion formed by “I know” at the end of the first member (5a) and “you make me know” at the end of the last member (8b). The movement is marked by the alternation of the first and the second person singular pronouns, or more precisely by the association of these pronouns. In 5 and 7, the “you” is absent, but whereas in 5 it is only a question of the “I” of the psalmist, in 7 his mother intervenes: the

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permanent consciousness of sin (“always”, 5b) goes back to the origin (“conceived me my mother”, 7b). In 6ab and 8, the “you” (namely God) is related to the “I” of the psalmist, but the movement is reversed: first what man has done against God: “sin” and “evil” (6); then what God wants from man: “loyalty” and “wisdom” (8). The last segment of verse 6 is therefore found at the centre:3 It expresses the righteousness of divine decree. It would seem that the judgment made by God refers to the punishment inflicted on the sinner; this should be confirmed by the rest of the psalm. : 5 Because my transgressions, : and my sin sin before me always.

MYSELF, I KNOW

= 6 against you, you alone, I have sinned = and the evil in your eyes I have done ······························································

so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgment. ······························································

: 7 Behold, in fault I was born : and in sin conceived me my mother. = 8 Behold, LOYALTY you want in the kidneys = and in private WISDOM YOU MAKE ME KNOW.

The whole of the first part (3–8) The second subpart (5–8) explains the reasons for the request that precedes it (3–4): it begins with “because” (5a). While all the verbs in the first subpart (3–4) are in the imperative mood, those in the second subpart (5–8) are in the indicative mood (incomplete verbs are translated by the present tense, the complete verbs are translated by the past tenses). The first term designating human wrongdoing, “transgressions”, in the first segment of the first subpart (3b) is taken up again at the beginning of the second subpart (5a). The next two terms, “fault” and “sin” in the second segment of the first subpart (4ab), are taken up again together and in the same order in verse 7, that is, at the beginning of the last piece of the second subpart; “sin” occurs again twice in the second subpart: coupled with “transgressions” in 5, and with “evil” in 6ab. The terms designating human sin are opposed on the one hand to God’s righteousness (“righteous” and “blameless” in 6cd) and on the other hand to what God wants from man (“loyalty” and “wisdom” in 8ab). It can therefore be understood that what is affirmed at the beginning of the first subpart, namely that it is God alone who can grant forgiveness, through his “faithfulness” and his “mercy” (3), is taken up and developed later, in the second 3

It is not surprising that the ending of the first piece (6cd) occupies the centre of the construction. That is a frequent phenomenon in the biblical texts: see Traité, 335–341 = Treatise, 225–227.

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subpart, since he is the one who gives “wisdom” (8b). The canonical couple “faithfulness” and “loyalty” (ḥesed and ’emet, 3a & 8a) frames the part.4 + 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your FAITHFULNESS, + according to the greatness of your MERCY wipe away my transgressions! = 4 Greatly wash me from my fault, = and purify me from my sin! – 5 BECAUSE myself I know my transgressions – and my sin (is) before me always. . 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned . and the evil in your eyes I have done, ···································································· : so that you are RIGHTEOUS in your word, : you are BLAMELESS in your judgment. ····································································

– 7 Behold, in fault I was born – and in sin my mother conceived me. . 8 Behold, LOYALTY you want in the kidneys . and in private you make me know WISDOM.

THE SECOND PART (10–14) The central part of the psalm consists of five concentrically arranged segments. The central segment (12) is framed by two pieces each consisting of two bimember segments (10–11 & 13–14). The first piece (10–11) comprises two bimembers: - 10 You will make me hear - will exult

gladness the bones

and joy, you have crushed.

: 11 Hide : and all

your face my faults

from my sins wipe away.

The unity of these two segments is not so evident as in the last piece (13–14). The only lexical connection is the sound similarity of the penultimate words of each segment, ‘ăṣāmôt and ‘ăwōnôt (rendered roughly in translation as “the bones” and “my faults”). While the two main verbs of the first segment are in the incomplete form, those of the second segment are the imperatives. The movement of this piece

4

See Le Psautier. Premier livre, 321 = The Psalter: Book One, 321; regarding the translation of ḥesed we’ĕmet, see Le Psautier. Cinquième livre, 123.

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seems to be inverted: in fact, forgiveness (11) would normally precede the expression of joy and exultation (10). The central piece comprises only one bimember segment (12). Apart from the central apostrophe, “O God”, the two members are strictly parallel. 12

A heart

and a spirit

pure

CREATE

O GOD, steadfast RENEW

for me, within me.

The last piece (13–14) comprises two bimember segments: + 13 You will not cast – and the SPIRIT

ME

+ 14 Make return to – and with a SPIRIT

ME

from before of your holiness do not take from of nobility

the face of

YOURS

ME.

the gladness of the salvation of YOURS you will strengthen ME.

Each segment contains two verbs at the extremities, the negative ones in 13, the positive ones in 14; the extreme verbs are in the incomplete form, the central ones are the imperatives (in addition, the first verbs of each segment are in the hiphil). The first members end with the second person singular suffix pronoun; the second ones start with “spirit” followed by a complement and end with the first person singular suffix pronoun. These three pieces (10–14) form a part composed concentrically. :: 10 You will make hear :: will exult – 11 Hide – and all

to me the bones

GLADNESS

YOUR FACE

from my sins wipe away.

and joy,

you have crushed.

my faults

·············································································································· 12

A heart pure O GOD, and a spirit steadfast

create

for me,

renew within me.

·············································································································· 13 You will not cast me from before YOUR FACE

– – and the spirit

:: 14 Make return :: and with a spirit

of your holiness

do not take from me.

to me of nobility

the GLADNESS of your salvation you will strengthen me.

— Marking the beginning of 10 and 14, the two occurrences of “gladness” with the similar syntagmas that precede them (“you will make hear to me” and “make

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return to me”) play the role of extreme terms;5 the two final verbs, “to crush” (10b) and “to strengthen” (14b), seem to be opposing. — In 11 and 13, in addition to the repetition of “your face” in the first members, it should be pointed out that the two segments are complementary: the psalmist is asking first for liberation from the negative things (“sins” and “faults”), then not to be deprived of the positive things (the presence “before the face” of God and “the spirit of his holiness”); the verbs “to hide” and “to wipe away” (11), “to cast” and “to take” (13) are synonymous, but they are opposed through negation. — These four segments begin with a hiphil verb and their future tense (10a & 13a) and the imperative mood (11a & 14a) alternate in parallel. While the extreme segments are clearly of a positive character, segments 11 and 13 are rather of a negative type: the psalmist firstly asks God to deliver him (11), and then he begs him not to be deprived of his presence and his spirit (13). — At the centre (12) there is a very specific segment: it is indeed the only one whose two members are strictly parallel, apart from the apostrophe “O God” which occupies the centre of the segment and therefore also of the whole part. The “spirit” at the beginning of the second member of the central segment (12c) is repeated at the beginning of the second member of the two subsequent segments (13b & 14b); the “heart” in 12a belongs to the same semantic field as “the bones” (10b). Each of these five segments is a supplication, but the central verse distinguishes itself from the others because it is the only one in which the demand for a re-creation is so clearly expressed. The movement of this part from the chronological point of view seems to be centrifugal: the new creation (12) which must abolish the past of sins and faults (11) but should not be challenged by a new sin which would cause the rejection should be this by God and the withdrawal of the new spirit (13), this new creation will cause joy and gladness (10 & 14). This centrifugal concentric composition should not, however, hide a certain progression between both sides: Indeed, 10b refers to the past with “the bones you have crushed”, whereas in the symmetrical position (14b) it concerns only the new spirit given since 12b; as for the complementarity of verses 11 and 13, it is also of a temporal type, for whereas in 11 the request is made for the abolition of a sinful past, in 13 the request is for protection from the abolition of the new presence of holiness.

5

We can also observe the (paronomastic) inclusion between tašmî‘ēnî (10a) and tismekēnî (14b) which are translated as “you will make me hear” and “you will strengthen me”.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

THE THIRD PART (16–21) Corresponding to the first part of the psalm (3–8), the final part (16–21) has a similar composition. It consists of two subparts of unequal length: the first one (16–17) is the size of a piece, while the second one (18–21) is formed of three pieces. As in the first part (3–8), the second subpart is introduced by “because”. The first subpart (16–17) + 16 Deliver me + the God = WILL ACCLAIM +

17

O ADONAI, = and my mouth

from bloods, of my salvation: my tongue

O GOD,

my lips

you will open YOUR PRAISE.

WILL DECLARE

YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The first subpart (16–17) consists of two segments, one trimember (16) and one bimember (17). 16b is an expansion of the apostrophe of 16a, “O God”. God’s “righteousness” (16c) seems to be opposed to “bloods” (16a) from which the psalmist wants to be delivered. Both first members express a request (although in 17a the verb is not in the imperative as in 16a but in the future tense) and both contain an apostrophe, “O God” and “O Adonai”, whose referent is the same. The last members (16c & 17b) correspond to each other: the two verbs are synonymous as well as their subjects; whereas the object complements are complementary, since “praise” is the human response to God’s “righteousness”. Given the close correspondence of the final members, which are presented as results of the first members, the question arises as to whether the first members (16a & 17a) are semantically related, or whether 17a refers only to 16c, but we will have to come back to this. The second subpart (18–21) The second subpart (18–21) is formed of three concentrically arranged pieces. The first piece (18–19) comprises two segments. The first one (18) is a five-term bimember of concentric composition: + Because

YOU DO NOT WANT

: a sacrifice, – if I offer (it); : a burnt offering +

YOU DO NOT DESIRE

The division adopted, which breaks after “if I offer (it)”, follows the Masoretic punctuation.

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The next segment (19), which has nine terms, poses a division problem. It can be considered as a single bimember segment: . 19 The sacrifices of GOD, . a heart broken and crushed, O GOD,

a spirit broken; you do not despise!

or as two bimember segments: + The sacrifices + a spirit

of GOD, broken;

+ a heart + O GOD,

broken and crushed, you do not despise!

Two reasons argue in favour of the first solution: firstly, it is the choice of the Masoretic punctuation; secondly, this verse consists of only two phrases, which is the case of the preceding bimember. This segment is built concentrically: + THE SACRIFICES - of God : a spirit

BROKEN;

: a heart

BROKEN

and crushed

- O God + YOU DO NOT DESPISE

The extreme words are paronomastically related (zibḥê at the beginning and lō’ tibzeh at the end6). The two occurrences of “God” are found in a symmetrical position. Finally, in median terms, the same word “broken” qualifies the quasisynonyms, “a spirit” and “a heart”. These two segments form a single piece: + 18 Because YOU DO NOT WANT a sacrifice, if I offer (it), + a burnt offering YOU DO NOT DESIRE. = 19 The sacrifices = a heart broken and crushed,

of God, O God,

a spirit broken, YOU DO NOT DESPISE.

All three verbs are accompanied by negation; however, the last one is conceptually opposed to the other two. “Sacrifice/s” is repeated in the first members; “a spirit broken” and “a heart broken and crushed” of 19 are opposed to “sacrifice” and “burnt offering” of 18. The two segments are essentially opposing: the first one states what God does not want, the second one what God likes. 6

Similarly, though not so noticeably, the final terms of each member can be considered as paronomastically related: nidkeh and tibzeh (“broken” and “despise”).

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The third piece (21) consists of only one trimember segment: + 21 Then you will want SACRIFICES = burnt offering and whole offering, + Then they will bring up on YOUR ALTARS

of righteousness bulls.

The extreme members correspond to each other: they begin with the same adverb “then”; “sacrifices” and “altars” derive from the same root (zbḥ); the last member is the response of the faithful to the will of God expressed in the first member. At the centre (21b), a shorter member where “burnt offering” announces the verb of the next member, “they will bring up”, which is of the same root (‘lh). The central piece (20) comprises only one bimember segment with a parallel arrangement which does not require comment, at this level: : 20 DO GOOD : YOU WILL REBUILD

according to your desire the walls

in of

Zion; Jerusalem.

The three pieces just analysed form a subpart composed concentrically: + 18 Because YOU DO NOT WANT a sacrifice, + a burnt offering YOU DO NOT DESIRE. = 19 The sacrifices = a heart broken and crushed,

of God, O God,

if I offer it, a spirit broken, you do not despise.

······································································································· 20 Do good ACCORDING TO YOUR DESIRE in Zion;

you will rebuild

the walls

of Jerusalem.

·······································································································

+ 21 Then YOU WILL WANT = burnt offering + then they will bring up

sacrifices and whole offering; on your altars

of righteousness, bulls.

“You do not want sacrifice” (18a) and “you will want sacrifices” (21a) play the role of initial terms for the extreme pieces; the same negative-positive opposition is found between “you do not desire” at the beginning (18b) and “according to your desire” at the centre (20a). Words from the root zbḥ (“sacrifice/s” and “altars”) occur twice in the first piece (18a, 19a) and twice in the last piece (21a & 21c); words from the root ‘lh (“burnt offering” and “to bring up”) occur once in the first piece (18b) and twice in the last one (21a & 21c). Thus, the symmetry between 18–19 and 21 leads to the understanding that the “sacrifices of righteousness” (that means “right sacrifices”) which the Lord wants (21a) are opposed to those which he does not want (18), because they are not the sign of the inner sacrifice of the heart and of the broken spirit (19). Appearing only at the end

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(21b), the term “whole offering” (kālîl, from the root kl = “all”, “whole”, “total”), seems to point in the same direction: the “whole offering” is that which unites the outward manifestation of the animal sacrifices with the inner disposition of those who offer them. The central piece (20) differs from the other two in the sense that it is the only one in which none of the terms belonging to the semantic field of sacrificial acts appear; it is also the only one that presents a request; it is also the only one that speaks of God’s action, while the pieces surrounding it deal with the human cultic actions. The whole of the part (16–21) The two subparts (16–17 & 18–21) that have just been analysed at their various levels of organisation form the last part of the psalm: – 16 Deliver me from bloods, O God, – the God of my salvation: = my tongue will acclaim your RIGHTEOUSNESS. ·····················································································

+ 17 O my God, you will open my lips, = and my mouth will declare your praise. – 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it; – a burnt offering you do not desire. + 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken spirit; + a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise. ·······································································

: 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion; : you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. ·······································································

+ 21 Then you will want sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, + burnt offering and whole offering; + then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

The second subpart begins with “because” (18a), which suggests that it will give the reasons for or explain the meaning of the double request (16a & 17a) expressed in the first subpart. As long as the psalm was attributed to David—guilty of shedding Uriah’s blood—the meaning of the word “bloods” (16a) was clear: the king was asking to be absolved of his crime. Since the Davidic attribution has been questioned, the word has become problematic. Some authors propose to correct the vocalization of the Masoretic text: thus Gunkel reads dumām (“silence”) in place of dāmîm (“bloods”).7 The correction is tempting: the first member of 16 would express 7

H. GUNKEL, An Introduction to the Psalms, 160.

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negatively (“deliver me from silence”) what the first member of 17 says positively (“you will open my lips”) and the logic of the piece would be quite clear.8 Tournay9 adopts a more radical solution: he deletes the word restoring in this way the metric of the original text (the first two members of 16 become a single member: “Deliver me, O God, my saviour”). The vast majority of commentators, however, attempt to interpret the text as it was transmitted by both the Septuagint and the Masoretes: In line with the traditional interpretation, some understand that the speaker is requesting God’s forgiveness for a blood crime he has committed (“deliver me from the blood that I have shed”); others see in it the threat of a bloody death that the psalmist would deserve because of his sin (“do not allow my blood to be shed”); for many, these two interpretations are not incompatible.10 Another interpretation is based on the comparison with Ezek 3:17–19; 33:7–9: if the prophet failed to warn the wicked to turn from their evil ways and the wicked died because of their sin, God would demand an account of their blood from the prophet.11 For others, it is the blood of the sacrifices that will be discussed later.12 The coherence of the last part could encourage to favour the last interpretation: indeed, the last part does not deal with sin at all, but only with sacrifices, those that God does not want (Ps 51:18), then those that are pleasing to him (19 & 21). It is therefore possible to identify an opposition between 16a and 17a similar to that found, in the same order, between verses 18 and 19: the psalmist’s “salvation” (16b) will not result from the blood of the animal sacrifices he could offer (16a) but from the action of God who will open “his lips” (17a); as if his lips were not only closed but also welded, uncircumcised (Exod 6:12, 30). Thus, “bloods” at the beginning of the first subpart (Ps 51:16a) belongs to the same semantic field as in the second subpart “the sacrifices” (18a, 19a, 21a & “altars” in 21c, from the root zbḥ = “to slaughter”), “burnt offering” (18b, 21b & “to bring up” of 21c), “whole offering” (21b) and “bulls” (21c);13 in a complementary way, the term “lips” in the second segment of the first subpart (17a, echoed by “tongue” in 16c & “mouth” in 17b) belongs to the same semantic field as “spirit” and “heart” in

8

M. Dahood (II, 8) he reads dammīm as “the tears of death”. R. TOURNAY, Les Psaumes, 18; L. JACQUET, Les Psaumes et le Cœur de l’homme, 158. 10 Ravasi, II, 55. For A. Hakham (I, 301–302) it is the revenge of blood that a blood crime deserves. 11 J. GOLDINGAY, “Psalm 51:16a (English 51:14a)”, 388–390. 12 “There is nothing in the text that allows us to think of a murder [...]. Nothing allows us to believe that the psalmist is threatened with the death penalty [...]. A remaining solution is to link this blood (we have the plural) with the sacrifices that the author was obliged to make to obtain his reintegration” (A. MAILLOT – A. LELIÈVRE, Les Psaumes, II, 25). The only difficulty is that, in the plural, “bloods” never refers to the blood of sacrifices, but always to violent death. 13 One might notice a sound correspondence between dāmîm (“bloods”) and pārîm (“bulls”) in extreme terms (16a & 21c), especially since these are the only words of the vocative pattern in the whole part. 9

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19; the opening of the mouth by the circumcision of the lips (17) thus refers to the “broken spirit” and to the “heart, broken and crushed” of 19.14 – 16 Deliver me from bloods, O God, – the God of my salvation: = my tongue will acclaim your RIGHTEOUSNESS. ····················································································

+ 17 O my God, you will open my lips, = and my mouth will declare your praise. – 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it; – a burnt offering you do not desire. + 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken spirit; + a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise. ·······································································

: 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion; : you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. ·······································································

+ 21 Then you will want sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, + burnt offering and whole offering; + then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

Although indirectly, the first subpart features a third personage in addition to the psalmist and God: those to whom God’s praise will be announced (16c & especially 17b) and who can only constitute a group. The only place in the second subpart where the reference to a group reappears is in the central piece, with “Zion” and “Jerusalem” (20). Just as the first subpart contains two requests, one in the imperative (“deliver me” in 16a), the other one in the future tense (“you will open” in 17a), so the two members of the central verse of the second subpart begin with a request, the first one in the imperative (“do good” in 20a) and the other one in the future tense (“you will rebuild” in 20b). In addition, it should be pointed out the repetition of “God” (twice in the first segment of the first subpart in 16ab and twice in the first piece of the second subpart in 19) as well as the repetition of “righteousness” in the median terms of the extreme segments (16c & 21a). THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM Ps 51 consists of five concentrically arranged parts: the three parts analysed so far are connected by two much shorter parts, the size of a single bimember segment (9 & 5). 14

It is possible that the ambiguity of the term “bloods” is intended; if so, it should be respected. In any case, we are still dealing with death and a violent death.

130

Second Section (Ps 50–55)

Relations between the extreme parts (3–8 & 16–21) The first and the last parts are of equal length (14 members each) and of identical composition. The first subparts (3–4 & 16–17) are short: four members in the first one, five in the other one; they are both the size of a piece formed of two segments. They express a request (four imperatives in 3–4; one imperative in 16c & a future with the meaning of imperative in 17a), addressed to “God” (3a & 16a; this is the only occurrence of this apostrophe in the first part, but in the last part it also appears in 19b). The second subparts (5–8 & 18–21) are more extensive: ten members in the first of them, nine members in the other one; each of them is formed of three pieces organised concentrically, around 6cd in the first instance, around 20 in the second case. “Because” (which does not occur anywhere else in the psalm) explains the reasons for the request expressed in the first subparts and acts as initial terms (5a & 18a). The repetition of the same verb at the beginning of their final verses (“you want” in 8a & “you will want” in 21a), whose complements can be considered as synonymous (“loyalty” and “righteousness”), plays the role of final terms. “You are righteous” at the centre of 5–8 (6c) and “righteousness” at the extremities of the last part (16b & 21a) occupy strategic positions. The first part is marked by the long list of “sins” (4b, 5b, 6a, 7b) and its synonyms (“transgressions”, 3b & 5a; “fault”, 4a & 7a; “evil”, 6b), the last part is marked by “sacrifice” (18a, 19a, 21a) and its synonyms (“burnt offering”, 18b & 21a; “whole offering”, 21b; plus “will bring up” which is of the same root as “burnt offering”, “altars” which is of the same root as “sacrifice” and finally “bulls” (21c & even “bloods” in 16a). These two semantic fields are culturally correlated because the Law prescribes sacrifices for sin (Lev 4–6). In this psalm, too, they are formally correlated: the first part presents the requests for deliverance from sin (from verse 3) and the last part (if the interpretation of 16 above is founded) the requests for deliverance from “bloods”, which means from sacrifices not pleasing to God. God’s “will” (at the end of both parts: in 8 & 21), seems to be aiming at the same thing: the “loyalty” and “wisdom” that God’s “will” declared in 8 consists not only in confessing human sin (3–6 & 7), but also, and perhaps especially, in confessing God’s “righteousness” on which the subpart 5–8 is centred; the “sacrifices” that God “wants” in 21 are sacrifices “of righteousness”, the same “righteousness” that is already found at the beginning of the last part (16b), attributed to God.

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+ 3 Have mercy on me, O GOD, according to your faithfulness, + according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my transgressions! + 4 Greatly wash me from my fault, + and purify me from my sin! : 5 BECAUSE myself I know my transgressions : and my sin is before me always. = 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned = and the evil in your eyes I have done, ··································································

so that YOU ARE RIGHTEOUS in your word, you are blameless in your judgement. ··································································

: 7 Behold, in fault I was born : and in sin my mother conceived me. = 8 Behold, YOU WANT LOYALTY in the kidneys = and in private you make me know wisdom. [...] + 16 Deliver me from bloods, O GOD, + the GOD of my salvation: – my tongue will acclaim your RIGHTEOUSNESS. + 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, – and my mouth will declare your praise. : 18 BECAUSE you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, : a burnt offering you do not desire. = 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken spirit; = a heart, broken and crushed, O GOD, you do not despise! ····································································· 20

Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. ·····································································

: 21 Then YOU WILL WANT sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, = burnt offering and whole offering; : Then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

Because of their symmetrical position, the centres of the subparts 5–8 and 18– 21 should also be related conceptually. The prayer in verse 20 suggests that the confession of God’s righteous “judgement” in 6cd should be understood as the evil which befell Zion when the walls of Jerusalem were destroyed.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

Binding segments (9 and 15) • 9 YOU WILL PURGE MY SIN • YOU WILL WASH ME,

with hyssop, and more than snow

and I will be pure, I will be whiter!

the transgressors to you

WILL RETURN!

[...]

• 15 I WILL TEACH • AND THE SINNERS

your ways

These two segments have only one word in common deriving from the same root, “you will purge my sin” and “the sinners”, but they are in a symmetrical position at the beginning of the extreme members (9a & 15b). All their verbs are in the incomplete form (translated by the future tense). In verse 9, in connection with the “you” of God (twice at the beginning of each member), the first person singular appears four times (“you will purge my sin”, “I will be pure”, “you will wash me”, “I will be whiter”). In verse 15 the first person is used only once (“I will teach”); on the other hand, for the first time there occurs the plural of “transgressors” and “sinners” in relation to God (twice: “your ways” & “to you”). The logical structure of these segments is quite similar: a future action, followed by its consequence (in 9 in each of its two members which comprise two phrases; and in 15 from one member to the other one). The same movement is found from one segment to the other: the psalmist’s action (15) is the consequence of God’s action towards him (9); more precisely, what God has done for the psalmist (his cleansing from sin) will lead to a similar action on his part, since he will help sinners to return to God. The function of these two segments is to provide a link between the other three parts of the psalm. The request of 9 echoes that of the beginning of the first part; the lexical links are particularly strong with the second segment (4): “sin” (4b & 9a), “wash me” (4a) and “you will wash me” (9b), “purify me” (4b) and “I will be pure” (9a); the words deriving from the root of “sin” occur six times in the first part of the psalm (4b, 5b, 6a, 7b, 9a, 11a). Symmetrically, the promise of 15 announces the beginning of the last part: indeed, 16c and 17b echo 15a: the forgiven sinner will “teach” (15a), his “tongue will acclaim” (16c), his “mouth will declare” (17b) the “praise” (17b), the “righteousness” (16c), the “ways” (15a) of God. “I will be pure” of 9a is taken up by “pure heart” in the first part of the central verse (12a). Similarly, we can see a relation between “I will teach” of 15a and “breath” in the second part of the central verse (12c: hitherto translated as “spirit”); this word is repeated three times in the second part of the psalm (13b, 14b, 19a). It should also be pointed out that “will return” at the end of 15 echoes “make return” at the beginning of the preceding verse (14a).

Psalm 51 1

For the music director, a psalm, of David,

133

2

when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he went to Bathsheba.

3

Have mercy on me, O GOD, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my TRANSGRESSIONS! = 4 Greatly wash me from MY FAULT, = and purify me from MY SIN! 5

Because myself I know my TRANSGRESSIONS and MY SIN is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I HAVE SINNED and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in FAULT I was born and in SIN my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. = 9 YOU WILL PURGE MY SIN with hyssop, and I will be pure; = you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10

You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from MY SINS and all MY FAULTS wipe away! = 12 A pure heart create for me, O GOD, + and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 MAKE RETURN to me the gladness of your salvation and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. + 15 I will teach TRANSGRESSORS your ways + AND THE SINNERS WILL RETURN to you! 16

Deliver me from bloods, O GOD, + my tongue will acclaim 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, + and my mouth will declare 18

the GOD of my salvation: your righteousness. your praise.

Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of GOD, a broken breath; a heart, heart broken and crushed, O GOD, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

The reversal at the centre of the psalm The words from the root of “sin” (4b, 5b, 6a, 7b, 9a, 11a) as well as their synonyms, “transgressions” (3b & 5a), “fault/s” (4a, 7a, 11b), “evil” (6b), referred to by the psalmist, are used only in the first part of the psalm, that is, up to verse 11, before the centre of the central part (12); after that they do not reappear, except for “transgressors” and “sinners” in 15, which do not refer to the psalmist but to those whom he will bring back through his teaching. As if, from the very centre, the psalmist’s sin was truly “wiped away” (11b).15 In opposition to sin, the second side is marked by God’s “holiness” (13b), “nobility” (14b), both of which are communicated to the “spirit” of the recreated human being, through God’s “salvation” (14a & 16b);16 through his “righteousness” (16c) to which his “praise” (17b) responds, and finally through the human “righteousness” (21a). It should be added, however, that God’s “faithfulness” and “mercy” are present right from the beginning (3). Finally, we should point out that “whole offering” (kālîl) at the end of the second side (21b) corresponds to “all” (kol) at the end of the first side (11b); these are the only words from the same root (kl) in the psalm. Relations between the extreme parts and the central part The entire central part (10–14) is a prayer, as it is the beginning of each of the extreme parts (3–4 & 16–17). It should be notice, however, that in the rest of the psalm two other verses also express a request: verse 9 in the first side and verse 20 in the second side; both prayers are made by the same person, but in 9 the psalmist is requesting something for himself, while in 20 his prayer is aiming at the community. The two members of the central segment seem to refer, the first one to the first side of the psalm, the second one to the second side. Indeed, “breath” which appears for the first time in 12b is repeated three times in the second side (13b, 14b, 19a); as for the “heart” which also appears for the first time in 12a, it belongs to the same semantic field as the three words in the first side, “kidneys” (8a), “private” (8b) and “bones” (10b);17 it should be pointed out that the two words “heart” and “breath” are repeated together in 19. Moreover, “pure” in 12a takes over “I will be pure” of 9 and “purify me” of 4 (these words will not reappear later), while “steadfast” seems to be made explicit in the rest of the text by the expansions that qualify “breath” (“your holiness” in 13b and “nobility” in 14b) and then opposed to “broken” in 19a. Finally, “create” of 12a can be related to “I was born” and “conceived” of 7, while “renew” of 12b announces “you will rebuild” of 20b.

15 This last word makes inclusion for the first side (at the end of 3 & 11); it is accompanied by the couple “fault” and “sin” (in 4 & in reverse order in 11). 16 The two occurrences of salvation act as distant median terms that link the central part with the last part. 17 The correspondence between “heart” and “bones” is confirmed by the fact that “crushed” qualifies the “heart” in 19b and the “bones” in 10b.

Psalm 51 1

For the music director, a psalm, of David,

135

2

when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he went to Bathsheba.

3

Have mercy on me, O GOD, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my TRANSGRESSIONS! = 4 Greatly wash me from MY FAULT, = and purify me from MY SIN! 5

Because myself I know my TRANSGRESSIONS and MY SIN is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I HAVE SINNED and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in FAULT I was born and in SIN my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. = 9 YOU WILL PURGE MY SIN with hyssop, and I will be pure; = you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10

You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from MY SINS and all MY FAULTS wipe away! = 12 A pure heart create for me, O GOD, + and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 MAKE RETURN to me the gladness of your salvation and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. + 15 I will teach TRANSGRESSORS your ways + AND THE SINNERS WILL RETURN to you! 16

Deliver me from bloods, O GOD, + my tongue will acclaim 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, + and my mouth will declare 18

the GOD of my salvation: your righteousness. your praise.

Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of GOD, a broken breath; a heart, heart broken and crushed, O GOD, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

136

Second Section (Ps 50–55)

Thus, the centre of the central part (12) is related to the centre of the last subpart (20): the psalmist’s request for a personal renewal (12) is related in fact to the request for a reconstruction of Jerusalem (20), that is to say a general restoration, a re-establishment of the whole nation of which the capital is the heart and the symbol. Provided the interpretation of 6cd put forward above—namely that this segment alludes to the punishment, the collective “judgement” of the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem—the three centres, that of the subpart 5–8 (6cd), that of the subpart 18–21 (20) and that of the central part 12, form a system: what God destroyed because of sin (6cd), he can rebuild (20), through a new creation (12). The interplay between the first person of the speaker and the plural of the city and thus of the whole country suggests that the psalmist speaks on his own behalf as well as on behalf of all the members of the nation. The very regular pattern of occurrences of the apostrophe “O God” confirms the composition of the psalm: it appears in the first member of the first part (3a) and in the first member of the last part (16c) as well as at the centre of the central segment of the central part (12b). However, we should notice a kind of progression in the sense that this apostrophe redoubled in the last part because it reappears in 19b; this redoubling is even redoubled because the name “God” is repeated equally in the two members of 19 and in the first two members of 16. The regularity of the composition as well as the balance of the volumes (14 members in each of the extreme parts, 14 also in the central part and the two binding segments) are a guarantee that the construction of the psalm has been identified. There is no need to emphasise the beauty of this figure, which is both so simple and so elaborate. The keystone of the psalm is found at the centre of the central section (12); there lies the idea that holds together, that articulates all the elements of the psalm. In two words, the theme of new creation that the psalmist is asking for (12) is commanded by a past of sin, punishment and finally death (3–11) and it calls for a future of justice, restoration and life (15–21). Like Ps 22; 41; 67; 96 and 145, Ps 51 is a case of “elliptical composition”, the parts so far called “binding segments” fulfilling the function of the two focal points of the composition.18 These two focal points are also related to the centre of the central part, as we have seen it (p. 132).

18

See R. MEYNET, “Une nouvelle figure: la composition à double foyer”.

Psalm 51 1

For the music director, a psalm, of David,

137

2

when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he went to Bathsheba.

3

Have mercy on me, O GOD, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my TRANSGRESSIONS! = 4 Greatly wash me from MY FAULT, = and purify me from MY SIN! 5

Because myself I know my TRANSGRESSIONS and MY SIN is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I HAVE SINNED and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in FAULT I was born and in SIN my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. = 9 YOU WILL PURGE MY SIN with hyssop, and I will be pure; = you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10

You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from MY SINS and all MY FAULTS wipe away! = 12 A pure heart create for me, O GOD, + and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 MAKE RETURN to me the gladness of your salvation and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. + 15 I will teach TRANSGRESSORS your ways + AND THE SINNERS WILL RETURN to you! 16

Deliver me from bloods, O GOD, + my tongue will acclaim 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, + and my mouth will declare 18

the GOD of my salvation: your righteousness. your praise.

Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of GOD, a broken breath; a heart, heart broken and crushed, O GOD, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

CONTEXT19 OF DAVID... Following the title of the psalm, the traditional interpretation saw in this poem David’s prayer after he had killed Uriah, the husband of the woman he had seduced and who became pregnant with his child, and after the prophet Nathan, sent by God, had led him to acknowledge his sin (2 Sam 11–12); in the second book of Samuel, after God’s lengthy accusation (12:7–12), the king’s confession is reduced to the essential: “I have sinned against the Lord” (12:13, which recalls Ps 51:6a); it echoes God’s accusation: “Why have you despised God’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes?” (2 Sam 12:9, which recalls Ps 51:6b). This confession had been preceded by David’s judgement against the culprit from Nathan’s parable: “As the Lord lives, this man deserves death” (2 Sam 12:5). Although, especially because of the last two verses, the psalm is written much later, the theme of sin leading to death—the death of the victim Uriah, the death that the guilty David would deserve and that God would spare him (2 Sam 12:13, “Now the Lord has put away your sin, you shall not die”), and the death of the child that will be born from the adulterous union of the king and Bathsheba—is a central theme of the psalm.20 The title is late, but also meaningful from another point of view. In fact, it interprets the psalm as the supplication of a personage who speaks not only for himself but also for all the people he represents, like a king. Indeed, pleading for the reconstruction of Jerusalem (Ps 51:20) after recognising the righteousness of God’s judgement (51:6cd), this personage requests “a spirit of nobility” (or “a princely spirit”, 51:14) to be able to fulfil the guiding function of the king (51:15, 16–17). “BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB” (JER 1:5) The two segments of Ps 51:7–8 put human sinful origin, which goes back even before birth, to conception (51:7), in contrast to the more original desire of God who wants loyalty and wisdom for the people (51:8). Although in a different context, the theme of God’s desire that precedes the origin of a person is found in the account of Jeremiah’s vocation, with the same complementarity between the two stages of conception and birth: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jer 1:5). That is in opposition to the theme of sin leading to death.

19

That is the starting point for the article by L. MONLOUBOU, “Psaume 51”, 686–687. For an attribution of the psalm to David, see M. GOULDER, The Prayers of David (Psalms 51– 72), 51–69. This author believes that the capital punishment that according to the Law the king deserved was commuted to a sentence of fustigation (hence the “broken bones” in 10b) and the ingestion of a decoction of hyssop (9a). 20

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HYSSOP This plant was used as a sprinkler for ritual aspersions, either with blood or with water. According to Exod 12:22, the Israelites had to sprinkle the lintel and doorposts with a bunch of hyssop dipped in the blood of the Paschal lamb, in order to be spared from the exterminating angel. The cleansing of lepers was done by sprinkling them with hyssop dipped in the blood of a bird sacrificed over running water (Lev 14); the sacrifices related to the cleansing of lepers are related to the sacrifice for sin (Lev 14:13) and the ritual ends with a sacrifice for sin (Lev 14:19). A person who had contracted an impurity through contact with a corpse was to be purified by sprinkling with hyssop dipped in water (Num 19:18). Such rituals are linked to death or the threat of death. Even the purification of lepers is not free of such connotations: “Totally impure and a formidable agent of impurity, the leper is considered, after all, as a dead person: his or her presence generates impurities in the same way as that of a corpse!”21 ISA 1 AND PS 51 Most commentators emphasise the affinity between Ps 51:18–19 and Isa 1.22 The literary genres of Ps 51 and of the first chapter of Isaiah are quite different: the former is a prayer addressed by a person to God, while the latter is an accusation that God makes against his people. The connections between the two texts are, however, quite strong. At the beginning of his accusation, God uses the same terms to describe his people as the psalmist uses when acknowledging his sin: “they have rebelled against me”23 (Isa 1:2); “sinful nation, guilty24 people, race of evildoers”25 (Isa 1:4). God then observes the condition to which the sinner has been reduced: the metaphorical description (Isa 1:5–6) of the body of a “crushed”26 person, whose “heart” is sick (Isa 1:5), is followed by the description of the destroyed country and in particular of the devastated “daughter of Zion” (Isa 1:7–9). The wound of the individual in Ps 51 is also the same as that of the whole country. Then there follows a long diatribe (Isa 1:10–16) against “sacrifices” and “burnt offerings” which God “does not accept” (Isa 1:11), because their “hands are full of bloods” (Isa 1:15). Finally, there is a call for purification, with an expression similar to that of Ps 51:9, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isa 1:18).

21

See A. PAUL, “La guérison d’un lépreux, approche d’un récit de Mc (1,40-45)”, 602. See, e.g., Ravasi, II, 56. 23 The verb is of the same root as the nouns of the psalm which have been translated as “transgressions” in Ps 51:3 and 5, “transgressors” in 15. 24 The word is from the same root as “fault” in Ps 51:4, 7, 11. 25 The word is from the same root as “evil” in Ps 51:6. 26 This verb, which appears twice in Ps 51 (10b & 19b), is also used twice in Isa 1: in a verbal form in Isa 1:5 (“Where shall I strike you next...?”), and in a nominal form in Isa 1:6: “there are only wounds...”). 22

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

However, the most immediate and meaningful context for Ps 51 is the immediately preceding psalm, as we shall see it in the sequence they form together. “I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART...” (EZEK 36:26) The sixth chapter of Ezekiel announces not only the destruction and deportation of Israel but also the repentance of the survivors: Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are held captive, since I shall have broken their adulterous hearts for having deserted me, and destroyed their eyes for having turned adulterously towards their foul idols. They will loathe themselves for all the wrong they have caused by their loathsome practices. (Ezek 6:9)

Chapter 36 announces that the people who had been deported because of their sin (Ezek 36:16–19) will be purified and will receive a new heart and a new spirit (as in the centre of Ps 51): I shall pour pure water over you and you will be purified; I shall purified you of all your filth and of all your foul idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you... (Ezek 36:25–27).

He announces that he will return to his land and its cities will be rebuilt (Ezek 36:10, 33–36; see also Ezek 11:19). This is, in short, the new covenant, as the verb translated as “renew” in the centre of the psalm might suggest.27 THE SACRIFICE OF THE COVENANT It might seem strange that Psalm 51, which so emphasises interiorisation of sacrifices, ends with the word “bulls”. The vocabulary of the last member (51:21c) recalls the sacrifice of the Mosaic covenant made in the blood of bulls at the foot of Mount Sinai: “[Moses] sent young Israelites to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls to the Lord as communion sacrifices” (Exod 24:5). In the accusation of Ps 50, God twice refers to the covenant (50:5, 16) sealed by a “sacrifice” (50:5); the same word “bull” is found in Ps 50:9 (and, with a synonym, in verse 13). In this way, Ps 51 would end with the prospect of a renewed covenant between God and his people. THE PRAYER OF NEHEMIAH The book of Nehemiah begins with a prayer (Neh 1:5–11) which the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes addresses to the Lord after he has been told of the situation of the deportation survivors and the walls of Jerusalem (1:1–4); Nehemiah acknowledges his own sin, that of his fathers and of all the people (1:7) and requests the Lord’s help to rebuild Jerusalem and its wall. The same desire is 27

This verb is from the same root as the adjective of the expression “new covenant” (ḥdš).

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expressed in the last subpart of Ps 51:19.28 This connection would allow the psalm to be placed historically at the end of the exile or at the beginning of the re-entry, at the moment when the exiles want to undertake the reconstruction of Jerusalem, its walls and its Temple.29

INTERPRETATION RECOGNITION OF SIN THAT LED TO DEATH If his song culminates in a desire for re-creation (Ps 51:12), it is because the psalmist sees himself destroyed, annihilated: his bones are indeed crushed (51:10b) and he seeks to be delivered from death (51:16a). But this song is not a meditation in which the poet limits himself to lamenting his condition, or even to discovering its cause, it is a prayer in which he addresses directly the One who has struck him. And his words are not a complaint, still less a recrimination, but a humble confession of one who recognises in the same movement his own guilt (51:6ab) and the rightful judgment of God (51:6cd). His bones were crushed because of his transgressions, his fault, his sin (51:3–4); he was struck to death by God, because he did what was evil in His sight, he sinned against Him alone (51:6). That is why his sin is so great, requiring from the great mercy of God (51:3b) a great purification (51:4a). The reflection on his transgressions never ceases to obsess him (51:5b), and his meditation leads him to acknowledge that he was a sinner right from the beginning, even before he was born, right from the moment of his conception (51:7). He is a sinner to the root of his being, the fault has contaminated him entirely, there is nothing intact in him. The evil has not only defiled him so that it would be sufficient for him to be “washed” and “purified” (51:4, 9), for his fault to be “wiped away” (51:3b, 11b); the sin has reached his bones (51:10b) and that is why he reaches the point of asking that his heart be recreated (51:12a). The psalmist was not only delivered to death as an individual (51:10b), but also as a member of a whole people who were subjected to destruction, since the walls of Jerusalem were razed to the ground (51:20b); God’s judgment (51:6cd) fell on the whole of the institutions as well as on each individual; on the political 28

Given the fact that the books of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 2:41; 3:10; Neh 7:44; 11:22), highlight the figure of Asaph, this would confirm the dating of Ps 51 to the beginning of the return from the exile. 29 One may also notice that the Greek text of the book of Daniel puts on the lips of Azariah, thrown into the furnace by Nebuchadnezzar, a hymn whose points of contact with Ps 51 are numerous: “You have pronounced a sentence of truth in all the things that you have brought upon us and upon the holy city of our fathers, Jerusalem. For you have dealt with us in truth and in righteousness for our sins” (Dan 3:28). “There is no longer, in this time, a leader, a prophet, or a prince, a burnt offering, a sacrifice, an oblation, or incense, a place to make offerings to you and to find favour with you. But let a broken soul and a humbled spirit be acceptable to you, like burnt offerings of rams and bulls, like thousands of fat lambs; let this be our sacrifice today before you” (Dan 3:38–40).

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institutions represented by the walls, and on the religious institutions too, since sacrifices could no longer be offered on the altars of God (51:21). That is the reason why the psalmist not only is requesting the re-creation of his own heart (51:12a), but he is also calling for the reconstruction of the political and religious capital of his nation (51:20); it is also quite probably that if sinners return to the Lord, he promises to devote himself to them (51:15) in his mind is not only an inner conversion, but that it also implies return to Zion, where the whole people can again offer sacrifices of “righteousness” (51:21), in “spirit” (51:12b, 13b, 14b) and in “loyalty” (51:8a). GOD DOES NOT WANT THE DEATH OF THE SINNER BUT THAT HE SHOULD LIVE If, in the desperate situation in which he finds himself, he dares to express such a request, it is because he has understood that God’s desire (51:8) is even more original than his sinful origin (51:7). What God wants for humans and for the people he has chosen for himself precedes and exceeds their sin. God does not want the death of the sinner, but that he should convert and live (Ezek 18:23). When he accuses the culprits, he does so not to condemn them, but to call them to confess their sins so that they can be liberated from sin and be saved (Ps 50:14– 15, 22–23). That is why the death he inflicts is not the supreme punishment that would put a definitive and irremediable end to the covenant between God and the people, it is the obligatory passage that leads to life. The psalmist understands it and recognizes it as the final word, the final message that the Lord could give to the one whose sin had reached its peak. It is not merely that a capital offence had to lead to a capital punishment, but rather the fact that the refusal of God had reached the totality of man, down to the bones and to the heart, down to the political and religious institutions, and there was no other way for God to make himself heard than to strike them down to the bones and to the heart, down to the walls and to the Temple, that is to say, down to everything that made up the very life of the individuals and the people. By destroying, by bringing death, God shows not only his righteousness (51:6cd), but also the greatness of his mercy (51:3b), since it is only in this way (51:15a) that the individuals will be able to claim the re-creation of their heart (51:12) and the people the reconstruction of their social and religious bodies (51:20–21).30 ACCEPTANCE OF DEATH THAT LEADS TO LIFE It will therefore not be possible to return to life without accepting to pass through death. However, it is not just a passage or a moment, as it were, a bad moment to pass before regaining the joy and gladness of the time before sin and death. What is required by God, understood and accepted by the psalmist, is that death will now 30 That is also the meaning of the central sequence in the book of Amos (5:1–17), a funeral lamentation over the virgin of Israel; see P. BOVATI – R. MEYNET, Le Livre du prophète Amos, 180– 182; 400–405.

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have to be integrated into life. Not that God’s salvation is incapable of completely cleansing a person from his or her faults and truly bringing him or her back from death. Not so much that sin and death cannot leave traces in the heart of a person as in the rebuilt Jerusalem. From now on, death will have to be an integral part of life; life would not be life in truth if it did not bear the seal of death in its very heart. What God wants is a broken and crushed heart (51:19), that is to say, a heart that joyfully accepts its limits and its finitude while at the same time celebrates the greatness of God’s mercy (51:3). What God desires is truth in the human heart (51:8a). The wisdom that he wants to teach him (51:8b) is not only that he would acknowledge himself as a transgressor, born and even conceived in sin (51:7), in need of being washed of “all his faults” (51:11), but above all that, with the sacrifices that he would present from now on, he would offer himself entirely, in the “whole offering” (51:21b), to the One whom he would no longer call only “God”, but “Adonay”, “my Lord” (51:21b). He will not only be purified from the leprosy of his sin by the sprinkling with water (51:9), or by the sprinkling with the blood of animals (51:16); it is his own life that he will have to sacrifice, his own blood that he will have to shed at the same time as he will shed that of his sacrifices. His ears and heart remained closed to hear God’s commandments, his lips were closed to praise him: he will have to be circumcised. At his request, his body will now bear the indelible mark of a wound, that of the circumcision of the lips (51:17a), a sign of the accepted death that opens doors to true life.31 THE RE-CREATED SINNER WANTS TO LEAD HIS FELLOWS TO LIFE There is no true life that does not seek to communicate itself. The authenticity of life can be verified only in this desire. The sinner, renewed and re-created to the depths of his heart and mind (51:12), will not cease to transmit the life that he has received to those who, like him, had lost it (51:15). Invested with the spirit of holiness of God himself, animated by the breath that the Creator has again breathed into his nostrils (51:13b), the one who has been restored to his dignity as a prince (51:14b) will not be able to avoid acclaiming before all sinners the righteousness of the One who saved him (51:16bc) and leading all other transgressors to proclaim his praise (51:17b). His desire leads him to request the salvation of all the people, so that Zion may share in the good that he has done (51:20a) and that the walls of Jerusalem may be rebuilt (51:20b) as he himself has been re-created (51:12). It is not a question of the irrepressible need that the person saved from death feels to tell others what has happened to him; it is that there can 31

In other words, it refers to the symbolic castration by which a person is truly this when he or she renounces the phantasm of omnipotence and accepts his or her finitude, that of his or her origin, with its contingencies, and that of his or her end, that means his or her death. The one who refuses symbolic death would be outside his or her condition as a creature and, wanting to escape from the law that structures him or her, would thereby be delivered to the real death that he or she imagines he or she can avoid, that of the soul. No one can claim to be truly born, or reborn, if he or she does not accept that he or she is marked by death.

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be no true personal happiness unless it is shared by all, no salvation of an individual without that of the community to which he or she belongs. What is at stake in the story of the one who prays here is the covenant between God and his people. The covenant of circumcision (51:17) made with Abraham has a true and full meaning only in the perspective of the covenant with the whole people of Israel, the one that was sealed with the blood of the bulls (51:21c) offered as a burnt offering at the foot of the mountain of God (Exod 24:5).

3. “YOU ARE BLAMELESS IN YOUR JUDGMENT” (PS 50–51) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE The titles are quite different: the first one is of Asaph, while the next one is of David, with the circumstances of its composition. The common vocabulary for both psalms reaches twenty-six different roots (the total number of occurrences of these roots is eighty): – the verb “to come” is found at the beginning of each psalm, with God as the subject (50:3), with the prophet as the subject (51:2), but also David (51:2); – “God” (50:1, 2, 3, 6, 7[2x], 14, 16, 22, 23; 51:3, 12, 16a, 16b, 19a, 19b); – “Sacrifice/s”, “to make sacrifice”, “altars” (zbḥ, 50:5, 8, 14, 23; 51:18, 19, 21[2x]); – “Burnt offering/s” and “to bring up” (‘lh, 50:8; 51:18, 21[2x]); – “Bulls” (50:9, 13; 51:21); – “To judge” and “judgment” (50:6; 51:6), and 50:4 deriving from another root; – “Word” is in place of “judgment” in 51:6; – “Words” and “to speak” occur also in 50:1, 7, 17, 20; – “Mouth” (50:16, 19; 51:17); – “Tongue” (50:19; 51:16); – “Blood/s” (50:13; 51:16); – “Righteous” and “righteousness” (50:6; 51:6, 16, 21); – “To know” and “to make know” (50:11; 51:5, 8); – “To hear” (šm’, 50:7; 51:10); – “To cast” (šlḥ, 50:17; 51:13); – “To take” (50:9; 51:13); – “To deliver” (50:22; 51:16); – “Faithful” and “faithfulness” (ḥsd: 50:5; 51:3); – “Salvation” (50:23; 51:14, 16); – “Evil” (Ps 50:19; 51:6); – “Your mother” and “my mother” (50:20; 51:7); – “Before me always” (50:8; 51:5); – “To/in your eyes” (50:21; 51:6); – “Way/s” (50:23; 51:15); – “You do” and “I have done” (50:21; 51:6); – The two occurrences of “Zion” form an inclusion (50:2; 51:20).

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50 1 A psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, Yhwh, SPEAKS and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, God shines forth. 3 May our God come and may he not be silent, a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest; 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to judge his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed my covenant by SACRIFICE”. 6 And the heavens declared his RIGHTEOUSNESS because God himself is JUDGE. 7 Hear, O my people, and I WILL SPEAK, O Israel, I will testify against you, I am God, your God! 8 Not for your SACRIFICES I accuse you and your BURNT OFFERINGS that are before me always; 9 I will not take a BULL from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of BULLS and am I to drink THE BLOOD of goats? 14 MAKE A SACRIFICE of confession to God and pay your vows to the Most High; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and you will glorify me.” 16 And

God said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your MOUTH; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my WORDS behind you? 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; 19 you send your MOUTH with evil and your tongue plots deceit. 20 You sit, YOU SPEAK against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 21 These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I accuse you and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to DELIVER! 23 The one who MAKES A SACRIFICE of confession glorifies me, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the SALVATION of God.”

51 1 For the music director, a psalm, of David, 2 when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had come to Bathsheba. 3 Have

mercy on me, O God, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my transgressions! 4 Greatly wash me from my fault and purify me from my sin! 5 Because myself I know my transgressions and my sin is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are RIGHTEOUS in your WORD, you are blameless in your JUDGMENT. 7 Behold, in fault I was born and in sin my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. 9 You will purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be pure; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10 You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from my sins and all my faults wipe away! 12 A pure heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 Make return to me the gladness of your SALVATION and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. 15 I will teach the transgressors your ways and the sinners will return to you! 16 DELIVER ME from BLOODS, O God, the God of my SALVATION: my tongue will acclaim your RIGHTEOUSNESS. 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, and my MOUTH will declare your praise. 18 Because you do not want a SACRIFICE, if I offer it, a BURNT OFFERING you do not desire. 19 The SACRIFICES of God, a broken breath; a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want SACRIFICES of RIGHTEOUSNESS, BURNT OFFERING and whole offering; then THEY WILL BRING UP BULLS on YOUR ALTARS.

The large number of words that the two psalms have in common is only a quantitative indication of a purely structural interrelations: in fact, Ps 50 is the

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accusation in which God challenges and accuses his people, then he calls them to confess their sin and to conversion, while Ps 51 is the response of the accused who recognises his fault and the righteousness of his accuser, then he implores his forgiveness. These two psalms thus form a pair in which the two moments of the bilateral controversy between God and his people are articulated.1 The title of Ps 50 attributes the charge to Asaph, the first of the Levites appointed by David to “celebrate, glorify and praise the Lord God of Israel” before the ark of God (1 Chr 16:4). According to 1 Chr 25:2 Asaph “prophesied by the side of the king” and 2 Chr 29:30 describes him as a “seer”. However, this first psalm of Asaph is isolated from the rest of the collection of psalms attributed to him (Ps 73–83) and Ps 51 is the first of the second series of David’s psalm.2 It is possible to think that this arrangement can hardly be attributed to a coincidence, and one may wonder whether in the title of Ps 50 Asaph does not play in some way the role that the title of Ps 51 attributes to the prophet Nathan, the one who transmits God’s accusation to the king.

INTERPRETATION OF ASAPH, OF DAVID The first psalm is an accusation brought by God against his “people” in general (50:1–15) and then against “the wicked” in particular (51:16–23); the second psalm is a confession of sins in which the psalmist, in the first person singular, admits his guilt and asks for mercy and salvation. The first psalm could not be attributed to “David”, since God’s accusation is aimed directly at him, at least in its second part; Ps 50 must therefore have been spoken by someone else, and that is why it is said to be “of Asaph”. UNFAITHFULNESS In the second psalm, the psalmist acknowledges at length his “transgressions”, his “fault”, his “sin”, his “evil”. But he states it generally and only from the title do we learn what he has been guilty of it. Taking the wife of his general Uriah, he committed adultery, which he thought to hide by lying and deceit, and he ended up committing murder. He thus betrayed the law of the covenant which forbids murder, theft, adultery and lying. And that is exactly what the Lord accuses “the wicked” of, because he delights in “thieves” and “adulterers”, in “evil” and “deceit” (50:18–20). Since the psalmist does not specify the nature of his 1 Concerning the bilateral controversy (rîb) and its two phases, see P. BOVATI, Ristabilire la giustizia, 51–77, 79–93. 2 The sequence of Ps 3 to Ps 41, all attributed to David except for Ps 10 and Ps 33 which are untitled (the first book), is followed by the collection of psalms of the sons of Korah (Ps 42–49); it resumes with Ps 51 and ends with Ps 72, except for Ps 66 and Ps 67 and Ps 72 attributed to Solomon (the second book).

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transgressions in Ps 51, this allows those who have neither killed nor stolen to be made accountable for themselves, for they too are not free of sin. SACRIFICES The accusation addressed to the people begins in a curious way with a nonaccusation! “Not for your sacrifices I accuse you” (50:8). And the Lord goes on to say at length that he really does not need the sacrifices and burnt offerings of bulls and goats (50:9–13). The same applies to the end of the next psalm, where the psalmist acknowledges that the Lord does not want any sacrifice or burnt offering (51:18). It is not that God absolutely refuses any sacrifice, on the contrary. But the one that he wants is of another type than animal sacrifices: “Make a sacrifice of confession to God” (50:14, 23), which is explained by “the sacrifices of God are [...] a heart, broken and crushed” (51:19). The end of the sequence makes it clear that God does not refuse the sacrifices of bulls and burnt offerings, but that he lays down the conditions for them: only with a confessing heart, recognising one’s sin and welcoming God’s forgiveness, can they find their full meaning.

II. WILL THEY NOT UNDERSTAND, THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY? The Second Sequence: Ps 52–53 1. PSALM 52 TEXT 1 For

the music director, an instruction, of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul and said to him: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech”. 3 Why do you praise yourself in evil, you hero, the faithfulness of God (is) all the day? 4 Your tongue thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you doer of treachery! 5 You love evil more than good, lying more than speaking righteousness; 6 you love all words that devour, deceitful tongue. 7 So God will crush you, to the end will destroy you, and will tear you away from the tent, and will uproot you from the land of the living. 8 And the righteous will see and will fear, and they will laugh at him: 9 “Behold the man who did not set God (as) his fortress, and who trusted in the abundance of his wealth, made himself strong in his crime”. 10 And I (am) like a verdant olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever. 11 I give thanks to you forever, because you have done (it), and I hope for your name, because (it is) good before your faithful. V. 3B: “THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD (IS) ALL THE DAY”

The ancient versions together with the Targum, which are quite different from the Masoretic text, show the difficulty of the text. The same applies to modern translations.1 We focus on following the Masoretic text. V. 4A: “YOUR TONGUE THINKS OF CRIMES”

Since, on the one hand, the tongue cannot think, and on the other hand, the verb can be understood either as second person singular (“you think”) or as third person feminine singular (“she thinks”), many move “your tongue” to the beginning of the second member (“your tongue is a sharp razor”);2 despite being problematic, the Masoretic division seems preferable. V. 4C: “YOU DOER OF TREACHERY”

This expression is interpreted as a vocative,3 like the one with which the first member of the preceding segment ends, “you hero” (3a).

1

Ravasi, II, 73; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 837. E.g., Ravasi, II, 65; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 836; Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 26; deClaisséWalford – al., 460. 3 Hakham, I, 307. 2

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COMPOSITION The psalm comprises two relatively developed parts (3–6 & 8–11) which frame a much shorter part (7). THE FIRST PART (3–6) – 3 Why do you praise yourself – the faithfulness

IN EVIL,

– 4 Of crimes – like a razor – you doer

thinks sharp, of treachery!

you hero, (is) all the day?

of God

YOUR TONGUE

·········································································································· 5

– You love – lying

EVIL

– 6 you love – TONGUE

all words of deceit.

more than speaking

more than good, righteousness; that devour,

In the initial segment of the first piece, the second member (3a) has a temporal or even a concessive character: “Why do you praise yourself..., while...” or “although...”. In the first members of both segments (3a & 4a), “your tongue” corresponds to “you praise yourself” and “crimes” to “evil”. The vocatives “you hero” (3a) and “you doer of treachery” (4c) play the role of extreme terms. Each of the two segments of the second piece begins with “you love” (5a & 6a), the only verb in each segment; “speaking” and “words” (5b & 6a) link both segments. The two occurrences of “evil” (3a & 5a) serve as initial terms for both pieces; the “tongue” is repeated in the second segments (4a & 6b). THE SECOND PART (7) - 7 So God - to the end

will crush you, will destroy you;

- and he will tear you away - and he will uproot you

from the tent, from the land

of the living.

The verbs are of the same modalities and all of them have “God” as their subject. In the first segment they are found at the end of the members, in the second segment at the beginning of the members.

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THE THIRD PART (8–11) + 8 And will see + and at him

the righteous they will laugh:

:: 9 “Behold :: who did not set

the man GOD

:: and WHO TRUSTED :: made himself strong

in the abundance in his crime”.

and will fear,

(as) his fortress, of his wealth,

········································································································ 10

+ And I (am) + in the house

like an olive tree of GOD,

verdant

+ I TRUST + forever

in the faithfulness and ever;

of GOD

+ 11 I give thanks to you + and I hope for + before

forever, your name, your faithful.

because you have done (it), because (it is) good

The first piece (8–9) quotes the mockery pronounced by “the righteous” (8a) on “the man” (9a) who, instead of putting his trust in God (9b), put it in “his wealth” and “his crime” (9cd). In contrast to this first piece, the second one (10–11), which begins with “and I” (10a), is spoken by the psalmist. The first segment is a comparison (10ab), followed by two complementary segments: it begins with the trust in God (10cd), then: followed by thanksgiving for what God has done (11a) and hope for the goodness that he will surely show to the psalmist (11b). The last member (11c) seems to depend on the two preceding members: namely, the psalmist expresses thanks and hope before his “faithful”. “Forever and ever” (10d) and “forever” (11a) link the last two segments of the piece. “I trust in the faithfulness of God” (10c) is in direct contrast to “and who trusted in the abundance of his riches” (9c). The synonyms “the righteous” (8a) and “your faithful” (11c) make an inclusion for the whole of the part.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director,

2

when came and informed “Has come

an instruction,

of David,

Doeg Saul David

the Edomite and said to the house

+ 3 Why do you praise yourself of evil, + THE FAITHFULNESS of GOD

YOU HERO, is ALL THE DAY?

– 4 OF CRIMES – like a razor – you doer

your tongue

thinks sharp, of treachery!

to him: of Ahimelech”.

································································································································ evil more than GOOD,

– 5 You love – lying

more than speaking

righteousness;

– 6 you love – tongue

all words of deceit.

that devour,

GOD will destroy you,

will crush you,

- 7 So - TO THE END

- and he will tear you away from the tent, - and he will uproot you from the land

of the living.

+ 8 And will see + and at him

the righteous they will laugh:

– 9 “Behold – who did not set

THE MAN GOD

as his fortress,

– and who trusted – made himself strong

in the abundance

of his wealth

IN HIS CRIME”.

and will fear,

································································································································

+ 10 And I am + in the house

like an olive tree of GOD:

verdant

+ I trust + FOREVER

IN THE FAITHFULNESS

of GOD

AND EVER.

+ 11 I give thanks to you + and I hope for + before

FOREVER,

your name, YOUR FAITHFUL.

because you have done it, because it is GOOD

The title, which is particularly developed, consists of one unimember (1) followed by one trimember (2) which relates the circumstances in which “David” composed the psalm. The first part (3–6) is a long accusation brought by the psalmist against the wicked. The second part (7) announces the divine punishment that will inevitably

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fall upon him. The third part tells of the reaction of “the righteous” to this prospect (8–9), and then the reaction of the psalmist himself (10–11). The vocative, “you hero” (haggibbôr, 3a), with which the first part begins corresponds to “the man” (haggeber, 9a) in the last part. “The faithfulness” of 3b returns in 10c, followed by “your faithful” in 11c. “Crime/s” occurs in 4a and 9d; “good” in 5a and 11b. Across the three parts, the name “God” is repeated in 3b, 7a, 9b and 10b. There are also the synonymous expressions, “all the day” (3b), “to the end” (7b), “forever and ever” (10d) and “forever” (11a).

CONTEXT THE CRIME OF DOEG THE EDOMITE The episode that the title recalls is reported in 1 Sam 21–22. David, fleeing from Saul who wanted to kill him, goes to Nob to the priest Ahimelech and receives the consecrated bread and the sword of Goliath. Doeg, “Saul’s chief shepherd”, was there (21:2–10). Later, Doeg informs Saul of David’s visit to Ahimelech; he not only says that the priest gave him loaves of bread and Goliath’s sword, but also that he “consulted God on his behalf” (22:10), which is not said in the narrative of 21:2–10. The king summons the priest and all his family and orders them to be put to death; only Doeg agrees to it: “he stepped forward and fell on the priests, himself that day killing eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod” (22:18). Therefore, with his “tongue” (Ps 52:4, 6) he denounced the priests, lying—deserving to be called a “doer of treachery” and a “tongue of deceit” (Ps 52:4c, 6b). He was a member of the people of Edom, the rival brother, who committed such a crime. THE TONGUE THAT KILLS (JAS) The Letter of James insists on the deadly damage that the tongue can cause. “It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (Jas 3:8).4 Ben Sira says: “A blow of a whip leaves a mark, but a blow of the tongue breaks the bones. Many have fallen by the sword, but many more have fallen by the tongue” (Sir 28:17–18).

INTERPRETATION “LIKE A SHARP RAZOR” (PS 52:4) The first part of the psalm (52:3–6) insists in all ways on the killing word. From the very first words, the reproach against the one whom the psalmist ironically 4

152.

See T. KOT, La Lettre de Jacques, “La parole qui fait vivre ou qui fait mourir (3,1–4,3)”, 121–

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addresses as a “hero” is that he praises himself for evil (52:3a). Indeed, his tongue not only “thinks of crimes” like a well-sharpened weapon (52:4), but he also is a “doer of treachery”, of “evil”, of “lies”, of “words that devour”, of “deceit”, and he is openly boasting about it (52:3a, 9d). That is the perversion of the word, which leads to death. “SO GOD WILL CRUSH YOU” (52:7A) The punishment is exactly proportionate to the crime. It falls like a cleaver, repeated four times (52:7). Whoever has crushed and destroyed by his or her crimes must suffer the same fate from God. Not only will he be pulled out of the tent that his wealth had set up, but he will have to be “uprooted from the land of the living”. Death can only lead to death. THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LAUGH AT The wicked praised himself for the evil he committed (52:3); the righteous will laugh at him (52:8). Indeed, his conduct is so ridiculous as to be insane. To trust in one’s own wealth and even in the violence of the crimes committed, instead of trusting in God, can only attract mockery, just as punishment makes those who witness it fear God (52:8a). FAITHFULNESS OF GOD Among the “righteous”, faithful among the “faithful” of the Lord (52:11c), the psalmist thanks him for what he has done: for the righteousness of his judgement against the wicked, whom he has pulled out of his frail tent (52:7), for having welcomed him and planted him in his house, “like a verdant olive tree” (52:10), which, thanks to God’s faithfulness, is not in danger of being uprooted one day.

2. PSALM 53 TEXT 1 For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2 A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no one that does good. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 5 Will they not know, workers of iniquity? Eating up my people (as) they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, (when) there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvations of Israel? When God will restore the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice!

Ps 53 repeats almost entirely Ps 14:1 Ps 14 1

For the music director, of David.

A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one that does good. 2 Yhwh looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 3 All turn away, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 4 Do they not know, all workers of iniquity? Eating up my people as they eat bread, they do not call upon Yhwh. 5 Then, they will be sized with fright, yes, God is with the generation of the righteous; 6 you degrade the plans of the afflicted, yes, Yhwh is his refuge. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvation of Israel? When Yhwh restores the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice!

Ps 53 1

For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2 A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no one that does good. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 5 Do they not know, workers of iniquity? Eating up my people as they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of the one who besieged you, you have made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvations of Israel? When God restores the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice!

The title of Ps 53 is longer. “God” replaces “Yhwh” (53:3, 5d, 6d, 7b), “iniquity” (53:2d) instead of “deeds”, “All of them (kullô) have gone astray” (sār, 53:4a) instead of “all (hakkōl) turned away” (sāg); “all” is omitted in 53:5b. Especially 53:6bcd differs from 14:5b–6. The “salvation” of 14:7a is in the plural in 53:7a. 1

Some commentators are silent on Ps 53 and simply refer to the Ps 14 (Weiser, 414; Kraus, I, 513).

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

V. 1: “IN A CHORUS, AN INSTRUCTION”

The first term, which will be taken up in the title of Ps 88, is problematic. The Septuagint may have mistaken it for a proper name and simply transliterated it. Many modern translators do the same.2 Some interpret it as a “choir (of dance)”, others as a musical instrument, “on the flute”, still others as “a disease”.3 Several psalms are referred to as “an instruction” (see p. 19). Given the content of the psalm, one might be tempted to translate it as “on the disease of instruction”. V. 6B: “THEN, THEY WILL BE SIZED WITH FRIGHT, (WHEN) THERE WAS NO FRIGHT”

The first term, šām, can be understood as an adverb of place, “there”, or of time, “then”, which is more appropriate here. The second member has a concessive character: “although they were not frightened so far”. V. 6CD: “... WHO BESIEGED YOU; YOU HAVE MADE THEM BLUSH”

One of the difficulties of this verse is to determine the addressee of these words.

COMPOSITION Two developed parts (2–4 & 5c–7) frame a short question (5ab).4 THE FIRST PART (2–4) – 2 Said :: “THERE IS NO

a fool GOD!”

in his heart:

– They are corrupt, :: THERE IS NO ONE

they do abominable

iniquity:

THAT DOES GOOD. ······························································································· + 3 GOD from heaven looks down

+ on the sons

of Adam,

+ to see + searching

if there is anyone GOD.

prudent,

·······························································································

– 4 All of them – together

have gone astray, they are perverted;

:: THERE IS NO ONE :: THERE IS NOT

THAT DOES

GOOD,

even

one.

2

E.g., Ravasi, II, 79; deClaissé-Walford – al., 465. See Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 35. 4 On the question that constitutes the centre of the psalm, see Le Psautier. Premier livre, 159 = The Psalter: Book One, 159. 3

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In the first piece, the first members put in parallel the singular of “a fool” (2a) and the plural of “they are corrupt” and “they do abominable iniquity” (2c). The second members begin with “there is no”; the observation of the last member (2d) corresponds to the claim of the second member (2b). The two bimembers of the second piece form a single complex phrase (3). The second segment contains an indirect question. The last piece answers the central question. A double statement (4ab) is taken up by a double negation (4cd). The two negations (“there are no” in 2b, “there is no one” in 2d) of the first piece are repeated in contiguity in the last piece (“there is no one” and “there is not” in 4cd). The first segment (4ab) corresponds to the first member of the second segment of the first piece (2c), and the second segment (4cd) repeats and confirms the second member of the same segment (2d). THE THIRD PART (5C–7) – 5c Eating up – (as) and they eat .. GOD,

MY PEOPLE,

bread; they do not call upon (him).

······························································································································

= 6 Then, = (when) there was

they will be sized with fright, fright;

+ because GOD scattered – you made them blush because GOD

the bones of him who besieged you, has rejected them.

······························································································································

:: 7 Who will bring + When will restore, + will exult,

from Zion GOD, Jacob,

the salvations the situation will rejoice,

of Israel? of HIS PEOPLE, Israel!

The extreme trimembers (5cde & 7) correspond to each other in a mirrored manner. While in 5cd the people are eaten by their enemies as if they were bread, in 7bc they are restored to their great joy. The God who is ignored by those who devour Israel (5e) will be the one who will save his people (7a). In the central piece (6), the second segment (6cd) provides the reason why the enemies will be struck with dread. The two occurrences of “people” form an inclusion (5c & 7b). The name “God” occurs once in the extreme pieces, twice in the central piece.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, in a chorus,

an INSTRUCTION,

.. 2 Said .. “There is no

in his heart:

a fool GOD!”

of David.

– They are corrupt, – there is no one

they do abominable INIQUITY; THAT DOES good. ······························································································································ + 3 GOD from heaven looks down + on the sons

of Adam,

+ to see + searching

if there is anyone GOD.

PRUDENT,

······························································································································

– 4 All of them – together

have gone astray, they are perverted;

– there is no one – there is not

THAT DOES

5

Do they not

WORKERS

– Eating up – as they eat .. GOD,

even

good, one.

know, OF INIQUITY?

my people, bread; they do not call upon him.

······························································································································

= 6 Then, = when there was

they will be sized no fright;

= because GOD scattered = you made them blush because GOD

with fright, the bones of him who besieged you, has rejected them.

······························································································································

:: 7 Who will bring + When will restore, + will exult,

from Zion GOD, Jacob,

the salvations the situation will rejoice,

of Israel? of his people, Israel!

The same word translated as “instruction” in the title returns in 3c translated as “prudent”. Links between the first two parts are more marked: “iniquity” (5b) repeats the same word found 2c, “they do not know” (5a) recalls the “fool” from 2a, and “workers of iniquity” (5b) are opposed to “that does good” (2d & 4c). At the beginning of the last part, “God, they do not call him” (5e) corresponds to what the fool says at the beginning of the first part: “There is no God” (2b). Their “iniquity” (2c) consists in devouring the people (5cd). The last part can be understood as the answer to the central question: they will know when they will be struck with fear because their bones will be scattered (6)

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and when they will see the joy of Israel whose condition will be restored by God (7).

CONTEXT THE RETREAT OF SENNACHERIB Sennacherib, king of Assyria, wants the surrender of Hezekiah king of Judah. He claims that “Yhwh” will not be able to do anything to protect his people from his assaults (2 Kgs 18:30, 32; 19:10–12). The oracle of the Lord conveyed by Isaiah to Hezekiah begins with these words: “She despises you, she scorns you, the virgin daughter of Zion” (19:21). “That same night the angel of Yhwh went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. In the early morning when it was time to get up, there lay, so many corpses. Sennacherib king of Assyria broke the camp and left” (19:35–36).

INTERPRETATION WHO IS TALKING TO WHOM? We have to wait until the beginning of the last part to finally know who is speaking in this psalm. When we hear: “Eating up my people” (Ps 53:5c), we understand that it is God who, from the beginning, has spoken to denounce the corrupt, the doers of iniquity. But we will have to wait to know to whom he is talking. He addresses the one who was besieged and who covered the enemy with shame (53:6cd): that is Israel, his people, or the king who represents them, as the title of the psalm might suggest. GOD DOES NOT EXIST From the outset, it is revealed what is in the heart of the fool: for him, God does not exist (53:2b). And atheism is not the work of a single individual, as the initial statement might suggest. All share the same attitude, without exception. God inquired whether any of the children of Adam would be found seeking God (53:3). “Not even one” (53:4d). This atheism is primarily practical: even if God existed, “they do not call upon him” anyway (53:5). THE OTHERS DO NOT EXIST EITHER At the beginning of the psalm, “iniquity” (53:2cd) is juxtaposed with atheism (53:2ab), and one might think that what is meant by iniquity is nothing else than the denial of God’s existence. And the result of the divine investigation would only confirm this. What then is “the good” that they do not accomplish (53:2d, 4c)? There are the first words of the last part that remove the veil. “The workers

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of iniquity” are those who devour God’s people, who eat them as one eats one’s bread, who destroy them in order to feed on them. In doing so, they deny the other ones, as they deny God. And we find the two parts of the decalogue where duties towards God and towards one’s neighbour are so intricately linked.5 INSTRUCTION God seeks to know “if there is anyone prudent” among the sons of Adam (53:3). And he finds no one; all are “fools” (53:4). The short central section poses a question (53:5) that is interpreted and translated in different ways. For some, their ignorance is, in a way, congenital: “Are they ignorant?”6 For others, it regards the past: “Did they not understand?”7 However, given the position of this question at the turning point of the text, it can be understood as looking to the future, especially since the last part will provide the answer to the question.8 Indeed, the instruction is given at the centre of the last part (53:6), when the fools will be frightened by the punishment that will fall on them and make them blush with shame and confusion. That is indeed the function of punishment: to make the workers of iniquity understand their error, in the hope that they will repent and come back to “do good”, in the sight of God.

5

See my commentary on the Decalogue: R. MEYNET, Appelés à la liberté, 87–136. TOB; Ravasi, II, 79 (“Do they not have any judgment...?”). 7 Vesco, 488. 8 Thus deClaissé-Walford – al., 465, note 12. 6

3. WILL THEY NOT UNDERSTAND, THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY? (PS 52–53) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE 52 1 For the music director, an instruction, of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul and said to him: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech”. 3 Why

do you praise yourself in evil, you hero, the faithfulness of God is all the day? 4 Your tongue thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you DOER of treachery! 5 You love evil more than GOOD, lying more than speaking righteousness; 6 you love all words that devour, deceitful tongue. 7 So

God will crush, you to the end will destroy you, and will tear you away from the tent, and will uproot you from the land of the living. the righteous will see and will fear, and they will laugh at him: 9 “Behold the man who did not set God as his fortress, and who trusted in the abundance of his wealth, made himself strong in his crime”. 10 And I am like a verdant olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever. 11 I give thanks to you forever, because you have done it, and I hope for your name, because it is GOOD, before your faithful. 8 And

53 1 For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2A

fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no DOER of GOOD. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no DOER of GOOD, there is not even one. 5 Will

they not understand, WORKERS of iniquity?

Eating up my people, as they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, (when) there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvations of Israel? When God will restore the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice!

– “Good” occurs twice in each psalm (52:5, 11; 53:2, 4); – The participle “doer” occurs in 52:4 and 53:2, 4, followed by its synonym “workers” in 53:5; – “To devour” (52:6) is synonymous with “to eat” (53:5b); – The same negative attitude towards God can be found in 52:9 and 53:2, 5b; – The righteous “will fear” (52:8), while those who work iniquity “will be sized with fright” (53:6).

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

INTERPRETATION FROM DAVID TO GOD Both psalms are complementary. In the first one, David challenges the wicked and announces his punishment; in the second one, it is God who addresses the king to predict the fate of his enemies and the salvation of Israel. It is as if David left the word to his God, or as if God himself came to take up the word to confirm and support what his king was saying to the wicked. The coupling of the two psalms, the duet they form, expresses the perfect agreement between the king and God, between heaven and earth. DESPISED GOD David’s enemy, that could be Doeg the Edomite or someone else, is a person who does not trust in God, who does not consider him as his stronghold (52:9). He prefers to trust in his great wealth, thus despising the Lord. The one whom God addresses at the beginning of the next psalm is very much like him. And he is not the only one: there is no one among the children of Adam who seeks God (53:3–4), no one who ever calls upon him (53:5). EATING UP PEOPLE The same image applies to the corrupt and the foolish ones. The first one is described in a bold expression as “loving all words that devour” (52:6) and the others as “eating up” God’s people as one eats one’s bread (53:5b). It is always the same behaviour that despises others considering them as prey to be eaten after they have been captured and killed. FEAR AND FRIGHT Biblical fear has little to do with being afraid. The righteous “will fear” (52:8), while the workers of iniquity “will be sized with fright” (53:6). Certainly, fear makes one tremble, but it does so out of astonishment and admiration for what has been seen, and also out of respect, joy and exultation for the salvation received, and, in short, love. It is in witnessing the punishment of the wicked that the righteous experience the fear of God. The ungodly are struck with fright, panic and dread when they see themselves rejected and condemned to the infamous death which they wanted to inflict on their innocent victims. However, it is possible to hope that the punishment and the dread it causes may one day be changed into reverential fear of the God who does not want the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.

III. “BY YOUR POWER VINDICATE ME” The Third Sequence: Ps 54–55 1. PSALM 54 TEXT 1 For

the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David; 2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: “Is not David hiding among us?” 3 O God, by your name save me, by your power vindicate me; 4 O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth! 5 Because strangers have arisen against me, and ruthless ones have sought my soul, they have not set God before them. 6 Behold God (is) my help, the Lord (is) with those who sustain my soul. 7 Let him return the evil on them watching me, by your truth destroy them! 8 With a great heart I will make a sacrifice for you, I will give thanks to your name, Yhwh, because (it is) good, 9 because from all anguish he has delivered me, and my eye have seen my enemies. V. 5: “STRANGERS”

The Masoretic text has zārîm, “strangers”; but some manuscripts and the Targums have zēdîm, “the proud ones”, as in Ps 86:14, which is almost the same as 54:6. It seems preferable to follow the Masoretic text. V. 7: “LET HIM RETURN THE EVIL ON THEM WATCHING ME”

According to the ketib, the first verb is in qal and can be interpreted as a present or future indicative, “he returns” or “he will return”, or as a jussive, “let him return”. For the qeré, on the contrary, it is a hiphil, “let him make return”. We will follow the qeré, but translating it in a short form as “let him return”; “evil” is not the subject but the object complement. V. 8B: “YHWH”

This divine name seems to be in excess: verse 8b is the only member with five terms. That is why many delete it; others move it, for example to the end of 7b,1 to obtain a three-term member, like the preceding ones.

1

E.g., Kraus, I, 514.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

COMPOSITION The title is particularly developed, comprising three four-term members. The psalm itself comprises three concentrically arranged parts. 1

For the music director, when came, “Is not

on stringed instruments, an instruction, the Ziphites, and said David hiding

+ 3 O GOD, + by your power

BY YOUR NAME

+ 4 O GOD, + give ear

hear to the words

2

of David; to Saul: among us?”

save me,

vindicate me; my prayer, of my mouth!

·······························································································································

– 5 Because strangers – and ruthless ones :: they have not set 6

Behold

THE LORD

(is)

+ 7 Let him return + by your truth

have arisen have sought GOD

before them.

GOD (is) with those who sustain

MY SOUL.

the evil destroy them!

against me, MY SOUL,

my help,

on them watching me,

·······························································································································

:: 8 With a great heart :: I will give thanks 9

– because from all – and my enemies,

TO YOUR NAME,

I will make a sacrifice

for you, YHWH,

anguish have seen (them)

he has delivered me, my eye.

because (it is) good,

The first part (3–5) begins with a series of four volitives, imperatives and jussive. The two occurrences of “O God” have the function of initial terms (3a & 4a). In the first segment (3) the psalmist invokes salvation, in the second one (4) he asks God to hear the prayer that he has just made. The second piece (5), beginning with “because”, gives the reasons for the prior requests: not only that the enemies act against the psalmist (5ab), but also against God (5c). The third part (7–9) is parallel to the first one. The first piece contains two volitives, one jussive and one imperative (7). The second piece (8–9) starts with expressing the consequences of God’s action invoked in the first piece, that are sacrifice and thanksgiving (8); then beginning with “because” (9a), the reason for this praise is given. This “because” was prepared by another “because” found at the end of the first segment (8b). In the centre (6), in the third person, an affirmation of faith in the God who helps, supported by those who sustain the psalmist.

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165

In the extreme parts occur “by your name” and “to your name” (3a & 8b); “strangers” and “ruthless ones” (5ab) are taken up at the extremities of the last part by “them watching me” and “my enemies” (7a & 9b). Moreover, “my soul” from the first part (5b) is taken up again at the end of the central part (6b). CONTEXT THE ZIPHITES David flees from Saul who wants to capture him; he takes refuge in the desert of Ziph (1 Sam 23:14–15), but the people of Ziph will inform Saul: “Is David not hiding with us?” (1 Sam 23:19). Once informed, David escapes again. EVIL RETURNS ON THOSE WHO CONCEIVED IT It is not uncommon especially in the psalms to see that the evil falls on its perpetrators: That the enemy sharpens his sword, he bends his bow and strengthens it, 14 and he prepares for himself the weapons of death he made his flaming arrows. 15 Behold, he conceives iniquity, and bears trouble, and gives birth to a lie. 16 He has opened a hole and digs it, and he will fall into the pit he made; 17 his trouble will return on his head, and his violence will fall on his skull. (Ps 7:13–17; see also 9:16; 35:7–8; 57:7; 141:9–10)

The most famous example is that of Aman who erected the gallows to hang Mordecai and who was hanged on them instead (Esth 7:9–10).

INTERPRETATION ACCUSATION The supplicant appeals to the one who can “vindicate him” (Ps 54:3) to expose the facts and accuse those who want his life. A whole group of “strangers” and “ruthless ones” is attacking him (54:5ab). But that is not all: not only do they despise the person they want to kill, but they also disregard God (54:5c). For them, neither God nor their neighbour counts. THE JUDGE At the centre of the psalm (54:6), a short statement introduces the judge to whom the psalmist was addressing himself. In direct opposition to what has just been said about the enemies who seek the life of his protégé and disregard God (54:5), the psalmist describes his God as the one who helps him and as the one who supports the righteous who relies on him. Therefore, God is the judge who

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

not only saves his king, but also arbitrates between two groups, that of the psalmist’s enemies and that of his defenders. THE SANCTION As it should be, the sanction demanded by the psalmist has nothing to do with revenge. According to the strictest justice, he is requesting that his enemies shall be struck down for the evil they had intended to inflict on him. Their wickedness shall come back on their heads, they shall be caught in the net they had set, they shall fall into the pit they had dug for others. But the psalm does not stop there, it foresees what can be called the sanction of the righteous, the price he commits himself to pay for the deliverance that the Lord has granted him: sacrifice and thanksgiving, evil for evil, goodness for goodness.

2. PSALM 55 TEXT 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David. 2 Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my supplication, 3 give attention to me and answer me, I am restless in my complaint and I rumble 4 by the voice of the enemy, before the oppression of the wicked; because they bring iniquity against me, and in anger they accuse me. 5 My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me; 6 fear and trembling come to me, and shuddering grips me. 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly and rest? 8 Behold, I would go far away fleeing, I would lodge in the desert, 9 I would hasten to a refuge for myself from the impetuous wind of the storm. 10 Devour, O Lord, divide their tongue, because I see violence and discord in the city; 11 day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble (are) within it; 12 the destructions (are) within it, and tyranny and deceit do not depart from its large square. 13 Yes, if an enemy were insulting me, I would bear it; if the one hating me were rising against me, I would hide from him. 14 But (are) you a man of my own rank, my intimate friend and known to me, 15 with whom we tasted counsel together, and in the house of God we walked among the crowd? 16 Let death surprise them, let them go down alive to Sheol, because evils (are) in their dwelling place within them. 17 As for me, I call to God, and Yhwh will save me; 18 evening and morning and at noon, I complain and rumble, and he will hear my voice. 19 Let him redeem in peace my soul from the battle against me, because many were against me. 20 Let God hear, and let him humble them, he who sits from of old, for whom there is no amendment for them: and they do not fear God. 21 He sent his hands against his friends, he violated his covenant. 22 His mouth (is) smoother than cream, but battle (is in) his heart; his words are softer than oil, but they (are) drawn swords. 23 Cast your worry on Yhwh and he will nourish you, he will not allow the righteous to be shaken forever. 24 And as for you, O God, you bring them down into the pit of corruption; the men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. And as for me, I trust in you.

The hapax legomena are many: ‘āqat translated as “oppression” (4b; see Amos 2:13), rāgeš as “crowd” (15b), maḥmā’ōt as “cream” (22a), petiḥôt as “drawn swords” (22d), and yehāb as “worry” (23a). V. 13: “IF AN ENEMY WERE INSULTING ME, [...] IF THE ONE HATING ME...”

Lit. “Yes, it is not an enemy who insults me”. The Septuagint has rendered the meaning well by translating with conditionals. V. 19: “LET HIM REDEEM”

This perfect tense is understood as an imperative; the same applies to the incomplete verbs of 20.1 V. 23: “AND HE WILL NOURISH YOU”

The verb means “to support” and also “to nourish” (Gen 45:11; 50:21; 1 Kgs18:4). 1

Hakham, I, 322; for the discussion on the first verb in Ps 55:19, see Ravasi, II, 119–120.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

V. 24B: “INTO THE PIT OF CORRUPTION”

The second term of the syntagma usually means “pit”, which seems tautological. The Septuagint understood it as “corruption”. COMPOSITION The psalm comprises three parts. The extreme parts are developed and are formed of three subparts (2–12 & 17–24). The central part is considerably shorter (13–16). THE FIRST PART (2–12) In the first subpart (2–4), the supplication (2–3) is motivated by the enemies’ attacks (4). In the first segment (2), the imperatives with which the two members begin are followed by their complements; in the second segment (3), the two imperatives are in the first member and the equivalent of “my prayer” and “my supplication” (2ab) occupies the second member (3b). In the second piece the second segment (4cd) spells out the attacks of “the enemy” and of “the wicked” (4ab). The last subpart (10–12) begins with a supplication that juxtaposes two imperatives (10a), after which comes the motivation, introduced by “because” (10b): evil in all its forms—“violence and discord” (10b), “iniquity and trouble” (11b), “destructions”, “tyranny and deceit” (12)—reigns throughout the city: “in the city” (10b), “on its walls” and “within it” (11), “within it” and on “its large square” (12). In the central subpart (5–9), the psalmist dreams of fleeing (8–9) because of the unbearable suffering that he has to endure (5–6). In the first piece (5–6b) the second members provide the reason for the pain expressed in the first members. The last piece (8–9) seems to be constructed in a mirrored manner: the median members mention the “refuge” in the “desert”, the extreme members speak of the flight from the storm. At the centre (6cd), as it frequently happens, there is a question, the only one in the part. The extreme subparts are parallel to each other. They begin with supplications in the imperative, four at the beginning (2–3), two in the ending (10a), addressed to “God” (2a), to “the Lord” (10a). They are followed by the motivations (4 & 10b–12) in which terms belonging to the semantic field of evil abound: in the first subpart, “enemy”, “oppression”, “wicked”, “iniquity”, “anger”, “they accuse me” (4) and in the other subpart, “violence and discord” (10b), “iniquity and trouble” (11b), “destructions”, “tyranny and deceit” (12). The “enemies” of the first subpart (4) are not foreigners but fellow countrymen, living in the same city (10–12).

Psalm 55

169

+ 2 GIVE EAR, + and DO NOT HIDE YOURSELF

O GOD, to my prayer, from my supplication,

+ 3 GIVE ATTENTION + I am restless

to me in my complaint

and ANSWER ME, and I rumble

····························································································································

– 4 by the voice – before

of the enemy, the oppression

– because they bring – and in anger

against me they accuse me.

INIQUITY

writhes of death

within me, have fallen

and trembling shuddering,

7

: 5 My heart : and the terrors 6

: fear : and grips me

of the wicked;

upon me;

come to me, and I said:

························································································································

Who will give me that I may fly

wings and rest?

like a dove,

························································································································ 8

- Behold, - I would lodge

I would go far away in the desert,

fleeing,

- 9 I would hasten - from the wind

to a refuge impetuous

for myself of the storm.

+ 10 DEVOUR, – because I see

O LORD, violence

DIVIDE

– 11 day – and INIQUITY

and night and trouble

they go around (are) within it;

on its walls,

– 12 the destructions – and do not depart

(are) within it, from its large square

tyranny

and deceit.

and discord

their tongue, in the city;

The central subpart (5–9) has no common vocabulary with the other two subparts. However, the first piece (5–6b) describes the impact on the psalmist caused by “the oppression of the wicked” just mentioned (4). In the last piece (8– 9), “the refuge” in “the desert” is in opposition to “the city” of the last subpart. The “walls” (11c) of this city cannot serve as a “refuge” (9a) since the evil is within.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

THE SECOND PART (13-16) – 13 Yes, if an enemy – if the one hating me – I would hide

were insulting me, against me from him.

I would bear it; were rising,

····························································································································

: 14 But (are) you : my intimate friend

a man and known to me,

of my own rank,

: 15 with whom : and in the house

together of God

we tasted we walked

counsel, among the crowd?

····························································································································

– 16 Let surprise – let them go down – because evils (are)

death alive in their dwelling place

them, to Sheol, within them.

In the first piece (13), the last two members have the same syntactic construction as the first member: conditional clause + main clause. The second piece (14–15) is a long complex interrogative phrase. The first segment (14) tells of the nature of their relationship, the second one (15) what they were doing together. In the third piece (16), the request for the death of the enemies is motivated in the third member. While the psalmist begins with saying that he is prepared to bear the insult of an enemy, he cannot bear the insult of a friend who has betrayed him. The shift from the singular (13–15) to the plural (16) allows us to understand that the traitor is not an individual, but a group. THE THIRD PART (17–24) The two segments of the first piece are parallel (17–18); the last members (17b & 18c) can be understood as requests. The second piece of the first subpart (19– 20) includes requests (19a & 20ab) and provides the reason for them: the enemies are “many” (19b), and they are incorrigible (20cd). In the second subpart (21–22) the first segment (21) describes how the enemy betrayed his friends, the next two segments (22ab & 22cd) emphasise the falsity of his words. In the last subpart (23–24) the extreme pieces (23 & 24e) put the one whom the psalmist is addressing in parallel with himself: “trusting” in God (24e) is equivalent to “casting” to him one’s worries (23a). Only the first piece provides the reasons for trusting God (23bc). At the centre is what God will do against the wicked (24a–24d).

Psalm 55 :: 17 As for me, + and YHWH

to GOD will save me;

I call,

:: 18 evening :: I complain + and he will hear

and morning and groan, my voice.

and at noon,

171

································································································································· 19

– Let him redeem – because many

in peace were

my soul against me.

– 20 Let (him) hear, – he who sits

GOD, from of old,

let him humble them,

– for whom – and they do not

there is no fear

amendment GOD.

- 21 He sent - he violated

his hands his covenant.

against his friends,

+ 22 Smoother - but BATTLE

than cream (is in) his heart;

(is) his mouth,

+ are softer - but they (are)

his words drawn swords.

than oil,

on YHWH will nourish you, that forever

your worry

:: 23 Cast + and he + he will not allow

be shaken

from THE BATTLE against me,

for them:

the righteous.

································································································································· O GOD, you bring them down

– 24 And as for you, – into the pit

of corruption;

– the men – shall not live out half

of blood their days.

and of deceit

·································································································································

:: And as for me,

I trust

in you.

In the first two subparts the word “battle” is repeated (19a & 22b); moreover, the term “his friends” of 21a is of the same root as “peace” in 19a. The extreme subparts begin double promise (17b, 18c & 23bc) and continue with the announcement of the punishment that the ungodly will receive (20 & 24).

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David. 2

GIVE EAR, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my supplication, 3 give attention to me and answer me, I am restless in MY COMPLAINT and I RUMBLE 4 by the voice of the enemy enemy, before the oppression of the wicked; because THEY CAUSE TO MOVE iniquity against me, and in anger they accuse me. 5

My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of DEATH have fallen upon me; 6 fear and trembling come to me, and shuddering grips me. 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly and rest? 8 Behold, I would go far away fleeing, I would lodge in the desert, 9 I would hasten to a refuge for myself from the impetuous wind of the storm. 10 Devour,

O Lord, divide their tongue, because I see violence and discord in the city; 11 day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 12 the destructions are within it, and tyranny and deceit do not depart from its large square. 13

Yes, if an enemy enemy were insulting me, I would bear it; if the one hating me were rising against me, I would hide from him. 14 But are you a man of my own rank, my intimate friend and known to me, 15 with whom we tasted counsel together, and in the house of God we walked among the crowd? 16 Let DEATH surprise them, LET THEM GO DOWN alive TO SHEOL, because evils are in their dwelling place within them. 17

As for me, I call to God and Yhwh will save me; 18 evening and morning and at noon, I COMPLAIN and RUMBLE, and HE WILL HEAR my voice. 19 Let him redeem in peace my soul from the battle against me, because many were against me. 20 LET GOD HEAR and let him humble them, he who sits from of old, for whom there is no amendment for them: and they do not fear God. 21 He

sent his hands against his friends, he violated his covenant. 22 His mouth is smoother than cream, but battle is in his heart; his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords. 23

Cast your worry on Yhwh and he will nourish you, he will not allow the righteous to 24 And as for you, O God, YOU BRING THEM DOWN INTO THE PIT OF CORRUPTION; the men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. And as for me, I trust in you. BE SHAKEN forever.

The pair “complaint/complain” and “rumble” appears at the beginning of the extreme parts (3 & 18), acting as initial terms; in addition, “give ear” (2) announces the verb “to hear” (18 & 20). The same Hebrew verb translated here as “they cause to move” and “be shaken” is found at the extremities (4 & 23). “Enemy” is repeated at the beginning of the first part and at the beginning of the central part (4 & 13); “death” occurs at the centre of the first part and at the end of the central part (5 & 16).

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173

“Let them go down alive to Sheol” (16) and “you bring them down into the pit of corruption” (24) serve as the final terms for the last two parts. The first piece of the central part (13) corresponds to the central subpart of the first part (5–9): if the psalmist were dealing with a stranger, it would be sufficient for him to walk away from him. The central piece of the central part (14–15) announces the central subpart of the third part (21–22), for both are focusing on the one who betrays his friend. The last subpart of the first part announces this theme: the enemy mentioned in the first subpart (4) turns out to be an enemy from within (10–12).

CONTEXT “THE ONE WHO ATE MY BREAD” (PS 41:10) Ps 55 can be linked to one verse from Ps 41: “Even the man of my peace that I trusted in him, who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps 41:10). “EVERYONE DECEIVES HIS NEIGHBOUR” (JER 9:1–8) The first eight verses of Jeremiah 9 denounce the same kind of betrayal against friends and brothers. The oracle begins as follows: “Who will provide me with a lodging for travellers in the desert, that I might leave my people and go away from them?” (9:1), which recalls Ps 55:7–9.

INTERPRETATION SALVATION BY FLEEING When facing the onslaught of evil that could drag you to death, the solution is to get away as quickly as possible, to flee as far away as possible from those who accuse you, and to hide as best as you can (Ps 55:5–9). That is what David used to do when he was threatened being nailed to the wall by Saul (1 Sam 19:9–10), when Saul set out to kill him (1 Sam 19:11–17; 20–22, etc.). He also did the same when his son Absalom rebelled against him (2 Sam 15). “BUT ARE YOU MY INTIMATE FRIEND?” (PS 55:14) The evils do not come from a foreign group or a foreign people, as one might have expected. They come from those closest to us, from those we have every reason to trust them (55:14–15). The violence is not that of a siege mounted against the city by an external enemy; it is within the city that discord and violence reign, it is on its walls that iniquity and sorrow are constantly revolving (55:10– 12). The “drawn swords” wielded in “the battle” are those of the friend who betrayed the covenant with lying words (55:21–22).

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

NO HOPE OF RETURNING The ultimate pain is to realise that it would be illusory to expect the intimate friend who has betrayed to repent of his or her conduct: “because evils are in their dwelling place within them” (55:16) and “there is no amendment for them” (55:20). In today’s language using clinical terms, that is the case of the narcissistic pervert. “LET THEM GO DOWN ALIVE TO SHEOL!” (55:16) The victim of the enemy is well aware that “the terrors of death” are falling on him (55:5). The speeches of the pervert are “drawn swords” that inevitably hit (55:22). The psalmist does not seek revenge. He entrusts the punishment to God (55:24). Death calls for death. Again, those who have dug a grave for their neighbour will surely fall into it.

3. “BY YOUR POWER VINDICATE ME” (PS 54–55) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE The beginning of the first psalm (54:3–4) is echoed at the beginning of each of the long extreme parts of the second psalm: “God” and “save me” (54:3; 55:17); “God, hear my prayer, give ear” (54:4) and “Give ear, O God, to my prayer” (55:2); the verb “to hear” of 54:4 is repeated twice in 55:18, 20. These repetitions thus serve as initial terms. The two occurrences of “enemy/enemies” (54:9; 55:4) serve as median terms; the same term is repeated at the beginning of the central part (55:13). “Evil” occurs in 54:7 and 55:16; “words” and “mouth” in 54:4 and 55:22. INTERPRETATION A DOUBLE SUPPLICATION The titles of both psalms are identical, and the movement of the prayer is so similar that one has the impression of dealing, if not with twins, at least with two siblings, even if the second psalm is much more extensive than his first one. The psalmist implores God to listen to his prayer (54:4; 55:2), to save him (54:3; 54:17) from the hand of the enemies who are after his life (54:5; 55:5). He is also asking God to destroy these implacable enemies (54:7; 55:16), and he is sure that in the end God will hear him (54:6, 9; 55:23–24).

Sequence 54–55

175

54 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David; 2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: “Is not David hiding among us?” 3 O GOD,

by your name SAVE ME, by your power vindicate me; MY PRAYER, GIVE EAR to the WORDS of my MOUTH! 5 Because strangers have arisen against me, and ruthless ones have sought my soul, they have not set God before them. 4 O GOD, HEAR

6 Behold God is my help, the Lord is with those who sustain my soul. 7 Let

him return the evil on them watching me, by your truth destroy them! 8 With a great heart I will make a sacrifice for you, I will give thanks to your name, Yhwh, because it is good, 9 because from all anguish he has delivered me, and my eye have seen my ENEMIES. 55 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David. 2 GIVE EAR,

O GOD, to MY PRAYER and do not hide yourself from my supplication, 3 give attention to me and answer me, I am restless in my complaint and I rumble 4 by the voice of the ENEMY, before the oppression of the wicked; because they bring iniquity against me, and in anger they accuse me. 5 My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me; 6 fear and trembling come to me, and shuddering grips me 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly and rest? 8 Behold, I would go far away fleeing, I would lodge in the desert, 9 I would hasten to a refuge for myself from the impetuous wind of the storm. 10 Devour, O Lord, divide their tongue, because I see violence and discord in the city; 11 day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 12 the destructions are within it, and tyranny and deceit do not depart from its large square. 13 Yes, if an ENEMY were insulting me, I would bear it; if the one hating me were rising against me, I would hide from him. 14 But are you a man of my own rank, my intimate friend and known to me, 15 with whom we tasted counsel together, and in the house of God we walked among the crowd? 16 Let death surprise them, let them go down alive to Sheol, because evils are in their dwelling place within them. 17 As

for me, I call to GOD, and Yhwh WILL SAVE ME; 18 evening and morning and at noon, I complain and rumble, and HE WILL HEAR my voice. 19 Let him redeem in peace my soul from the battle against me, because many were against me. 20 LET God HEAR, and let him humble them, he who sits from of old, for whom there is no amendment for them: and they do not fear God. 21 He sent his hands against his friends, he violated his covenant. 22 His MOUTH is smoother than cream, but battle is in his heart; his WORDS are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords. 23 Cast your worry on Yhwh and he will nourish you, he will not allow the righteous to be shaken forever. 24 And as for you, O God, you bring them down into the pit of corruption; the men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. And as for me, I trust in you.

CLIMAX OF MISFORTUNE The tone is infinitely more dramatic in the second psalm. From the beginning the psalmist acknowledges that he is “restless” in his complaint and “rumbling” (55:3), and he will say so again (55:18). “The terrors of death”, “trembling” and “shuddering” make him wish to disappear “in the desert” (55:5–9). That is because he has discovered that the enemy who was chasing him with “anger” (55:4) is no one else than the one he thought was his closest friend (55:14–15, 21–22). Yet his

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words were even more unctuous because they tried to conceal the sword with which he was striking in secret. The pain is commensurate with the delusion and even more with the realisation that there is no remedy. The only solution is to entrust oneself to the Lord alone: jacta cogitatum tuum in Domino, et ipse te enutriet (55:23).

IV. THE LORD WHO FORGIVES SIN GIVES SALVATION 1. COMPOSITION OF THE SECOND SECTION The six psalms that form the section are organised into three sequences. Each sequence consists of two psalms.

“You are blameless

in your judgment”

Ps 50–51

WILL THEY NOT UNDERSTAND, THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY?

“By your power

Ps 52–53

vindicate me”

Ps 54–55

The first thing to notice is the brevity of the central sequence compared to the other two:1 1st sequence

2nd sequence

3rd sequence

Ps 50: Ps 51:

1,071 970

Ps 52: Ps 53:

547 416

Ps 54: Ps 55:

382 1,156

Total:

2,041

Total:

963

Total:

1,538

After examining the relations between the extreme sequences, the relations between the central sequence and the other two will be studied.

1

The count is made in the number of signs of the transliterated Hebrew text, including spaces; without verse numbers, with qeré (except for “Yhwh”).

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 50–51; 54–55) 50 1 A psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, Yhwh, SPEAKS and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, God shines forth. 3 May our God come and may he not be silent, a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest; 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to JUDGE his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed my covenant by SACRIFICE”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because God himself is judge. 7 Hear, O my people, and I WILL SPEAK, O Israel, I will testify against you, I am God, your God! 8 Not for your SACRIFICES I accuse you and your burnt offerings that are before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the BLOOD of goats? 14 MAKE A SACRIFICE of CONFESSION to God and pay your vows to the Most High; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and you will glorify me.” 16 And God said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your MOUTH; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my WORDS behind you? 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; 19 you send your MOUTH with evil and your tongue plots deceit. 20 You sit, you SPEAK against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 21 These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I accuse you and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to DELIVER! 23 The one who MAKES A SACRIFICE of CONFESSION glorifies me, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the SALVATION of God.” 51 1 For the music director, a psalm, of David, 2 WHEN the prophet Nathan came to him after he had come to Bathsheba. 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my transgressions! 4 Greatly wash me from my fault, and purify me from my sin! 5 Because myself I know my transgressions, and my sin is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in your WORD, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in fault I was born and in sin my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. 9 You will purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be pure; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10 You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from my sin and all my faults wipe away! 12 A pure heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 Make return to me the gladness of your SALVATION and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. 15 I

will teach the transgressors your ways and the sinners will return to you! 16 Deliver me from BLOODS, O God, the God of my SALVATION: my tongue will acclaim your righteousness. 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, and my MOUTH will declare your praise. 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken breath; a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

In the first psalms, “to judge” and “to vindicate” translate the same Hebrew verb (50:4; 54:3); “sacrifice”, “to make a sacrifice” (50:5, 8, 14, 23; 54:8), “confession” and to give thanks” are of the same root (50:14, 23; 54:8), “to deliver” (50:22; 54:9).

The Whole of the Section

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54 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David; 2 WHEN the Ziphites came and said to Saul: “Is not David hiding among us?” 3 O God, by your name SAVE ME, by your power VINDICATE ME; 4 O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the WORDS of my MOUTH! 5 Because strangers have arisen against me, and ruthless ones have sought my soul, they have not set God before them. 6 Behold

God is my help, the Lord is with those who sustain my soul. 7 Let him return the evil on them watching me, by your truth destroy them! 8 With a great heart I WILL MAKE A SACRIFICE for you, I WILL GIVE THANKS to your name, Yhwh, because it is good, 9 because from all anguish HE HAS DELIVERED ME, and my eye have seen my enemies. 55 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David. 2 Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my supplication, 3 give attention to me and answer me, I am restless in my complaint and I rumble 4 by the voice of the enemy, before the oppression of the wicked; because they bring iniquity against me, and in anger they accuse me. 5 My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me; 6 fear and trembling come to me, and shuddering grips me. 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly and rest? 8 Behold, I would go far away fleeing, I would lodge in the desert, 9 I would hasten to a refuge for myself from the impetuous wind of the storm. 10 Devour, O Lord, divide their tongue, because I see violence and discord in the city; 11 day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 12 the destructions are within it; and tyranny and deceit do not depart from its large square. 13 Yes, if an enemy were insulting me, I would bear it; if the one hating me were rising against me, I would hide from him. 14 But are you a man of my own rank, my intimate friend and known to me, 15 with whom we tasted counsel together, and in the house of God we walked among the crowd? 16 Let death surprise them, let them go down alive to Sheol, because evils are in their dwelling place within them. 17 As for me, I call to God, and Yhwh WILL SAVE me; 18 evening and morning and at noon, I complain and rumble, and he will hear my voice. 19 Let him redeem in peace my soul from the battle against me, because many were against me. 20 Let God hear, and let him humble them, he who sits from of old, for whom there is no amendment for them: and they do not fear God. 21 He sent his hands against his friends, he violated his covenant. 22 His MOUTH is smoother than cream, but battle is in his heart; his WORDS are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords. 23 Cast your worry on Yhwh and he will nourish you, he will not allow the righteous to be shaken forever. 24 And as for you, O God, you bring them down into the pit of corruption; the men of BLOOD and deceit shall not live out half their days. And as for me, I trust in you.

The second psalms: Ps 51 repeats “transgressions” and synonyms, “sin”, “faults”, “evil”; Ps 55 accumulates synonyms for “iniquity”, “oppression”, “violence and discord”, “trouble”, “destruction”, “tyranny and deceit”, “evils”. The titles of the median psalms indicate the circumstances of their utterance. The psalms have in common “blood/s” (50:13; 51:16; 55:24), “to save”, “salvation/s” (50:23; 51:14, 16; 54:3; 55:17), “to speak” and “words” (50:1, 7, 17, 20; 51:6; 54:4; 55:22), and “mouth” (50:16, 19; 51:17; 54:4; 55:22). It always concerns judgment, that of the psalmist at the start (Ps 50–51) pronounced by God, then at the end of the enemies (Ps 54–55) requested by the psalmist.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FIRST TWO SEQUENCES (PS 50–51; 52–53) 50 1 A psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, Yhwh, speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, God shines forth. 3 May our God come and may he not be silent, a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest; 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to judge his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed my covenant by sacrifice”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because God himself is judge. 7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you, I am God, your God! 8 Not for your sacrifices I accuse you and your burnt offerings that are before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the blood of goats? 14 Make a sacrifice of confession to God and pay your vows to the Most High; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and you will glorify me.” 16 And God said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your mouth; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you? 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; 19 you send your mouth with evil and your LANGUE plots deceit. 20 You sit, you speak against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 21 These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I accuse you and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to deliver! 23 The one who makes a sacrifice of confession glorifies me, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the salvation of God.” 51 1 For the music director, a psalm, of David, 2 when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had come to Bathsheba. 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my transgressions! 4 Greatly wash me from my fault, and purify me from my sin! 5 Because myself I know my transgressions, and my sin is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in your word, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in fault I was born and in sin my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. 9 You will purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be pure; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10 You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from my sin and all my faults wipe away! 12 A pure heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 Make return to me the gladness of your salvation and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. 15 I will teach the transgressors your ways and the sinners will return to you! 16 Deliver me from bloods, O God, the God of my salvation: my TONGUE will acclaim your RIGHTEOUSNESS. 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, and my mouth will declare your PRAISE. 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken breath; a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

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52 1 For the music director, an instruction, of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul and said to him: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech”. 3 Why DO YOU PRAISE YOURSELF in evil, you hero, the faithfulness of God is all the day? 4 Your TONGUE thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you doer of treachery! 5 You love evil more than good, lying more than speaking RIGHTEOUSNESS; 6 you love all words that devour, deceitful TONGUE. 7 So God will crush you, to the end will destroy you, and will tear you away from the tent, and will uproot you from the land of the living. 8 And the righteous will see and will fear, and they will laugh at him: 9 “Behold the man who did not set God as his fortress, and who trusted in the abundance of his wealth, made himself strong in his crime”. 10 And I am like a verdant olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever. 11 I give thanks to you forever, because you have done it, and I hope for your name, because it is good before your faithful. 53 1 For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2 A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no one that does good. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 5 Will

they not know, workers of iniquity? Eating up my people as they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, when there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvations of Israel? When God will restore the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice!

Median terms: “praise”, “to praise” (51:17; 52:3), “tongue” (51:16; 52:4, 6), “righteousness” (51:16, 21; 52:5). The titles of these psalms indicate the circumstances of their utterance. Final terms: “salvation/s” (51:16; 53:7), “Zion” (51:20; 53:7); “you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem” (51:20) announces “God will restore the situation of his people” (53:7). Extreme terms: “Zion” (50:2; 53:7), “people” (50:4; 53:7). Other lexical correspondences: “to speak” and “words” (50:1, 7, 17, 20; 51:6; 52:6), “tongue” (50:19; 51:16; 52:4, 6), “to know” (50:11; 51:5, 8; 53:5), “evil” (50:19; 51:6; 52:3, 5), “confession” and “to give thanks” (50:14, 23; 52:11), “heart” (51:12, 19; 53:2). Ps 50 is an accusation brought by God against his people (and against the king); Ps 52–53 begin with an accusation against the wicked and the foolish by the psalmist. In Ps 51, David acknowledges that he is a great sinner; in Ps 53, he admits that “there is not even one” of the children of Adam who does good.

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Second Section (Ps 50–55)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE LAST TWO SEQUENCES (PS 52–53; 54–55) 52 1 For the music director, an instruction, of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul and said to him: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech”. 3 Why do you praise yourself in evil, you hero, the faithfulness of God is all the day? 4 Your tongue thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you doer of treachery! 5 You love evil more than good, lying more than speaking righteousness; 6 you love all words that devour, deceitful tongue. 7 So God will crush you, to the end will destroy you, and will tear you away from the tent, and will uproot you from the land of the living. 8 And the righteous will see and will fear, and they will laugh at him: 9 “Behold the man who did not set God as his fortress, and who trusted in the abundance of his wealth, made himself strong in his crime”. 10 And I am like a verdant olive tree in the house of God: I TRUST in the faithfulness of God forever and ever. 11 I GIVE YOU THANKS forever, because you have done it, and I hope for your name BECAUSE IT IS GOOD before your faithful. 53 1 For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2 A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no one that does good. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 5

Will they not know, workers of iniquity? Eating up my people as they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, when there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion THE SALVATIONS of Israel? When God will restore the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice!

The titles of the first psalms indicate the circumstances of their utterance. The four psalms are “for the music director, an instruction, of David”. The following concatenation “to give thanks”, “your name”, “because it is good” (52:11; 54:8) play the role of final terms for the first two psalms. “Evil” occurs in the first psalms (52:3, 5; 54:7), “iniquity” appears twice in the second psalms (53:2, 5; 55:4, 11); but there are many terms belonging to the same semantic field: “crime/s” (52:4, 9), “sharp razor” and “treachery” (52:4), “lying” (52:5), “deceitful” (52:6), “they are corrupt” and “they do abominable iniquity” (53:2), “have gone astray” and “they are perverted” (53:4), “ruthless ones” (54:5), “the oppression of the wicked” (55:4), “violence and discord” (55:10), “trouble” (55:11), “destructions” and “tyranny and deceit” (55: 12), “battle” and “drawn swords” (55: 22). “The salvation” and “to save” occur three times (53:7; 54:3; 55:17), “in the house of God” is found in the extreme psalms (52:10; 55:15) and “I trust” at the end of the extreme psalms (52:10; 55:24).

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54 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David; 2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: “Is not David hiding among us?” 3 O God, by your name SAVE ME, by your power vindicate me; 4 O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth! 5 Because strangers have arisen against me, and ruthless ones have sought my soul, they have not set God before them. 6 Behold God is my help, the Lord is with those who sustain my soul. 7 Let him return the evil on them watching me, by your truth destroy them! 8 With a great heart I will make a sacrifice for you, I WILL GIVE THANKS to your name, Yhwh, BECAUSE IT IS GOOD, 9 because from all anguish he has delivered me, and my eye have seen my enemies. 55 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David. 2 Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my supplication, 3 give attention to me and answer me, I am restless in my complaint and I rumble 4 by the voice of the enemy, before the oppression of the wicked; because they bring iniquity against me, and in anger they accuse me. 5 My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me; 6 fear and trembling come to me, and shuddering grips me. 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly and rest? 8 Behold, I would go far away fleeing, I would lodge in the desert, 9 I would hasten to a refuge for myself from the impetuous wind of the storm. 10 Devour, O Lord, divide their tongue, because I see violence and discord in the city; 11 day and night they go around on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 12 the destructions are within it, and tyranny and deceit do not depart from its large square. 13 Yes, if an enemy were insulting me, I would bear it; if the one hating me were rising against me, I would hide from him. 14 But are you a man of my own rank, my intimate friend and known to me, 15 with whom we tasted counsel together and in the house of God we walked among the crowd? 16 Let death surprise them, let them go down alive to Sheol, because evils are in their dwelling place within them. 17 As for me, I call to God, and Yhwh WILL SAVE ME; 18 evening and morning and at noon, I complain and rumble, and he will hear my voice. 19 Let him redeem in peace my soul from the battle against me, because many were against me. 20 Let God hear, and let him humble them, he who sits from of old, for whom there is no amendment for them: and they do not fear God. 21 He sent his hands against his friends, he violated his covenant. 22 His mouth is smoother than cream, but battle is in his heart; his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords. 23 Cast your worry on Yhwh and he will nourish you, he will not allow the righteous to be shaken forever. 24 And as for you, O God, you bring them down into the pit of corruption; the men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. And as for me, I TRUST in you.

The psalms of the central sequence begin with accusations, and continue with announcements of punishment (52:7–9; 53:6); those of the last sequence begin with supplications against enemies and continue with requests for punishment (54:7; 55:10, 16, 20).

184

Second Section (Ps 50–55)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE THREE SEQUENCES The first psalm (Ps 50) is an accusation brought by God against his people and the king; the accusation is repeated in the two psalms of the central sequence (Ps 52–53), but this time by the psalmist against his enemies. The second psalm of the first sequence (Ps 51) is a supplication, as are the two psalms of the last sequence (Ps 54–55). The central sequence ensures the transition from the first sequence to the last one. Indeed, its accusations refer to those of the first sequence (Ps 50), and its observation that there is not even one of the children of Adam who does good, recalls the second psalm of the first sequence (Ps 51), where the psalmist recognises pervasiveness of his sin. The announcements of punishment in the central sequence prepare for the requests of punishment in the last sequence.

2. INTERPRETATION UNIVERSALITY AND PERVASIVENESS OF SIN What God reproaches his “faithful” (50:5) is lack of respect of the fundamental prohibitions that, according to the ten words, allow the neighbour to exist; namely theft, adultery, lying that leads to murder (50:18–20), all faults that people pretend to cover up by generously offering sacrifices and burnt offerings (50:8–12), speaking abundantly about the covenant and its decrees (50:16). Such an accusation leads the psalmist to recognise how deeply sin has been rooted in him from the time of his conception (51:7). He then confesses that he is not the only one, but that among the children of Adam there is no single one who does good, that all of them “have gone astray” and they “are perverted” (53:2–4). They love evil more than good (52:5). The abundance of the vocabulary of sin and transgression marks the whole section, indicating the universal proliferation of evil, committed not only by the enemies of the psalmist and his people (54:5), but even by his closest friend (55:10–12, 21–22), which is a final way of saying how sin pervades everything. THE UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT OF GOD The section begins with the words of God who comes “to judge his people” (50:4), “because God himself is judge” (50:6). His judgement consists in discerning the evil that is hidden behind the appearance of good, the crimes against the neighbour that are hidden under the sacrifices and under the proclamation of the Law. When the sinner acknowledges his or her sin and the righteousness of God’s words (51:6), divine judgment will consist of erasing the faults in an act of new creation (51:12) that will allow the repentant and forgiven sinner not only to acclaim the righteousness of his or her saviour (51:16–17), but also to teach the sinners to return to their God (51:15). And indeed, in the two central psalms, the

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accusation is no longer made by God as in the first psalm, but by the forgiven sinner, who thus takes over the judgment (52:3–5; 53:2–4). As the Lord made him understand both his sin and wisdom (51:5, 8), so he invites “the workers of iniquity” to understand, like him (53:5), what leads them to destruction. In the last two psalms, the persecuted psalmist, threatened with death by his enemies, appeals to the one who, by his “power”, can “vindicate him” (54:3). When, at last, he finds himself without the slightest support, abandoned by the one whom he considered to be his intimate friend and who let him believe it, the only one he can trust, the only one to whom he can appeal to defend and save him, is the Lord.

OF DAVID IN A LOW VOICE IN HIS ANGUISHES Third Section Ps 56–60

188

Third Section (Ps 56–60)

The third section comprises five psalms organised into three sequences. Each of the extreme sequences (Ps 56–57 & Ps 59–60) is formed of two psalms, while the central sequence consists of only one psalm (Ps 58):

MY ENEMIES TRAMPLE ON ME,

I TAKE REFUGE

UNDER THE WINGS OF GOD

BREAK THE TEETH OF THE SERPENT AND THE LIONS

MY ENEMIES GROWL,

GOD SPEAKS

FROM HIS SANCTUARY

Ps 56–57

Ps 58

Ps 59–60

I. MY ENEMIES TRAMPLE ON ME, I TAKE REFUGE UNDER THE WINGS OF GOD The First Sequence: Ps 56–57 1. PSALM 56 TEXT 1 For

the music director, on “The Silent Dove of Those Far off”, of David; in a low voice, when the Philistines seized him in Gat. 2 Have mercy on me, O God, because a man tramples on me, every day he fights me and oppresses me; 3 those who spy on me trample on me every day, because many are fighting me up there. 4 The day when I fear, myself I trust in you. 5 In God I praise his word; in God I trust, I fear not, what can flesh do to me? 6 Every day they distort my words, all their thoughts (are) against me for evil; 7 they stir up, they hide, themselves, they watch my steps, as if they hoped for my soul. 8 For (their) iniquity, (is) liberation for them? In anger bring down the peoples, O God! 9 You yourself have counted my flight, put my tears in your wineskin; is it not in your book? 10 Then my enemies will turn back, on the day when I call; this I know that God (is) for me. 11 In God I praise the word, in Yhwh I praise the word; 12 in God I trust, I fear not, what can an adam do to me? 13 Upon me, O God, (will be) your vows, I will render thanksgiving to you, 14 because you have delivered my soul from death, truly my feet from stumbling, that I may walk in the face of God in the light of life. V. 1: “IN A LOW VOICE”

This inscription first appears in the title of Ps 16.1 The meaning of discreet recitation here fits well with “the silent dove...” V. 2–3: “TRAMPLE”

The meaning of the verb is discussed: “to harass”, “to track”. It can be interpreted as deriving from the root š’p (“to desire”) or from the root šwp (“to crush”, “to trample”). In Amos 2:7 it means “to trample” (“trampling the head of the poor into the dust of the earth”); similarly in 8:42 (see also Gen 3:15). V. 8: “LIBERATION FOR THEM?”

The text is difficult as the ancient versions show it. The noun “liberation” translates a verb which can be understood as an imperative or as an infinitive. Many believe that it is actually a question,3 which fits perfectly into the composition of the psalm focusing on two questions (8a & 9c).

1 See Le Psautier. Premier livre, 171 = The Psalter: Book One, 171; “in low voice” occurs in five psalms of the section. 2 See P. BOVATI – R. MEYNET, Le livre du prophète Amos, 76.320; Hakham, I, 326. 3 Vesco, 507; Lorenzin, 230; see especially Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 64.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

V. 14B: “TRULY”

The interrogative particle with the negation (hălō’) is already found at the beginning of 9c (“is it not”). Here it expresses rather a conviction.4

COMPOSITION The psalm consists of five parts organised elliptically: the second and penultimate parts constitute the two focal points of the ellipse.5 THE FIRST PART (2–4) + 2 Have mercy on me, O GOD, – because tramples on me a man, – EVERY DAY he fights me

and oppresses me;

= 3 trample on me = because many

those who spy on me EVERY DAY, are fighting me up there.

– 4 THE DAY + myself

IN YOU

when I fear, I trust.

In the first two segments (2–3) we find “to trample”, “every day” and “to fight”; whereas in the first segment the psalmist’s enemy is in the singular (2), in the second segment is in the plural, and a plural of “many” (3). At the beginning of the third segment, “the day” in the singular (4a) contrasts with the two occurrences of “every day” (2c & 3a): this is the day when the psalmist decided to trust in God. In the last member, “you” (4b) refers to “God” of the first member (2a): the psalmist trusts in God, knowing that he will have mercy on him. THE CENTRAL PART (6–10) In the extreme pieces of the central part (6–7 & 10), the persecution that the psalmist’s enemies inflict on him “every day” (6) is contrasted with their defeat “on the day” (10b) when their victim will call out to God. In the first segment of the central piece (8), “to bring down” is opposed to “liberation”. God’s “anger” will inflame against the “iniquity” of the psalmist’s enemies; far from liberating them, the Lord will bring them down. The first segment deals with the wicked, the second with the psalmist (9): he asks God to remember him, preserving in his wineskin his tears, in his book his “flight” that he has “counted”, which means, recorded.6 4

Joüon, 161c; see Hakham, I, 329; Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 60. See R. MEYNET, “Une nouvelle figure: la composition à double foyer”. 6 “To count” and “book” derive from the same root (spr). 5

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191

– 6 EVERY DAY – against me

my words all their thoughts

they distort, for evil;

– 7 they stir up, – themselves, – as if

they hide, my steps they hoped for

they watch, my soul.

············································································································

:: 8 For (their) iniquity, -- In anger 9

:: My flight -- PUT :: are they not

(is) liberation the peoples you have counted, my tears in your book?

for them? BRING DOWN,

O GOD.

yourself, in your wineskin;

············································································································

+ 10 Then + on THE DAY

will turn when I call;

+ this + that GOD

I know (is) for me.

my enemies

back,

The extreme members are questions (8a & 9c), while the second and penultimate members contain imperatives (8b & 9b).7 THE LAST PART (13–14) + 13 Upon me, + I will render

O GOD, thanksgiving

(will be) your vows, to you,

+ 14 because you have delivered MY SOUL + truly my feet

FROM DEATH, from stumbling,

+ that I may walk + in the light

of GOD

IN THE FACE

OF LIFE.

The three segments form a single complex phrase. In the main clause, the psalmist promises “God” to accomplish what he had promised him, “vows” and “thanksgiving” (13); the causative clause that follows aims at the past (14ab), while the final clause that governs the causative clause envisages the future (14cd). In the last two segments, “my feet” and “I may walk” belong to the same semantic field, “death” is opposed to “life”.

7

There is a paronomasia in 9 between “my flight” (nōdî) and “your wineskin” (nō’dekā).

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

1

For the music director, in a low voice,

on “The Silent Dove when the Philistines

of Those Far off”, sized him

of David; in Gat.

– 2 Have mercy on me, – EVERY DAY

O GOD, he fights me

because tramples on me and oppresses me;

A MAN,

– 3 trample on me – because many

those who spy on me are fighting me

EVERY DAY,

4

– THE DAY – myself

up there.

WHEN I FEAR,

in you

I TRUST.

: 5 In GOD

I praise

HIS WORD;

. in GOD . what can do

I TRUST, A FLESH

I FEAR NOT,

to me?

– 6 EVERY DAY – are against me

MY WORDS all their thoughts

they distort, for evil;

– 7 they stir up, – themselves – as if

they hide, my steps they hoped

they watch,

is liberation the peoples

for them? bring down,

you have counted, my tears in your book?

yourself, in your wineskin;

FOR MY SOUL. ···············································································································

:: 8 For their iniquity, :: In anger 9

:: My flight :: put :: is it not

O GOD.

···············································································································

+ 10 Then + on THE DAY

will turn when I call;

+ this + that GOD

I know is for me.

my enemies

: 11 In GOD : in YHWH

I praise I praise

THE WORD, THE WORD;

. 12 in GOD . what can do

I TRUST, AN ADAM

I FEAR NOT,

O GOD, thanksgiving

will be your vows, to you,

+ 13 Upon me, + I will render

to me?

+ 14 for you have delivered MY SOUL + truly my feet

from death, from stumbling,

+ that I may walk + in the light

of GOD

in the face of life.

back,

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THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM The two short parts are quite similar (5 & 11–12) and they articulate the three main parts of the psalm, like the hinges of a triptych. The first one of the two begins with a unimember (5a), the second one with a bimember (11); “his word” of 5a becomes “the word” in 11a and 11b. The second segments differ only by one word: “a flesh” (5c) and “an adam” (12b), which are synonymous and correspond to “a man” (’ĕnôš, 2a). The two focal points of the ellipsis end with a question (5c & 12b), and similarly, the central piece of the central part is framed by two questions (8a & 9c). The first two parts are linked by the median terms, “I fear” and “I fear not” (4a & 5b), and “I trust” (4b & 5b); the second part and third part by the repetition of “word/s” (5a & 6a). The penultimate part is linked to the preceding one by two occurrences of “God” (10d & 11a), and similarly for the last two parts (12a & 13a). The name “Yhwh” appears only once in the psalm in parallel to “God” (11a & 11b). The same play on words, “every day” and “the day”, is found in the first part (2b, 3a & 4a) and in the central part (6a & 10b). The first piece of the central part (6–7) has in common with the first part the description of the psalmist’s persecution; the last piece (10), on the other hand, speaks of the defeat of the enemies for which the psalmist will give thanks to God (13–14). The initial imperative, “Have mercy on me” (2a), foretells the two central imperatives (8b & 9b).8 Terms from the semantic field of walking are found in the extreme parts and in the central part: “tramples on me” and “trample on me” (2a & 3a), “my steps” (7b), “my feet” and “I may walk” (14bc).

CONTEXT DAVID AMONG THE PHILISTINES The title of the psalm refers to the account in 1 Sam 21:11–16. David flees to Achish, king of Gath, but becomes afraid and feigns madness: the verbs of the same root hll occur three times in Ps 56:5a, 11ab in the sense of “to praise”, and also in 1 Sam 21:14 in the sense of “to act foolishly”. The two texts also have in common the word “fear” (Ps 56:4, 5, 12; 1 Sam 21:2) and flight (Ps 56:9a; 1 Sam 21:11).9

8 According to the third law of Lund, a centre and extremities often correspond to each other. See Traité, 98 = Treatise, 42. 9 See, e.g., Ravasi, II, 136–137; Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 62–63.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

INTERPRETATION “EVERY DAY” The psalmist insists three times that the persecution he is subjected to is relentless and never-ending: it comes back “every day” (Ps 56:2b, 3a, 6), without ceasing, all the time. They fight him, they trample on him, they spy on him (56:2–3); his enemies distort his words, they think only of hurting him, they watch his steps secretly (56:6–7); in short, they want to bring him down, they want his “death” (56:14). “THE DAY” The unending days of persecution are firmly contrasted by “the day” of “abandonment to divine providence”, when the psalmist tells his Lord that he trusts in him (56:4). Trust in God comes to override fear (56:4a). After making this confession to God (56:4b), he will repeat it twice to all who hear and see him, not only to those who now seek his life, but also to those who will share his prayer in the future: “In God I trust, I fear not” (56:5, 12). MERE FLESH BEING What are these people who are fighting against him? They are “men” (56:2), “flesh” beings (56:5), feeble ones, children of “adam”, “humans” drawn from the humus of the soil and who will surely return to it one day (Gen 3:19). The psalmist cannot fear mortals like himself. The only one who deserves to be feared, to be respected, is the one who can “have mercy” (Ps 56:2) on the one who calls upon him (56:8–9), the only one whose “word” can deliver from death (56:14). “I PRAISE HIS WORD” (56:5) The two focal points of the ellipsis (56:5, 11–12), the verses that articulate the whole psalm, insist three times on the “word”. The reason why the psalmist trusts in the Lord, so much so that he would be wrong to fear the flesh beings who are after his life, is that he takes God at his word. And even before he is saved, he praises this word in which he puts all his trust. God has given his word; he cannot take it back. For the psalmist, everything rests on the word of God, his faith and his life. Like Abraham, who believed God’s word and set out on his journey, trusting in the promise made to him (Gen 12:1–4). WALKING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD Surely man was not created to be trampled on by others, to be stepped on, to be treated like a pest, like a serpent or a scorpion that is crushed underfoot: “You

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will tread on the lion and the viper, you will trample on the tiger and the dragon” (Ps 91:13). He is not created to be crushed and die buried in the darkness, but to stand upright and walk “in the light of life” (Ps 56:14). “You have been already told, O man, what is good, what does the Lord require of you: only this, to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic 6:8).

2. PSALM 57 TEXT 1 For

the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when he fled from Saul into the cave. 2 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, because in you my soul takes refuge, and in the shadow of your wings I take refuge until danger passes. 3 I call to God Most High, to God who has done all things for me; 4 let him send from heavens and let him save me, let him mock him who tramples on me, let God send his faithfulness and his loyalty. 5 My soul (is) in the midst of lions, I must sleep (with) the flaming, the sons of Adam; their teeth, a spear and arrows, and their tongue, a sharp sword. 6 Rise up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory! 7 They set a net for my steps, my soul was bowed down; they dug a trap before me, they have fallen into it. 8 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing and I will sing psalms. 9 Awake, my glory; awake, harp and cithara, let me awake the dawn. 10 I will praise you among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing psalms to you in the countries. 11 Yes, your faithfulness (is) great to the heavens and your loyalty to the clouds. 12 Rise up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory! V. 4: “LET HIM MOCK”

The verb is in the perfect tense, but it has the meaning of jussive.1 V. 5AB: “MY SOUL (IS) IN THE MIDST OF LIONS, I MUST SLEEP (WITH) THE FLAMING, THE SONS OF ADAM”

The first half of the verse is particularly problematic and is divided in many ways; we will follow the Masoretic division as closely as possible. “I must sleep” is intended to render the cohortative.2 The participle lōhăṭîm means “flaming”, “kindling” (Gen 3:24); many understand it as “devouring”, which may seem more appropriate in the context, especially considering “their teeth” and “their tongue” of 5cd.3 V. 9: “AWAKE, MY GLORY”

Many read “my liver” (kebēdî) in place of “my glory” (kebôdî), which would correspond better to “my heart” of the symmetrical segment (8ab). The correction is tempting, but not necessary. The Septuagint follows the Masoretic text.

1

See Hakham, I, 331–332; Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 67–68. See especially Ravasi, II, 157–158 (even if, in his translation, he puts the verb in the first member: “My being lies in the midst of the lions, inflamed with rage against men”). 3 See, e.g., deClaissé-Walford – al., 487. 2

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into two parallel parts (2–6 & 7–12). Each part comprises three subparts, the central subparts are formed of two pieces. THE FIRST PART (2–6) + 2 Have mercy on me, O GOD, + because in you, takes refuge, + and in the shadow – until passes

of your wings danger.

have mercy on me, MY SOUL,

I take refuge

: 3 I call : to GOD

to GOD MOST HIGH, who has done all things for me:

:: 4 let him send :: let him mock :: let (him) send,

from heavens and let him save me, him who tramples on me, GOD, his faithfulness and his loyalty.

···························································································································· – 5 MY SOUL (is) in the midst of lions,

– I must sleep

(with) the flaming,

the sons

-- their teeth, -- and their tongue,

a spear a sword

and arrows, sharp.

above the heavens, the earth,

O GOD! your glory!

+ 6 Rise up + above all

of Adam;

The extreme subparts (2 & 6) are the only ones containing imperatives, addressed to “God” (2a[2x] & 6a). In the first subpart the second segment (2cd) develops the second member of the first segment (2b); “to take refuge” is repeated in median terms (2b & 2c). The order of the two pieces of the central subpart (3–4 & 5) may be surprising: one would rather expect the description of the danger to precede the supplication for deliverance from it. In the first piece the first segment (3) introduces the three petitions that follow (4), where “let him send” marks the beginning of the extreme members of the trimember. The second piece (5) presents the enemies using the classic metaphor of “lions”; the military vocabulary of the second segment clarifies the meaning of the metaphor. In the first two subparts, the images of the bird under whose wings the “soul” takes refuge (2c) contrasts with that of the “lions” who devour the “soul” of the psalmist (5). The last two subparts are linked by the repetition of “heavens” (4a & 6a). Furthermore, it is possible to state that “your glory” at the end of the last subpart (6b) corresponds to “his faithfulness and his loyalty” at the end of the central piece of the second subpart (4c); all three are the attributes of God.

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THE SECOND PART (7–12) + 7 A net - was bowed down

they set my soul;

for my steps,

+ they dug - they have fallen

before me into it.

a trap,

my heart, my heart:

O GOD,

.. 8 Is ready .. is ready

= I will sing AND I WILL SING PSALMS! ······································································································ .. 9 Awake, .. awake, .. let me awake = 10 I will praise you = I WILL SING PSALMS TO YOU

my GLORY; harp the dawn!

and cithara,

among the peoples, in the countries.

O LORD,

:: 11 Yes, (is) great -

to the heavens and to the clouds,

your faithfulness your loyalty.

:: 12 Rise up - above all

above the heavens, the earth,

O GOD, your GLORY!

The two bimembers of the first subpart put “a net” and “a trap” in parallel (7a & 7c); the second members that are complementary contrast the situation of the psalmist (7b) and what happened to his enemies (7d). Both pieces of the second subpart are related in parallel (8 & 9–10). Their first segments (8ab & 9) are marked by the repetition of the initial words, “is ready” and “awake”; there is a shift from the inner attitude of the “heart” to the exteriorisation of the musical instruments in the early morning. The second segment of the second piece (10) amplifies the symmetrical unimember (8c): “I will sing psalms” is repeated and “I will praise you” corresponds to “I will sing”. “Among the peoples” and “in the countries” indicate how far the praise of the Lord will reach. The last subpart (11–12) puts in parallel the praise in the third person (11) and the request (12). “The heavens” are repeated in the same position. While the first segment (11) speaks only of “the heavens” and its synonym “the clouds”, the second segment (12) adds “the earth”; in final terms, “your glory” corresponds to “your faithfulness” and “your loyalty”. It should be noted the closing expansion in 12b. The extreme subsections set the “bowed” soul and the “trap”, prepared for the psalmist into which his enemies have “fallen” (7), in opposition to the “heavens” and the “clouds” (11–12). “Glory” is repeated in the last two subparts (9a & 12b). “All the earth” at the end of the last subpart (12b) recalls “the peoples” and “the countries” at the end of the second subpart (10).

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, when he fled from before 2

of David, Saul

in a low voice; into the cave.

Have mercy on me, because in you

O GOD, takes refuge

and in the shadow until passes

of your wings danger.

I take refuge,

3

I call to GOD

to GOD who has done all things

Most High, for me;

4

let him sent let him mock let (him) sent,

FROM HEAVENS him who tramples on me, GOD,

and let him save me,

I must sleep

with the flaming,

the sons

their teeth, and their tongue,

a spear a sword

and arrows, sharpen.

have mercy on me, MY SOUL,

his FAITHFULNESS and his LOYALTY. ··························································································································· 5 MY SOUL is in the midst of lions,

6

RISE UP ABOVE ALL 7

of Adam;

ABOVE THE HEAVENS, O GOD, THE EARTH, YOUR GLORY!

A net was bowed down

MY SOUL;

they set

for my steps,

they dug they have fallen

before me into it.

a trap,

8

Is ready is ready

my heart, my heart:

O GOD,

I will sing

and I will sing psalms.

··························································································································· 9

Awaken, awaken, let me awake

my glory; harp the dawn.

10

I will praise you among the peoples, I will sing psalms to you in the countries. 11

Yes, is great to THE HEAVENS and to the clouds, your LOYALTY.

12

RISE UP ABOVE ALL

and cithara, O LORD, your FAITHFULNESS,

ABOVE THE HEAVENS, O GOD, THE EARTH, YOUR GLORY!

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The first subparts are marked by the repetition of “my soul” (2b & 7b); the “net” of the bird-catcher and the “trap” (7a & 7c) as threats of death are contrasted with the “wings” of the bird under which its young are sheltered (2bc). The second subparts are more developed than the other ones and each consists of two pieces. While the first of these is a supplication (3–5), the second one is a thanksgiving (8–10). At the beginning of the second pieces “my glory” (9a) recalls “my soul” (5a); the musical instruments of praise, “harp and cithara” (9b), contrast with the weapons of war, “spear”, “arrows” and “sword” (5cd). The final segments of each part are identical (6 & 12). The word “heaven” is found not only in the final segments (6a & 12a), but also in 4a and 11a. The pair “faithfulness” and “loyalty” is found in 4c and 11ab.4

CONTEXT PS 108 The first verses of Ps 108 (2–6) repeat the final verses of Ps 57 (8–12). Ps 57 8

Ps 108 2

+ My heart is ready, O God, + my heart is ready, + I will sing and I will sing psalms.

+ My heart is ready, O God, + I will sing and I will sing psalms,

- 9 Awake, my glory, - awake, harp and cithara, - let me awake the dawn.

+ come, my glory. - 3 Awake, harp and cithara, - let me awake the dawn.

: 10 I will praise you among the peoples, O Lord, : I will sing psalms to you in the countries.

: 4 I will praise you among the peoples, Yhwh : and I will sing psalms to you in the countries.

— 11 Yes, your faithfulness is great to the heavens and your loyalty to the clouds.

— 5 Yes, your faithfulness is great above the heavens — and your loyalty to the clouds.

= 12 Rise up above the heavens, O God, = above all the earth, your glory.

= 6 Rise up above the heavens, O God, = and above all the earth, your glory.

The differences are minimal, except the beginning: while Ps 57 begins with two trimembers (57:8, 9), Ps 108 starts with a trimember (2abc) formed of the extreme members of the first trimember of Ps 57:8 followed by the modified first member of the subsequent verse (57:9a); after that, the last two members of 57:9 are taken up exactly by Ps 108, which makes them a bimember (108:3). For the rest, Ps 108 adds the coordinating conjunction “and” at the beginning of the second members of verses 4 and 6 and changes one preposition in verse 5a. 4

Concerning the pair “faithfulness and loyalty” see Le Psautier. Premier livre, 321 = The Psalter: Book One, 321.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

THE CHICKEN AND THE LION Both images are found together in Ps 17:8, 12. They are not the wings of the cherubim,5 but simply the image of a bird protecting its young with its wings.6 “WHEN HE FLED FROM SAUL INTO THE CAVE” (PS 57:1) The title not only attributes the psalm to David, but also specifies the circumstance of its utterance. The episode would be the one reported in 1 Sam 24:1–23: David and his people take refuge in a cave from the attacks of Saul who is pursuing them to capture them. Saul enters the cave to “cover his feet”, thus putting himself at the mercy of David, who refuses to lay a hand on the Lord’s Anointed. He simply cuts off a piece of his cloak to prove to his persecutor that he has spared him. A number of literary connections between the two texts have been noted.7

INTERPRETATION NET AND TRAP At the beginning of the second part, the enemy is presented in the guise of the hunter who seeks to capture his prey: the bird in his net, the mammal in his trap (Ps 57:7). Even worse, at the end of the first part the enemy is portrayed as a ferocious beast, like the lion whose fangs and tongue devour people (57:5ab). “Spear”, “arrows” and “sword” (57:5cd), all these military weapons express clearly the peril of death the psalmist faces from those who want to “trample” on him (57:4b). FAITHFULNESS AND LOYALTY Curiously, the psalm begins with another image, the one that sets the tone for the whole. The figure of a bird under whose wings its young find refuge (57:2) is in direct opposition to that of the bird-catcher who seeks to capture and devour them (57:7). The wings of God’s mercy are called “faithfulness” and “loyalty” (57:4c, 11ab). The daily spectacle of chicks sheltering under their mother’s wings ready to face the buzzard or the fox is a wonderful symbol of God’s love for his faithful. Beyond the images, “faithfulness and loyalty” are the classical terms of the covenant foreseeing that the suzerain must protect his vassal from the attacks of his or her enemies.

5

Kraus, I, 530. Hakham, I, 331; Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 70–72. 7 See, e.g., Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 70; Vesco, 514–515. 6

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ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN Each part of the psalm ends with the same invocation: the psalmist concludes both parts of his prayer with the wish of exalting God and glorifying him both on the earth and in the heavens. And he states it precisely “above all the earth” (57:12b), as if he did not want us to understand that it is only about “the land” of Israel! The title says that the one who is praying is David, and surely he is a son of the chosen people who seeks refuge in his God against his enemies. There is no way of deciding whether these are opponents from within or foreign adversaries. Whatever the case might be, one thing is certain: the poet’s praise will be proclaimed “among the peoples”, “in the countries” (57:10). The whole earth as well as the heavens are thus invited to witness the wonders of the God of Israel who saves those who take refuge in him. THE GLORY OF GOD... Curiously, after mentioning his “soul” three times in strategic places (57:2b, 5a, 7b), the one who is praying changes and ends with referring to his own “glory” (57:9a). And we can understand why many wanted to align this last term with the preceding ones by correcting “my glory” to “my liver” which would better correspond to “my soul”, literally, “my throat”. Such change does not only create a stylistic element of surprise, but a real effect of meaning. Aligned with the two references to God’s “glory” (57:6, 12), the “glory” of the saved person is what he shares with his Lord.

3. MY ENEMIES TRAMPLE ON ME, I TAKE REFUGE UNDER THE WINGS OF GOD (PS 56–57) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 56 1 For the music director, on “The Silent Dove of Those Far off”, of David; in a low voice, when the Philistines seized him in Gat. 2 HAVE

MERCY ON ME, O GOD, because a man TRAMPLES ON ME, every day he fights me and oppresses me; 3 those who spy on me TRAMPLE ON ME every day, because many are fighting me up there. 4 The day when I fear, myself I trust in you.

God I PRAISE his word; in God I trust, I fear not, what can flesh do to me? 5 In

6 Every

day they distort my words, all their thoughts are against me for evil; 7 they stir up, they hide, themselves, they watch my steps, as if they hoped for my soul. 8 For their iniquity, is liberation for them? In anger bring down THE PEOPLES, O God! 9 You yourself have counted my flight, put my tears in your wineskin; is it not in your book? 10 Then my enemies will turn back, on the day when I CALL; this I know that God is for me.

11 In 12 in

God I PRAISE the word, in Yhwh I PRAISE the word; God I trust, I fear not, what can an ADAM do to me?

me, O God, will be your vows, vows I will render thanksgiving to you: you have delivered my soul from death, truly my feet from stumbling, that I may walk in the face of God in the light of life.” 13 Upon

14 “YES,

Ps 57 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice;

when he fled from Saul into the cave. 2 HAVE

MERCY ON ME, O GOD, have mercy on me, because in you my soul TAKES REFUGE, and in the shadow of your wings I TAKE REFUGE until danger passes. 3 I CALL to God Most High, to God who has done all things for me; 4 let him send from heavens and let him save me, let him mock him who TRAMPLES ON ME, let God send his faithfulness and his loyalty. 5 My soul is in the midst of lions, I must sleep with the flaming, the sons of ADAM; their teeth, a spear and arrows, and their tongue, a sharp sword. 6 Rise

up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory!

7 They

set a net for my steps, my soul was bowed down; they dug a trap before me, they have fallen into it. 8 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing and I will sing psalms. psalms 9 Awake, my glory; awake, harp and cithara, let me awake the dawn. 10 I WILL PRAISE YOU among THE PEOPLES, O Lord, I will sing psalms to you in the countries: 11 “YES, your faithfulness is great to the heavens and your loyalty to the clouds.” 12 Rise

up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory!

The titles are matching to each other with “For the music director”, “of David”, “in a low voice” and “when...” The two occurrences of “have mercy on me, O God” (56:2; 57:2) play the role of initial terms. The two occurrences of “trample on me” at the beginning of the first psalm (56:2–3) are contrasted by the two syntagmas, “takes refuge” and

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“I take refuge” at the beginning of the second psalm (57:2). In the endings, the psalmist promises thanksgiving and praise (56:13; 57:8–10). “I will praise” at the end of the second psalm (57:10) recalls the three occurrences of the same verb in the focal points of the first psalm (56:5a, 11[2x]). The final phrases (56:14; 57:11) begin with kî, translated as “Yes”. They can be interpreted as words of praise addressed to the Lord and are therefore placed in inverted commas. There is also repetitions of “I call” (56:10; 57:3), “the peoples” (56:8; 57:10), “my soul” (56:7, 14; 57:2, 5, 7), “trample/s on me” (56:2–3; 57:4), and finally of “Adam” (56:12; 57:5). Both psalms are structured by what are often called “refrains”: in the first psalm they are the two focal points of an elliptical construction (56:5, 11–12), in the second psalm in the final terms of the two parallel parts (57:6, 12).

INTERPRETATION FROM SUPPLICATION TO THANKSGIVING The same movement animates both psalms. Complaint and supplication are lengthy (56:2–12; 57:2–7); the psalmist is indeed “trampled” by those who fight against him, like “lions” whose teeth devour like a sword. What he must face is the “net” and “trap” prepared by those who treat him as if he were an element of the game, as a prey to be feasted upon. The threat is that of “death”. When his enemies “turn back” (56:10), when they fall into the trap they were digging (57:7), then the psalmist will be able to fulfil his vows to the Lord and give thanks to him (56:13–14), he will “sing” and play music, he will “praise” his God for his “faithfulness” and his “loyalty” (57:8–11). THE FATE OF THE PEOPLE We must wait until the centre of the first psalm to learn that those who trample on the psalmist are not mere individuals, but “the peoples” before whom he must flee (57:8–9). And we understand that the persecuted one is, as the titles state it, nobody else than “David”. In the first psalm, the king of Israel begs his Lord to bring down the peoples (56:8). But when they retreat (56:10), when they fall into the pit that they prepared for their victim (57:7), then God’s chosen king can sing and make music for his deliverer (57:8). However, he will not only do this before his own people, the people he had to defend, but also “among the peoples”, “in the countries” (57:10). From the punishment we therefore pass to a universal testimony. And that is why the sequence ends with the acclamation: “Rise up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory!” (57:12).

II. BREAK THE TEETH OF THE SERPENT AND THE LIONS The Second Sequence: Ps 58 The second sequence comprises only one psalm. TEXT 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice. 2 Is it true, you gods, that you speak righteousness, that in uprightness you judge the sons of Adam? 3 No, in the heart you do perversities on earth, the violence of your hands you weigh. 4 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, speaking lies; 5 their venom like a semblance of the venom of a serpent, like the deaf viper plugging its ear, 6 which does not hear the voice of enchanters, of charmer in skilful charms. 7 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, crush the fangs of lions, O Yhwh. 8 Let them flow away like the waters that go away from them, he adjusts his arrows (let them be) like faded; 9 (let them be) like a slug melting away (as) it goes away, a stillborn of the woman, let them not see the sun; 10 before that your pots smell of thorns, like alive like burnt, let them be swept away! 11 The righteous will rejoice, because he will see vengeance, he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 12 and adam will say: “Yes, fruit for the righteous, yes, there is a God judging on earth”.

“Ps 58 is one of the most embarrassing pages in the Psalter”.1 For two reasons: “If there is a psalm in the Psalter with violent accents, it is Ps 58. [...] The text of this psalm contains a number of insurmountable difficulties of understanding”.2 V. 2: “YOU GODS”

The Masoretic text has ’ēlem, “silence”, and the TOB translates as (while pointing out that it is “very uncertain translation”): “It is true! When you speak, righteousness is silent”. The Septuagint has ara, “so, then”: “Is it then truly that you speak righteousness?”. By changing a vowel, most moderns read ’ēlîm, plural of ’ēl, “god”, with the understanding provided to this term by Ps 82:1, 6: the members of the heavenly court as well as the earthly judges are called “gods”.3 It is also possible to interpret it as the plural of ’ēl, “the powerful”, or even “the rams”: these possibilities are not exclusive.4

1

Ravasi, II, 167. A. WÉNIN, Psaumes censurés. Quand la prière a des accents violents, 24; see also “Violence et prière: le psaume 58”. I draw heavily on his comments. 3 See Le Psautier. Troisième livre, 125–129. 4 See, e.g., Ravasi, II, 167–168 (who translates it as “the powerful”); A. WÉNIN, Psaumes censurés, 26–27 (who translates it as “the powerful/gods”). 2

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

V. 8B: “HE ADJUSTS HIS ARROWS (LET THEM BE) LIKE FADED”

The translation of this awkward phrase is very literal, and its meaning is uncertain. The subject of “he adjusts” is not specified; the parallelism of the two members may suggest that it is the same as the previous member, although it is in the singular. V. 10: “BEFORE THAT YOUR POTS SMELL...”

Many give up translating this verse, since it is so enigmatic; we follow the Hebrew text as closely as possible. The composition of the part of verses 8–10 could shed some light on verse 8b as well as on verse 10.

COMPOSITION Each of the two extreme parts (2–3 & 11–12) has two bimembers in which there are repeated, the divine name (2a & 12b), “righteousness” and “righteous” (2a, 11a & 12a), “on earth” (3a & 12b), “to speak” and “to say” (2a & 12a), in addition the pair “hands” and “feet” (3b & 11b). Both parts are opposing each other, since the first part deals with the unjust judges called “gods”, and the other part with the judge, “God” of all the “earth”, who restores righteousness. The second and penultimate parts (4–6 & 8–10), each of them has three bimembers. The second part describes the attitude of “the wicked”: their mouths have always spoken “lies” (4) and conceal “the venom of a serpent” (5a), of “the viper plugging its ear” (5b) so as not to hear the one who could master it (6). This part is of the ABB type, with the last two segments, which form a single phrase, focusing on the serpent (5–6). The symmetrical part (8–10) is a wish list calling for the destruction of the same wicked people. The first member of the first segment (8a) corresponds to the second segment (9): the same futility is expressed there with similar images, supported by two verbs of the same root, “like the waters that go away”, “like a slug [...] as it goes away”. In addition to these two images, there is the image of a “stillborn” which, like the waters and a slug, also goes away. As for the second member of the first segment (8b), it seems to announce the last segment (10). Indeed, “like burnt” in 10b corresponds to “(let them be) like faded” in 8b. It should be pointed out the same interplay between the singular (“he adjusts”, “alive”, “burnt”) and the plural (“[let them be] like faded”, “let them be swept away”). The images in 8a and 9 and those in 8b and 10 seem complementary, the first ones on the side of water, the other ones on the side of fire. The five occurrences of “like” that run through the penultimate part (8–10) correspond to its two occurrences that mark the central segment of the second part (5ab). The central part (7), which consists of only one segment, is the only request addressed directly to the Lord. This segment is composed in a mirrored manner:

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209

+ O GOD, : break – their teeth in their mouth, – the fangs

of lions

: crush, + O YHWH

The second member identifies the “teeth” of those who attack the psalmist with the “fangs” of the lions. 1

For the music director,

– 2 Is it true, – that in uprightness 3

– No, in the heart – the violence

“Do Not Destroy”, of David,

in a low voice.

YOU GODS, YOU JUDGE

that RIGHTEOUSNESS the sons

YOU SPEAK,

perversities of your hands

you do you weight.

ON EARTH,

of Adam?

: 4 Have been estranged the WICKED : they have gone astray from the belly,

SPEAKING

lies;

- 5 their venom - like the viper,

like a semblance a deaf one,

of the venom plugging

of a serpent, its ear,

- 6 which - of charmer

does not hear in charms

the voice skilful.

of enchanters,

break of LIONS

their teeth crash,

in their mouth, O YHWH.

: 8 Let them flow away like the waters - he adjusts his arrows,

that go away (le them be) like

from them, faded;

: 9 (let them be) like : a stillborn

a slug of the woman,

melting away LET THEM NOT SEE

as it goes away, the sun;

- 10 before that - like alive,

smell like burnt,

your posts of thorns, let them be swept away!

+ 11 Will rejoice + his feet

THE RIGHTEOUS,

BECAUSE HE WILL SEE

he will wash

in the blood

+ 12 and WILL SAY + yes, there is

adam: a GOD

JUDGING

7

O GOD, the fangs

from the womb,

“Yes, fruit

vengeance, of the WICKED; for THE RIGHTEOUS, ON EARTH”.

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CONTEXT PS 82 A psalm of Asaph. God stands in the council of El, 1

“How long will you judge in perversity Judge the weak and the orphan, 4 liberate the weak and the poor, 2 3

he judges in the midst of the GODS. and uphold the face of the wicked? give justice to the afflicted and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

They do not know nor understand, they walk in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 5

6 7 8

Myself, I said: you are GODS certainly you will die like adam

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,

and all of you are sons of the Most High; and you will fall like any of the princes.” because you have inherited all the nations.

There is a similar opposition at the extremities between the “gods” who are the powerful ones in charge of justice (82:1b) and who pervert it (82:2) and the “God” who rises up as the judge of the earth (82:8). In verse 6 these judges are called “gods”. PS 94 The Lord is invoked right from the beginning as “God of vengeance” (94:1) against the wicked judges who, presiding over “a destructive court”, “establish disorder as a law” (94:20).5 PS 9–10 There is another psalm where textual problems pile up, in a section where the psalmist complains about his persecutors so bitterly that he even loses his alphabetic pattern. He only regains it when he turns to God imploring his help.6 Instead of attributing these textual problems to a defective transmission, it seems on the contrary that it is the poet who translates in this way the profound confusion of the psalmist, whose expressions are so embarrassed that they end up becoming practically incomprehensible.7 This might also be the case in the penultimate part of Ps 58.

5

See A. WÉNIN, “Violence et prière”, 17–18; ID., Psaumes censurés, 53–58. See Le Psautier. Premier livre, 124 = The Psalter: Book One, 124. 7 See Le Psautier. Premier livre, 132 = The Psalter: Book One, 132. 6

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INTERPRETATION UNACCEPTABLE VIOLENCE At the heart of his prayer, the psalmist asks God to break the teeth of the wicked in their mouths (Ps 58:7). It is not difficult to understand why people today hesitate to make such violent words their own, especially in prayer. And when, at the end, the psalmist rejoices at the prospect of seeing “vengeance” and of “washing his feet in the blood of the wicked” (58:11), that becomes unacceptable. That is why the liturgical reform that followed the Second Vatican Council simply removed this psalm from the Divine Office. Another act of violence! But can we fight violence with violence? ONE VIOLENCE CAN HIDE ANOTHER INTOLERABLE VIOLENCE Why so much violence on the part of the psalmist, if not because he is a victim of an even greater violence and especially against which he can do nothing? Indeed, the judges who, in the name of God, are charged with exercising justice, flout it with impunity. In their “hearts” they devise “perversities” and their “hands” implement “violence” (58:3). The violence of the victim should not make us forget that of the executioner. Especially as the victim takes great care to hide his or her violence. The viper is only dangerous because it conceals itself and bites by surprise. PERVERSION OF THE WORD Among the powerful, who are responsible for administering justice, everything is perverted: the heart, where plans take shape and decisions are made, and the hands, which carry out the unjust sentences of the judgements pronounced by their mouths (58:2–3). It is from the womb, from the beginning, that “lying” has taken root in them (58:4), like a congenital disease from which it is impossible to be cured. It is not surprising that they close their “ears” to the word that could free them from the lie, that they refuse to hear the voice of the one who alone would be “able” to charm their mortifying animality (58:6). We can then understand why, according to the Masoretic text, the second word of the psalm is “silence” (58:2), which some translate as: “When you speak, justice is silent”. RELYING ON GOD The “vengeance” that the psalmist will “rejoice” in (58:11a) is not the one he might dream of exercising on his tormentor. He entrusts himself totally to God. The victim has no choice but to appeal to God, the only one who has the power to master violence, to break its weapons. That is why, at the heart of the psalm, the victim asks God to “break” the teeth of those who behave like lions (58:7). While “their mouths” should pronounce the righteous judgment that sets the poor free,

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they bite, lacerate, tear and devour. The punishment implored is justly proportionate to the crime: the viper whose venom kills (58:5) will become a slug that melts away on its bed of slime (58:9a), those who are deviant and liars “from the belly” (58:4) will be like a stillborn that does not see the sun (58:9b). Only those who have never wished death to their enemy could exclude this psalm from their prayer. DELIRIUM OF PAIN As soon as the psalmist has begged his “God”, “Yhwh”, the God of Israel, to disarm his persecutors by smashing the fangs that are tearing him apart, he abandons himself to his pain as he does it in the delirium of a daydream. The consciously organised discourse (58:4–6) gives way to an outburst (58:8–10) in which the coherence of images mingles with words that go beyond purely rational logic. And it is not surprising that the reader cannot understand such words better than the one who utters them. Let the reader simply accompany him in his pain by taking on board his confusing words. “TRULY, THERE IS A FRUIT FOR THE INNOCENT” (58:12A) “The sons of Adam” (58:2) are poisoned with lies and the venom of the serpent. Having passed through the trial, thanks to the intervention of God who judges the earth, it is not surprising that the righteous, the condemned innocent but ultimately justified, speaks in the conclusion of the story: “And Adam will say, ‘Truly, there is a fruit for the righteous’” (58:12a). Such words, like that of the “serpent”, inevitably recall the first chapters of Genesis. It is not by chance that the powerful, the unjust judges are presented in the guise of the serpent who distils their “lie”, the “venom” of the viper. Like him, they transform the Law, which is a word of life, into a weapon of death. The Lord is not content to curse the serpent, he promises that the woman’s offspring will crush its head (Gen 3:13). The fruit of perdition is answered by the fruit of redemption. “TRULY, YHWH IS IN THIS PLACE, AND I DID NOT KNOW IT” (GEN 28:16) Jacob pronounces these words after a dream in which the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am with you, I will keep you wherever you go” (Gen 28:15). Ps 58 ends with a similar statement: “Truly, there is a God who judges on earth” (58:12b). God, the God of Israel, is not absent at the time of violence. He manifests himself in the middle of the night to Jacob, who flees from the violence of his brother who promised to kill him (Gen 27:41–45). To reject violence is not a solution, to dismiss a prayer that suffers from it to the point of delirium, would be to deprive oneself of the presence of God.

III. MY ENEMIES GROWL, GOD SPEAKS FROM HIS SANCTUARY The Third Sequence: Ps 59–60 1. PSALM 59 TEXT 1 For

the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when Saul sent (men) to guard the house in order to kill him. 2 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God, from my aggressors you will protect me; 3 deliver me from the workers of iniquity and from men of bloods save me. 4 Because, behold, they lie in ambush for my soul, the powerful stir up against me, without my transgression and without my sin, O Yhwh. 5 Without (my) fault, they run and make ready; awake to meet me and see. 6 And as for you, O Yhwh God of hosts, God of Israel, rise up to visit all these nations, do not have mercy on all the traitors of iniquity! 7 They come back in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city. 8 Behold, they foam in their mouth, swords in their lips: “For who hears?” 9 And as for you, O Yhwh, you laugh at them, you mock all these nations; 10 O my strength, I watch for you because God (is) my citadel; 11 the God of my faithfulness goes before me, God makes me see those who spy on me. 12 Do not slay them, lest my people forget, shake them by your power, bring them down, O Lord, our shield! 13 The sin of their mouth, the word of their lips: and let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount. 14 Finish (them) in fury, finish and let them be no more, and let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth! 15 And they come back in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city. 16 As for them, they wander for food, and, if they are not satiated, they spend the night. 17 And as for me, I will sing of your strength, and I shout for joy in the morning (for) your faithfulness. Yes, you have been a citadel for me and a refuge in the day of my oppression. 18 O my strength, I will sing psalms for you; yes, God (is) my citadel, the God of my faithfulness. V. 10: “MY STRENGTH”

The Masoretic text has “his strength”. We follow the Septuagint which uses the pronoun of the first person. V. 16: “THEY WANDER”

The qeré is in hiphil as in 12b. The ketib in qal is preferable, since the dogs do not shake anything, but they are searching for food.

COMPOSITION After the title (1), the psalm is organised into two long parallel parts (2–11 & 12–18).

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

THE FIRST PART (2–11) : 2 Deliver me : from my aggressors

from my enemies, you will protect me,

O MY GOD,

: 3 deliver me : and from men

from the workers bloods

of INIQUITY, save me.

·······················································································································

– 4 Because, BEHOLD, they lie in ambush – stir up against me – without my transgression and without my sin,

for my soul, the powerful, O YHWH.

– 5 Without (my) fault, : awake

they run to meet me

and make ready;

to visit on all the traitors

ALL THESE NATIONS,

: :

AND SEE. ······················································································································· 6 AND AS FOR YOU, O YHWH GOD of hosts, GOD of Israel,

: rise up : do not have mercy 7

They come back they growl and they prowl – 8 BEHOLD, – swords – “For who

of INIQUITY!

in the evening, like a dog, through the city. they foam in their lips: hears?”

in their mouth,

······················································································································· O YHWH, you laugh at them, ALL THE NATIONS;

: 9 AND AS FOR YOU : you mock

: 10 O my strength, : because GOD

for you (is) my citadel;

I watch.

: 11 the GOD : GOD

of my faithfulness MAKES ME SEE

goes before me, those who spy on me.

Two long subparts (2–6 & 8–11) frame a subpart the size of one trimember segment (7). Both segments of the first piece (2–3) of the first subpart have a similar composition. The first one is perfectly concentric, around the vocative “O my God”: + 2 DELIVER ME – from my enemies, O my God, – from my aggressors + PROTECT ME;

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215

The second one is composed in a mirrored manner: + 3 DELIVER ME – from the workers – and from the men

of iniquity, of bloods

+ SAVE ME.

In both cases, the verbs are at the extremities of the segments. The two occurrences of “deliver me” act as initial terms (2a & 3a). In the second piece (4–5) the psalmist denounces the actions of his enemies against him, “without” “transgression” and “without” “sin”, “without fault” on his part. The last member, however, is a request for Yhwh’s help (5b), which recalls the first piece and sets the stage for what follows. Indeed, in the next piece (6), which begins with a bimember where all are vocatives (6ab), the second segment (6cd) echoes the last segment of the first piece, but this time asking God to act against those who are attacking him in an iniquitous manner. It is only at this point that the enemies are identified: they are “all these nations” (6c). “Iniquity” occurs in the last segments of the extreme pieces (3a & 6c). In the last subpart (8–11), the first piece describes the hostile nations, violent (8ab) and disregarding God, they think he does not hear them (8c). The second piece is much more developed (9–11), beginning with Yhwh’s amused reaction to “all these nations”, after which the psalmist praises God, first addressing directly him (10a), then speaking in the third person as if he were turning to others (10b– 11). The extreme subparts are related to each other. Beginning with “behold”, the first piece of the last subpart (8) and the central piece of the first subpart (4–5), describe the aggressive actions of the enemies. The last pieces begin with “and as for you, O Yhwh” (6a & 9a). The last piece of the last subpart (9–11) corresponds to the extreme pieces of the first subpart (2–3 & 6): while at the beginning the psalmist requests God’s help (2–3 & 6), at the end he finds that his prayer has been answered (9–11). “All these/the nations” are found in 6c and 9b; “to see” and “to make see” mark the endings of the pieces 4–5 and 9–11. At the centre of the whole part (7), the enemy is presented “like a dog” who “growls” and “prowls”.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

THE SECOND PART (12–18) + 12 DO NOT SLAY THEM, + SHAKE THEM + our shield,

least (they) forget, by your power, O LORD!

– 13 The sin – and LET THEM BE CAUGHT – and in the curse

of their mouth, in their pride, and in the lie

my people, BRING THEM DOWN,

the word

of their lips:

which they recount.

································································································································· 14 FINISH (THEM) in fury, FINISH AND LET THEM BE NO MORE, and LET THEM KNOW that GOD rules

+ + + in Jacob

to the ends

of the earth!

- 15 And they come back IN THE EVENING, - they growl like a dog, - and they prowl through the city. - 16 As for them, - and if

THEY WANDER they are not satiated,

for food, they spend the night.

= 17 And as for me, = and I shout for joy

I will sing

of your strength,

:: Yes, you have been :: and a refuge

a citadel in the day

for me of my oppression.

= 18 O my strength, :: yes, GOD (is) :: the GOD

for you my citadel, of my faithfulness.

I will sing psalms;

IN THE MORNING (for) your faithfulness. ·································································································································

The first subpart is marked by imperatives (12a, 12b[2x], 14a[2x]) and jussives (13b, 14a, 14b). Both pieces are opposed to each other: the psalmist first requests the Lord not to “slay” his enemies (12a) and then to “finish” them (14a). These two requests are complementary, since the purpose of the first one is to instruct “the people” (12a) and the second one is to “let them know that God is the master” (14b). The first two segments of the last subpart are opposed in what they do (16–17b), “as for them” (16a), and what the psalmist does, “as for me” (17a). He says what he will do after the Lord’s answer to his prayer in the first subpart. The celebration of God’s “strength” (17ab & 18a) is motivated by the fact that he was for him “a citadel” that protected him (17cd & 18bc). The two occurrences of “faithfulness” act as final terms for the two pieces (17b & 18c). At the centre (15) there is a description of the hunting which the enemies carry out “in the evening” “through the city”. The threat of the central piece is situated “in the evening” (15a), the salvation of the last subpart “in the morning” (17b).

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THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when Saul sent men to guard the house in order to kill him. 2 3

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God, from my aggressors YOU WILL PROTECT ME; deliver me from the workers of INIQUITY and from men of bloods save me.

4

Because, behold, they lie in ambush for my soul, the powerful stir up against me, without my transgression and without my sin, O Yhwh. 5 Without my fault, they run and make ready; awake to meet me and see. 6

And as for you, O Yhwh God of hosts, God of Israel, nations, do not have mercy on all the traitors of INIQUITY!

rise up to visit all these

7

They come back in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city. 8

Behold, they foam in THEIR MOUTH, swords in THEIR LIPS: “For who hears?”

9

And as for you, O Yhwh, you laugh at them, you mock all these nations; 10 O MY STRENGTH, I watch for you BECAUSE GOD IS MY CITADEL; 11 THE GOD OF MY FAITHFULNESS goes before me, God makes me see those who spy on me. 12

Do not slay them, lest my people forget, shake them by your power, bring them down, O Lord, our shield! 13 The sin of THEIR MOUTH, the word of THEIR LIPS: and let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount. 14

Finish them in fury, finish and let them be no more, rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth!

and let them know that God

15

And they come back in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city.

16

As for them, they wander for food, and, if they are not satiated, they spend the night. And as for me, I will sing of your strength, and I shout for joy in the morning for your faithfulness. 17

Yes, you have been a citadel for me and a refuge in the day of my oppression. 18 O MY STRENGTH, I will sing psalms for you; BECAUSE GOD IS MY CITADEL, THE GOD OF MY FAITHFULNESS.

The extreme parts are focusing on the two short identical subparts (7 & 15) which act as central terms. The two strings of words “O my strength”, “because God is my citadel”, “the God of my faithfulness” (10–11 & 18) have the function of final terms. The two occurrences of “their mouth” and “their lips”, at the end of the second part (8) and at the beginning of the last part (13), can be considered as playing the role of median terms. “You will protect me” at the beginning of the first part (2b) is of the same root (śgb) as the “citadel” at the end of the extreme parts (10 & 18).

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

CONTEXT DAVID THREATENED WITH DEATH BY SAUL The second part of the psalm most probably refers to the episode reported in 1 Sam 19:1–17 when David escaped from Saul who had kept his house under surveillance. He only escaped through the subterfuge of his wife Mikal.

INTERPRETATION STRAY DOGS, MEN OF BLOOD From the beginning, the psalmist’s “enemies”, his “aggressors”, are described as “the workers of iniquity”, as “men of blood” (Ps 59:2–3). They are placed under the patronage of Saul who seeks to “kill” David without fault on his part (59:1). They are depicted twice as stray dogs who are constantly devouring to satisfy their hunger (59:7, 15). Their “mouths” and “lips”, like the “swords”, want to eat, to draw blood and to feast on it (59:16). “WHOEVER SHEDS THE BLOOD OF MAN...” ...by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen 9:6). Violence will inevitably turn against those who use it. Those who suffer it and cannot fight back, or even defend themselves, have no choice but to call upon the one who has the power to oppose it. That is why he ends up asking the Lord to “finish them” (Ps 59:14). The avenger of blood will thus restore the righteousness violated by “the workers of iniquity” (59:3). Curiously, however, this request does not seem to be for the death of the sinners, but that they may “know that God rules” not only “in Jacob” but “to the end of the earth” (59:14); in short, according to God’s desire, that they may “repent and live” (Ezek 18:32). “GOD IS MY CITADEL” (PS 59:10, 18) Faced with such an outbreak of animal violence, there is only one help: the “strength” of the Lord (59:10, 18). Like a “citadel”, he “protects” from the hungry dogs that are “all the foreign nations” roaming around all night to devour Israel (59:6, 9). The “God of hosts”, the “God of Israel” (59:6) is the one who defends his people from the “sword” of their “aggressors” and delivers them from their fangs. “The God of my faithfulness” (59:11, 18) is the one who, by virtue of the covenant concluded by oath with his people, is obliged to intervene in case of aggression by a third party. Faithfulness is certainly that of the people who are “without transgression and without sin”, “without fault” (59:4–5); it is primarily that of the one who, as in Egypt, took the initiative to save them. The Lord’s “strength” is at the service of “his faithfulness” (59:17).

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219

MOUTH AND LIPS FOR SINGING AND CHANTING PSALMS The dog’s mouth, with its powerful fangs, is made to grab, to tear and to kill, to lick the blood and to devour the flesh of its victim. That is how the “men of bloods” who attack Israel are portrayed. Unlike the mouth of the wild animal, human mouth is made for speech. Human teeth are not made to bite, but to articulate language. The lips allow him or her to call for help, to cry for help, and that is what the psalmist does from the beginning: “Deliver me”, “save me” (59:2– 3), and all the way to the moment when he sings of the strength of his liberator, to the morning when he cries out for his faithfulness, when he sings to the citadel that has protected him by silencing his enemies.

2. PSALM 60 TEXT 1 For

the music director, on “A Lily, the Precept”, in a low voice, of David, for teaching; 2 when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand (men). 3 O God, you have rejected us, you have broken us, you have been angry, come back to us; 4 you have made the earth quake, you have split it open, heal its fractures, because it is shaking. 5 You made your people see hardship, you made us drink a wine of vertigo. 6 Give your fearful a signal to flee from the bow; 7 so that your beloved ones may be liberated, save (with) your right hand and answer me. 8 God has spoken in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem and the Valley of Sukkot I will survey. 9 Mine (is) Gilead, and mine Manasseh, Ephraim, the protection of my head, Judah, my sceptre. 10 Moab, a basin for me to wash in, on Edom I throw my sandal; over me, O Philistia, shout victory!” 11 Who will bring me to a city of fortress, who will lead me to Edom? 12 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and you do not go out, O God, with our armies? 13 Grant us help in oppression, and nothingness (is) the salvation of the adam; 14 with God we will do powerful deeds, and as for him, he will trample down our oppressors. V. 6: “GIVE”

The perfect tense is often translated as a past tense. It is considered here as a precative perfect.1 The mirrored construction of the piece formed of verses 6 and 7 supports this choice. V. 7: “ANSWER ME”

The ketib has the pronoun in the plural, the qeré in the singular. The latter is preferable, because the same interplay between plural and singular is found in the extreme parts of the psalm.

COMPOSITION The title is particularly developed (1–2) and extends over five members: 1

For the music director, on “A Lily, the Precept”, in a low voice, of David, for teaching; 2 when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand (men).

The proper psalm comprises three parts (3–7, 8–10 & 11–14) arranged concentrically.

1

Joüon, 112k; in the same way Ravasi, II, 221; Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 93.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

THE FIRST PART (3–7) – 3 O God, + you have been angry,

you have rejected us, COME BACK

you have broken us, to us;

– 4 you have made quake + HEAL

the earth, its fractures,

you have split it open, because it is shaking.

··············································································································

– 5 You made see – you made us drink

your people a wine

hardship, of vertigo.

··············································································································

+ 6 GIVE = to flee

your fearful from

a signal the bow;

= 7 so that + SAVE

may be liberated (with) your right hand

your beloved ones, and ANSWER me.

In the first piece (3–4), the two imperatives of the second members, “come back” and “heal” (3b & 4b), oppose all the verbs of misfortune whose subject is God: “you have rejected us” [...] “you have split it open” (3a & 4a). The last piece (6–7) has a mirrored structure, with the volitive verbs, “give”, “save”, “answer”, at the extremities (6a, 7b), and the central members both being final clauses (6b & 7a): fleeing from the “bow”, the Lord’s “beloved” will be “liberated”. At the centre (5), a short piece telling only of the misfortune inflicted by God on his people. THE SECOND PART (8–10) + 8 God : “I will exult, : and the Valley

has spoken I will divide of SUKKOT

in his sanctuary: SHECHEM I will survey.

- 9 Mine (is) GILEAD, - EPHRAIM, - JUDAH,

and mine the protection my sceptre.

MANASSEH, of my head,

.. 10 MOAB, .. on EDOM .. over me,

a basin I throw O PHILISTIA,

for me to wash in, my sandal; shout victory!”

In a narrative form, the first member introduces a long oracle pronounced by God in his heavenly “sanctuary” (8a). The map of the territories over which the Lord reigns begins with “Shechem” (8b), the ancient sanctuary at the time of Joshua (Josh 24), and the Valley of “Sukkot” (8c) which lies just opposite Shechem east of the Jordan.

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At the beginning of the second trimember, the region of “Gilead” (9a) remains, still on the eastern bank of the Jordan; the tribe of Manasseh is on both sides of the river; Ephraim and Judah are the two main tribes to the north and south (9bc). As for Moab, Edom and Philistia (10), they are vassals of Israel, the first one on the other side of the Dead Sea, the second one on the east and south, the third one on the south-western coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The last member is the only one whose subject is not God; Philistia is addressed in an ironic fashion (10c). THE THIRD PART (11–14) – 11 Who will bring me – who will lead me

to a city to

of fortress, Edom?

:: 12 Is it not you, :: and you do not go out,

O GOD, O GOD,

you who have rejected us with our armies?

··················································································································· 13

+ Grant us - and nothingness

help (is) the salvation

in oppression, of the adam;

- 14 with GOD + and as for him,

we will do he will trample down

powerful deeds, our oppressors.

The double question of the first segment (11) is answered by another question (12): the two occurrences of “who” at the beginning of the members of the first segment (11) correspond to the two occurrences of “O God” in the second terms of the members of the second segment (12). While the first piece is constructed in parallel (11–12), the second piece is of mirrored structure (13–14). At the extremities, the actions of God against the “oppression” of the “oppressors” (13a & 14b); the central members set the “nothingness” of “adam” against the powerful deeds “done” “with God” (13b & 14a). Across the pieces, the “oppressors” (14b) seem to be those in the “city of fortress” of “Edom” (11).

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, on “A Lily, of David, for teaching; 2 when he fought against Aram and returned Joab in the Valley of Salt,

the Precept”, in a low voice, Naharaim and Aram and defeated EDOM two ten

Zobah, thousand (men).

– 3 O GOD, – you have been angry,

YOU HAVE REJECTED US,

you have broken us,

come back

TO US;

– 4 you have made quake + heal

the earth, its fractures,

you have split it open, because it is shaking.

··············································································································

– 5 You made see – you made us drink

your people a wine

hardship, of vertigo.

··············································································································

+ 6 Give = to flee

your fearful from

= 7 so that + SAVE

may be liberated your beloved ones, with your right hand and answer ME.

a signal the bow;

+ 8 GOD : “I will exult, : and the Valley

has spoken I will divide of Sukkot

in his sanctuary: Shechem I will survey.

- 9 Mine is Gilead - Ephraim, - Juda,

and mine the protection my sceptre,

Manasseh, of my head,

.. 10 Moab, .. on EDOM .. over me,

a basin I throw O Philistia,

for me to wash in, my sandal; shout victory!”

– 11 Who will bring ME – who will lead ME

to a city to

of fortress, EDOM?

:: 12 Is it not you, :: and you do not go out,

O GOD, O GOD,

YOU WHO HAVE REJECTED US

with our armies?

·············································································································· 13 Grant US help in oppression,

- and nothingness is 14

+ with GOD + and as for him,

THE SALVATION

of the adam;

we will do powerful deeds, he will trample down our oppressors.

The Lord’s oracle (8–10) corresponds to the two supplications that frame it. The name “Edom” occurs in the title (2b), at the end of the central part (10b) and at the beginning of the last part (11b). “You have rejected us” is repeated in

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the first pieces of the extreme parts (3a & 12a). “Save” of the last piece of the first part (7b) is echoed by “the salvation” in the last piece of the last part (13b). The first person of the psalmist is found only in the last word of the first part, “answer me” (7b), and in the first segment of the third part (11), thus playing the role of median terms at a distance. The name “God” marks the beginning of the first two parts (3a & 8a) and returns three times in the last part (12a, 12b & 14a).

CONTEXT PS 108 The beginning of Ps 108 (2–7) is almost identical to the last part of Ps 57 (8– 12).2 The rest of the same Ps 108 (8–14) is equivalent to the last two parts of Ps 60. The differences are minimal: “and” before “mine Manasseh” absent in 108:9 and similarly for “you” before “O God” in 60:12a, māṣôr in 60:11a (“forteresse”) is a synonym of mibṣār in 108:11a (“fortification”), both terms deriving from different roots (from ṣûr and from bṣr), but in a paronomastic relation. Ps 60 8

God has spoken in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem and the Valley of Sukkot I will survey. 9 Mine Gilead, and mine Manasseh, Ephraim, the protection of my head, Judah, my sceptre, 10 Moab, a basin for me to wash in, on Edom I throw my sandal; OVER ME, O PHILISTIA, SHOUT VICTORY!” 11 Who will bring me to a city of fortress, who will lead me to Edom? 12 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and you do not go out, O God, with our armies? 13 Grant us help in oppression and nothingness is the salvation of the adam; 14 with God we will do powerful deeds and as for him, he will trample down our oppressors.

Ps 108 8

God has spoken in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem, and the Valley of Sukkot I will survey. 9 Mine Gilead, mine Manasseh, Ephraim, the protection of my head, Judah, my sceptre, 10 Moab, a basin for me to wash in, on Edom I throw my sandal, OVER PHILISTIA I SHOUT VICTORY.” 11 Who will bring me to a city of fortification, who will lead me to Edom? 12 Is it not, O God, you who have rejected us and you do not go out, O God, with our armies? 13 Grant us help in oppression and nothingness is the salvation of the adam; 14 with God we will do powerful deeds and as for him, he will trample down our oppressors.

The only significant difference is in verse 10c in both psalms: the ironic expression at the end of the oracle in Ps 60 in Ps 108 is aligned with the preceding members.

2

See more above, p. 201; Le Psautier. Cinquième livre, 36–38.

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DAVID’S STORY The title refers to David’s wars against Aram and Edom, as reported in 2 Sam 8:1–14. Joab’s intervention is reported in 2 Sam 10:6–14.3 EDOM Jacob’s twin brother, Esau, the eponymous ancestor of Edom, is the enemy by antonomasia of the children of Jacob-Israel.4 Edom had been reluctant to help Jerusalem during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege and capture of the city in 597 (Obad 11–15). It took advantage of the situation to enlarge its territory at the expense of Israel (Ps 137:7). The oracles against Edom are very numerous (Isa 34; Jer 49:7– 20; Ezek 35; Amos 9:11–12). After the return from the Exile, the dream of reconstituting the kingdom of David in all its borders involves revenge on Edom.

INTERPRETATION “OF DAVID” (PS 60:1) The “us” of the people is joined at the end of the first part and at the beginning of the last part by the first person, whom the title identifies as King David. As a literary fiction, David is an emblematic figure of each psalmist, of each individual who composes a prayer in the name of all, and for all. There is no prayer that is not due to the pen of an individual, but there is no true prayer that is not composed to be taken up in the mouths of all the people. David is the patron saint of all the psalmists and therefore all the Psalms traditionally are rightly ascribed as “of David”. YOU HAVE REJECTED US, SAVE US! The situation in which the psalmist finds himself, including both the king and the people, is that of “oppression” (60:13a, 14b). Israel is confronted by enemies who are not specifically identified, but it leaves him with conviction that his God has “rejected” him; indeed, he no longer goes out with his armies, to the point that “the earth” is “split open”, the bones fractured (60:3–4). We do not know if it is a punishment or a trial. What we do know, however, is that the one who had to “drink a wine of vertigo” (60:5) has not lost his faith in God: he talks to him, complains, questions, asks, pleads to be “saved” (60:7). He would not do so if he were not sure that his God was the only one capable of coming to his “help” (60:13). 3

For more details, see e.g., Vesco, 534–535. “As it is well known, Edom became for the Jews the type of anti-Israel, even in rabbinic literature where Edom designates the Roman Empire” (R.J. TOURNAY, “Psaumes 57, 60 et 108”, 14, note 24). 4

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GOD ANSWERS No sooner has David said to God: “Answer me” (60:7b), than God, who did not fail to hear him, immediately takes the floor. Formally, the oracle pronounced from his heavenly sanctuary is not addressed to the supplicant, but we understand that it is made to be heard by its recipient. The land of Israel, from Shechem to Judah, through Sukkot, Manasseh and Ephraim, is the domain which he surveys and divides, the kingdoms of the north and south are the attributes of his reign, and it will extend over the neighbours of the east and west who lie under his feet. Can Philistia itself still claim victory? EDOM, A HOSTILE BROTHER When David takes the floor again, after God has concluded his oracle, he does not think of the Philistines, the last one mentioned, but only of Edom. The title has already pronounced this name. This insistence can hardly be accidental. The enmity between Jacob and his elder brother Esau continued throughout history, and David had a quarrel with the one who was called Edom, the red-haired. The most terrible enemy, the one who causes the most suffering, is always the closest, the brother. If David is the emblematic character of the psalmist, Edom is no less, the typical representative of all his enemies.

3. MY ENEMIES GROWL, GOD SPEAKS FROM HIS SANCTUARY (PS 59–60) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 59 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when Saul sent men to guard the house in order to kill him. 2 Deliver

me from my enemies, O my God, from my aggressors you will protect me; me from the workers of iniquity and from men of bloods SAVE ME. 4 Because, behold, they lie in ambush for my soul, the powerful stir up against me, without my transgression and without my sin, O Yhwh. 5 Without my fault, they run and make ready; awake to meet me and see. 6 And as for you, O Yhwh God of ARMIES, God of Israel, rise up to visit ALL THESE NATIONS, do not have mercy on all the traitors of iniquity! 3 deliver

7 THEY COME BACK

in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city.

8 Behold, they foam

in their mouth, swords in their lips: “For who hears?” 9 And as for you, O Yhwh, you laugh at them, you mock ALL THESE NATIONS; 10 O my strength, I watch for you because God is my citadel; 11 the God of my faithfulness goes before me, God makes me see those who spy on me. not slay them, lest MY PEOPLE forget, shake them by your POWER, bring them down, O Lord, our shield! 13 The sin of their mouth, the word of their lips: and let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount. 14 Finish them in fury, finish and let them be no more, and let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth! 15 And THEY COME BACK in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city. 12 Do

16 As

for them, they wander for food, and, if they are not satiated, they spend the night. 17 And as for me, I will sing of your strength, and I shout for joy in the morning for your faithfulness. Yes, you have been a citadel for me and a refuge in the day of my OPPRESSION. 18 O my strength, I will sing psalms for you; yes, God is my citadel, the God of my faithfulness. Ps 60 1 For the music director, on “A Lily, the Precept”, in a low voice, of David, for teaching; 2 when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated EDOM in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand men. 3O

God, you have rejected us, you have broken us, you have been angry, COME BACK to us; 4 you have made the earth quake, you have split it open, heal its fractures, because it is shaking 5 You made YOUR PEOPLE see hardship, you made us drink a wine of vertigo. 6 Give your fearful a signal to flee from the bow; 7 so that your beloved ones may be liberated, SAVE with your right hand and answer me. 8 God has spoken in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem and the Valley of Sukkot I will survey. 9 Mine is Gilead, and mine Manasseh, Ephraim, the protection of my head, Judah, my sceptre, 10 MOAB is a basin for me to wash in, on EDOM I throw my sandal; over me, O PHILISTIA, shout victory!” will bring me to a city of fortress, who will lead me to EDOM? 12 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and you do not go out, O God, with our ARMIES? 13 Grant us help in OPPRESSION, and nothingness is THE SALVATION of the adam; 14 with God we will do POWERFUL DEEDS, and as for him, he will trample down our OPPRESSORS. 11 Who

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229

The titles have in common, “For the music director”, “of David”, “in a low voice”, “when...”. The latter one is much more developed than the former one. The psalmist is asking to be “saved” (59:3; 60:7), because the human “salvation” is nothing (60:13). In the first psalm he speaks of his “people” (59:12), whom he describes in the second psalm as the Lord’s “people” (60:5). In the first psalm the psalmist requests God to “visit” “all these nations” (59:6) and is sure that he will “mock” them (59:9); the second psalm mentions three of these enemy nations: “Moab”, “Edom” and “Philistia” (60:2, 10–11). “Oppression” and “oppressors” are found in the final terms (59:17; 60:13, 14); “power” and “powerful deeds” in 59:12 and 60:14, “armies” in 59:6 and 60:12, “to come back” in 59:7, 12 and 60:3, and “city” in 59:7, 15 and 60:11. It may also be observed that “citadel” and “refuge” of the first psalm (59:10, 17–18) are matched by “fortress” in the second one (60:11). While the first psalm is entirely in the first person singular, the first person plural dominates in the other one. The growling of the dogs is at the centre of the two large parts of the first psalm (59:7, 15); the word of God is at the centre of the last psalm (60:8–10).

INTERPRETATION GOD GOVERNS ALL AND EVERYWHERE “Let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth!” (59:14). God governs because he is the king who rules and judges. That is what the nations will know, and that is what the psalmist confesses when, in the second psalm, he attributes to the Lord the rejection and the blows he has received from his “oppressors”. God has struck, but he will “heal the fractures” (60:4). He chastises his people, but he “saves” them. He liberates Ephraim and Judah and puts Moab, Edom and Philistia under his feet. GOD’S IRRITATION In the first psalm, the psalmist forcefully claims his innocence: he is without “transgression” and without “sin”, without “fault” (59:4–5). If there is “sin”, it is that of the enemies, whose “pride” makes them curse and lie (59:13). From the beginning of the second psalm, the king recognises, on the contrary, that all the misfortune that has befallen his people is due to the rejection by the Lord who is “angry” with them (60:3). Without making a formal confession of sins, this still implies that Israel is not clean of all transgression. GOD ANSWERS At the centre of the second psalm, God responds at length to the psalmist who was challenging him (60:8–10). His oracle first concerns Israel, in all its territory,

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

on both sides of the Jordan, but it ends with threats against the enemies of his people, Moab, Edom and Philistia. Thus, he responds to them too, as one responds to an attack. God’s word opposes the growling of the dogs that prowl to devour his beloved ones (59:7, 15). THE KING OF ISRAEL In the first psalm, the psalmist calls Israel “my people” (59:12), and he is right to do so since he is their king, but he is quick to point out that it is God who “rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth” (59:14). In the second psalm, he returns to this when he says: “you made your people see hardship” (60:5). The people are both David’s people and God’s people. The king of Israel is indeed David, but he rules in the name of God. The last verse of the sequence equates the people with their Lord: “with God we will do powerful deeds and as for him, he will trample down our oppressors” (60:14). However, we should not forget the first word: “with God”. Because without him we could do nothing.

IV. OF DAVID IN A LOW VOICE IN HIS ANGUISHES (56–60) 1. COMPOSITION OF THE THIRD SECTION The five psalms of the section are arranged in three sequences, two at the extremities comprising a pair of psalms and one at the centre comprising a single psalm: MY ENEMIES TRAMPLE ON ME,

I TAKE REFUGE

UNDER THE WINGS OF GOD

BREAK THE TEETH OF THE SERPENT AND THE LIONS

MY ENEMIES GROWL,

GOD SPEAKS

FROM HIS SANCTUARY

Ps 56–57

Ps 58

Ps 59–60

Each of the extreme sequences has been analysed and commented on above (see p. 204–205 and p. 228–230). To verify the coherence of the section, it remains to show first the relations between the extreme sequences, and then those between the central sequence and the other two sequences.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 56–57 AND PS 59–60) Ps 56 1 For the music director, on “The Silent Dove of Those Far off”, of David; in a low voice, when the Philistines seized him in Gat. 2 Have mercy on me, O God, because a man tramples on me, every day he fights me and oppresses me; 3 THOSE WHO SPY ON ME trample on me every day, because many are fighting me up there. 4 The day when I fear, myself I trust in you. 5 In God I praise his WORD; in God I trust, I fear not, what can flesh do to me?

day they distort my WORDS, all their thoughts are against me for evil; 7 they stir up, they hide, themselves, they watch my steps, as if they hoped for my soul. 8 For their INIQUITY, is liberation for them? In anger bring down THE PEOPLES, O God! 9 You yourself have counted my flight, put my tears in your wineskin; is it not in your book? 10 Then MY ENEMIES WILL TURN back, on the day when I call; this I know that God is for me.

6 Every

11 In 12 in

God I praise the WORD, in Yhwh I praise the WORD; God I trust, I fear not, what can an adam do to me?

me, O God, will be your vows, I will render thanksgiving to you: 14 Yes, YOU HAVE DELIVERED my soul from death, is it not my feet from stumbling, that I may walk in the face of God in the light of life. 13 Upon

Ps 57 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when he fled from Saul into the cave. 2 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, because in you my soul takes refuge, and in the shadow of your wings I take refuge until danger passes. 3 I call to God Most High, to God who has done all things for me; 4 let him send from heavens and let him SAVE me, LET HIM MOCK HIM who tramples on me, let God send his FAITHFULNESS and his loyalty. 5 My soul is in the midst of lions, I must sleep with the flaming, the sons of Adam; their teeth, a spear and arrows, and their tongue, a sharp sword. 6 Rise

up above the heavens, O God, above all the EARTH, your glory!

set a net for my steps, my soul was bowed down; they dug a trap before me, they have fallen into it. 8 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing and I will sing psalms. 9 Awake, my glory; awake, harp and cithara, let me awake the dawn. 10 I will praise you among THE PEOPLES, O Lord, I will sing psalms to you in the countries. 11 Yes, your FAITHFULNESS is great to the heavens and your loyalty to the clouds. 7 They

12 Rise

up above the heavens, O God, above all the EARTH, your glory!

“People” are found everywhere (56:8; 57:10; 59:12; 60:5), “word/s” and “to speak” occur six times (56:5, 6, 11[2x]; 59:13; 60:8), the same with “my soul” (56:7, 14; 57:2, 5, 7; 59:4); “to save” and “salvation” occur four times (57:4; 59:3; 60:7, 13), as does “to have mercy” (56:2; 57:2[2x]; 59:6) and “the earth” (57:6, 12; 59:14; 60:4), “adam” three times (56:12; 57:5; 60:13). The median psalms (Ps 57 & 59) have much in common: in addition to the terms already mentioned, “to sing” and “to sing psalms” (57:8–9; 59:17–18), “to mock” (57:4; 59:9), “faithfulness” (57:4, 11; 59:11, 17, 18), “to fall” and “to bring down” (57:7; 59:12) and especially “sword/s” of their “tongue”, their “mouth” (57:5b; 59:8, 13); on the one hand “lions” (57:5), on the other hand “the dog” (59:7, 15). Their titles have “do not destroy”.

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233

Ps 59 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when Saul sent men to guard the house in order to kill him. 2 DELIVER ME from MY ENEMIES, O my God, from my aggressors you will protect me; 3 DELIVER ME from the workers of INIQUITY and from men of bloods SAVE me. behold, they lie in ambush for my soul, the powerful stir up against me, without my transgression and without my sin, O Yhwh. 5 Without my fault, they run and make ready; awake to meet me and see. 6 And as for you, O Yhwh God of hosts, God of Israel, rise up to visit ALL THESE NATIONS, do not have mercy on all the traitors of INIQUITY! 4 Because,

7 They 8

come back in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city.

Behold, they foam in their mouth, swords in their lips: “For who hears?” 9 And as for you, O Yhwh, you

laugh at them, YOU MOCK ALL THESE NATIONS; 10 O my strength, I watch for you because God is my citadel; 11 the God of my FAITHFULNESS goes before me, God makes me see THOSE WHO SPY ON ME. 12 Do

not slay them, lest MY PEOPLE forget, shake them by your power, bring them down, O Lord, our shield! 13 The sin of their mouth, the WORD of their lips: and let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount. 14 Finish them in fury, finish and let them be no more, and let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the EARTH! 15 And

they come back in the evening, they growl like a dog, and they prowl through the city.

16 As

for them, they wander for food, and, if they are not satiated, they spend the night. 17 And as for me, I will sing of your strength, and I shout for joy in the morning for your FAITHFULNESS. Yes, you have been a citadel for me and a refuge in the day of my oppression. 18 O my strength, I will sing psalms for you; yes, God is my citadel, the God of my FAITHFULNESS. Ps 60 1 For the music director, on “A Lily, the Precept”, in a low voice, of David, for teaching; 2 when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand men. 3 O God, you have rejected us, you have broken us, you have been angry, RETURN to us; 4 you have made the EARTH quake, you have split it open, heal its fractures, because it is shaking. 5 You made YOUR PEOPLE see hardship, you made us drink a wine of vertigo. 6 Give your fearful a signal to flee from the bow; 7 so that your beloved ones may be liberated, SAVE with your right hand and answer me. 8 God HAS SPOKEN

in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem and the Valley of Sukkot I will survey. 9 Mine is Gilead, and mine Manasseh, Ephraim, the protection of my head, Judah, my sceptre, 10 Moab, a basin for me to wash in, on Edom I throw my sandal; over me, O Philistia, shout victory!”

will bring me to a city of fortress, who will lead me to Edom? 12 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and you do not go out, O God, with our armies? 13 Grant us help in oppression, and nothingness is THE SALVATION of the adam; 14 with God we will do powerful deeds, and as for him, he will trample down our oppressors. 11 Who

The first psalms have in common, “my enemies” (56:10; 59:2), “those who spy on me” (56:3; 59:11), “to stir up” (56:7; 59:4), “iniquity” (56:8; 59:3, 6), “to deliver” (56:14; 59:2, 3). Relations between the extreme psalms are limited to the verbs “to do” (56:5, 12; 60:14), “to fear” (56:4, 5, 12; 60:6), “to return” (56:10; 60:3), and the syntagma “is it not” (56:9, 14; 60:12). The reason for this is that the last psalm of the section stands out from all the others, which is a case of a “closing phenomenon”.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FIRST TWO SEQUENCES (PS 56–57 AND 58) The centre of the central psalm (58:7) recalls the preceding psalm: “teeth” and “lions” in 57:5, as well as “tongue” which belongs to the same semantic field as “mouth”. Verbs of speech coming out of the mouth, namely “to speak” and “to say” mark the extremities of the central psalm (58:2, 12) together with the verb “to judge”. The term “word” is already found in the first psalm (56:5, 6, 11[2x]). The word expresses praise and thanksgiving at the end of the first psalm (56:13– 14) and in the second one (57:8–11). In these two psalms the final phrases are introduced by kî, translated as “yes” (56:14 & 57:11), so that they can be regarded as words of praise addressed to God (that is why they are placed within the inverted commas); at the end of the central psalm the two “truly” (’ak, in 58:12) have the same function; however, the final words are not addressed directly to God. The “word” can become an instrument of death: “a spear and arrows”, “a sharp sword” (57:5), “lies”, “venom of a serpent”, “viper” (58:4–5); “arrows” are repeated in 58:8. We may notice that the term “feet” occurs at the end of the first psalm (56:14) and in the central psalm (58:11).

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235

Ps 56 1 For the music director, on “The Silent Dove of Those Far off”, of David; in a low voice, when the Philistines seized him in Gat. 2 Have mercy on me, O God, because a man tramples on me, every day he fights me and oppresses me; 3 those who spy on me trample on me every day, because many are fighting me up there. 4 The day when I fear, myself I trust in you. 5 In God I praise his WORD; in God I trust, I fear not, what can flesh do to me? 6 Every

day they distort my WORD, all their thoughts are against me for evil; 7 they stir up, they hide, themselves, they watch my steps, as if they hoped for my soul. 8 For their iniquity, is liberation for them? In anger bring down the peoples, O God! 9 You yourself have counted my flight, put my tears in your wineskin; is it not in your book? 10 Then my enemies will turn back, on the day when I call; this I know that God is for me. 11 In

God I praise the WORD, in Yhwh I praise the WORD; God I trust, I fear not, what can an adam do to me? 13 Upon me, O God, will be your vows, I will render thanksgiving to your: 14 “YES, you have delivered my soul from death, truly my FEET from stumbling, that I may walk in the face of God in the light of life.” 12 in

Ps 57 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice. when he fled from Saul into the cave. 2 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, because in you my soul takes refuge, and in the shadow of your wings I take refuge until danger passes. 3 I call to God Most High, to God who has done all things for me; 4 let him send from heavens and let him save me, let him mock him who tramples on me, let God send his faithfulness and his loyalty. 5 My soul is in the midst of LIONS, LIONS I must sleep with the flaming, the sons of Adam; their TEETH, a spear and arrows, and their TONGUE, a sharp sword. 6 Rise up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory! 7 They

set a net for my steps, my soul was bowed down; they dug a trap before me, they have fallen into it. 8 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing and I will sing psalms. 9 Awake, my glory; awake, harp and cithara, let me awake the dawn. 10 I will praise you among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing psalms to you in the countries: 11 “YES, your faithfulness is great to the heavens and your loyalty to the clouds. 12 Rise up above the heavens, O God, above all the earth, your glory!” Ps 58 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice. 2 Is it true, you gods, that you SPEAK righteousness, that in uprightness you JUDGE the sons of Adam? 3 No, in the heart you do perversities on earth, the violence of your hands you weigh. 4 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, SPEAKING lies; 5 their venom like a semblance of the venom of a serpent, like the deaf viper plugging its ear 6 which does not hear the voice of enchanters, of charmer in skilful charms. 7 O God, break their TEETH in their MOUTH, crush the fangs of LIONS, LIONS O Yhwh. 8 Let them flow away like the waters that go away from them, he adjusts his arrows let them be like faded; 9 let them be like a slug melting away as it goes away, a stillborn of the woman, let them not see the sun; 10 before that your pots smell of thorns, like alive like burnt, let them be swept away! 11 The righteous will rejoice, because he will see vengeance, he will wash his FEET in the blood of the wicked; 12 and adam WILL SAY: “TRULY, there is a fruit for the righteous; TRULY, there is a God JUDGING on earth.”

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Third Section (Ps 56–60)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE LAST TWO SEQUENCES (PS 58 AND PS 59–60) Ps 58 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice. 2 Is it true, you gods, that you SPEAK righteousness, that in uprightness you JUDGE the sons of Adam? 3 No, in the heart you do perversities on earth, the violence of your hands you weigh. 4 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly SPEAKING lies; 5 their VENOM like a semblance of the VENOM of a SERPENT, ERPENT like the deaf VIPE VIPER plugging its ear 6 which does not hear the voice of enchanters, of charmer in skilful charms. 7 O God, break their TEETH in their MOUTH, crush the fangs of LIONS, LIONS O Yhwh. 8 Let them flow away like the waters that go away from them, he adjusts his arrows let them be like faded; 9 let them be like a SLUG melting away as it goes away, a stillborn of the woman, let them not see the sun; 10 before that your pots smell of thorns, like alive like burnt, let them be swept away! 11 The righteous will rejoice, because he will see vengeance, he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 12 and adam WILL SAY: “TRULY, there is a fruit for the righteous; TRULY, there is a God JUDGING on earth.”

The heart of the central psalm (58:7) is echoed in the subsequent psalm: “mouth” is repeated in 59:8, 13, each time accompanied by “lips” which are “swords”. Along with “lions” (58:7) in the central psalm there are “serpent’, “viper”, “slug” (58:5, 9), and in the next psalm there is “a dog” (59:7, 15). The central psalm is linked to the next one by the repetition of the term “blood” (58:11; 59:3). Verbs of speech coming out of the mouth, namely “to speak” and “to say” mark the extremities of the central psalm (58:2, 12) together with the verb “to judge”. The word may include “lie/s” (58:4; 59:13). The term “word” is found also in 59:13 and 60:8; the growling of the dog is opposed to words (59:7, 15). The word expresses praise and thanksgiving at the end of the first psalm (56:13– 14) and in the second one (57:8–11); the same applies to the ending of the fourth psalm (59:17–18). In these three psalms, the final phrases are introduced by kî, translated as “yes”; therefore, they can be regarded as words of praise addressed to God. In the last instance, the “yes” is repeated (59:17, 18). The last psalm differs from the other ones: it is the only one which does not conclude with words of praise. The probable reason is that it is the only one in which God speaks at length in the central part (60:8–10), thus answering all the prayers addressed to him earlier. It is a classic case of a “closing phenomenon”, for it creates a surprising effect.1 “Venom” which occurs twice in the central psalm (58:5) and “fury” in the next psalm (59:14) translate the same Hebrew word (ḥēmâ, lit. “burning”).

1

See R. MEYNET, “Phénomènes de clôture dans les textes bibliques”.

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Ps 59 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice; when sent men to guard the house in order to kill him. 2 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God, from my aggressors you will protect me; 3 deliver me from the workers of iniquity and from men of bloods save me. 4 Because, behold, they lie in ambush for my soul, the powerful stir up against me, without my transgression and without my sin, O Yhwh. 5 Without my fault, they run and make ready; awake to meet me and see. 6 And as for you, O Yhwh God of hosts, God of Israel, rise up to visit all these nations, do not have mercy on all the traitors of iniquity! 7 They come back in the evening, they GROWL like a DOG, DOG and they prowl through the city. 8 Behold, they foam in their MOUTH, swords in their LIPS: “For who hears?” 9 And as for you, O Yhwh, you laugh at them, you mock all these nations; 10 O my strength, I watch for you because God is my citadel; 11 the God of my faithfulness goes before me, God makes me see those who spy on me. 12 Do

not slay them, lest my people forget, shake them by your power, bring them down, O Lord, our shield! 13 The sin of their MOUTH, the WORD of their LIPS: and let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount. 14 Finish them in FURY, finish and let them be no more, and let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth! 15 And they come back in the evening, they GROWL like a DOG, DOG and they prowl through the city. 16 As for them, they wander for food, and, if they are not satiated, they spend the night. 17 And as for me, I will sing of your strength, and I shout for joy in the morning for your faithfulness: “YES, you have been a citadel for me and a refuge in the day of my oppression. 18 O my strength, I will sing psalms for you; YES, God is my citadel, the God of my faithfulness.” Ps 60 1 For the music director, on “A Lily, the Precept”, in a low voice, of David, for teaching; 2 when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and defeated Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand men. 3 O God, you have rejected us, you have broken us, you have been angry, come back to us; 4 you have made the earth quake, you have split it open, heal its fractures, because it is shaking. 5 You made your people see hardship, you made us drink a wine of vertigo. 6 Give your fearful a signal to flee from the bow; 7 so that your beloved ones may be liberated, save with your right hand and answer me. 8 God HAS SPOKEN in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem and the Valley of Sukkot I will survey. 9 Mine is Gilead, and mine Manasseh, Ephraim, the protection of my head, Judah, my sceptre, 10 Moab, a basin for me to wash in, on Edom I throw my sandal; over me, O Philistia, shout victory!” 11 Who will bring me to a city of fortress, who will lead me to Edom? 12 Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and you do not go out, O God, with our armies? 13 Grant us help in oppression, and nothingness is the salvation of the adam; 14 with God we will do powerful deeds, and as for him, he will trample down our oppressors.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE THREE SEQUENCES The titles have in common “For the music director”, “of David”, “in a low voice”; the central psalm differs from the other ones because it does not have “when...” The central psalm and the two that frame it (Ps 57–59) have in their titles the same phrase “do not destroy”. There is an alternation between concentric composition (Ps 56; 58; 60) and parallel composition (Ps 57; 59). The first two psalms as well as the fourth one are marked by diverse refrains (56:5, 11–12; 57:6, 12; 59:7, 15); they frame the central part in the first psalm, they serve as final terms in the second one, and as central terms in Ps 59.

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Third Section (Ps 56–60) 2. CONTEXT

AT THE HEART OF THE LETTER OF JAMES 3 1 NOT many of you should become TEACHERS, MY BROTHERS, knowing that we only shall receive a stricter judgment. 2 For we all make many mistakes. IF anyone make no mistakes in WORD, he is a perfect man, capable to keep the whole body in check. 3 If we put bits in the MOUTHS of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole body. 4 Look

at ships: though they are so large and even when driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder whenever the will of the pilot directs. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small member and it can boast of great things.

Consider how small a flame can set fire to a huge forest! 6 The tongue is a fire too! It is the world of INJUSTICE, this tongue placed among our members: it defiles the whole body, it inflames the cycle of life, and is itself inflamed by Gehenna. 7 Indeed,

wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish of every kind can be tamed and have been tamed by humans. 8 but NO HUMAN BEING CAN tame tongue: it is a restless evil, FULL of deadly venom. 9 With

it we BLESS the Lord and Father, and with it we curse HUMAN BEINGS who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same MOUTH comes out BLESSING and cursing. These things SHOULD NOT be so, MY BROTHERS! 11 Does

a spring pour forth from the same opening both sweet and BITTER? 12 CAN a fig tree YIELD olives or vine figs? No more can a salt spring YIELD sweet water. 13

Who is WISE and understanding among you?

LET HIM SHOW by good conduct the deeds done in gentleness and wisdom. 14

IF, on the contrary, you have BITTER jealousy and selfish ambition in your HEART, do not be boastful and false to the truth! 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, animal, devilish. 16 For where there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there are also disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, FULL of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 A fruit of RIGHTEOUSNESS is sown in peace by those who MAKE peace. 1 4 Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Is it not precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you kill. And you covet something and CANNOT obtain it; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 When you do pray and do not receive, it is because you prayed wrongly, wanting to indulge your passions.

The central sequence of the Letter of James seems to be a commentary on the central section of the second book of Psalms! It mentions “the word” (Jas 3:2), “mouth” (3:3, 10), “tongue” (3:5, 6[2x], 8). It is also concerned with animality, with “horses” into whose mouths a bit is put to guide them (3:3), with all kinds of animals tamed by man (3:7), with “animal” wisdom (3:15). The serpent is also

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present through its “venom” (3:8), a “deadly” venom that announces, “you kill”, “you fight and wage war” (4:2). The mouth that is made to bless the Lord is used to curse people; and the whole central passage strongly asserts that from the same mouth cannot come blessing and cursing, an assertion supported by a whole series of eloquent images (3:11–12).2 AT THE BEGINNING OF GENESIS The mention of the “serpent” and its “venom”, the “lies” (Ps 58:4–5), right at the very centre of the section, inevitably evokes the story of Gen 2–3, especially since the name “Adam” frames the psalm (Ps 58:2, 12). The animality that is very present in the section can also make us think of sin “lurking” like a wild beast at Cain’s door (Gen 4:7).

3. INTERPRETATION THE VENOM OF THE SERPENT, THE TEETH OF THE LIONS The “lions” are mentioned at the heart of the central psalm (58:7), as they are already present in the preceding psalm (57:5). However, “the serpent” and its “venom” probably strike the reader even more, especially since “venom” is repeated and “the serpent” is doubled by “the viper”. This venom consists of “lies” (58:4) which pervert “righteousness” and establish “violence” (58:2–3). Now with its venom the serpent poisons the whole section, and the lions are everywhere hidden. Before the venom and before the fangs, the “lies” (58:4; 59:13) are what make them fearsome. The snake bites because it has not been seen, the lion is even more dangerous because it lurks before attacking by surprise. They are like a “net” and a “trap” that only work if they are hidden (57:7). From the beginning and throughout, they “spy” (56:3; 59:11), “hide themselves” (56:7) and “lie in ambush” (59:4). They are “traitors of iniquity” (59:6).3 PERVERTED WORDS The lions and vipers of the central psalm are the powerful ones charged with “pronouncing righteousness”, namely condemning “the wicked” and protecting “the righteous”, the innocent. Instead of “speaking righteousness” (58:2), they “speak lies” (4), refusing to hear the voice of the one who could charm the serpent 2

See T. KOT, La Lettre de Jacques, 147. In the light of the whole section, it is possible that the lion-serpent pairing can be found in Ps 59: “Behold, they foam in their mouths, swords in their lips” (59:8) would refer, because of “swords”, to the lions of 57:5: “My soul is in the midst of lions [...]; their teeth, a spear and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword”. On the other hand, 59:13: “The sin of their mouth, the word of their lips: and let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount” would rather refer to the serpent of 58:4–5, because of “the word” and the “lies”. 3

240

Third Section (Ps 56–60)

that inhabits them and dominates them. The lies of the psalmist’s enemies attack his “words”; they “distort” them (56:6). And that is undoubtedly the reason why, in the two focal points of the first psalm, the psalmist “praises the word” with such insistence (56:5, 11). The word he praises is that of God himself (56:5), in whom he trusts, being sure that he will free him from the deadly word of those who hide themselves in order to better attack him. In addition to the lions and the viper, there is also reference to the “dog” (59:7, 15) whose growling means nothing other than their desire to satisfy their hunger at the expense of the psalmist whom they want to devour. THE WORD OF SUPPLICATION AND THANKSGIVING In the mouth of the snake there is hidden venom, from the mouth of the lions comes the sword of their fangs and the mouth of the dog emits only the growl of one who wants to swallow. In response to such animal violence, from the psalmist’s mouth comes only the word. Only once, at the beginning of the central psalm, he addresses the perverse judges with a question, to which he promptly gives a clear answer. He does not hesitate to denounce their hypocrisy and perversity. Everywhere else, he does not enter into discussion with his enemies, just as one does not speak to attacking lions, snakes and dogs. All his speeches are directed towards God, whom he knows is the only one who will hear him in order to save him. And throughout it is first of all a complaint that denounces the attacks of the wicked and a supplication to be delivered from them; a confession of faith which often expresses the total trust he puts in the Lord: “the God of my faithfulness goes before me, God makes me see those who spy on me” (59:11). And all end systematically with thanksgiving and praise (56:13–14; 57:8–12; 58:12; 59:17–18). Everywhere, except the last psalm! GOD SPEAKS The final psalm surprises. There is no complaint against the enemy, but only a repeated supplication, always preceded by the statement that God has rejected his people. It is no longer simply the prayer of an individual, but first and foremost that of his whole community. There is no final praise or thanksgiving, only the certainty of being saved from the oppressors. However, the greatest novelty is that “God has spoken” for the first time, and his oracle occupies the whole central part of the psalm (60:8–10). He “answers” the psalmist (60:7), not only the one in the last psalm, but also the one who has been imploring since the beginning of the section. In this sense, the last psalm seems to respond to the first psalm where the psalmist said: “In God I praise his word” (56:5), a statement that he will take up again with insistence: “In God I praise the word, in Yhwh I praise the word” (56:11).

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PRESERVE THE BUILDING The centre of a concentric construction is often called the “keystone”. It is the stone at the top of the arch that ensures the coherence and cohesion of the whole. We have seen here how Ps 58 identifies the psalmist’s enemies with the rulers who judge the people, administer righteousness and pervert it. The combined images of lions and lying serpent help to shed light on the whole section. As the rule in biblical rhetoric implies that the centre is always enigmatic: it often shocks and leaves one perplexed. Removing it is not the right answer to the question it poses. That is why it is regrettable that this psalm was removed from the Divine Office during the last reform. That does not mean that it has been removed from the Bible! Its removal has been beneficial in a way, for it has drawn attention to it. The reader is thus invited to examine it closely, in itself and in the context in which it is inserted. “Yes, there is a fruit for the righteous!” (58:12).

THE LORD WHO HEARS THE PRAYER GIVES REST Fourth Section Ps 61–65

244

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

The fourth section comprises five psalms organised into three sequences. Each of the extreme sequences (Ps 61–62 & Ps 64–65) comprises two psalms, while the central sequence comprises only one psalm (Ps 63):

GOD HEARS THE PRAYER

AND GIVES REST AND SALVATION

TO HIS KING

GOD QUENCHES THE THIRST OF HIS KING

GOD HEARS THE PRAYER

AND GIVES REST AND FOOD

Ps 61–62

Ps 63

TO ALL FLESH

Ps 64–65

I. GOD HEARS THE PRAYER AND GIVES REST AND SALVATION TO HIS KING The First Sequence: Ps 61–62 1. PSALM 61 TEXT 1 For

the music director, on stringed instruments, of David. 2 Hear, O God, my cry, give attention to my prayer, 3 from the end of the earth I call to you, my heart faints: to the rock that is higher than I, lead me. 4 Yes, you are a refuge for me, a tower of strength before the face of the enemy; 5 let me dwell in your tent forever, let me take refuge in the hiding of your wings! selâ 6 Yes, you, O God, you hear my vows, you give the inheritance of those who fear your name. 7 Add days to days of the king, his years like generation after generation; 8 let him sit forever before the face of God, command faithfulness and loyalty to guard him. 9 Then I will sing psalms to your name forever, fulfilling my vows day after day. V. 3: FROM THE END OF THE EARTH

“The earth” can refer either to the land of Israel or to the world. In the first case the psalmist would be on the border of the country, far from Jerusalem, in the second case he would be in exile far from the land of Israel.1 Some understand it as “hellish regions”.2

COMPOSITION THE FIRST PART (2–5) + 2 Hear, + give attention

O God, to my prayer,

my cry,

+ 3 from the end + faints

of the earth my heart:

to you

:: TO THE ROCK :: lead me.

that is higher

than I,

I call,

······················································································································

+ 4 Yes, you are + a tower 5

:: let me dwell :: let me take refuge

1

a refuge of strength

for me, before the face

of the enemy;

IN YOUR TENT IN THE HIDING

forever, of your wings!

selâ

Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 104. See Ravasi, II, 235–236. On different readings of the psalm see W.H. Jr. BELLINGER, A Hermeneutic of Curiosity and Readings of Psalm 61. 2

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

+ 2 Hear, + give attention

O God, to my prayer,

my cry,

+ 3 from the end + faints

of the earth my heart:

to you

:: TO THE ROCK :: lead me.

that is higher

than I,

I call,

······················································································································

+ 4 Yes, you are + a tower

a refuge of strength

for me, before the face

of the enemy;

:: 5 let me dwell :: let me take refuge

IN YOUR TENT IN THE HIDING

forever, of your wings!

selâ

In the first two segments of the first piece (2 & 3ab), the psalmist first draws God’s attention (2) to the situation in which he is languishing far from him (3ab). The last segment (3cd) clarifies the request: he desires to be led to the unattainable Rock. In the second piece (4–5), he first confesses what the Lord represents for him, “a refuge”, “a tower” (4), and then he expresses his vows (5). In the syntagmas, “in your tent” and “in the hiding”, at the end of the second piece (5ab), and in “to the rock”, at the end of the first piece (3c), the Hebrew text used the same preposition, but in the translation, they are rendered differently as “in” and “to”. These three complements refer to the Temple. THE SECOND PART (6–9) - 6 Yes, you, - you give

O GOD, the inheritance

you hear MY VOWS, of those who fear YOUR NAME.

························································································································ :: 7 DAYS TO DAYS of the king, add,

:: his years :: 8 let him sit :: faithfulness

like forever and loyalty,

generation before the face command (them)

after generation; of God, to guard him.

························································································································ I will sing psalms to YOUR NAME forever, MY VOWS DAY AFTER DAY.

- 9 Then - fulfilling

The short extreme pieces (6 & 9) repeat “my vows” and “your name” in a mirrored fashion. The former is a statement, the latter a promise of praise. The central piece (7–8) differs from the other two in that it is in the third person instead of the first person. It is a request concerning “the king” and the continuity of his rule: “days to days” is taken up by “generation after generation” and then by “forever”. The last member (8b) adds quality to the duration: “faithfulness and loyalty”, which belong to the language of the covenant and imply an unlimited

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247

duration. In the ending, “day after day” (9b) recalls “days to days”, “generation after generation”, “forever” of the central piece. THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, on stringed instruments, + 2 HEAR, + give attention

O GOD, to my prayer,

my cry,

+ 3 from the end + faints

of the earth my heart:

to you

that is higher

than I,

:: to the rock :: lead me.

of David.

I call,

·····························································································································

+ 4 Yes, you are + a tower 5

:: let me dwell :: let me take refuge + 6 Yes, you, + you give

a refuge of strength

for me, BEFORE THE FACE

in your tent in the hiding

FOREVER,

O GOD, the inheritance

YOU HEAR

of the enemy;

of your wings! my vows, of those who fear your name.

·····························································································································

:: 7 Days :: his years

to days like

of the king, generation

add, after generation;

:: 8 let him sit :: faithfulness

FOREVER

BEFORE THE FACE

and loyalty,

command (them)

of God, to guard him.

·····························································································································

+ 9 Then + fulfilling

I will sing psalms to your name my vows day

FOREVER,

after day.

The vocative “O God” (2a & 6a) and the imperative “hear” in the first part (2a) with the corresponding perfect form “you hear” in the second part (6a) act as initial terms. “Forever” (5a & 9a) echoed by “day after day” (9b) serve as final terms; “forever” (‘ôlām, 8a) takes up “forever” (‘ôlāmîm, in plural, 5a). “Before the face” is repeated in the penultimate segment of each part (4b & 8a). What the psalmist asks at the end of each piece in the first part (3cd & 5) is requested for “the king” at the centre of the second part (7–8); “let him sit forever” (8a) corresponds to “let me dwell [...] forever” (5a). It is always the same person who prays, whether in the first or third person: that is not uncommon in the psalms.3 The “vows” of 6 are the offerings that the psalmist promised to present to the Lord when he obtained what he asked for at the end of each piece of the first part; 3

See, e.g., Dahood, II, 83–84.

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

at the end of the psalm (9b), since his request was heard, he fulfils his vows by bringing what he promised. CONTEXT FAITHFULNESS AND LOYALTY GUARD THE KING In Ps 89, “faithfulness and loyalty”4 precede King Yhwh as “righteousness and justice” support his throne: Righteousness faithfulness

and justice and loyalty

the foundation march

of your throne, before your face. (Ps 89:15)

“Faithfulness and loyalty” belong first of all to God: “Yhwh, Yhwh, a tender and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in faithfulness and loyalty; keeping his faithfulness for thousands...” (Exod 34:6–7). In Prov 20 it is the earthly king who is guarded by “faithfulness and loyalty”: Faithfulness is founded

and loyalty on faithfulness

guard

the king, his throne. (Prov 20:28)

Similarly, “tender and merciful” are attributes of God (Ps 111:4b as well as Exod 34:6) but also of the righteous person (Ps 112:4b).5 NATHAN’S PROPHECY Verses 7–8 of Ps 61 recall Nathan’s prophecy that the house of David would endure: “Your house and your kingdom shall stand before me forever, your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam 7:16).

INTERPRETATION “IN THE HIDING OF YOUR WINGS” (PS 61:5) Exiled to the “end of the earth” (61:3a) and threatened by the “enemy” (61:4b), the psalmist requests only one thing from the Lord, whom he “calls” and to whom he “cries out” from afar (61:2a, 3a): to be able to take refuge near him, in the “tower” (61:4b), on the “rock” of his citadel (61:3c). He dreams of living as a guest “in the tent” of his Lord (61:5a). Moreover, he wants to shelter like a chick under the wings of his mother (61:5b), who will defend him, with beak and nails, against the predator.

4 5

See Le Psautier. Premier livre, 321 = The Psalter: Book One, 321. See Le Psautier. Cinquième livre, 89–92.

Psalm 61

249

INHERITANCE OF A CHILD The maternal image on which the first part of the psalm ends is immediately replaced by that of “inheritance” (61:6) with which the second part begins. What the Lord gives to his king is not only a long life, a house and a kingdom that will last forever, as he promised David through Nathan. “Faithfulness and loyalty” (61:8), which are God’s prerogatives, are given to the earthly king as the property that a father passes on as an inheritance to his son. FOREVER The psalmist requests the Lord to grant him the kingship promised to David “forever”, for him and his descendants, from generation to generation, guarded by the Lord’s faithfulness and loyalty (61:8). Thus, it is God’s name that will be chanted in psalms “forever” (61:9), as it is done to this day by those who tirelessly repeat the psalmist’s ancient words in their prayer.

2. PSALM 62 TEXT 1 For

the music director, according to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. 2 Yes, in God (there is) rest for my soul, from him (comes) my salvation; 3 yes, he (is) my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all. 4 How long will you assail a man, will you slaughter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a crumbling fence? 5 Yes, they have plotted to topple him from his heigh position, they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth and inwardly they curse. 6 Yes, rest in God, O my soul, because my hope (comes) from him; 7 yes, he (is) my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken. 8 On God (rests) my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, my refuge (is) in God. 9 Trust in him at all times, you people, pour out your heart before him, God (is) a refuge for us! 10 Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a lie, the sons of man; on the scales they were going up, they (are) together (lighter) than a breath. 11 Do not trust in violence, in robbery do not become breathless; in riches when they increase do not set your heart (on them)! 12 Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this: “that strength (belongs) to God, 13 and to you, Adonai, faithfulness, that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds”. V. 1: “ACCORDING TO JEDUTHUN”

This name was already present in the title of Ps 39 and will come back again in Ps 77. The preposition ‘al, translated as “according to”, could mean that the psalm is sung in the fashion of this person who was entrusted by David with the music in the Temple (1 Chr 16:41–42; 25:1–2). V. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10: “YES”

Six verses begin with ’ak, which some translate as “truly”,1 others as “yes”,2 still others as “only”.3 This monosyllabic adverb is not considered as a term and therefore the translation as “yes” is more appropriate. V. 5C: “WITH THEIR MOUTH”

The Masoretic text has “his mouth”. Two Hebrew manuscripts and the ancient versions have the plural.

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into two large parts (2–7 & 8–13), each formed of three subparts.

1

Thus Vesco, 547. TOB; Lorenzin, 246–247. 3 Ravasi, II, 243–244; Hakham, I, 359; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 933. 2

252

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

THE FIRST PART (2–7) + 2 YES, IN GOD + FROM HIM

(there is) rest (comes) my salvation;

for my soul,

– 3 YES, HE (is) – MY CITADEL,

MY ROCK I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN

AND MY SALVATION,

- 4 How long - will you slaughter him,

will you assail all of you,

a man,

: like a wall : a fence

leaning, crumbling?

at all.

························································································································· – 5 YES, from his high position they have plotted to topple him,

– they delight

in lies;

. with their mouth . and inwardly

they bless they curse.

+ 6 YES, IN GOD + because FROM HIM

rest, (comes) my hope;

O my soul,

– 7 YES, HE (is) – MY CITADEL,

MY ROCK I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN.

AND MY SALVATION,

The extreme subparts (2–3 & 6–7) are almost identical. The only differences are found in the first segments: the verb “to rest” in 6a replaces the noun “rest” in 2a, “my salvation” in 2b is replaced by “my hope” in 6b which adds “because” at the beginning of the member and “at all” at the end of the first subpart (3b) is not repeated at the end of the final subpart. The central subpart (4–5) comprises first of all a long question addressed to those who want to bring “a man” down (4). The second piece (5) shifts to the third person, as an inner commentary of the psalmist who interprets the deceitful conduct of those he has questioned: they are not only violent (5a) but also liars (5b), which is explained in the second segment (5cd). One may notice a paronomastic relation between “crumbling” (hadd eḥûyâ) and “to topple him” (l ehaddîaḥ) in median terms of both pieces. “Yes” appears at the beginning of each segment of the extreme subparts and at the beginning of the second piece of the central subpart. We can understand that the “man” mentioned at the beginning of the central subpart (4a) is no one else than the psalmist who finds his “salvation” in God (3a & 7a) against the attacks of his enemies who want to bring him down.

Psalm 62

253

THE SECOND PART (8–13) + 8 On GOD (rests) + the rock + my REFUGE (is) + 9 Trust in him + pour out + GOD (is)

MY SALVATION of my STRENGTH,

and MY GLORY;

in GOD. at all times, before him a REFUGE

you people, your heart; for us!

·····························································································································

: 10 Yes, a breath, : a lie,

the sons the sons

OF MAN;

: on the scales : they (are lighter)

they were going up, than a breath

together.

of Adam,

·····························································································································

– 11 Do not trust – in robbery

in violence, do not become breathless;

– in riches – do not set

when they increase your heart (on them)!

:: 12 Once, :: twice,

has spoken this

GOD, I have heard:

+ “that STRENGTH (belongs) to GOD, + 13 and to you, ADONAI,

FAITHFULNESS,

– that as for you,

A MAN

you repay

according to his deeds”.

The extreme subparts (8 & 12–13) are in the first person singular while the central subpart (9–11) is addressed to the “people” in the second person plural. The extreme subparts have in common two occurrences of the name “God” as well as “strength” (8b & 12c); this term is placed in parallel with “faithfulness” in 12c–13a, with “salvation”, “glory” and “refuge” in verse 8. In the extreme pieces of the central subpart, “trust” and “do not trust” are opposed (9a & 11a); “your heart” occurs in 9b and 11d. The central piece is a reflection on the futility of humans who are only “a breath” (10a) and even less than “a breath” if taken all “together” (10d); “do not become breathless” derives from the same root (hbl). The first piece of the central subpart (9) refers back to the first subpart, taking up not only the name “God” but also “refuge” in the ending (8c & 9c); it also announces the first of the two items discussed in the last subpart (12c–13a). As for the last piece (11), it announces the second item expressed at the end of the last subpart (13b): “violence” and “robbery” as well as his “riches” are indeed “deeds” of “man”.

254

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1 For

the music director,

+ 2 YES, in GOD there is + from him comes – 3 YES, he is – my citadel,

according to Jeduthun; a psalm, of David. rest

for my soul,

MY SALVATION; MY ROCK

AND MY SALVATION,

I will not be shaken

at all.

- How long - will you slaughter him,

will you assail all of you,

A MAN,

: like a wall : a fence

leaning, crumbling?

4

···························································································································

– 5 YES, from his heigh position they have plotted – they delight in LIES; . with their mouth . and inwardly

to topple him,

they bless they curse.

+ 6 YES, in GOD + because from him comes

rest, my hope;

O my soul,

– 7 YES, he is – my citadel,

MY ROCK

AND MY SALVATION,

+ 8 On GOD rests + THE ROCK + my refuge is + 9 Trust in him + pour out + GOD is

I will not be shaken. MY SALVATION

and my glory;

of MY STRENGTH. in GOD. at all times, before him a refuge

you people, your heart, for us!

···························································································································

: 10 YES, a breath, : a LIE,

the sons the sons

OF MAN;

: on the scales : they are lighter

they were going up, than a breath

together.

of Adam,

···························································································································

– 11 Do not trust – in robbery

in violence, do not become breathless;

– in riches – do not set

when they increase your heart on them!

:: 12 Once :: twice

has spoken this

GOD, I have heard:

+ “that STRENGTH + 13 and to you,

belongs to GOD, ADONAI,

faithfulness,

– that as for you,

you repay

A MAN

according to his deeds”.

Psalm 62

255

The two parts are parallel. Their extreme subparts are corresponding to each other with the repetition of “my salvation” (2b, 3a, 7a, 8a), “my strength” is a complement to “the rock” in 8b and is repeated in the last subpart (12c). The word “yes”, which appears five times in the first part (2a, 3a, 5a, 6a, 7a), is repeated once at the centre of the second part (10a). In both parts there is the same interplay between the extreme subparts which are in the first person singular (2–3, 6–7, 8, 12–13) and the central subparts which combine pieces in the second person plural (4, 9, 11) with pieces in the third person plural (5 & 10). “Man” occurs three times (4a, 10b, 13b), “lie” twice (5b & 10b). The name “God” is mentioned seven times (2a, 6a, 8a, 8c, 9c, 12a, 12c) and the list closes with “Adonai” (13a).

CONTEXT BREATH, VANITY Hebel is the name of Abel, “son of Adam”; it means “breath”, “mist”, “inconsistency”. The psalm is especially a reminiscence of Ecclesiastes, who insists that everything is hebel: “Vanity of vanities, says Qohelet; vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Eccl 1:2); “I have seen everything that is done under the sun: and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind!” (1:14). The Letter from James expresses this in its own fashion: 13

Well now, you who say: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making a profit. 14 You never know what will happen tomorrow! For you are a mist that appears for a little while, and then vanishes. (Jas 4:13–14)

INTERPRETATION BREATH AND LIES Like Abel, the children of Adam are only a “breath”, a mist that disappears very quickly. Even if they were all “together” they would not stand. They “become breathless” accumulating wealth in vain (Ps 62:11). “They delight in lies” (62:5b), in deceiving others, disguising their curse as a blessing, evil as good. But lies are not only in their hearts and mouths; their whole being consists of lies, because of the inconsistency that characterises them (62:10b). “To trust” in them is to rely on the wind, on the void. In the end, what they thought they were relying on, what they “trusted in”, namely violence in murder (62:4–5) and theft (62:11), will be repaid to them at its just price by the Lord (62:13b).

256

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

ROCK AND SALVATION In the presence of the inconsistent mist there rises up “the rock” of God who is not only unshakeable, but he allows the one who puts his “hope” in him not to “be shaken at all” (62:3). The “lies” of the sons of men, their “violence” which leads them to kill and steal from their fellow men (62:10–11), is opposed by the “salvation” of God, on which those who “trust” in him alone can count. While some “become breathless” in vain (62:11), others find “rest” for their souls in God (62:2, 8). “ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS” (62:13) The deeds of each of the two groups are not symmetrical. What the wicked do is precisely described: they want to “slaughter a man” (62:4), presumably the psalmist, they set out to accumulate “wealth”; in short, they kill and steal. And they also lie. One might have expected that the deeds of the righteous would be mentioned, exactly opposed to those of their enemies. But there is nothing of the sort. The only “deed” he claims is his trust in God; that is why he calls “you people”: “Trust in him” (62:9). The deed of the righteous is his faith. And for this reason, he finds “salvation”.

3. GOD HEARS THE PRAYER & GIVES REST & SALVATION TO HIS KING (PS 61–62) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE – The verb “to hear” (šm’) which occurs in initial terms in the first psalm (61:2, 6) forms an inclusion for the sequence (61:2; 62:12); – The verb “to pay” is found in final terms (61:9; 62:13; concerning Ps 61 this verb has been previously translated as “to fulfil”); – God is called “rock” (61:3; 62:3, 7, 8); – He is also called “refuge” where one “takes refuge” (61:4, 5; 62:8, 9); – “Strength” occurs three times (61:4; 62:8, 12); – Similarly, “heart” (61:3; 62:9, 11); – “Faithfulness” twice in final term (61:8; 62:13); – The divine names occur mainly in initial terms of the first psalm (61:2, 6, and also in 8) and at the extremities of both parts of the second psalm (62:2, 6, 8[2x], 12[2x], 13, and also in 9); – “I will sing psalms” (61:9) and “a psalm” (62:1) serve as median terms linking both psalms; – The first psalm is marked by requests addressed to God from the beginning to the end. It is no longer the case in the second psalm, where there are four imperatives (62:9–11), but they are addressed to the “people”.

Sequence 61–62

257

Ps 61 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, of David. 2 HEAR,

O GOD, my cry, give attention to my prayer, 3 from the end of the earth I call to you, my HEART faints: to the ROCK that is higher than I, lead me. 4 Yes, you are a REFUGE for me, a tower of STRENGTH before the face of the enemy; 5 let me dwell in your tent forever, LET ME TAKE REFUGE in the hiding of your wings! 6 Yes,

you, O GOD, you HEAR my vows, you give the inheritance of those who fear your name. sit forever before the face of GOD, command FAITHFULNESS and loyalty to guard him. 9 Then I will sing psalms to your name forever, PAYING my vows day after day. 7 Add days to days of the king, his years like generation after generation; 8 let him

Ps 62 1 For the music director, according to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. 2 Yes,

in GOD there is rest for my soul, from him comes my salvation; 3 yes, he is my ROCK and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all. 4 How long will you assail a man, will you slaughter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a crumbling fence? 5 Yes, they have plotted to topple him from his heigh position, they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth and inwardly they curse. 6 Yes, rest in GOD O my soul, because my hope comes from him; 7 yes, he is my ROCK and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken. 8 On

GOD rests my salvation and my glory; the ROCK of my STRENGTH, my REFUGE is in GOD. in him at all times, you people, pour out your HEART before him, GOD is a REFUGE for us! 10 Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a lie, the sons of man; on the scales they were going up, they are together lighter than a breath. 11 Do not trust in violence, in robbery do not become breathless; in riches when they increase do not set your HEART on them! 12 Once GOD has spoken, twice HAVE I HEARD this: “that STRENGTH belongs to GOD, 13 and to you, ADONAI, FAITHFULNESS; that as for you, YOU PAY a man according to his deeds”. 9 Trust

INTERPRETATION “I WILL SING PSALMS” (61:9) The promise that the psalmist makes at the end of the first psalm is fulfilled in the second one. In the first psalm he multiplies the requests to seven: “give attention” (61:2), “lead me” (61:3), “let me dwell”, “let me take refuge” (61:5), “add” (61:7), “let him sit” and “command” (61:8). In the next psalm, there are no more requests—the imperatives are addressed to the “people” (62:9, 11)—but there are only insistent confessions of faith: “Yes, in God there is rest for my soul [...]; yes, he is my rock” (62:2–3, 6–7, 8). His prayer has been heard. HEARING The verb “to hear” begins the first psalm (61:2) and is repeated at the beginning of its second part (61:6). It is also repeated at the end of the second psalm (62:12), thus marking the boundaries of the sequence. The circle is closed, or rather, it is

258

Forth Section (Ps 61–65)

open, since God’s hearing is matched in the end by the hearing of the psalmist. From another point of view, at the beginning God hears the cry of the one who calls him, at the end he speaks to him, “once”, “twice”. “Once” confirming that he is “the strength” for people and that he keeps his “faithfulness” for them, “twice” inviting them to respond to him through their actions. MY ROCK, MY REFUGE “Rock”, “refuge”, “citadel”, “hope”, “rest”, “salvation”, “glory”, “strength”; in short, eight ways of referring to the Lord, the declension of seven divine names plus one! An overflowing totality, which exceeds the number of requests that the psalmist addresses to him. But all these names are at the same time, and indissolubly, human names, which is well indicated by the possessive, from “my rest” to “my refuge”, literally, “the rest of mine”, “the glory of mine”. These divine names are invented by the psalmist in order to say how his God has bound himself to him, to give him “rest” and “strength”, indeed, to be his salvation and his glory. “TO PAY” At the end of the first psalm, the psalmist promises to “pay” the Lord for the vows he had made (61:9). At the end of the second psalm, it is God who “pays man according to his deeds” (62:13). Man pays the Lord for his deeds and the Lord does the same. This is another way of saying that the faithfulness of the one corresponds to the faithfulness of the other one; that they have made the covenant stands firm, that it is not shaking.

II. GOD QUENCHES THE THIRST OF HIS KING The Second Sequence: Ps 63 The second sequence comprises only one psalm.

PSALM 63 TEXT 1 A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. 2 O God, my God, you (are), I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh languishes for you, in a dry and weary land, without 3 Thus in the sanctuary I contemplated you, water. seeing your strength and your glory, 4 because your faithfulness is better than life; my lips will celebrate you. 5 Thus I will bless you in my life, in your name I will lift up my palms; 6 as with fat and oil my soul will be satisfied, and with lips shouting for joy my mouth will praise. 7 When I think of you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, 8 because you were my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy; 9 my soul clings to you, your right hand supports me. 10 But they seek my soul to destroy (me) they will go down to the depths of the earth. 11 They will be thrown into the hands of the sword, they will be a part of the jackals. 12 And the king will rejoice in God, and all who swear by him will praise, when the mouth of those who speak lies will be shut up.

V. 2A: “O GOD, MY GOD, YOU (ARE), I DESIRE YOU”

The first two words are interpreted here as two juxtaposed vocatives; but some consider them to form a nominal phrase: “God, (you are) my God”, which is grammatically possible.1 These four terms would then have to be considered as formed of two members, which the overall composition of the psalm does not advise. It is impossible to render in a single French word the meaning or connotation of the Hebrew verb, which is from the root šḥr, that of “dawn”. That is why the liturgical translation has “I seek you at the dawn” and the TOB: “At the dawn I desire you”.2 V. 2D: “IN A LAND”

The preposition be means “in”, as in the next member “in the sanctuary”, but some render it here with “as” following several textual witnesses.3

1

See, e.g., Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 119; Vesco, 554; deClaissé-Walford – al., 519; Barbiero, 260. Concerning this psalm see S. PRIETO SILVA, “A la aurora te busco” (Sal 63,2). Estudio exegético-teológico de Salmo 63. 3 Barbiero, 260–261. 2

260

Forth Section (Ps 61–65)

V. 10-12: “THEY WILL GO DOWN [...] THEY WILL BE THROWN [...] THEY WILL BE”

Many translate these imperfect forms of verbs as optatives, which is not necessary.4

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into two parts of equal length (2–6 & 7–12), each comprising two subparts. THE FIRST PART (2–6) + 2 O God, + thirsts

my God, for you,

you (are), MY SOUL,

+ languishes + in a land

for you, dry

my flesh, and weary,

:: 3 Then :: seeing

in the sanctuary your strength

I contemplated you, and your glory,

- 4 because is better - MY LIPS

your faithfulness will celebrate you.

THAN LIFE,

I desire you,

without water.

············································································································································

:: 5 Then :: in your name

I will bless you I will lift up

IN MY LIFE,

- 6 as - will be satisfied - and with LIPS

with fat

and oil

MY SOUL,

shouting for joy,

my palms;

will praise

my mouth.

In the first subpart (2) the psalmist expresses his thirst for God, while he finds himself in a situation or in a place of a great drought.5 Introduced by “then” (3a & 5a),6 the two pieces of the second subpart are situated on the contrary in a different place, “in the sanctuary” (3a). The psalmist’s desire is fulfilled by the vision of God’s glory (3) and his “lips” that were languishing in dryness (2cd) now “celebrate” the Lord (4); his “soul” that was suffering from thirst (2b) is now “satisfied” with delicious food (6ab), and again his “lips” and “mouth” can “praise” God (6c). The two occurrences of “then” play 4 Lorenzin, 248; Vesco, 559; thus the BJ, TOB and the liturgical translation (in contrast to Dhorme, Osty). 5 That is probably the reason why the Masoretic text places the main caesura after the third member. 6 At the beginning of each piece, kēn is often translated as “so/thus”; it seemed that “then” would mark even better the relation between both subparts.

Psalm 63

261

the role of initial terms for the two pieces (3a & 5a), while those of “lips” play the role of final terms (4b & 6c), and those of “life” play the role of median terms (4a & 5a). The two occurrences of “my soul” (2b & 6b) serve as extreme terms for the whole part. THE SECOND PART (7–12) + 7 When I think of you + in the night watches 8

.. because YOU WERE .. and in the shadow

on my bed, I meditate a help

of your wings

on you, to me, I shout for joy;

.. 9 clings .. to me

MY SOUL

to you,

is of support

YOUR RIGHT HAND.

– 10 But they – they will go down

to destroy (me) to the depths

they seek of the earth;

– 11 they will be thrown – a part

INTO THE HANDS

of the sword,

of jackals

THEY WILL BE.

+ 12 And the king + will praise + when will be shut up

will rejoice all who swear the mouth

in God, by him, of those who speak

MY SOUL,

lies.

The two subparts set the psalmist’s situation (7–9) in contrast to the fate of his enemies (10–12). The first segment of the first subpart provides the temporal setting, “in the night watches”, when the psalmist is “on his bed” (7). Two images illustrate his meditation: that of a bird under whose “wings” its young ones find “help” (8) and that of God’s “right hand” which sustains him (9). The second subpart announces the fate of the psalmist’s enemies (10–12), of those who “seek his soul” “to destroy” him, in other words, they are after his life. Their punishment will be proportionate to their crime: they will go down to Sheol (10b), they will become a prey to “the sword” and “jackals” (11), because they will have no burial place. In the last segment the king (12a) is accompanied by all those who swear by the Lord (12b) in the joy of seeing “the mouth” of the liars being stopped (12c). Across the subparts, the two occurrences of “my soul” serve as median terms (9a & 10a). “Your right hand” (9b) corresponds to “the hands” (11a). The verb “to be” occurs in 8a and 11b.

262

Forth Section (Ps 61–65)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

A psalm when he was

of David, in the desert

of Judah.

+ 2 O GOD, + thirsts

MY

GOD, for you

MY SOUL,

+ languishes + in A LAND

for you dry

my flesh, and weary,

:: Then, :: seeing

IN THE SANCTUARY your strength

I contemplate you, and you glory,

- 4 because is better - my lips

your faithfulness than life; will celebrate you.

3

you are,

I desire you,

without water.

············································································································································

:: 5 Then, :: in your name

I will bless you I will lift up

in my life, my palms;

- 6 as - will be satisfied - and with lips

with fat

and oil

MY SOUL,

SHOUTING FOR JOY,

WILL PRAISE

+ 7 When I think of you + in the night watches

ON MY BED, I meditate

on you,

.. 8 because you were .. and in the shadow

a help of your wings

to me, I SHOUT FOR JOY;

.. 9 clings .. to me

MY SOUL

is of support

to you, your right hand.

– 10 But they – they will go down

to destroy me to the depths

they seek of THE EARTH!

– 11 They will be thrown – a part

into the hands of jackals

of the sword, they will be!

+ 12 And the king + WILL PRAISE + when will be shut up

will rejoice all who swear the MOUTH

in GOD; by him, of those who speak

MY MOUTH.

MY SOUL,

lies.

The name of “God” is found only at the extremes (2a & 12a), thus making an inclusion. The two occurrences of “my soul” have the function of extreme terms in the first part (2b & 6b) and of median terms in the second part (9a & 10a); “shouting for joy” is repeated in the median subparts (6c & 8b). The two occurrences of “will praise” and “mouth” play the role of final terms for both parts (6c & 12bc). The same term translated as “land” and “earth” occurs at the end of the first subpart and the beginning of the last subpart (2d & 10b).

Psalm 63

263

The second subpart of the first part is situated “in the sanctuary” (3a), the first subpart of the last part in the psalmist’s house, on his “bed” (7a). If we interpret the first verb as “I seek you at dawn” (2a), the whole of the first part takes place in the morning, and the second part, on the contrary, at night (“on my bed, in the night watches”, 7). The extreme subparts are corresponding to each other: in the first one, the psalmist describes his unhappy situation, “in a dry land...” (2d), in the last one he foresees the misfortune that will befall his enemies who “will go down to the depths of the earth” (10b).

INTERPRETATION If we consider the last three verses as an appendix (63:10–12), if—as the Liturgy of the Hours does it—we leave them out in silence, then we get another psalm, “one of the most beautiful testimonies of the piety of the psalms”,7 an “intimate” psalm8 which sings of the thirst for God and the happiness of being in his presence. And one would tend to forget that the psalmist is not one to one with his Lord. PSALMIST’S MISFORTUNE It is only in the last part where we learn of the miserable situation in which the psalmist finds himself. When he says at the beginning that he is “in a land” that is “dry and thirsty, without water” (63:2d), it is not clear that he is facing people who want to take his life (63:10a). But when, during the night watches, he tells the Lord that he was “a help” to him and that he took refuge in the shadow of his wings (63:8), that “the right hand” of the Lord “sustains” him (63:9), then we understand that he was fiercely attacked, that he was in great danger of being killed. This is confirmed by the following verse: “But they seek my soul to destroy me” (63:10a). THE FATE OF HIS ENEMIES The first two verses of the last subpart (63:10–11) are often interpreted as a request,9 a supplication, even an “imprecation”,10 in which the psalmist expresses the wish that his enemies would be sent to Sheol, that they would die violently and would not find a grave, that they would become prey to scavengers. And that is how the popular French translations present them. Now the verbs are in the same modalities as those of the last verse. The psalmist does not call for the punishment of his enemies, he simply foresees what will certainly happen to them. 7

Weiser, 454; quoted by Barbiero, 262. Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, II, 943. 9 Lorenzin, 253. 10 Vesco, 559–560; S. PRIETO SILVA, “A la aurora te busco” (Sal 63,2). Estudio exegéticoteológico de Salmo 63, 236. 8

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Forth Section (Ps 61–65)

When the king will rejoice, he will do it not at the extermination of his enemies, but at seeing the end to their “lies”.

III. GOD HEARS THE PRAYER AND GIVES REST AND FOOD TO ALL FLESH The Third Sequence: Ps 64–65 1. PSALM 64 TEXT 1 For

the music director, a psalm, of David. 2 Hear, O God, my voice in my complaint, preserve my life from the dread of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter word, 5 to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not fear. 6 They reinforce for themselves a word of evil, they calculate to conceal traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the heart (are) deep. 8 And God will shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their tongue fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men will fear, and will proclaim the work of God, and his deed they will understand; 11 the righteous will rejoice in Yhwh and he will take refuge in him, and all the upright of heart will praise him. V. 4B: “BEND THEIR ARROW”

It is obviously the bow that is bent and not the arrow. The expression is abbreviated.1 V. 6-7: “THEY REINFORCE [...] DEEP”

It is “the most problematic part of the text”.2 These two verses constitute the central part of the psalm. If it is true that the centre of a concentric construction is enigmatic,3 then this law is verified here. Rather than correcting the text, it is better to follow it more closely. V. 9: “AND THEY WILL MAKE THEIR TONGUE FALL ON THEMSELVES”

Verse 4 coordinates the “sword” of “their tongue” and “their arrow”; the “arrow” and “their tongue” are repeated in parallel in 8a and 9a. It is God who shoots “an arrow”, but there are the enemies who cause the blows of “their tongue” to fall on themselves.

1

Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 129–130. Ravasi, II, 295. 3 Traité, 417 = Treatise, 280. 2

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into three parts. In the first part (2–5), the psalmist asks for God’s help against the plans of his enemies; in the last part (8–11), God intervenes against them, which provokes fear and praise. In the central part (6–7), the secret plans of the enemies are reported, around two reflections that they make to themselves. THE FIRST PART (2–5) + 2 HEAR, + from the dread

O God, of the enemy

my voice

– from the tumult

of the workers

of iniquity,

– 4 who – bend

sharpen their arrow,

like a sword word,

– 5 to shoot – unexpectedly

FROM THE HIDING PLACE

at the perfect one, and they do not fear.

in my complaint,

PRESERVE my life. ····························································································································· + 3 HIDE ME from the designs of the wicked,

they shoot

their tongue, a bitter one,

The first piece (2) juxtaposes two complementary phrases, the first one concerning the psalmist in his relationship with God, the second one in relation to his “enemy”. The second piece (3–5) is a single complex phrase that takes up and expands on the second member of the first piece. The “enemy” of 2b is now in the plural, “the wicked”, “the workers of iniquity” (3). The second segment compares their “tongue” to “a sword” and their “speech” to an “arrow” (4), and the third segment speaks of the hypocrisy of those who shoot “from the hiding place” (5a). This last term forms an inclusion with “hide me” at the beginning of the piece (3a). THE SECOND PART (6–7) – 6 They reinforce – they calculate

: They say: “Who

for themselves to conceal

a word traps.

will see

these?”

of evil,

···········································································································

: 7 They plan “We have perfected

perversities: a plan

– And the inward part – and the heart

of man (are) deep.

planned.”

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267

The second member of the first segment tells how they reinforce their “word of evil” (6a): by hiding it as one hides traps (6b). And what they “say” is that no one will be able to see it (6cd). The second piece (7) corresponds to the first piece (6) in a mirrored fashion. It begins with words that confirm those that have just been pronounced: we understand that the “perversities” that they have “planned” (7b) are those of “traps” (6b). The part concludes with a kind of saying (7cd) that comments on the initial segment (6ab): the heart of man is truly “deep,” where so many projects are conceived which are as tortuous as those that aim at bringing death to others, dressed in lies which intend to conceal them. THE THIRD PART (8–11) + 8 And will shoot – unexpectedly

GOD will be

+ 9 and they will make fall on themselves – will shake the head ALL who see

an arrow, their wounds; their tongue, them.

·································································································· 10

:: And will fear - and will proclaim - and his deed

ALL

men, the work they will understand;

- 11 will rejoice - and he will take refuge :: and will praise him

the righteous in him, ALL the upright

of GOD, in YHWH of heart.

The two segments of the first piece are parallel (8–9): their first members tell of the strokes received by the enemies, the first one “shot” by “God” like an “arrow” (8a), the second one coming from themselves, the sword of “their tongue” (9a, see 4a) falling on them. In the second members, the consequence of the strokes received: sudden “wounds” for themselves (8b), “shaking of the head” over them by those who will see them (9b). The second piece (10–11) comprises two trimembers which can be considered as mirror images of each other. At the extremities, “fear” and “praise” on the part of “all”; in between, what “all men” will do (10bc) and “the righteous” who is saved (11b), both actions are in relation to “God”, “Yhwh” (10b & 11a). The two occurrences of “all” form an inclusion for the second piece (10a & 11c), but “all” is already present at the end of the first piece and its two occurrences in 9b and 10a play the role of median terms linking both pieces. The name “God” at the beginning of the first piece (8a) is repeated in symmetrical positions in the second piece “God” (10b), “Yhwh” (11a).

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, 2

Hear, from the dread

a psalm

of David.

O GOD, of the enemy

my voice preserve

in my complaint, my life.

··································································································································· 3

Hide me from the tumult

4

who bend 5

to SHOOT UNEXPECTEDLY 6

They reinforce they calculate

OF THE WORKERS

from the designs

of the wicked, of iniquity,

sharpen their ARROW,

like a sword word,

from the hiding place AT THE PREFECT ONE, and they do not

THEY SHOOT

for themselves to conceal

a word traps.

THEIR TONGUE,

a bitter one, FEAR.

of evil,

They say: “Who

WILL SEE these?” ·····················································································································

7

They plan “WE HAVE PERFECTED

And the inward part and the heart 8

And WILL SHOOT UNEXPECTEDLY

perversities: a plan

planned.”

of man are deep. GOD will be

9

and they will make fall on themselves will shake the head all who SEE

an ARROW, their wounds; THEIR TONGUE,

them.

······························································································································· 10 AND WILL FEAR all men,

and will proclaim and his deed

THE WORK

11

the righteous in him, all the upright

will rejoice and he will take refuge and will praise him

of GOD,

they will understand; in YHWH of heart.

The name “God” marks the beginning of the extreme parts (2a & 8a), but returns in 10b coupled with “Yhwh” in 11a. The verb “to shoot” and “unexpectedly” occur in 5 and 8, playing the role of median terms at a distance. The pair “their tongue” and “arrow” of 4a and 4b returns in 8a and 9a. “The workers” and “the work” are found in 3b and 10b, “fear” in 5b and 10a. Relations of the central part with the preceding one: “word of evil” (6a) recalls “word, a bitter one” (4b), “conceal” (6b) is synonymous with “hide” and “hiding

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269

place” (3a & 5a), “we have perfected” (7b) is of the same root as “the perfect one” (5a). “Will see” (6d) announces “see them” of the last part (9b).

CONTEXT THE WORD THAT KILLS The weapons used by “the wicked”, “sword” and “arrow”, are their “words” (4b & 6a). The decalogue draws a parallel between homicide and the lies that lead to it: You shall not kill. You shall not bear false witness against you neighbour. (Exod 20:13, 16)4

THE WEAPON THAT TURNS AGAINST THOSE WHO WIELD IT It is frequently found that the evil conceived against another person falls on the perpetrators. They fall into the trap they were digging; they are caught in the net they have spread (Ps 7:16–17; 9:16–17; 35:8).

INTERPRETATION DREAD OF HIDDEN DANGER There is a reason for feeling a “dread of the enemy” (64:2b). But when one cannot identify the perpetrators of the violence that targets the “life” of the victim, because they are hiding to shoot the arrows of their slander, the fear is redoubled, exacerbated. The “words” of such adversaries are obviously not addressed to those they want to strike, but to others who are equally unknown. The victim knows about being in a mortal danger but does not know where the blows may come from. The “traps” set for the victim are so well “hidden” that no one can see them (64:6), and the hunters can justifiably congratulate themselves on their perverse “planning” (64:7). PERVERSION OF WORDS The word is made to ensure communication between people. It also ensures the relationship with God and that is what the psalmist does when he is asking him to “hear” his “voice” (64:2a). Now his “complaint” is that his “enemy” has perverted the word. The enemy does not ask him any questions, does not ask him for any explanations, does not reproach him, does not speak to him. But he does not remain silent. His tongue becomes a sword that kills, his word an arrow that pierces, but indirectly, without being seen. It is therefore a word addressed to 4

See R. MEYNET, Appelés à la liberté, 102–104.

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

others in order to set them against the innocent, “the perfect one”. If one wants to strike the innocent one must therefore defame him. In order to kill, it is necessary to add lies. REVERSAL OF WORDS The last part first announces how the evil word will turn against those who spoke it. They shot their “arrow” “unexpectedly” (64:5); “unexpectedly” they will be wounded by the “arrow” which God “will shoot” at them (64:8). And the Lord will not even need to intervene, since it is quite natural that the evil itself will fall on their heads (64:9a). As for “the righteous” who will be saved, he “will rejoice” (64:11), “the voice” of “his complaint” (64:2) will be transformed into praise (64:11), but he will not be alone as during his misfortune; now he is surrounded by “all men” (64:10) who will see what happens to him, “all the upright of heart” (64:11). Together they “will proclaim” what God has done for him and everything will end in praise.

2. PSALM 65 TEXT 1 For

the music director, a psalm of David, a song. 2 To you silence is praise, O God in Zion, and to you the vow is fulfilled. 3 You hear the prayer, all flesh comes to you. 4 The words of faults are mightier than I, our transgressions, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy (is) the one you choose and the one you bring near, he dwells in your courts; we are satisfied with the goodness of your house, with the holiness of your Temple. 6 By wonders of righteousness you answer us, O God of our salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by his strength, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And the inhabitants of the ends will fear your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make (them) shout for joy. 10 You visit the earth and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of God is full of water, you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers, you bless its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with oil; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat, they acclaim, more, they sing! V. 2: “SILENCE”

The Septuagint has “to be fitting”, “to be proper”, “to be suitable” (thus the BJ, Osty and the TOB). We follow the more difficult reading of the Masoretic text.1 V. 3B: “COMES”

The Hebrew text has the plural, depending on the meaning of “all flesh”. V. 4: “THE WORDS OF FAULTS ARE STRONGER THAN I”

The first word (dābar, in the plural) is ambiguous: it can mean “words” or “deeds”, “business”.2 Some omit it.3 Several Hebrew manuscripts and versions have the plural (“stronger than we”), as in the rest of the psalm. The Masoretic text has the singular “I”, which we will follow. This singular is understood as that of the psalmist who, in this way, “signs” his text, but immediately he shows solidarity with all his people.

1

Vesco, 568–569. See also Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 138. They point out the relation between the “silence” of 65:2 (dumiyyâ) and the “refrains” of Ps 62:2, 8, “Yes, in God there is rest (dumiyyâ) for my soul...” 2 Ravasi (II, 299) translates it as “the guilty deeds”. 3 Lorenzin, 257.

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into three parts. The first part (2–5) is a praise for the goodness of the Lord in his Temple. The last part (10–14) is another praise for the goodness he shows through the rain that fertilises the earth. The central part (6–9) links the other two. THE FIRST PART (2–5) + 2 To you + O God + and to you

silence in Zion, is fulfilled

+ 3 You hear + to you

the prayer, all flesh

(is) praise, the vow. comes.

····························································································································

– 4 The words – our transgressions,

of faults as for you,

are mightier you cover them.

than I,

····························································································································

+ 5 Happy + he dwells

the one you choose in your courts;

and the one you bring near,

+ we are satisfied + with the holiness

with the goodness of your Temple.

of your house,

The first segment (2) is constructed concentrically. At the end of the first members of the two segments of the first piece (2a & 3a), “prayer” (t epillâ, 3a) corresponds to “praise” (t ehillâ, 2a). Together with “the vow”, they refer to the works of worship. The last piece (5) focuses more on the place, “courts”, “house”, “Temple”; the two extreme pieces seem to distinguish between two types of personages, those who, as priests and Levites, live in the Temple, and “us”, namely those who benefit from the sacrifices of communion, those who are satisfied with “holy” things. The part is thus focusing on the forgiveness of sins (4). THE SECOND PART (6–9) The first terms of the extreme pieces derive from the same root (yr’): “wonders” (6a) are facts that provoke “fear” (tremenda, 9a). The extreme pieces are corresponding to each other in a mirrored fashion: both, the second member of the final piece (9b) and the first segment of the first piece (6ab), have God as their subject (“you answer us” in 6a, “you make [them] shout for joy” in 9b), while “confidence” of “the ends of the earth” (6cd) gives way to the “fear” of “the inhabitants of the ends” (9a). At the centre (7–8), a piece in a hymnal style, where the participles proper to this style are translated as “He who sets [...] he who girds himself [...] he who calms”.

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273

The Lord is presented as the one who dominates not only “the mountains” (7ab) and “the seas” (8ab), but also, at the end, “the peoples” (8c) + 6 BY WONDERS + O God – confidence – and of THE SEA

of righteousness of our salvation;

you answer us,

of all THE ENDS afar off.

of the earth

································································································································

:: 7 He who prepares the mountains :: he who girds himself with might;

by his strength,

:: 8 he who calms :: the roaring :: and the noise

OF THE SEAS,

the roaring of their waves, of the peoples.

································································································································ the inhabitants OF THE ENDS your signs,

– 9 AND WILL FEAR + the gateways

of the morning

and the evening you make shout for joy.

The last segment of the first piece prepares for the next piece, earth (6c) announces mountains (7a) and the sea (6d) announces the seas (8a). THE THIRD PART (10–14) + 10 YOU HAVE VISITED + greatly

the earth you enrich it.

and you make it abound,

+ The stream + you prepare

of God their grain

is full because thus

of water, you prepare it:

+ 11 watering + with showers

its furrows, you soften it,

levelling its seed

its ridges, you bless.

································································································································

= 12 YOU HAVE CROWNED = and your tracks

the year overflow

with your goodness with oil,

= 13 overflow = and in joy

the pastures the hills

of the desert are wrapped;

= 14 are clothed = and the valleys = they acclaim,

the meadows are mantled more, they sing!

with flocks with wheat,

In the first piece (10–11), God’s visit is that of the spring rain allowing the “grain” (10d) to become “seed” (11b). The second piece (12–14) describes the result of the rain: rich harvests (12), “pastures” “overflowing” (13), and finally the herds and the “wheat” (14ab). The description ends with the acclamation and singing of the whole countryside (14c).

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM The name “God” appears three times, at the beginning of each part (65:2b, 6b, 10c). The lexical repetitions between the three parts are just few: “are mightier” (65:4a) echoes “with might” (65:7b), “the goodness” of the Temple (ṭûb, 65:5c) corresponds to “the goodness” of the Lord in the nature (ṭôbâ, 65:12a). “The earth” occurs in 65:6c, 10a, the verb “to prepare” of 65:7a is repeated twice in 65:10d. It may be pointed out that each part ends in joy, when the faithful “are satisfied with the goodness” of the house of God (65:5cd), when the Lord “makes the morning and evening gates shout for joy” (65:9b), when at the end all the nature exults in joy. CONTEXT “NO SPEECH AND NO WORDS” According to Psalm 19, the nature “recounts the glory of God” (19:1–2), but in silence: “No speech and no words without hearing their voice” (19:4–5). Moreover, this psalm draws a parallel between the silent word of nature (19:2–7) and that of the “Law” (19:8–12); furthermore, the psalmist requests to be preserved from sin (19:13–14). INTERPRETATION THE ENIGMA OF “SILENCE” (65:2A) The first lexeme of the psalm is striking. And we can understand why, since the ancient versions, the text is being smoothed. But “getting rid of the rough edges of a text is the surest way to make it slip through your fingers”.4 The enigma can be seen as redoubled by the fact that we can understand either “silence is praise” or “praise is silence”. Ps 19 invites us to retain the difficult reading of the Hebrew text. And the last two words of the psalm, “they acclaim, more, they sing” (65:14c), seem to echo it. It is all the nature, irrigated and fertilised by the celestial waters, which, without uttering a word, acclaims and sings to the Lord. The same applies to “the gateways of the morning and the evening” (65:9b), which, at the end of the central part are made by the Lord to shout for joy: these two gateways resemble the “sun” of Ps 19, which traverses the sky from one end to the other, from sunrise to sunset. Silent jubilation, but so eloquent! God “answers”, but he does so through “wonders” (65:6a) and “signs” (65:9a); and they bring “confidence” and “fear” to “the ends” of the earth (65:6c, 9a), without words, as it seems, for God “calms” not only “the roaring of the seas” but also “the noise of the people” (65:8). He silences them, he makes them enter into silence. 4

According to Paul Beauchamp, oral statement.

Psalm 65 1

For the music director, a psalm

of David,

2

is praise,

To you O GOD, and to you

silence in Zion, is fulfilled

3

the prayer, all flesh

You hear to you

275 a song.

the vow. comes.

································································································································ 4 The words of faults ARE MIGHTIER than I,

our transgressions,

as for you,

you cover them.

································································································································ 5

Happy is he dwells

the one you choose in your courts;

and the one you bring near,

we are satisfied with the holiness

WITH THE GOODNESS

of your house,

6

By wonders O GOD the confidence and of the sea

of your Temple. of righteousness of our salvation,

you answer us,

of all the ends afar off.

of THE EARTH

·························································································································· 7 He who PREPARES the mountains by his strength, he who girds himself WITH MIGHT, 8

he who calms the roaring and the noise

the roaring of their waves, of the peoples.

of the seas,

·························································································································· 9

And will fear the gateways

10

the inhabitants of the morning

of the ends your signs; and the evening you make shout for joy.

You visit greatly

THE EARTH

The stream you PREPARE

of GOD their grain,

is full because thus

of water, you PREPARE it:

11

its furrows, you soften it,

levelling its seed

its ridges, you bless.

watering with showers

and you make it abound,

you enrich it.

································································································································ You crown the year WITH YOUR GOODNESS

12

and your tracks

overflow

with oil;

13

overflow and in joy

the pastures the hills

of the desert are wrapped;

14

the meadows are mantled more, they sing!

with flocks, with wheat,

are clothed and the valleys they acclaim,

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

As for the first part, it cannot be stated that “prayer” (65:3) makes much noise. There is no mention, as elsewhere, of “voice”, “supplication”, and definitely there is no “cry”. And the psalmist does not say that he is addressing his Lord. “A SONG” The last word of the title and the last word of the psalm itself derive from the same root: “a song” (65:1) and “to sing” (65:14c). The penultimate word of the psalm, translated as “acclaim”, means “to shout”, “to explode (with joy)”; this term is also used for the battle cry. In short, an inarticulate cry, without words. Like the song of the rain, of the pastures, of the meadows and of the valleys. The same is true of the jubilation of the morning and evening gateways (65:9b). As for the ending of the first part, the happiness it expresses is that of one who is simply “happy” to dwell in the Temple, to enjoy the goodness of God’s house, to be “satisfied” with it (65:5). It is noon. The church is open. I must go in. Mother of our Lord, I have not come to pray. I have nothing to give and nothing to ask. I am here, my lady, only to look at you. To look at you, to cry for joy, to know. That I am your son and you are there. Only for one moment when everything stops. Noon! To be with you, Mary, in this place where you are. To say nothing, to look at your face, To let my heart sing in its own language, To say nothing, but simply to sing because my heart is too full, Like the blackbird which repeats its idea in that species of swift couplets.5

“THE WORDS OF FAULTS” (65:4A) The expression “the words of faults” is puzzling. Some render it as “the deeds of sin”, others simply drop the first word. Given the context and what has just been discussed about silence and singing, the term “words” certainly draws attention. It might be understood that these are “faulty words”, the faults of someone who, as we say it in the Confiteor, has sinned in “word”. This kind of fault does not only concern slander or calumny aimed at harming one’s neighbour; it can also concern words addressed to God in prayer. The fault can creep in stealthily. It is even possible to say that it inevitably finds its way in, so deficient are human words in speaking of God, and particularly in speaking to God. The same is true concerning supplication, “for we do not know how to pray as we 5

P. CLAUDEL, “The Virgin at Noon”.

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ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with ineffable groaning” (Rom 8:26). What then can we say concerning our praise, in which the words will always fall short of the greatness and majesty of God? That is probably the reason why the psalm begins with these words: “To you silence is praise, praise is silence” (Ps 65:2a).

3. GOD HEARS THE PRAYER AND GIVES REST AND FOOD TO ALL FLESH (PS 64–65) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 64 1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 HEAR, O GOD, my voice in my complaint, preserve my life from the dread of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter WORD, 5 to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they DO NOT FEAR. 6 They

reinforce for themselves an evil WORD, they calculate to conceal traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the heart are deep.

8 And GOD

will shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their tongue fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men WILL FEAR and will proclaim the work of GOD and his deed they will understand; 11 the righteous will rejoice in YHWH and he will take refuge in him; and all the upright of heart WILL PRAISE him. Ps 65 1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song. 2 To you silence is PRAISE, O GOD in Zion, and to you the vow is fulfilled. 3 YOU HEAR the prayer, all flesh comes to you. 4 The WORDS of faults are mightier than I, our transgressions, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy is the one you choose and the one you bring near, he dwells in your courts; we are satisfied with the goodness of your house, with the holiness of your Temple. wonders of righteousness you answer us, O GOD of our salvation, THE CONFIDENCE of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by his strength, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And the inhabitants of the ends WILL FEAR your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make them shout for joy.

6 By

10 You

visit the earth and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of GOD is full of water, you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers, you bless its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with oil; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat, they acclaim, more, they sing!

– The two occurrences of the verb “to hear” act as initial terms, but while in the first instance it is an imperative (64:2), in the second instance it is a participle (translated here as a present indicative, 65:3); in the first occurrence it occupies the very first position, in the second occurrence it is found in the second position, after mentioning “silence” (65:2); – The first psalm is a “complaint” that begins with three requests in the imperative (64:2–3); the second psalm, on the contrary, contains no requests, but only affirmations of faith; – The initial request of the first psalm, in which the psalmist asks God to “hear” him (64:1), corresponds to his affirmation at the beginning of the central part of the next psalm: “you answer us” (65:6);

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– In final terms, two pairs of terms are belonging to the same semantic field: “will rejoice” and “will praise” (64:11), “they acclaim, more, they sing” (65:14); – The words “will praise” and “praise” (64:11; 65:2) serve as median terms; – “Bitter word” and “evil word” in the first psalm (64:4, 6) are equivalent to “the words of faults” in the second psalm (65:4), but in the first case they are the words of enemies, and in the second case the words of those addressing God in their “prayer”; – In the first psalm “And all men will fear” (64:10) is opposed to the wicked who “do not fear” (64:5); in the second psalm “And the inhabitants of the ends will fear” (65:9) corresponds to “the confidence of all the ends of the earth” (65:6); – “God” occurs three times in each psalm (64:2, 8, 10; 65:2, 6, 10), and “Yhwh” appears only once at the end of the first psalm (64:11).

INTERPRETATION COMPLAINT AND A SILENT PRAISE The initial “complaint” against “the enemy” (64:2–3), whose actions are denounced at length (64:4–7) and whose punishment is foretold (64:8–9), as well as the joy of the righteous (64:11) and the testimony of all the others (64:10), are followed by a silent “praise”, which does not need words: it is enough that “the vow” made by the psalmist is fulfilled (65:2). In short, praise in action. The praise of the nature visited by God (65:10–14) is even more silent than that of the psalmist: its components “acclamation” and “singing” without words that can be heard. EVIL WORDS The second psalm does not limit itself to “silence”, which is emphasised from the very first word (65:2). Very soon it speaks of “words of faults” (65:4). These are no longer the words of “the wicked” denounced twice in the previous psalm (64:4, 6), words sharpened like a “sword”, shot secretly like an “arrow”, to kill. In the second psalm the enemies have disappeared altogether and what now is “mightier” than those who pray are their “words of faults” (65:4). The evil that the psalmist saw in others is now discovered in himself, and in all the people with whom he is now merged. However, what dominates his speech is not sin but God’s forgiveness. Placed at the heart of the first part, forgiveness is certainly not the least of the reasons for praise. THE FEAR OF GOD On the one hand, there are the enemies of the psalmist who, with their tongue sharpened like a sword, shoot their arrows at him without the least fear (64:4–5). They hunt him like an animal preyed upon, having set well-concealed traps for

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him (64:6–7). But it is God who will wound them with his arrow, and what their tongue has plotted will fall on them. And then after witnessing this, “all men will fear” (64:10). And praising God, they will proclaim everywhere what they have seen and understood. The second psalm goes even further, for people from “all the ends of the earth” will see “the wonders” and “the signs “done by God (65:6), who “with his strength” and “might” keeps the whole creation in order, separating the mountains and the seas, and calming “the noise of the peoples” (65:7–8), of those who do not respect “righteousness” and “salvation” (65:6). Such fear has nothing to do with being afraid, it is the manifestation of admiration, and it is possible to consider that the acclamation and song that still continue after the last words (65:14) are not only sung by the elements of nature in its springtime, but also by all those who have seen the wonders of God and have been their happy beneficiaries.

IV. THE LORD WHO HEARS THE PRAYER GIVES REST (PS 61–65) 1. COMPOSITION OF THE FOURTH SECTION The five psalms of the section are organised into three sequences; while each of the extreme sequences contains two psalms, the central sequence has only one:

GOD HEARS THE PRAYER

AND GIVES REST AND SALVATION

TO HIS KING

GOD QUENCHES THE THIRST OF HIS KING

GOD HEARS THE PRAYER

AND GIVES REST AND FOOD

Ps 61–62

Ps 63

TO ALL FLESH

Ps 64–65

Each of the extreme sequences has been analysed and commented on above (see p. 256–258 and p. 278–280). As to verify the coherence of the section, we will first study the connections between the extreme sequences (Ps 61–62 and Ps 64–65), then those between the first two sequences (Ps 61–62 and Ps 63) and those between the last two (Ps 63 and Ps 64–65), and finally those between all three sequences.

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RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 61–62 AND PS 64–65) Ps 61 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, of David.

O GOD, my cry, give attention to my PRAYER, 3 FROM THE END OF THE EARTH I call to you, my HEART faints: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 4 Yes, you are a REFUGE for me, a tower of STRENGTH before the face of the enemy; 5 let me dwell in your tent forever, LET ME TAKE REFUGE in the hiding of your wings! 2 HEAR,

6 Yes, you,

O GOD, YOU HEAR my VOWS, you give the inheritance of those WHO FEAR your name. 7 Add days to days of the king, his years like generation after generation; 8 let him sit forever before the face of God, command faithfulness and loyalty to guard him. 9 Then I will sing psalms to your name forever, fulfilling my VOWS day after day. Ps 62 1 For the music director, according to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. 2 Yes,

in God there is REST for my soul, from him comes my salvation; 3 yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all. 4 How long will you assail a man, will you slaughter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a crumbling fence? 5 Yes, they have plotted to topple him from his heigh position, they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth and inwardly they curse. 6 Yes, REST, in God, O my soul, because my hope comes from him; 7 yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken. 8 On

God (rests) my salvation and my glory; the rock of MY STRENGTH, my REFUGE is in God. in him at all times, you people, pour out your HEART before him, God is a REFUGE for us! 10 Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a lie, the sons of man; on the scales they were going up, they are together lighter than a breath. 11 DO NOT TRUST in violence, in robbery do not become breathless; in riches when they increase do not set your HEART on them! 12 Once God has spoken, twice HAVE I HEARD this: “that STRENGTH belongs to God, 13 and to you, Adonai, faithfulness, that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds”. 9 TRUST

Initial terms: “Hear, O God” occurs at the beginning of the sequences (61:2; 64:2); the same verb is also found close to the beginning of the last psalm (65:3). “Prayer” is repeated at the beginning of the extreme psalms (61:2; 65:3). In addition, in initial terms of the second psalms, the repetition of dumiyyâ, translated until now as “rest” (62:2; with the verb “to rest” in 62:6) and as “silence” (65:2), but which will henceforth be rendered by the same term “rest”. In the first psalms: Besides the initial terms, in both psalms there is a “cry”, a “complaint” against “the enemy” (61:4; 64:2). “He will take refuge” (64:11) recalls “refuge” and “let me take refuge” (61:4, 5); “to fear” (61:6; 64:5, 10) and “heart” (61:3; 64:7, 11) are also found. Finally, the two psalms end in thanksgiving: “I will sing psalms”, “fulfilling my vows” (61:9), “the righteous will rejoice”, “they upright of heart will praise him” (64:11). In the second psalms: In addition to the initial terms, we notice the repetition of “salvation” (62:2, 3, 7, 8; 65:6), “trust” and “confidence” (62:9, 11; 65:6), “blessing” (62:5; 65:11), “people/s” (62:9; 65:8). It should also be pointed out that these are the only two psalms in which the “we/us” is found: in the address to the

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“people” at the centre of the second part of the first psalm (62:9–11) and throughout the second one (Ps 65), where the first person singular never appears. In the extreme psalms: “the end of the earth”, “all the ends of the earth”, “the ends” (61:3; 65:6, 9), “in your tent”, “in the hiding of your wings”, “in your courts”, “your house”, “your Temple” (61:5; 65:5), “to fulfil” “vow/s” (61:6, 9; 65:2). Ps 64 1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 HEAR, O GOD, my voice in my complaint, preserve my life from the dread of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter word, 5 to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not FEAR. 6 They

reinforce for themselves a word of evil, they calculate to conceal traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the HEART are deep.

8 And God will

shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their tongue fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men WILL FEAR and will proclaim the work of God, and his deed they will understand. 11 The righteous will rejoice in Yhwh and HE WILL TAKE REFUGE in him; and all the upright of HEART will praise him. Ps 65 1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.

you REST is praise, O God in Zion, and to you the VOW is fulfilled. 3 YOU HEAR the PRAYER, all flesh comes to you. 4 The words of faults are mightier than I, our transgressions, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy is the one you have chosen and the one you have brought near, he dwells in your courts; we are satisfied with the goodness of your house, with the holiness of your Temple. 2 To

6 By

wonders of righteousness you answer us, O God of our salvation, THE CONFIDENCE of ALL THE and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by HIS STRENGTH, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And THE INHABITANTS OF THE ENDS WILL FEAR your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make them shout for joy. ENDS OF THE EARTH

10 You

visit the earth and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of God is full of water, you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers you bless its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with oil; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat, they acclaim, more, they sing!

Other lexical repetitions: “heart” (61:3; 62:9, 11; 64:7, 11); “refuge” and “to take refuge” (61:4, 5; 62:9; 64:11), “strength” (61:4; 62:8, 12; 65:7), “to fear” (61:6; 64:5, 10; 65:9).

284

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FIRST TWO SEQUENCES (PS 61–62 AND PS 63) Ps 61 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, of David. 2 Hear, O God, my cry, give attention to my prayer, 3 from the end of the EARTH I call to you, my heart faints: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 4 Yes, you are a refuge for me, a tower of STRENGTH before the face of the enemy; 5 let me dwell in your tent forever, let me take refuge in the hiding of your wings! wings 6 Yes, you, O God, you hear

my vows, you give the inheritance of those who fear your name. 7 Add days to days of THE KING, his years like generation after generation; 8 let him sit forever before the face of God, command FAITHFULNESS and loyalty to guard him. 9 Then I will sing psalms to your name forever, fulfilling my vows day after day. Ps 62 1 For the music director, according to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. 2 Yes, in God there is rest for my soul, from him comes my salvation; 3 yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all. 4 How long will you assail a man, will you slaughter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a crumbling fence? 5 Yes, they have plotted to topple him from his heigh position, they delight in LIES; they bless with their MOUTH and inwardly they curse. 6 Yes, rest in God, O my soul, because my hope comes from him; 7 yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken. 8 On

God rests my salvation and my GLORY; the rock of my STRENGTH, my refuge is in God. in him at all times, you people, pour out your heart before him, God is a refuge for us! 10 Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a LIE, the sons of man; on the scales they were going up, they are together lighter than a breath. 11 Do not trust in violence, in robbery do not become breathless; in riches when they increase do not set your heart on them! 12 Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this: “that STRENGTH belongs to God, 13 and to you, Adonai, FAITHFULNESS, that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds”. 9 Trust

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Ps 63 1 A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. 2 O God, my God, you are, I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh languishes for you, in a dry and weary LAND, without water. 3 Thus in the sanctuary sanctuary I contemplated you, seeing your STRENGTH and your GLORY, 4 because your FAITHFULNESS is better than life; my lips will celebrate you. 5 Thus I will bless you in my life, in your name I will lift up my palms; 6 as with fat and oil my soul will be satisfied, and with lips shouting for joy my MOUTH will praise. 7 When

I think of you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, 8 because you were my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy; 9 my soul clings to you, your right hand supports me. 10 But they seek my soul to destroy me, they will go down to the depths of the EARTH. 11 They will be thrown into the hands of the sword, they will be a part of the jackals. 12 And THE KING will rejoice in God, and all who swear by him will praise, when the MOUTH of those who speak LIES will be shut up.

Between the extreme psalms (Ps 61 and 63) – In initial terms, “my heart faints” (61:3) announces “my flesh languishes” (63:2; the verbs are almost synonymous); – The terms “in your tent” and “in the hiding of your wings” (61:5) announce “in the sanctuary” and “in the shadow of your wings” (63:3, 8); – “Your name” occurs in 61:6, 9 and 63:5; – “The king” is repeated in 61:7 and 63:12; – The same Hebrew word translated as “earth” and “land” occurs at the beginning of each psalm (61:3; 63:2). Between the last two psalms (Ps 62 and 63) – “Glory” is repeated in 62:8 and 63:3; – “Lie/s” occurs in 62:5, 10 and 63:12; – “My soul” is found (62:2, 6 and 63:2, 6, 9, 10); – The word “mouth” is found in 62:5 and 63:6, 12; – The verb “to bless” is repeated in 62:5 and 63:5; – “Strength” occurs in 62:8, 12 and 63:3. In all three psalms (Ps 61–63) – “Faithfulness” occurs in 61:8; 62:13 and 63:4.

286

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE LAST TWO SEQUENCES (PS 63 AND PS 64–65) Ps 63 1 A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. 2 O God, my God, you are, I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my FLESH languishes for you, in a dry and weary LAND, without WATER. 3 Thus in the sanctuary sanctuary I contemplated you, seeing your STRENGTH and your glory. 4 because your faithfulness is better than LIFE; my lips will celebrate you. 5 Thus I will bless you in my LIFE, in your name I will lift up my palms; 6 as with fat and OIL my soul WILL BE SATISFIED, and with lips shouting for joy my mouth WILL PRAISE. 7 When

I think of you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, 8 because you were my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy; 9 my soul clings to you, your right hand supports me. 10 But they seek my soul to destroy me, they will come to the depths of the EARTH. 11 They will be thrown into the hands of the sword, they will be a part of the jackals. 12 And the king WILL REJOICE in God, and all who swear by him WILL PRAISE, when the mouth of those who speak lies will be shut up.

Between the extreme psalms (Ps 63 and 65) – The same Hebrew term translated as “land” in 63:2 and as “earth” in 65:10 is pairing in both instances with “water”; the severe drought of the beginning of the central psalm (63:2) is opposed by the generous rain at the end of the final psalm (65:10–14); – “In the sanctuary”, “in the shadow of your wings” (63:3, 8), “your palaces”, “your house”, “your temple” (65:5); – “To bless” occurs in 63:5 and 65:11; – “Strength” (63:3; 65:7); – “To satisfy” (63:6; 65:5); – “Flesh” (63:2; 65:3); – “To come” (63:10; 65:3). Between the first two psalms (Ps 63 and 64) – “Life” (63:4, 5; 64:2); – “Sword” (63:11; 64:4); – “To rejoice” in final terms (63:12; 64:11). In all three psalms (Ps 63–65) – “Praise” and “to praise” (63:6, 12; 64:11; 65:2); – “To speak” and “word”: “those who speak lies” (63:12), “bitter word”, “word of evil” (64:4, 6), “the words of faults” (65:4).

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Ps 64 1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 Hear, O God, my voice in my complaint, preserve my LIFE from the dread of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter word, 5 to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not fear. word of evil, they calculate to conceal traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the heart are deep.

6 They reinforce for themselves a

8 And God will

shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their tongue fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men will fear, and will proclaim the work of God, and his deed they will understand. 11 The righteous WILL REJOICE in Yhwh and he will take refuge in him, and all the upright of heart WILL PRAISE him. Ps 65 1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song. 2 To you rest is PRAISE, O God in Zion, and to you the vow is fulfilled. 3 You hear the prayer, all FLESH comes to you. 4 The words of faults are mightier than I, our transgressions, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy is the one you have chosen and the one you have brought near, he dwells in your courts; courts WE ARE SATISFIED with the goodness of your house, house with the holiness of your Temple. Temple 6 By

wonders of righteousness you answer us, O God of our salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the EARTH and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by his STRENGTH, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And the inhabitants of the ends will fear your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make them shout for joy.

10 You

visit the EARTH and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of God is full of you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers you bless its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with OIL; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat, they acclaim, more, they sing! WATER,

288

Fourth Section (Ps 61–65)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE THREE SEQUENCES (PS 61–62; PS 63; PS 64–65) Ps 61 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, of David. 2 Hear, O GOD, my cry, give attention to my prayer, 3 from the end of the EARTH I call to you, my heart faints: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 4 Yes, you are a refuge for me, a tower of STRENGTH before the face of the enemy; 5 let me dwell IN YOUR TENT forever, let me take refuge IN THE HIDING OF YOUR WINGS! 6 Yes, you, O God, you hear

my vows, you give the inheritance of those who fear your name. 7 Add days to days of the king, his years like generation after generation; 8 let him sit forever before the face of God, command faithfulness and loyalty to guard him. 9 Then I will sing psalms to your name forever, fulfilling my vows day after day. Ps 62 1 For the music director, according to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. 2 Yes, in GOD there is rest for my soul, from him comes my salvation; 3 yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all. 4 How long will you assail a man, will you slaughter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a crumbling fence? 5 Yes, they have plotted to topple him from his heigh position, they delight in lies; THEY BLESS with their mouth and inwardly they curse. 6 Yes, rest in God, O my soul, because my hope comes from him; 7 yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken. 8 On

God rests my salvation and my glory; the rock of my STRENGTH, my refuge is in God. in him at all times, you people, pour out your heart before him, God is a refuge for us! 10 Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a lie, the sons of man; on the scales they were going up, they are together lighter than a breath. 11 Do not trust in violence, in robbery do not become breathless; in riches when they increase do not set your heart on them! 12 Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this: “that STRENGTH belongs to God, 13 and to you, Adonai, faithfulness, that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds”. 9 Trust

Ps 63 1 A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. 2 O GOD, my GOD, you are, I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh languishes for you, in a dry and weary LAND, without water. 3 Thus IN THE SANCTUARY I contemplated you, seeing your STRENGTH and your glory. 4 because your faithfulness is better than life; my lips will celebrate you. 5 Thus I WILL BLESS YOU in my life, in your name I will lift up my palms; 6 as with fat and oil my soul will be satisfied, and with lips shouting for joy my mouth will praise. 7 When

I think of you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, 8 because you were my help, and IN THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS I shout for joy; 9 my soul clings to you, your right hand supports me. 10 But they seek my soul to destroy me, they will go down to the depths of the EARTH. 11 They will be thrown into the hands of the sword, they will be a part of the jackals. 12 And the king will rejoice in God, and all who swear by him will praise, when the mouth of those who speak lies will be shut up.

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Ps 64 1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 Hear, O GOD, my voice in my complaint, preserve my life from the dread of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter word, 5 to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not fear. 6 They reinforce for themselves a word of evil, they calculate to conceal traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the heart are deep. 8 And God will shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their tongue fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men will fear, and will proclaim the work of God, and his deed they will understand. 11 The righteous will rejoice in Yhwh and he will take refuge in him, and all the upright of heart will praise him. Ps 65 1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song. 2 To you rest is praise, O GOD in Zion, and to you the vow is fulfilled. 3 You hear the prayer, all flesh comes to you. 4 The words of faults are mightier than us, our transgressions, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy is the one you have chosen and the one you have brought near, he dwells in YOUR COURTS; we are satisfied with the goodness of YOUR HOUSE, with the holiness of YOUR TEMPLE. 6 By wonders of righteousness you answer us, O God of our salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the EARTH and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by his STRENGTH, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And the inhabitants of the ends will fear your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make them shout for joy. 10 You visit the EARTH and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of God is full of water, you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers, YOU BLESS its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with oil; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat, they acclaim, more, they sing!

– All the titles have in common “of David”; the first two and the last two have in common “For the music director”, and except for the first one, all the other ones have “a psalm”. Only the central psalm mentions the circumstances of the psalm. – All the psalms begin with the name “God”; – Using different terms, the extreme psalms and the central psalm speak of the Temple (61:5; 63:3, 8; 65:5); – The same Hebrew word translated as “earth” and “land; is found in 61:2; 63:2, 10; 65:6, 10); – “To bless” (62:5; 63:5; 65:11); – “Strength” (61:4; 62:8, 12; 63:3; 65:7).

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Fourth Section (Ps 61–65) 2. INTERPRETATION

“MY SOUL THIRSTS FOR YOU” (PS 63:2) At first sight, one might think that the last psalm (Ps 65) differs completely from the four preceding ones. It is the only one in which the first person of the psalmist does not play a role, leaving all the space to the first person plural. Moreover, the last part is puzzling, to the extent that one wonders what the long description of the spring rains that fertilise the earth (65:10–14) has to do with it. It is not uncommon for the ending of a text to provide a surprise. That has been called a “phenomenon of closure”. But this does not mean that the ending has nothing to do with the rest of the section. The rains that so generously water the “furrows”, the “showers” that “soften” the earth (65:11), correspond directly to the beginning of the central psalm, where the psalmist “thirsts” for God, where his flesh “longs” for him, “in a dry and weary land, without water” (63:2). This image was already announced at the beginning of the section with the psalmist’s “cry”: “my heart faints” (61:2–3). Therefore, the whole section is articulated, from the extremities to the centre, around the desire of God. UNDER THE WINGS OF GOD From beginning to end, passing through the centre, the psalmist’s desire is directed towards “the Temple” of God (65:5). He wants to “dwell in his tent” and “take refuge in the hiding of his wings” (61:5), that is “in the sanctuary” where he has “contemplated” his Lord (63:3) and that is “in the shadow of his wings” where he shouts for joy” (63:8); Finally, all proclaim “happy” the one who “dwells in his courts” and they are “satisfied” with “the goodness of his house” and with “the holiness of his Temple” (65:5), as he expressed his wish in the central psalm (63:6). THE ENEMY AND THE REST The alternation between the complaint against the enemy and the rest in God marks the psalms of the extreme sequences that are related in parallel with each other (Ps 61–62 and 64–65). But the same interaction is also found, in a compact form, in the pivotal psalm of the section (Ps 63). Indeed, immediately after confessing the thirst that makes him long (63:2) and before “rejoicing” when the lying mouths of his enemies are stopped (63:10–12), the psalmist finds himself “in the sanctuary” where he can see the “strength and the glory” of his Lord and “satisfy” his soul “as with fat and oil” (63:3–6); then being on his “bed” throughout “the night watches” he finds his rest in him (63:7–9).

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THE KING “The king” is mentioned in the first and in the central psalms and not elsewhere. The psalmist prays for him at the beginning, asking the Lord to prolong his days and that “faithfulness and loyalty” would “guard him” (61:7–8), and he goes on saying that he will then “sing psalms” and “fulfil his vows” (61:9). At the very end of the central psalm, a single member is dedicated to him: “And the king will rejoice in God” (63:12), immediately distinguished from the plural of “all who swear by” the Lord. In spite of the fact that the psalmist distances himself from the king, it is quite possible that in these so-called “Davidic psalms” the king is the same person. The distance would be a sign of discretion. It is curious that the name “king” disappears in the second side of the section. However, given the composition of the section, and in particular the fact that the extreme psalms and the central psalm are so strongly related, one may wonder whether the last psalm might be alluding to the king. As it happens that the only singular in Ps 65 is the Lord’s chosen one: “Happy is the one you have chosen” (65:5). That is how Saul (1 Sam 10:24) and especially David (1 Sam 16) were described, chosen by God from among all their brothers. A quite long Ps 78 ends on that figure: 70

He chose David as his servant, from behind the nursing ewes he brought him and Israel his inheritance; 72 he pastured them with a perfect heart, 71

and took him from the folds of a flock, to pasture Jacob his people and with a wise hand guided them.

If “the one you have chosen” (65:5) can refer to the king, it should be affirmed that he is a part of the mass of all his people, and more widely of “all flesh” (65:3), of “all the ends of the earth” (65:6, 9). That is probably the reason why the section ends with a psalm in which the singular of the psalmist and of the king leaves almost all the space to the plural as extensive as the world.

ALL THE EARTH BLESSES THE GOD WHO SAVES US Fifth Section Ps 66–72

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

The fifth section comprises seven psalms organised into three sequences; each of the extreme sequences is formed of three psalms, while the central sequence comprises only one:

All the nations

SAVE ME,

All the miserable

will sing

to the Lord

I WILL SING

TO YOU

will be saved

by the Lord

Ps 66–68

Ps 69

Ps 70–72

I. ALL THE NATIONS WILL SING TO THE LORD The First Sequence: Ps 66–68 1. PSALM 66 TEXT 1 For

the music director, a song, a psalm. Acclaim God, all the earth, 2 sing psalms (to) the glory of his name, set the glory of his praise. 3 Say to God, “How fearsome are your works! By the greatness of your strength your enemies will cringe to you; 4 all the earth will bow down to you and will sing psalms to you, will sing psalms to your name”. 5 Come and see the gestures of God, fearsome in action for the sons of Adam: 6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river on foot, there we rejoiced in him. 7 He rules by his might forever, his eyes scrutinise the nations, let the rebellious not exalt themselves against him. 8 Bless our God, O peoples, and make the voice of his praise to be heard, 9 he who sets our soul in life and he does not allow our feet to be shaken. 10 Yes, you have tested us, O God, you have refined us as one refines silver; 11 you have made us enter into a net, you have set affliction on our backs; 12 you have made a mortal ride over our heads; we have entered into fire and into water, and you have brought us out into abundance. 13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings, I will fulfil my vows to you, 14 those that my lips opened and that my mouth spoke in my anguish; 15 I will bring up to you burnt offerings of fat animals with the aroma of rams, I will make (them) of bulls with goats. 16 Come, hear, and I will recount, all you fearful of God, what he has done for my soul; 17 I called to him with my mouth and the exaltation (was) under my tongue. 18 If I have seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear; 19 however, God heard, he gave attention to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his faithfulness from me. V. 11: “INTO A NET [...] AFFLICTION”

The second term of the first member, meṣûdâ, can mean a “net” (Qoh 9:12; Ezek 12:13) but also a “citadel” (e.g., 2 Sam 5:7; Ps 18:3). The penultimate term of the second member, mû’āqâ, is a hapax. In line with the preceding segment, it refers to trials, hence the meaning of a “net”; as for mû’āqâ, we will adopt “affliction” as most versions do. V. 12: “YOU HAVE MADE A MORTAL RIDE OVER OUR HEADS”

The image is unclear and is understood in various ways. It seems to refer to foreign dominations.1 COMPOSITION After the title, the psalm is organised into three parts of unequal length. The first part (1b–9) and the third one (13–20), each of them is formed of three 1

On verses 11–12 see Ravasi, II, 338–342.

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concentrically arranged pieces, while the central part (10–12) is much shorter and consists of only one piece. THE FIRST PART (1B–9) + 1b ACCLAIM + 2 sing psalms + set 3

+ Say + By the greatness

GOD, (to) the glory the glory

all the earth,

to GOD: of your strength

“How FEARSOME ARE will cringe to you

+ 4 all the earth will bow down + and will sing psalms to you, will sing psalms

of his name, OF HIS PRAISE.

your works! your enemies;

to you to your name”.

··························································································································

:: 5 COME :: FEARSOME

(in) action

the gestures for the sons

:: 6 He turned :: through the river :: there

the sea they passed we rejoiced

into a dry land, on foot, in him.

:: 7 He rules :: his eyes, :: let the rebellious

by his might the nations, not exalt themselves

forever, they scrutinise (them), against him.

AND SEE

of GOD, of Adam:

·························································································································· 8

+ BLESS, + and make to be heard

O peoples,

OUR GOD,

the voice

OF HIS PRAISE,

:: 9 he who sets :: and he does not allow

our soul to be shaken

in life our feet.

In the first piece (1b–4) the psalmist invites “all the earth” to “acclaim” God (1b–2), after which he dictates, in a certain sense, what they should say to him (3– 4). The extreme segments (1b–2 & 4) are matched by “all the earth”, “sing psalms” and “your name”. The three members of the first segment as well as the first member of the next segment (1b–3a) begin with imperatives in the same modality. The second piece (5–7) is an invitation to “see” the great deeds of God: those of the exodus with the crossing of the sea (6a), then of the Jordan (6b), a joyful experience for the children of Israel (6c), followed by the domination of “the nations” which Israel had to face (7). The third piece (8–9), which begins as the first two with the imperatives (8ab), is a new invitation to praise, motivated by God’s blessings (9). The vocative “O peoples” (8a) corresponds to “all the earth” (1b), “his praise” (8b) is found also in the first piece (2b). “Our feet” in the ending refers to “on foot” at the centre of the second piece (6b). “God” occurs at the beginning of the first two pieces (1b & 5a), “our God” at the beginning of the third piece (8a).

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THE SECOND PART (10–12) – 10 Yes, you have tested us, – you have refined us

O God, as one refines

silver;

– you have made us enter – you have set

into a net, affliction

on our backs;

– 12 you have made ride – we have entered = and you have brought us out

a mortal into fire into abundance.

11

over our heads; and into water,

Except for verse 12b, all members start with a verb in the same modality. The object is always “us”. THE THIRD PART (13–20) + 13 I will come + I will fulfil

into your house to you

with burnt offerings, my vows,

+ 14 those that + and that spoke

opened my MOUTH

my LIPS in my anguish;

+ 15 burnt offerings + with the aroma + I will make (them)

of fat animals of rams, of bulls

I will bring up to you with goats.

······································································································

:: 16 Come, :: all :: what

hear, you fearful he has dome

and I will recount, of GOD, for my soul;

:: 17 to him :: and the exaltation

with my MOUTH (was) under

I called my TONGUE.

······································································································ 18

+ Iniquity, + would not hear

THE LORD;

if I have seen

in my heart,

+ 19 however, + he gave attention

heard to the voice

GOD, of my prayer.

+ 20 Blessed be + who + nor his faithfulness

GOD has not turned away from me.

my prayer,

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+ 13 I will come + I will fulfil

into your house to you

with burnt offerings, my vows,

+ 14 those that + and that spoke

opened my MOUTH

my LIPS in my anguish;

+ 15 burnt offerings + with the aroma + I will make (them)

of fat animals of rams, of bulls

I will bring up to you with goats.

······································································································

:: 16 Come, :: all :: what

hear, you fearful he has dome

and I will recount, of GOD, for my soul;

:: 17 to him :: and the exaltation

with my MOUTH (was) under

I called my TONGUE.

······································································································

+ 18 Iniquity, + would not hear

THE LORD;

+ 19 however, + he gave attention

heard to the voice

GOD, of my prayer.

+ 20 Blessed be + who + nor his faithfulness

GOD has not turned away from me.

my prayer,

if I have seen

in my heart,

In the first piece (13–15) the psalmist says what he will do in the Temple to fulfil his “vows” (13b): “burnt offerings” and “to bring up” derive from the same root (three occurrences) and “rams”, “bulls”, “goats” (also three occurrences). In the second piece (16–17), he invites “all the fearful of God” to hear what God did for him: God heard his supplication (17a), and he was able to “exalt” him (17b). In the third piece (18–20) he “blesses” the Lord for listening to his “prayer” (20), for there was no “iniquity” in his heart (18). The first two segments are linked by the verb “to hear” + “the Lord/God”; “prayer” occurs in the last two segments (19b & 20b). At the extremities, “faithfulness” is opposed to “iniquity” (20c & 18a). “Lips” and “mouth” in the first piece (14) are mirrored by “mouth” and “tongue” in the second piece (17). “My prayer” in the third piece (19b & 20b) refers to “I called” in the second piece (17a), and “heard” me in 19 gives the reason for “the exaltation” in 17b. THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM The first part (1b–9) is addressed to “all the earth” and describes what God has done for “us”, namely for Israel. The second part (10–12) is shorter and is addressed to God, again describing what he has done for “us”. Finally, in the last part (13–20)

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the psalmist speaks in the first person singular about what he will do for God to thank him for what he has done for him. The extreme parts (1b–9 & 13–20) are corresponding to each other: each one comprises three concentrically arranged pieces. The first pieces (1b–4 & 13–15) are complementary: one expresses what “the people” are invited to do for God, “to sing psalm” (three times), the other one what the psalmist will do for him, “to bring up” “burnt offerings” (from the same root, three times). The central pieces (5–7 & 16–17) begin in a complementary way with “come and see” (5) and “come and hear” (16); these two phrases are followed by “fearsome” (5) and “fearful” (16) which are of the same root. They end with “not exalt themselves” (7) and “the exaltation” (17). In the last pieces (8–9 & 18–20), the subject of “to bless” are the “peoples” in the first instance (8) and the psalmist in the second instance (20); other repeated terms are “to hear” (8, 18 & 19) and “voice” (8 & 19). 1

For the music director, a song, a psalm. Acclaim GOD, all the earth, 2 sing psalms to the glory of his name, set the glory of his praise. 3 Say to GOD: “How FEARSOME ARE your works! By the greatness of your strength your enemies will cringe to you; 4 all the earth will bow down to you and will sing psalms to you, will sing psalms to your name”. 5 COME AND SEE the gestures of GOD, FEARSOME in action for the sons of Adam: 6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river on foot, there we rejoiced in him. 7 He rules by his might forever, his eyes scrutinise the nations, let the rebellious NOT EXALT THEMSELVES against him. 8

BLESS OUR GOD, O peoples, and MAKE TO BE HEARD THE VOICE of his praise, our soul in life and he does not allow our feet to be shaken.

9

he who sets

10

Yes, you have tested us, O GOD, you have refined us as one refines silver; 11 you have made us enter into a net, you have set affliction on our backs; 12 you have made a mortal ride over our heads; we have entered into fire and into water, but you have brought us out into abundance. 13

I will come into your house with burnt offerings, I will fulfil my vows to you, those that my lips opened and that my mouth spoke in my anguish; 15 I will bring up to you burnt offerings of fat animals with the aroma of rams, I will make them of bulls with goats. 14

16

COME, HEAR, and I will recount, all YOU FEARFUL of GOD, what he has done for my

soul; 18

17

I called to him with my mouth

and THE EXALTATION was under my tongue.

If I have seen iniquity in my heart, THE LORD would not HEAR; 19 however, GOD HEARD, he gave attention to THE VOICE of my prayer. 20 BLESSED be GOD who has not turned away my prayer, nor his faithfulness from me.

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

The central part (10–12) differs from the other two in its emphasis on trials (10– 12b) before liberation (12c). The “peoples” of “all the earth”, the “enemies” of God of the first part (1b, 3, 4, 8) are not named here, but they are the ones by whom Israel is tested, by the “mortal” who rides on their heads (12a).

CONTEXT THE EXODUS God’s “gestures” (Ps 66:5a) are essentially those of the exodus: at the beginning the crossing of the Sea of Reeds (66:6a; see Exod 14), at the end the crossing of the Jordan (Ps 66:6b; Josh 3–4). The last member of Ps 66:6 probably refers to the Song of the Sea (Exod 15); the joy referred to is that sung in the last psalm of the Egyptian Hallel: “This is the day that Yhwh has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24). The last verb of the central part, “you have brought us out” (66:12c) also recalls the exodus: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exod 20:2; Deut 5:6). THE CONQUEST The last verse of the central piece of the first part (Ps 66:7), which follows the reminiscence of the exodus, seems to allude to the story of the conquest of “the nations” occupying the land of Canaan, as recorded in the book of Joshua after crossing the Jordan, starting with the capture of Jericho (Josh 6).

INTERPRETATION WHO IS TALKING? At the beginning we hear only a voice that appeals to “all the earth” in the plural inviting them to praise God (Ps 66:1b–2). It is only when the exodus is mentioned that the “we” appears: “we rejoiced in him” (66:6). It is therefore a member of the people who speaks, and we can think that he speaks in their name. The “we” of Israel dominates massively in the central part (66:10–12), which recalls the trials they had to undergo and from which the Lord “brought them out”. Finally, the whole last part is in the first person singular (66:13–20). This “I” who promises to fulfil his “vows” with “burnt offerings” of “fat animals”, “bulls”, “rams” and “goats”, can hardly be identified with any member of the people. The importance given to his prayer and vows on the one hand, to the sumptuous sacrifices he will offer on the other hand, and finally to the account he will give to “all the fearful of God” (66:16), suggests that he is a figure important enough to represent all the people. We can therefore imagine that it is the king who speaks, but it is also

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possible to think that each reader who makes his words his/her own also speaks in the name of all his or her people. WHO IS HE TALKING TO? Throughout the first part, it is clear from the first words that the psalmist is addressing “all the earth” (66:2), those whom he addresses at the end as the “peoples” (66:8). These terms are not specific to the pagan “nations”, they encompass the whole of humanity. But that is not all: he invites them to address God (66:3–4) to praise him and acknowledge his universal kingship. Suddenly, in the central part (66:10–12), the addressee changes completely: the psalmist addresses God directly; however, we understand that his speech about his history is given in the presence of those to whom he was speaking before. In the last part (66:13–20), while he continues speaking with God and telling him how he will thank him for “bringing him out into abundance” (66:12), he soon turns again to those who have continued listening to him: “Come, hear” (66:16). And up to the end, he “recounts” them what the Lord has done for him. He speaks to “all the fearful of God” (66:16), that is, to “the peoples” of “all the earth” (66:2, 8). WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT? In the shortest psalm of the Psalter (Ps 117), the psalmist invites the Gentile nations to praise the God of Israel for the good he has done for his people: “1 Praise Yahweh, all you peoples, glorify him, all you countries; 2 because great is his faithfulness toward us, and the loyalty of Yhwh endure forever. Praise Yah!” The same applies to Ps 66, with the important difference that all the peoples as a whole are invited to sing psalms to the name of the Lord for his “action” on behalf of “the sons of Adam” (66:5). This suggests that the liberation of the country from slavery was not only for the benefit of the children of Israel, but for all the nations. God’s favours to Israel are for all the peoples. In this way the promise to Abraham is fulfilled: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3).

2. PSALM 671 “The structure of this little psalm is particularly difficult to display [...]. The meaning of this little psalm is as difficult to determine as its structure”.2 The more one studies this psalm, the more this double judgement, which may seem surprising at first sight, proves to be well-founded. It is indeed a “little psalm”: it comprises only eight verses and many exegetes give it little space in their commentaries. Yet it has an important place in Jewish prayer, and under the influence of the Kabbalists, it is reproduced at the centre of popular paintings, rewritten in the form of a menorah, the seven-branched lampstand, following the pattern of its literary composition3 (see p. 313). According to an ancient tradition, the shield of David (Magen David) did not bear what we call the six-pointed “Star of David”, but Psalm 67 rewritten in the form of a menorah: “This became a widespread custom and the ‘Menorah Psalm’ was considered a very powerful talisman. A sixteenth century pamphlet says: ‘King David wore this psalm written, figured and engraved on his shield, in the form of a menorah, when he went on campaign.’”4 It should be pointed out that, regardless the number of their branches, the star and the lampstand are also sources of light. In terms of the literary form of the psalm, some exegetes have applied the patterns of Western poetry to the biblical text. Following many others, E. Podechard rewrites the psalm in four stanzas ending with the same “refrain”:5 “It seems that the refrain should be added here [that is, after the last verse of the Hebrew text]; both for the sake of thought and for the balance of the stanzas (Duhm, Gunkel, H. Schmidt)”.6 For L. Jacquet: “Very regular in its form, with its 3 distichs with 3 accents grouped by 2 to form of a stanza and with its refrain repeated 3 times (our emphasis), Ps 67 has no literary pretensions”.7 The concentric structure of the psalm, however, has been identified long ago by other Christian exegetes as one of many examples of typical Hebrew composition.8

1

I largely take up the analysis of this psalm that I made in “Le psaume 67. ‘Je ferai de toi la lumière des nations’”. 2 É. BEAUCAMP, Le Psautier, I, 275. 3 See Hakham, I, 386-387; see Traité, 46–48 = Treatise, 31–32. 4 G. SCHOLEM, “Magen David”, 338. 5 Concerning “refrains” see A. BALOCCO, “‘Ritornelli’ e ‘Selah’ nella scansione strofica dei Salmi”, 190; P. RAABE, Psalm Structures. A Study of Psalms with Refrains, 119–200. It is informative to see what the current Catholic liturgy does with this psalm (1st January; 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A; Friday of the 3rd week of Advent, Wednesday of the 4th week of Easter, Saturday of the 17th week of Ordinary Time, Year I): whether in Italian, but especially in French, the changes are such that one has the impression of having to deal with a different psalm. 6 L. PODECHARD, Le Psautier, I. Notes critiques, 261. 7 L. JACQUET, Les Psaumes et le cœur de l’homme, II, 331. 8 Identified by T. BOYS (A Key to the Book of the Psalms, 60), described by N.W. LUND (“Chiasmus in the Psalms”, 289–291; ID., Chiasmus in the New Testament, 97–98), it is now commonly accepted, except by P. AUFFRET (“‘Qu’il nous bénisse, Dieu!’ Étude structurelle du Psaume 67”, 5– 8).

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As for the “form” (Gattung) in the sense of “form criticism”, is Psalm 67 a harvest psalm in which Israel gives thanks to its God that “the earth has yielded its produce” (7)?9 In that case all incomplete verbs are translated by past tenses, as the complete one in 7a. Is it rather a prayer for rain?10 In that case, all the verbs, even the complete one in 7a, are translated by optatives. That is the problem of social-literary criticism, which is concerned above all with linking texts to a concrete social context (Sitz im Leben).11 The psalm would therefore have been composed either for the feast of the first fruits, at Pentecost, or for the Feast of Tents, when, in autumn, the Israelites thanked the Lord for the gifts of the earth and implored the gift of rain for the new year.12 Without ruling out the possibility of such liturgical uses, it is nevertheless questionable whether that is the primary meaning of the poem.

TEXT 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. 2 May God have mercy on us and bless us, may he make his face shine upon us, 3 that your way may be known on the earth, and your salvation among all the nations. 4 Let the peoples give you thanks, O God, let the peoples give you thanks, all of them! 5 May the countries rejoice and shout for joy, because you judge the peoples with uprightness and you guide the countries on the earth. 6 Let the peoples give you thanks, O God, let the peoples give you thanks, all of them! 7 The earth has given its harvest, God our God blesses us. 8 God blesses us, and all the ends of the earth fear him.

This psalm does not present any real textual problem. Those that are raised by the commentators depend in fact on the interpretation of the text: hence the different choices in translatiing the verbs: jussive or present tense for v. 2, past tense or precative perfect for 7a.13

COMPOSITION The five parts are arranged in an elliptical pattern with two focal points.14

9

Most commentators have interpreted the psalm in this way since E. Gunkel; see, e.g., S. MOWINCKEL, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, I, 120, 185; E. PODECHARD, Le Psautier. I, 285. La Bible de Jérusalem entitles it: “Collective prayer after the annual harvest”. Concerning the dating of the psalm, see H.G. JEFFERSON, “The Date of Ps 67”, 201–205. 10 Dahood, II, 126–129; such interpretation was already done by Rashi (see Hakham, I, 385). 11 See W.S. PRINSLOO, “Psalm 67: Harvest Thanksgiving Psalm, (Eschatological) Hymn, Communal Prayer, Communal Lament or...?”, 231–246 (status quaestionis, 232–234). 12 See Ravasi, II, 353. For Vesco (584), “les deux interprétations sont possibles et conciliables”. 13 Concerning the tenses in the psalm, see M.E. TATE, Psalms 51–100, 154–155; P.C. GRAIGIE, Psalms 1–50, 1983, Excursus II: The Translation of Tenses in Hebrew Poetry, 110–113; see also a long discussion in Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 150–153. 14 See R. MEYNET, “Une nouvelle figure: la composition à double foyer”.

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THE FIRST PART (2–3) + 2 May God + may he make shine

have mercy on US his face

and blesses upon

- 3 that may be known - among all

on the earth the nations

the way - of YOURS, the salvation - of YOURS.

- US, - US,

The part is the size of a piece which comprises two bimember segments of parallel construction AA’ – BB’. The two members of the first segment (2) are generally synonymous. The subject is “God” (2a), pronominalized in the second member. The object of God’s actions is “us” (three times), which means Israel; the last two occurrences of “us” act as final terms. The two members of the second segment (3) are parallel: the verb, “to be known” (3a) is economised in the second member, compensated however by “all”. At the end of the members, “the salvation of yours” corresponds to “the way of yours”.15 “The nations” are those who are “on the earth” (“on” and “among” translate the same Hebrew preposition). The second segment is subordinated to the first one. The affixed pronouns (“yours”) at the end of the members of the second segment (2a & 2b) refer to “God” found at the beginning of the first segment (2a). The verb “to bless” (2a) and the verbal syntagma “to make his face shine” (2b) in the first segment are echoed in the second segment by the noun “way”, which means the manner, the fashion of acting (3a), and which is then explained by “salvation” (2b). THE SECOND AND THE FOURTH PARTS (4, 6) : LET (THEM) GIVE YOU THANKS, the peoples, : LET (THEM) GIVE YOU THANKS, the peoples,

O God, all of them!

These two short parts are identical. The two members differ only in their last words: “O God” and “all of them”, the former identifying the object of the verb, the latter its subject.

15

The shift from the third person (2) to the second (3) should not be surprising, as it is common in the poetic texts of the Bible.

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THE THIRD PART (5) A REJOICE and SHOUT FOR JOY B because YOU JUDGE B’ and the countries

the countries the peoples on the earth

with uprightness YOU GUIDE.

The part is the size of an ABB’ trimember (this central segment is the only trimember in the whole psalm). The first member has “the countries” as its subject, while in the other two members the subject is “you”, namely God. Introduced with “because”, the last two members give the reasons why the nations should praise God; these members are corresponding to each other term by term in a partially crossing fashion: A (bc) / (b’d) A’. “Judge” and “guide” are synonymous and so are “the countries” and “the peoples”; “with uprightness” and “on the earth” can be considered as complementary insofar as each of these two terms applies to the two members as a whole. THE FIRTH PART (7–8) – 7 THE EARTH : has given its harvest, + BLESSES us

GOD

our

GOD;

+ 8 BLESSES us : and fear him – all the ends of THE EARTH.

GOD,

The construction is not parallel as in the first part (2–3), but concentric. “The earth” and “all the ends of the earth” (7a & 8b) form an inclusion; the first member of the second segment (8a) takes up the first two terms of the second member of the first segment (7c); the expansion “our God” is then found at the centre of the part (7d). The problem is whether “the earth” has the same referent at the beginning (7a) and at the end (8c). According to the interpretation that considers this psalm as a song of thanksgiving for the harvest, “the earth” of 7a is the (agricultural) soil of Israel, while “all the ends of the earth” of 8c can only indicate the pagan nations, up to the ends of the world. Thus the “harvest” gathered by Israel (7b) would be the sign of the blessing with which God has filled his people (7c–8a), which would induce all pagan nations to “fear” the God of Israel (8b). However, it is possible to interpret this in a different way. The fact that “all the ends of the earth” fear God (8bc) would be a sign that God’s blessing has been fulfilled for Israel (8a). The “harvest” or the fruit of the land of Israel (7b) would be that all peoples are fearing the Lord. If “the earth” of 7a were understood as synonymous with “all the ends of the earth” (8c), that is referring to the nations,

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the extreme members would indicate that the fear of God is the fruit that the nations bear and that is the blessing of Israel (7b–8a). THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

For the music director, on stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. + 2 May GOD + may he make shine

have mercy on US his face

and BLESS US, upon US,

– 3 that may be known – among all

on THE EARTH THE NATIONS

your way, your salvation.

4

Let them give you thanks, THE PEOPLES, let them give you thanks, THE PEOPLES, 5

May rejoice because you judge and THE COUNTRIES

O GOD, all of them!

and shout for joy

THE COUNTRIES,

THE PEOPLES

with uprightness you guide.

on THE EARTH

6

Let them give you thanks, THE PEOPLES, let them give you thanks, THE PEOPLES,

O GOD, all of them!

– 7 THE EARTH + BLESSES US

has given GOD

OUR

+ 8 BLESSES US – and fear him

GOD, all the ends

of THE EARTH.

its harvest, GOD;

The psalm is constructed in an elliptical form, the second and the penultimate parts constituting the two focal points of the ellipse (4 & 6). The extreme parts (2–3 & 7–8) are corresponding to each other. The verb “to bless”, with “God” as its subject and “us” as its object at the beginning of the first part (2a) is repeated at the centre of the last part (7b & 8a) and nowhere else (“us/our” occurs three times at the beginning in 2–3 and three times at the centre in 7–8); “the earth” in the second segment of the first part (3a) is taken up again at the extremities of the last part (7a & 8b); “all” in 3b is taken up by “all” in 8b, playing the role of final terms. The extreme parts make a distinction between Israel (“us” and perhaps “the earth” in 7a and 3a) and the other peoples (“all nations” in 3b at the end of the first part, “all the ends of the earth” in 8b at the end of the last part). In the other three parts, on the other hand, all the peoples are invited to give thanks to God: “the peoples” (4ab & 6ab), qualified by the final apposition “all of them” (4b & 6b) and “the countries” (5a) are the subjects of synonymous verbs. The reason why all are invited to praise is expressed in the last two members of the central part

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(5bc), that the Lord “judges” and “guides” all “the peoples” and “the countries” that are “on the earth”. The noun “earth” occurs four times in the psalm: once in the first part (3a), once in the central part (5c) and twice in the last part (7a & 8b). “To guide” at the centre (5c) and the “way” in the first part (3a) belong to the same semantic field;16 although less obvious at first sight, there is also a link between “to judge” at the centre (5b) and “to fear” in the last part (8b), as God’s judgments cause fear.17

CONTEXT THE PRIESTLY BLESSING (NUM 6:24–26) The first verse of the psalm repeats the words of the blessing that the priests pronounce over the people of Israel (Num 6:24–26): May Yhwh bless you May Yhwh make his face shine upon you May Yhwh lift up his face upon you

and keep you! and have mercy on you! and grant you peace!

With these words the priests bless the people of Israel by addressing them in the second person singular. In the psalm it is Israel itself that invokes God’s blessing, using the “us”. The fact that “Yhwh” is replaced in the psalm by “God” (Elohim) is due to the fact that the psalm is part of the second book of the Psalter where the latter divine name far outweighs the tetragrammaton. GOOD HARVESTS, BLESSING OF THE LORD Abundant harvests, the fruit of rains granted by God from heaven, are manifestations—indeed, the first manifestation—of the divine blessing; they sanction the observance of the Lord’s commandments: “If you follow my statutes, if you keep my commandments and put them into practice, I will give you the rains you need in their season, and the land shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit...” (Lev 26:3–4; see parallel penalties in Lev 26:14ff; see also Deut 11:13–17). This is the sign by which the Lord will make himself known, not only to Israel, but also to the other nations (Ezek 34:26–31).

16 The two words are often used together: “The Lord went in front of them, by day in a pillar of cloud to guide them along the way...” (Exod 13:21); “guide me in the way of eternity” (Ps 139:24); see also Gen 24:27; Exod 13:17; Isa 57:18. 17 E.g., “your judgments fill me with fear” (Ps 119:120); “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are truth, they are righteous altogether” (Ps 19:10). Solomon’s judgement also provokes fear: “All Israel heard of the judgement that the king had rendered; and they feared the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute righteousness” (1 Kgs 3:28).

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THE HARVEST OF THE LAND “The earth has given its harvest” (Ps 67:7a) is found almost identically in Ps 85:13, “Our land will give its harvest” where the word “harvest” can be interpreted, not in a material way, but in a metaphorical way: the fruit of the loving encounter between God and the land of Israel is a child whose birth is announced.18 THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS The universalism of Ps 67 recalls that of the second Isaiah (Isa 40–55), where the uniqueness of God in opposition to all others is so forcefully affirmed (45:5, 6, 4, 18, 21, 22; 46:9), the uniqueness of the Creator God (45:18) and Saviour (45:15, 21) which will have to be recognised by all the peoples (45:14) thanks to Israel his Servant whom the Lord will make “the light of the nations” (42:6); “It is too little that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the survivors of Israel. I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth” (49:6).19

INTERPRETATION Depending on the meaning, literal or figurative, that one recognizes in the term “harvest” (Ps 67:7b), depending on the referent that one attributes to each of the four occurrences of the word “earth” (67:3a, 5c, 7a, 8 b)—to recall only two of the multiple difficulties of the text—, depending also and above all on whether one focuses on this or that particular detail or whether one aims at a comprehensive and integrated reading. The interpretation progresses in two dimensions, or two levels, on which the many ambiguities of the Psalm are allowed or even forced to develop. A HARVEST SONG Thanksgiving hymn Form criticism sees this psalm, especially because of verse 7a (“the earth has given its harvest”), as a song of thanksgiving for the harvest. In seeing the abundant fruits of which they are the beneficiaries, Israel gratefully acknowledges that their God has blessed them (67:7b–8a). In fact, God’s blessing is realized first of all in the fruitfulness of the land and of the people, that is, in the gift of life.

18 19

See R. MEYNET, “L’enfant de l’amour (Ps 85)”; ID., Le Psautier. Troisième livre, 161–174. See R. MARTIN-ACHARD, Israël et les nations.

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Prayer of supplication At the same time as he gives thanks for the gifts of the past year—or for the first fruits—(67:7a), in the same movement Israel implores his God to continue to bless him in the future, to give him a new year of good crops (67:2). In this line of interpretation, the three verbs of 67:7b and 67:8 can be understood as optatives: “May God, our God bless us! May God bless us, and may all the ends of the earth fear him!” Song of blessing Seeing the blessings with which the God of Israel has blessed his people (67:7a) and those with which he will surely favour them (67:2), all the Gentile nations will know how (67:3a) God saves his people (67:3b) and they will fear him to the ends of the earth (67:8). They will then be able to unite their voices with those of the chosen people in giving thanks to the unique God who thus shows how he judges and leads all the peoples of the earth with uprightness (67:4–6). God’s blessing on his people will be matched by the blessing of all the nations in one praise. THE SONG OF THE WORLD This interpretation is based primarily on the beginning of the penultimate verse of the psalm, “the earth has given its harvest” (67:7a), understood in its direct and physical sense of the crops produced by the land of Israel. From this point on, the first verse of Psalm (67:2) also follows the same interpretive line: what Israel is asking for is the rain that will enable it to obtain good harvests in the future. Certainly, this interpretation is legitimised by the fact that good harvests are, in other texts, considered as the first sign of God’s blessing poured out on Israel, a sign intended for all pagans to recognise his power and goodness.20 The weakness of such a reading—or at least its limitation—is that it is fragmentary, that it is based on only one of the possible meanings of isolated members, and even of a single member, in other words that it does not take sufficient account of the composition of the text and its coherence. Rhetorical analysis, attentive to the phenomena of composition, attempts to understand the elements in relation to each other, and thus to discover the logic of the text both as a whole and, consequently, in each of its parts. If it is true that the centre of a composition is the keystone, or the key to reading it, as it was already noted by the founders of rhetorical analysis, it is from the central part of the psalm that one must start in order to interpret it according to the 20

“It is evident that the blessing of Yahweh extended far beyond the harvest [...]. Under the radiance of justice, the whole of human endeavour flourishes. If Israel is to be accused of materialism, is it because it recapitulates the idea in its most concrete aspect? The Father, in asking for ‘the bread of each day’, does the same” (É. BEAUCAMP – J. DE RELLES, “‘C’est la gloire de mon Père’”, 31).

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vision of its author. It is from there that the light which illuminates the rest of the song will emerge. In the rarer case of an elliptical construction, its two focal points will provide the key. The chorus of all the nations (67:4, 6) What makes the three central parts (67:4–6) special in comparison with the rest of the psalm is that there is no longer any distinction between Israel and the other nations. And that is even clearer in the two focal points of the construction: “all” are united in the same thanksgiving, “all” are oriented together towards the one “God” (67:4, 6).21 They are united in one jubilation and one song, addressed to the one God who “judges” and “leads” them all with uprightness throughout the earth (67:5). However, it should be noted that this unity of all the peoples in the same faith has not yet been achieved: all the verbs in the main clauses are incomplete, they are wishes, for a future that has not yet been realised. Moreover, it should not be overlooked that this insistent plea is a prayer addressed by Israel to her God. At the time of its utterance, this plea is not yet on the lips of all the nations, but comes from the mouth of the one people of God. Actually, it is present-day supplication that calls for a common thanksgiving in the future. The statement of faith on which the prayer focuses, “because you judge the peoples with uprightness and you guide the nations on earth” (67:5b), can be understood— and perhaps should be—as the reason for which all the nations will rejoice and shout for joy (67:5a), but for the time being it is Israel alone who utters it. These verses can be understood as an invitation sent by Israel to all the nations to join in her praise and confession of faith; above all, they are a prayer to God and a recognition of God’s purpose in uniting all the nations into the one family of his children through the witness of his chosen people. The supplication of Israel (67:2–3) The first part of the psalm is also a prayer addressed by Israel to “God”. Whereas the supplication is composed to be sung by the children of Israel (“us”), it is probably relevant that it is not addressed to “our God”, or just “God”, the one who is certainly called to pour out his blessing on his people, but who is inseparably the God of all the earth. It may seem that at the beginning the speaker does not specify the nature of the mercy and blessing he is asking for (67:2a), nor does he say what the divine light he desires consists in (67:2b). However, his phrase does not end there, and in the same breath he clearly expresses the reason for his request: all nations should know the way and the salvation of God (67:3). While distinguishing Israel from other peoples and giving precedence to the former, the psalmist unites them in the same knowledge of God. What the psalmist is asking is that “all the nations” be united with his own people in the knowledge 21

See S. WEISSBLUETH, “On Psalm 67”, who recalls the interpretations of the great Jewish commentators, such as Rashi and Radaq.

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of God’s “way” and “salvation”. He is asking this as the ultimate sign of his own blessing. In asking for it, he is simply acknowledging that this is the way in which God will grant salvation to all. The thanksgiving of Israel (67:7–8) In addition to the choral invitation extended to all the nations, an invitation that takes the form of a supplication addressed to the one God (67:4–6), the song leads to a kind of observation: the prayer has been answered, “the earth has given its harvest” (67:7a). The desire of the speaker is so strong, his faith in the will of God, that it is impossible for him to imagine that his request might not be answered. Even if everything shows him that God’s plan has not yet been realised, as a prophet he already sees its fulfilment. His vision of faith is apocalyptic, he sees eschatology as already realised. When the nations from the ends of the earth fear God, he recognises that the blessing he implored has come down on his people from above. As if he could only recognise God as his God, as the God of Israel (67:7d) when he is recognised as such by the whole earth. “The earth has given its harvest” (67:7a). What land is this? Certainly, the land of Israel, in the vision of faith that all nations would come to the fear of God and his salvation through the people God had chosen from among all peoples for this purpose. Of all the earth, indisputably, since the fear of God has germinated and thus become fruitful in all peoples. Because of its form of the menorah, the seven-branched lampstand, Psalm 67 is called in Jewish tradition the “menorah psalm”. This term is also perfectly appropriate for its content. Through Israel the light of knowledge reaches all the nations (67:3b), even to the ends of the earth; this light is none other than that of God who wants to make his face shine on all the peoples (67:2b).

Psalm 67

According to Amos Hakham, Sefer tehillîm, Jérusalem, I, 386.

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It is therefore not surprising that Christians recognised in this psalm the fulfilment of the prophecy: 3

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:3–6)22

Of course, these few verses from Paul do not refer directly to the Menorah Psalm. However, because of the theme of light which saturates them and springs up from all parts, the Christian reader and speaker will be able to recognise in them the most vivid interpretation of the Psalm. For him, the light carried by the lampstand, “the fruit of the earth” which it announces and foretells, receives a Name, and the figure hitherto luminously obscured a face: the resplendent face which the good news of the Gospel depicts. The Catholic liturgy23 is not mistaken in having the psalm sung eight days after Christmas, on the first day of the year. The prayer of the Christians from among the nations, addressed to God who brought forth the light on the first day of Creation, cannot forget to mention day after day in their thanksgiving the People who were and remain forever chosen, the first among all, to transmit the light to them.

22 See É. BEAUCAMP – J. DE RELLES, “‘C’est la gloire de mon Père que vous portiez beaucoup de fruit’. Ps 67”; B. OTTE, “Reflexiones de teología misional inspiradas en el salmo 67”. 23 Even if it is regrettable that it disfigures the biblical poem (see note 5).

3. PSALM 68 TEXT 1 For

the music director, of David, a psalm, a song. 2 God rises up, his enemies are scattered and those who hate him flee before his face. 3 As smoke is dispersed, you disperse (them), as wax melts before the face of fire, the wicked perish before the face of God. 4 But the righteous rejoice, they are glad in the face of God, and they are jubilant with rejoicing. 5 Sing to God, sing psalms to his name, make way for the Rider of the steppes, in Yah his name, and exult in his face. 6 Father of orphans and defender of widows (is) God in the habitation of his holiness; 7 God makes the lonely dwell in a house, he makes the prisoners go out in freedom; but the rebellious reside in arid places. 8 O God, when you went out in the face of your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 9 the earth quaked, the heavens dropped before the face of God, the One of Sinai, before the face of God, the God of Israel. 10 You rained down a shower at will, O God, your inheritance, when was weary, you yourself strengthened it; 11 your assembly dwelt in it, which you prepared in your goodness for the afflicted, O God. 12 The Lord gave a command, the messengers, a great army; 13 the kings of the armies flee, they flee, and the beauty of the house divides the spoil. 14 If you rest between two low walls, the wings of a turtle dove are covered with silver and its feathers with shinning gold; 15 when Shaddai scattered the kings over it, it snowed on Zalmon. 16 The mountain of God, the mountain of Bashan, a haughty mountain, the mountain of Bashan! 17 Why are you envious, you haughty mountains, at the mountain that God desired for his dwelling? Yes, Yhwh will reside (there) until the end. 18 The chariots of God two-myriads, thousands of repetitions; the Lord (is) in them from Sinai to the sanctuary. 19 You ascended to the heights, you captured captives, you took men as tribute, even the rebellious, to reside (there), Yah God. 20 Blessed be the Lord day by day, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation. 21 The God of ours (is) a God of saving acts and to Yhwh the Lord (belong) the issues of death; 22 but God smashes the head of his enemies, the hairy skull of him who walks on in his crimes. 23 Said the Lord: “From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea, 24 so that you may sink your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of (your) enemies.” 25 They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my king, to the sanctuary: 26 The singers were in front, behind the musicians, in the middle the young women playing timbrels. 27 In chorus they blessed God: Yhwh, since the foundation of Israel. 28 There Benjamin, the youngest leads them; the princes of Judah in embroidered clothes, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 29 Your God has commanded your strength, the strength, O God, that you have made for us; 30 from your Temple above Jerusalem kings will bring gifts to you. 31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the heard of bulls with the calves of the peoples, who humiliate themselves with silver bars. He has scattered the peoples who delight in conflicts: 32 Nobles will come from Egypt, Kush will stretch out its hands to God. 33 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing psalms to the Lord, 34 to the Rider of the heavens, of the ancient heavens, behold, he gives with his voice, a voice of strength. 35 Give the strength of God, over Israel his splendour and his strength in the clouds. 36 (You are) fearsome, O God, out of your sanctuaries, he (is) the God of Israel, giving strength and might to the people. Blessed be God!

This psalm is famous for its textual problems and for the extensive secondary literature it has generated.1 1

See Ravasi, II, 362.

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V. 2–4: “GOD RISES UP…”

Depending on the version, many translate incomplete verbs as jussives.2 V. 7: “IN FREEDOM”

The translators render this hapax differently depending on the context. V. 12: “GAVE A COMMAND”

Literally, “a word”. It seems that “a great army” refers to “the messengers” who convey the word, the “command” of God. V. 14A: “TWO LOW WALLS”

The Hebrew term š epattāyim (found yet in Ezek 40:43) may refer to the two stones of the fireplace and the expression would mean: “If you rest by the fireplace”. The allusion to Deborah’s song seems clear and the term in Ps 68:14 is most often equated with à mišpetayim in Jdg 5:16 translated as “two low walls” (of the sheep pen). V. 14BC: “A TURTLE DOVE”

The term yônâ refers to any columbidae, pigeons and turtle doves as well as white doves. The plumage of the pigeon and the turtle dove has coloured and metallic reflections. Some have seen in this image an ironic feature: those who refused to accept Deborah’s invitation to fight have no other spoils than the silver and gold plumage of the turtle dove that prefer to stay at home.3 V. 15A: “OVER IT”

It is not easy to identify the referent of the pronoun. V. 18: “THOUSANDS OF REPETITIONS”

The term šin’ān is a hapax, which can be derived from šnh, “to repeat”. V. 28: “EMBROIDERED CLOTHES”

Another hapax; reading with a manuscript riqmātām instead of rigmātām.4

2

E.g., Dhorme, Ravasi, Vesco. R. PAUTREL, “‘Si dormiatis inter medios cleros’ (Ps 68,14)”. 4 Vesco, 589, note 4. 3

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V. 31C: “WHO HUMILIATE THEMSELVES WITH SILVER BARS”

Conjectural translation. Based on the context, it appears to be a tribute. V. 32: “NOBLES”

A hapax legomenon interpreted as “noble” or “precious things”.5 COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into five parts, around the only question in the text. THE FIRST PART (2–7) – 2 Rises up – and flee

GOD, are scattered those who hate him before his face.

– 3 As is dispersed – as melts –perish

smoke, wax the wicked

+ 4 But THE RIGHTEOUS rejoice, + they are glad in the face of + and they are jubilant with rejoicing.

his enemies

you disperse (them), fire, GOD.

before the face of before the face of GOD

····················································································································· 5 SING to GOD, SING PSALMS to his name, MAKE WAY

in YAH + +

for the Rider his name,

of the steppes, and EXULT

in his face.

····················································································································· 6 Father OF ORPHANS and defender OF WIDOWS (is) GOD in the habitation of his holiness;

+ 7 GOD + he makes go out – but the rebellious

makes dwell

THE LONELY

THE PRISONERS

in freedom; in arid places.

reside

in a house,

The first piece (2–4) contrasts the misfortunes that befall the “enemies” of God (2–3) with the rejoicing of “the righteous” (4). In addition to the name “God” occurring in each segment, “before his/the face of” occurs three times in the first two segments (2b, 3b, 3c)), and “in the face of” in the last one (4b). In a similar manner, the last piece (6–7) contrasts what God does in favour of “orphans”, “widows”, “the lonely” and “the prisoners” (6–7b) with what happens to “the rebellious” (7c). At the centre is a short piece in which the righteous are invited to “sing”, “sing psalms” to God (5). “In his face” of 5c recalls the four similar 5

Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 160.

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occurrences of the first piece; “the steppes” (5b) is taken up by “arid places” at the end of the third piece (7c). THE SECOND PART (8–13) + 8 O GOD, + when you marched

when you went out in the face through the wilderness,

+ 9 the earth + the heavens

quaked, dropped

+ before the face of + before the face of

GOD, GOD,

the One the God

of your people,

of Sinai, of Israel.

····································································································································

:: 10 A shower :: your inheritance,

at will when was weary,

you rained down, O GOD, yourself, you strengthened it;

:: 11 your assembly :: which you prepared

dwelt in your goodness

in it, for the afflicted,

O GOD.

····································································································································

– 12 THE LORD – the messengers,

gave an army

a command, numerous;

– 13 the kings – and the beauty

of the armies of the house

flee, divides

they flee, the spoil.

This part evokes the great events of the exodus. It begins with the exit from Egypt into the desert, with God leading his people (8), and the theophany at “Sinai” (9). The second piece (10–11) relates the gift of manna and quails that God “rained down” (Exod 16:4) for the starving people—his “inheritance”, his “assembly”. Finally, the third piece (Ps 68:12–13) reports the victories over “the kings” who opposed Israel’s advancing: kings fleeing and sharing of spoils (13). THE THIRD PART (14–19) The central part of the psalm confirms two laws of biblical rhetoric. The first of these is “the law of the question at the centre”: indeed, the only question in the psalm is found at the centre of this central part (17ab). The second law is the enigmatic nature of the centre; it is not surprising that this part is so difficult to understand. The first piece (14–15) begins with a reference to the Song of Deborah (Jdg 5:16): a reproach addressed to Reuben who rejected Deborah’s invitation to participate in the coalition against Sisera, general of Yabin, king of Canaan. Ironically, their share of the spoils would be limited to silver and gold from the plumage of the turtle dove. The second segment (Ps 68:15) could be opposed to

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the first one: while Reuben is resting, “Shaddai” fights for Israel (15a), covering Mount Zalmon, the black basalt mountain of Bashan, with snow, which means changing its fate completely. The last piece (18–19) shows the Lord taking possession of his sanctuary with all his chariots from Sinai (18); he takes those who rebelled against him as prisoners to “reside” there (19). The central piece (16–17) comprises three segments. In the first one, the psalmist calls out to “the mountain of Bashan”, qualifying it as “a haughty mountain”. After the question which opposes “the haughty mountains” to the one that “God desired for his dwelling place” (17ab), comes the final answer, in a unimember segment (17c). – 14 If you rest : the wings : and its feathers

between a turtle dove with shinning

two low walls, are covered gold;

with silver

+ 15 when scattered : it snowed

SHADDAI on Zalmon.

the kings

over it,

·································································································································

= 16 The mountain = a mountain

of GOD, haughty,

the mountain the mountain

of Bashan, of Bashan!

- 17 Why - at the mountain

are you envious, that GOD

you mountains desired

haughty, for his dwelling?

= Yes, YHWH

WILL RESIDE (there)

until the end.

································································································································· 18

+ The chariots + thousands + THE LORD 19

+ You ascended + you took + to RESIDE (there),

of GOD of repetitions; (is) in them

two-myriads, from Sinai

to the sanctuary.

to the heights, as tribute YAH

you captured men, GOD.

captives, even the rebellious,

At the end of the first members of the extreme pieces, the dual “two-myriads” (18a) seems to correspond to that of 14a, “two low walls”. The two occurrences of “to reside” (17c & 19c) act as final terms for the last two pieces.

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

THE FOURTH PART (20–28) + 20 BLESSED BE + he takes care

the LORD of us,

+ 21 The GOD + and to YHWH

THE LORD

- 22 but GOD - the skull

smashes hairy

of ours (belong),

day the GOD

by day, of our salvation.

(is) a GOD of death

of saving acts the issues; issues

the head of his enemies, of him who walks on in his crimes.

····································································································································· + 23 Said the LORD: “From Bashan I bring back,

from the depths

of the sea, sea

- so that - that the tongue

you may sink of your dogs,

your foot of (your) enemies

in blood, may have its portion.”

:: 25 They have seen :: the processions

your processions, of my GOD,

O GOD, my king,

to the sanctuary:

- 26 In front - in the middle

the singers, the young women,

behind playing timbrels.

+ I bring back 24

the musicians,

····································································································································· :: 27 In chorus THEY BLESSED GOD: :: YHWH, since the foundation of Israel.

- 28 There - the princes - the princes

Benjamin, of Judah of Zebulun,

the youngest, leads them; in embroidered clothes, the princes of Naphtali.

The first two segments of the first piece (20–21) describe what the Lord does for “us”, “salvation” and “saving acts”; the last segment (22) what he does against “his enemies” and their “crimes”. Similarly, in the second piece (23–24), the first segment ends with “from the depths of the sea” (23b), which recalls “the issues of death” at the end of the second segment of the first piece (21b); the last segment (24), like the last segment of the first piece (22), deals with “enemies”, the two body parts “your foot” and “your tongue” (24) are corresponding to “the head” and “the skull” of 22. The second subpart (25–28) describes the liturgy at “sanctuary” (25b), with “processions” (25ab), “singers” and “musicians” (26a), “young women” with their timbrels (26b). The second piece begins with a statement of what they are doing, blessing God (27), before listing the names of the tribes participating in the liturgy, “Benjamin” and “Judah” in the south, “Zebulun” and “Naphtali” in the north (28). The two occurrences of the verb “to bless” are found at the beginning of the extreme pieces (20a & 27a). The total number of the occurrences of divine names is twelve. We can understand that the Lord “brings back” the cult “from Bashan” (23a) to his “sanctuary” in Jerusalem (25b).

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THE FIRTH PART (29–36) + 29 HAS COMMANDED + THE STRENGTH, STRENGTH 30

- from you TEMPLE - to you

YOUR GOD O GOD,

YOUR STRENGTH, STRENGTH that you have made

for us;

above Jerusalem (they) will bring,

KINGS gifts. ···································································································································· + 31 REBUKE the beast of the reeds, + the heard of bulls with the calves OF THE PEOPLES,

- who humiliate themselves with bars

of silver.

+ HE HAS SCATTERED - 32 Will come - Kush

nobles will stretch out

who in conflicts delight: from Egypt, its hands to God.

+ 33 O KINGDOMS + SING PSALMS

of the earth, to THE LORD,

SING

to GOD,

- 34 to the Rider - behold, - a voice

of the heavens, he gives OF STRENGTH. STRENGTH

of the heavens with his voice,

ancient,

+ 35 GIVE + over Israel

THE STRENGTH his splendour

of GOD, AND HIS STRENGTH

THE PEOPLES

in the clouds.

···································································································································· + 36 (You are) fearsome, O GOD, out of your SANCTUARIES; + THE GOD of Israel he (is), + giving STREGTH and might TO THE PEOPLE.

= Blessed be

GOD!

In the first piece of the first subpart, the “strength” that God has commanded for his people (29) seems to come from the “gifts” that foreign “kings” bring to the Temple in Jerusalem (30). The second piece follows a similar pattern: under divine threat “the peoples” (31ab) will deliver “bars of silver” (31c), “the peoples” once dispersed (31d), nobles from Egypt and Ethiopia will come to Jerusalem “to stretch out their hands to God”, to pray and to make offerings (32ab). “The beast of the reeds” (31ab) seems to announce “Egypt” (32a). In the second subpart the psalmist invites the “kingdoms of the earth” that are mentioned in the first subpart to praise God (33) by acknowledging his “strength” that is manifested “over Israel” and “in the clouds” (35). The second piece (36), on the other hand, is addressed to God and blesses him for giving “strength” to his “people”. “Strength” occurs six times (29a, 29b, 34c, 35a, 35b, 36c). “Temple” and “sanctuaries” frame the part (30a & 36a). “People/s” occur three times (31b, 31d, 36c), “kingdoms” (33a) refer to “kings” (30b).

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1 For

the music director, of David, a psalm, a song.

rises up, his enemies are scattered and those who hate him flee before his face. 3 As smoke is dispersed, you disperse them, as wax melts before the face of fire, the wicked perish, before the face of God. 4 But the righteous rejoice, they are glad in the face of God, and they are jubilant with rejoicing. 5 SING TO GOD, SING PSALMS to his name, make way for THE RIDER OF THE STEPPES, in Yah his name, and exult in his face. 6 Father of orphans and defender of widows is God in THE HABITATION OF HIS HOLINESS; 7 God MAKES the lonely DWELL in a house, he makes prisoners go out in freedom; but THE REBELLIOUS reside in arid places. 2 GOD

8O

GOD, when you went out in the face of your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 9 the earth quaked, the heavens dropped before the face of God, the One of Sinai, before the face of God, the God of Israel. 10 You rained down a shower at will, O God, your inheritance, when was weary, you yourself strengthened it; 11 your assembly DWELT in it, which you prepared in your goodness for the afflicted, O God. 12 The Lord gave a command, the messengers, a great army; 13 THE KINGS of the armies flee, they flee, and the beauty of the house divides the spoil. 14 If

you rest between two low walls, the wings of a turtle dove are covered with silver and its feathers with shinning gold; 15 when Shaddai scattered THE KINGS over it, it snowed on Zalmon. 16 The mountain of God, the mountain of Bashan, a haughty mountain, the mountain of Bashan! 17 Why are you envious, you haughty mountains, at THE MOUNTAIN THAT GOD DESIRED FOR HIS DWELLING? DWELLING Yes, Yhwh will reside there until the end. 18 The chariots of God two-myriads, thousands of repetitions; the Lord is in them from Sinai TO THE THE SANCTUARY SANCTUARY. 19 You ascended to the heights, you captured captives, you took men as tribute, even THE REBELLIOUS, to reside there, Yah God.

20 BLESSED be THE LORD day by day, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation. 21 The God of ours is a God of saving acts and to Yhwh the Lord belong the issues of death; 22 but God smashes the head of his enemies, the hairy skull of him who walks on in his crimes. 23 Said the Lord: “From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea, 24 so that you may sink your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of your enemies.” 25 They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, MY KING, TO THE SANCTUARY SANCTUARY: 26 The singers were in front, behind the musicians, in the middle the young women playing timbrels. 27 In chorus THEY BLESSED God: Yhwh, since the foundation of Israel. 28 There Benjamin, the youngest leads them; the princes of Judah in embroidered clothes, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 29 YOUR GOD has commanded your strength, the strength, O God, that you have made for us; 30 from YOUR TEMPLE above Jerusalem KINGS will bring gifts to you. 31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the heard

of bulls with the calves of the peoples, who humiliate themselves with silver bars. He has scattered the peoples who delight in conflicts: 32 Nobles will come from Egypt, Kush will stretch out its hands to God. 33 O KINGDOMS of the earth, SING TO GOD, SING PSALMS to the Lord, 34 TO THE RIDER OF THE HEAVENS, of the ancient heavens, behold, he gives with his voice, a voice of strength. 35 Give the strength of God, over Israel his splendour and his strength in the clouds. 36 You are fearsome, O God, out of YOUR SANCTUARIES SANCTUARIES, he is the God of Israel, giving strength and might to the people. BLESSED be God!

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The first two parts have in common “in/before the face of God” (3, 4, 9[2x]) and “in/before his face” (2 & 5) as well as “before the face of fire” (3) and “in the face of your people” (8); these expressions are not to be found again in other parts. The synonyms “are scattered” and “flee” (2), and “flee, they flee” (13) act as extreme terms for both parts. “Orphans” and “widows”, “the lonely” and “prisoners” found at the end of the first part (6–7) are taken up by a generic term of “the afflicted” at the centre of the second part (11). The last two parts are framed by two occurrences of “to bless” (20 & 36). This verb occurs also in 27. The extreme parts are marked by the repetition of “sing to God, sing psalms, to/for the Rider of the steppes/heavens” (5 & 33–34). It should also be noted that in the first part the word “face” is frequently repeated (and also at the beginning of the second part), and in the last part “strength” is repeated. It is “the face of God” (2, 3, 4, 5, 9) and “the power of God” (29, 34, 35, 36). In the central part, “the kings” (15) recall “the kings” of 13 and 30, as well as “kingdoms” of 33, without forgetting that God is referred to as “my king” in 25. At the centre, “the mountain that God desired for his dwelling” (17a) echoes “the habitation of his holiness” at the end of the first part (6), “the sanctuary" in the fourth part (25), as well as in the fifth part “your Temple” (30) and “your sanctuaries” (36). It may be noted that “dwelling” of 17a is of the same root as “to dwell/to make dwell” (7 & 11), and that “to reside” (17b & 19) is already found at the end of the first part (7). “The rebellious” at the end of the central part (19) are already present at the end of the first part (7).

CONTEXT INVOCATION OF MOSES The first words of the psalm imitate the invocation of Moses: “Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, ‘Rise up, Yhwh, may your enemies be scattered and may those who hate you flee from before your face’” (Num 10:35). “And when it came to rest he would say: ‘Return, Yhwh, to the countless thousands of Israel’” (Num 10:36), which may recall Ps 68:18. THE SONG OF DEBORAH AND BARAK There are many connections with The Song of Deborah in Jdg 5: – verses 8–9 of Ps 68, 8

O God, when you went out in the face of your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 9 the earth quaked, the heavens dropped before the face of God, the One of Sinai, before the face of God, the God of Israel.

recall Jdg 5:4–5,

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

4

Yhwh, when you set out from Seir, when you marched from the field of Edom, the earth quaked, the heavens dripped, the clouds poured down water. 5 The mountains melted before Yhwh, the One of Sinai, the God of Israel.

– Verse 13 of Ps 68, the kings of the armies flee, they flee, and the beauty of the house divides the spoil.

refers to, 19

The kings came and they fought, how they fought, those kings of Canaan, at Taanach, near the Waters of Megiddo, but no spoil of silver did they take. [...] 22 The horses’ hooves then hammer the ground: galloping, galloping go his steeds! (Jdg 5:19, 22)

– Verse 14 of Ps 68, If you rest between two low walls, the wings of a turtle dove are covered with silver and its feathers with shinning gold.

recalls that Reuben did not accept Deborah’s invitation to fight, nor did the tribes of Gad, Dan and Asher: 16

Why did you stay among the sheepfolds, listening for the whistle, with the flocks? In the clans of Reuben, there was much searching of heart. 17 Gilead stayed on the other side of the Jordan, and why should Dan have stayed aboard ship? Asher remained beside the sea, peacefully living within his ports. (Jdg 5:16–17).

– Verse 28 of Ps 68, There Benjamin, the youngest leads them; the princes of Judah in embroidered clothes, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

is taken up in, 14

The princes of Ephraim are in the valley. Behind you, Benjamin is in your ranks. Captains have come down from Machir, those who wield the commander's staff, from Zebulun. 15 The princes of Issachar are with Deborah; and Naphtali, with Barak, in the valley follows in hot pursuit. In the clans of Reuben there was much searching of heart. [...] 18 Zebulun is a people who have braved death, Naphtali too, on the high ground of the country. (Jdg 5:14–15, 18)

One might even wonder whether the difficult text of the psalm is not due to some desire to imitate the text of Deborah’s canticle.

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“THE MOUNTAIN THAT GOD DESIRED FOR HIS DWELLING” (PS 68:17) The image of Mount Zion is the focal point of the psalm. The theme of the dwelling place and of the sanctuary runs throughout, forming of a common thread that ensures the coherence of the whole. Deuteronomy insists that Jerusalem is the place chosen by God to make his name dwell there: “You must seek Yhwh your God in the place which he will choose from all your tribes, to put his name and make his habitation there: that is where you must go” (Deut 12:5; see also 11:14, 18, 21, 26 etc.). In this context, the expression “before the face of God” (Deut. 12:12, 18; 16:16; 26:10; 31:11) means “in his presence”, that is, in his sanctuary. SAINT PAUL AND THE UNITY The Letter to the Ephesians quotes Ps 68:19 in the framework of an exhortation to unity: 1

I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you therefore [...] 3 Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. 4 There is one body, one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8

Therefore it says, He ascended on high, he captured captives; he gave gifts to men. 9

Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. 11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature (Eph 4:1–13).

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

INTERPRETATION GOD’S DWELLING PLACE If the analysis is correct, the psalm focuses on the question of “the mountain that God desired for his dwelling” (Ps 68:17a), which is immediately followed by the answer that “Yhwh will reside there until the end” (68:17b). The whole began (68:1–2) with an evocation of the ark of the covenant, the place of God’s presence among his people in the desert. At the heart of the first part, “the righteous” are invited to “sing to God” and to “sing psalms to his name”, to “the Rider of the steppes” (68:5). In the conclusion, all the “kingdoms of the earth” are called to do the same for “the Rider of the heavens” in his “sanctuaries” (68:33–36). “In the habitation of his holiness” God has revealed himself to be the protector of orphans and widows (68:6); “the house” where he “makes the lonely dwell” and where he welcomes “the prisoners” whom he has freed seems to be his own dwelling place, while “the rebellious” must “reside” in the desert (68:7). At the end of the central part the God of Sinai solemnly settles “in the sanctuary” (68:18) where he “resides” (68:19). And that is done despite the resistance of “the haughty mountain of Bashan” (68:16). And these are “the processions” “to the sanctuary” with all its well-structured liturgy in which the tribes of the far north as well as those of the south participate (68:25–28). Even the “kings” of the nations will come to the “Temple” in “Jerusalem” to pay tribute and “to stretch out their hands to God” (68:29–32). “The mountain that God desired for his dwelling place” ensures not only the unity of the people of Israel, but also of the “kingdoms of the earth” (68:33). SALVATION OF THE AFFLICTED In the days of Deborah and Barak, as in the days of the Exodus, God rises up to save orphans and widows, the lonely and the imprisoned, all victims of his “enemies”. As the children of Israel were freed from the bondage imposed by Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so in the time of the Judges are they pulled out of the hands of Jabin, king of Canaan. The six hundred chariots of Pharaoh (Exod 14:7), the nine hundred chariots of Jabin (Jdg 4:3) could not withstand the two myriads of the Lord (Ps 68:18). “The God of our salvation” is “a God of saving acts” (Ps 68:20–21) who “smashes the heads of his enemies” (Ps 68:22) so that his followers can sink their feet into the blood of those who oppress them harshly (Jdg 4:3). Among all these defenceless “afflicted” there are two outstanding women, Deborah, whom God had raised up to judge his people, and Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, who put to death Sisera, the leader of the army of Jabin (Jdg 4:17–22).

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THE STRENGTH OF THE FACE OF GOD The God who rises up to scatter his enemies is the one whose face melts them like wax in front of the fire, who destroys the wicked (Ps 68:2–3). The strength of his face causes the earth to tremble and the heavens to drop (68:9). The righteous, on the other hand, can “rejoice” and “be glad” before the strength of this face that saves them (68:4–5). The Lord passes on his strength to his people (68:29, 36), and so, as if in return, Israel, as well as all the kings of the earth, can sing and chant exalting the strength of his face in the clouds (68:33–34).

4. ALL THE NATIONS WILL SING TO THE LORD (PS 66–68) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 66 1 For the music director, a song, a psalm. Acclaim God, ALL THE EARTH, 2 SING PSALMS to the glory of his name, set the glory of his praise. 3 Say to God, “How FEARSOME are your works! By the greatness of your strength your enemies will cringe to you; 4 ALL THE EARTH will bow down to you and WILL SING PSALMS to you, WILL SING PSALMS to your name”. 5 Come and see the gestures of God, FEARSOME in action for the sons of Adam: 6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river on foot, there we rejoiced in him. 7 He rules by his might forever, his eyes scrutinise the nations, let the rebellious not exalt themselves against him. 8 BLESS our God, O PEOPLES, and make the voice of his praise to be heard, 9 he who sets our soul in life and he does not allow our feet to be shaken. 10 Yes,

you have tested us, O God, you have refined us as one refines silver; 11 you have made us enter into a net, you have set affliction on our backs; 12 YOU HAVE a mortal MADE RIDE over our heads; we have entered into fire and into water, and you have brought us out into abundance. 13 I

will come INTO YOUR HOUSE with burnt offerings, I will fulfil my vows to you, 14 those that my lips opened and that my mouth spoke in my anguish; 15 I will bring up to you burnt offerings of fat animals with the aroma of rams, I will make them of bulls with goats. 16 Come, hear, and I will recount, ALL YOU FEARFUL OF GOD, what he has done for my soul; 17 I called to him with my mouth and the exaltation was under my tongue. 18 If I have seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear; 19 however, God heard, he gave attention to the voice of my prayer. 20 BLESSED be God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his faithfulness from me. Ps 67 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. 2 May God have mercy on us and BLESS us, may he make his face shine upon us, 3 that your way may be known ON THE EARTH, and your salvation among ALL THE NATIONS. 4 Let THE PEOPLES give you thanks, O God, let THE PEOPLES give you thanks, ALL OF THEM! 5 May THE COUNTRIES rejoice and shout for joy, because you judge THE PEOPLES with uprightness and you guide THE COUNTRIES on the earth. 6 Let THE PEOPLES give you thanks, O God, let THE PEOPLES give you thanks, ALL OF THEM! 7 The earth has given its harvest, God our God BLESSES us. 8 God BLESSES us, and ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH fear him.

The three psalms have in common the verb “to bless” (66:8, 20; 67:2, 7, 8; 68:20, 27, 36); the terms referring to all the peoples of the earth are numerous in the central psalm (67:3, 4, 5, 6, 8) but are also found in the first psalm (“all the earth”, 66:1, 4; “peoples”, 8; “all the fearful of God”, 16) and in the last psalm (“the kings”, 68:30; “Egypt” and “Kush”, 32; “kingdoms of the earth”, 33). Their titles contain “For the music director”, “of David”, “a psalm” and “a song”. The extreme psalms have in common: “to sing psalms” (66:2, 4[2x]; 68:5, 33), “enemies” (66:3; 68:2, 22), “fearsome” (66:3, 5; 68:36), “strength” (66:3; 68:29[2x], 34, 35[2x], 36 ), “to ride”, “the Rider” and “chariots” (66:12; 68:5, 18, 34), the terms denoting the Temple: “into your house”, 66:13; “sanctuary/s”, 68:18, 25, 36; “your Temple”, 30; at the centre, “the mountain that God desired for his dwelling” (17). In the last two psalms the “face” of God is repeated (67:2; 68:2, 3, 4, 5, 9[2x]).

Sequence 66–68

331

Ps 68 1 For the music director, of David, a psalm, a song. 2 God rises up, his enemies are scattered and those who hate him flee before his face. 3 As smoke is dispersed, you disperse them, as wax melts before the face of fire, the wicked perish before the face of God. 4 But the righteous rejoice, they are glad in the face of God, and they are jubilant with rejoicing. 5 Sing to God, SING PSALMS to his name, make way FOR THE RIDER OF THE STEPPES, in Yah his name, and exult in his face. 6 Father of orphans and defender of widows is God in THE HABITATION OF HIS HOLINESS; 7 God makes the lonely dwell in a house, he makes the prisoners go out in freedom; but the rebellious reside in arid places. 8O

God, when you went out in the face of your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 9 the earth quaked, the heavens dropped before the face of God, the One of Sinai, before the face of God, the God of Israel. 10 You rained down a shower at will, O God, your inheritance, when was weary, you yourself strengthened it; 11 your assembly dwelt in it, which you prepared in your goodness for the afflicted, O God. 12 The Lord gave a command, the messengers, a great army; 13 the kings of the armies flee, they flee, and the beauty of the house divides the spoil. 14 If

you rest between two low walls, the wings of a turtle dove are covered with silver and its feathers with shinning gold; 15 when Shaddai scattered the kings over it, it snowed on Zalmon. 16 The mountain of God, the mountain of Bashan, a haughty mountain, the mountain of Bashan! 17 Why are you envious, you haughty mountains, at THE MOUNTAIN THAT GOD DESIRED FOR HIS DWELLING? Yes, Yhwh will reside there until the end. 18 THE CHARIOTS of God two-myriads, thousands of repetitions; the Lord is in them from Sinai TO THE SANCTUARY. 19 You ascended to the heights, you captured captives, you took men as tribute, even the rebellious, to reside there, Yah God. 20 BLESSED

be the Lord day by day, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation. 21 The God of ours (is) a God of saving acts and to Yhwh the Lord belong the issues of death; 22 but God smashes the head of his enemies, the hairy skull of him who walks on in his crimes. 23 Said the Lord: “From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea, 24 so that you may sink your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of your enemies.” 25 They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, my king, TO THE SANCTUARY: 26 The singers were in front, behind the musicians, in the middle the young women playing timbrels. 27 In chorus they BLESSED God: Yhwh, since the foundation of Israel. 28 There Benjamin, the youngest leads them; the princes of Judah in embroidered clothes, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. God has commanded your strength, strength the strength, strength O God, that you have made for us; 30 from YOUR TEMPLE above Jerusalem KINGS will bring gifts to you. 31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the heard of bulls with the calves of the peoples, who humiliate themselves with silver bars. He has scattered the peoples who delight in conflicts: 32 Nobles will come from EGYPT, KUSH will stretch out its hands to God. 33 O KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH, sing to God, SING PSALMS to the Lord, 34 TO THE RIDER OF THE HEAVENS, of the ancient heavens, behold, he gives with his voice, a voice of strength. strength 35 Give the strength of God, over Israel his splendour and his strength in the clouds. 36 You are FEARSOME, O God, out of YOUR SANCTUARIES, he is the God of Israel, giving strength and might to the people. BLESSED be God! 29 Your

INTERPRETATION TRIPLE “SONG” TO GOD The three psalms of the sequence are qualified as “songs” in their titles. In fact, right from the beginning, it is an invitation to “acclaim God”, to “sing psalms to the glory of his name” with “praise” (66:1–4). In the central short psalm, this appeal becomes even more urgent: “Let the peoples give you thanks”, “may the countries rejoice and shout for joy” (67:4–6). And just as the first psalm begins with an exhortation to “sing psalms”, so the last psalm is framed by the same call:

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“Sing to God, sing psalms to his name”, “exult in his face” (68:5), “sing to God, sing psalms of the Lord” (68:33). BLESSING The song to God takes the particular form of blessing. The extreme psalms end in the same fashion: first the psalmist concludes his song with the words: “Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor his faithfulness from me” (66:20), and at the end of the song the lapidary formula: “Blessed be God!” (68:36). But the psalmist is not alone, he participates in the processions to the Temple where “the singers” and “the musicians” are marching, with the young women playing the timbrels, and “in chorus” all of them “bless God” (68:25–28). Curiously, the first ones to be invited to bless the God of Israel are the pagan “nations”: “Bless our God, O peoples” for the salvation he has granted to his people: “he who sets our soul in life and he does not allow our feet to be shaken” (66:8–9). In short, the nations are invited to bless God, because he blesses Israel and, in the same movement, he “judges the peoples with uprightness” (67:5); and that is what the central psalm, the menorah psalm, says from beginning to end. “ACCLAIM GOD, ALL THE EARTH!” (66:1) The initial call of the sequence is certainly to be understood as addressed by Israel to all the pagan nations, and so is the invitation that follows shortly afterwards: “Bless our God, O peoples” (66:8). In the last psalm, the exhortation to sing and chant concerns first of all “the righteous” who rejoice because they have been freed from those who are presented as the enemies of God, and therefore the enemies of his people (68:2–5); the same exhortation concerns in the end “the kingdoms of the earth” (68:33), invited to rejoice because the God of Israel has given strength to his people. The same is applies to the Menorah Psalm, but more than elsewhere, all the peoples are invited to give thanks together: “Let the peoples give you thanks, all of them” (67:4, 6). To you, O God, the praise of the peoples, unanimous, the praise of the peoples!

II. SAVE ME, I WILL SING TO YOU The Second Sequence: Ps 69 The second sequence comprises only one psalm. TEXT 1 For

the music director, to the tune of “Lilies”, of David. 2 Save me, O God, because the waters have come up to my soul; 3 I sink in the miry depths and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters and the flood overflows me. 4 I am worn out with my calling, my throat is parched, my eyes are consumed waiting for my God; 5 are more than the hairs of my head those who hate me without reason; are mighty those destroying me, my lying enemies: What I did not steal must I now restore? 6 O God, as for you, you know my folly and my offences are not hidden from you. 7 May those who hope in you not blush for my sake, O Lord Yhwh Sabaoth; may those who seek you not be ashamed for my sake, O God of Israel. 8 Because for your sake I bear insult, shame covers my face, 9 I become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to the sons of my mother; 10 because the zeal of your house eats me up and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. 11 And (if) I weep, my soul in fasting, and it becomes insults to me; 12 and (if) I put on a sackcloth for my garment, and I become a proverb to them. 13 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and the songs of those who drink strong drinks. 14 And as for me, my prayer (is) to you, O Yhwh, at a favourable time; O God, in your great faithfulness, answer me in the truth of your salvation. 15 Pull me out of the mire, that I may not sink, that I may escape from my adversaries and from the deep waters; 16 let the flood of waters not overflow me, let the depths not swallow me, let the pit not close its mouth over me. 17 Answer me, O Yhwh, because your faithfulness (is) good, in your great tenderness turn to me 18 and do not hide your face from your servant, because I am oppressed; make haste, answer me; 19 draw near to my soul, avenge it, for the sake of my enemies redeem me. 20 As for you, you know my insult, and my blushing and my shame, before you all my oppressors. 21 The insult broke my heart and I fainted, and I hoped for compassion, but there was none, and for comforters, and I found none. 22 And they gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink; 23 let their table become a snare before them and for their friends a trap, 24 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and their backs be always bent. 25 Pour out your wrath on them and let the fire of your anger overtake them; 26 let their enclosure become a desolation, and in their tents let there be no dweller. 27 Because of you, they pursued the one you have struck, and they count the wounds of your victim; 28 add fault to their fault and let them not come into your righteousness, 29 let them be erased from the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous. 30 And as for me, afflicted and suffering, may your salvation, O God, protect me! 31 I will praise the name of God with a song and I will magnify him with thanksgiving; 32 it will be better for Yhwh than an ox, a bull with horns, with hooves. 33 The humiliated have seen, they rejoice; you who seek God, let your heart revive! 34 Because Yhwh hears the poor and he has not despised his captives. 35 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that moves in them! 36 Because God will save Zion and he will rebuild the cities of Judah, and they will dwell there and will possess it; 37 and the offspring of his servants will inherit, and those who love his name will reside there.

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V. 23B: “AND FOR THEIR FRIENDS”

Several corrections have been proposed for lišlômîm.1 We can understand it as follows: their table prepared for their friends, namely for men of peace.2 V. 27A: “BECAUSE OF YOU”

Following the ancient versions, many change the pronoun ’attâ (“you”) into ’et, the object particle, and translating it as “And the one you struck...”, which would have the advantage of reducing the member to three terms instead of four. However, the composition of the part shows that the two occurrences of the pronoun “you” (20a & 27a) act as initial terms for the extreme pieces. V. 27B: “THEY COUNT”

Against the ancient versions which facilitate the text by translating it as “they added”, the Hebrew text can be preserved: “they recount” or “they count”.

COMPOSITION The psalm comprises five parts arranged concentrically. THE FIRST PART (2–5) + 2 Save me, O GOD, + because have come the waters

up to my soul;

+ 3I sink + and there is no

in the miry foothold;

depths,

+ I have come + and the flood

into deep overflows me.

waters

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:: 4 I am worn out :: are consumed

with my calling, my eyes

is parched waiting for

– 5 are more than the hairs – those who hate me without reason;

of my head

– are mighty = What

my enemies now

1 2

those destroying me, I did not steal,

For the discussion, see Ravasi, II, 425. Hakham, I, 409.

me throat, my God;

lying: must I restore?

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The initial appeal (2a) is motivated by the fact that the psalmist is overwhelmed by the waters (2b–3). The second piece parallels the first one: an appeal (4) because of the enemies’ attacks (5). But this time the metaphor of the waters of the first piece gives way to the real presence of those who hate the psalmist without reason. The last member of the piece (5d) makes the false accusation of the enemies explicit. THE SECOND PART (6–13) = 6 O GOD, = and my offenses

as for you, from you

you know are not hidden.

my folly

+ 7 MAY NOT BLUSH .. O LORD

for my sake, YHWH

those who hope in you, SABAOTH;

+ MAY NOT BE ASHAMED .. O GOD

for my sake,

those who seek you,

OF ISRAEL. ·····························································································································

:: 8 Because for your sake I bear :: covers SHAME - 9 a stranger - and an alien :: 10 because the zeal :: and THE INSULTS

I become to the sons

INSULT,

my face; to my brothers of my mother;

of your house eats me up of THOSE WHO INSULT YOU fall

on me.

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– 11 And if I weep, . and it becomes

INSULTS

my soul, to me;

– 12 and if I put on . and I become

for my garment to them

A PROVERB.

those who sit of those who drink

at the gate strong drinks.

= 13 MOCK ME = and THE SONGS

in fasting

a sackcloth,

The extreme pieces (6–7 & 11–13) are responding to each other in a mirrored manner. The two parallel segments of 7 correspond to the two parallel segments of 11–12. In the first instance, it is a plea for those who hope and seek the Lord; in the second instance, it is a complaint against those who systematically insult the psalmist. The extreme segments (6 & 13) contrast God’s attitude towards the psalmist’s failings with that of the wicked who “mock” him. In the extreme segments of the central piece (8 & 10), which begin with “because”, the psalmist states that the insults he suffers are due to his attachment to God. The central segment (9) shows how far this misfortune goes: he is rejection by his own family.

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Terms belonging to the semantic field of insult and shame abound in all three pieces: “to blush” (7a), “to be ashamed”, “shame” (7c & 8b), “insult/s” and “to insult” (8a, 10b[2x] & 11b), “proverb” (12b), “to mock” (13a), “songs” (13b). THE THIRD PART (14–19) – 14 And as for me, – at a time

my prayer is to you, favourable;

O YHWH,

+ O GOD, + ANSWER ME

in your gre great in the TRUTH

FAITHFULNESS,

of your salvation.

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: 15 Pull me out : that I may escape : and from deep

of the mire, from my adversaries waters;

: 16 let not overflow me the flood : let not swallow me the depths, : let not close over me

that I may not sink,

of waters, the pit

its mouth!

································································································································· O YHWH, because is good your FAITHFULNESS, TENDERNESS turn to me;

+ 17 ANSWER ME, + in your gre great

– 18 and do not hide your face – because I am oppressed; make haste,

from your servant, ANSWER ME,

– 19 draw near – for the sake

avenge it, redeem me.

to my soul, of my enemies

The two segments of the first piece are complementary: the prayer addressed to “Yhwh” (14ab) awaits the answer of “God” (14cd); the couple “fidelity” and “truth” mark the two members of the second segment. The last piece (17–19) begins as the first piece ends (14): there are the names “God” and “Yhwh”, “answer me”, and the couple “faithfulness” and “tenderness” (17ab) recalls that of “faithfulness” and “truth” (14cd); “in your great faithfulness” of 14c corresponds to “in your great tenderness” of 17b. The next two segments (18–19) are parallel with the imperatives found at the ends of each, “my enemies” (19b) refer to “I am oppressed” (18b). The central piece (15–16) comprises two trimember segments that develop the metaphor of the “waters” in which the psalmist sinks. The volitive verbs in the first members of the first segment are positive (15a & 15b), while those of the second segment are negative (16abc). The two occurrences of “waters” link both segments. “My adversaries” of the central piece (15b) announce “my enemies” found at the end (19b).

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THE FOURTH PART (20–29) + 20 As for YOU, + and my blushing + before you

you know and my shame, all my oppressors.

my INSULT,

+ 21 THE INSULT + and I hoped + and for comforters,

broke for compassion, and none

my heart and I fainted, but there was none, I found.

– 22 And they gave me – and for my thirst

for food thy gave me to drink

poison vinegar;

: 23 let become : and for their friends

their table a trap,

before them

: 24 let be darkened : and their backs

their eyes always

so that they cannot see be bent.

a snare

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: 25 Pour out : and the fire

on them of your anger

your wrath let overtake them;

: 26 let become : and in their tents

their enclosure let there be no

a desolation, dweller.

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– 27 Because of YOU, – and the wounds

the one of your victim

: 28 add : and let them not come

fault to their fault into your righteousness,

: 29 let them be erased : and with

from the book the righteous

you have struck, they count;

they pursued

of life let them not be written.

In the first subpart (20–21) the two trimember segments oppose each other: while God “knows” the psalmist’s misfortune (20), there is no person having compassion on him to comfort him (21). The word “insult” is repeated in the first members (20a, 21a). The second subpart (22–29) is more developed. In the extreme pieces (22–24 & 27–29), there is first the denunciation of the actions of the oppressors (22, 27), followed by the requests for punishment (23–24 & 28–29) in which the volitive verbs abound. The same applies to the central piece (24–26). It is worth noting the threefold repetition of the verb “to be/become” (23a, 26a & 26b). The invocative pronoun “you” is repeated at the beginning of the extreme pieces (20a & 27a). The “insults” mentioned in the first subpart (20a & 21a) are described in 22 and 27; and therefore, we can understand that “the one you have struck” (27a) is none other than the psalmist himself.

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THE FIFTH PART (30–37) + 30 And as for me, + may YOUR SALVATION,

afflicted O GOD,

and suffering, protect me!

: 31 I WILL PRAISE : and I will magnify him

THE NAME

of GOD

: 32 it will be better : a bull

for YHWH with thorns,

with a song

with thanksgiving; than an ox, with hooves.

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+ 33 Have seen, + you who seek

the humiliated, GOD,

they rejoice; let revive

: 34 Because hears : and his captives

the poor, he has not despised.

YHWH,

your heart!

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+ 35 LET PRAISE HIM + the seas

heaven and all that moves

and earth, in them!

: 36 Because GOD : and he will rebuild : and they will dwell

WILL SAVE

the cities there

Zion of Judah, and will possess it;

: 37 and the offspring : and those who love

HIS NAME

of his servants

will inherit, will reside there.

In the first piece the supplication (30) is followed by the promise of thanksgiving (31–32). The last piece begins with a call addressed to all creation to praise God (35), motivated by the salvation which he will grant to his people (36–37). In these extreme pieces there are repeated, “praise” (31a & 35a), “your salvation” and “to save” (30b & 36a), as well as his “name” (31a & 37b). While the first piece is in the first person singular, the central piece has a general character expressed in the plural: “the humiliated” and “the poor” (33a & 34a) which refer to the “afflicted” (30a). THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM The second and the penultimate parts begin with “as for you, you know” (6 & 20). Conversely, the two occurrences of “and as for me” (14 & 30) act as initial terms for the central and the last parts; just as these two parts the first part is introduced by a prayer. In this way the five parts are organised concentrically. “To save” and “salvation” occurs in the extreme parts and in the central part (2, 14, 30, 36). The same vocabulary is used in the first piece of the first part and at the centre of the central part: “waters” (2, 3, 15, 16), “to sink” and “into/from the deep” (3 & 15), “flood” and “to overflow” (3 & 16); “my enemies” are used as final terms (5 & 19).

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For the music director, to the tune of “Lilies”, of David. 2 SAVE ME,

O God, because the waters have come up to my soul; 3 I sink in the miry depths and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters and the flood overflows me. 4 I am worn out with my calling, my throat is parched, my eyes are consumed waiting for my God; 5 are more than the hairs of my head those who hate me without reason; are mighty those destroying me, my enemies lying: What I did not steal must I now restore? 6O

God, AS FOR YOU, YOU KNOW my folly and my offences are not hidden from you. 7 MAY THOSE WHO HOPE for my sake, O Lord Yhwh Sabaoth; MAY those who seek you NOT BE ASHAMED for my sake, O God of Israel. 8 Because for your sake I bear INSULT, SHAME cover my face; 9 I become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to the sons of my mother; 10 because the zeal of your house eats me up and the INSULTS of THOSE WHO INSULT you fall on me. 11 And if I weep, my soul in fasting, and it becomes INSULTS to me; 12 and if I put on a sackcloth for my garment, and I become a PROVERB to them. 13 Those who sit at the gate MOCK ME and the SONGS of those who drink strong drinks. IN YOU NOT BLUSH

14 AND

AS FOR ME, my prayer is to you, O Yhwh, at a favourable time; O God, in your great faithfulness, answer me in the truth of YOUR SALVATION. 15 Pull me out of the mire, that I may not sink, that I may escape from my adversaries sink and from the deep waters waters; rs 16 let the flood of waters not overflow me, me let the depths not swallow me, let the pit not close its mouth over me. 17 Answer me, O Yhwh, because your faithfulness is good, in your great tenderness turn to me 18 and do not hide your face from your servant, because I am oppressed; make haste, answer me, 19 draw near to my soul, avenge it, for the sake of my enemies redeem me. 20 AS

FOR YOU, YOU KNOW MY INSULT, and MY BLUSHING and MY SHAME, before you all my oppressors. 21 THE INSULT broke my heart and I fainted, and I HOPED for compassion, but there was none, and for comforters, and I found none. 22 And they gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink; 23 let their table become a snare before them and for their friends a trap, 24 let their eye eyes yes be darkened so that they cannot see and their backs be always bent. 25 Pour out your wrath on them and let the fire of your anger overtake them; 26 let their enclosure become a desolation, and in their tents let there be no dweller. 27 Because of you, they pursued the one you have struck, and they count the wounds of your victim; 28 add fault to their fault and let them not come into your righteousness, 29 let them be erased from the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous. 30 AND

AS FOR ME, afflicted and suffering, may YOUR SALVATION, O God, protect me! 31 I will praise the name of God with a song and I will magnify him with thanksgiving; 32 it will be better for Yhwh than an ox, a bull with horns, with hooves. 33 The humiliated have seen, they rejoice; you who seek God, let your heart revive! 34 Because Yhwh hears the poor and he has not despised his captives. 35 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that moves in them! 36 Because God WILL SAVE Zion and he will rebuild the cities of Judah, and they will dwell there and will possess it; 37 and the offspring of his servants will inherit, and those who love his name will reside there.

The second and fourth parts are linked by the repetition of terms belonging to the semantic field of “insult” and “shame” (7, 8, 10–13, 20, 21) and by the verb

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“to hope” (7 & 21). While the vocabulary of insults occupies the whole of the second part, in the symmetrical part it is limited to the first subpart; the second subpart, on the contrary, is dominated by the requests for punishment. The last part distinguishes itself from the first and the central parts, as the promise of praise replaces supplication.

CONTEXT Ps 69 is quoted extensively in the New Testament. The three quotations in John’s Gospel are always introduced by the formula of fulfilment. V. 5: “THOSE WHO HATE ME WITHOUT REASON”

In chapter 15 of the Fourth Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they will be hated by the world, just as he himself is hated: “They have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this was to fulfil the word written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason’” (John 15:24–26). V. 10A: “THE ZEAL OF YOUR HOUSE EATS ME UP”

When Jesus drives the sellers out of the Temple, John says that his disciples recognize this as the fulfilment of Scripture: “His disciples remembered that it is written, ‘Zeal for your house will eat me up’” (John 2:17). V. 22: VINEGAR OFFERED TO JESUS ON THE CROSS

The synoptics report that vinegar was offered to Jesus (Matt 27:48; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36); only the Fourth Gospel states that it was to fulfil the Scriptures and also that Jesus drank the vinegar, as the psalm states it: 28

After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: “I am thirsty” 29 A jar full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28–30) V. 10B: “THE INSULTS OF THOSE WHO INSULT YOU FALL ON ME”

Paul quotes Ps 69:10b in Rom 15:3, in a similar way insisting on the fulfilment of the Scriptures: 1

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written

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to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. (Rom 15:1–4) V. 23–24: “LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE BEFORE THEM...”

Paul in Roman 11 arguing that a part of Israel rejected salvation in Christ uses the Scriptures of the prophets and of the psalms: The rest were hardened, 8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” 9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them! 10 Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and make their backs bend continually!” (Rom 11:7–10) V. 26: “LET THEIR ENCLOSURE BECOME A DESOLATION...”

At the beginning of Acts, on the proposal of Peter, Judas is to be replaced: 20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, “Let his house become deserted, and let there be no one to live in it,” and “Let another take his position of responsibility.” 21 Thus one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus associated with us, 22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he was taken up from us– one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.” (Acts 1:20– 22).

INTERPRETATION THE PASSION The psalm begins with a cry, “Save me” (Ps 69:2), which is not found anywhere else as an incipit. And the whole of the first part describes in a dramatic manner the situation in which the psalmist finds himself, submerged by the waters into which he is sinking, his throat inflamed from having cried out too much, his eyes consumed, attacked from all sides by countless enemies who are raging against him without reason. From these initial burning words, we can understand why this psalm was called upon by the evangelists as a witness to the Passion of Jesus. And this is even more true since the complaint will continue until the end: “And for me, afflicted and suffering, may your salvation, O God, protect me!” (69:30). THE PASSION FOR GOD The persecuted person is not persecuted for his crimes, on the contrary. It is for God’s sake that he must suffer insult and shame, and his “zeal” for God’s house is met with suffering and mockery (69:8, 10). Even his manifestations of piety, fasting and penance, are turned against him (69:11–13). Yet his innocence cannot be doubted; he is hated “without reason” by his “lying enemies” (69:5). And when

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he confesses to God: “You know my folly and my offences are not hidden from you” (69:6), one wonders if this is not another way of proclaiming the wisdom and purity of his conduct: God knows very well that he does not deserve in any way what is inflicted on him. It is his passion for God that leads him into the passion he suffers. ONLY GOD KNOWS HIM In his misfortune, the persecuted psalmist was desperately seeking support, but in vain. He hoped to attract some “compassion” but found no comforter (69:21). He finds himself absolutely alone, abandoned by all; even his own brothers, his mother’s children, who no longer recognise him (69:9). Only God “knows” him, and it is on this single certainty, twice proclaimed, that he can rely: God knows well that the madness and the offences of which his enemies accuse him are unfounded (69:6), he knows well that his “insult”, his “blush” and his “shame” are only caused by his “oppressors” (69:20). HE WAS NOT ALONE It is only at the end, when he is able to foresee praise and thanksgiving, that the psalmist discovers that he was not the only one “humiliated”, the only one “seeking God” (69:33). Other “poor” people were heard by God, other “captives” were set free (69:34). These are his true brothers, brothers of misfortune and brothers of salvation. With these “servants” the Lord will be able to save Zion, to rebuild the cities of Judah. With him and with those who love God’s name, a revival is possible and is assured.

III. ALL THE MISERABLE WILL BE SAVED BY THE LORD The Third Sequence: Ps 70–72 1. PSALM 70 TEXT 1 For the music director, of David, for a memorial. 2 O God, to deliver me, O Lord hasten to my aid. 3 Let them blush and be disgraced, those who seek my life. Let them retreat backwards and be confused, those who desire my evil. 4 Let them turn back as a result of their blushing, those who say: “Aha! Aha!” 5 Let them be jubilant and rejoice in you, all those who seek you, and let them always say: “Let God be magnified”, those who love your salvation. 6 And as for me, afflicted and poor, O God, hasten to me! You (are) my help and my liberator; O Lord, do not be backwards!

The psalm does not present any textual problem. COMPOSITION 1

For the music director,

= 2 O GOD, = O LORD

of David

for a memorial.

to deliver me, to MY AID,

HASTEN. HASTEN

– 3 Let them blush :: those who SEEK

and be disgraced, my life.

– Let them retreat - those who desire

BACKWARDS

– 4 Let them turn back .. THOSE WHO SAY:

as a result “Aha!

of their blushing, Aha!”

+ 5 Let them be jubilant :: all

and rejoice those who SEEK you

in you,

+ AND LET THEM SAY .. “Let be magnified - those who love

always: GOD!”, your salvation.

and be confused,

my evil.

= 6 And as for me, :: O GOD,

afflicted HASTEN to me!

and poor,

= MY HELP :: O LORD,

and my liberator,

you are;

DO NOT BE BACKWARDS!

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

After the title (1), the psalm is organised into four parts arranged in a mirrored fashion. The first part (2) comprises only one segment, whose two members are parallel, and the verb at end of the second member governs the two complements “to deliver me” (l ehaṣṣîlēnî) and “to my aid” (l e’ezrātî). The last part (6), with two bimember segments, is more developed. The second members are parallel and synonymous, while the first ones are complementary: in the first one (6a) the psalmist describes his own situation with two coordinated qualifiers, in the other one (6c) he addresses God with two coordinated titles. “As for me” at the beginning of the first member (6a) corresponds to “you are” at the end of the first member of the other segment (6c). 1

For the music director,

of David

for a memorial.

= 2 O GOD, = O LORD

to deliver me, to MY AID,

HASTEN. HASTEN

– 3 Let them blush :: those who SEEK

and be disgraced, my life.

– Let them retreat - those who desire

BACKWARDS

– 4 Let them turn back .. THOSE WHO SAY:

as a result “Aha!

of their blushing, Aha!”

+ 5 Let them be jubilant :: all

and rejoice those who SEEK you

in you,

+ AND LET THEM SAY .. “Let be magnified - those who love

always: GOD!”, your salvation.

and be confused,

my evil.

= 6 And as for me, :: O GOD,

afflicted HASTEN to me!

and poor,

= MY HELP :: O LORD,

and my liberator,

you are;

DO NOT BE BACKWARDS!

The divine names “God” and “Lord”, which mark the beginnings of the two members in the first part (2a & 2b), are taken up as the first words of the second members in the last part (6b & 6d). “My aid” and “hasten” at the end of the first part (2b) are taken up, in a reverse order, as median terms in the last part (6b & 6c, a term from the same root as “aid” in 2b translated here as “help”), thus forming an inclusion for the whole psalm. The central parts do not contain imperatives as the extreme parts, but jussives. The second part (3–4) comprises three bimember segments. The first two are parallel: their first members (3a & 3c) coordinate two verbs with the same

Psalm 70

345

modality, their second members (3b & 3d), parallel and synonymous, express the subject of the verbs with a participle (translated as a relative clause) followed by its complement. The third segment (4) is different, since its second member quotes the sneers of the psalmist’s enemies (4b). “Blushing” in the final segment (4a) echoes “let them blush” at the beginning of the part (3a). The third part (5) comprises one bimember and one trimember. The first members contain jussive verbs (5a & 5c), the last members the subjects of the verbs (5b & 5e). What those who love the salvation of God say constitutes the central member of the last segment (5d). The central parts (3–4 & 5) are parallel. The first of them is a curse, the next one a blessing, but with one major difference: while in the second part (3–4) the psalmist curses those who hate him, in the third part (5) he blesses those who love God. Their first segments correspond to each other: the first members coordinate two verbs (3a & 5a), and the second members use the same verb “to seek” (3b & 5b). The second segment of the third part (5cde) corresponds to the last two segments of the previous part (3cd & 4). Indeed, its first two members are in opposition to the last member of 4—they report what each other “say” (4b & 5cd)— while its last member (5e) is opposed to the second member of 3cd. It should be pointed out that what the friends of God say (5d) is opposed to what the psalmist’s opponents say (4b), by their very form: inarticulate cries are indeed completely different from orderly words of prayer. The extreme parts (3 & 6) differ from the other two not only by the modalities of their verbs, but also by having very little vocabulary in common with them: “God” (5d, also in 2a & 6b), as well as “backwards” (3c) and “do not be backwards” (6d, usually and rightly translated as “do not delay”).

CONTEXT THE TITLE “For the music director, of David” is follow by an addition, “for a memorial” (l ehazkîr), which is found yet in the title of Ps 38. The noun hazkārâ qualifies the grain offerings in Lev 2: 1

When a person presents a grain offering to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar— it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. (Lev 2:1–2, the word appears also in v. 9 and 16)

According to a Jewish tradition, this sacrifice, coming after the burnt offering where an animal is burnt so that its odour rises as an offering to God, would be that of the poor who could not afford to offer an animal and had to be satisfied

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

with burning flour with oil and incense.1 The Lord then “remembered” the person who offered him such “oblation”. THE POOR IS EXALTED AS THE LORD HIMSELF IS EXALTED In Ps 113, the Lord “raises the weak from the dust, and he lifts the poor from the dunghill” (113:7), as he himself is exalted: “The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens” (113:4). The central question of the psalm: “Who is like the Lord our God?” (113:5a) finds its answer here: there is no god like our God who exalts the poor as he himself is exalted.2 REPETITION AT THE END OF PS 40 With a few variations, Ps 70 is repeated at the end of Ps 40, where it forms the fourth and the last part (Ps 40:14–18).3 Apart from this repetition, the first thirteen verses of Ps 40 are problematic. In fact, after the first part (40:2–5) in which the psalmist proclaims how the Lord saved him, and the second part (40:6–11) in which he praises the Lord and invites “the numerous assembly” to join him in his praise, the third part (40:12–13) bring a surprise, for the psalmist calls upon God to help him (40:12) for he is a prey to countless persecutors. The final words are: “and my heart forsakes me” (40:13). Such an order might seem illogical,4 whereas the addition of the five verses of Ps 70 would in some way correct it or at least complete it.

INTERPRETATION A STANDARD PRAYER There is nothing particularly original about this prayer. Its outline is very simple, even simplistic. A short appeal to God, curses against enemies, blessings for God’s friends, and a conclusion which merely repeats what the psalmist has already said at the beginning, with little development. In short, a series of standard features. The poor man is not looking for originality, he has other things to worry about.

1

See Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 189. See Le Psautier. Cinquième livre, 101–109. 3 Many believe that Ps 70 is a stand-alone composition, subsequently inserted at the end of Ps 40 (e.g., Kraus, II, 67; Ravasi, II, 434). 4 Such an order is not unusual: it is the one followed by the alphabetical acrostic Psalm 9–10; and it is probably for this reason that the Masoretic text split it into two. See my analysis of this psalm in Les huit psaumes acrostiches alphabétiques, 21–49; also in Le Psautier. Premier livre, 103–133 = The Psalter: Book One, 103–133. 2

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347

A PRAYER FOR URGENT SITUATIONS It is urgent: “O Lord, hasten to my aid!” (Ps 70:2) The poor, humiliated person does not have time to form phrases, to construct speeches. “[The psalmist] certainly does not aspire for a poetry prize. He only aspires to be heard by God. Immediately”.5 He is in a danger of death, those who seek his life press him from all sides. That is why he begs “let them retreat backwards!” (70:3c). He who calls for “help”, he is entirely included in this one cry, which he can only repeat until someone hears him and comes to save him. AN ALL-PURPOSE PRAYER This psalm is not so much the prayer of a poor person as of the poor, of every and any poor person. As the master key opens all doors, this prayer of the poor is capable of opening up all desperate situations, especially those that require an urgent response. It is a supplication within the range of all anxieties, which anyone can make his or her own, and which is certain to be answered: The Lord will not fail to show his greatness (70:4b) by saving his faithful; he will snatch those who seeks him by crying out amid the clutches of those seeking their life. A HOLE-FILLING PSALM The poor ones, those who cannot refuse to obey orders, are often used to replace anyone, to “fill a hole”, according to the familiar expression. They have no personality of their own, they have no specificity, they are “good for anything”. At the end of Ps 40, Ps 70 performs the function of an appendix, a hole-filling. THE POOR IS EXALTED The poor from Ps 70 has been exalted in the liturgy. While the invitatory of the first office of the day repeats Ps 51:17 (“Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise”), the other hours of the Divine Office are introduced with the first verse of Ps 70: “O God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Its Latin version, Deus in adjutorium meum intende, Domine ad adjuvandum me festina, has the merit of being more faithful to the original: unfortunately, the French deletes the last verb, “haste”. In any case, the poor of psalm 70 is promoted at the beginning of the hours, to bring in all those who wish to enter into it.6

5 6

Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 70. See R. MEYNET, “Les psaumes 70 et 12: deux psaumes de pauvres, deux pauvres psaumes”.

2. PSALM 71 TEXT 1 In

you, Yhwh, I take refuge, let me not blush forever; 2 in your righteousness you will deliver me and will liberate me, incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation, (to which) I can always come; you have commanded to save me, because you (are) my crag and my fortress. 4 O my God, liberate me from the hand of the wicked, from the palm of the perverse and of the violent. 5 Because you (are) my hope, O Lord, O Yhwh, my confidence from my youth; 6 I have relied on you from the womb, from the bowels of my mother, you (are) my separator, my praise (is) always in you. 7 I have become as a sign to many, and you (are) my refuge of strength. 8 My mouth will be filled with your praise, all the day with your splendour. 9 Do not reject me in the time of old age, do not abandon me when my vigour declines; 10 because my enemies speak against me, and those watching for my soul consult together 11 saying, “God has abandoned him, pursue and seize him, because there is no one to deliver.” 12 O God, do not be far from me, O my God, hasten to my aid. 13 Let them blush and be finished, those who accuse my soul; let them be covered with dishonour and with confusion, those who seek my evil! 14 And as for me, I will always wait and I will add to all your praise; 15 my mouth will recount your righteousness, all the day your salvation, because I do not know the numbers. 16 I will come in the prowess of the Lord Yhwh, I will recall your righteousness, yours alone; 17 O God, you have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim your wonders. 18 And also, up to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not abandon me, until I proclaim your arm to the generation, to each one that will come, your prowess 19 and your righteousness, O God, up to the heights, (you) who have done great (things). O God, who (is) like you? 20 (You) who have made me see many anguishes and evils, you will return to revive me; and from the depths of the earth you will return to bring me up. 21 Multiply my greatness and you will turn, you will comfort me. 22 Also as for me, I will give you thanks with the instrument of the harp, in your truth, O my God, I will play music to you on the cithara, O Holy One of Israel. 23 Let my lips shout for joy when I sing psalms to you and my soul, which you have redeemed! 24 Also my tongue, all the day, whispers your righteousness, when those who seek my evil will blush, when they will be disgraced. V. 6B: “MY SEPARATOR”

The word gôzî is a hapax. A fragment from Qumran and the Targum have ‘uzzî, “my strength”; Dhorme following some others reads the participle gôḥî, as in Ps 22:10, “Because you are, you pulled me from the womb”.1 Ravasi prefers to derive it from the verb gāzāh, “to cut off”, “to share”, and understands it as a “part” of inheritance.2 But others interpret this verb as “cutting” the umbilical cord.3 “My separator” indicates the figure of the one who separates the child from his mother. In any case, most solutions point to the figure of the father. V. 15C: “THE NUMBERS”

Another hapax, mostly understood as “the numbers”.4 1

Hakham (II, 416) is of the opinion that it is the one who helped the woman to give birth. Ravasi, II, 451. 3 E.g., Vesco, 618. 4 See Vesco, 618; deClaissé-Walford – al., 568. 2

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

COMPOSITION The psalm is organised into two parts of equal length: 1–13 (30 members) and 14–24 (31 members). THE FIRST PART (1–13) The two pieces of the first subpart (1–3) are constructed in parallel. In the first members, “a rock of habitation” (3a) is the place where the psalmist can “take refuge” (1a); the second members end with the synonymous terms “forever” (1b) and “always” (3b). In the second segments, the salvation that was requested (2) is granted (3cd); “save me” of 3c corresponds to “save me” of 2b. The second piece (3) is marked by the metaphor of the “fortress” on “the rock”. After the introductory subpart (1–3), the next two subparts (4–8 & 9–13) are complementary: the adverbs “forever” (1b) and “always” (3b) are, so to speak, detailed in the syntagmas “from my youth” in the second subpart (5) and in “old age” in the third subpart (9). The two coordinated verbs of 2a, “you will deliver me and will liberate me” are taken up, the second of these verbs in the second subpart with “liberate me” (4a) and the first of these verbs in the third subpart with “to deliver” (11b). In the second subpart (4–8), the extreme pieces are complementary: the first piece (4) is a supplication, the last one (8) a thanksgiving. The central piece (5–7) has a concentric composition, with the three definitions of the Lord in symmetrical positions (5a, 6b & 7b). The first member of the central segment with “from the womb” refers to the preceding segment (5b); while the last member of the central segment with “my praise” and “always”, announces the last segment of the subpart (8). The request addressed to God in the first piece of the last subpart (9) is motivated by the activities of the psalmist’s “enemies” against him (10–11); these last two segments begin with the same Hebrew verb translated as “speak” and “say” (10a & 11a). This piece corresponds to the first piece of the preceding subpart: the petitions (4 & 9) are followed by two segments introduced by “because” (5–6 & 10–11). Relations between the first two subparts: from the same root, “I take refuge” and “my refuge” are found at the beginning of the first subpart (1a) and at the end of the second subpart (7b). Divine names occur at the beginning of each subpart (1a, 4a & 5ab) and similarly the verb “to liberate” (2a & 4a). “Forever” and “always” (1b & 3b) are echoed by “always” and “all the day” (6c & 8b). Relations between the last two subparts: the divine names appear twice at the beginning of the penultimate subpart (4a & 5ab) and at the end of the last one (12ab). In the second subpart reference is made to the childhood (5–6), in the last one to the old age (9); the psalmist is confronted by “the wicked”', “the perverse” and “the violent” (4), and his “enemies” (10a).

Psalm 71 + 1 In you, .. LET ME NOT BLUSH

O YHWH, forever;

= 2 in your righteousness YOU WILL DELIVER ME = incline to me

351

I TAKE REFUGE, AND WILL LIBERATE ME,

your ear

and save me.

·································································································································

+ 3 Be to me .. to come

a rock

of habitation,

always;

= you have commanded to save me, = because my crag and my fortress,

you (are).

+ 4 O MY GOD, + from the palm

from the hand and of the violent.

LIBERATE ME

of the perverse

of the wicked,

···································································································································· = 5 Because YOU (are) my hope, O LORD, .. O YHWH, my confidence from my youth.

: 6 On you : from the bowels : in you .. 7 As a sign = and YOU (are)

I have relied of my mother, my praise

from the womb, YOU (are) (is) always.

I have become

to many

my separator,

MY REFUGE of strength. ····································································································································

+ 8 Will be filled + all the day

my mouth with your praise, with your splendour.

+ 9 Do not reject me + when declines

in the time my vigour,

: 10 because speak my enemies : and those watching for my soul 11

: saying: : pursue

“God and size him,

of old age, do not abandon me; against me, consult

together

has abandoned him, because there is no one TO DELIVER.”

·································································································································

+ 12 O GOD, + O MY GOD,

do not be far to my aid

from me, hasten.

= 13 LET THEM BLUSH = let them be covered = those who seek

and be finished, with dishonour my evil!

those who accuse and with confusion,

my soul;

Relations between extreme parts: “to deliver” (11b) recalls “you will deliver me” (2a). “Let me not blush” (1b) and “let them blush” (13a) form an inclusion. The divine names appear only at the beginning of the extreme pieces (1a & 12ab).

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

THE SECOND PART (14–24) + 14 And as for ME, + and I will add

always

:: 15 MY MOUTH :: ALL THE DAY :: because I do not know

will recount your salvation, the numbers.

to all

I will wait your praise; YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,

································································································································· in the prowess OF THE LORD YHWH,

+ 16 I will come : I will recall 17

+ O GOD, : and until now

YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,

yours alone;

you have taught me

from my youth your wonders.

I PROCLAIM

·································································································································

+ 18 And also, + O GOD,

up to old age do not abandon me,

and grey hairs,

:: until I PROCLAIM :: to each one

your arm that will come,

to the generation, your prowess

:: 19 and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, O GOD, :: (you) who have done O GOD,

up to the heights, (things),

GREAT

WHO (IS)

LIKE YOU?

– 20 (You) who – anguishes .. you will return

have made me see many to revive me;

and evils,

– and from the depths .. you will return

of the earth to bring me up.

= 21 Multiply = and you will turn,

MY GREATNESS,

you will comfort me.

································································································································· + 22 Also as for ME, I will give you thanks with the instrument of the harp, : in your truth, O MY GOD,

+ I will play music : O HOLY ONE

to you

on the cithara,

+ 23 Let shout for joy + and my soul,

my lips which

+ 24 Also MY TONGUE, – when they will blush,

ALL THE DAY, whispers when will be disgraced those seeking

OF ISRAEL. ·································································································································

when I sing psalms to you, you have redeemed! YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,

my evil.

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353

Two long subparts (14–19b & 20–24) frame the very short central subpart, which is the only question in the whole part (19c). The first subpart (14–19b) is formed of three pieces. In the first piece (14–15) the second segment develops the second member of the first segment: God’s “praise” (14b) will consist in “recounting” his works of “righteousness” and “salvation” which the psalmist is unable to count (15). “All the day” (15b) recalls “always” (14a). The two segments of the second piece are parallel (16–17). In the second members the psalmist proclaims God’s “righteousness” and “wonders” (16b & 17b). The first members contain the divine names and mention of his deeds, “prowess” and teaching (16a & 17a). The third piece (18–19) forms of a single complex phrase. The first segment (18ab) is the main clause that states the request; it is followed by a temporal clause in which the promised proclamation extends to “the generation” that “will come” (18cd), but also to the world in “the heights” (19a). The last member is a relative clause: “the great things” done by God (19b) refer to “your arm”, “your prowess” (18cd) and “your righteousness” (19a). “Righteousness” occurs in all three pieces (15a, 16b & 19a). There are many connections between the last two pieces: the verb “to come” (16a & 18d), “prowess” (16a & 18d), the verb “to proclaim” (17b & 18c), “from my youth” and “up to old age and grey hairs” (17a & 18a), the divine name occurs twice (16a, 17a, 18b, 19a). The last subpart (20–24) is also formed of three pieces arranged according to the ABB’ pattern: the first piece (20–21) describes what the Lord will do, the other two pieces what the psalmist will do as a sign of gratitude. In the first piece the first two segments are parallel (20abc & 20de): the endless “anguishes” and “evils” (20b) are then qualified as belonging to the “depths of the earth” (20d), the last members begin in the same way (20c & 20e). In both cases it concerns being saved from death. The last segment (21) speaks of the consequences or outcomes of salvation. In the second piece (22) the psalmist promises to celebrate thanksgiving for the salvation received with musical instruments, “harp” and “cithara”, all dedicated to “my God” and “the Holy One of Israel”. In the third piece (23–24), which is complementary to the second one, the instruments accompany the singing of the “lips” and the “tongue”; the second members are complementary, joining the redemption of the psalmist with the shame and dishonour of his enemies (23b & 24b). The two occurrences of “evil/s” form an inclusion (20b & 24b). Throughout the parts, the final segments of the extreme pieces (15 & 24) have in common “all the day”, “your righteousness” and “my mouth/tongue”. The whole is about “telling” (15a), “recalling”' (16b), “proclaiming” (17b & 18c); “giving thanks” (22a), and “playing music” (22c), “shouting for joy”, “singing psalms” (23a), “whispering” (24a) God’s “righteousness” (15a, 16b, 19a, 24a). The median pieces at a distance end with “great things” and “my greatness” (19b & 21a) In the very centre (15 members on each side), there is the only question (19c), which awaits an answer.

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM 1

In you, Yhwh, I take refuge, LET ME NOT BLUSH FOREVER; 2 in YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS you will deliver me and will liberate me, incline your ear to me and SAVE ME. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation, to which I can ALWAYS come; you have commanded TO SAVE ME, because you are my crag and my fortress. 4

O my God, liberate me from the hand of the wicked, from the palm of the perverse and of the violent. 5 Because YOU ARE MY HOPE, O Lord, O Yhwh, my confidence from my youth. 6 I have relied on you from the womb, from the bowels of my mother, YOU ARE MY SEPARATOR, MY PRAISE is ALWAYS in you. 7 I have become as a sign to many, and YOU ARE MY REFUGE OF STRENGTH. 8 MY MOUTH will be filled with YOUR PRAISE, ALL THE DAY with your splendour. 9

Do not reject me in the time of old age, do not abandon me when my vigour declines; because my enemies speak against me, and those watching for my soul consult together 11 saying, “God has abandoned him, pursue and seize him, because there is no one to deliver.” 12 O God, do not be far from me, O my God, hasten to my aid. 13 LET THEM BLUSH and be finished, those who accuse my soul; let them be covered with DISHONOUR and with confusion, those who seek my evil! 10

14

And as for me, I will ALWAYS wait and I will add to all YOUR PRAISE; 15 MY MOUTH will recount YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, ALL THE DAY YOUR SALVATION, because I do not know the numbers. 16 I will come in the prowess of the Lord Yhwh, I will recall YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, yours alone; 17 O God, you have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim your wonders. 18 And also, up to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not abandon me, until I proclaim your arm to the generation, to each one that will come, your prowess 19 and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, O God, up to the heights, you who have done great things. O God, who is like you? 20

You who have made me see many anguishes and evils, you will return to revive me; and from the depths of the earth you will return to bring me up. 21 Multiply my greatness and you will turn, you will comfort me. 22 Also as for me, I will give you thanks with the instrument of the harp, in your truth, O my God, I will play music to you on the cithara, O Holy One of Israel. 23 Let MY LIPS shout for joy when I sing psalms to you and my soul, which you have redeemed! 24 Also MY TONGUE, ALL THE DAY, whispers YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, when those who seek my evil WILL BLUSH, when THEY WILL BE DISGRACED.

The first part, which begins with “In you” (1), is saturated with imperatives and jussives, making it essentially a supplication. The second part beginning with “And as for me” (14) in which verbs belonging to the semantic field of narration abound (“to recount”, “to recall”, “to proclaim”, ...), is above all a praise and thanksgiving. The psalmist begins with the request not to “blush” (1) and ends each part with the request, that “those who seek (his) evil” should “blush”, be covered with “dishonour” and “be disgraced” (13 & 24).

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“Always” occurs twice in the first part (3 & 6) and once in the second one (14); “all the day” once in the first part (8) and twice in the second one (15 & 24). We should add “forever” (1) as well as “from my youth”, “from the womb, from the bowels of my mother” (6), “from my youth and until now” (17), “in the time of old age” (9) and “up to old age and grey hairs” (18). Other lexical relations: “your righteousness” (2, 15, 16, 19, 24),”to save” and “salvation” (2, 3, 15), “your praise” (6, 8, 14), “to abandon” (9, 11, 18), “my mouth” (8 & 15) followed by “my lips” and “my tongue” (23 & 24). The centres of both parts correspond to each other (5–7 & 19c): what they have in common is the question of identity, the identity of God approached three times at the heart of the first part, in relation to the psalmist, and the identity of someone who would be “like God” at the centre of the last part, posed in the form of question.

CONTEXT Ps 71 “repeats [...] with variations, verses from other psalms”.5 Two parallels deserve special attention. Ps 71 and Ps 31 begin in a similar way: Ps 71:1–2

Ps 31:1–2

1

In you, Yhwh, I take refuge, let me not blush forever; 2 in your righteousness you will deliver me and will liberate me, incline your ear to me and save me. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation, to which I can always come; you have commanded to save me, because you are my crag and my fortress.

2

In you, Yhwh, I take refuge, let me not blush forever, in your righteousness liberate me; 3 incline your ear to me, hasten, deliver me. Be to me a rock of refuge, a house of fortresses to save me; 4 because you are my crag and my fortress.

It has also been noted, for example, that Ps 71:13 is related to Ps 35:4 and 40:15. Actually, the correspondences are limited to three terms: Ps 71:13

Ps 35:4

13

Let them blush and be finished, those who accuse my soul;

4

let them be covered with dishonour and with infamy, those who seek my evil!

let them retreat backwards and be confused those who devise my evil!

5

Vesco lists 18 items (615).

Let them blush and be ashamed, those who seek my soul,

Ps 40:15 15

Let them blush and be confused together, those who seek my soul to snatch it away. Let them retreat backwards and be confused, those who desire my evil.

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

Whatever “borrowings” Ps 71 may have made from other psalms, it cannot be reduced to “a collection of quotations”;6 but is nevertheless an original composition.7 “O GOD, WHO IS LIKE YOU?” (PS 71:19C) The central question of the second part recalls a similar central question from Ps 113: “Who is like Yhwh our God?” (Ps 113:5a). The first answer that comes to mind is that there is obviously no one like the Lord God. However, the psalm reserves a surprise: the one who is “exalted” above all nations and even above the heavens is also the one who “exalts” the poor from the dunghill where they languish. It is this “poor” person who is like the Lord our God! If there is no one among the gods who is like Yhwh the God of Israel, that is because no one else exalts the poor as he himself is exalted.8 The central question of Ps 113 refers to the central double question of the “Song of the Sea”, which celebrates the crossing of the Sea of Reeds and announces the arrival into the promised land, into the Temple of Jerusalem: Who is among the goods,

like you O Yhwh?

······································································

Who is

like you,

. majestic . fearful . working

in holiness, in praises, wonders? (Exod 15:11)9

INTERPRETATION THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD Right from the beginning the psalmist appeals to the “righteousness” of “Yhwh”. Through his righteousness the Lord will “deliver” him, “liberate” him, “save” him (Ps 71:1–2). He is imprisoned in the hands of “the wicked”, “the perverse and the violent” (71:4). His “enemies” conspire to “pursue him” and to “seize him” (71:10–11). He therefore addresses the judge against those who “watch for” and “accuse” his “soul”, who “seek his evil”. This judge will restore righteousness by saving him and by making blush those who themselves wanted to make him blush. “Your righteousness”, occurring four more times, is the key word of the second part that can hardly be overlooked. Initially it is coupled with “salvation” (71:15) as it was at the beginning (71:2), then with the Lord’s 6

Kraus, II, 71. Ravasi, II, 440; Alonso Schoekel – Carniti, I, 1037. 8 See Le Psautier. Cinquième livre, 101–109. 9 See R. MEYNET, Appelés à la liberté, Chap. 2 “Le chant de la mer (Ex 15)”, 51–85. 7

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“prowess” (71:16), with the accumulation of the terms, “your arm”, “your prowess” and his “great things” (71:18–19). At the end it is preceded by the “redemption” (71:23) and the punishment of those who sought the misfortune of their victim. God is the one who saves, his righteousness is his mercy. “THE ROCK WHO FATHERED YOU” (DEUT 32:18) “In you, Yhwh, I take refuge” (Ps 71:1). The shelter in which the psalmist finds refuge from those who attack him is for him “a rock of habitation”, it is his “crag”, his “fortress” (71:3). It will be for him his “refuge of strength” (71:7). This metaphor soon gives way to an image, or rather a reality that also speaks of the solidity and durability of the relationship that binds the psalmist to his Lord. The rock is unshakeable, it lasts forever and ever. The Lord is the Rock on which the psalmist has “relied” from the beginning, “from his youth”, and even “from the womb, from the bowels of his mother” (71:5–6). In a discrete way, the image of a father appears in these expressions; as a father he is the one who has “taught him from his youth” (71:17). It sounds like the Song of Moses, where the name of the Rock appears seven times: 18

You forget the Rock who fathered you, the God who made you, you no longer remember! 19 Yhwh saw it and, in anger, he spurned his sons and daughters. 20 He said, “I will hide my face from them and see what will become of them. For they are a perverted generation, children who are unfaithful (Deut 32:18–20).

“O GOD, WHO IS LIKE YOU?” (PS 71:19C) The question is posed, in an abrupt fashion, right in the middle of the second part of the psalm, the part devoted to praise and thanksgiving for the salvation received through God’s righteousness. It can, of course, be considered as a simple “rhetorical” question whose answer is obvious to any reader, even a hurried one. But one question can hide another one... Is it not the case that the one who is like God is his son, the one who recognised him as his father from his youth, from his mother’s womb? Is it not the one who did not abandon him until he became old? Especially the one who “all the day” and “always” has “hoped” and “expected” that his father would never “abandon” him. The old person is like God who will continue to ask without tiring, until the end: “Do not abandon me!” (71:9, 18).

3. PSALM 72 TEXT 1 For

Solomon. O God, give the king your judgments and your righteousness to the son of the king: 2 that he may govern your people with righteousness and your afflicted with judgment. 3 May the mountains bring peace to the people and the hills righteousness: 4 He will judge the afflicted of the people, he will save the sons of the poor, he will crush the oppressor. 5 And may he endure with the sun and in the face of the moon from age to age. 6 May he come down like rain on mown grass, like showers flooding the earth: 7 In his days the righteous will flourish and much peace until the moon is no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth; 9 before his face those of the desert will kneel and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring a tribute, the kings of Sheba and Saba will bring near gifts; 11 and all the kings will bow down to him, all the nations will serve him. 12 Yes, he will deliver the poor who cries out, and the afflicted and who has no one to help him. 13 He will care for the weak and the poor, and he will save the souls of the poor. 14 He will redeem their soul from cunning and violence, and precious is their blood in his eyes. 15 He will live and he will give him from the gold of Sheba, and he will prayer for him always, all the days he will bless him. 16 Let an abundance of wheat be on the earth, may on the top of the mountains wave it like Lebanon its fruit; and may those of the city flourish like grass of the earth. 17 Let his name be forever, in the face of the sun may his name spring forth and may all the nations be blessed in him, compliment him. 18 Blessed be Yhwh God, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders; 19 and blessed be the name of his glory forever and all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen! Amen! 20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended. V. 5: “MAY HE ENDURE”

The Septuagint and Vulgate read weya’ărîk, “and may he endure” instead of yîrā’ûkā, “let them fear you”, of the Masoretic text. V. 9: “THOSE OF THE DESERT”

Correcting it with “his opponents” is not necessary. V. 16A: “ABUNDANCE”

The term pissâ is a hapax. V. 16D: “AND MAY THOSE OF THE CITY FLOURISH”

It is better to stick to the Masoretic text. It can be understood that the city population will flourish like the grass of the earth.1

1

Hossfeld – Zenger, II, 204; for the textual criticism see especially Barbiero, 308–313.

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

COMPOSITION The four parts of the psalm are related in parallel. THE FIRST PART (1B–4) + 1b O God, YOUR JUDGEMENTS + and your RIGHTEOUSNESS TO THE SON

to the king, of the king:

:: 2 that he may govern :: and YOUR AFFLICTED

with RIGHTEOUSNESS

+ +

YOUR PEOPLE

give (him)

WITH JUDGMENT. ···························································································································· 3 May bring the mountain peace TO THE PEOPLE and the hills RIGHTEOUSNESS:

:: 4 HE WILL JUDGE :: he will save – he will crush

THE AFFLICTED

OF THE PEOPLE,

THE SONS the oppressor.

OF THE POOR,

Each of the two segments of the first piece (1b–2) “judgment/s” and “righteousness” are paralleled. In the first segment (1bc), both gifts are given “to the king”, who is “the son of the king”; according to the title of the psalm, this king is Solomon, son of King David. In the second segment (2), the beneficiaries of the king’s “righteousness” and “judgement” are mentioned: “the people” (2a) and, more precisely, the “afflicted” ones (2b). The movement thus runs from “God” (1b), the origin of righteousness, to the “afflicted”, through the king, a royal son. The movement in the second piece (3–4) is similar to that in the first piece. In the first segment (3), the subject is now the creation, “the mountains” and “the hills” of the land of Israel where “the people” live; “righteousness” is paired with “peace”. As in the second segment of the first piece, the subject of the corresponding segment (4) is again the king, and the beneficiaries are the same, “the afflicted” and “the sons of the poor”. To “save” the latter, the king has no choice but to defeat those who oppress them (4c). The lexical repetitions between both pieces are many: “righteousness” occurs three times (1c, 2a, 3b), similarly the “people” (2a, 3a, 4a), terms from the root of “judgement” (1b, 2b, 4a) and those from the semantic field of the oppressed, “afflicted” and “poor” (2b, 4a, 4b). It should be noted that the two occurrences of “son/s” form an inclusion (1c & 4b). THE SECOND PART (5–11) The first piece (5–7) requests a long life for the king. It begins with the two great luminaries that mark the time, “the sun” and “the moon” (5). The next two segments move to an agricultural metaphor, that of rain (6) which allows the earth,

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i.e., “righteousness” and “peace”, to “flourish” (7). In the last segment, references to time, “in his days” and “until the moon is no more” (7ab) refer to “from age to age” in the first segment (5b). + 5 And may he endure + and in the face

with the sun of the moon

from age

.. May he come down .. Like showers

like rain flooding

on mown grass, the earth:

.. 7 Will flourish .. and much

in his days

the righteous

peace

until no more

6

to age.

the moon.

····························································································································

:: 8 May he rule :: and from the river

from sea to the ends

to sea of the earth;

= 9 before his face = and his enemies,

will kneel the dust

those from the desert (they) will lick.

···························································································································· :: 10 The KINGS of Tarshish and of the islands

. a tribute

(they) will bring,

:: the KINGS . gifts

of Sheba (they) will bring near;

= 11 and will bow to him = all the nations

all the KINGS, will serve him.

and of Saba

The next two pieces move from time to space. The first segment of the second piece indicates the extreme limits of the territories ruled by the king (8); the second segment tells of the submission of his enemies (9). The third piece (10–11) specifies the identity of the opponents, first “the kings”' of two double regions (10ab & 10cd), before generalising to “all”, “all the kings”' of “all the nations” (11): “bowing down” and “serving” (11) paying tribute (10b, 10d) refer to “kneeling” and “licking the dust” at the end of the second piece (9ab). THE THIRD PART (12–14) + 12 Yes, HE WILL DELIVER + and THE AFFLICTED

THE POOR

and who has no one

who cries out, to help him.

+ 13 HE WILL CARE + and the souls

for THE WEAK of THE POOR

HE WILL SAVE.

– 14 From cunning – and precious is

and from violence their blood

and THE POOR HE WILL REDEEM

in his eyes.

their soul,

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

The first two segments tell of the king’s intervention on behalf of “the poor” (12a, 13a, 13b), “the afflicted” (12b) and “the weak” (13a). The last segment refers to their oppressors (14). The two occurrences of “soul” (13b & 14a) link the last two segments. THE FOURTH PART (15–19) + 15 He will live + and he will pray + all the days

and he will give him for him HE WILL BLESS HIM.

:: 16 LET THERE BE :: on the top :: like Lebanon

an abundance of the mountains its fruit;

:: and may they flourish :: like grass

(those) from the city OF THE EARTH.

from the gold

of Sheba,

always, of wheat may wave it

ON THE EARTH,

··································································································································· :: 17 LET THERE BE his name forever,

:: in the face of the sun :: and may BE BLESSED in him all the nation,

may spring forth compliment him.

+ 18 BLESSED BE + the God + who does

Yhwh of Israel, wonders

God,

the name with his glory Amen!

of his glory all

19

+ and BLESSED BE + and be filled + Amen!

his name

alone;

forever THE EARTH.

The first piece (15–16) begins with the appreciation of the peoples: tribute, prayer, blessing (15). The next two segments tell of the prosperity of the kingdom, fertile countryside (16abc), flourishing cities (16de); the extreme members of these two segments end with “on the earth” (16a & 16e). The second piece is marked by the blessing: at the beginning “all nations” are “blessed” by “the name” of the king (17), then the name of “Yhwh God, God of Israel” is “blessed” (18–19). In both cases the blessing is “forever” (17a & 19a). The two occurrences of “forever” (17a & 19a) refer to “always” and “all the days” in the first segment (15bc). The two pieces end with “the earth” (16e & 19b). The verb “to bless” already appears in 15c. Segments 16 and 17 begin with the same term “Let there be”. THE WHOLE OF THE PSALM Terms occurring in the first two parts, “king/s” (1b[2x], 10[2x], 11), “peace” (šālôm, 3 & 7; which recalls “Solomon”, šelōmo, 1a), “righteousness” and “righteous” (1, 2, 3, 7).

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The first and the third parts have in common all the terms of the semantic field of the oppressed: “afflicted” (2, 4, 12), “poor” (4, 12, 13[2x]), “weak” (13). These parts end with a reference to oppression (4 & 14). 1

For SOLOMON. O God, give THE KING your judgments and your RIGHTEOUSNESS to the son of THE KING: 2 that he may govern your people with RIGHTEOUSNESS and your AFFLICTED with judgment. 3 May the mountains bring PEACE to the people and the hills RIGHTEOUSNESS: 4 He will judge the AFFLICTED of the people HE WILL SAVE the sons of the POOR he will crush the oppressor. 5

And may he endure with the SUN and in the face of the moon from age to age. May he come down like rain on mown grass, like showers flooding the earth: 7 In his days THE RIGHTEOUS will flourish and much PEACE until the moon is no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth; 9 before his face those of the desert will kneel and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The KINGS of Tarshish and of the islands will bring a tribute, the KINGS of SHEBA and Saba will bring near gifts; 11 and ALL THE KINGS will bow down to him, ALL THE NATIONS will serve him. 6

12

Yes, he will deliver the POOR who cries out, and the AFFLICTED and who has no one to help him. 13 He will care for the WEAK and the POOR, and HE WILL SAVE the soul of the POOR. 14 He will redeem their soul from cunning and violence, and precious is their blood in his eyes. 15

He will live and he will give him from the gold of SHEBA, and he will prayer for him always, all the days he will bless him. 16 Let an abundance of wheat be on the earth, may on the top of the mountains wave it like Lebanon its fruit; and may those of the city flourish like grass of the earth. 17 Let his name be forever, in the face of the SUN may his name spring forth and may ALL THE NATIONS be blessed in him, compliment him. 18 Blessed be Yhwh God, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders; 19 and blessed be the name of his glory forever and ALL the earth be filled with his glory. Amen! Amen! 20

The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

The second and fourth parts have in common, “sun” (5 & 17), references to time, “from age to age” (5), “in his days” and “until the moon is no more” (7), “always, all the days” (15), “forever” (17 & 19), “earth” (6, 8, 16[2x], 19 ), “Sheba” (10 & 15), “all the kings” and “all the nations” (11), “all the nations” (17) and “all the earth” (19).

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Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

The name “God” appears only at the extremities (1b & 18), forming an inclusion for the whole psalm. The colophon with the name “David, son of Jesse” (20) corresponds to “Solomon” mentioned in the title, his son and successor on the throne of Israel.

CONTEXT TARSHISH, SHEBA AND SABA It is clear from the context that these are the farthest kingdoms. Tarshish is the exact opposite of Nineveh where Jonah does not want to go. It has been identified with Tartessos in southern Spain, with which Tyre traded (Ezek 27:12). Sheba was probably in southern Arabia and Saba is the distant place from which its queen came to test Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kgs 10). “IN YOU ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED” (GEN 12:3) The words of Ps 72:17, “and may all the nations be blessed in him”, echo the promise given to Abram at his calling. ZECH 9:9–10 The psalm seems to be abstracted in the oracle of Zechariah: 9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you: he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 He will banish chariots from Ephraim and horses from Jerusalem; the bow of war will be banished. He will proclaim peace to the nations. his empire will stretch from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth .

EPIPHANY Some verses of Ps 72 (1–2, 7–8, 10–11, 12–13) are taken up for the feast of the Epiphany (in the entire three-year cycle) which recalls the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem (Matt 2:1–12). The psalm is preceded by the reading from Isa 60:1–6.

INTERPRETATION SOLOMON, KING OF PEACE “Behold, a son will be born to you who will be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for Solomon is to be his name, and

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I will give peace and tranquillity to Israel in his days” (1 Chr 22:9). The reign of David’s son was marked by “peace”; by prosperity of the land, which yielded an abundance of grain, and by its flourishing cities (Ps 72:16), by prosperity of the “tributes” brought by the multitude of subjugated peoples (72:10). FOR THE AFFLICTED AND THE POOR A peace that would only benefit the haves would not be a true peace. Peace must be based on “righteousness”. And righteousness requires that “the weak” be helped. That is why both sides of the psalm begin with such insistence on “salvation” which extends to “the afflicted” who would otherwise have no help (72:12). The reason is that “the oppressor” (72:4) is always on the prowl, using “cunning and violence” (72:14) to exploit “the weak”. The king in accordance to God’s “judgements” (72:1) is the one who exercises righteousness and rescues “the sons of the poor” from the clutches of their predators. He is the one who makes them “live” by giving them the gold that came to him from the king of Sheba (72:15).2 UNIVERSAL KINGSHIP The kingship of the ideal king, as demanded of Solomon, is not only exercised over all the members of his people without exception, down to the most unfortunate and to those who oppress them. It extends also over all time, “from age to age” (72:5), “until the moon is no more” (72:7), “always” and “all the days” (72:15), “forever” (72:17, 19); it extends to “all the kings”, to “all the nations” (72:11, 17). There can be no peace unless it is universal. THE KINGDOM OF GOD The psalm is “for Solomon” and throughout it speaks of this king. But after the title, the first word of the prayer is “O God”, the one whom David addresses imploring God’s gifts for his son: “give the king”. He knows, in fact, that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (Jas 1:17). The divine name returns only at the end, but David speaks to him and him alone. Finally, the blessing that the king receives from the poor and from all nations (Ps 72:15, 17) is closely linked to that of “Yhwh, God, the God of Israel” (72:18–19), which is a fashionable way of implying that Solomon’s reign is the reign of the one who bestowed the royal anointing on him.

2

See Barbiero, 311–312, 342.

4. ALL THE MISERABLE WILL BE SAVE BY THE LORD (PS 70–72) COMPOSITION OF THE SEQUENCE Ps 70 1 For the music director, of David, for a memorial. 2 O God, to DELIVER me, O Lord HASTEN to MY AID. 3 LET THEM BLUSH and be disgraced, those who seek my soul. Let them retreat backwards and BE CONFUSED, those who desire my evil. 4 Let them turn back as a result of their BLUSHING, those who say: “Aha! Aha!” 5 Let

them be jubilant and rejoice in you, all those who seek you, and let them always say: “Let God be magnified”, those who love YOUR SALVATION. 6 And as for me, AFFLICTED and POOR, O God, HASTEN to me! You are MY HELP and my LIBERATOR; O Lord, do not be backwards! Ps 71 1 In you, Yhwh, I take refuge, LET ME NOT BLUSH forever; 2 in YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS YOU WILL DELIVER ME and WILL LIBERATE ME, incline your ear to me and SAVE ME. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation, to which I can always come; you have commanded to SAVE ME, because you are my crag and my fortress. 4 O my God, LIBERATE ME from the hand of the wicked, from the palm of the perverse and of the violent. 5 Because you are my hope, O Lord, O Yhwh, my confidence from my youth; 6 I have relied on you from the womb, from the bowels of my mother, you are my separator, my praise is always in you. 7 I have become as a sign to many, and you are my refuge of strength. 8 My mouth will be filled with your praise, all the day with your splendour. 9 Do not reject me in the time of old age, do not abandon me when my vigour declines; 10 because my enemies speak against me, and those watching for my soul consult together 11 saying, “God has abandoned him, pursue and seize him, because there is no one to DELIVER.” 12 O God, do not be far from me, O my God, HASTEN to MY AID. 13 LET THEM BLUSH and be finished, those who accuse my soul; let them be covered with dishonour and with CONFUSION, those who seek MY EVIL! 14 And as for me, I will always wait and I will add to all your praise; 15 my mouth will recount YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,

all the day YOUR SALVATION, because I do not know the numbers. 16 I will come in the prowess of the Lord Yhwh, I will recall YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, yours alone; 17 O God, you have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim your wonders. 18 And also, up to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not abandon me, until I proclaim your arm to the generation, to each one that will come, your prowess 19 and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, O God, up to the heights, you who have done great things. O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many ANGUISHES and EVILS, you will return to revive me; and from the depths of the earth you will return to bring me up. 21 Multiply my greatness and you will turn, you will comfort me. 22 Also as for me, I will give you thanks with the instrument of the harp, in your truth, O my God, I will play music to you on the cithara, O HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. 23 Let my lips shout for joy when I sing psalms to you and my soul, which you have redeemed! 24 Also my tongue, all the day, whispers YOU RIGHTEOUSNESS, when those who seek MY EVIL WILL BLUSH, when they will be DISGRACED.

The three psalms have in common “aid”, “help” and “to help” (70:2, 6; 71:12; 72:12), “salvation” and “to save” (70:5; 71:2, 3, 15; 72:4, 13), the terms of the semantic field of misfortune, “miserable and poor” (70:6), “evil” (71:13, 20, 24) and “anguish” (71:20), “afflicted” (72:2, 4, 12), “poor” (72:4, 12, 13[2x]) and “weak” (72:13). The first two passages have in common “to deliver” (70:2; 71:2, 11), “hasten” (70:2, 6; 71:12), “to blush” (70:3; 71:1, 13, 24), “to be confused” and “confusion” (70:3; 71:13), “blushing” and “disgraced” (70:4; 71:24), “liberator” and “to liberate” (70:6; 71:2, 4); “those who seek my soul” and “those who desire my

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evil” (70:3) are echoed by “those who accuse my soul” (71:13) and “those who seek my evil” (71:13, 24). The last two passages have “righteousness” and “righteous” in common (71:2, 15, 16, 19, 24; 72:1, 2, 3, 7), the “Holy One of Israel” (71:22) corresponds to “the God of Israel” (72:18) Ps 72 1 For Solomon. O God, give the king your judgments and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS to the son of the king: 2 that he may govern your people with RIGHTEOUSNESS and your AFFLICTED with judgment. 3 May the mountains bring peace to the people and the hills RIGHTEOUSNESS: 4 He will judge the AFFLICTED of the people, HE WILL SAVE the sons of the POOR, he will crush the oppressor. 5 And may he endure with the sun and in the face of the moon from age to age. 6 May he come down like rain on mown grass, like showers flooding the earth: 7 In his days THE RIGHTEOUS will flourish and much peace until the moon is no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth; 9 before his face those of the desert will kneel and his enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring a tribute, the kings of Sheba and Saba will bring near gifts; 11 and all the kings will bow down to him, all the nations will serve him. 12 Yes, he will

deliver the POOR who cries out, and the AFFLICTED and who has no one to HELP him. 13 He will care for the WEAK and the POOR, and HE WILL SAVE the souls of the POOR. 14 He will redeem their soul from cunning and violence, and precious is their blood in his eyes. 15 He will live and he will give him from the gold of Sheba, and he will prayer for him always, all the days he will bless him. 16 Let an abundance of wheat be on the earth, may on the top of the mountains wave it like Lebanon its fruit; and may those of the city flourish like grass of the earth. 17 Let his name be forever, in the face of the sun may his name spring forth and may all the nations be blessed in him, compliment him. 18 Blessed be Yhwh God, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, who alone does wonders, 19 and blessed be the name of his glory forever and all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen! Amen! 20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

INTERPRETATION “AFFLICTED AND POOR” (70:6) The psalmist is confronted with “those who seek his life”, “who desire his evil” (70:3; 72:13, 24). Being “afflicted and poor” (70:6), he cries out to his Lord, begging him to hasten to his aid (70:2; 72:12). The first two psalms are anguished supplications put into the mouth of David who, now being old and grey-haired, reminds God how much anguish and misfortune he had to endure since his youth (71:20). He therefore prays for Solomon, his son and successor, that he will judge the afflicted of his people and save the children of the poor who are crushed by the oppressor (72:4, 12–13). THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD For righteousness’ sake, those who will have to blush and be ashamed (70:3; 72:13, 24) are the wicked, the perverse and the violent ones (71:4), those who seek the psalmist’s life, and not their victim (71:1). That is why David appeals to God’s righteousness (71:2), and it is this righteousness that he will “recount” (71:15), “recall” (71:16), “proclaim” (71:18), “whisper” “all the days” (71:24). Now this

368

Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

righteousness which belongs to God alone, which he could only attain in praise, David implores his Lord to “give” it to his son (72:1), so that he may govern his people through it (72:2). Through it he will be able to do the works of God and save the poor and afflicted (72:4, 12, 13). JUBILATION, THANKSGIVING, BLESSING At the end of the next psalm, there is a promise made to the Lord, who is bound to come back and revive him (71:20). The psalmist switches to the first person singular: “Also as for me, I will give you thanks” (71:22). And here he anticipates touching already “the harp” and “the cithara”; with his whole body, “lips” and “tongue”, he sings psalms (71:23–24). In the last psalm, jubilation and thanksgiving take the form of a long blessing, this time in the present tense, and additionally extended to all nations (72:17), for “Yhwh, the God of Israel” (72:18). The blessing of Abraham is finally fulfilled.

IV. ALL THE EARTH BLESSES THE GOD WHO SAVES US 1. COMPOSITION OF THE FIFTH SECTION The seven psalms of the section are organised into three sequences. Each of the extreme sequences comprises three psalms, while the central sequence comprises only one psalm. All the nations

SAVE ME,

All the miserable

will sing

to the Lord

I WILL SING

TO YOU

will be saved

by the Lord

Ps 66–68

Ps 69

Ps 70–72

After identifying the relations between the extreme sequences, the connections between the central sequence and the other two will be examined.

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 66–68 & PS 70–72) The verb “to bless” occurs: – In all three psalms of the first sequence (66:8, 20; 67:2, 7, 8; 68:20, 27, 36); – And only in the last psalm of the third sequence (72:15, 17, 18, 19).1 Similarly, all peoples are mentioned: – In all three psalms of the first sequence: “peoples”, “all the fearful of God” (66:8, 16), “all the nations”, “the peoples”, “the countries”, “all the ends of the earth” (67:3, 4[2x], 5[3x], 6[2x], 8), the “kings”, “Egypt” and “Kush”, the “kingdoms of the earth” (68:30, 32, 33); – And only in the last psalm of the third sequence: “the kings”, “all the kings”, “all the nations” (72:10, 11[2x], 17).

1

In addition, “to sing psalms” occurs in the extreme psalms of the first sequence (66:2, 4[2x]; 68:5, 33) and in the central psalm of the last sequence (71:23).

370

Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL SEQUENCE AND THE OTHER SEQUENCES Ps 69 1 For the music director, to the tune of “Lilies”, of David. 2 SAVE ME, O God, because the waters have come up to my soul; 3 I sink in the miry depths and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters and the flood overflows me. 4 I am worn out with my calling, my throat is parched, my eyes are consumed waiting for my God; 5 are more than the hairs of my head those who hate me without reason; are mighty those destroying me, my lying enemies: What I did not steal must I now restore? 6O

God, as for you, you know my folly and my offences are not hidden from you. 7 May those who hope in you NOT BLUSH for my sake, O Lord Yhwh Sabaoth; may those who seek you not be ASHAMED for my sake, O God of Israel. 8 Because for your sake I bear INSULT, SHAME covers my face, 9 I become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to the sons of my mother; 10 because the zeal of your house eats me up, and the INSULTS of those WHO INSULT fall on me. 11 And if I weep, my soul in fasting, and it becomes INSULTS to them; 12 and if I put on a sackcloth for my garment, and I become a PROVERB to them. 13 Those who sit at the gate MOCK ME, and the SONGS of those who drink strong drinks. 14 And as

for me, my prayer is to you, O Yhwh, at a favourable time; O God, in your great faithfulness, answer me in the truth of your SALVATION. 15 Pull me out of the mire, that I may not sink, that I may escape from my adversaries and from the deep waters; 16 let the flood of waters not overflow me, let the depths not swallow me, let the pit not close its mouth over me. 17 Answer me, O Yhwh, because your faithfulness is good, in your great tenderness turn to me, 18 and do not hide your face from your servant, because I am oppressed, MAKE HASTE, answer me; 19 draw near to my soul, avenge it, for the sake of my enemies redeem me.

20 As

for you, you know my INSULT, and my BLUSHING and my SHAME, before you all my oppressors. broke my heart and I fainted, and I hoped for compassion, but there was none, and for comforters, and I found none. 22 And they gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink; 23 let their table become a snare before them and for their friends a trap, 24 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and their backs be always bent. 25 Pour out your wrath on them and let the fire of your anger overtake them; 26 let their enclosure become a desolation, and in their tents let there be no dweller. 27 Because of you, they pursued the one you have struck, and they count the wounds of your victim; 28 add fault to their fault and let them not come into your RIGHTEOUSNESS, 29 let them be erased from the book of life and let them not be written with the RIGHTEOUS. 21 THE INSULT

30 And

as for me, AFFLICTED and SUFFERING, may your SALVATION, O God, protect me! 31 I WILL PRAISE the name of God with a song and I will magnify him with THANKSGIVING; 32 it will be better for Yhwh than an ox, a bull with horns, with hooves. 33 The HUMILIATED, have seen, they rejoice; you who seek God, let your heart revive! 34 Because Yhwh hears the POOR, and HE HAS NOT DESPISED his CAPTIVES. 35 Let heaven and earth PRAISE HIM, the seas and all that moves in them! 36 Because God WILL SAVE Zion, and he will rebuild the cities of Judah, and they will dwell there and will possess it; 37 and the offspring of his servants will inherit, and those who love his name will reside there.

The central sequence (Ps 69) comprises only one psalm, which is distinctive for its particularly dark and anguished tone. The three sequences have in common: “to give thanks” and “thanksgiving” (67:4[2x], 6[2x]; 69:31; 71:22), “to praise” and “praise” (69:31, 35; 66:1, 8; 71:6, 8, 14). There are many connections with the first sequence: “enemies” (69:5, 19; 66:3; 68:2), “to hate” (69:5; 68:2), “face” (69:8; 67:2; 68:2, 3, 4, 5, 9[2x]), “faithfulness” (69:14, 17; 66:20), “Judah” (69:36; 68:28), “your house” (69:10; 66:13) with

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“sanctuary/sanctuaries” and “Temple” (68:18, 25, 30, 36), to which can be added the animals offered (69:32; 66:15), “song”, “to sing”, “songs” (in the three titles and in 67:5; 68:5, 26, 33; 69:31). The last two sequences have in common the verb “to save” and “salvation” (69:2, 14, 30, 36; 70:5; 71:2, 3, 15; 72:4, 13). In Ps 69 there are many terms belonging to the semantic field of insult and shame: “to blush” (69:7), “shame” and “to be ashamed” (69:7, 8, 20), “insult” and “to insult” (69:8, 10[2x], 11, 20, 21), “proverb” (69:12), “to mock” (69:13), “songs” (69:13), “blushing” (69:20), “to despise” (34). In the last sequence we find “to blush” (70:3; 71:1, 13, 24), “blushing” (70:4) and “to disgrace” (71:24). In addition, “to hasten” (69:18; 70:2, 6; 71:12), “righteousness” and “righteous” (69:28, 29; 71:2, 15, 16, 19, 24; 72:1, 2, 3, 7).

2. INTERPRETATION MISERY, INSULT, SHAME The central psalm is strongly marked by misfortune, symbolised by “the waters”, “the miry depths”, “the pit” (69:2–3, 15–16), which indicate the death that the psalmist’s enemies want to lead him to. He is the descendant of those who “passed on foot” the “sea” and “the river” at the time of the exodus (66:6, 12). “Afflicted and suffering” (69:30) among all the “humiliated”, the “poor” and the “captives” (69:33–34), “afflicted and poor” (70:6), David is the figure and representative of all the “miserable” (72:2–3) and the “poor” (72:4, 12–13). The worst misfortune is to become “ashamed”, to be covered with “shame”, to “bear insult”, to become the “proverb” and the subject of the “songs” of the scoffers (69:6–13, 20–21). FAITHFULNESS, TENDERNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS In such an oppressive situation, the psalmist appeals, at the very heart of the section, to the “faithfulness” of his Lord, to his “truth” and “tenderness” (69:14, 17). “Faithfulness” was already invoked at the end of the first psalm: “Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer nor his faithfulness from me” (66:20). Subsequently, it will be invoked, with the greatest insistence, as his “righteousness” (69:28; 71:2, 15, 16, 19, 24; 72:1, 2, 3). In the end, God’s righteousness will be exercised by the king of peace, by Solomon: “O God, give the king your judgments and your righteousness to the son of the king: that he may govern your people with righteousness and your afflicted with judgment” (72:1– 2).

372

Fifth Section (Ps 66–72)

SAVE ME, MAKE HASTE The central psalm begins, ex abrupto, with a cry: “Save me, O God” (69:1), which speaks of the distress in which the psalmist finds himself. And he adds: “Make haste” (69:18). The time is pressing, and he repeats this in the next two psalms: “O Lord, hasten to my aid!” (70:2), “hasten to me! You are my help and my liberator” (70:6); “O God, do not be far from me, O God, hasten to my aid” (71:12). In the central psalm, the call for “salvation” is repeated from beginning to end (69:2, 14, 30, 36); earlier, God was referred to as “the God of our salvation” (68:20), that is, the one who rescues from “the enemy” and delivers from death (68:21). And the whole last sequence resounds with appeals to God’s salvation (70:5; 71:2, 3, 15; 72:4, 13). Without forgetting that salvation is not intended only for Israel, but that it concerns all nations: “May God have mercy on us and bless us [...] that your way may be known on the earth, and your salvation among all the nations” (67:2–3). SONG, PRAISE AND BLESSING At the heart of the section, however, the most anguished psalm ends with salvation, which explodes into praise and thanksgiving: “I will praise the name of God with a song and I will magnify him with thanksgiving” (69:31), a praise to which the whole of creation is invited: “Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that moves in them” (35). Already throughout the first sequence we hear about “singing psalms” (66:2, 4; 68:5, 33), “praising” (66:2, 8) and especially about blessing (66:8, 20; 67:2, 7–8; 68:20, 27, 36) that closes each of these three psalms: “Blessed be God” (66:20; 68:36), “God blesses us” (67:8). It is therefore not surprising that these three psalms are referred to as “songs” in their titles. Neither the central psalm nor the last three are thus qualified, yet the praise and blessing emerge with the greatest force at the end of the last two psalms: Also as for me, I will give you with the instrument of the harp, in your truth, O my God, I will play music to you on the cithara, O Holy One of Israel. Let my lips shout for joy when I sing psalms to you and my soul, which you have redeemed! Also my tongue, all the day, whispers your righteousness.” (71:22–24) may all the nations be blessed in him, compliment him. Blessed be Yhwh God, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders; and blessed be the name of his glory forever and all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen! Amen! (72:17–19)

IN THE SANCTUARY Initially much present, curiously the Temple seems to fade away little by little. In the first psalm, the psalmist declares that he will come to the “house” of God, to offer burnt offerings of “rams”, “bulls with goats” (66:13–15). Ps 68 will insist in all possible ways on the unique “sanctuary” where the Lord has chosen to reside (68:17, 18), the “Temple” of “Jerusalem” where worship will be celebrated with

The Whole of the Section

373

its “processions”, its “singers” and its “musicians” (68:25–28). In the central psalm, the psalmist proclaims his “zeal” for “the house” of God (69:10) and ends by assuring that “God will save Zion” (69:36), but for him “thanksgiving” is worth more than burnt offerings (69:31–32). After this, the Temple is no longer mentioned, nevertheless we can understand that the liturgy of thanksgiving with musical instruments and the psalmody with which Ps 71 ends takes place in the sanctuary of Zion (71:22–24). But it is astonishing that the psalm “for Solomon” says nothing about the Temple, even though he was the one who built it and it was in this very Temple where he addressed his long prayer to the Lord. The impression that emerges from the whole is that of a kind of progressive erasure of the Jerusalem sanctuary. FOR ALL THE PEOPLES The section begins as clearly as possible with an invitation addressed to “all peoples”: “Acclaim God, all the earth” (66:1). In this way the tone is set, without the slightest ambiguity. The works of the Lord are “fearsome”, for “all the earth” will bow down to him (66:3–4). “All the nations”, all “the peoples”, “the countries” will give thanks to him because he judges them uprightly (67:4–6), they will “fear him” because he has blessed Israel, his people (67:2, 8). In the next psalm, the same happens, as “the kingdoms of the earth” are called to unite their songs and psalms (68:33) with those of the righteous of his people (68:4); submitting themselves to Israel, they will bless his God for having given him his “strength” (68:35–36). The same applies to the end of the last psalm, when David prophesies that kings will submit themselves to his successor (72:8–11) and that, according to the promise made to Abraham, “all the nations” will “be blessed in him” (72:17). Then the double blessing of “the God of Israel” (72:18), whose glory fills “all the earth”, resounds, “Amen, Amen!” (72:19).

THE WHOLE OF THE SECOND BOOK Ps 42/43–72

A. COMPOSITION

The second book of the Psalter comprises five sections which are arranged concentrically:

OUR KING

SAVES US

The Lord who forgives

OF DAVID

sin

IN A LOW VOICE

The Lord who hears

ALL THE EARTH

FROM ALL OUR ENEMIES

gives salvation

IN HIS ANGUISHES

the prayer

BLESSES THE GOD

gives rest

WHO SAVES US

Ps 42/43–49

Ps 50–55

Ps 56–60

Ps 61–65

Ps 66–72

378

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72) 1. SOME NUMERICAL DATA First section

Fifth section

42/43: 44: 45: 46: 47: 48: 49:

1,303 1,406 1,113 667 506 767 1,078

66: 67: 68: 69: 70: 71: 72:

1,068 391 2,228 2,055 343 1,438 1,113

Total:

6,840

Total:

8,636

Second section

Third section

Fourth section

50: 51: 52: 53: 54: 55:

1,248 1,125 636 492 443 1,347

56: 57: 58: 59: 60:

804 738 681 1,130 792

61: 62: 63: 64: 65:

465 758 651 570 807

Total:

5,291

Total:

4,145

Total:

3,251

Total 1 and 2: 12,131

Total 4 and 5: 11,887

The counts are made in numbers of signs, spaces included, without the verse numbers, comprising the qeré and selà. The tetragrammaton is transliterated as Yhwh instead of ’adonay. The extreme sections are clearly more developed than the others: each of them comprises seven psalms, while the third and the fourth sections comprise only five; the second section comprises six. The final section is significantly longer than the initial section; conversely, the second section is longer than the fourth one; the equilibrium of proportions is thus restored, since the total of the first two sections (12,131) is almost the same as that of the last two (11,887). Each of the five sections has a concentric composition around a single psalm, except for the second section where the central sequence is formed of two psalms (Ps 52–53).

The Whole of the Second Book

379

2. THE TITLES OF THE PSALMS The composition of the section corresponds to the indications provided in the titles of the psalms. – The seven psalms of the first section (Ps 42/43–49) are “of the sons of Korah”. – Those of the second and the fourth sections (Ps 50–55 & 61–65) are “of David”, with the exception, however, of the first psalm of the second section (Ps 50), which is referred to as “of Asaph”, because it is an accusation coming from God to which David’s confession in his Miserere (Ps 51) will respond: David could not have been the author of this accusation brought against him. – The five psalms in the central section (Ps 56–60) are also “of David”, but they are the only ones that are referred to as “in a low voice”. – Lastly, the final section is peculiar (Ps 66–72). It begins with two psalms whose titles do not mention the name of their “author”; only the next three psalms are ascribed to “David”, the last two, similarly like the first two, are not attributed to David, the penultimate psalm is untitled and the last one is “For Solomon”.

3. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SECTIONS (PS 42/43–49 AND PS 66–72) The two sections are corresponding to each other in a mirrored fashion.

380

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

3.1 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 42/43–44 AND PS 70–72) BETWEEN THE FIRST TWO PSALMS OF EACH SEQUENCE (PS 42/43–44 AND PS 70–71) Ps 42 1 For the music director, an instruction, of the sons of Korah. 2 As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. 3 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and shall I see the face of God? 4 My tears have been my food day and night, when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 5 These things I remember, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to the house of God, among the voice of shouts of joy and of THANKSGIVING of a crowd keeping festival. 6 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, the SALVATION of his face. 7 My

God, over me my soul is collapsing, that is why I remember you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the mountain Insignificant. 8 Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your WAVES and your BILLOWS have passed over me. 9 By day Yhwh commands his faithfulness and by night his song is with me, prayer to the God of my life. 10 I will say to God, my Rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I walk in gloom, under the OPPRESSION of THE ENEMY?” 11 In the breaking of my bones, my ADVERSARIES INSULT ME when they say to me all the day: “Where is your God?” 12 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and why are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, the SALVATION of my face and my God. 43 1 Judge me, God, and defend my cause against an UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE; against a MAN OF DECEIT AND FALSEHOOD deliver me. 2 Because you are the God of my strength: why do you reject me? Why do I walk away in gloom, under the OPPRESSION of THE ENEMY? 3 Send your light and your truth: they will guide me, they will make me come to the mountain of your holiness and to your tents. 4 And I will come to the altar of God, to the God of the joy of my exultation. And I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS on the CITHARA, O God, my God. 5 Why are you collapsing, my soul, and why are you rumbling over me? Wait for God, because still I WILL GIVE HIM THANKS, the SALVATION of my face and my God. Ps 44 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, an instruction. 2 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have recounted to us the work that you did in their days, in the days of old: 3 You with your hand, you disinherited NATIONS and you planted them, you destroyed COUNTRIES and you made place for them. 4 Because not by their sword did they inherit the land and their arm did not SAVE them, because your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, because you loved them. 5 You are MY KING, O God, commanding THE SALVATIONS of Jacob; 6 through you we pushed back our ADVERSARIES, in your name we trampled our AGGRESSORS. 7 Because not in my bow did I trust and my sword did not SAVE me; 8 because YOU SAVED US from our ADVERSARIES and you confused our HATERS, 9 in God we were praising all the day and to your name WE WERE GIVING THANKS forever. 10 But you have rejected us and YOU HAVE DISHONOURED US, and you did not go out anymore with our armies; 11 you made us turn back from THE ADVERSARY and OUR HATERS have plundered us. 12 You have given us as sheep for butchery and you have dispersed us among THE NATIONS; 13 you have sold your people without profit and you have gained nothing on their price. 14 You make us an INSULT to OUR NEIGHBOURS, a FABLE and DERISION to OUR ENTOURAGES; 15 you make us the PROVERB among THE NATIONS, a SHAKING OF THE HEAD among THE COUNTRIES. 16 all the day my DISHONOUR is before me and SHAME covers my face, 17 under the clamours of INSULTER and of BLASPHEMER, in the face of THE ENEMY and of THE AVENGER. 18 All this has come over us and not that we have forgotten you and not that we have betrayed your covenant; 19 not that our heart has gone back and our steps have deviated from your path. 20 Yes, you have crushed us in a place of jackals and you have spread darkness over us. 21 If we have forgotten the name of our God and have stretched out our hands to a foreign god, 22 would not God have discovered this, because as for him, he knows the secrets of the heart? 23 Yes, on your account we are killed all the day, we are considered as sheep for slaughter. 24 Awake, why do you sleep, O Lord? Wake up, do not reject us forever! 25 Why do you hide your face, do you forget our MISERY and our OPPRESSION? 26 Because our soul collapses in the dust, our belly clings to the ground. 27 Rise up as our help and redeem us for the sake of your faithfulness.

The Whole of the Second Book

381

Ps 70 1 For the music director, of David, for a memorial. 2 O God, to deliver me, O Lord hasten to my aid. 3 LET THEM BLUSH and BE DISGRACED, THOSE WHO SEEK MY SOUL. LET THEM RETREAT backwards and BE CONFUSED, THOSE WHO DESIRE MY EVIL. 4 Let them turn back as a result of their BLUSHING, whose who say: “Aha! Aha!” 5 Let

them be jubilant and rejoice in you, all those who seek you, and let them always say: “Let God be magnified”, those who love your SALVATION. 6 And as for me, AFFLICTED and POOR, O God, hasten to me! You are my help and my liberator; O Lord, do not be backwards! Ps 71 1 In you, Yhwh, I take refuge, LET ME NOT BLUSH forever; 2 in YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS you will deliver me and will liberate me, incline your ear to me and SAVE ME. 3 Be to me a rock of habitation, to which I can always come; you have commanded to SAVE me, because you are my crag and my fortress. 4 O my God, liberate me from the hand of the WICKED, from the palm of the PERVERSE and of the VIOLENT. 5 Because you are my hope, O Lord, O Yhwh, my confidence from my youth; 6 I have relied on you from the womb, from the bowels of my mother, you are my separator, my praise is always in you. 7 I have become as a sign to many, and you are my refuge of strength. 8 My mouth will be filled with your praise, all the day with your splendour. 9 Do not reject me in the time of old age, do not abandon me when my vigour declines; 10 because MY ENEMIES speak against me, and THOSE WATCHING FOR MY SOUL consult together 11 saying, “God has abandoned him, pursue and seize him, because there is no one to deliver.” 12 O God, do not be far from me, O my God, hasten to my aid. 13 LET THEM BLUSH and be finished, THOSE WHO ACCUSE MY SOUL; let them be covered with DISHONOUR and with CONFUSION, THOSE WHO SEEK MY EVIL! 14 And

as for me, I will always wait and I will add to all your praise; 15 my mouth will recount YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, all the day your SALVATION, because I do not know the numbers. 16 I will come in the prowess of the Lord Yhwh, I will recall i YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, yours alone; 17 O God, you have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim your wonders. 18 And also, up to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not abandon me, until I proclaim your arm to the generation, to each one that will come, your prowess 19 and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, O God, up to the heights, you who have done great things. O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many ANGUISHES and EVILS, you will return to revive me; and from the depths of the earth you will return to bring me up. 21 Multiply my greatness and you will turn, you will comfort me. 22 Also as for me, I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS with the instrument of the harp, in your truth, O my God, I will play music to you on the CITHARA, O Holy One of Israel. 23 Let my lips shout for joy when I sing psalms to you and my soul, which you have redeemed! 24 Also my tongue, all the day, whispers YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, when THOSE WHO SEEK MY EVIL WILL BLUSH, when THEY WILL BE DISGRACED.

The “enemy” and “adversary” are present everywhere under various names (42:10, 11; 43:1, 2; 44:3, 6[2x], 8[2x], 11[2x], 12, 14[2x], 15[2x], 17[4x]; 70:3[2x]; 71:4[3x], 10[2x], 13[2x], 24). The works of the enemy are “oppression”, “insult”, “shame” which abound in a multiple manner especially in the first sequence (42:8[2x], 10, 11; 43:2; 44:14[3x], 15[2x], 16[2x], 25[2x]; 71:8, 20), those speaking in mockery (42:4, 11; 70:4). These works turn against themselves in the last sequence (70:3[4x], 4; 71:1, 13[4x], 24[2x]). God’s “salvation” intervenes against all these (42:6, 12; 43:5; 44:4, 5, 7, 8; 70:5; 71:2, 3). In response to the salvation, “thanksgiving” resounds (42:5, 6, 12; 43:4, 5; 44:9; 71:22) on “the cithara” (43:4; 71:22). The continuity (“day and night”, “all the days”, “always”, “forever”) of the oppression (42:4[2x], 11; 44:16, 23, 24) is matched by that of thanksgiving (44:9[2x]; 70:5; 71:8, 15, 24).

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

BETWEEN THE FINAL PSALMS OF EACH SEQUENCE (PS 45 AND PS 72) Ps 45 1 For the music director, on “The Lilies”; of the sons of Korah, an instruction, a love song. 2 My heart is stirred by a beautiful word: Myself, I recite my work to THE KING, my tongue is the reed-pen of a skilful scribe. 3 You are handsome more than the sons of Adam, grace is poured upon your lips: that is why God HAS BLESSED YOU forever. 4 Gird your sword on your thigh, O valiant one, your magnificence and your splendour. 5 Your splendour: soar, ride, for the cause of truth, of HUMILITY, of RIGHTEOUSNESS and let your right hand teach you wonders! 6 Your arrows are sharp, PEOPLES fall under you, in the heart of the ENEMIES of THE KING. 7 Your throne, O God, forever and ever, a sceptre of uprightness, the sceptre of your KINGDOM! 8 You love RIGHTEOUSNESS and you hate wickedness; that is why God, your God has anointed you, with the oil of gladness more than your friends. 9 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, all your garments, from ivory palaces the CITHARAS rejoice you. 10 Daughters of KINGS among your beloved; the Lady stands at your right hand, in GOLD of Ophir. 11 Hear, daughter, observe and incline your ear, and forget your people and your house of your father. 12 And THE KING will desire your beauty: because he is your Lord, and bow down to him! 13 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face will cheer up the richest of the people. 14 The daughter of THE KING is all splendid within, robed in GOLDEN clothing; 15 in brocade she is led to THE KING, virgins behind her, her companions are brought to you; 16 they are led in joy and exultation, they enter into the palace of THE KING. 17 In the place of your fathers shall be your SONS; you will make them PRINCES in ALL THE EARTH. 18 I will remember your name in every generation and generation, that is why THE PEO PEOPLES WILL GIVE YOU THANKS forever and ever. Ps 72 1 For Solomon. O God, give THE KING your judgments and your RIGHTEOUSNESS to the SON of THE KING: 2 that he may govern your people with RIGHTEOUSNESS and your AFFLICTED with judgment. 3 May the mountains bring peace to the people and the hills RIGHTEOUSNESS: 4 He will judge the AFFLICTED of the people, HE WILL SAVE the SONS OF THE POOR, he will crush THE OPPRESSOR. 5 And may he endure with the sun and in the face of the moon from age to age. 6 May he come down like rain on mown grass, like showers flooding the earth: 7 In his days THE RIGHTEOUS will flourish and much peace until the moon is no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth; 9 before his face THOSE OF THE DESERT will kneel and HIS ENEMIES will lick the dust. 10 THE KINGS of Tarshish and of the islands will bring a tribute, the kings of Sheba and Saba will bring near gifts; 11 and ALL THE KINGS will bow down to him, ALL THE NATIONS will serve him. 12 Yes, he will deliver the POOR who cries out, and the AFFLICTED and who has no one to help him. 13 He will care for the WEAK and the POOR, and HE WILL SAVE the souls of the POOR. 14 He will redeem their soul from CUNNING and VIOLENCE, and precious is their blood in his eyes. 15 He will live and he will give him from the GOLD of Sheba, and he will prayer for him always, all the days HE WILL BLESS HIM. 16 Let an abundance of wheat be on the earth, may on the top of the mountains wave it like Lebanon its fruit; and may those of the city flourish like grass of the earth. 17 Let his name be forever, in the face of the sun may his name spring forth and may ALL THE NATIONS BE BLESSED in him, compliment him. 18 BLESSED BE Yhwh God, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders; 19 and BLESSED BE the name of his glory forever and ALL THE EARTH be filled with his glory. Amen! Amen! 20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

Both psalms are dedicated to the “king” from among “kings” (45:2, 6, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16; 72:1[2x], 10, 11); terms from the same semantic field abound in Ps 45: “throne”, “sceptre”, “reign” (45:7), “had anointed” (45:8). He has been promised a long life: “forever” (45:3; 72:17, 19), “forever and ever” (45:7, 18), “in every generation and generation” (45:18), “from age to age” (72:5), “until the moon is no more” (72:7), “all the days” (72:15).

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This king of Israel is in relation with the kings of the other nations, the “enemies” who are submissive (45:6; 72:9, 11) and pay tribute (72:10), with whom he makes a covenant through marriage (45:10–17); this dominion extends to “all the earth” (45:17; 72:19), to “all the nations” (72:11, 17), the latter “giving thanks to him” (45:18), “blessing him” (72:15, 17), as God himself “blesses him” (45:3), which leads to the blessing of God (72:18, 19). The king judges according to “righteousness” (45:5; 72:1, 2, 3); he strikes down “the oppressor” (72:4), girding his sword, he goes forth “for the cause of truth, of humility, of righteousness” (45:4–5). The last psalm emphasises that he defends the “afflicted”, the “weak” and the “poor” (72:2–3, 12–13). These terms are not found in Ps 45, presumably because it celebrates the king’s wedding; however, “humility” (45:5) derives from a closely related root (‘nw) to the term translated as “afflicted” (‘ny, 72:2, 3, 12). The “name” of the king will be celebrated forever (45:18; 72:17), as will be that of the Lord (72:19). The two occurrences of “son/s” act as median terms at a distance (45:17; 72:1). “Gold” is mentioned in 45:10, 14 and 72:15. It should also be pointed out that: – The enemies and their oppression are found in all six psalms; – The Lord is referred to as “my king” in 44:5, which prepares for 45:7; – The “name” is found not only in the last psalms, but already in 44:6, 9, 21. In Ps 44 it is the name of God, as in the last verse of the section (72:19), whereas before it refers to the king (45:18; 72:17[2x]); – The “righteousness” that marks the two royal psalms is already mentioned in 71:2, 15, 16, 19, 24; – The “salvation” mentioned twice in 72:4, 13 is already found in 42:6, 12; 43:5; 44:4, 5, 7, 8; 70:5; 71:2, 3, 15.

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

3.2 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL SEQUENCES (PS 46 AND PS 69) Ps 46 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, for young women, a song. 2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in OPPRESSIONS. 3 That is why we shall not fear when the earth changes, when the mountains shake in the heart of the seas; 4 its WATERS, rumble, seethe, the mountains tremble at his rising. 5 A river, its channels rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High; 6 God is in her, she is not shaken, God helps her when the morning dawns. 7 PEOPLES rumbled, KINGDOMS were shaken, he gave voice, the earth melts. 8 YHWH OF HOSTS with us, our CITADEL, the God of Jacob! 9 “Come and contemplate the great deeds of Yhwh, who causes destructions on the earth: 10 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, he breaks the bow and he shatters the spear, the shields he burns with fire. 11 Stop and know that I am God, I am exalted above the PEOPLES, I am exalted on the earth!” 12 YHWH OF HOSTS with us, our CITADEL, the God of Jacob!

The two psalms are of unequal length and at first glance quite different. The first one is a song of trust in the first person plural, while the other one is a lament in the first person singular. However, they have several things in common: – The first psalm at the beginning mentions “oppressions” (46:2), which are found in the other psalm: “I am oppressed” (69:18), “my oppressors” (69:20); – The image of the threatening “waters” of 46:4 returns twice in 69:2–3 and 69:15–16; – In fact, it concerns “peoples” and “kingdoms” (46:7, 11) “rumbling” like the waters (46:4, 7); “those who hate”, “enemies” (69:5, 19); – But God is a “citadel” (46:8, 12) which “protects” (69:30; this verb derives from the same root as “citadel”); – God is called “Yhwh of hosts” (46:8, 12; 69:7); – “Your house” (69:10) recalls “the holy dwelling of the Most High” (46:5). The two psalms can be considered complementary: the individual psalmist, identified with “David” in the title (69:1), represents the “we” of his people, a plural that appears at the end with “the humiliated”, “who seek God” (69:33), and especially with “Zion” and “the cities of Judah” (69:36). On the other hand, if Ps 69 is a lament, its entire last part is a declaration of confidence, praise and thanksgiving (69:30–37).

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Ps 69 1 For the music director, to the tune of “Lilies”, of David. 2 Save me, O God, because the WATERS have come up to my soul; 3 I sink in the miry depths and there is no foothold; I have come into deep WATERS and the flood overflows me. 4 I am worn out with my calling, my throat is parched, my eyes are consumed waiting for my God; 5 are more than the hairs of my head those WHO HATE ME without reason; are mighty those destroying me, my lying ENEMIES: What I did not steal must I now restore? 6O

God, as for you, you know my folly and my offences are not hidden from you. 7 May those who hope in you not blush for my sake, O Lord YHWH OF HOSTS; may those who seek you not be ashamed for my sake, O God of Israel. 8 Because for your sake I bear insult, shame covers my face, 9 I become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to the sons of my mother; 10 because the zeal of your house eats me up and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. 11 And if I weep, my soul in fasting, and it becomes insults to me; 12 and if I put on a sackcloth for my garment, and I become a proverb to them. 13 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and the songs of those who drink strong drinks. 14 And as

for me, my prayer is to you, O Yhwh, at a favourable time; O God, in your great faithfulness, answer me in the truth of your salvation. 15 Pull me out of the mire, that I may not sink, that I may escape from MY ADVERSARIES and from the deep WATERS; 16 let the flood of WATERS not overflow me, let the depths not swallow me, let the pit not close its mouth over me. 17 Answer me, O Yhwh, because your faithfulness is good, in your great tenderness turn to me, 18 and do not hide your face from your servant, because I am OPPRESSED; make haste, answer me; 19 draw near to my soul, avenge it, for the sake of MY ENEMIES redeem me.

20 As

for you, you know my insult, and my blushing and my shame, before you all my OPPRESSORS. 21 The insult broke my heart and I fainted, and I hoped for compassion, but there was none, and for comforters, and I found none. 22 And they gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink; 23 let their table become a snare before them and for their friends a trap, 24 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and their backs be always bent. 25 Pour out your wrath on them and let the fire of your anger overtake them 26 let their enclosure become a desolation, and in their tents let there be no dweller habitant. 27 Because of you, they pursued the one you have struck, and they count the wounds of your victim; 28 add fault to their fault and let them not come into your righteousness, 29 let them be erased from the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous.

30 And

as for me, afflicted and suffering, may your salvation, O God, PROTECT ME! 31 I will praise the name of God with a song and I will magnify him with thanksgiving; 32 it will be better for Yhwh than an ox, a bull with horns, with hooves. 33 The humiliated have seen, they rejoice; you who seek God, let your heart revive! 34 Because Yhwh hears the poor and he has not despised his captives. 35 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that moves in them! 36 Because God will save Zion and he will rebuild the cities of Judah and they will dwell there and will possess it; 37 and the offspring of his servants will inherit, and those who love his name will reside there.

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

3.3 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MEDIAN SEQUENCES (PS 47–49 AND PS 66–68) There is a particularly close correspondence between the first psalms of each sequence (Ps 47 and 66). These two psalms thus act as the initial terms. Similarly, there are many connections between the extreme psalms of the two sequences (Ps 47 and 68). These two psalms act as extreme terms. Relations between the initial psalms (Ps 47 and 66) – “All you people” (47:2), “all the earth” (47:3, 8; 66:1, 4), the “peoples, “countries” and “nations” (47:4[2x], 9, 10; 66:7, 8), “all you fearful of God” (66:16). They are invited: – “To acclaim” the Lord (47:2, 6; 66:1); – “To sing psalms” to him (47:7[4x], 8; 66:2, 4[2x]); – To make their “voice” to be heard (47:2, 6; 66:8, 19). In Ps 47 God is referred to as “the Most High” (47:3). At the end of the two parts occurs the verb “to ascend” that derives from same root (47:6, 10). In the other psalm, from the same root are “burnt offerings” and the verb “to ascend” (66:13, 15). God is referred to as “fearsome” (47:3; 66:3, 5).

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Ps 47 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 ALL YOU PEOPLES, clap your hands, ACCLAI ACCLAIM God with THE VOICE of shouts of joy! 3 Yes, Yhwh, THE MOST HIGH, is FEARSOME, the great King over ALL THE EARTH. 4 He subdues PEOPLES under us and COUNTRIES under our feet. 5 He chose for us our inheritance, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. 6 God ASCENDS with ACCLAMATION, Yhwh, with THE VOICE of a shofar. 7 Sing psalms to God, sing psalms, psalms sing psalms to our King, sing psalms! psalms 8 Yes, God is the King of ALL THE EARTH: sing psalms of instruction! 9 God reigns OVER THE NATIONS, God sits on his throne of holiness. 10 The princes of the PEOPLES are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. Yes, the shields of THE EARTH belong to God, HE ASCENDED greatly. [...]

Ps 66 1 For the music director, a song, a psalm. ACCLAI CCLAIM God, ALL THE EARTH, 2 sing psalms to the glory of his name, set the glory of his praise. 3 Say to God, “How FEARSOME are your works! By the greatness of your strength your enemies will cringe to you; 4 ALL THE EARTH will bow down to you and will sing psalms to you, will sing psalms to your name”. 5 Come and see the gestures of God, FEARSOME in action for the sons of Adam: 6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the river on foot, there we rejoiced in him. 7 He rules by his might forever, his eyes scrutinise THE NATIONS, let the rebellious not exalt themselves against him. 8 Bless our God, O PEOPLES, and make THE VOICE of his praise to be heard, 9 he who sets our soul in life and he does not allow our feet to be shaken. 10 Yes, you have tested us, O God, you have refined us as one refines silver; 11 you have made us enter into a net, you have set affliction on our backs; 12 you have made a mortal ride over our heads; we have entered into fire and into water and you have brought us out into abundance. 13 I will come into your house with BURNT OFFERINGS, I will fulfil my vows to you, 14 those that my lips opened and that my mouth spoke in my anguish; 15 I WILL BRING UP to you BURNT OFFERINGS of fat animals with the aroma of rams, I will make them of bulls with goats. 16 Come, hear, and I will recount, ALL YOU FEARFUL OF GOD, what he has done for my soul; 17 I called to him with my mouth and the exaltation was under my tongue. 18 If I have seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear; 19 however, God heard, he gave attention to THE VOICE of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God who has not turned away my prayer, nor his faithfulness from me.

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

Relations between the extreme psalms (Ps 47 and 68) Ps 47 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 ALL YOU PEOPLES, clap your hands, acclaim God with THE VOICE of shouts of joy! 3 Yes, Yhwh, THE MOST HIGH, is FEARSOME, the great KING over ALL THE EARTH. 4 He subdues PEOPLES under us and COUNTRIES under our feet. 5 He chose for us our INHERITANCE, the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. 6 God ASCENDS with acclamation, Yhwh, with THE VOICE of a shofar. 7 SING PSALMS to God, SING PSALMS, SING PSALMS to OUR KING, SING PSALMS! 8 Yes, God is THE KING of ALL THE EARTH: SING PSALMS of instruction! 9 God REIGNS OVER THE NATIONS, God sits on his THRONE of holiness. 10 THE PRINCES of the PEOPLES are gathered together, THE PEOPLE of the God of Abraham. Yes, the shields of THE EARTH belong to God, HE ASCENDED greatly. [...]

Ps 68 1 For the music director, of David, a psalm, a song. 2 God rises up, HIS ENEMIES are scattered and those WHO HATE him flee before his face. 3 As smoke is dispersed, you disperse them, as wax melts before the face of fire, the wicked perish before the face of God. 4 But the righteous rejoice, they are glad in the face of God, and they are jubilant with rejoicing. 5 Sing to God, SING PSALMS to his name, make way for the Rider of the steppes, in Yah his name, and exult in his face. 6 Father of orphans and defender of widows is God in the habitation of his holiness; 7 God makes the lonely dwell in a house, he makes the prisoners go out in freedom; but the rebellious reside in arid places. 8 O God, when you went out in the face of your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 9 the earth quaked, the heavens dropped before the face of God, the One of Sinai, before the face of God, the God of Israel. 10 You rained down a shower at will, O God, your INHERITANCE, when was weary, you yourself strengthened it; 11 your assembly dwelt in it, which you prepared in your goodness for the afflicted, O God. 12 The Lord gave a command, the messengers, a great army; 13 THE KINGS of the armies flee, they flee, and the beauty of the house divides the spoil. 14 If you rest between two low walls, the wings of a turtle dove are covered with silver and its feathers with shinning gold; 15 when Shaddai scattered THE KINGS over it, it snowed on Zalmon. 16 The mountain of God, the mountain of Bashan, a haughty mountain, the mountain of Bashan! 17 Why are you envious, you haughty mountains, at the mountain that God desired for his dwelling? Yes, Yhwh will reside there until the end. 18 The chariots of God two-myriads, thousands of repetitions; the Lord is in them from Sinai to the sanctuary. 19 YOU ASCENDED to the heights, you captured captives, you took men as tribute, even the rebellious, to reside there, Yah God. 20 Blessed be the Lord day by day, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation. 21 The God of ours is a God of saving acts and to Yhwh the Lord belong the issues of death; 22 but God smashes the head of his enemies, the hairy skull of him who walks on in his crimes. 23 Said the Lord: “From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea, 24 so that you may sink your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of your enemies.” 25 They have seen your processions, O God, the processions of my God, MY KING, to the sanctuary: 26 The singers were in front, behind the musicians, in the middle the young women playing timbrels. 27 In chorus they blessed God: Yhwh, since the foundation of Israel. 28 There Benjamin, the youngest leads them; THE PRINCES of Judah in embroidered clothes, THE PRINCES of Zabulun, THE PRINCES of Naphtali. 29 Your God has commanded your strength, the strength, O God, that you have made for us; 30 from your Temple above Jerusalem KINGS will bring gifts to you. 31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the heard of bulls with the calves of THE PEOPLES, who humiliate themselves with silver bars. He has scattered THE PEOPLES who delight in conflicts: 32 Nobles will come from EGYPT, KUSH will stretch out its hands to God. 33 O KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH, sing to God, SING PSALMS to the Lord, 34 to the Rider of the heavens, of the ancient heavens, behold, he gives with HIS VOICE, A VOICE of strength. 35 Give the strength of God, over Israel his splendour and his strength in the clouds. 36 You are FEARSOME, O God, out of your sanctuaries, he is the God of Israel, giving strength and might to THE PEOPLE. Blessed be God!

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Ps 47 is addressed to “all you peoples” (47:2), “all the earth” (47:3, 8), the “peoples” (47:4, 10), “countries” (47:4) and “nations” (47:9). At the end of Ps 68 are “the peoples” (68:30, 31), the “kingdoms of the earth” (68:33), among them “Egypt” and “Kush” (68:32); at the beginning of the psalm these are called “his enemies” and “those who hate him” (68:2). Both psalms end by mentioning “the people” of Israel, called “the people of the God of Abraham” (47:10; 68:36). In both psalms, all people are invited to “sing psalms” to the Lord (47:7–8; 68:5, 33). At the beginning of the first psalm, all peoples are invited to make their “voice” heard (47:2), “the voice of a shofar” (6); at the end of the last psalm, it is God who makes his “voice” heard (68:34[2x]). In Ps 47, the Lord is referred to as “the King”, “our King” (47:3, 7, 8, 9), and he puts it in relation to “the princes of the peoples” (47:10); similarly, in Ps 68, the psalmist addresses the Lord as “my King” (68:25), who is served by “the princes” of the tribes of Judah, Zebulun and Naphtali (68:28), and he puts it in relation to “the kings” of his enemies (68:13, 15) who will bring him “gifts” (68:30). Finally, the “kingdoms of the earth” are invited to sing to God and sing psalms to him (68:33) as “the righteous” do it (68:4–5). The Lord is described as “fearsome” at the beginning of the first psalm (47:3) and at the end of the last one (68:36), thus forming an inclusion. God is called “the Most High” (47:3) who “ascends” (47:6), who “ascended” (47:10); he “ascended to the heights” (68:19). Israel is God’s “inheritance” (47:5; 68:10).

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

Other relations Ps 48 1 A song, a psalm, of the sons of Korah. 2 Great is Yhwh and greatly praised IN THE CITY OF OUR GOD, THE MOUNTAIN OF HIS HOLINESS. 3 Beautiful in elevation, joy of ALL THE EARTH is THE MOUNTAIN OF ZION, summit of Zaphon, the city of the great KING: 4 God in his palaces has revealed himself as a citadel. 5 Because, behold, KINGS made alliance, they advanced together. 6 They saw, yes they were astounded, they panicked, they decamped, 7 a trembling seized them there, a pain of childbirth; 8 by the east wind the ships of Tarshish were broken. 9 As we have heard so we have seen in the city of Yhwh of hosts, in the city of our God: God will make it firm forever. 10 We meditate, O God, on your faithfulness IN THE MIDST OF YOUR TEMPLE; 11 as your name, O God, so your praise, TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH! Your right hand is full of righteousness, 12 THE MOUNTAIN OF ZION rejoices; THE DAUGHTERS OF JUDAH for the sake of your judgments. 13 Go around ZION and walk through it, count its towers, 14 put your hearts to its ramparts, detail its palaces, in order to recount to future generations 15 that he is God, our God forever and ever, he is the one who guides us until death! Ps 49 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, a psalm. 2 Hear this, ALL YOU PEOPLES, give ear, ALL YOU INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD, 3 also you children of Adam, also you children of man, together rich and poor! 4 My mouth will speak wisdom, and the whisper of my heart of understandings; 5 I will incline my ear to a proverb, I will open my enigma on the cithara. 6 Why should I fear in the days of evil when the fault of my heelers surrounds me? 7 They trust in their possession and they praise themselves of the abundance of their wealth. 8 A redeeming brother cannot redeem a man, he cannot give God his ransom; 9 and it is costly the redemption of their soul and it will be lacking forever. 10 And he shall live on for eternity, he shall not see the pit! 11 Yes, he will see that the wise will die, together with the fool and the senseless will perish, and they will leave their possession to others. 12 Their tombs will be THEIR HOUSES forever, their dwellings from generation to generation; they gave their names over the lands! 13 And the adam in luxury does not spend the night, he is like the animals that disappear. 14 This is their way, confidence in themselves and after them they are pleased with their mouth. 15 Like sheep for Sheol they are set, DEATH pastures them; and the upright trample them in the morning and their Rock erases Sheol from his palace. 16 Surely, God will redeem my soul, from the hand of Sheol, yes, he will take me. 17 Do not fear when a man gets rich, when the glory of his house abounds. 18 Yes, in his DEATH he will take nothing, his glory will not go down after him. 19 Because he blessed his soul in his life, and they thank you that you took care of yourself. 20 He will go to the generation of his fathers, for eternity they will not see the light. 21 The adam in luxury and does not understand, he is like the animals that disappear.

As in the initial psalms (Ps 47 and 66), everywhere else there are references to “all the earth” (48:3), “the end of the earth” (48:11), “all you peoples”, “all you inhabitants of the world” (49:2), “the earth”, “all the nations”, “the peoples”, “the countries”, “all the ends of the earth” (67:3, 4, 5, 6, 8), “the peoples”, “the kingdoms of the earth”, “Egypt” and “Kush” (68:31–33), who are “enemies” of God (68:2, 22). God’s “city”, his “mountain” and his “Temple” are mentioned in Ps 48 (2, 3, 10, 12, 13) and in Ps 68 (6, 11, 17, 18, 25–28, 30, 36). It should be pointed out that “Zion” occurs three times in 48 (3, 12, 13) and “Israel” four times in the last psalm (68:9, 27, 35, 36). The Lord is “king” (48:3; 68:25) in relation to the kings of the nations (48:5; 68:13, 15, 30, 33). In 68:28 he is served by his “princes”.

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Ps 67 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, a psalm, a song. 2 May God have mercy on us and bless us, may he make his face shine upon us, 3 that your way may be known on THE EARTH, and your salvation among ALL THE NATIONS. 4 Let THE PEOPLES, give you thanks, O God, let THE PEOPLES give you thanks, ALL OF THEM! 5 May THE COUNTRIES rejoice and shout for joy, because you judge THE PEOPLES with uprightness and you guide THE COUNTRIES on the earth. 6 Let THE PEOPLES, give you thanks, O God, let THE PEOPLES give you thanks, ALL OF THEM! 7 The earth has given its harvest, God our God blesses us. 8 God blesses us, and ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH fear you. Ps 68 1 For the music director, of David, a psalm, a song. 2 God rises up, HIS ENEMIES are scattered and those WHO HATE HIM flee before his face. 3 As smoke is dispersed, you disperse them, as wax melts before the face of fire, the wicked perish before the face of God. 4 But the righteous rejoice, they are glad in the face of God, and they are jubilant with rejoicing. 5 Sing to God, sing psalms to his name, make way for the Rider of the steppes, in Yah his name, and exult in his face. 6 Father of orphans and defender of widows is God in THE HABITATION OF HIS HOLINESS; 7 God makes the lonely dwell in a HOUSE, he makes the prisoners go out in freedom; but the rebellious reside in arid places. 8 O God, when you went out in the face of your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 9 the earth quaked, the heavens dropped before the face of God, the One of Sinai, before the face of God, the God of ISRAEL. 10 You rained down a shower at will, O God, your inheritance, when was weary, you yourself strengthened it; 11 your assembly dwelt IN IT, WHICH YOU PREPARED in your goodness for the afflicted, O God. 12 The Lord gave a command, the messengers, a great army; 13 THE KINGS of the armies flee, they flee, and the beauty of the house divides the spoil. 14 If you rest between two low walls, the wings of a turtle dove are covered with silver and its feathers with shinning gold; 15 when Shaddai scattered THE KINGS over it, it snowed on Zalmon. 16 The mountain of God, the mountain of Bashan, a haughty mountain, the mountain of Bashan! 17 Why are you envious, you haughty mountains, at THE MOUNTAIN THAT GOD DESIRED FOR HIS DWELLING? Yes, Yhwh will reside there until the end. 18 The chariots of God two-myriads, thousands of repetitions; the Lord (is) in them from Sinai TO THE SANCTUARY. 19 You ascended to the heights, you captured captives, you took men as tribute, even the rebellious, to reside there, Yah God. 20 Blessed be the Lord day by day, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation, he takes care of us, the God of our salvation. 21 The God of ours is a God of saving acts and to Yhwh the Lord belong the issues of DEATH; 22 but God smashes the head of HIS ENEMIES, the hairy skull of him who walks on in his crimes. 23 Said the Lord: “From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea, 24 so that you may sink your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of (your) enemies.” 25 They have seen your PROCESSIONS, O God, the PROCESSIONS of my God, MY KING, TO THE SANCTUARY: 26 the SINGERS were in front, behind the MUSICIANS, in the middle THE YOUNG WOMEN playing timbrels. 27 In chorus they blessed God: Yhwh, since the foundation of ISRAEL. 28 There Benjamin, the youngest leads them; THE PRINCES of Judah in embroidered clothes, THE PRINCES of Zabulun, THE PRINCES of Naphtali. 29 Your God has commanded your strength, the strength, O God, that you have made for us; 30 FROM YOUR TEMPLE ABOVE JERUSALEM KINGS will bring gifts to you. 31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds, the heard of bulls with the calves of THE PEOPLES, who humiliate themselves with silver bars. He has scattered THE PEOPLES who delight in conflicts: 32 Nobles will come from EGYPT, KUSH will stretch out its hands to God. 33 O KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH, sing to God, sing psalms to the Lord, 34 to the Rider of the heavens, of the ancient heavens, behold, he gives with his voice, a voice of strength. 35 Give the strength of God, over ISRAEL his splendour and his strength in the clouds. 36 You are fearsome, O God, out of YOUR SANCTUARIES, he is the God of ISRAEL, giving strength and might to the people. Blessed be God!

God’s “name” is to be praised (48:11; 68:5[2x]); whereas the fools placed “their names over the lands” (49:12). “Death” is mentioned in 49:15, 18 and 68:21.

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4. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MEDIAN SECTIONS (PS 50–55 AND PS 61–65)1 4.1 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL SEQUENCES (PS 52–53 AND PS 63) 52 1 For the music director, an instruction, of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul and said to him: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech”. 3 Why DO YOU PRAISE YOURSELF in evil, you hero, THE FAITHFULNESS of God is all the day? 4 Your tongue thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you doer of TREACHERY! 5 You love evil more than good, LYING more than SPEAKING righteousness; 6 you love all WORDS that devour, DECEITFUL tongue. God will crush you, to the end will destroy you, and will tear you away from the tent, and will uproot you from THE LAND of the living. 7 So

8 And

the righteous will see and will fear, and they will laugh at him: 9 “Behold the man who did not set God as his fortress, and who trusted in the abundance of his wealth, made himself strong in his crime”. 10 And I am like a verdant olive tree IN THE HOUSE OF GOD: I trust in THE FAITHFULNESS of God forever and ever. 11 I give thanks to you forever, because you have done it, and I hope for YOUR NAME, because it is good before YOUR FAITHFUL. 53 1 For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2 A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no one that does good. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 5 Will

they not know, workers of iniquity?

Eating up my people as they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, when there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvations of Israel? When God will restore the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel, WILL REJOICE! [...]

1

For purely practical layout reasons, the order of presentation is not linear.

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Ps 63 1 A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. 2 O God, my God, you are, I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh languishes for you, in a dry and weary LAND, without water. 3 Thus IN THE SANCTUARY I contemplated you, seeing your strength and your glory. 4 because YOUR FAITHFULNESS is better than life; my lips will celebrate you. 5 Thus I will bless you in my life, in YOUR NAME I will lift up my palms; 6 as with fat and oil my soul will be satisfied and with lips shouting for joy my mouth WILL PRAISE. 7 When

I think of you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, 8 because you were my help and IN THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS I shout for joy; 9 my soul clings to you, your right hand supports me. 10 But they seek my soul to destroy me, they will go down to the depths of THE EARTH. 11 They will be thrown into the hands of the sword, they will be a part of the jackals. 12 And the king WILL REJOICE in God, and all who swear by him WILL PRAISE, when the mouth of those who SPEAK LIES will be shut up.

Opposing elements in all three psalms: – On the one hand the wicked (52:3–7; 53:2–6; 63:10–11, 12c) who do “evil” (52:3, 5) and “iniquity” (53:2, 5), plotting “crimes” (52:4), “seeking the soul”, which means the life of the psalmist (63:10), their “tongue”, their “mouth” “speak” with “lies”, “deceitfully” and “treachery” (52:4–6; 63:12c). – And on the other hand, “the righteous” (52:8), including the psalmist who are among the “faithful” (52:10–11); “the people” of “Israel” who “will rejoice” when the wicked are rejected by God (53:7); the psalmist’s “lips” and “mouth” will praise the Lord (63:3–9). While the wicked occupy most of the space in the central sequence of the second section (Ps 52–53), the opposite is true for the centre of the fourth section (Ps 63). In addition, we note the repetitions especially between Ps 52 and 63: – The verb “to praise” referring to the wicked (52:3) and to the righteous (63:6, 12); – “The faithfulness of God” (52: 3, 10 followed by “your faithful” in 11) is taken up by “your faithfulness” (63:4); – “your name” (52:11; 63:5); – “in the house of God” (52:10) is taken up by “in the sanctuary” (63:3) and “in the shadow of your wings” (63:6); – The same Hebrew word translated as “land” and “earth” is used again in 52:7 and 63:10, always in a context of punishment: “will crush you”, “will destroy you” (52:7), “to destroy” (63:10). Between Ps 53 and 63, the lexical repetitions are limited to: – “To search/seek” in 53:3 and 63:10; – “Will rejoice” in final terms (53:7; 63:12).

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4.2 RELATION BETWEEN THE FINAL SEQUENCES (PS 54–55 AND 64-65) 54 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David; 2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: “Is not David hiding among us?” 3 O God, by your name save me, by your power vindicate me; 4 O God, HEAR MY PRAYER, GIVE EAR to the words of my mouth! 5 Because strangers have arisen against me, and ruthless ones have sought my soul, they have not set God before them. 6 Behold God is my help, the Lord is with those who sustain my soul.

him return the evil on them watching me, by your truth destroy them! 8 With a great heart I will make a sacrifice for you, I will give thanks to your name, Yhwh, because it is good, 9 because from all anguish he has delivered me, and my eye have seen MY ENEMIES. 7 Let

55 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, an instruction, of David. 2 GIVE EAR, O God, to MY PRAYER, and do not hide yourself from my supplication, 3 give attention to me and ANSWER ME, I am restless in my complaint and I rumble 4 by the voice of ENEMY, before the oppression of the wicked; because they bring iniquity against me, and in anger they accuse me. 5 My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me; 6 fear and trembling come to me, and shuddering grips me. 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly and rest? 8 Behold, I would go far away fleeing, I would lodge in the desert, 9 I would hasten to a refuge for myself from the impetuous wind of the storm. 10 Devour, O Lord, divide their tongue because I see violence and discord in the city; 11 day and night they go around on its walls and iniquity and trouble are within it; 12 the destructions are within it, and tyranny and deceit do not depart from its large square. 13 Yes, if AN ENEMY were insulting me, I would bear it; if the one hating me were rising against me, I would hide from him. 14 But are you a man of my own rank, my intimate friend and known to me, 15 with whom we tasted counsel together, and IN THE HOUSE OF GOD we walked among the crowd? 16 Let death surprise them, let them go down alive to Sheol, because evils are in their dwelling place within them. 17 As for me, I call to God, and Yhwh will save me; 18 evening and morning and at noon, I complain and rumble, and HE WILL HEAR MY VOICE. 19 Let him redeem in peace my soul from the battle against me, because many were against me. 20 LET God HEAR, and let him humble them, he who sits from of old, for whom there is no amendment for them: and they do not fear God. 21 He sent his hands against his friends, he violated his covenant. 22 His mouth is smoother than cream, but battle is in his heart; his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords. 23 Cast your worry on Yhwh and he will nourish you, he will not allow the righteous to be shaken forever. 24 And as for you, O God, you bring them down into the pit of corruption; the men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. And as for me, I trust in you.

The four psalms begin with the verbs “to hear” and/or “to give ear” (54:4; 55:2; 64:2; 65:3) whose object complement is the “prayer” (54:4; 55:2; 65:3), but also “my voice in my complaint” (64:2); “to hear” returns again in 55:18 with “my voice” as a complement and also in 55:20. The object is “the words of my mouth” in 54:4 and “my supplication” in 55:2. “To answer” occurs in 55:3 and 65:6.

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Ps 64 1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 HEAR, O God, MY VOICE in my complaint, preserve my life from the dread of THE ENEMY. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter word, 5 to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not fear. 6 They reinforce for themselves a word of evil, they calculate to conceal traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the heart are deep. 8 And God will shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their tongue fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men will fear, and will proclaim the work of God, and his deed they will understand. 11 The righteous will rejoice in Yhwh and he will take refuge in him, and all the upright of heart will praise him. Ps 65 1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song. 2 To you silence is praise, O God in Zion, and to you the vow is fulfilled. 3 YOU HEAR THE PRAYER, all flesh comes to you. 4 The words of faults are mightier than I, our transgressions, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy is the one you choose and the one you bring near, he dwells IN YOUR COURTS; we are satisfied with the goodness of YOUR HOUSE, with the holiness of YOUR TEMPLE. 6 By wonders of righteousness YOU ANSWER US, O God of our salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by his strength, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And the inhabitants of the ends will fear your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make them shout for joy. 10 You visit the earth and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of God is full of water, you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers, you bless its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with oil; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat; they acclaim, more, they sing!

Belonging to the same semantic field are “enemy/enemies” (54:9; 55:4, 13; 64:2), “evil/s” (54:7; 55:16; 64:6), “iniquity” (55:4, 11; 64:3), “drawn swords” (55:22) “sword” (64:4). Three psalms end in praise: “I will make a sacrifice”, “I will give thanks” (54:8), “the righteous will rejoice” and “will praise” (64:11), “they acclaim, more, they sing” (65:14). The Temple is mentioned in the second psalms: “in the house of God” (55:15), “in your courts”, “your house”, “your Temple” (65:5). The following repetitions should also be mentioned: “to save” and “salvation” (54:3; 55:17; 65:6); “good” and “goodness” (54:8; 65:5, 12); “righteousness” (55:23; 64:11; 65:6); “to trust” and “confidence” (55:24; 65:6); “to fear” (55:6, 20; 64:5, 10; 65:9), “word/s” (55:22; 64:4, 6; 65:4); “to complain” and complaint” (55:18; 64:2).

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4.3 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE INITIAL SEQUENCES (PS 50–51 AND PS 61-62) 50 1 A psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, Yhwh, SPEAKS and CALLS THE EARTH from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, God shines forth. 3 May our God come and may he not be silent, a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest; 4 HE CALLS the heavens above and THE EARTH to judge his people: 5 “Gather to me my FAITHFUL who sealed my covenant by sacrifice”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because God himself is judge. 7 HEAR, O my people, and I WILL SPEAK, O Israel, I will testify against you, I am God, your God! 8 Not for your sacrifices I accuse you and your burnt offerings that are before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the blood of goats? 14 Make a sacrifice of confession to God and pay your vows to the Most High; 15 and CALL UPON ME in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and you will glorify me.” 16 And God said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your mouth; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my WORDS behind you? 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; 19 you send your mouth with evil and your tongue plots DECEIT. 20 You sit, YOU SPEAK against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 21 These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I accuse you and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to deliver! 23 The one who makes a sacrifice of confession glorifies me, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the SALVATION of God.” 51 1 For the music director, a psalm, of David, 2 when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he went to Bathsheba. 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to YOUR FAITHFULNESS, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my transgressions! 4 Greatly wash me from my fault, and purify me from my sin! 5 Because myself I know my transgressions, and my sin is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I have sinned and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are righteous in YOUR WORD, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in fault I was born and in sin my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want LOYALTY in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. 9 You will purge my sin with hyssop, and I will be pure; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10 You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from my sin and all my faults wipe away! 12 A pure HEART create for me, O God, and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 Make return to me the gladness of your SALVATION and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. 15 I will teach the transgressors your ways and the sinners will return to you! 16 Deliver me from bloods, O God, the God of my SALVATION: my tongue will acclaim your righteousness. 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken breath; a HEART, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of righteousness, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

In Psalm 50, God “calls the earth” (50:1, 4) and then invites Israel to “call upon” him (15); in the symmetrical psalm, the psalmist “calls” his God “from the ends of the earth” (61:3). In Psalm 50, God asks his people to “hear” him (50:7); and in Psalm 61, the psalmist first begs God to “hear” him (61:2) and then acknowledges that God “hears” him (61:6).

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Ps 61 1 For the music director, on stringed instruments, of David. 2 HEAR, O God, my cry, give attention to my prayer, 3 from the end of THE EARTH I CALL to you, my HEART faints: to the rock that is higher than I, lead me. 4 Yes, you are a refuge for me, a tower of strength before the face of the enemy; 5 let me dwell in your tent forever, let me take refuge in the hiding of your wings! 6 Yes, you, O God, YOU HEAR my vows, you give the inheritance of those who fear your name. 7 Add days to days of the king, his years like generation after generation; 8 let him sit forever before the face of God, command FAITHFULNESS and LOYALTY to guard him. 9 Then I will sing psalms to your name forever, fulfilling my vows day after day. Ps 62 1 For the music director, according to Jeduthun; a psalm of David. 2 Yes, in God there is rest for my soul, from him comes my SALVATION; 3 Yes, he is my rock and my SALVATION, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all. 4 How long will you assail a man, will you slaughter him, all of you, like a leaning wall, a crumbling fence? 5 Yes, they have plotted to topple him from his heigh position, they delight in LIES; they bless with their mouth and inwardly they curse. 6 Yes, rest in God, O my soul, because my hope comes from him; 7 Yes, he is my rock and my SALVATION, my citadel, I will not be shaken. 8 On God rests my SALVATION and my glory; the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. 9 Trust in him at all times, you people, pour out your HEART before him, God is a refuge for us! 10 Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, A LIE, the sons of man; on the scales they were going up, they are together lighter than a breath. 11 Do not trust in violence, in robbery do not become breathless; in riches when they increase do not set your HEART on them! 12 Once God HAS SPOKEN, twice HAVE I HEARD this: “that strength belong to God, 13 to you, Adonai, FAITHFULNESS, that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds”.

The sins reproached to the people in Ps 50 (18–20) are echoed in the two parts of Ps 62 (4–5, 11). The “faults”, “transgressions”, “sins” are acknowledged in Ps 51 but in a general fashion. Only in 51:16, when there is a reference to “bloods”, we can understand in the line with the title that it refers to the murder of Uriah the Hittite, a murder marked by David’s lie. Killing is also mentioned in connection with “lying” in 62:4–6. The pairing of “faithfulness” and “loyalty” in 61:8 is already found at the extremities of the first part of Ps 51 (3, 8). “Faithful” is already present at the beginning of the first psalm (50:5) and “faithfulness” returns at the end of the last psalm (62:13). Note that the verb “to speak” forms an inclusion (50:1; 62:12); “to speak/word” also occurs in 50:7, 17, 20; 51.6. The “salvation” that results in forgiveness (51:14, 16) is mentioned at the end of 50 (23) and four times in 62:2, 3, 7, 8. It should be added that “heart” occurs twice in the second psalms (51:12, 19; 62:9, 11). Just as Ps 61 seemed to respond to Ps 50, so Ps 62 can be interpreted as a response to Ps 51. Ps 51 repeats at length the synonyms of “sin” (51:4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15), “transgression” (51:3, 5, 15), “fault” (51:4, 7, 11); Ps 61 and especially 62 repeat at length “rock” (61:3; 62:3, 7, 8) and its synonyms, “refuge” (61:4; 62:8), “citadel” (62:3, 6), “strength” (61:4; 62:8, 12). These two lists of terms are opposing: the “sin” once recognized by the psalmist is erased by God (51), what the speaker recognizes is the “strength” of his “rock”, his “refuge”, his “citadel” that has “saved” him.

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4.4 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EXTREME SEQUENCES (PS 50–51 AND PS 64–65) 50 1 A psalm of Asaph. The God of gods, Yhwh, speaks and calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting; 2 from Zion, of perfect beauty, God shines forth. 3 May our God come and may he not be silent, a fire before him devours and around him there is great tempest; 4 He calls the heavens above and the earth to judge his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful who sealed my covenant by sacrifice”. 6 And the heavens declared his righteousness because God himself is judge. 7 HEAR, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you, I am God, your God! 8 Not for your sacrifices I accuse you and your burnt offerings that are before me always; 9 I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats from your sheepfolds. 10 Because to me all the creatures of the forest, the animals on the mountains by the thousands; 11 I know all the birds of the mountains and all the beasts of the field are for me. 12 If I am hungry, I shall not tell you because the world and its contents are mine; 13 am I to eat the flesh of bulls and am I to drink the blood of goats? 14 Make a sacrifice of confession to God and pay your vows to the Most High; 15 and call upon me in the day of anguish, I will liberate you and you will glorify me.” 16 And God said to the wicked: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your mouth; 17 and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you? 18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him and your share is with adulterers; 19 you send your mouth with evil and your TONGUE plots DECEIT. 20 You sit, YOU SPEAK against your brother, you give dishonour against the son of your mother. 21 These things you do and am I to be silent? Do you think that I am really like you? I accuse you and make it clear to your eyes. 22 Understand this, you who forget God, lest I lacerate, and there will be no one to deliver! 23 The one who makes a sacrifice of confession glorifies me, and the one who sets a way I will make him see the salvation of God.” 51 1 For the music director, a psalm, of David, 2 when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he went to Bathsheba. 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your faithfulness, according to the greatness of your mercy wipe away my TRANSGRESSIONS! 4 Greatly wash me from my FAULT, and purify me from my SIN! 5 Because myself I know my TRANSGRESSIONS and my SIN is before me always. 6 Against you, you alone, I HAVE SINNED and what is evil in your eyes I have done, so that you are RIGHTEOUS in your WORD, you are blameless in your judgement. 7 Behold, in FAULT I was born and in SIN my mother conceived me. 8 Behold, you want loyalty in the kidneys and in private you make me know wisdom. 9 You will purge my SIN with hyssop, and I will be pure; you will wash me, and I will be whiter than snow! 10 You will make me hear gladness and joy, the bones you have crushed will exult! 11 Hide your face from my SIN and all my FAULTS wipe away! 12 A pure heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast breath renew within me. 13 You will not cast me away from before your face and the breath of your holiness do not take from me. 14 Make return to me the gladness of your SALVATION and with a breath of nobility you will strengthen me. 15 I will teach THE TRANSGRESSORS your ways and THE SINNERS will return to you! 16 Deliver me from bloods, O God, the God of my SALVATION: my TONGUE will acclaim your RIGHTEOUSNESS. 17 O Adonai, you will open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 18 Because you do not want a sacrifice, if I offer it, a burnt offering you do not desire. 19 The sacrifices of God, a broken breath; a heart, broken and crushed, O God, you do not despise! 20 Do good according to your desire in Zion, you will rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 21 Then you will want sacrifices of RIGHTEOUSNESS, burnt offering and whole offering; then they will bring up bulls on your altars.

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Ps 64 1 For the music director, a psalm of David. 2 HEAR, O God, my voice in my complaint, preserve my life from the dread of the enemy. 3 Hide me from the designs of the wicked, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity, 4 who sharpen their TONGUE like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter WORD, 5 to shoot from THE HIDING PLACE at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not fear. 6 They reinforce for themselves a WORD of evil, they calculate to CONCEAL traps. They say: “Who will see these?” 7 They plan perversities: “We have perfected a planned plan.” And the inward part of man and the heart are deep. 8 And God will shoot an arrow, unexpectedly will be their wounds; 9 and they will make their TONGUE fall on themselves, all who see them will shake the head. 10 And all men will fear, and will proclaim the work of God, and his deed they will understand. 11 The righteous will rejoice in Yhwh and he will take refuge in him, and all the upright of heart will praise him. Ps 65 1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song. 2 To you silence is praise, O God in Zion, and to you the vow is fulfilled. 3 YOU HEAR the prayer, all flesh comes to you. 4 The WORD of FAULTS are mightier than I, our TRANSGRESSIONS, as for you, you cover them. 5 Happy (is) the one you choose and the one you bring near, he dwells in your courts; we are satisfied with the goodness of your house, with the holiness of your Temple. 6 By wonders of RIGHTEOUSNESS you answer us, O God of our SALVATION, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea. 7 He who prepares the mountains by his strength, he who girds himself with might, 8 he who calms the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the noise of the peoples. 9 And the inhabitants of the ends will fear your signs; the gateways of the morning and of the evening you make them shout for joy. 10 You visit the earth and you make it abound, you enrich it greatly. The stream of God is full of water, you prepare their grain, because thus you prepare it: 11 watering its furrows, levelling its ridges, you soften it with showers, you bless its seed. 12 You crown the year with your goodness and your tracks overflow with oil; 13 the pastures of the desert overflow and the hills are wrapped in joy; 14 the meadows are clothed with flocks and the valleys are mantled with wheat, they acclaim, more, they sing!

The first psalms have in common: “tongue”, “to speak” and “word” (50:19, 20; 64:4, 6, 9) as well as lying; “deceit” (50:19), “hiding”, “to conceal” (64:5, 6). The most striking fact between the last psalms is the repetition of “faults” and “transgressions” in 65:4 as well as in 51:3, 4, 5, 7, 15. The psalmist was asking for his transgressions to be washed away, purified (51:3, 4, 9, 11), but now they are covered (65:4). “Righteousness” occurs in 51:6, 16, 21 and 65:6; “salvation” in 51:14, 16 and 65:6; the name “Zion” in 51:20 and 65:2. It should also be pointed out that “to hear” is found in 50:7; 64:1; 65:3; “to praise” and “praise” occur in 51:17; 64:11 and 65:2.

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5. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRAL SECTION AND THE OTHER SECTIONS As already noted, the central section is marked by “lies” (see p. 239). It is also reflected in the rest of the book, but especially in the two sections framing the central section: First section (at the beginning) 43:1

against a man of deceit and falsehood deliver me.

Second section 50:19: you send your mouth with evil and your tongue plots deceit. 52:4–5 Your tongue thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery! You love evil more than good, LYING more than speaking righteousness; you love all words that devour, deceitful tongue. 55:12 deceit do not depart from its large square. 22 His mouth is smoother than cream, but battle is in his heart; his words are softer than oil, but they are drawn swords. 24 the men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days.

Third section 56:6: 7 57:7 58:4–5 59:4 13

Every day they distort my words. they stir up, they hide, themselves they watch my steps. They set a net for my steps... they dug a trap before me. They have gone astray from the belly, speaking LIES. their venom like a semblance of the venom of a serpent. Because, behold, they lie in ambush for my soul. and let them be caught in their pride and in the curse, and in THE LIE which they recount.

Fourth section 62:5 10 63:12

Yes, from his height they have plotted to push him, they delight in LIES. Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a LIE, the sons of man. all who swear by him will praise, when the mouth of those who speak LIES will be shut up. 64:4–5 who sharpen their tongue like a sword, bend their arrow, bitter word, to shoot from the hiding place at the perfect one, they shoot unexpectedly and they do not fear.

Fifth section (at the centre) 69:5 23

are mighty those destroying me, my LYING enemies. let their table become a snare before them and for their friends a trap.

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All these perverse words that project death are opposed by the words that are addressed to God in requesting salvation and then in giving thanks, and also by the words pronounced by God. Third section 56:5 11 13

In God I praise his word. In God I praise the word. I will render thanksgiving to you.

57:3 8 10

I call to God Most High. I will sing and I will sing psalms. I will praise you among the peoples, O Lord, I will sing psalms to you in the countries

58:12

And Adam will say: Yes, fruit for the righteous, Yes, there is a God judging on earth.

59:2–3 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God, from my aggressors you will protect me; deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and from men of bloods save me. 17 And as for me, I will sing of your strength and I shout for joy in the morning for your faithfulness. 60:8

God has spoken in his sanctuary: “I will exult, I will divide Shechem...”

The words of thanksgiving, of praise, the past ones recalled by the psalmist, but especially those he promises to proclaim, mark especially the extreme sections; only in these two sections are the other nations invited to proclaim the praise of the God of Israel and of all the earth. The promise of praise and thanksgiving is present in the second and the fourth sections only at the end of supplications (51:16–17; 52:11; 53:7; 54:8). At the beginning of the first psalm of the central section, the psalmist says: “In God I praise his word” (56:5). In fact, the Lord speaks several times throughout the book, in each of its sections: – Ps 46:11, “Stop and know that I am God, I am exalted above the peoples, I am exalted on the earth!” (but the speech probably starts earlier). – Ps 50, the first psalm of the second section is a divine speech of accusation against his unfaithful people. – Ps 60:8–10, the central part of the last psalm of the central section is a speech of God, “God has spoken in his sanctuary: ‘I will exult, I will divide Shechem...’” – Ps 62:12–13, “Once God has spoken, twice have I heard this: “that strength belongs to God, and to you, Adonai, faithfulness, that as for you, you repay a man according to his deeds.’” – Ps 68:23–24: “Said the Lord: ‘From Bashan I bring back, I bring back from the depths of the sea, so that you may sink your foot in blood, that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion of your enemies.’”

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72) 6. RELATIONS BETWEEN THE CENTRES OF THE SECTIONS

Centre of the first section Ps 46 1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, for young women, a song. 2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in anguish. 3 That is why we shall not fear when the earth changes, when the mountains shake in the heart of the seas; 4 its waters rumble, seethe, the mountains tremble at his rising. 5 A river, its channels rejoice the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High; 6 God is in her, she is not shaken, God helps her when the morning dawns. 7 Peoples rumbled, kingdoms were shaken, he gave voice, the earth melts. 8 Yhwh of hosts with us, our citadel, the God of Jacob! 9 “Come and contemplate the great deeds of Yhwh, who causes destructions on the earth: 10 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, he breaks the bow and he shatters the spear, the shields he burns with fire. 11 Stop and know that I am God, I am exalted above the peoples, I am exalted on the earth!” 12 Yhwh of hosts with us, our citadel, the God of Jacob!

Centre of the second section 52 1 For the music director, an instruction, of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul telling him: “David has come to the house of Ahimelech”. 3 Why do you praise yourself in evil, you hero, the faithfulness of God is all the day? 4 Your tongue thinks of crimes like a sharp razor, you doer of treachery! 5 You love evil more than good, LYING more than speaking righteousness; 6 you love all words that devour, deceitful tongue. 7 So God will crush you, to the end will destroy you, and will tear you away from the tent, and will uproot you from the land of the living. 8 And the righteous will see and will fear, and they will laugh at him: 9 “Behold the man who did not set God as his fortress, and who trusted in the abundance of his wealth, made himself strong in his crime”. 10 And I am like a verdant olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever. 11 I GIVE THANKS TO YOU forever, because you have done it, and I hope for your name, because it is good before your faithful. 53 1 For the music director, in a chorus, an instruction, of David. 2 A fool said in his heart: “There is no God!” They are corrupt, they do abominable iniquity; there is no one that does good. 3 God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God. 4 All of them have gone astray, together they are perverted; there is no one that does good, there is not even one. 5 Will they not know, workers of iniquity? Eating up my people as they eat bread, they do not call upon God. 6 Then, they will be sized with fright, when there was no fright; because God scattered the bones of him who besieged you; you made them blush, because God has rejected them. 7 Who will bring from Zion the salvations of Israel? When God will restore the situation of his people, Jacob will exult, Israel WILL REJOICE!

Centre of the third section Ps 58 1 For the music director, “Do Not Destroy”, of David, in a low voice. 2 Is it true, you gods, that you speak righteousness, that in uprightness you judge the sons of Adam? 3 No, in the heart you do perversities on earth, the violence of your hands you weigh. 4 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, speaking LIES; 5 their venom like a semblance of the venom of a serpent, like the deaf viper plugging its ear 6 which does not hear the voice of enchanters, of charmer in skilful charms. 7 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, crush the fangs of lions, O Yhwh. 8 Let them flow away like the waters that go away from them, he adjusts his arrows let them be like faded; 9 let them be like a slug melting away as it goes away, a stillborn of the woman, let them not see the sun; 10 before that your pots smell of thorns, like alive like burnt, let them be swept away! 11 The righteous WILL REJOICE, because he will see vengeance, he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 12 and adam will say: “Yes, fruit for the righteous, yes, there is a God judging on earth”.

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Centre of the fourth section Ps 63 1 A psalm of David, when he was in the desert of Judah. 2 O God, my God, you are, I desire you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh languishes for you, in a dry and weary land, without water. 3 Thus in the sanctuary I contemplated you, seeing your strength and your glory. 4 because your faithfulness is better than life; my lips will celebrate you. 5 Thus I will bless you in my life, in your name I will lift up my palms; 6 as with fat and oil my soul will be satisfied, and with lips shouting for joy my mouth will praise. 7 When

I think of you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches, 8 because you were my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy; 9 my soul clings to you, your right hand supports me. 10 But they seek my soul to destroy me, they will go down to the depths of the earth. 11 They will be thrown into the hands of the sword, they will be a part of the jackals. 12 And the king WILL REJOICE in God, and all who swear by him WILL PRAISE, when the mouth of those who speak LIES will be shut up.

Centre of the fifth section Ps 69 1 For the music director, to the tune of “Lilies”, of David. 2 Save me, O God, because the waters have come up to my soul; 3 I sink in the miry depths and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters and the flood overflows me. 4 I am worn out with my calling, my throat is parched, my eyes are consumed waiting for my God; 5 are more than the hairs of my head those who hate me without reason; are mighty those destroying me, my LYING enemies: What I did not steal must I now restore? 6 O God, as for you, you know my folly and my offences are not hidden from you. 7 May those who hope in you not blush for my sake, O Lord Yhwh Sabaoth; may those who seek you not be ashamed for my sake, O God of Israel. 8 Because for your sake I bear insult, shame covers my face, 9 I become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to the sons of my mother; 10 because the zeal of your house eats me up and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. 11 And if I weep, my soul in fasting, and it becomes insults to me; 12 and if I put on a sackcloth for my garment, and I become a proverb to them. 13 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and the songs of those who drink strong drinks. 14 And as for me, my prayer is to you, O Yhwh, at a favourable time; O God, in your great faithfulness, answer me in the truth of your salvation. 15 Pull me out of the mire, that I may not sink, that I may escape from my adversaries and from the deep waters; 16 let the flood of waters not overflow me, let the depths not swallow me, let the pit not close its mouth over me. 17 Answer me, O Yhwh, because your faithfulness is good, in your great tenderness turn to me 18 and do not hide your face from your servant, because I am oppressed, make haste, answer me; 19 draw near to my soul, avenge it, for the sake of my enemies redeem me. 20 As for you, you know my insult, and my blushing and my shame, before you all my oppressors. 21 The insult broke my heart and I fainted, and I hoped for compassion, but there was none, and for comforters, and I found none. 22 And they gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink; 23 let their table become a snare before them and for their friends a trap, 24 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and their backs be always bent. 25 Pour out your wrath on them and let the fire of your anger overtake them; 26 let their enclosure become a desolation, and in their tents let there be no dweller. 27 Because of you, they pursued the one you have struck, and they count the wounds of your victim; 28 add fault to their fault and let them not come into your righteousness, 29 let them be erased from the book of life and let them not be written with the righteous. 30 And as for me, afflicted and suffering, may your salvation, O God, protect me! 31 I WILL PRAISE the name of God with a song and I will magnify him with THANKSGIVING; 32 it will be better for Yhwh than an ox, a bull with horns, with hooves. 33 The humiliated have seen, THEY REJOICE; you who seek God, let your heart revive! 34 Because Yhwh hears the poor and he has not despised his captives. 35 Let heaven and earth PRAISE HIM, the seas and all that moves in them! 36 Because God will save Zion and he will rebuild the cities of Judah, and they will dwell there and will possess it; 37 and the offspring of his servants will inherit, and those who love his name will reside there.

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Three elements are found in all these central psalms: 1. Persecuting enemies (46:2–4, 7; 52:3–6; 53:2–5; 58:2–6; 63:2; 69:2–5, 8–13, 15–16, 18, 22, 30); They are charged with “lying” (52:5; 58:4; 63:12; 69:5). 2. God’s intervention, requested or already accomplished (46:6–7, 9–10; 52:7; 53:6; 58:7–10, 11; 63:10–11; 69:7, 23–29). 3. Joy, thanksgiving and praise: – “To rejoice” (53:7; 58:11; 63:12; 69:33); – “To give thanks” and “thanksgiving” (52:11; 69:31); – “To praise” and “praise” (63:6, 12; 69:31, 35); For the “salvation” (53:7; 69:2, 14, 30).

B. INTERPRETATION ENEMY PEOPLES The extent to which the text is occupied by the complaint, the description of misfortune due to various actors, is impressive. It is just enough to review the analysis of the central psalms of the five sections in the immediately preceding pages. This gives the whole book a very dark tone. These enemies are first and foremost the other peoples, those among whom the children of Israel have been exiled: “You have given us as sheep for butchery and you have dispersed us among the nations” (44:12). The king celebrated in his wedding had to fight against these peoples (45:6), and the Lord had to rise up against them (46:11) because they “rumbled” (46:7), because they “advance together” (48:5). THE ENEMY WITHIN The first section is particularly marked by the presence of enemy nations. The second section ends with a particularly dramatic psalm. The psalmist discovers that the wicked who crushes him resides within: “I see violence and discord in the city; day and night they go around on its walls and iniquity and trouble are within it” (55:10–11); much worse, “if an enemy were insulting me, I would bear it [...], but you are a man of my own rank, my intimate friend” (55:13–14). That is the reason why “God looks down from heaven on the sons of Adam, to see if there is anyone prudent searching God; [...] there is no one that does good, there is not even one (in the centre of the section, 53:3–4). Finally, at the beginning of the section, the Lord himself accuses his people of being as “wicked” as the nations, of doing evil like them (50:16–21), an accusation to which David responds with a long confession of his faults in Ps 51, in which he acknowledges that he has always been a sinner, that he is intrinsically so (51:7). The psalmist returns to this

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at the centre of the central section: “The wicked have been estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, speaking lies” (58:4). The same applies to the central psalm of the last section: “the waters” and “the mire” into which the psalmist sinks are not those of other peoples: “I become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to the sons of my mother” (69:9); “I hoped for compassion, but there was none, and for comforters, and I found none” (69:21); “are mighty those destroying me, my lying enemies” (69:5). LIES THAT BRING DEATH The word went out! That is what the Lord reproaches Israel for in his indictment of the “wicked”: “What is it up to you to enumerate my decrees and to take my covenant in your mouth; and as for you, you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you?” (50:16–17). The deceit of which he accuses him (19) is constantly denounced: “You love evil more than good, lying more than speaking righteousness; you love all words that devour, deceitful tongue” (52:5–6); “they have gone astray from the belly, speaking lies” (58:4); “let them be caught in their pride, and in the curse, and in the lie which they recount” (59:13); “they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth and inwardly they curse” (62:5), for “Yes, a breath, the sons of Adam, a lie, the sons of man” (62:10). Finally, “And the king will rejoice in God, and all who swear by him will praise when the mouth of those who speak lies will be shut up” (63:12). David’s sin is emblematic of lying, adultery is already an obvious form of it, but it will lead to a whole series of other lies: unsuccessful attempts to get the deceived husband to re-join his wife in order to cover up his infidelity, and finally murder by deception with Joab’s complicity (2 Sam 11). The original fault is rooted in the disguised lie of the serpent. And perhaps that is why the wicked are compared to the viper: “The wicked have been estranged from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, speaking lies; their venom like a semblance of the venom of a serpent, like the deaf viper plugging its ear” (Ps 58:4–5). THE ROCK OF OUR SALVATION Opposed to the “mire” in which people sinks until they are swallowed up by death, stands “the Rock” on which is solidly built “the fortress”, “the citadel” of God. From the very beginning, the psalmist introduces his lament: “Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts, all your waves and your billows have passed over me” (42:8), and then he declares: “I will say to God, my Rock: ‘Why have you forgotten me?’” (42:10). And at the beginning of the fourth section he confesses: “Yes, in God there is rest for my soul, from him comes my salvation; yes, he is my rock and my salvation, my citadel, I will not be shaken at all” (62:2– 3); in the same psalm the image of the “rock” is accompanied by the terms that are scattered throughout the book: “my rock” (42:10; 49:15; 61:3; 62:3, 7, 8; 71:3), “my citadel” (46:8, 12; 48:4; 59:10, 17, 18; 62:3, 7), called elsewhere “my

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fortress” (52,9; 71:3), “my rest” (62:2, 6), “my hope” (62:6; 71:5), “my glory” (57:9; 62:8), “my strength” (43:2; 46:2; 59:10, 18; 61:4; 62:8; 71:7), “my refuge” (57:2; 61:4, 5; 62:8, 9; 64:11; 71:1, 7), and especially “my salvation” (42:6, 12; 43:5; 44:5; 50:23; 51:14, 16; 53:7; 62:2, 3, 7, 8; 65:6; 67:3; 68:20; 69:14, 30; 70:5; 71:15). THANKSGIVING OF THE SAVED “Praise to begin with”.2 One might have expected to find thanksgiving at the end once salvation has been granted by God. However, this is not the case and thanksgivings are heard no less than five times in the first psalm. First, it is the memory of a happy past: “These things I remember, and I poured out my soul over me: when I went forth with the multitude, I led them to the house of God, among the voice of shouts of joy and of thanksgiving of a crowd keeping festival” (42:5). On this foundation can then be built the promise of thanksgiving that will certainly celebrate the salvation awaited with faith: “Wait for God, because still I will give him thanks, the salvation of his/my face” (42:6, 12; 43:5). The memory of past praise and thanksgiving returns in the subsequent psalm as the crucial motivation for the most bitter complaint: “in God we were praising all the day and to your name we were giving thanks forever” (44:9). The promise of thanksgiving and praise returns several times at the very heart of the affliction and complaint (54:8; 56:13; 57:10; 63:6; 69:31, 35; 71:8, 14, 22). IN THE TEMPLE Right from the first psalm, the Temple is evoked not only as the place where the psalmist is coming from (42:5), but also as the place to which he tends with all his being: “Send your light and your truth: they will guide me, they will make me come to the mountain of your holiness and to your tents. And I will come to the altar of God, to the God of the joy of my exultation” (43:3–4b). It is there that he can give thanks “on the cithara” (43:4c). The Temple, the mountain of God in Zion, and the city of God are mentioned, persistently, throughout the book.3 The reason for this is given at the beginning when the psalmist exclaims: “My God, over me my soul is collapsing, that is why I remember you, from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the mountain Insignificant” (42:7). The psalmist is no longer in Jerusalem and the next psalm confirms this at its centre: “and you have dispersed us among the nations” (44:12). The greatest desire of the exiles is to return to the city of God, his mountain, his Temple, to be able to live there (61:2– 5), for it is there that they will be able to “fulfil their vows” (56:13; 61:9; 65:2; 66:13), to give thanks in the liturgy and its rites (68:25–28), celebrated with the

2

P. BEAUCHAMP, Psaumes nuit et jour, Chap. 13, “Louange pour commencer”, 92–98. The list of other references is quite long: 46:5; 47:6, 9; 48:2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 14; 50:2, 8–13; 51:18, 21; 52:10; 54:8; 56:13; 60:8; 61:5; 63:3; 65:2, 5; 66:13–15; 68:6, 17, 30, 32, 36; 69:10, 31, 32. 3

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sound of the “harp” and the “cithara” (43:4; 57:9; 71:22), with the burnt offerings and the sacrifices provided for by the Law (51:21; 66:13–15; 69:32). THE BLESSING OF ALL THE PEOPLES In the first side of the book, the nations are presented as the enemies who crush Israel. And this continues as far as the central section: “bring down the peoples, O God!” (56:8), “visit all these nations” (59:6), “let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth” (59:14); Edom and Philistia will experience this (60:10). After that the enemies have not gone, but in the fourth and fifth sections it is not possible to identify them: they may be those from within or from outside. Foreign peoples are still very much present in the last section, but their role changes completely. From the beginning the tone is set: “Acclaim God, all the earth” (66:1); and the reason is soon given: “Bless our God, O peoples, and make the voice of his praise to be heard, he who sets our soul in life and he does not allow our feet to be shaken” (66:8–9). The nations are invited to praise the Lord for the salvation he has granted to the chosen people. Ps 67, the menorah psalm, calls “all nations” to know the way of God (67:3): “Let the peoples give you thanks, O God, let the peoples give you thanks, all of them!” (67:4, 6). For he judges “the peoples with uprightness” and he leads “the countries on the earth” (67:5). To Jerusalem “kings will bring gifts” (68:30); “O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God” (33). The final section is a blessing: God blesses his people (67:2, 7–8) who respond by blessing their saviour (66:20; 68:20, 27, 36), and by blessing their king (72:15, 17). But the nations are not left out and are called to join Israel in blessing (66:8), in singing psalms (66:2); “Kingdoms of the earth […] sing psalms to the Lord” (68:33). What was announced in the first section in Ps 47 is finally fulfilled: “All you peoples, clap your hands, acclaim God with the voice of shouts of joy! Yes, Yhwh, the Most High, is fearsome, the great King over all the earth” (47:2–3), “Sing psalms to God, sing psalms, sing psalms to our King, sing psalms! Yes, God (is) the King of all the earth: sing psalms of instruction!” (47:7– 8). The last section, and thus the whole book, ends with the image of “all nations” being “blessed” in the name of Solomon, king of peace (72:15, 17). And when the book closes, the final double blessing pronounced by all the nations, which now form of one people, resounds for a long time: “Blessed be Yhwh God, the God of Israel, who alone does wonders; and blessed be the name of his glory forever and all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen! Amen!” (72:18–19).

CONCLUSION

The fifth book of the Psalter (Ps 107–150) has proved to be extremely well constructed around the monumental psalm of the Law (Ps 119). The same applies to the first book (Ps 1–41), which focuses on the psalm intoned by Christ on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps 22). In the third book (Ps 73–89), the nagging questions of “why?” and “until when?” prompted by misfortune find their answer in the unfaithfulness of the people, and in the heart of the book the Lord himself declares that if the sinner repents, “at once” he would set them free and restore them. The second book (Ps 42/43–72) is no different. Its thirty psalms are organised into five sections which are arranged concentrically around the section containing the five psalms “of David, in a low voice” (Ps 56–60). The first section comprising seven psalms (Ps 42/43–49) is framed by a series of questions: eleven “whys” at the beginning that concern the misfortune of the psalmist and his people, and one at the end that answers them: “Why should I fear?” (49:6) The misfortune reaches its climax in another question raised by the enemies, which precedes the initial series of why’s: “Where is your God?” (49:4, 11). The psalmist answers that he is in his Temple, and even more in his deeds, in his faithfulness, in his salvation. God is not only the king of the particular people of Israel, but he is also the king of all the earth, of all the peoples who are called to recognise him as such and to acclaim him, united with the people of Israel, becoming “the people of the God of Abraham” (47:10). The second section (Ps 50–55) begins with a pair of psalms in which God accuses his people of behaving like pagans, an accusation which leads the psalmist, under the name of David, to confess his radical sinfulness from the womb. Further on he recognizes that there is not even a single person who is not “perverted”. This applies not only to Israel’s external enemies, but also to those within the people, and even to the most intimate friends who betray by concealing themselves. The psalmist, who has been reproached by God, takes over the judgement, inviting “the doers of iniquity” to comprehend what will inevitably lead them to death. In the last two psalms, threatened with death, he turns to the only one who can save him, the Lord, thus showing the way to all those who are victims of evil and sin. The five psalms of the third section (Ps 56–60) are the only ones with the phrase “in a low voice” in their titles, which sounds like a kind of prudent qualification. At the centre of the section, the psalmist addresses those who are responsible for “declaring righteousness”, but who behave like lions and vipers whose fangs and venom sow death, and indeed more effectively because they hide behind “lies”. These enemies occupy the whole space of the section, like stray dogs prowling the

410

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

city to devour. Their growling is succeeded by the word of supplication and, finally, by thanksgiving for the salvation received from God. In the last psalm, God finally answers the psalmist’s supplication. The fourth section (Ps 61–65) arranges its five psalms, from the extremities to the centre, around the desire for God: “My soul thirsts for you” (63:2). This happens when the psalmist finds himself amid all kinds of persecution and longs with all his being to reach the House of his God, where he will find rest “in the shadow” of his “wings” (63:8). The last psalm fulfils the psalmist’s longing, when his thirst is quenched by the gift of his Lord, who sends down on the land the beneficial rains that prepare a rich harvest. The fifth and the last section (Ps 66–72), like the first section, comprises seven psalms arranged concentrically around a so-called dramatic psalm. This psalm begins, without preamble, with a cry: “Save me, God! [...] Make haste!” (69:2, 18). The psalmist is in a desperate situation, in the “miry depths”, prey to the deadly waters of “misery”, “insults”, “shame”. Only God’s faithfulness and righteousness can deliver him from this. Yet this central psalm ends with salvation that brings forth thanksgiving and praise, and all creation is invited to join in. Not only the creation, but also and especially “all the peoples”, as the first psalm states it right from the beginning: “Acclaim God, all the earth” (66:1). In this way, all the other peoples, who were enemies of Israel, join the chosen people in the blessing promised to Abraham: “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12:3). Consequently, each of the five sections of the second book is composed according to a careful logic: not only at the level of each psalm, but also at the level of “sequences” and then of “sections” which they form together. However, the composition does not stop at this point. The five sections are also organised to form of an organic architecture. Two complementary movements structure and animate the entire second book. On the one hand, evil and violence are everywhere. The misfortune is first caused by the enemies from outside, the pagan peoples who trample on Israel; but the psalmist later discovers that the enemies from within are no less violent, and that the violence comes even from his closest friends, those in whom he put all his trust. Sin, which has always been rooted in the depths of their hearts, marks all human beings. Its most pernicious form is a “lie” which, like the lion and the viper, hides itself to attack more effectively. It is certainly no coincidence that “the serpent” is mentioned right at the centre of the central section, reminding us of the deadly venom of the serpent at the origins which was injected into the whole of humanity. On the other hand, salvation is meant for all those who trust in God, in his faithfulness and in his truth. Hence the thanksgiving that resounds throughout the book, right to the end. It resounds not only in the mouths of the people of Israel, saved by their God, but also on the lips of all the other peoples; the pagan nations, who are bringing gifts to the Temple, lifting up their hands in prayer to the one

Conclusion

411

God, who is King of all the earth. They, who at the beginning of the book were presented as the enemies and oppressors of the chosen people, will join Israel at the end of the book in the same blessing promised to Abraham: “By your offspring shall all the nations of the earth blessed themselves” (Gen 22:18).

BIBLIOGRAPHY of the works referred to

ALONSO SCHOEKEL, L. – CARNITI, C., Salmos, Traducción, introducciones y comentario, Nueva Biblia española, Estella (Navarra) 1994; Italian trans. ital., I salmi, Commenti biblici, Roma 1992. ATTARD, S.M., The Implications of Davidic Repentance. A Synchronic Analysis of Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42–72), AnBib Diss. 212, Roma 2016. AUFFRET, P., “‘Qu’il nous bénisse, Dieu!’ Étude structurelle du Psaume 67”, BN 69 (1993) 5–8. BALOCCO, A., “‘Ritornelli’ e ‘Selah’ nella scansione strofica dei Salmi”, RivBibl 19 (1971) 187–201. BARBIERO, G., “Il secondo e il terzo libro dei Salmi (Sal 42–89): due libri paralleli”, RivBib 58 (2010) 145–175. ——, Perché, o Dio, ci hai rigettati?: salmi scelti dal secondo e terzo libro del Salterio, AnBib.Studia 6, Roma 2016. BEAUCAMP, É. – DE RELLES, J., “‘C’est la gloire de mon Père que vous portiez beaucoup de fruit’. Ps 67”, BVC 65 (1965) 24–31. BEAUCAMP, É., Le Psautier, Sources bibliques, Gabalda, Paris 1976. BEAUCHAMP, P., Psaumes nuit et jour, Paris 1980. BELLINGER, W.H. Jr., A Hermeneutic of Curiosity and Readings of Psalm 61, Studies in Old Testament Interpretation 1, Macon (GA) 1995. ——, “Psalm 61: A Rhetorical Analysis”, Perspectives in Religious Studies 26 (1999), 379–388. La Bible de Jérusalem, Paris 1998. La Bible : traduction officielle liturgique, Paris 2013. BOVATI, P., Ristabilire la giustizia. Procedure, vocabolario, orientamenti, AnBib 110, Roma 1986, 1997. BOVATI, P. – MEYNET, R., Le Livre du prophète Amos, RhBib 2, Paris 1994. BOYS, T., A Key to the Book of the Psalms, London 1825. CAQUOT, A., “Cinq observations sur le Psaume 45”, in L. ESLINGER – G. TAYLOR, ed., Ascribe to the Lord: Biblical and Other Studies in Memory of P.C. Craigie, JSOT.S 67, Sheffield 1988, 253–264. CLAUDEL, P., “La Vierge à midi”, dans Œuvre poétique, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 125, Paris 1957, 531–533.

414

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DAHOOD, M., Psalms, I–III, AncB 16, 17, 17A, Garden City (NY) 1966–1970. DECLAISSÉ-WALFORD. N.L., ed., The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship, Ancient Israel and Its Literature 20, Atlanta (GA) 2014. DECLAISSÉ-WALFORD, N.L. – JACOBSON, R.A. – TANNER, B.L., The Book of Psalms, NICOT, Grand Rapids (MI) – Cambridge (UK) 2014. DE RELLES, J., see BEAUCAMP, É. DHORME, É, La Bible. L’Ancien Testament, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 120, 139, Paris 1956, 1959. GOLDINGAY, J., “Psalm 51:16a (English 51:14a)”, CBQ 40 (1978) 388–390. GOULDER, M., The Prayers of David (Psalms 51–72). Studies in the Psalter, II, JSOT.S 102, Sheffield 1990. ——, “The Social Setting of Book II of the Psalter”, in P.W. FLINT – P.D. MILLER, ed., The Book of Psalms. Composition and Reception, VT.S 99, Leiden – Boston 2005, 349–367. GRAIGIE, P.C., Psalms 1–50, WBC, Waco (TX) 1983. GUNKEL, H., Einleitung in die Psalmen : die Gattungen der religiösen Lyrik Israels, Göttinger Handkommentar zum Alten Testament, Göttingen 1985; English trans., An Introduction to the Psalms. The Genres of the Religious Lyric of Israel, Mercer Library of Biblical Studies, Macon (GA) 1998. HAKHAM, A., Sefer Tehillîm, I–II, Jerusalem 1986, 1988. HOSSFELD, F.-L. – ZENGER, E., Psalms 2: A Commentary on Psalms 101–150, Hermeneia, Minneapolis (MN) 2011 (German original: Psalmen 101–150, Die Neue Echter Bibel. Altes Testament, Freiburg im Breisgau – Basel – Wien 2008). JACOBSON, R.A., see DECLAISSÉ-WALFORD, N.L. JACQUET, L., Les Psaumes et le Cœur de l’homme. Étude textuelle, littéraire et doctrinale, II, Gembloux 1977. JEFFERSON, H.G., “The Date of Ps 67”, VT 12 (1962) 201–205. JOÜON, P. Grammaire de l’hébreu biblique, Rome 1947. KOT, T., La Lettre de Jacques. La foi, chemin de la vie, RhSem 2, Paris 2006. KRAUS, H.-J., Psalmen, I–II, Neukirchen 1960; English trans., Psalms 1–59; Psalms 60–150, Minneapolis (MN) 1993. LORENZIN, T., I Salmi. Nuova versione, introduzione e commento, I libri biblici. Primo Testamento 14, Milano 2000. LUND, N.W., “Chiasmus in the Psalms”, AJSL 49 (1933) 281–312.

Bibliography

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LUND, N.W., Chiasmus in the New Testament. A Study in Formgeschichte, Chapel Hill 1942; reprint, Chiasmus in the New Testament. A Study in the Form and Function of Chiastic Structures, Peabody (MA) 1992. MAILLOT, A. – LELIÈVRE, A., Les Psaumes, II [51–100], Genève 1966. MARÍN HEREDIA, F., “Los cinco libros del Salterio”, Carthaginiensa 7 (1991) 3– 17. MARTIN-ACHARD, R., Israël et les nations. La perspective missionnaire de l’Ancien Testament, Cahiers théologiques 42, Neuchâtel – Paris 1959. MCCANN, J.C., “Books I–III and the Editorial Purpose of the Hebrew Psalter”, in J.C. McCann, ed., The Shape and the Shaping of the Psalter, JSOT.S 159, Sheffield 1993, 93–107. MEYNET, R., “L’enfant de l’amour (Ps 85)”, NRTh 112 (1990) 843–858. ——, “Analyse rhétorique du Psaume 51. Hommage critique à Marc Girard”, RivBib 45 (1997) 187–226. ——, “Phénomènes de clôture dans les textes bibliques”, Annales de l’Institut de Lettres Orientales (In Memoriam Professeur Louis Pouzet) 9, 2002–2010, 157–177. ——, Appelés à la liberté, RhSem 5, Paris 2008. ——, Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric, International Studies in the History of Rhetoric 3, Leyden – Boston 2012. ——, Traité de rhétorique biblique, RhSem 11, Pendé 20132. ——, “Le leggi della retorica biblica. A proposito della ‘legge dell’intreccio al centro’”, in R. MEYNET – J. ONISZCZUK, ed., Studi del terzo convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, ReBibSem 2, Roma 2013, 349–364. ——, Les huit psaumes acrostiches alphabétiques, ReBiSem 6, Roma 2015. ——, Le Psautier. Cinquième livre (Ps 107–150), RBSem 12, Peeters, Leuven 2017. ——, Le Psautier. Premier livre (Ps 1–41), RBSem 16, Peeters, Leuven 2018. ——, “Les psaumes 70 et 12: deux psaumes de pauvres, deux pauvres psaumes”, in M. GUIDI – S. ZENI, ed., Numeri Secondi. Il volto di Dio attraverso i piccoli, Fs. Massimo Grilli, AnBib Studia 11, Roma 2018, 131–146. ——, Le Psautier. Troisième livre (Ps 73–89), RBSem 19, Peeters, Leuven 2019. ——, “Une nouvelle figure: la composition à double foyer”, in F. GRAZIANO – R. MEYNET, ed., Studi del sesto convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, RBSem 18, Peeters, Leuven 2019, 325–349. ——, “La composition du Cantique des cantiques. I. Les sections extrêmes (Ct 1,2–2,17 et 7,12–8,14)”, Gr. 100 (2019) 249–277.

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MEYNET, R., The Psalter: Book One (Ps 1–41), RBSem 32, Peeters, Leuven 2021. ——, see BOVATI, P. MONLOUBOU, L., “Psaume 51: ‘Pitié pour moi, mon Dieu...!’”, EeV 101 (1991) 686–687. MOWINCKEL, S., The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, I–II, Oxford 1962. OSTY, É., La Bible, Paris 1973. OTTE, B., “Reflexiones de teología misional inspiradas en el salmo 67”, RevBib 27 (1965) 16–24, 74–88. PAUL, A., “La guérison d’un lépreux, approche d’un récit de Mc (1,40-45)” (avec une note complémentaire sur “La lèpre dans la Bible et dans le Judaïsme”) NRTh 92 (1970) 592–604. PAUTREL, R., “‘Si dormiatis inter medios cleros’ (Ps 68,14)”, RSR 33 (1946) 359– 367. PODECHARD, E., Le Psautier, I. Notes critiques, Lyon 1949. ——, Le Psautier. I. Traduction littérale et explication historique, Lyon 1949. PRIETO SILVA, S., “A la aurora te busco” (Sal 63,2). Estudio exegético-teológico de Salmo 63, TG. Serie Teologia 222, Roma 2016. PRINSLOO, W.S., “Psalm 67: Harvest Thanksgiving Psalm, (Eschatological) Hymn, Communal Prayer, Communal Lament or...?”, OTE (1994) 231–246. RAABE, P., Psalm Structures: A Study of Psalms with Refrains, JSOT.S 104, Sheffield 1990. RAVASI, G., Il libro dei Salmi. Commento e attualizzazione, I–III, Bologna 1981– 84. SCHOLEM, G., “Magen David”, Encyclopaedia Judaica, F. SKOLNIK – M. BERENBAUM, ed., Detroit – Jerusalem 2007, 2nd ed., vol. 13, 336–339. SCHROEDER, Ch., “‘A Love Song’: Psalm 45 in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Marriage Texts”, CBQ 58 (1996) 417–432. TANNER, B.L., see DECLAISSÉ-WALFORD, N.L. TATE, M.E., Psalms 51–100, WBC, Dallas (TX) 1990. TOURNAY, R., Les Psaumes, Paris 1949. ——, “Psaumes 57, 60 et 108. Analyse et interprétation”, RB 96 (1989) 5–26. Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible, Paris 1975. VESCO, J.-L., Le Psautier de David traduit et commenté, LeDiv 210, 211, Paris 2011. WEISER, A., The Psalms: A Commentary, OTL, London 1962 (German original, Die Psalmen, Das Alte Testament Deutsch 14.15, Göttingen 1963).

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WEISSBLUETH, S., “On Psalm 67”, BetM 23 (1978) 458–461. WÉNIN, A., “Violence et prière: le psaume 58”, Cahiers de l’École des Sciences Philosophiques et Religieuses 18 (1995) 129–146. WÉNIN, A., Psaumes censurés. Quand la prière a des accents violents, LiBi 192, Paris 2017. ZENGER, E., “Dai salmi al Salterio. Nuove vie della ricerca”, RivBib 58 (2010) 5– 34. ——, see HOSSFELD, F.-L.

INDEX OF QUOTED AUTHORS

Alonso Schoekel – Carniti: 20, 30, 40, 44, 51, 61, 149, 251, 263, 347, 356 Attard: 7, 8 Auffret: 303 Barbiero: 7, 8, 19, 43, 44, 49, 59, 81, 82, 87, 107, 259, 263, 359, 365 Beaucamp: 303, 310, 315 Beauchamp: 274, 406 Bellinger: 245 Bovati: 107, 113, 142, 146, 189 Boys: 303 Caquot: 44 Claudel: 276 Dahood: 128, 247, 304 De Relles: 310, 315 deClaissé-Walford: 20, 30, 40, 44, 149, 156, 160, 197, 259, 349 Dhorme: 260, 318, 349 Goldingay: 128 Goulder: 138 Graigie: 304 Gunkel: 127, 303, 304 Hakham: 29, 30, 40, 43, 44, 59, 81, 117, 128, 149, 167, 189, 190, 197, 202, 251, 303, 304, 313, 334, 349 Hossfeld – Zenger: 149, 156, 189, 190, 193, 197, 202, 221, 245, 259, 265, 271, 304, 319, 346, 359 Jacquet: 128, 303 Jefferson: 304 Joüon: 29, 82, 190, 221 Kot: 153, 239 Kraus: 20, 40, 43, 155, 163, 202, 346, 356

Lelièvre: 128 Lorenzin: 8, 20, 30, 40, 44, 59, 63, 189, 251, 260, 263, 271 Lund: 303 Maillot: 128 Martin-Achard: 309 Meynet: 9, 12, 15, 25, 48, 117, 136, 142, 160, 189, 190, 236, 269, 304, 309, 347, 356 Monloubou: 138 Mowinckel: 304 Osty: 19, 30, 73, 260 Paul: 139 Pautrel: 318 Podechard: 303, 304 Prieto Silva: 259, 263 Prinsloo: 304 Raabe: 303 Rashi: 304, 311 Ravasi: 20, 30, 40, 43, 44, 73, 128, 139, 149, 156, 160, 167, 193, 197, 207, 221, 245, 251, 265, 271, 295, 304, 317, 318, 334, 346, 349, 356 Scholem: 303 Schroeder: 44 Tate: 304 Tournay: 128, 226 Vesco: 8, 30, 44, 67, 73, 82, 87, 91, 160, 189, 202, 226, 251, 259, 260, 263, 271, 304, 318, 349, 355 Weiser: 12, 20, 40, 155, 263 Weissblueth: 311 Wénin: 207, 210 Zenger: 12

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................. Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................................... Glossary of Technical Terms ......................................................................

7 11 13

OUR KING SAVES US FROM ALL OUR ENEMIES First Section: Ps 42/43–59 ................................

17

I. THE PEOPLES WILL GIVE THANKS TO THE KING OF THE LORD The First Sequence: Ps 42/43–45 ..............................................................

19

1. Psalm 42/43 ........................................................................................ 2. Psalm 44 ............................................................................................. 3. Psalm 45 ............................................................................................. 4. The peoples will give thanks to the king of the Lord (Ps 42/43–45) ...

19 29 43 52

II. YHWH OF HOSTS WITH US, A CITADEL FOR US! The Second Sequence: Ps 46 ..................................................................

59

III. ALL THE PEOPLES WILL SING PSALMS TO OUR KING The Third Sequence: Ps 47–49 ..................................................................

67

1. Psalm 47 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 48 ............................................................................................. 3. Psalm 49 ............................................................................................. 4. All the peoples will sing psalms to our King (Ps 47–49) ...................

67 73 81 90

IV. OUR KING SAVES US FROM ALL OUR ENEMIES Composition of the First Section ........................................................... Interpretation ..........................................................................................

95 102

THE LORD WHO FORGIVES SIN GIVES SALVATION Second section: Ps 50–55 .................................

105

I. “YOU ARE BLAMELESS IN YOUR JUDGMENT” The First Sequence: Ps 50–51 ................................................................... 1. Psalm 50 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 51 ............................................................................................. 3. “You are blameless in your judgment” (Ps 50–51) ...........................

107 107 117 144

422

The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

II. WILL THEY NOT UNDERSTAND, THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY? The Second Sequence: Ps 52–53 ............................................................... 1. Psalm 52 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 53 ............................................................................................. 3. Will they not understand, the workers of iniquity? (Ps 52–53) ............

149 149 155 161

III. “BY YOUR POWER VINDICATE ME” The Third Sequence: Ps 54–55 .................................................................. 1. Psalm 54 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 55 ............................................................................................. 3. “By your power vindicate me” (Ps 54–55) ........................................

163 163 167 174

IV. THE LORD WHO FORGIVES SIN GIVES SALVATION 1. Composition of the Second Section ................................................... 2. Interpretation ......................................................................................

177 184

OF DAVID IN A LOW VOICE IN HIS ANGUISHES Third section: Ps 56–60 ...................................

187

I. MY ENEMIES TRAMPLE ON ME, I TAKE REFUGE UNDER THE WINGS OF GOD The First Sequence: Ps 56–57 ................................................................... 1. Psalm 56 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 57 ............................................................................................. 3. My enemies trample on me, I take refuge under the wings of God (Ps 56–57) ................................

189 189 197 204

II. BREAK THE TEETH OF THE SERPENT AND THE LIONS The Second Sequence: Ps 58 ..................................................................

207

III. MY ENEMIES GROWL, GOD SPEAKS FROM HIS SANCTUARY The Third Sequence: Ps 59–60 .................................................................. 1. Psalm 59 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 60 ............................................................................................. 3. My enemies growl, God speaks from his sanctuary (Ps 59–60) .........

213 213 221 228

IV. OF DAVID IN A LOW VOICE IN HIS ANGUISHES 1. Composition of the Third Section ...................................................... 2. Context ............................................................................................... 3. Interpretation ......................................................................................

231 238 239

Table of Contents

423

THE LORD WHO HEARS THE PRAYER GIVES REST Fourth Section: Ps 61–65 .................................

243

I. GOD HEARS THE PRAYER AND GIVES REST AND SALVATION TO HIS KING The First Sequence: Ps 61–62 ................................................................... 1. Psalm 61 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 62 ............................................................................................. 3. God hears the prayer & gives rest & salvation to his king (Ps 61–62)

245 245 251 256

II. GOD QUENCHES THE THIRST OF HIS KING The Second Sequence: Ps 63 ..................................................................

259

III. GOD HEARS THE PRAYER AND GIVES REST AND FOOD TO ALL FLESH The Third Sequence: Ps 64–65 ................................................................. 1. Psalm 64 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 65 ............................................................................................. 3. God hears the prayer & gives rest and food to all flesh (Ps 64–65) .....

265 265 271 278

IV. THE LORDS WHO HEARS THE PRAYER GIVES REST 1. Composition of the Fourth Section .................................................... 2. Interpretation ......................................................................................

281 290

ALL THE EARTH BLESSES THE GOD WHO SAVES US Fifth Section: Ps 66–72 ....................................

293

I. ALL THE NATIONS WILL SING TO THE LORD The First Sequence: Ps 66–68 ...................................................................

295

1. Psalm 66 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 67 ............................................................................................. 3. Psalm 68 ............................................................................................. 4. All the nations will sing to the Lord (Ps 66–68) .................................

295 303 317 330

II. SAVE ME, I WILL SING TO YOU The Second Sequence: Ps 69 ..................................................................

333

III. ALL THE MISERABLE WILL BE SAVED BY THE LORD The Third Sequence: Ps 70–72 ..................................................................

343

1. Psalm 70 ............................................................................................. 2. Psalm 71 ............................................................................................. 3. Psalm 72 ............................................................................................. 4. All the miserable will be saved by the Lord (Ps 70–72) .....................

343 349 359 366

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The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72)

IV. ALL THE EARTH BLESSES THE GOD WHO SAVES US Composition of the Fifth Section ........................................................... Interpretation ..........................................................................................

369 371

THE WHOLE OF THE SECOND BOOK (Ps 42/43–72) ........................................ A. Composition ............................................................................................ B. Interpretation ...........................................................................................

375 377 404

Conclusion ................................................................................................... Bibliography ................................................................................................ Index of Quoted Authors .............................................................................

409 413 419

RHÉTORIQUE BIBLIQUE Series edited by Roland Meynet and Pietro Bovati 1.

ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile selon saint Luc. Analyse rhétorique, Éd. du Cerf, Paris 1988.

2.

PIETRO BOVATI – ROLAND MEYNET, Le Livre du prophète Amos, Éd. du Cerf, Paris 1994.

3.

ROLAND MEYNET, Jésus passe. Testament, jugement, exécution et résurrection du Seigneur Jésus dans les évangiles synoptiques, PUG Editrice – Éd. du Cerf, Rome – Paris 1999.

RHÉTORIQUE SÉMITIQUE Series edited by Roland Meynet with Jacek Oniszczuk 1.

ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile de Luc, Lethielleux, Paris 2005.

2.

TOMASZ KOT, La Lettre de Jacques. La foi, chemin de la vie, Lethielleux, Paris 2006.

3.

MICHEL CUYPERS, Le Festin. Une lecture de la sourate al-Mâ’ida, Lethielleux, Paris 2007.

4.

ROLAND MEYNET, Traité de rhétorique biblique, Lethielleux, Paris 2007.

5.

ROLAND MEYNET, Appelés à la liberté, Lethielleux, Paris 2008.

6.

ROLAND MEYNET, Une nouvelle introduction aux évangiles synoptiques, Lethielleux, Paris 2009.

7.

ALBERT VANHOYE, L’Épitre aux Hébreux. « Un prêtre différent », Gabalda, Pendé 2010.

8.

ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile de Luc, Gabalda, Pendé 20113.

9.

MICHEL CUYPERS, La Composition du Coran, Gabalda, Pendé 2012.

10. ROLAND MEYNET, La Lettre aux Galates, Gabalda, Pendé 2012. 11. ROLAND MEYNET, Traité de rhétorique biblique, Gabalda, Pendé 20132. 12. ROLAND MEYNET – J. ONISZCZUK, Exercices d’analyse rhétorique, Gabalda, Pendé 2013. 13. JACEK ONISZCZUK, La première lettre de Jean, Gabalda, Pendé 2013. 14. ROLAND MEYNET, La Pâque du Seigneur. Passion et résurrection de Jésus dans les évangiles synoptiques, Gabalda, Pendé 2013. 15. MICHEL CUYPERS, Apocalypse coranique. Lecture des trente-trois sourates du Coran, Gabalda, Pendé 2014. 16. ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile de Marc, Gabalda, Pendé 2014.

RHÉTORIQUE BIBLIQUE Series edited by Roland Meynet and Pietro Bovati 1.

ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile selon saint Luc. Analyse rhétorique, Éd. du Cerf, Paris 1988.

2.

PIETRO BOVATI – ROLAND MEYNET, Le Livre du prophète Amos, Éd. du Cerf, Paris 1994.

3.

ROLAND MEYNET, Jésus passe. Testament, jugement, exécution et résurrection du Seigneur Jésus dans les évangiles synoptiques, PUG Editrice – Éd. du Cerf, Rome – Paris 1999.

RHÉTORIQUE SÉMITIQUE Series edited by Roland Meynet with Jacek Oniszczuk 1.

ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile de Luc, Lethielleux, Paris 2005.

2.

TOMASZ KOT, La Lettre de Jacques. La foi, chemin de la vie, Lethielleux, Paris 2006.

3.

MICHEL CUYPERS, Le Festin. Une lecture de la sourate al-Mâ’ida, Lethielleux, Paris 2007.

4.

ROLAND MEYNET, Traité de rhétorique biblique, Lethielleux, Paris 2007.

5.

ROLAND MEYNET, Appelés à la liberté, Lethielleux, Paris 2008.

6.

ROLAND MEYNET, Une nouvelle introduction aux évangiles synoptiques, Lethielleux, Paris 2009.

7.

ALBERT VANHOYE, L’Épître aux Hébreux. « Un prêtre différent », Gabalda, Pendé 2010.

8.

ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile de Luc, Gabalda, Pendé 20113.

9.

MICHEL CUYPERS, La Composition du Coran, Gabalda, Pendé 2012.

10. ROLAND MEYNET, La Lettre aux Galates, Gabalda, Pendé 2012. 11. ROLAND MEYNET, Traité de rhétorique biblique, Gabalda, Pendé 20132. 12. ROLAND MEYNET – J. ONISZCZUK, Exercices d’analyse rhétorique, Gabalda, Pendé 2013. 13. JACEK ONISZCZUK, La première lettre de Jean, Gabalda, Pendé 2013. 14. ROLAND MEYNET, La Pâque du Seigneur. Passion et résurrection de Jésus dans les évangiles synoptiques, Gabalda, Pendé 2013. 15. MICHEL CUYPERS, Apocalypse coranique. Lecture des trente-trois sourates du Coran, Gabalda, Pendé 2014. 16. ROLAND MEYNET, L’Évangile de Marc, Gabalda, Pendé 2014.

RETORICA BIBLICA Series edited by Roland Meynet, Pietro Bovati and Jacek Oniszczuk

EDIZIONI DEHONIANE ROMA 1.

ROLAND MEYNET, Il vangelo secondo Luca. Analisi retorica, ED, Roma 1994.

2.

PIETRO BOVATI – ROLAND MEYNET, Il libro del profeta Amos, ED, Roma 1995.

3.

ROLAND MEYNET, «E ora, scrivete per voi questo cantico». Introduzione pratica all’analisi retorica. 1. Detti e proverbi, ED, Roma 1996.

EDIZIONI DEHONIANE BOLOGNA 4.

ROLAND MEYNET, Una nuova introduzione ai vangeli sinottici, EDB, Bologna 2001.

5.

ROLAND MEYNET, La Pasqua del Signore. Testamento, processo, esecuzione e risurrezione di Gesù nei vangeli sinottici, EDB, Bologna 2002.

6.

TOMASZ KOT, La fede, via della vita. Composizione e interpretazione della Lettera di Giacomo, EDB, Bologna 2003.

7.

ROLAND MEYNET, Il vangelo secondo Luca. Analisi retorica, seconda edizione, EDB, Bologna 2003.

8.

GIORGIO PAXIMADI, E io dimorerò in mezzo a loro. Composizione e interpretazione di Es 25–31, EDB, Bologna 2004.

9.

ROLAND MEYNET, Una nuova introduzione ai Vangeli Sinottici, seconda edizione rivista e ampliata, EDB, Bologna 2006.

10. ROLAND MEYNET, Trattato di retorica biblica, EDB, Bologna 2008. 11. JACEK ONISZCZUK, La Prima Lettera di Giovanni, EDB, Bologna 2008. 12. ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, ed., Retorica biblica e Semitica 1. Atti del primo convegno RBS, EDB, Bologna 2009. 13. ROLAND MEYNET, Chiamati alla libertà, EDB, Bologna 2010. 14. ALBERT VANHOYE, L’epistola agli Ebrei. «Un sacerdote differente», EDB, Bologna 2010. 15. JACEK ONISZCZUK, La passione del Signore secondo Giovanni (Gv 18–19), EDB, Bologna 2011. 16. ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, ed., Retorica biblica e Semitica 2. Atti del secondo convegno RBS, EDB, Bologna 2011. 17. ROLAND MEYNET, La lettera ai Galati, EDB, Bologna 2012. 18. GERMANO LORI, Il Discorso della Montagna, dono del Padre (Mt 5,1–8,1), EDB, Bologna 2013.

RETORICA BIBLICA E SEMITICA Series edited by Roland Meynet and Jacek Oniszczuk 1.

JACEK ONISZCZUK, Incontri con il Risorto in Giovanni (Gv 20–21), G&B Press, Roma 2013.

2.

ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, Esercizi di analisi retorica, G&B Press, Roma 2013.

3.

ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, ed., Studi del terzo convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, G&B Press, Roma 2013.

4.

ROLAND MEYNET, Luke: the Gospel of the Children of Israel, G&B Press, Roma 2015.

5.

ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, ed., Studi del quarto convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, G&B Press, Roma 2015.

6.

ROLAND MEYNET, Les huit psaumes acrostiches alphabétiques, G&B Press, Roma 2015.

7.

ROLAND MEYNET, Le fait synoptique reconsidéré, G&B Press, Roma 2015.

8.

ROLAND MEYNET, Il vangelo di Marco, G&B Press, Roma 2016.

RHETORICA BIBLICA ET SEMITICA Series edited by Roland Meynet, Jacek Oniszczuk († 2017), and then by Francesco Graziano 9.

ROLAND MEYNET, Les psaumes des montées, Peeters, Leuven 2017.

10. MICHEL CUYPERS, Le Festin. Une lecture de la sourate al-Mâ’ida, deuxième édition, Peeters, Leuven 2017. 11. ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, ed., Studi del quinto convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, Peeters, Leuven 2017. 12. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Psautier. Cinquième livre (Ps 107–150), Peeters, Leuven 2017. 13. JACEK ONISZCZUK, Incontri con il Risorto in Giovanni (Gv 20–21), 2° edizione, Peeters, Leuven 2018. 14. ROLAND MEYNET, Il vangelo di Marco, Peeters, Leuven 2018. 15. JACEK ONISZCZUK (†), «Se il chicco di grano caduto in terra non muore...» (Gv 11–12), Peeters, Leuven 2018. 16. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Psautier. Premier livre (Ps 1–41), Peeters, Leuven 2018. 17. MASSIMO GRILLI – † JACEK ONISZCZUK – ANDRÉ WÉNIN, ed., Filiation, entre Bible et cultures. Hommage à Roland Meynet, Peeters, Leuven 2019. 18. FRANCESCO GRAZIANO – ROLAND MEYNET, ed., Studi del sesto convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, Peeters, Leuven 2019. 19. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Psautier. Troisième livre (Ps 73–89), Peeters, Leuven 2019. 20. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Psautier. Deuxième livre (Ps 42/43–72), Peeters, Leuven 2019. 21. PIETRO BOVATI – ROLAND MEYNET, Il libro del profeta Amos. Seconda edizione rivista, Peeters, Leuven 2019.

22. FRANCESCO GRAZIANO, La composizione letteraria del Vangelo di Matteo, Peeters, Leuven 2020. 23. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Psautier. Quatrième livre (Ps 90–106), Peeters, Leuven 2020. 24. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Psautier. L’ensemble du Livre des Louanges, Peeters, Leuven 2020. 25. ROLAND MEYNET, Le Cantique des cantiques, Peeters, Leuven 2020. 26. ROLAND MEYNET, La Lettre aux Galates. Deuxième édition revue, Peeters, Leuven 2021. 27. ROLAND MEYNET, La Pâque du Seigneur. Passion et résurrection de Jésus dans les évangiles synoptiques. Troisième édition revue, Peeters, Leuven 2021. 28. ROLAND MEYNET, Traité de rhétorique biblique. Troisième édition revue et amplifiée, Peeters, Leuven 2021. 29. ROLAND MEYNET – JACEK ONISZCZUK, Exercices d’analyse rhétorique biblique. Deuxième édition revue, Peeters, Leuven 2021. 30. FRANCESCO GRAZIANO – ROLAND MEYNET – BERNARD WITEK, ed., Studi del settimo convegno RBS. International Studies on Biblical and Semitic Rhetoric, Peeters, Leuven 2021. 31. ROLAND MEYNET, Qohélet, Peeters, Leuven 2021. 32. ROLAND MEYNET, The Psalter: Book One (Ps 1–41), Peeters, Leuven 2021. 33. ROLAND MEYNET, The Psalter: Book Two (Ps 42/43–72), Peeters, Leuven 2021.