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xoM.evo) 'he grants the prayer of the one praying,' which Driver called 'an attempt to accommodate the Song more closely to Hannah's position' (Notes, p. 26) but McCarter considered the 4QSama reading to be the best (1 Samuel, pp. 6970; see also Bogaert, 'Pour une phe"nomenologie', p. 251). 2. P.D. Miscall, 1 Samuel: A Literary Reading (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), p. 15. 3. E.g. Smith, Samuel, 14; K. Budde, Die Biicher Samuel (KHAT, 8; Tubingen: Mohr, 1902), p. 14; H.W. Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel (trans. J.S. Bowden; OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964), p. 31. 4. Literally 'her thunder', it is usually translated 'her indignation' or 'her loud complaint' on the basis of Aramaic usage. See Driver, Notes, p. 10 for the meaning; on the dagesh in the resh, see GKC §§20h, 22s. 5. Thackeray suggested that the psalm originally referred to 1 Sam. 7.9-10 and was entitled ^KiotoO?), '(of) Samuel' ('Song of Hannah', p. 185). "The title, however, was not explicit, and the Psalm was inserted not in the seventh chapter of 1 Samuel but in the second' (p. 186).
2. Hannah's Song
23
The clearest proleptic reference in the psalm appears in the last two lines: 'He gives strength to his king and exalts the horn of his anointed one'. For Hannah, the appearance of Israelite kingship still lay a generation in the future. Since Samuel would anoint Israel's first two kings, however, the occurrence of such a reference in his birth narrative is not indefensible, especially since it is matched in the oracle at the end of the chapter by a second reference to *rptfo 'my anointed one' (2.35). The title rrtfo is used frequently in the narratives of Samuel, more often of Saul than of David.1 In this case, however, the Davidic king is probably intended.2 The case for this identification is considerably strengthened by the numerous verbal parallels between Hannah's Song and David's hymn in 2 Sam. 22.1-51 (= Ps. 18). The close relationship between the two psalms in narrative contexts at each end of the books of Samuel has long been recognized and is easily demonstrated by listing the vocabulary links between them.3 Phrases give an even better idea of the parallel themes in the two psalms:
1. The title is used of Saul in 1 Sam. 12.3; 24.7 [2x], 11; 26.9, 11, 16, 23; 2 Sam. 1.14, 16 (all but the first of these appear in David's mouth!); of David in 2 Sam. 19.22 and in both poems near the end of the book, 2 Sam. 22.51 and 23.1. 2 Polzin noted that 'David, of course, is the triumphant king of the books of Samuel' (Samuel and the Deuteronomist, p. 34), but then he added, 'It seems clear that if a royal voice is now being heard singing its own song in harmony with Hannah's, then it is singing of the mighty Saul to come, as well as of the mighty king who defeats him' (p. 35). 3. on 'raise' (2.1, 7, 10; 22.28, 47, 49); pp 'horn' (2.1, 10; 22.3); am 'wide' (2.1; 22.20, 37); ns 'mouth' (2.1; 22.9); 3'« 'enemy' (2.1; 22.4, 18, 38, 41, 49); a& 'save' (2.1; 22.3 [3x], 4, 28, 36, 42, 47, 51); Ttt 'rock' (2.2; 22.3, 32, 47 [2x]); ru-i 'make great' (2.3; 22.36); ar 'come out' (2.3; 22.20, 49); *?« 'God' (2.3; 22.31, 32, 33, 48); ntfp 'bow' (2.4; 22.35); -naa 'mighty' (2.4; 22.26); nm 'gird' (2.4; 22.40); "rn 'strength' (2.4; 22.33, 40); mo 'death, kill' (2.6; 22.5, 6); rrn 'life, live' (2.6; 22.47); TT 'bring down' (2.6; 22.48); "prof 'Sheol' (2.6; 22.6); rfri? 'go up' (2.6; 22.9); "wtf 'bring low' (2.7; 22.28); Dip 'arise' (2.8; 22.39, 40, 49); TBS 'dust' (2.8; 22.43); mf 'establish' (2.8; 22.12); tan 'world' (2.8; 22.16); •an 'foot' (2.9; 22.10, 34, 39); non 'faithful' (2.9; 22.26 [2x], 51); wzh 'wicked' (2.9; 22.22); -|tfn 'darkness' (2.9; 22.12, 29); Bftt 'person' (2.9; 22.49); ana 'adversary' (2.10; 22.44); D'ntf 'heavens' (2.10; 22.8, 10, 14); Din 'thunder' (2.10; 22.14); pn 'earth' (2.10; 22.8, 43); ]ru 'give' (2.10; 22.14, 36, 41, 48); a 'power' (2.10; 22.18); W'TD 'his king' (2.10; 22.51); TPtfo 'his anointed one' (2.10; 22.51).
24
Psalm and Story 1 Sam. 2.2 irrfrio TK ]'K There is no rock like our God'. 2 Sam. 22.32 irrfTK 'ti^an TB 'n 'Who is a rock except our God?' 1 Sam. 2.7 Dann-*]K 'rstiQ. . .nvr 'Yahweh. . .makes fall, but also exalts'. 2 Sam. 22.28 "T-Btfn D'OT^ "[Ttf 'Your eyes are on the exalted, you make them fall'. 1 Sam. 2.8 |V3R D'T nseftw "?T -iE«;n D'pn 'Raising the poor from the dust, he exalts the needy from the dung pile'. 2 Sam. 22.28 Jrtzhn 'tt> nuTTR! 'And you save an afflicted people'. 1 Sam. 2.9 -iotf' ifon '^ri 'He guards the feet of his faithful ones'. 2 Sam. 22.26 Tonnn TOTTDB To the faithful he shows faithfulness'. 1 Sam. 2.10 Din' D'Dtfn "by 'Against them (or: the Most High) thunders in heaven'. 2 Sam. 22.14 nvr D'ntf"jn Din' 'Yahweh thunders from heaven'. 1 Sam. 2.10 vbcb wp 'He gives power to his king'. 2 Sam. 22.51 O'TD mineJ' "THJD 'Magnifying the victories of his king'.1
These connections and others have been taken by some to mean that the two psalms are virtual mirror-images of each other.2 There are, however, thematic and generic differences. Commentators have usually described the form of Hannah's Song as a cross between a hymn and a thanksgiving. A.D. Ritterspach remarked: Like the typical hymn, the Song of Hannah has three sections: the introduction, body, and conclusion. Typically the introduction is a call to praise of God, but here joy of the worshipper is expressed instead. The body of the hymn most often states the reason for praise, as is done in vss. 4-8 of the present work. The conclusion repeats the summons to praise in most hymns, whereas the focus in the last strophe of this Song is 1. For other lists of verbal and thematic links between 1 Sam. 2.1-10 and 2 Sam. 22.1-51, see Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', pp. 184-85; Y.T. Radday, 'Chiasm in Samuel', LB 9-10 (1971), pp. 29-30; B.S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), p. 272; R. Tournay, 'Le cantique d'Anne', in P. Casetti (ed.), Melanges Dominique Barthelemy (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1981), pp. 554-55; Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist, pp. 33-34. 2. Radday concluded, 'In every single respect, [2 Sam. 22] is an expansion and counterpart to Hanna's Prayer' ('Chiasm in Samuel', p. 29). Similarly Polzin: 'If we search through the psalter for a psalm that best duplicates this song's triumphant tone, its major themes, its precise vocabulary, and its deictic conclusion pointing to the kingship of David, Psalm 18 turns out to be amazingly similar. .. In fact, the Song of Hannah could easily serve as an abbreviated version of 2 Samuel 22' (Samuel and the Deuteronomist, p. 31).
2. Hannah's Song
25
a climactic prayer that Yahweh may bless his anointed one. The hymn expresses thanksgiving to Yahweh as one would expect in a song of thanksgiving but the references remain surprisingly general.1
The psalm's first verse may be an adaptation of the initial first-person declaration of praise frequent in Mesopotamian (see the Appendix below) and Hebrew hymns in narrative contexts (Exod. 15.1; Deut. 32.1; Judg. 5.3). Two of the latter are songs of victory and the third, the Song of Moses, contains some victory themes.2 Victory/salvation (nintf1') and the defeat of enemies (D'TIK) are themes sounded in the first verse of Hannah's Psalm, and military (v. 4) and political (vv. 8, 10) allusions are also not lacking. Some interpreters have therefore categorized 1 Sam. 2.1-10 as a victory song on the basis of its contents:3 songs of victory do not differ formally from hymns. They must be identified by their contents and setting, as J.T. Willis did in the cases of Exodus 15 and 1 Samuel 2: By contending that these Songs are Songs of Triumph, the present writer does not mean to deny that they are Hymns of Praise to Yahweh, but only to suggest that Yahweh may be praised for various reasons, and that in these Songs he is praised for giving his people victory over enemies— whether this be shortly after the actual event, or periodically in a cultic setting.4 1. A.D. Ritterspach, 'Rhetorical Criticism and the Song of Hannah', in JJ. Jackson and M. Kessler (eds.), Rhetorical Criticism (Festschrift J. Muilenburg; Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press, 1974), p. 72; so also Klein, 1 Samuel, p. 14. C. Westermann classified 1 Sam. 2.1-10 as a 'descriptive psalm of praise' (Praise and Lament in the Psalms [trans. K.R. Crim and R.N. Soulen; Atlanta: John Knox, 1981], p. 122; followed by McCarter, / Samuel, p. 76). 2. Westermann, Praise and Lament, p. 90. He thought the Song of the Sea was not a victory song because it did not refer to a real battle, though like Deut. 32 it contains victory motifs. On the classification of Exod. 15 as a victory song, see Chapter 3 below. 3. S. Mowinckel, Samuelsboken (Del Gamle Testamente, 2; Oslo: A. Aschehoug, 1936), p. 152; Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', p. 184; J.T. Willis, 'The Song of Hannah and Psalm 113', CBQ 34 (1973), pp. 142-43. 4. Willis, 'Song of Hannah', p. 142 n. 15. Westermann suggested that Victory Songs must be recognized by 'the situation in which they arose' (Praise and Lament, p. 90), while E.S. Gerstenberger described them on the basis of contents as 'artistic poems narrating the course of events and extolling the heroes' (Psalms, Part 1, with a Introduction to Cultic Poetry [FOTL, 14; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988], p. 257).
26
Psalm and Story
The narrative setting of Hannah's Song is not that of a war victory celebration, which has led the majority of interpreters to prefer the broader classification 'hymn'. The setting, however, is not what one would expect for a communal hymn either, so literary setting cannot be used to establish this psalm's genre. 1 Sam. 2.1-10 maintains the nationalistic perspective of a victory hymn, generalized to apply to various experiences of Israel with its God.1 Thus Hannah's Psalm is by form a hymn, but its contents suggest the more specific designation of a victory song. 2 Samuel 22 also contains victory themes, but is dominated by the form of an individual (royal) thanksgiving. The theme of general reversal which is the centerpoint of Hannah's Song is more subdued in David's Thanksgiving, subordinated to the particular theme of the king's exaltation by God. Other close parallels to 1 Sam. 2.1-10 have been found in the Psalter, especially in Psalms 75 and 113.2 Among the psalms in narrative contexts, Deuteronomy 32 shares many thematic and vocabulary links with Hannah's Song. In the context of the books of Samuel, or even of the Deuteronomistic History as a whole, Hannah's Song and David's Thanksgiving are rich with reciprocal allusions, in marked contrast to the paucity of links tying the poems to the prose narrative between them. The proleptic role of 1 Sam. 2.1-10, which is hinted at by the few foreshadowings of narrative episodes, is undeniable with reference to 2 Samuel 22. In its mood of nationalistic royal celebration, Hannah's Song looks forward to the establishment of the theocratic kingdom which David's Thanksgiving celebrates as an established fact. To what extent does Hannah's Song accurately reflect the narrative themes of the books of Samuel? Modem readers have given contradictory answers to this question. Most have interpreted 1 Sam. 2.1-10 as a thematic 'overture' to the narratives that follow.3 P.K. McCarter, Jr 1. On the distinction between songs of collective and individual victories, see N. Gottwald, The Tribes ofYahweh (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979), p. 117. 2. For the former, see Ritterspach, 'Rhetorical Criticism', p. 72; for the latter, which repeats 1 Sam. 2.5b, 7-8b nearly verbatim, see Willis, 'Song of Hannah', pp. 139-54. 3. Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist, p. 31; Radday, 'Chiasm in Samuel', p. 29. Radday concluded that 'the whole Book of Samuel, its two halves and Hannah's Prayer were thus found to be identical in structure and in their main idea' (p. 28).
2. Hannah's Song
27
thus considered the psalm appropriate for more than Samuel's birth narrative: On a subtler but no less important level, moreover, these verses with their meditation upon the exaltation of the meek find the heart of the Samuel stories with singular directness. We are about to hear of the elevation of Samuel, of Saul, of David—indeed even of Israel herself—from humble circumstances to power and distinction. The Song of Hannah sounds a clear keynote for what follows.1
Because of the links with 2 Samuel 22, R. Polzin explored thematic links with other parts of the Deuteronomistic corpus and concluded: This little hymn at the beginning of our story is far from an 'all-purpose poem' appropriate wherever a pragmatic redactor would need to have a character turn a tune for poetic relief within a monotonous sea of prose. Highlighted within its seemingly anonymous and formulaic expressions are literary glimpses of what will be, word pictures painted with a texture that is profoundly multivoiced, speaking of many things at once, often with mutually conflicting accents.2
On the other hand, P.O. Miscall found little connection between the psalm and the narratives that follow it: Although it is a lengthy, pregnant expression, there are no obvious or extended parallels between the song and the narrative. .. The hymn is not a theological statement that is verified and exemplified in dramatic and narrative form. There are hints and lures that point in the direction of a theological manifesto, but they are not developed. .. Many of Hannah's statements in the Song have the flavor of platitudes with no predictable relevance to the context.3
Polzin and Miscall listed a number of possible connections to illustrate their positions.4 Their conflicting conclusions did not seem to derive so much from differences regarding details of the text as from different 1. McCarter, 1 Samuel, p. 76. 2. Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist, p. 36. Polzin found thematic links to David's dirge over Saul and Jonathan in 2 Sam. 1, and verbal and thematic links to the fall of Judah in 2 Kgs 24—25. According to his reading, the reversal theme adumbrated by Hannah and celebrated at Israel's rise to power is turned against Israel and its king at the end (pp. 36-39). 3. Miscall, 1 Samuel, p. 15. 4. Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist, pp. 34-36; Miscall, 1 Samuel, pp. 15-16.
28
Psalm and Story
understandings of the thematic thrust of the narratives in Samuel, which in turn reflected fundamentally different presuppositions about the act of reading itself. These assumptions emerged most clearly in their conclusions regarding Samuel as a whole: where Polzin found clear patterns and internal references, Miscall found only questions that are 'interminable and undecidable'.1 These divergent attitudes resulted in the different evaluations of the relation of Hannah's Song with its context. The subjective element involved in any thematic reading makes it difficult to decide the issue on the basis of a list of putative references. A comparison with other psalms in narrative contexts may help establish more objective grounds upon which to evaluate at least the relative level of thematic coherence between the psalm and the prose narratives. It is clear that 1 Sam. 2.1-10 does not contain specific retrospective allusions to its immediate context like those in Exodus 15 and Judges 5. Neither does it contain specific retrospective and proleptic references to the extended narrative context of Israel's history, like those in Deuteronomy 32. Compared to the psalms in narrative contexts which precede it in the Hebrew Bible, Hannah's Song is relatively unconnected with the prose narratives in which it is found. Nevertheless, the psalm's pronounced reversal theme and allusions to Israel's king offer a sympathetic reader enough themes to find resonances in the rise of Saul and David from obscurity, the fall of Saul and his dynasty, and the reversal of Israel's military fortunes under her first two kings. More explicit connections are perhaps thwarted by the nature of the narratives themselves. The books of Samuel contain many of the most subtle and well-crafted prose stories in ancient Hebrew literature. A prominent feature of their literary art is the narrator's reticence in making explicit thematic, theological or ethical comments, a characteristic made more pronounced by comparison with the heavy commentary in the books of Kings. In terms of thematic explicitness, then, the Samuel narratives are at nearly the opposite end of the scale from psalms, which usually do away with any narrative pretensions in order to expound a theme through repetition and poetic imagery. In psalms in narrative contexts, it is the juxtaposition of blatant thematic statements with subtle narrative development, more than the contrast of poetry with prose, that jars the sensibilities 1.
Miscall, 1 Samuel, p. 185.
2. Hannah's Song
29
of modern readers who tend to be more familiar with the latter than the former, at least in stories. However, the frequent mixture of hymnic and narrative genres in ancient Semitic myths and epics and the mix of poems into prose narratives in Egyptian literature indicate that ancient readers probably found such juxtapositions to be the rule more than the exception.1 It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that ancient readers would have found sufficient allusive connections between 1 Sam. 2.1-10 and the narratives that follow it to allow the psalm to serve as a thematic introduction to the books of Samuel. Characterization The psalm in 1 Sam. 2.1-10 is placed in the mouth of Hannah, the main actor in the preceding narrative. What a character says is one of the ways in which a story provides readers with a sense of who the person is, so ten verses containing Hannah's words can be expected to contribute to her characterization. In fact, it is precisely in terms of Hannah's character that interpreters have found the greatest tension between the psalm and the narrative. Thackeray, with many others, noted that the Song 'resembles a paean of a victorious warrior rather than a mother's jubilation over her first-born son'.2 There is, however, evidence to suggest that modern readers have anachronistic notions about what kind of song was considered appropriate in the mouth of an Israelite mother. Out of the nine psalms in narrative contexts in the Hebrew Bible, three are sung by women either in whole or in part: Exodus 15, Judges 5, 1 Samuel 2. All three are victory hymns. Of the six psalms in narrative contexts sung only by men, none are victory hymns though some contain victory themes (e.g. 2 Sam. 22). The tradition of women singing victory hymns is described in 1 Sam. 18.6 (RSV): 'When David returned from slaying the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with timbrels, with songs of joy, and with instruments of music. And the women sang to one another as they made merry.' Gottwald claimed that the victory hymns in narrative contexts appear on the lips of the 'mothers of Israel' just as the tribal blessings are spoken by the
1. 2.
See the Appendix below. Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', p. 184.
30
Psalm and Story
fathers.1 However that may be, it is clear that the only reflections of a female psalmody in the Hebrew Bible are firmly tied to songs of victory.2 It seems, then, that a traditional and appropriate song for an Israelite woman to be singing was a victory song like 1 Sam. 2.1-10. This fact does not eliminate the tension between the context of a birth narrative and the content of Hannah's Song, but it does explain how ancient readers might have found the tension acceptable.3 Hannah's jubilation finds voice in a song typical of Israelite women. The fact that there is no immediate battle victory to celebrate is not a problem; the song she chooses is one of general celebration. If one is still of a mind to fault the author or editor, it cannot be for placing an unsuitable genre of psalm in Hannah's mouth, but rather for being too traditional in the selection of material. 1 Sam. 2.1-10 does not turn Hannah into a warrior; however, it does cast her as a prophetess. The proleptic function of the psalm, discussed above, characterizes its speaker as a person endowed with knowledge of the future. This role is supported by comparisons with Miriam and Deborah, who sing victory songs and are both explicitly called prophets. The psalm also depicts Hannah as a sage who understands the ways of God. The psalm itself contains the wisdom theme: 'Yahweh is a God of knowledge' (2.3). Prophecy and wisdom are not part of the characterization of Hannah in ch. 1, where her main traits seem to be an emotional piety and faithfulness.4 The placement of the 1. Gottwald, Tribes, p. 119. The tradition has been investigated at length by E.B. Poethig, 'The Victory Song Tradition of the Women of Israel' (PhD dissertation, Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1985). 2. See Poethig, 'Victory Song Tradition', and Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part 1, p. 32. 3. Poethig notes, 'the setting, however, is not the usual [Victory Song] setting, and none of the appurtenances of performance are suggested—no drums, dance, chorus, or joyful utterance. .. [Hannah's] link to the [Victory Song] tradition may have been a result of the practice of associating prominent premonarchic women with the performance of [Victory Songs]' ('Victory Song Tradition', pp. 148-49). On the connection between victory songs and female prophets discussed below, see Poethig, 'Victory Song Tradition', pp. 190, 227. 4. M. Callaway, Sing, O Barren One: A Study in ComparativeMidrash (SBLDS, 91; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986), pp. 40-42, 54. Poethig disagreed, arguing that 'her praying in 1 Sam. 1.13 when Eli thought she was drunk suggests she may have exhibited some kind of trance or "possession" behavior. Hannah belongs in the
2. Hannah's Song
31
psalm in her mouth thus expands her characterization considerably. The readers are no doubt meant to conclude from the combination of poem and narrative that Hannah's wisdom and insight are a direct result of her piety. Ancient versions and traditions of the Song of Hannah pick up and expand the characterizations implied in the psalm. The LXX strengthens the poem's sapiential character by adding to v. 10 six lines from Jer. 9.22-23:1 Let not the wise boast in wisdom, and let not the powerful boast in power, and let not the wealthy boast in wealth, but let the boastful boast in this: to understand and know the Lord and to do justice and righteousness in the midst of the land.
In this version of the psalm, Hannah implicitly becomes the model of the behavior being recommended. In Targum Jonathan of 1 Samuel, Hannah's Song is transformed into a prophecy tracing the history of Israel from Samuel to Esther and concluding with an apocalyptic description of God's judgment. The Targum makes explicit its characterization of Hannah as a prophetess by supplementing MT 2.1, 'And Hannah prayed and said', with the phrase 'in a spirit of prophecy'.2 The Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo also presents a paraphrastic expansion of Hannah's Song, but makes it much more of a birth celebration than the original.3 Thus there is evidence that ancient readers prophetic tradition withDeborah and Miriam' ('Victory Song Tradition', p. 192). The verse, however, focuses purely on Hannah's behavior and contains none of the usual possession vocabulary used of biblical prophets (for a listing, see R.R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980], pp. 144-46, 261). The prose narrative betrays no recognition of her prophetic office. Hannah is placed in the prophetic tradition with Deborah and Miriam by her song, not by the story in 1 Sam. 1. 1. Bogaert, 'Pour une phenomenologie', p. 251. 2. D.J. Harrington, 'The Apocalypse of Hannah: Targum Jonathan of 1 Samuel 2.1-10', in D.M. Golomb (ed.), Working with No Data: Semitic and Egyptian Studies Presented to Thomas O. Lambdin (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1987), p. 153. Because Targum Jonathan usually reflects the MT closely in 1 Samuel, Harrington suggested that the Song is 'a traditional piece taken over in the final redaction of the Targum', and he dated it to shortly after 70 CE. For other ancient examples of the Hannah-as-prophet tradition, see Walters, 'Hannah and Anna', p. 400 n. 24. 3. Bogaert, 'Pour une phenomenologie', p. 256.
32
Psalm and Story
were aware of all the aspects of the psalm's characterization of Hannah discussed above, and often enhanced them in their transmission or adaptations of the text. Summary The investigation of the role of Hannah's Song in its narrative context has reached the following conclusions. 1 Sam. 2.1-10 has no impact on the plot of the narrative, and only a few specific semantic or thematic references to it. Almost all of these connections are proleptic in nature. The psalm develops Hannah's characterization along different lines than the narrative does. On the other hand, Hannah's Song makes many semantic and thematic proleptic links with David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22. Together the two psalms announce the themes of divine victory and control, and God's blessing of the Davidic king. These themes do not contradict the narratives in Samuel, but the psalms do override the subtlety of the prose with blunt and forceful commentary. Methods of Interpretation The narrative role of 1 Sam. 2.1-10 has been described, but has not yet been explained. Explanations of why the psalm has been made to play the roles that it does within the narrative require that theories of the text's composition be addressed, which brings us to the methodological problem of whether synchronic or diachronic explanations best account for the psalm's position and narrative role. Modern interpreters of Hannah's Song have given the following reasons for considering it a secondary insertion into the narrative context.1 First, 'the Song is in general singularly inappropriate to the occasion'.2 Second, 1.28 joins smoothly with 2.11 leaving no evidence of a gap.3 Third, the textual variants among manuscripts and versions suggest that the psalm was added in slightly different positions in different manuscripts, and also that it was added rather late.4 Fourth, 1. Arguments regarding the relative time of the psalm's insertion into its context must be carefully distinguished from arguments about the psalm's own date of composition. The two issues are often mentioned together in the commentaries. 2. Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', p. 184. So also Smith, Samuel, p. 14; Budde, Biicher Samuel, p. 13; Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 29. 3. Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 29, who noted a similar situation with regard to Jonah's Psalm. 4. Smith, Samuel, p. 13; Budde, Biicher Samuel, p. 13; Driver, Notes, p. 23;
2. Hannah's Song
33
additions to the end of the psalm in the LXX suggest that the whole piece is secondary.1 Synchronic interpreters have offered some literary arguments for 1 Sam. 2.1-10 being an original part of the narrative book. Radday claimed that Hannah's Song is an integral part of the overarching pattern of the books of Samuel and therefore must have been included by the author of the whole work.2 L. Eslinger argued that the psalm is thematically appropriate to its context, so redactional theories are unnecessary.3 Steinberg dismissed diachronic arguments based on tensions between the psalm and the prose on the grounds that shifts in genre alleviate the need for close correspondence between them.4 Most close readings of 1 Samuel, however, have been content to simply explore the interconnections between the psalm and its context without pursuing in detail arguments against a diachronic evaluation of it.5 Thus arguments for the secondary status of Hannah's Song emphasize details in the psalm's immediate context, whereas contrary arguments emphasize its role in the extended context. Each argument will be examined in turn on the bases of the narrative role of 1 Sam. 2.110, comparisons with other psalms in narrative contexts, and broader ancient Near Eastern literary practice. The charge of inappropriateness leveled at Hannah's Psalm has been shown to be inaccurate insofar as it arises from the placement of a victory hymn in the mouth of a thankful mother. The author or editor chose a traditional genre of female psalmody for Hannah's expression of praise. Nevertheless, 1 Sam. 2.1-10 has fewer connections to its narrative context than any other psalm set in prose. (Jonah's Psalm, which has also been considered inappropriate, at least has extensive Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', p. 183; McCarter, 1 Samuel, pp. 57, 75; Bogaert, 'Pour une phenomenologie', p. 249; Klein, 1 Samuel, p. 3. 1. Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', p. 184. 2. 'Chiasm in Samuel', p. 22. 3. L.M. Eslinger, Kingship of God in Crisis: A Close Reading of 1 Samuel 112. (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1985), pp. 99-101. 4. Poetics, pp. 246-47. 5. Miscall and Polzin both discussed in their introductions their methodological differences with the way diachronic analysis has been pursued in the past (Miscall, 1 Samuel, pp. xi-xii; Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist, pp. 1-17). In their exposition of Hannah's Song, however, they concentrated on the synchronic task exclusively.
34
Psalm and Story
references to drowning.) Reflections of the psalm's themes can be seen in the stories in Samuel, but aside from the psalm's location, it contains nothing that necessarily points to this context. Thematic and plot tensions occur in some Mesopotamian epics between hymnic prologues and the main narrative.1 There they have also given rise to theories of secondary expansion or insertion.2 Therefore, there is comparative as well as biblical support for the supposition that a psalm's lack of connections with its context may indicate that it is a later addition to the narrative. The fact, however, that tradition seems to have dictated the choice of psalm more than plot considerations prevents this argument from being as conclusive as has frequently been maintained. The argument that Hannah's Song could be deleted without being missed points to the observation above that the psalm plays no role in plot development. It shares this characteristic with the other psalms in narrative contexts. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that psalms in narrative contexts were not used by ancient Hebrew writers for plot development, but for other narrative purposes such as thematic exposition and characterization. Again, comparisons with hymnic prologues and epilogues in Mesopotamian literature and with the hymns of praise in the Nubian Piye Stela show that this Hebrew practice was consistent with literary practices in other Near Eastern cultures.3 Therefore, the psalm's failure to develop the plot does not indicate its secondary status. The text-critical argument rests on the old observation that MT and LXX reflect the same original text in 1.28/2.11, but the position of the psalm with its prose introduction differs by half a line. Thus Smith argued, 'The original text seems to have said, after Hannah's presentation of the lad, so she left him there and went to Ramah. The Song was inserted in [the consonantal text] between the two halves of this sentence; in G it comes before the first half.'4 Since Smith's time, the situation has become more complicated by the discovery of another reading in 4QSama. The issue is best illustrated by placing the three 1. E.g. Anzu and Gilgamesh; see the Appendix below. 2. W.W. Hallo and W.L. Moran, 'The First Tablet of the SB Recension of the Anzu Myth', JCS 31 (1979), p. 75 and n. 37; J.H. Tigay, The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1982), p. 158. 3. See the Appendix below. 4. Smith, Samuel, pp. 13-14; see p. 17.
2. Hannah's Song
35
readings parallel to each other with an asterisk to mark the location of the psalm in each text: MT 1.28c, 2.1 la
Tp'2 ^i? nnn-in rup^R -fri
(*) mv1?
DBJ
nntf'i
a
4QSam 1.28c
(*) [.. .mivb
i]nntfm arc nfnrym. .. J 1
B
LXX 2.11a(Vor/age)
nnmn
-j^m
mrr 'a1?
atf varom (*)2
In each text, Hannah's Psalm sits in a logical position, either directly after the statement that someone worshipped (MT, 4QSama) or directly prior to someone's departure (MT, LXXB). If 4QSama preserves the original reading,3 the subsequent insertion of the psalm differently in different manuscripts would explain most of the other variants in these lines. The ancient editor would have been confronted with two possible positions for the psalm: prior to the statement of leavetaking (Dtf imrum) or after Hannah's worship is announced (mrr1? tnnttfm). The odd sequence of these phrases would have been accentuated by the insertion of a psalm at either point. Therefore, the text was later smoothed out by the excision of one phrase or the other. In the Vorlage of LXXB, where the psalm had been placed in the first position, the reference to worship (nitr1? inntfrn) was deleted.4 In the Masoretic tradition, where the psalm was placed in the second position, the reference to Samuel being left behind (iroTum) was omitted and the particle D25 ('there') was made to refer to the place of worship. If the psalm was original in one place or the other, there is no way to account either for its movement or the other 1. 4QSama is fragmentary, and the beginning of 2.11 has not survived. It can be assumed from the feminine pronouns before the psalm that the text continued with something similar to the LXX. 2. This reconstruction of the Hebrew Vorlage of the LXX text follows that of Driver (Notes, p. 22) except for the substition of the root nta (see 4QSama) for Driver's nm to back-translate KateA-utov. The Greek text reads Kai KOcTeXucov oruTov evaraiov icup{ov Kai anr\kQov eiq AputtGavu.. LXX L provides a combination of the other three readings. 3. As McCarter maintained (1 Samuel, p. 58) 4. Walters argued that LXX B in 1 Sam. 1 has no place for women in the cult ('Hannah and Anna', pp. 408-409). If so, then LXXB had two motives for erasing the phrase.
36
Psalm and Story
changes in the line. Nor could an original MT or LXXB text have plausibly given rise to the others.1 The text-critical evidence thus presents a strong argument for 1 Sam. 2.1-10 being a secondary addition to its prose narrative context.2 Thackeray's claim, that 1 Sam. 2.1-10 is shown to be secondary because of the addition in LXX of several lines from Jeremiah, is based on the broad generalization that 'interpolations notoriously take various forms'.3 A thorough testing of this thesis exceeds the scope of the current study. Among the psalms in narrative contexts as a group, however, an excess number of textual variants is an exception, not the rule. The quantity of text-critical problems alone is probably not a trustworthy guide to a psalm's redactional history. Of the four arguments for 1 Sam. 2.1-10 being a secondary addition, two have force. The loose connections between Hannah's Psalm and the surrounding prose narrative suggest, but do not demonstrate, that the poem was added by someone other than the original author or compiler of the narratives. More decisive is the argument from the various text traditions, a comparison of which shows clear disruptions due to the psalm's insertion. The synchronic interpreters of Hannah's Psalm have not engaged the latter argument at all. They have addressed the former by arguing, on the one hand, that though there are few connections between the psalm and its immediate context, it is closely tied into the overall structure of the books of Samuel.4 However, multiple links between Hannah's Psalm and other parts of Samuel, 2 Samuel 22 for example, do not necessarily prove the original unity of the entire corpus. They may just as well point to the fact that the redactor responsible for 1 Sam. 2.1-10 was also active in other parts of the books. On the other hand, literary analysts have dismissed the 1. The older view (e.g. Smith, Samuel, pp. 13-14; Driver, Notes, pp. 22-23) was that LXXB preserves the original reading. In this case, vnu>m must have changed to mntDrvt in one text tradition prior to the psalm's insertion in both traditions in its logical place relative to the verb. This does not, however, explain the original mutation of the verb. 2. Textual problems still remain. The problem of genders in MT 1.28, 2.1 and 2.11 is not resolved by this reconstruction. 3. Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', p. 184. 4. Radday illustrated this point by constructing elaborate chiastic patterns covering both books of Samuel, in which the poems in 1 Sam. 2.1-10, 2 Sam. 1.19-27 and 2 Sam. 22 play strategic roles ('Chiasm in Samuel', pp. 21-31).
2. Hannah's Song
37
debate over ties between the prose and poetry as a mistaken attempt to find conformity where generic variety was intended.1 This argument carries some weight in counterbalancing diachronic theories based on a lack of connections alone, but it cannot eliminate them entirely from consideration, since there is corroborating evidence both from biblical and extrabiblical sources that editorial interpolations often result in loosely connected texts. In 1 Sam. 2.1-10, diachronic theories of composition are better able to account for the text-critical evidence than synchronic assumptions, and offer more plausible explanations of the psalm's lack of connections with its context. They are therefore to be preferred to synchronic theories of the text's composition. The conclusion that Hannah's Psalm is a secondary insertion into its context should not, however, supplant investigations of the psalm's narrative role such as that put forward above. Whether original or secondary, 1 Sam. 2.1-10 provides a proleptic thematic commentary on the books of Samuel and joins with 2 Samuel 22 in giving the narrative an overarching structure. A diachronic evaluation of the psalm's origins cannot itself describe the psalm's narrative role, but it does explain why it takes this particular form. Intentions and Implications The conclusion that 1 Sam. 2.1-10 is secondary in its prose context still does not explain why it was chosen and inserted there. Interpreters have often been content to point simply to the reference in 2.5 to the barren woman having seven children as an explanation for the psalm's appearance. This inexact reference, however, cannot explain why a psalm was thought necessary here in the first place, why Hannah's Psalm serves as a thematic commentary on the following narratives, or why it contains so many links with 2 Samuel 22. The synchronic patterns of relationships between the psalm and its extended context, which could not satisfactorily explain the details of the immediate context on the synchronic level, do help explain the reasons behind this diachronic development.2 The insertion of Hannah's 1. Sternberg, Poetics, pp. 246-47. 2. A recognition of this fact is reflected in the increased attention being given in recent years to the psalm's role in the extended context by scholars who assume its
38
Psalm and Story
Psalm near the beginning of the books of Samuel and the selection of a psalm thematically similar to David's Thanksgiving which is near the end, reveal a strong interest in making certain religious and political propositions explicit. Yahweh is behind all events, both successes and failures; Yahweh supports and rewards the faithful; Yahweh supports the Davidic king. The stories do not necessarily contradict these ideas, but they are more restrained, using the subtler techniques of narrative art to bring readers to the same conclusions. The contrast of style raises two questions: why did the interpolators think thematic exposition was needed in Samuel, and why was a psalm chosen for the task rather than direct prose commentary like that in the books of Kings? Answers to these questions will, at this point, be little more than guesses. Interpolators leave no explanations and few clues as to their motives. More evidence may be forthcoming from the analysis of 2 Samuel 22 to which Hannah's Psalm seems to be redactionally tied. In the meantime, the following observations will have to suffice. One clue as to why a psalm was used may be indicated by the choice of the victory song genre. The kind of psalm which was selected to be placed in Hannah's mouth shows a conservative or traditionalist tendency on the part of the interpolators.1 The psalm suited the thematic interests of the editors, but an individual thanksgiving would also have done so (as 2 Samuel 22 shows) and would have fit the immediate context better. As discussed above, Hannah was made to sing a victory song because that was the kind of psalm Israelite women traditionally sing.2 Conservatism of the same sort may have deterred the interpolators from adding their own comments to an established text. Instead, they supplemented a traditional narrative with a traditional
secondary nature from the start. See Childs, Introduction,p. 273; McCarter, 1 Samuel, p. 76; Klein, 1 Samuel, pp. 14, also 19-20; R.P. Gordon, 1 & 2 Samuel (Old Testament Guides; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984), p. 26. 1. This observation assumes that the psalm was not somehow connected with Hannah or Samuel prior to its insertion here (contra Thackeray, 'Song of Hannah', pp. 185-86). In support, I can only point out the lack of evidence to the contrary. 2. Poethig saw in this political usage a usurpation of the older Victory Song tradition: 'In the use of the [Victory Song] in 1 Samuel as an editorial device we see the political use of a women's tradition on behalf of male-dominated institutions' ('Victory Song Tradition', p. 231).
2. Hannah's Song
39
psalm and minimal introduction (2.1).1 The combination of one type of older material with another allowed them to make their point without having to write much themselves. The only clue which may help explain the need which the interpolators felt for explicit thematic commentary is the subtlety of the narratives themselves. Narrative indirectness is highly prized in modern fiction, which explains why the stories in Samuel are acclaimed today, but for purposes other than literary art a more direct exposition may be preferable. Perhaps the uses to which the books of Samuel were put had changed over time, so that more direct summaries of their themes were felt to be necessary. The editors adapted the books to their contemporary roles by adding psalms near both ends of Samuel. The basis for this hypothesis is admittedly slim in 1 Sam. 2.1-10, but further evidence for it is found in the analysis of 2 Samuel 22 in Chapter 6 below. Hannah's Song tells us one other thing about those who inserted it into 1 Samuel 2. They believed that psalms could and should be used as reflections of personal, as well as collective, piety. Unlike the psalms in narrative contexts that precede it in the Hebrew Bible (Exod. 15, Deut. 32, Judg. 5), the immediate occasion of Hannah's Song is a private, not national, affair. Its narrative setting shows an openness to the individual's use of such psalmic material.2 Gottwald and others have 1. There is certainly nothing in Hannah's Song to suggest that it was written for this setting (Budde, Bucher Samuel, p. 13). The date of the psalm's composition remains hotly debated. Beginning with Albright, a number of scholars have dated the psalm on philological grounds to the eleventh or tenth centuries BCE (W.F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan [New York: Doubleday, 1969], pp. 5-10; D.N. Freedman, 'Divine Names and Titles in Early Hebrew Poetry', in idem, Pottery, Poetry, and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980], pp. 93-94; J.T. Willis, 'Song of Hannah', pp. 140-50). Others have argued on the basis of the psalm's contents that it is quite late. Thus Tournay dated Hannah's Psalm to the Second Temple period with additions from Maccabean times ('Lecantique d'Anne', pp. 568-69). 1 Sam. 2.1-10 lacks many of the morphological features that have come to be associated with early poetry. The debate therefore centers on the psalm's lexical stock, which seems typical of standard Hebrew poetry of the late pre-exilic, exilic, and postexilic periods. The results then are inconclusive, but nothing precludes the psalm being older than the narrative which contains it. 2. This fact is not ameliorated by Hannah's singing the song at the national shrine as part of cultic worship (at least in MT and4QSama). The psalm is specifically credited to her alone.
40
Psalm and Story
postulated a developmental process in Israelite history leading from collective to personal psalmody.1 Hannah's Song shows that private appropriation of liturgical psalmody was not only taking place, but even being advocated.
1. 'The transformation of the Song of Hannah from an original collective national reference to a personal pietistic reference is an instance of the so-called democratization of the cult, in which materials originally applied to the whole people or to its leaders are made available to the individual believer' (Gottwald, Tribes, p. 119; cf. S. Mowinckel, 'Psalms and Wisdom', in M. Noth and D.W. Thomas (eds.), Wisdom in Israel and the Ancient Near East [VTSup, 3; Leiden: Brill, 1955], p. 211).
Chapter 3 THE SONG OF THE SEA (EXODUS 15.1-21)
The Song of the Sea is one of only two psalms in narrative contexts within the Pentateuch. The discussion of the history of Exod. 15.1-21 is therefore entangled with the application to the surrounding chapters of the Documentary Hypothesis of the Pentateuch's composition. I will first analyze the psalm's narrative role in its present context before taking up the synchronic and diachronic arguments surrounding the Song of the Sea. Narrative Role The narrative role of the psalm is evaluated in terms of its contribution to the ongoing plot, its verbal and thematic links with the context, and its effect on the characterization of the speakers. Plot Relations The Song of the Sea is near the climax of both the immediate and extended prose accounts which precede it. The proximate account begins with Yahweh's decision to lead the children of Israel by a southern route which would take them to the fpo U1 'Sea of Reeds' (Exod. 13.18; 14.2). The subsequent account of the Israelite encampment at the sea and the Egyptian pursuit (14.3-21) is studded with predictions that Yahweh will rescue Israel (14.4,13-18). After the Israelites cross on dry ground (14.22), the Egyptians pursue them into the sea, where God's actions lead to their recognition that Yahweh is fighting on Israel's side (14.23-25).l The water returns to cover the Egyptians 1. The description of what happened in the sea is not clear. Yahweh am 'confused, discomfited' the Egyptian (v. 24), "iD'i the wheels of his chariots and masa vunn 'made them difficult to drive' (v. 25). The problem involves the second verb, which is usually changed to -lOR'i, 'he tied up, bound', with the
42
Psalm and Story
while the Israelites reach the other side in safety (14.26-29). The story concludes with a summary statement that 'in that day, Yahweh saved Israel from Egyptian hands', and with the note that the Israelites saw the drowned bodies of the Egyptians, recognized Yahweh's action on their behalf, were afraid and trusted God and Moses (14.30-31). At this point the psalm is introduced: btnfzr 'm ntfn™rtf' m -iDK1? nom mrr1? nKrn m'tfrrnK 'then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and they said (saying)' (15.1). The Song of the Sea thus immediately follows the account of the crossing of the sea, but is separated from the story by the summary and conclusion in 14.30-31, and by its own superscription in 15.1.1 The song divides into two parts, the first celebrating the victory at the sea (15.1-10) and culminating in a statement of Yahweh's incomparability (15.11), the second celebrating the conquest and settlement of Canaan (15.12-17), concluding with the proclamation of Yahweh's eternal rule (15.18). The Song of the Sea has no effect on the plot before 15.1 or after 15.21. The singing of a psalm at the Reed Sea is neither anticipated in the preceding narrative nor recalled subsequently.2 Exod. 15.1-18 does, however, affect the plot of vv. 20-21, where Miriam leads the women of Israel in music, dance and singing a song related to that in vv. 1-18. The nature of Miriam's Song is not clear. Verse 21 introduces the song with ana on1? pm 'Miriam responded to them' (masculine). The rest of the verse is identical to v. Ib, except that rrrtfK 'I will sing' has been replaced by vrtf 'Sing! '3 Cross and Freedman argued that v. 21 does not contain the text of Miriam's Song but only its title, so the intended point is that Miriam sang the same song recorded in full in vv. 1-18.4 There is, however, Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX and Syriac. This still does not clarify what happened to the chariots. For a recent discussion of the problem, see J.H. Stek, 'What Happened to the Chariot Wheels in Exodus 14.25?', JBL 105 (1986), pp. 293-94, who suggested that reeds wrapped around the chariot wheels and axles. 1. H. Strauss, 'Das Meerlied des Mose—ein "Siegeslied" Israels?', ZAW 97 (1985), p. 105. 2. A passage's role, or lack of a role, in the ongoing action or plot is to be distinguished from its thematic connections with the surrounding material. Only the former is in view here. 3. The ancient versions have a first person plural in both 15.1 and 21. 4. Cross and Freedman, The Song of Miriam', JNES 14 (1955), p. 237; Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of
3, The Song of the Sea
43
little evidence for the use of first lines as titles in biblical literature.1 Nor does this theory explain the use of the phrase on1? ]sr\ for Miriam's performance. Therefore the most common interpretation of Miriam's Song is that the women repeated the line as a refrain after every line or stanza of the larger psalm.2 This explains both the language of v. 21a and the change of the song's first word to a masculine plural imperative, and thus seems to be the interpretation indicated by the text. In that case, vv. 20-21 do not narrate events after the Song of the Sea was sung, but rather actions simultaneous with its performance.3 Aside from this, the psalm has no effect on the preceding or subsequent plot. It does, however, seem to influence the narration immediately following it in v. 19, which repeats the essentials of the sea event in language nearly identical with that in 14.23, 28-29. The verse has frequently been understood as an attempt to harmonize the psalm's version of the sea event with the account in ch. 14.4 It is doubtful, however, whether ancient readers would have found the two in need of harmonization (see below). The summary in v. 19 is therefore Israel (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973), pp. 123-24. They explain the difference in the first word as a transmissional variant ('Song of Miriam', p. 243). 1. G.W. Coats, 'The Song of the Sea', CBQ 31 (1969) 4; B.S. Childs, Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary (OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1974), p. 247. In ancient literatures in which first lines do appear as titles, such titles tend to be quite brief, usually consisting of a word or two. 2. b rw is probably a technical term for responsive singing, as distinct from PQ» nn which means to 'answer' (so Z. Weisman, 'rrrmtf (JUD v. 29)', VT 26 [1976], pp. 116-20; E.B. Poethig, 'The Victory Song Tradition of the Women of Israel' [PhD dissertation, Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1985], pp. 86-90; others who have taken v. 21 as a response to vv. 1-18 include R.G. Moulton, The Literary Study of the Bible [rev. edn; Boston: Heath, 1899], pp. 142-43; G.H. Davies, Exodus [Torch Bible Commentaries; London: SCM Press, 1967], p. 126; U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus [trans. I. Abrahams; Jerusalem: Magnes, 1967], p. 182). 3. On the use of a wayyiqtol verbal form to express simultaneous actions, A.B. Davidson noted that 'the event or fact expressed by vav impf. may really be identical with the preceding event, and a repetition of it, or synchronous with it, or even anterior to it; the speaker expresses them in the order in which they occur to him, so that the and is merely connective, though the form retains its conversive meaning' (Introductory Hebrew Grammar: Syntax [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1896], p. 71). 4. E.g. J.P. Hyatt, Exodus (NCB; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), p. 169; Strauss, 'Das Meerlied', p. 105.
44
Psalm and Story
more likely to have been prompted by the latter half of the psalm, which pictures the people in the land, worshipping at the Temple.1 Verse 19 re-establishes the temporal (the time of the Exodus) and physical (the Reed Sea) setting so that the narrative can continue.2 Verse 19 is ambiguous in another way: it can be read either as the last verse of the psalm or as the resumption of prose narrative. The latter option is the norm in modern translations and commentaries. The change in style between v. 18 and v. 19, and the similarity of the latter with verses in ch. 14, seem conclusive.3 Many traditional readings of the psalm, however, suggest otherwise. The Song of the Sea appears first among the 'odes' appended to the Septuagint Psalter, where it begins (after the superscription 'the Song of Moses in Exodus') with v. 1 b but concludes with v. 19. Hebrew manuscripts and early printed Bibles also include the verse in the psalm.4 Apparently the tradents of 1. Cross and Freedman, following Albright, denied that these lines originally referred to the Temple, arguing that the language is older than the monarchy, and 'could have been used by the Israelite poet at any time' (Cross and Freedman, 'Song of Miriam', p. 250). This interpretation has been repeatedly disputed (see e.g. J.D.W. Watts, 'The Song of the Sea—Ex. XV, VT 1 [1957], pp. 379-80; J. Muilenburg, 'A Liturgy on the Triumphs of Yahweh', in Studia Biblica et Semitica [Festschrift T.C. Vriezen; Wageningen, 1966], p. 249 n. 2; Childs, Exodus, p. 246). There can be no doubt, however, that in its present context in the Pentateuchal narrative, the reference to Zion is inevitable, as Cross and Freedman noted: 'Later, of course, the phrases in question would be connected with Zion and the Temple in Jerusalem; and this interpretation, read back into the ancient ode, would give special weight to the words of vs. 17' ('Song of Miriam', p. 250). 2. Childs, Exodus, p. 248; Durham, Exodus (WBC, 3; Waco, TX: Word Books, 1986), p. 209. The possibility that 15.19 could also be an example of resumptive repetition of the preceding account after the insertion of the psalm is rendered less likely by the fact that it repeats the climax of the story (14.23, 28-29) rather than the material immediately preceding the psalm (14.31). Resumptive repetition may play a role in the narrative settings of the Song of Moses (Deut. 32) and the Levitical Medley (1 Chron. 16; see Chapters 4 and 10 below). 3. So Coats: 'V. 19 is a gloss on vv. lb-18, marked distinctly by a change in style from metrical balance to prose narrative' ('Song of the Sea', p. 3). 4. As A. Dillmann noted (Die Biicher Exodus und Leviticus [ed. V. Ryssel; Leipzig: Hirzel, 3rd edn, 1897], p. 175). The end of the psalm is obvious in rabbinic Bibles because of the special Talmudic rules governing the way the songs in the Torah (i.e. Exod. 15, Deut. 32) are to be written (b. Meg. 16b; see I. Yeivin, Introduction to the Tiberian Masorah [trans. E.J. Revell; Masoretic Studies, 5; n.p.: Scholars Press, 1980], p. 43).
3. The Song of the Sea
45
these texts distinguished prose from poetry on the basis of different criteria from those favoured by moderns. The disagreement is not fundamentally one between traditional and critical readers of the Song of the Sea, since some pre-critical interpreters also considered v. 19 not part of the psalm.1 It is simply a question of who is speaking the verse—characters in the narrative, or the narrator. Verse 19 takes the form of a tri-colon in which each line ends with D' 'sea'. This nod in the direction of poetic composition may indicate that the verse was intended as a conclusion to the poem. But its style and vocabulary create a voice that sounds more like the narrator than like Moses, Miriam and the Israelites. At any rate, the verse plays the same narrative role in re-establishing the temporal and physical setting whether it is considered part of the psalm or not. In the following discussion, I treat v. 19 as part of the prose narrative. Semantic and Thematic Links The story and the psalm share much of the same vocabulary, as one would expect since they both reflect the same event. Most of the overlap involves military terms, or general terms used for military purposes. Both prose and poetry describe the Egyptian army C?'n 15.4; 14.4, 9, 17, 28) as including chariots (asn 15.1, 21; 14.7, 9, 17, 18, 23, 26, 28;2 and PCD-io 15.4; 14.25), horses (DID 15.1, 21; 14.9, 23), officers (eJ'btf 15.4; 14.7) and 'picked' troops ("inn 15.4; 14.7).3 Its actions include pursuing (*fn 15.9; 14.4, 8, 9, 23) and overtaking (V2h 15.9; 14.9) the Israelites. Yahweh fights (the noun form nnnbo in 15.3; the verb on1? in 14.14, 25) using the wind (rrn 15.8, 10; 14.21) 1. E.g. John Calvin (Calvin's Commentaries [trans. C.W. Bingham; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979], II, p. 262). 2. The psalm uses a participle meaning 'rider', while the prose always uses the noun from the same root meaning 'chariot', synonymous with PQD-IG. The participle is usually taken to refer to charioteers, since mounted cavalry would be anachronistic for this period (S.R. Driver, The Book of Exodus [CB; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911], p. 132; Cross and Freedman, 'Song of Miriam', p. 243; S. Mowinckel, 'Drive and/or Ride in the OT', VT 12 [1962], pp. 278-99). P. Haupt suggested emending the participle to a noun ('Moses' Song of Triumph', AJSL 20 [1904], pp. 149-72). 3. But another part of the Egyptian force, the eha horseman, does not appear in the psalm although it is mentioned in 14.9, 17, 18, 23, 26, 28 and in 15.19, the summary immediately following the psalm.
46
Psalm and Story
and the sea (D* 15.1, 4, 18, 21; fifteen times in ch. 14, and three times in the summary in 15.19) which covers (noD 15.5; 14.28) the Egyptians, and the result for Israel is salvation (yitf* 15.2; 14.13). The location of the event according to both prose (13.18; 15.22) and poetry (15.4) is the ^ID D' 'Sea of Reeds'. In a few cases, the Song of the Sea seems to play on words used in the preceding narrative. The children of Israel leave Egypt ncn T3 'with a high hand' (14.8), and Yahweh subsequently na~i 'throws' the Egyptians into the sea (15.1, 21). The Israelites are told to stand still CnxTin) and watch (14.13); Yahweh then makes the water stand still (lira 15.8). Where the prose account has Moses stretch out a hand (T rraj) to divide the sea and make it return (14.16, 21, 26, 27), the psalm has Yahweh stretch out a right hand (I'D' ntM) to make the earth swallow God's enemies (15.12).1 The shift in the subjects of no3 points out a larger thematic shift between the prose and poetic accounts. In Exod. 15.1-18, 21 the focus is entirely on Yahweh's actions. Moses disappears, and the people are mentioned only in relation to the settlement of the land and the holy mountain, not the sea event. Whereas the interactions between Yahweh, Moses and the people are given considerable space in the prose account, the only humans the psalm depicts in an active role are the Egyptians (15.9), and then only to show the complete reversal of their expectations. The Song of the Sea makes Yahweh 'the sole agent of salvation'.2 That is not to say that the prose account left the issue of who was responsible in doubt. The events and the outcome are predicted in advance by Yahweh (14.1-4, 15-18) and corroborated through their actual narration. The theological conclusion to be drawn from the story is both explicitly stated by the narrator and modeled by the children of Israel (14.30-31). The psalm goes further, however, by emphasizing the point with eighteen verses of exuberant praise of Yahweh. The vocabulary which the song and prose account have in common indicates that the literary relationship between the two is, at least in part, one of repetition. The Song of the Sea not only summarizes the 1. Alter thought this last reference is intended to keep an allusion to the sea event in the last strophe of the poem (The Art of Biblical Poetry [New York: Basic Books, 1985], p. 52). On whether this line in fact refers to the sea event, or is rather a proleptic allusion to the Korahite rebellion; see below. 2. Childs, Exodus, p. 249; so also Durham, Exodus, p. 205.
3. The Song of the Sea
47
event at the sea in its opening line (15.1, 21), but also depicts the destruction of the Egyptians twice, the second time in greater detail than the first (vv. 4-5, 8-10). Many readers have found the psalm's account to be somewhat at odds with the prose versions of the story. Exod. 15.1-18, 21 has no reference to the division of the sea or to Israel's passing through it. Instead, it tells of the Egyptians being thrown (nn"i vv. 1, 21; .TV v. 4) into the sea and sinking (ma v. 4, b^ v. 10). Cross and Freedman suggested that the psalm pictures 'a sudden squall which overturns the vessels or barges upon which the Egyptian host had apparently embarked.'1 These differences have played major roles in several studies of the Song of the Sea's role in the development of the Reed Sea tradition.2 It is doubtful, however, that readers would notice many contradictions in the psalm's depiction of the sea event apart from prior observations regarding the historical developments of both the prose and poetic accounts.3 In the current form of the text, the number of thematic and semantic links between the prose story and the Song of the Sea, and the latter's position right after the former, cause the psalm to be interpreted in light of the prose account. The psalm's failure to mention the Israelites' crossing of the sea is part and parcel of its emphasis on Yahweh alone. The difference between the Egyptian army voluntarily entering a dry sea bed and then being covered by water, or being thrown into the water and covered, is easily accommodated as poetic exaggeration.4 That is not to say that the psalm can 1. Cross and Freedman, 'Song of Miriam', p. 239. 2. B.S. Childs, 'A Traditio-Historical Study of the Reed Sea Tradition', VT 20 [1970], pp. 406-18; J. Scharbert, 'Das "Schilfmeerwunder" in den Texten des Alten Testaments', in A. Caquot and M. Delcor (eds.), Melanges bibliques et orientaux en I'honneur de M. Henri Gazelles (AOAT, 212; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1981), pp. 396-417; J.A. Soggin, 'Das Wunder am Meer und in der Wiiste (Exodus, cc. 14-15)', in A. Caquot et al. (eds.), Melanges bibliques et orientaux. en I'honneur de M. Mathias Delcor (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1985), pp. 379-85. 3. J. Goldin noted that no interpreter doubted the connection between psalm and prose until the moderns (The Song of the Sea [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971], p. 25). 4. The tensions within the prose account of ch. 14, which gave rise to its division between sources, are more noticeable than the psalm's differences from the prose as a whole. As Sternberg noted, a shift in mode reduces the impact of oppositions between accounts (The Poetics of Biblical Narrative [Bloomington:
48
Psalm and Story
be entirely categorized as literary repetition. The contrast with the preceding account, however, is not in the song's description of the sea event but in its proleptic celebration of the conquest of the land. Exod. 15.1-18, 21 picks up two other themes from the extended prose account. First, the question of Yahweh's identity has been an issue in both the immediate and the larger contexts (3.13-15; 5.2; 7.5, 17; 14.4, 18, 25). But now Yahweh, God of the fathers, is shown to be a warrior (nar6o tf'K 15.3), the strength, defense and salvation of Israel (rwKtf*1? ^Tm rr man TB 15.2).1. Second, Yahweh's promises of deliverance from Egypt are linked in Exodus with the promise of the land (3.17; 6.6-8; 13.3-4). The Song of the Sea celebrates the fulfilment of this two-part promise in Yahweh's victory at the sea (15.1-11) and the conquest of the land and Temple mount (15.12-18), without regard to the fact that at this point in the prose narrative only the first has been accomplished.2 The psalm shares the vocabulary of one of the promises: 6.6 DDHR T^Kn u+rb D'BStfT mtM ann '(and) I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment' is echoed in 15.12 "jra* rvtM 'you stretched out your right hand,' 15.13 rf?KJ irDJJ 'you redeemed this people', and 15.16 "jimr "nan 'with your mighty arm'.3 Thus even the latter part of the Song of the Sea does not break entirely away from the larger preceding account. Rather, the relationship between 15.1-18 and the first fourteen chapters of Exodus seems to take, in part, the form of a promise-fulfilment pattern. The thematic links between the Song of the Sea and earlier chapters of Exodus raise the question of whether Exodus 1.1-15.21 should be considered a thematic unit. The problem has received attention only with regard to its impact on source divisions in the prose accounts. J. Pedersen argued that Exodus 1-15 was a unified 'Passover legend' and that the inconsistencies usually cited as evidence for prior sources Indiana University Press, 1985], pp. 246-47). 1. mnr otherwise means 'song, praise' in biblical Hebrew, but the translation 'defense, protection' has been advocated on the basis of cognates in related languages (T.H. Caster, 'Notes on "The Song of the Sea" (Exodus xv.)', ExpTim 48 [1936], p. 45; Cross and Freedman, 'Song of Miriam', p. 243 n. b). 2. On the proleptic function of the latter part of the psalm, see below. 3. In v. 16 and perhaps v. 12, the psalm uses the language for events subsequent to the crossing of the sea. Note that the root "?W appears in Exodus only in 6.6 and 15.13.
3. The Song of the Sea
49
were instead due to additions and alterations.1 The Song of the Sea formed the conclusion of this self-contained tradition.2 Pedersen's analysis was strongly criticized by S. Mowinckel and has not gained many followers.3 Not addressed in this debate is the issue of whether chs. 1-15 are a thematic unit in the present form of the book of Exodus. There is evidence that they are. First, the promise-fulfilment relationship between the prophecies in chs. 3, 6 and 13 and the psalm in 15.1-18 highlights the exodus from Egypt as the decisive event in Israel's salvation. The promise of the land as well as deliverance from slavery is celebrated by the psalm as in effect fulfilled at the sea. Second, there are several thematic brackets around this section. The stories encourage worshipful 'fear' of Yahweh with positive models at the beginning (the Hebrew midwives, 1.17, 21) and the end (all the children of Israel, 14.31), and negative or ambiguous examples in the middle (the Egyptians, 9.20, 30). Women are actors in the narrative only at the beginning and the end (1.15-2.10; 15.20-21).4 Third, in 15.22 the plot takes on new topical and thematic interests. The setting becomes the wilderness, rather than Egypt; the primary plot tension (which was anticipated as a sub-theme in ch. 14) is now between Yahweh, Moses and the people, rather than between Yahweh and Pharaoh. It seems, therefore, that part of the Song of the Sea's narrative role is to celebrate and conclude the story of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian slavery. Exod. 15.1-18 plays a proleptic role as well. Verses 12-18 do not reproduce the stereotyped expressions of the earlier land promises in Exodus, but rather reflect the language of subsequent accounts. The psalm's list of enemy nations is not the usual catalogue of Canaanite 1. J. Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, III-IV (London: Oxford University Press, 1940), pp. 728-31. 2. Pedersen, Israel, p. 405. 3. S. Mowinckel, 'Die vermeintliche "Passahlegende" Exod. 1-15', ST 5 (1952), pp. 66-88. G. Fohrer argued that the break between Exod. 1.1-15.21 and 15.22ff. is a late fiction imposed on an earlier unbroken account by the introduction of the psalm (Uberlieferung und Geschichte des Exodus: Eine Analyse von Exod. 115 [Berlin: Topelmann, 1964], p. 116). R. Rendtorff, however, argued that the entire Pentateuch is composed of originally separate thematic units, of which Exod. 1-15 is one (The Problem of the Process of Transmission in the Pentateuch [trans. JJ. Scullion; JSOTSup, 89; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990], pp. 90-91, 186, 189). 4. P. Trible, 'Bringing Miriam out of the Shadows', BibRev 5 (1989), p. 20.
50
Psalm and Story
ethnic groups (3.17; 13.5; 23.23, 28; etc.). Verses 14-15 instead mention Israel's most prominent nearby opponents from its later history: Moab, Edom, Philistia, and the Canaanites as a group. Many have argued that pK iDi^nn 'the earth swallowed them' (15.12) is a reference to the sea event and take p)K as meaning 'underworld'.1 The language, however, will remind readers of the fate of Korah and his followers in Num. 16.30-34, and may be equating the two events.2 The vocabulary used for the Canaanites' fear of Israel in vv. 14-16 reappears in a couple of subsequent passages to describe the same thing: m and "rn in Deut. 2.25, no»R and :ID (niph.) in Josh. 2.9. The image of the people 132* 'crossing over' (15.16b) echoes the story of crossing the Jordan river in Josh. 5.1.3 ~\mtfb ]1DQ 'your fixed dwelling place', which according to 15.17 was made by Yahweh, reoccurs in the narrative books only in Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings 8 (2 Chron. 6), where it is used once for the Temple built by Solomon (8.13) and three times for God's heavenly residence (8.39, 43, 49). The emphasis in Exod. 15.17 on Yahweh's establishment of 'the mountain of your inheritance, your fixed dwelling place, and the sanctuary of the Lord' stands in considerable tension with Solomon's claim to having built God's sanctuary in 1 Kings 8.4 The psalm's insistence that Yahweh alone is responsible for events is thus applied to future accomplishments as well as past victories.5 The Song of the Sea therefore brings to its forecast of future events a specificity of reference lacking in the prose promises and predictions of Exodus 1-14. When compared with the prophecies of the settlement 1. Driver, Exodus, p. 136; N.J. Tromp, Primitive Conceptions of Death and the Nether World in the Old Testament (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1969), pp. 25-26; Hyatt, Exodus, p. 165; Durham, Exodus, p. 207. 2. Watts, 'Song of the Sea', p. 374; Coats, 'Song of the Sea', p. 13. 3. This vocabulary is used for the Jordan crossing not only in Josh. 4—5 but also in the many references to it elsewhere. Coats listed the following: Num. 33.51; Deut. 2.4, 18; 3.21; 4.14, 22, 26; 6.1, 11; 8.11; 11.31; 30.18; Josh. 3.11; 24.17; but noted that in Josh. 4.23 the verb refers back to the crossing of the Reed Sea ('Song of the Sea', p. 11; see also Childs, Traditio-Historical Study', p. 414). 4. The contrast is striking enough that it may be intentional. Goldin detected in the Song of the Sea an anti-Solomonic polemic (Song of the Sea, pp. 34-58). 5. It is this emphasis which is probably responsible for the ambiguous references of 15.17. They have caused considerable argument among interpreters over whether the psalm refers to Zion, or merely the conquest of the land, or only the wilderness wanderings. The lack of specificity is due to an overriding emphasis on giving Yahweh sole credit for all of Israel's accomplishments.
3. The Song of the Sea
51
studded throughout the Exodus narrative, these verses distinguish themselves not just by their poetic style but also by their attitude that all is already accomplished. The psalm therefore does not seem to repeat and elaborate prophecies so much as to celebrate the events from a perspective after the fact. In other words, even in the latter half of the psalm which alludes to events still in the narrative's future, the Song of the Sea already commemorates their fulfilment. Exod. 15.12-18 is not proleptic in the sense of prophesying events still to come; it is a celebration of Yahweh's victories, past and future, seeing them all encapsulated in the victory by the Reed Sea.1 The psalm moves from the temporal perspective of the narrative, in which the land's settlement lies in the future, to that of the readers, for whom it is in the past. The effect of the move is to allow the readers to join in the celebration at the sea from their own temporal perspective. Characterization The Song of the Sea, like any quotation in narrative, can contribute to characterization in two different ways. It may or may not describe a character directly, but a quotation always characterizes the person(s) in whose mouth(s) it appears. The direct characterization of Yahweh in Exod. 15.1-18, 21 was discussed above when dealing with the theme of Yahweh's identity. The psalm's depiction of the Egyptians has much in common with that of the prose narrative, except that 15.9 makes them seem more bloodthirsty by quoting their foiled intentions. The Song of the Sea and its bracket narratives (15.la and 15.2021 a) also contribute to the characterizations of those who sing it. The Israelites are described directly in the psalm as nbfcj IPDJ) 'the people whom you redeemed' (v. 13) and mp IPDJ) 'the people whom you acquired or created' (v. 16). The former relationship was predicted in Exod. 6.6 and its fulfilment is now announced. The latter phrase introduces a new theme into Israel's relationship with God, one which will be picked up in Deut. 32.6; both are in line with the broader emphasis of Exodus 1-15 which casts Israel as the object of God's 1. Childs noted that it is 'a characteristic theological feature of the Old Testament' that 'God who has acted in Israel's history is the same one who is acting and will act. . .The epic style allowed the writer to move back and forth from the past to the present without sacrificing the concrete quality of specific historical situations' (Exodus, p. 249).
52
Psalm and Story
saving activity.1 The placement of the psalm in the mouths of all the people expands on the positive characterization of them at the end of the prose sea account (14.31). In the Song of the Sea, their 'fear' and 'trust' find expression in joyful celebration of their deliverance at Yahweh's hand. This positive depiction of the people at both the end of the prose and in the poetic accounts of the sea event contrasts with the frequent negative characterizations of the Israelites in the surrounding narratives, where they are often critical, rebellious and quick to lose faith. The effect of 14.31-15.21 is thus to deepen the people's characterization by showing another side to their collective personality, an aptitude for spontaneous, authentic worship. The nature of their actions in 15.1-21 has been illuminated by the recognition of a victory song tradition associated with Israelite women.2 The tradition arose out of the ancient Near Eastern custom of women greeting their victorious armies with songs and dances.3 Verses 20-21 indicate by their contents and vocabulary the connection with the victory song tradition.4 Exod. 15.1-18, however, breaks from the tradition by having Moses lead the congregation (or just the men?) in the main hymn, to which the women led by Miriam provide the antiphonal response and rhythmic accompaniment (vv. 20-21 ).5 The praise is directed not to their own fighting men, but to Yahweh alone. These features have led many interpreters to deny that Exodus 15 is a victory song, or to claim that it is inappropriate to its context.6 1. The translation of rap in this context has engendered considerable debate (see Durham, Exodus, p. 208, for bibliography and discussion). W.A. Irwin argued for the meaning 'beget, become parent of ('Where Shall Wisdom be Found?' JBL 80 [1961], pp. 135-36), which Durham adopted, noting that the line then picks up the theme of Israel as Yahweh's firstborn son from Exod. 4.22 (Exodus, p. 208). 2. See N.K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979), p. 119; E.S. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Pan 1, with an Introduction to Cultic Poetry (FOTL, 14; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), p. 32; Poethig, 'Victory Song Tradition'. 3. Poethig describes the ancient parallels in 'Victory Song Tradition', pp. 2368, 202-18. 4. The vocabulary typical of the tradition includes *]in, 'frame drum', rcr, 'go out', n^no, 'chorus', and *? rui> 'sing responsively' (Poethig, 'Victory Song Tradition', pp. 31-68, 85-90). 5. On this interpretation of vv. 20-21, see above. 6. M. Noth, Exodus: A Commentary (trans. J.S. Bowden; OTL; Philadelphia:
3. The Song of the Sea
53
However, the similarities as well as the differences with the victory song tradition are too strong to deny. It is more likely therefore that Exodus 15 modifies the tradition for thematic purposes, to highlight in its narrative frame the psalm's central point, that Yahweh alone is to be credited and praised. Whereas traditionally the women greet their victorious men with song, at the Reed Sea all Israel, both sexes explicitly included, celebrate the victory of their champion who is not human but God. The Israelite men join the women's choral praise, recognizing that the role of celebrated warrior belongs to Yahweh alone.1 By this I do not mean to deny the considerable difficulties in establishing a form-critical classification and analysis of Exod. 15.1Westminster Press, 1962), p. 122; Muilenburg, 'Liturgy', p. 236; Hyatt, Exodus, p. 169. Childs was most explicit: The term hymn is far more appropriate than victory song in distinguishing the form of Exod. 15 from Judg. 5. Whereas the latter celebrates a victory over Sisera and recounts the achievements of Deborah and Barak, Exod. 15 is directed completely to the praise of God and thus subordinates all the historical details of Israel's active involvement. Again, Judg. 5 has been given a setting 'to the sound of musicians at the watering places repeating the triumphs of Yahweh', whereas Exod. 15 is much more cultically oriented. The poem is rehearsed at the sanctuary 'where Yahweh reigns forever'. The distinction is not an absolute one, but does reflect accurately the difference between a victory song and a hymn (Exodus, p. 250).
Gerstenberger, however, distinguished between hymns and communal thanksgivings, and cited the victory songs in Exod. 15 and Judg. 5 as examples of the latter genre (Psalms, Part 1, p. 16). R.J. Burns distinguished between cultic victory hymns celebrating Yahweh alone (Exod. 15, Jt. 16) and secular victory songs (Has the Lord Indeed Spoken Only through Moses? A Study of the Biblical Portrait of Miriam [SBLDS, 84; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987] pp. 18, 39). 1. Unfortunately, the relegation of the men to a traditional women's role has not created a more egalitarian system; the women and their leader, Miriam, are relegated to providing the antiphonal response. But the latter fact does not negate the former observation. Poethig raised the possibility that the dual chorus had a basis in practice: Given the distinction between the use of the feminine plural meholot to describe the pre-monarchic tradition and the late monarchy mahol, it is possible that mahol referred to a sixth century victory dance form that consisted of a choir of men and a choir of women as Exodus 15.1 and 2la suggest. If so, then the final version of Exodus 15 had a basis in practice. However, there is no reason to doubt that the original tradition was of women leading the people in victory celebrations ('Victory Song Tradition', p. 225).
There is no evidence, however, that mahol described a mixed chorus. It is therefore better to see Exod. 15 as a deliberate modification of a traditional form for the sake of a thematic point.
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Psalm and Story
18. My claim is simply that, whatever its origins, genre and prehistory, in the finished version of Exodus 14-15 the Song of the Sea plays the role of a victory song transformed by the recognition that 'Yahweh (alone) is a warrior' (15.3). If all Israel is placed by the Song of the Sea in the role of a victory chorus, then the latter half of the psalm which extends the celebration to a later temporal perspective invites the readers to share the role and celebrate Yahweh alone as victorious warrior. The characterization of Israel is expanded beyond the people on the banks of the Reed Sea to include future generations, including that of the readers themselves, who witness and commemorate Yahweh's acts of salvation. The psalm thus strengthens the readers' identification with the Israel of the Exodus. The Song of the Sea adds to Moses' characterization the role of worship leader. For the first time in Exodus, Moses leads the congregation liturgically. He will assume the role of worship leader in the subsequent narrative (17.15-16; 24.3-8), though not in the musical fashion displayed here. Moses does not appear as a singer again until Deuteronomy 32, where the emphasis is not on worship but on instruction and warning.1 Exod. 15.20-21 introduce a new character, Miriam.2 In leading the women's antiphonal response, she is placed in a similar position to Moses in v. 1. This correspondence immediately characterizes her as an important leader among the Israelites, an impression confirmed by her titles, nn»an 'the prophetess' and pin mrtK 'sister of Aaron'. The former as well as the latter title connects Miriam with Aaron, who is the only other person in Exodus designated as a prophet—in fact, Moses' prophet (7.1). Moses has, of course, been implicitly characterized by the narrative as a prophet, but this designation is not made explicit until Deuteronomy.3 The content of 15.20 and its juxtaposition with 15.1 have the effect of adding Miriam to the leadership circle of Moses and Aaron, a characterization confirmed by the later story
1. Perhaps we are to assume that Moses led the Song of the Well (Num. 21.1718), but the singer is simply 'Israel'. 2. Unless we are to assume that she is the unnamed sister of Moses in 2.4,7-8. 3. Deut. 18.15-18; 34.10-12. This infrequent and unexpected application of the term H'33 to characters in Exodus-Deuteronomy blunts the force of Burns's argument that its application to Miriam is anachronistic because she performs no typical prophetic activity (Has the Lord Indeed Spoken, pp. 47-48, 81-100).
3. The Song of the Sea
55
of Miriam and Aaron's challenge to Moses' preeminence (Num. 12).! The title ntozun also links Miriam with Deborah and a string of late monarchic women prophets.2 The appearance of the title in victory song contexts in Exodus 15 and Judges 5, as well as the implicit characterization in 1 Sam. 2.1-10 of Hannah as a prophetess, suggests that female prophecy and the victory song tradition may have been connected in ancient Israel.3 At any rate, they have both left a strong mark on the psalms in narrative contexts in the early books of the Hebrew Bible. Summary The above analysis of the narrative role of Exod. 15.1-21 has shown that the psalm is set off from the narratives of ch. 14 by the latter's conclusion and its own superscription, and that it plays no role in the ongoing plot. The Song of the Sea does contain many semantic and thematic links with ch. 14, and sufficient connections with the larger context to show that it is an integral part of the literary unit comprising Exod. 1.1-15.21. It concludes this narrative of the deliverance from Egypt with a celebration of the fulfilment of all God's promises to Israel. In addition to adding to the characterization of Moses and introducing Miriam as one of Israel's leaders, the psalm expands the characterization of Israel to include the readers by proleptically adopting their perspective on Israel's early history. The literary relationship between prose and psalm therefore seems to be carried almost entirely at the levels of vocabulary, theme and characterization, and not at the level of plot. Methods of Interpretation A description of the Song of the Sea's narrative role is a necessary prerequisite to the discussion of its compositional history in the prose 1. Poethig suggested that pTR mrtR may refer not to familial but to professional ties, i.e., 'colleague of Aaron' ('Victory Song Tradition', p. 195; Burns, Has the Lord Indeed Spoken, pp. 112, 121-22). In the present form of the narrative, both relations are indicated. 2. Poethig, 'Victory Song Tradition', p. 190. 3. Poethig concluded: 'Our study has not uncovered any necessary connection between (Victory Song) singers and women as seers or prophets, but the traditions about women in both of these roles have so many points of overlap that a connection may indeed have been present' ('Victory Song Tradition', p. 227).
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Psalm and Story
context. One must first understand what a passage does in its present context before one can explore the reasons why it was placed there. Once the text has been read and interpreted in its present form, as has been done above, it is possible to ask what compositional theories can be employed to explain that form. The narrative role of the Song of the Sea is not one which necessarily requires explanation by means of diachronic theories of composition. The use of a hymn to conclude a narrative unit is familiar from ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature. The lack of plot connections between psalm and narrative is a feature of most Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts. The semantic and thematic ties between chs. 14 and 15 are close and harmonious. The psalm's characterizations supplement but do not conflict with those of the surrounding prose. In Exodus 15, the historical relationship between prose and poetry is complicated by the prior problem of the narrative's own compositional strands. The issue is not so much a matter of deciding whether the psalm is original or not, as it is of deciding at which stage and into which strand the psalm was introduced. In Exodus 14-15, it is not the presence of the psalm which necessitates diachronic theories of composition, but rather the nature of the prose narrative itself. Exodus 14 has provided a rich vein of material for source analysis and tradition history. All three Tetrateuchal strands have been found here, and each seems to preserve a different version of the sea event. The accounts in the reconstructed J and P documents are especially divergent. Perhaps that is why few synchronic literary readings of Exodus 14-15 have been attempted in the secondary literature.1 Arguments for the thematic unity of the larger narrative, such as those of Pedersen and Rendtorff, have been advanced on form-critical or redactional grounds which sliced the pre-existing material differently from the Documentary Hypothesis but did not defend the integrity of the final narrative as a whole. In the present study, it is 1. N.M. Sarna attempted to demonstrate the antiquity of both the poem and its context by appeal to late second-millenium BCE Egyptian texts which use hymns in narrative contexts (Exploring Exodus: The Heritage of Biblical Israel [New York: Schocken Books, 1986], p. 114). However, the best Egyptian parallel to the Hebrew practice of placing psalms in narrative contexts is the Piye Stela from the eighth century BCE, and there is no reason to believe that this literary technique was not extant in Israel and its neighbors throughout the first millenium. For a further critique of Sarna's view, see the Appendix.
3. The Song of the Sea
57
not possible to subject ch. 14 to minute source-critical analysis, much less arbitrate between the wide variety of current theories on the composition of the Pentateuch. I will therefore simply assume the accuracy of the classical documentary analysis of ch. 14, and discuss the relative merits of explanations for how the Song of the Sea and its bracket material are related to the documentary strands. For the purposes of source-analysis, Exod. 15.1-21 contains four distinct sections of material: the superscription in v. la, the longer psalm (vv. lb-18), within which many interpreters have seen signs of a lengthy historical development, the final summary of the sea event in v. 19, and the account of Miriam's song in vv. 20-21. Most scholars regarded Miriam's song as quite old and part of one of the oldest sources. The main differences between the theories involve the remaining material. An older analysis which still has proponents assigned v. 1 to J and v. 21 to E.1 Interpreters differed over whether the rest of vv. 1-18 also stemmed from J or was the result of later supplementation unrelated to the documentary sources.2 Others argued on the basis of v. 19 that P was responsible for vv. 1-19.3 Still others considered the longer psalm a later addition to the already united documentary sources.4. Some scholars have foregone source-critical analysis in 15.121, citing the lack of evidence by which to distinguish the documents.5 These suggestions must be weighed in terms of their ability to explain the psalm's narrative role. In spite of the popularity of the view that Miriam's song belongs to the oldest sources, there is no evidence for it aside from a general belief in its antiquity.6 Moreover, 1. J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1973 [1878], p. 333; A.H. McNeile, The Book of Exodus (London: Methuen, 1908), p. 89; Driver, Exodus, pp. 132-41; Cross and Freedman, 'Song of Miriam', p. 238; Muilenburg, 'Liturgy', p. 234 n. 2; Scharbert, 'Das 'Schilfmeerwunder', p. 404. 2. H. Gressmann considered all of vv. 1-18 a later supplementation of Miriam's song (Die Anfdnge Israels [Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1914], p. 58). Cross and Freedman insisted on both the antiquity and unity of vv. lb-18 ('Song of Miriam'). 3. E.g. Hyatt, Exodus, pp. 163, 169; he assigned vv. 20-21 to J. 4. Noth, Exodus, p. 123; Fohrer, Uberlieferung, p. 112; Strauss, 'Das Meerlied', p. 109. 5. So Noth on vv. 20-21 (Exodus, p. 121); Childs on the whole passage (Exodus, p. 247). 6. Noth, Exodus, p. 121; Coats, 'Song of the Sea', p. 4.
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the date of a poem's composition suggests only a terminus a quo for when it was placed in a narrative context; it cannot help determine the terminus ad quern. The bracket narrative in 15.21 a reflects not only Miriam's song but the presence of the larger psalm as well (see above), and therefore cannot have existed prior to their connection in one context.1 Verse 19 redefines the narrative setting after the temporal distortion of vv. 11-18 and does so in the language of ch. 14's P strand. Thus the insertion into this context of v. 19 may indicate that the temporal distortion, i.e. the latter half of the psalm, was also introduced at the time of or later than P's redaction with JE. Either that, or a later redactor was more sensitive to the temporal discontinuity than the psalm's interpolator. However, the Song of the Sea's celebrative role at the end of the exodus account (Exod. 1-14) reflects P's treatment of the sea event as part of the exodus narrative, not JE's placement of it in the wilderness accounts.2 The observation that Exod. 15.1-10's version of the event at the sea contains both J and P elements suggests that much of the psalm found its place here either at the time of the redaction of JE with P, or later. The vocabulary listed above which the psalm shares with 13.17-14.31 is almost evenly split between JE and P words.3 The thematic links between poem and both the immediate and more extended prose contexts are also distributed between JE and P. Thus the role of Exod. 15.1-21 in the larger narrative suggests that the psalm's placement here had the whole preceding account in view, and not just one or two of the sources. Older critics concluded from 1. Verse 20 could conceivably be older and have provided the inspiration for adding the poems. Poethig, however, found the victory song terminology in v. 20 to be derivative of other texts, and dated it later than the 10th century BCE; she dated Miriam's titles even later, after the 8th century ('Victory Song Tradition', p. 224). There seems then to be no reason to date v. 20 earlier than the surrounding material. 2. For a discussion of the place of the sea event in the different sources, see Childs, Exodus, p. 222. R.R. Wilson pointed out that P used the vocabulary of 'hardening the heart' to extend the holy war motif, which in JE was limited to the sea event, back to include the plague narratives as well, so that the sea event becomes the climax to plagues and exodus ("The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart', CBQ 41 [1979], p. 34). 3. On the basis of Noth's division of the passage between JE and P, terms used by JE and the psalm are 32T, nnmn, ti^, -irn, on1?, intf'; those used by P and the psalm are nan, ntM, "rn, 010, *p-i, 3to3, nn, nos; those shared by both early and late prose sources as well as the psalm are 3Di, D% •po D'.
3. The Song of the Sea
59
this observation that the Song of the Sea is a late composition dependent upon the compiled narrative of ch. 14.1 More recently, the philological evidence of the psalm's considerable antiquity has led to an emphasis on the differences between prose and poem.2 Childs has revived the observation that the two share several features which in the prose are distributed among the sources.3 This accurate comment does not, however, solve the conundrum created by the juxtaposition of distinctly different sources in ch. 14 with an archaic poem in ch. 15: if the poem is old and influenced the prose documents, source analysis has difficulty explaining the sharp semantic and thematic differences among the latter; if the sources are distinct and different, it is difficult to give an early date to a poem which combines their features. From a source-critical perspective, the most consistent view is the old one that the psalm is a late composition based upon the prose accounts and introduced into this narrative context during or after the combination of all three Pentateuchal sources. This theory has run afoul of subsequent philological observations regarding the poem's age, and of tradition-critical evaluations of its role in the development of the Reed Sea tradition. The latter approaches, however, have not succeeded in positing a theory capable of explaining all the features of the historical development of Exodus 14-15. The diachronic relationship between the Song of the Sea and the prose accounts of the sea event therefore remains an unsolved puzzle. Because the exploration of the psalm's narrative role presented above supports the older source-critical perspective on the relationship between Exodus 14 and 15, the assumption that the Song of the Sea was added during or after the combination of all three prose sources together is taken as the basis for the following historical discussion. Even if the psalm was already present in one or another source before their combination was effected, its narrative role in the final text shows that the redactor was using the psalm to achieve thematic and structural purposes as if the poem had been a previously unattached addition. Since the evidence for the psalm's antiquity does not provide any information about its relationship to the prose narratives, any reconstruction of the Song of the Sea's narrative role in a 1. 2. 3.
E.g. McNeile, Exodus, p. 88. So Cross and Freedman, 'Song of Miriam'. Exodus, p. 245.
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single source on that basis would be completely speculative. It therefore seems best to proceed on the hypothesis of its late addition, with the hope that if it is incorrect, the discussion will still help explain the intentions of the final editors. It must be emphasized, however, that this diachronic analysis is required not by the psalm and its bracket material—which fit harmoniously together and with the surrounding narratives—but by the prose accounts of ch. 14. It is not the appearance of the psalm that indicates a history of editorial activity; it is the state of the prose narrative. Intentions and Implications The assumption that Exod. 15.1-21 was added to the narrative during or after the combination of the sources does not yet explain what the purposes were for the psalm's inclusion at that time. The narrative role of the Song of the Sea indicates that its use in Exodus 15 was motivated by thematic interests, concerns for large-scale narrative structure, and a desire for close reader identification with the Israelites at the Reed Sea. All three motivating factors can be best explained as the results of a liturgical appropriation of the prose narratives of Exodus 1—14. The song's position at the end of the exodus story shows a concern to distinguish these chapters from what follows. It further encourages the readers' celebratory response to Israel's deliverance from slavery, a concern which suggests a cultic or liturgical, and not simply literary, purpose behind the psalm's inclusion.1 Therefore, liturgical practices may have led to Exodus 1-15 becoming a thematic unit. The psalm's identification of the readers with the ancient Israelites actualizes the event and its meaning for a contemporary congregation.2 It transverses 1. Considering the liturgical context as well as the usual reading practices of the ancient world, 'readers' should be taken broadly to include 'hearers' and 'repeaters' of the text as well. 2. For a discussion of literary actualization in the Hebrew Bible, see J.W. Groves, Actualization and Interpretation in the Old Testament (SBLDS, 86; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. In the case of Exod. 15, not only is literary actualization achieved by appropriating a device of cultic actualization, namely a psalm, but it also prepares the preceding prose context for cultic use. In a religious text such as the Hebrew Bible, the distinction between literary and cultic actualization is a distinction in usage, not form.
3. The Song of the Sea
61
centuries to unify Israel's past and present in praise of Yahweh. The emphasis on Yahweh alone is perhaps a reminder (in or after the exilic period?) that the absence of a Moses or a king does not affect God's ability to deliver his people. All of this makes sense in the context of a liturgical reading of the exodus story, most likely at the time of the Passover celebration. I suggest, therefore, that Exod. 15.121 was used here to serve as the conclusion to the exodus narratives (chs. 1-14) which had become the reading for Passover. This hypothesis is admittedly speculative, but it is the best explanation for the narrative role performed by Exod. 15.1-21. This reconstruction of Exodus 1-15 in terms of liturgical function must be distinguished from the similar theory proposed by Pedersen. He argued that these narratives originated and were transmitted in the Passover cult, rather than as parts of longer Pentateuchal sources.1 I am suggesting instead that Exodus 1-15 in its final form was adopted for liturgical use, which is reflected in the placement and role of the Song of the Sea. Some of the materials in the prose narratives, as well as the psalm itself, probably did have cultic origins. The above discussion of the psalm, however, indicates that the final textualized narrative itself came eventually to play a cultic role, and that it was to further this role that Exod. 15.1-21 was added. If this conclusion is correct, then the Song of the Sea was employed to adapt the prose exodus narratives for liturgical use. That does not mean that it was the presence of a psalm which recommended these readings; the contents of the narratives are obviously more than appropriate for the celebration of Passover, as well as other occasions. The psalm, however, both delimited the reading and, more importantly, brought out the narrative's thematic point in words of unequivocable praise, linking the story of ancient events directly to the current moment of worship. The Song of the Sea not only preserves evidence of the reasons that motivated its placement here; it also gives indications of its editors' views on psalmody in general. In Exod. 15.1-21, they preserved a model of congregational psalm-singing led by the people's religious leaders, not by the specialized cult-music personnel mentioned in Chronicles and some superscriptions in the Psalter. Participation is broadly inclusive of all Israelites, both men and women. This depiction of psalmody is 1.
Pedersen, Israel, pp. 402-406, 728-30.
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given normative force by being placed in the Exodus period and credited to Moses. There is no evidence of any other model of psalmody in Israel until the Second Temple period. If there were competing views, however, the liturgical influence of the Song of the Sea may have been intended to reach beyond Passover and the exodus narrative to the practice of Israelite psalmody in general.
Chapter 4
THE SONG OF MOSES (DEUTERONOMY 32.1-43)
The Song of Moses is found within a larger block of material (Deut. 31-34) whose historical relation to the rest of Deuteronomy has been the subject of considerable debate. Therefore the methodological problem of whether synchronic or diachronic theories best explain the position and purpose of the psalm can only be addressed if chs. 31 and 33-34, as well as the structure of Deuteronomy as a whole, are considered also. Narrative Role Deut. 32.1-43 is less obviously a 'psalm in a narrative context' than any of the other nine psalms which are the subjects of this study. The question is not whether or not it is a psalm (despite similarities to the prophetic books, it meets the formal criterion of praise discussed in Chapter 1 above), but whether its context, the Book of Deuteronomy, is really best classified as narrative. The book has a narrative frame, but its contents are dominated by speeches. The literary style of Deuteronomy as a whole is therefore better characterized as rhetoric than narrative. The psalm's immediate context (Deut. 31, 32.44-52) also consists mostly of speeches. They are short, however, in contrast to the long discourses that dominate earlier parts of the book, and they are connected by narration of the actions of Yahweh, Moses and Joshua.1 The Song of Moses is the longest of these speeches in the narrative chain of 1. Cf. R. Polzin: 'The relative reticence of the narrator in the first three addresses now abruptly ends, and we find instead the presence of many reporting utterances interruptingly scattered throughout the last section of Moses' words' (Moses andtheDeuteronomist [New York: Seabury, 1980], p. 71; cf. B.S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979], p. 219)
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Deuteronomy 31—32. Therefore, although speech predominates over narration, the actual setting of Deut. 32.1-43 is narrative, not speech, and it is permissible to describe it as a psalm in a narrative context and to investigate its narrative role. Plot Relations Deuteronomy 31 contains seven speeches by Moses and Yahweh set in narrative frames (vv. 2-6, 7-8, 9-13, 14-15, 16-22, 23, 24-29).1 S. Carrillo Alday pointed out that the second, fourth and sixth sections are shorter than the others and all three have to do with presenting Joshua as Moses' successor. Of the longer speeches, the first and third project an optimistic mood, while the fifth and seventh are more somber.2 The short speech introducing Yahweh's theophany to Moses and Joshua is placed in the middle of the chapter (vv. 14-15).3 The fifth and seventh speeches, found in vv. 16-22 and vv. 24-29, are by Yahweh and Moses respectively and are concerned with establishing witnesses against the people's future apostasy. The witnesses are the Song of Moses in vv. 16-22 and the law in vv. 24-29. Thus the song
1. Deut. 31.1 is ambiguous and has confused the boundaries of Moses' speeches at the beginning of the chapter. Polzin translated MT -QTI rrciD ~\L>~>'\as 'So Moses continued to speak' and therefore took vv. 2-6 as a continuation of the speech in chs. 29-30 (Moses and the Deuteronomist, p. 71). The notion of continuance, however, is usually expressed by the infinitive absolute of ~]bn (GKC §113u). S.R. Driver translated 'Moses went and spake' and considered the verse misplaced (Deuteronomy [ICC; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1906], pp. 333-34). The Qumran fragment 1Q5.13, izib noo "pD'i, andLXX, mi avveTeXeoev Mooixjfjq XaXcov, make v. 1 the concluding frame to the preceding speech: 'So Moses finished speaking' (the identical sentence appears also in MT in 32.45 after the psalm). A.D.H. Mayes argued that this reading is better than MT's, because 'a deliberate change from the MT to the text presupposed by LXX and offered by the Dead Sea Scrolls is less credible than a deliberate change in the other direction (in view of the fact that the following chapters do contain further words of Moses)' (Deuteronomy [NCR; London: Oliphants, 1979], pp. 372-73; cf. P.C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy [NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976], p. 369). It therefore seems best to take 31.1 as the conclusion of the preceding speech. 2. S. Carrillo Alday, 'Contexto redaccional del Cantico de Moises (Dt 31, 1-32, 47)', EstBib 26 (1967), p. 385. 3. J.D.W. Watts, 'Deuteronomy', in Broadman Bible Commentary. II. Leviticus-Ruth (Nashville: Broadman, 1970), p. 283.
4. The Song of Moses
65
is explicitly anticipated in the narrative's plot, the only psalm in a narrative context of the Hebrew Bible for which this is the case. After the seventh speech, the psalm is introduced by 31.30: "iim Don ID rwn rrrtzjn nzrrnK 'pto&r bnp bD ^mn rron 'Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song to their end'. After a first person introduction (32.1-3), the song contrasts God's faithfulness with the people's treachery (32.4-6) and embarks on an review of what God has done for them (32.7-14) and their ungrateful response (32.15-18). Yahweh then announces judgment because of their sins (32.19-27). After climaxing in Yahweh's claim of incomparability (32.39-42), the song concludes with an exhortation to the nations to praise God's people (32.43). A line similar to 31.30 appears after the psalm: nzrr^zrnK -QTI ntfo *y\ |Trp Dtfm Kin o^n »3ma rnwrrrnzfri 'So Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua ben Nun'. 1 Next comes the statement that Moses finished speaking to Israel,2 followed by Moses' further admonition to the people to teach and obey what he taught them (32.46-47). The chapter ends with Yahweh's prediction and justification of Moses' imminent death. Chapter 33 contains the poetic Blessing of Moses, followed in ch. 34 by the narrative of Moses' death. Carrillo envisioned an elaborate pattern underlying Deuteronomy 31-32 consisting of alternating sections devoted to the succession of Joshua, the law, and the song.3 His description of the two chapters
1. As Driver noted, 'It is tautologous with 3130 (D), but is the natural sequel of 3122' (Deuteronomy, p. 381). LXX agrees, repeating 31.22 before 32.44. 2. The same comment which appears also at 31.1 in 1Q5.13 and LXX. 3. Carrillo outlined the following structural pattern ('Contexto redaccional', p. 386): A B C D E F G H I J
Introduction: God's direction to cross the Jordan (31.2-6) Moses-Joshua (31.7-8) The LAW (31.9-13) Moses-Joshua (31.14-15) The SONG (31.16-22) (Moses) Joshua (31.23) The LAW (31.24-29) The SONG (31.30-32.43) Moses-Joshua (32.44) Conclusion: the LAW, guarantee of safe passage across the Jordan (32.45-47).
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together, however, was less convincing than that of ch. 31 alone. Yet the preceding narrative does anticipate the psalm at least in part, though the subject also revolves around the law. The plot relations between the Song of Moses and Deuteronomy 31 must be understood in terms of the depiction of the psalm as a song of witness (31.19), and its relationship to the law, which is also depicted as a witness (31.26). Yahweh's speech in Deut. 31.16-21 predicts Israel's apostasy and orders Moses to write down and teach the people a song which will be a witness against them C?to6r »332 is1? v. 20) when they enter the land. Thus although the passage does anticipate the psalm's performance in ch. 32 in terms of Moses' teaching the song to the people, its proleptic force is directed mostly to the distant future, when the song's remembrance and performance will remind the people of the divine covenant which they have broken.1 The song's role at that future time is depicted in a decidedly negative light as a 'witness against Israel'.2 Verse 19 emphasizes the oral transmission of the song, in addition to its written form. Moses is to t?«"ito*"'rn'n« mn1? 1. The accounts of subsequent periods make no mention of the song, but many interpreters have assumed that it is intended to be a part of periodic covenant renewal ceremonies (e.g. G.E. Wright, 'The Lawsuit of God: A Form-Critical Study of Deuteronomy 32', in B.W. Anderson and W. Harrelson [eds.], Israel's Prophetic Heritage [Festschrift J. Muilenburg; New York: Harper & Bros., 1962], p. 44; Craigie, Deuteronomy, p. 373). Childs described the effect of the song on the preceding law-code: The significance of this new context in which the song now functions lies in the effect it generates on the interpretation of the previous legislation of the book. Once again, the canonical setting addresses the issue of actualization directly. However, the move is not to 'update* the laws to meet the new situation. Rather, a theological judgment is offered regarding the nature of the covenant God—he remains faithful to his promise— and the implications are drawn for the people of God (Introduction, p. 220).
2. The phrase 2 "U?1? is used to describe Yahweh's role as accuser in Mic. 1.2 and Jer. 42.5 (Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 342). In Deut. 31, it is used in the same sense not only of the Song of Moses but also of the law (v. 26, without the 3 ['against'] clause) and of heavens and earth (v. 28, verbal usage n m'Jm 'I will cause to witness against'). Gen. 31.49-52 depicts both God and concrete objects as witnesses to the treaty between Jacob and Laban. These texts, as well as comparisons with other ancient Near Eastern treaties, show that the witness' role was not to authenticate the making of a treaty, like witnesses to a modern wedding or will, but rather to judge whether or not it is being observed.
4. The Song of Moses
67
DTPSn no'to 'teach it to the children of Israel, put it in their mouths'.1 R.A. Carlson argued that the Song of Moses is therefore intended to be a 'compendium of Deuteronomic ideology' which could be more easily remembered and transmitted than the Deuteronomic law.2 The similar descriptions of the psalm and the law in the fifth and seventh speeches of Deuteronomy 31 require explanation.3 In addition to describing both as witnesses, the passages share emphases on their textualization and transmission. Both are written down by Moses (31.22, 24). The psalm, however, is taught to the whole people (31.19, 22, 30), whereas the law is transmitted to the Levites and the elders (31.9, 25, 28). This difference in the material's intended transmission depicts the psalm as a popular synopsis of the law, which by its poetic form is better able to transmit Deuteronomic notions to a large audience than the law book itself can. However, the emphasis in both vv. 16-22 and 24-29 on Israel's future apostasy gives no reason to hope that this use of poetry would further the law's acceptance among the people. The poem's 'witness' role seems intended only to ensure that they are aware of their guilt. Therefore the narrative role of the Song of Moses is decisively affected by the description of the psalm provided by the narrative itself. On the one hand, the characterization of it as a witness against Israel highlights the negative side of the psalm. On the other hand, the emphasis on its oral as well as written transmission presents the psalm as a popularly accessible summary of Deuteronomy's theology and thus a counterpart to the law-book itself. Semantic and Thematic Links The Song of Moses shares with its immediate and extended narrative contexts a number of ideas expressed in similar vocabulary. Both psalm and prose foretell Israel's terrible end (nnnR 32.20, 29; 31.29; also 4.30; 8.16; 11.12). Both appeal to the heavens and the earth (pum D'Qtfn 32.1; 31.28; also 4.26 and 30.19) to witness to Israel's 1. Cf. the depiction of the law in vv. 24-26, where it is written down and then deposited in the ark of the covenant, to act as a witness from there. 2. R.A. Carlson, David, the Chosen King (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1964), pp. 235-37. 3. The various theories of the chapter's compositional history which this parallel has generated will be discussed below.
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behavior, which includes ruining (nntf 32.5; 31.29; eight times previously in Deuteronomy) and provoking (w» 32.16, 19, 21 [2x]; 31.29; also 4.25 and 9.18).1 False gods are described as foreign (~O3 32.12; 31.16). Yahweh's reactions include a hidden face (»3B ino 32.30; 31.1718), and anger (*s» 32.22; 31.17; ten previous times in Deuteronomy) which devours (bD» 32.22; 31.17) the people. Both psalm and narrative recognize the elders (D'jpr 32.7; 31.9, 28) as the possessors of the true tradition regarding Israel and its God. The psalm's vocabulary is nevertheless not the standard Deuteronomic fare. Deut. 32.1-43 contains fourteen hapax legomena, and many other rare Hebrew words.2 On the basis of both themes and vocabulary, it has often been compared with prophetic and wisdom literatures.3 As von Rad noted, 'The Song of Moses is in every way a poem with literary pretensions'.4 The Song of Moses shares some rare vocabulary with the Blessing of Moses in Deut. 33.2-29. In both, Israel is given the name 'Jeshurun' (jntf* 32.15; 33.5, 26).5 Both poems use the imagery of falling dew (*ptf •», 32.2; 33.28, though the Blessing applies it literally, the Song metaphorically),6 and of Israel riding or walking on the heights (man 32.13; 33.29).7 The number of these links between the poems is not large, as Driver pointed out.8 The Blessing of Moses, however, consists of a hymnic frame (33.2-5, 26-29) around tribal blessings (33.625), and the links with the Song all occur in the eight verses of that frame.9 The unusual words and images therefore help link the outer 1. Cf. Carlson, David, p. 238 n. 2. 2. According to Driver, who listed them (Deuteronomy, p. 348). 3. Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 348; E. Sellin, 'Wann wurde das Moselied Dt 32 gedichtet?', ZAW 43 (1925), p. 170; E. Baumann, 'Das Lied Mose's (Dt. XXXII 1-43) auf seine gedankliche Geschlossenheit untersucht', VT 6 (1956), pp. 421-22; Mayes, Deuteronomy, p. 381. 4. G. von Rad, Deuteronomy (trans. D. Barton; OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1966), p. 200. 5. The only other occurrence of the name in the Hebrew Bible is in Isa. 44.2. 6. «]-U> is found in the Hebrew Bible with this meaning only here. 7. Used elsewhere of humans only in 2 Sam. 22.34 = Ps 18.34 and Hab. 3.19 (Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 359). 8. He characterized this list as 'the sole noteworthy points of contact' (Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 389). 9. On the structure and composition of the frame of the Blessing, see T.H. Caster, 'An Ancient Eulogy on Israel: Deuteronomy 33 3-5, 26-29', JBL 66
4. The Song of Moses
69
frame of the Blessing with the Song of Moses which precedes it. At the thematic level, Deut. 32.1-43 reinforces the predictions of Israel's apostasy in the preceding narrative context (31.16-21, 26-29) by contrasting Yahweh's loving rescue and care of the people with their ungrateful rebellion. Earlier chapters of Deuteronomy warn of the possibility, even the likelihood, of Israel's disobedience and punishment (e.g. 4.1-40; 29.16-30.20). In ch. 31, however, the possibility becomes a certainty predicted by both Yahweh (vv. 16-21) and Moses (vv. 26-29). The Song of Moses intensifies this narrative tendency by depicting the crime as already accomplished and indicting Israel for it in judicial language.1 Many interpreters have found a tension between the depiction of the psalm's negative role as a witness against Israel in 31.16-22, and its conclusion which seems to promise Yahweh's redemption of the people in spite of their rebellion (32.36-43).2 The difference is usually explained diachronically by making the prose description a later and inaccurate addition, or by seeing the positive statements in the Song of Moses as later glosses.3 The psalm's statements of hope, however, are short, scattered, and remarkably ambiguous. In the later part of the psalm, statements about Israel are hard to distinguish from those about Israel's enemies.4 Enemies are clearly in view in v. 27; are they also the ignorant nation described in vv. 28-29 and the corrupt people of vv. 32-33? Upon whom is vengeance promised in vv. 35 and 41-42? If foreign peoples are in view in some or all of these verses, the psalm does contain hope for Israel's deliverance. Verse 36a would seem to (1947), pp. 53-62; P.M. Cross and D.N. Freedman, 'The Blessing of Moses', JBL 67 (1948), pp. 191-210; I.L. Seeligmann, 'A Psalm From Pre-Regal Times', VT 14 (1964), pp. 75-92; L.D. Christensen, 'Two Stanzas of a Hymn in Deuteronomy 33', Bib 65 (1984), pp. 382-89. 1. The psalm conforms to the pattern of a speech of indictment (a'~i) in a lawsuit, as has long been recognized. See Wright, 'Lawsuit of God', pp. 42-53. 2. So A.C. Welch, Deuteronomy: The Framework to the Code (London: Oxford University Press, 1932), p. 150; Baumann, 'Das Lied Mose's', p. 421; von Rad, Deuteronomy, pp. 190-91; Mayes, Deuteronomy, p. 376. 3. The former option, with variations, is the choice of most commentators. Baumann argued, however, that the prose description shows that the psalm did not contain the relatively short positive comments when it was placed in this narrative context; they must therefore have been added later ('Das Lied Mose's', p. 421). 4. For discussions of this issue, see Driver, Deuteronomy, pp. 373-74; Mayes, Deuteronomy, pp. 389-92.
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confirm this: nnTC VQir^i IDJ) nvr I'T'O is usually translated 'For Yahweh will vindicate his people and have pity on his servants'. The following verses, however, do not describe Yahweh's deliverance but instead contain God's sarcastic taunt against Israel and her other gods (vv. 37-38). The lines could instead be translated 'For Yahweh will judge his people and change his mind about his servants'.1 The psalm's final verse, at any rate, is clear: 'for he will avenge his servants' blood, and take vengence on his enemies, and atone for the land of his people' (32.43). Foreign enemies are plainly in view, and Yahweh is acting on Israel's behalf. Even here, however, the hope is muted by the sacrificial overtones of ISD 'atone' and the fact that its object is the 'land' instead of the people themselves.2 In spite of these ambiguities, it is implausible to find no hope for Israel in the Song of Moses when it is read independently of its context. In context, however, the psalm's statements of hope are sufficiently muted and obscure to allow a reading to be swayed by the narrative's depiction of it. Perhaps the tensions between psalm and narrative result from reading ch. 32 before or separately from ch. 31. If the narrative order is maintained, the prior description of the psalm as a witness against the people for their apostasy, together with ambiguities within the psalm, will blind readers to the possibility of finding much hope for Israel in the Song of Moses. A contrast which cannot be denied is that between the two poems in Deuteronomy 32-33. The tone of the Song of Moses, as well as its narrative introduction, is dark and ominous; the Blessing of Moses, on the other hand, is light and optimistic. Where the former predicts apostasy and punishment, the latter foresees fidelity and prosperity. Even compared with other texts of the same genre (e.g. Gen. 49.127), Deuteronomy 33 is unusually positive.3 1. For pi used in the sense of 'execute judgment', see Gen. 15.14; 1 Sam. 2.10; Jer. 21.12. DTH in its basic sense of 'repent' can be applied to doing good as well as evil; cf. Gen. 6.6; 27.42; Jer. 18.10; Ezek. 5.13 (or is this dittography?). This translation of Deut. 32.36a is rendered less plausible by the following line, 'he will see that support is gone, and both bond and free are lacking'. 2. MT reads vai» incnK 'his land, his people'. The reading iai> nm« 'land of his people' is, however, supported by a Qumran fragment, the Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX and the Vulgate. 3. 'Compared, as a whole, with the Blessing of Jacob, the Blessing of Moses may be said to be pitched in a higher key; the tone is more buoyant; the affluence, or
4. The Song of Moses
71
This juxtaposition has occasioned considerable comment and speculation regarding its purpose. Welch argued that the material was grouped together simply on the basis of similar rhetorical mode or subject.1 Mayes suggested that the two poems are complementary, and that the Blessing expands on the hopeful conclusion of the Song of Moses.2 Unlike the Song, Deuteronomy 33 has no effect on the plots of either the preceding or following prose narratives. 3 The interpretation of the Blessing, like most psalms in narrative contexts except Deuteronomy 32, must therefore be based on its contents and location alone. The thematic juxtaposition of Moses' Song with the Blessing is very strong, especially since the narrative intensifies the negative mood of the former. Such juxtaposition is common in the latter chapters of Deuteronomy: curses are followed by blessings (and then more curses) in Deuteronomy 27-28; warnings of judgment precede offers of hope in Deuteronomy 29-30. The poems of Deuteronomy 32-33 present one more cycle of pessimism and optimism, this time in a different mode.4 The juxtaposition of the two poems thus seems to be part of a larger narrative pattern. The position of Deut. 32.1-43 near Deuteronomy 33 creates a harsh juxtaposition of theme and tone between the two poems. Despite this, some rare vocabulary establishes a degree of commonality. The poems are thereby made to work together so that they, like other distinctive character, of the various tribes is portrayed in more glowing colours: ease, tranquillity, and contentment are the predominant characteristics of the age' (Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 386). 1. 'What determined the men who compiled our present book of Deuteronomy to place the two together may have been the mere fact that they were the only two poetical productions among their material; or they may have recognized that the two poems both dealt with the future of Israel' (Welch, Deuteronomy: The Framework, p. 141). 2. 'The present chapter, which is composed solely of blessings on each tribe, functions then as a detailed illustration of the way in which the vindication promised earlier will take concrete form' (Mayes, Deuteronomy, p. 396). 3. Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 389. 4. Cf. the views of Childs, who saw the Blessing as exercising a commanding role: 'The canonical function of ch. 33 serves to place the law fully within the perspective of divine sovereignty, shifting the focus from Israel's behavior to God's ultimate purpose. The Mosaic legislation is thus subordinated to the overriding purpose of God for his people and the final eschatological realization of his will is attested to in spite of the nation's failure' (Introduction, pp. 220-21).
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previous pairs of pessimistic and optimistic passages in the latter chapters of Deuteronomy, can present a forceful picture of the bad and good in Israel's history. Characterization Moses has been teaching, warning and cajoling the people throughout Deuteronomy, and for that matter the better part of the Pentateuch, by the time we reach the psalm in Deuteronomy 32. The contents of the song therefore come as no surprise. The language, however, breaks with the Deuteronomic idiom and reminds readers of the classical prophets and wisdom literature, thus further reinforcing the characterization of Moses as prophet and sage par excellence. Within the extended context of the Pentateuch as a whole, the psalm's poetic genre is also reminiscent of that psalm at the other end of Moses' career, the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15.1-21). The two have little in common besides their genre and speaker. The Exodus hymn records Israel's first celebration of her new relationship with Yahweh under the leadership of Moses, while Deuteronomy's psalm reflects the tumultuous history of that relationship during Moses' lifetime and beyond. The poignant contrast created by the placement of these hymns at opposite ends of Moses' career highlights the ambivalence in the Pentateuch's characterization of Moses: the mediator between God and Israel always represents one to the other but is himself neither. Moses' death on the east side of the Jordan (Deut. 34) prior to Israel's settlement of the land will sustain this tension in his characterization to the end. The addition of Joshua as a speaker of the psalm in 32.44 appears to be an afterthought. This is consistent with Joshua's depiction in ch. 31, where the repeated emphasis on him as Moses' successor is contained in short sections (31.7-8, 14-15, 23) sandwiched between longer speeches about Moses' death, the law, and the Song of Moses. Joshua is passive throughout, overshadowed by the actions of Yahweh and Moses. The half-hearted attempt to have him share credit for the psalm therefore adds little to his characterization. The Song of Moses enriches the characterization of God with emotive images of Yahweh's care for Israel in the wilderness, Yahweh's anger at their rebellion, and Yahweh's ferocity as a warrior. Glimpses
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of some of these metaphors can be found in the Pentateuchal narratives.1 The poetic form of Deut. 32.1-43 provides the images with greater emotive power and sweep, such as those of Yahweh as a eagle caring for its young (32.11) or as a mother giving birth (32.18) or as Israel's father and maker (32.6). The divine speeches in the poem, together with these direct characterizations, have the effect of refocusing readers' attention on Yahweh. Though Moses is the speaker not only of the psalm but of most of Deuteronomy, in Deut. 32.1-43 Yahweh takes center stage as subject and ultimately as quoted speaker (vv. 20-27, 34-35, 37-42). Thus, like Exod. 15.1-18, the Song of Moses focuses concentrated attention on God's actions and intentions, allowing additional room only to the object of God's attentions, the people of Israel. (On the basis of these two examples, however, one should not suppose that a theocentric emphasis can be automatically assumed for psalms in narrative contexts. Later chapters will show that many draw more attention to their speakers than to God.) Summary The structure of Deuteronomy 31-34 can be understood in the following manner. Moses' death frames the section (31.2-6; 34.1-12) and is justified near its middle (32.48-52), giving the chapters an intense sense of urgency. In a reassuring contrast, Joshua appears briefly but repeatedly throughout the narrative (31.7-8, 14-15, 23; 32.44; 34.9). Within this pair of thematic constants, the movement of the section is from confidence to pessimism and finally to hope, a path which previous chapters also follow. The confidence derives from the first description of the law as the source of future generations' knowledge of Yahweh (31.9-13). The pessimism appears in the description of the Song of Moses and the law as witnesses (popular and official respectively) against Israel's apostasy, and is brought to a climax by the psalm's emotional portrayal of Yahweh's lawsuit against Israel. An admonition to obey the law brings the point home (32.46-47). The placement after the psalm of the justification of Moses' death because he had not 'glorified' Yahweh at Meribah (32.51) provides a final illustration of the consequences of angering Yahweh: even Moses is not spared. The shift to hope in the Blessing of Moses is sudden, but 1. For example, Exod. 19.4, 'I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself, is elaborated in Deut. 32.11.
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some unusual words echo the psalm. Thus 'Jeshurun', who kicked off Yahweh's care in 32.15, accepts Yahweh's kingship in 33.5. In its concluding chapters, then, Deuteronomy makes room amidst its characteristic prose for a rich poetic idiom that emphasizes, as Moses passes off the scene, the stark choices that face God's people, as hearers on the plains of Moab and as readers .centuries later. Overall, an impression of climax is created by the Song of Moses' presence in Deuteronomy 31-34. In its characterization of Yahweh and Moses, as in its juxtaposition with the Blessing and its depiction as law-surrogate, the Song of Moses and the surrounding chapters bring the issues and personalities of Deuteronomy together in a crescendo of competing themes and genres. These chapters do not seem to attain or even aim for resolution of the tensions. Moses' death in ch. 34 provides no solutions, only an ending.1 Instead, the last four chapters of Deuteronomy project the tensions into Israel's future history and, like the book as a whole, present the options of blessing and curse to later generations, that is, to the readers. Methods of Interpretation What theories of composition best explain the narrative role played by the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 31-34? The psalm has been a part of both diachronic and synchronic analyses of the structure of Deuteronomy. The two types of approaches have been based on different observations and have rarely interacted, while spawning numerous variations and disagreements among themselves. Little if any work has been done on Deuteronomy 32 in its narrative context from a synchronic literary point of view.2 However, a 1. On the death of Moses traditions, see G.W. Coats, Moses: Heroic Man, Man of God (JSOTSup, 57; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1988), pp. 145-53. Coats suggested that Deut. 31 'opens the door to heroic construction for the Joshua figure', while ch. 34 portrays Moses' death in a tragic light (p. 152). Thus the end of Deuteronomy simultaneously brings down the curtain on Moses' life and points forward to Israel's future. 2. Polzin's brief discussion ignored the poems completely (Moses and the Deuteronomist, pp. 71-72). On the other hand, H. Fisch provided an insightful discussion of the psalm's echoes of Genesis, Isaiah, and later Western poetry, and vice versa, but (aside from the description of the psalm as a witness) did not mention the narrative context (Poetry with a Purpose: Biblical Poetics and Interpretation
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synchronic analysis of Deuteronomy as a whole, including the poems, has been advanced on the basis of comparisons with ancient Near Eastern treaty texts. While previous interpreters did not apply the treaty structure to Deuteronomy (or applied it only to the original core), M.G. Kline argued that the entire book of Deuteronomy is structured like a Hittite suzerainty treaty.1 Within the treaty pattern, he maintained that the Song of Moses takes the role of the divine witnesses, both by invoking heavens and earth as witnesses (Deut. 32.1) and by being itself designated as a witness (31.19).2 The psalm's contents recapitulate the treaty pattern in the form of a covenant lawsuit.3 Kline suggested that the concern in chs. 31-34 with Joshua's succession and Israel's fidelity to the covenant is analogous to the concern for dynastic succession in many of the treaties, and is what gives the chapters a 'thematic coherence'.4 K.A. Kitchen and P.C. Craigie also considered the Song of Moses to be the witness section of a treaty pattern (which Kitchen limited to Deut. 1-32).5 Such descriptions of Deuteronomy on the basis of Near Eastern [Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988], pp. 55-79). 1. M.G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963). G.E. Mendenhall, who was the first to point out treaty forms in Israelite covenants, considered Deuteronomy as a whole a late and highly adapted covenant document, no longer conforming to treaty form (Mendenhall, 'Covenant Forms in Israelite Tradition', in E.F. Campbell, Jr and D.N. Freedman [eds.], Biblical Archaeologist Reader [Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970], III, p. 51). DJ. McCarthy and M. Weinfeld disagreed, finding in the core (4.44_28.68) and earliest framework (1.6-4.40, 28.69-30.20) of Deuteronomy the influence of neo-Assyrian treaties (McCarthy, Treaty and Covenant: A Study in Form in the Ancient Oriental Documents and in the Old Testament [Rome: Biblical Institute, 2nd rev. edn, 1981]; M. Weinfeldt, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972]). They did not, however, deal with chs. 31-34, presumably considering them secondary additions. 2. Kline, Treaty, p. 35. 3. Kline, Treaty, pp. 138-39. 4. Kline, Treaty, p. 36. Kline considered Deut. 33 Moses' testament to all Israel, which thus combines the testamentary with the suzerainty forms (p. 40). 5. K.A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and the Old Testament (Chicago: Inter-Varsity, 1966), pp. 96-97; Craigie, Deuteronomy, esp. p. 373. Kitchen noted, however, that the sequence Blessing-Curse-Witness found in Deuteronomy is unique to the OT and not paralleled elsewhere in the ancient Near East. All three writers used the treaty form as evidence to date the composition of Deuteronomy to the second half of the second millennium BCE.
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treaties have been criticized for exaggerating the similarities and ignoring significant differences.1 In Deuteronomy 32, a major departure from the treaty form is the poetic mode of the psalm. Although hymnic prologues and epilogues are common features of various kinds of ancient Near Eastern texts, they do not appear in treaties, either as the witness section or in any other role. Thus the Song of Moses and the Blessing break with the treaty pattern, and the latter cannot help explain their location and function. The description of the psalm and the law as 'witnesses' does not conform to treaty practices either. The treaties invoke deities, forces of nature, and sometimes inanimate objects as witnesses, but the use of a hymn and, even more so, the covenant's own stipulations as witnesses is a marked innovation.2 This is not to say that the treaty patterns are irrelevant to Deuteronomy 31-32. The witness motif, the law-suit pattern of the psalm, and the invocation of heavens and earth are all illuminated by comparisons with treaty forms. The analogy of dynastic succession in the treaties to the concern with Joshua in chs. 31-34 helps explain why the theme was considered appropriate in this context. The treaty influences, however, are indirect and the traditions seem to have undergone extensive modifications in the form preserved in Deuteronomy. Diachronic approaches to Deuteronomy 31-32 started from some or all of the following observations: (1) there is a doublet in Deut. 31.16-22 and 31.24-29 regarding the song or the law as a witness; (2) the description of the psalm as a witness against Israel does not do justice to it; (3) the psalm had a late date of composition; (4) the other Pentateuchal sources, JE and P, reappear in the narratives of chs. 3134 after being absent through much of Deuteronomy. The first and second observations are explained sufficiently by the synchronic structure of chs. 31-32 described above. The issue of the psalm's date 1. For example, see E.W. Nicholson, 'Covenant in a Century of Study Since Wellhausen', OTS 24 (1986), pp. 62-63. 2. Carrillo argued that in Hittite treaties, the written text of the treaty served as a witness in addition to the list of gods ('Contexto redaccionaF, p. 392). It is true that the treaty text was preserved for reference and sometimes read at regular intervals to keep the treaty in force, and in this sense served as a witness. This functional role, however, is not reflected in the treaties by the text being cited as a witness analogous to the gods, as it seems to be in Deut. 31. McCarthy noted that 'reference to the document in the treaties, then, is simply too rare and devoted to too many diverse functions to be accounted an essential formal element' (Treaty and Covenant, p. 65).
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could conceivably rule out its attribution to the early sources JE, but the art of dating Hebrew poetry is not exact enough to force a date later than that of Deuteronomy itself.1 It is rather the fourth observation, regarding different sources in the prose, which poses the diachronic question most forcefully. It appears that, as with the discussion of Exodus 15 in Chapter 3 above, it is not the poetry but the prose which requires historical explanations for both. Various theories of the text's compositional history have been proposed to explain these features. O. Eissfeldt and G.E. Wright, and many nineteenth-century critics before them, argued that the Song of Moses and its prose introduction (31.16-22) were already present in the JE documents. The doublet regarding the law was therefore a Deuteronomic adaptation of the tradition to fit its new context, and prevent the psalm from overshadowing the law.2 Others, finding the 1. Nevertheless, the arguments over the date of the psalm's insertion into its narrative context involve debates over its date of composition. Eissfeldt and Albright considered the Song of Moses to be pre-monarchic (Eissfeldt, Das Lied Moses: Deuteronomium 32 1-43 und das Lehrgedicht Asaphs Psalm 78 samt einer Analyse der Ungebung des Mose-Liedes [Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1958], pp. 17-25, 4243; W.F. Albright, 'Some Remarks on the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy XXXIT, VT 9 [1959], p. 339; cf. idem, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan [Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968], p. 17). Adherents of the Albright school have more recently lowered its date to the 9th century (Wright, 'Lawsuit of God', pp. 64-65, 67; P.M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel [Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973], p. 264 n. 193; D.N. Freedman, 'Early Israelite Poetry and Historical Reconstructions', in idem, Pottery, Poetry and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980]', p. 169). A date in the later monarchy was advocated by Driver and Baumann (Driver, Deuteronomy, pp. 345-46; Baumann, 'Das Lied Mose's', p. 422). Exilic or postexilic dates were preferred by Sellin, von Rad and Mayes (Sellin, 'Wann wurde das Moselied Dm 32 gedichtet?', p. 167; von Rad, Deuteronomy, p. 200; Mayes, Deuteronomy, p. 382). However, as I had occasion to observe on Exod. 15 above, the date of the psalm's composition only affects the argument in one direction: if it can be shown to be a late composition, then its addition to the narrative was also late, but if it is an early composition, it may still have been added late in the narrative's compositional history. 2. Eissfeldt considered the older material in 31.14-23 and 32.44 to have been bracketed by Deuteronomic additions in 31.9-13, 24-30, and 32.45-47 (Das Lied Moses, p. 50; followed by Wright, 'Lawsuit of God', p. 38; for the 19th century adherents of this general view, see Driver's summary and bibliography, Deuteronomy, pp. 346-47).
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poems well-adapted to their narrative frames and larger contexts, considered them both Deuteronomic, that is, they were placed here by those responsible for much of the rest of the book.1 Still others considered the Song of Moses to be a post-Deuteronomic addition.2 In the latter case, the narrative's description of the psalm is dependent on the description of the law in ch. 31 and adapts the psalm to its new context. The above interpretation of the psalm's narrative role in Deuteronomy 31-34 suggests that the texts have been combined with a greater degree of intentionality and skill than they are sometimes given credit for.3 The use of hymns to climax or conclude a narrative was an established practice of ancient Near Eastern literature, and carefully wrought thematic structures are evident in many parts of the biblical text. There is then no historical reason to deny, in the face of evidence to the contrary, that such literary artistry has also been at work in the concluding chapters of Deuteronomy. Since, however, distinct narrative sources are still discernible in the prose of these chapters, the question is, which diachronic theory best explains both the layered text and the structure of its final form? It seems most likely that chs. 31-34 were given their present shape and position by the final Deuteronomic redactor of the book as a whole. Most of the prose narrative in the chapters reveals Deuteronomy's characteristic style. This, together with the thematic links to the earlier chapters, suggests that the same redactor was responsible for the present form of Deuteronomy 1-30 as for the final chapters.4 Most of the non-Deuteronomic passages can be most easily explained as fragments of pre-existing texts incorporated by the redactors. Thus pieces of JE have been incorporated in 31.14-15 and 31.23, with smaller fragments scattered in ch. 34. The description of the psalm in 1. Driver, Deuteronomy, p. Ixxvii; Baumann, 'Das Lied MoseV, p. 421; Carlson, David, pp. 233, 240, 243-46; Carrillo, 'Contexto redaccional', pp. 38889, 393. 2. M. Noth, The Deuteronomistic History (JSOTSup, 15; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1981), p. 35; von Rad, Deuteronomy, pp. 190-91, 201; Mayes, Deuteronomy, pp. 47, 376, 380, 397. 3. Von Rad, for example, characterized ch. 31 as containing the 'debris of traditions rather than a real advance on the narrative' (Deuteronomy, p. 190). Carrillo's observation, that the chapters form a 'verdadero mosaico', is closer to the truth ('Contexto redaccional', p. 386). 4. Carrillo, 'Contexto redaccional', pp. 388, 393.
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31.16-22 has often been credited to JE as well, which would then imply that the Song of Moses was already in the earlier source. This argument has been challenged on the grounds that the evidence for the JE source in these verses is very slim.1 To this can be added the observation that the passage's emphasis on the people's future apostasy and the thematic juxtaposition created by the psalm and the Blessing are both characteristic features of Deuteronomy. It seems better, therefore, to follow Driver in considering Deut. 31.16-22, 32.1-43 to be 'incorporated from an independent source' by the Deuteronomic redactor.2 The only substantial piece of P narrative in the four chapters is the justification for Moses' death found in 32.4S-52.3 In the analysis of chs. 31-34 offered above, this piece fits loosely in its context and its omission as a later addition would not materially alter the larger structure. The other P fragments are scattered in ch. 34 and do not play a role in the structure of the chapters as a group. Thus it seems that the last Deuteronomic redactor of Deuteronomy created chs. 31-34 by incorporating previously unconnected materials from several prose and poetic sources. A later editor added from P the rationale for Moses' death to Deuteronomy 32 and a few short notices to ch. 34.4 Intentions and Implications What purposes motivated the Deuteronomic redactor to incorporate the Song of Moses into the book's final chapters? The attempt to discern the intentions behind the present form of the text is aided in this case by the description of the psalm provided in the prose (Deut. 31.16-22). The redactor incorporated this prose passage as well as the psalm from an earlier source. By describing the law in vv. 24-29 in terms parallel to those of vv. 16-22, the latter passage was made to describe the relationship between the psalm and the bulk of the preceding book. The law and the psalm are depicted as achieving the same function, that of witness against the people, by different means: one through written transmission and official promulgation, the other 1. Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 338; Noth, Deuteronomistic History, p. 35. 2. Driver, Deuteronomy, p. Ixxvi; the Blessing of Moses (Deut. 33.1-29) may have come from yet another source. 3. Carlson argued that this is not P, but 'a Deuteronomic pastiche upon Num. 27.12-14' (David, p. 244). 4. This was essentially the stance of Driver, Baumann, Carlson and Carrillo.
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by oral transmission and popular recital. In the narrative setting on the plains of Moab, this description constitutes a program to be accomplished in the future. Such may also have been the case in the late seventh or sixth centuries BCE when the redactor was working, but it is conceivable that by that time the Song of Moses was in fact more widely known and popularly regarded than the Deuteronomic law. If that was the case, and it must remain purely a matter of speculation, then the incorporation of the psalm at the end of Deuteronomy and its description as having the same function as the law, may be an attempt to use the psalm's prestige to help gain the book's acceptance. However that may be, the psalm does provide a summary of Deuteronomic themes in a memorable form. The psalm's position in the narrative of Moses' last days and its highly emotional language also create a climactic effect at the end of Deuteronomy (and the Pentateuch). The intention seems to have been to bring home to readers as forcefully as possible the message of the book as a whole. The Song of Moses also looks forward and therefore invites the reader into the subsequent history of Israel. This function may have been intentional, if the last Deuteronomic redaction of the book prepared it to serve as an introduction to the Deuteronomic History, as Noth has argued.1 In that case, both the psalm and the Blessing serve as previews to the following history, and the last four chapters of Deuteronomy as a group are a stylistic and thematic bridge between the rhetorically dominated book of Deuteronomy and the narrative emphasis of Joshua through Kings. The narrative role of Deut. 32.1-43 provides evidence not only of the redactor's intentions, but also of assumptions and expectations regarding psalmody in general. First, it assumes and makes use of the psalm's oral transmission, implying that psalms, and perhaps poetry in general, were more easily and widely disseminated than written prose texts. In other words, psalmody in this period seems to be, at least in part, a popular medium. Unlike the Deuteronomic legal tradition which is depicted as controlled and promulgated by authorized tradents, psalms belonged to and were transmitted by the people as a whole.2 1. Noth, however, thought that the poems in Deut. 32-33 were added much later in the text's history (Deuteronomistic History, p. 35). 2. It must be noted that this observation applies to the transmission of psalms, not to their origins. Most psalms were probably composed by cult personnel and
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Secondly, the text makes clear the important role that psalms played in religious instruction. They provided a medium whereby theological notions could be imparted to and remembered by the people. This didactic role which psalmody played in Israelite religion may have contributed to redactors' willingness to use psalms to bring out and emphasize the theological concerns of Hebrew narrative texts.
originally performed in liturgical ceremonies. Once learned by the congregation, however, their preservation may be as much due to their popularity as due to their official cultic roles. It is the latter phenomenon which is reflected in Deut. 31.19. In this regard, Israelite psalms were probably no different from church hymns of our own time.
Chapter 5 THE SONG OF DEBORAH (JUDGES 5)
The Song of Deborah in Judges 5 is widely considered to be among the oldest passages in the Hebrew Bible. The compositional issues which have been raised by this passage include not only the redactional relationships between the psalm and the prose contexts but also the very origins of the prose account itself. Before these historical questions can be considered, however, the psalm's narrative role in its present context must be examined. Narrative Role As before, I will analyze the narrative role of Judges 5 in terms of the psalm's contribution to the plot, its verbal and thematic links to the prose, and its effect on characterization. Plot Relations The story of Deborah and Barak's battle against Sisera begins with an introduction typical of the book of Judges, recounting the people of Israel's apostasy, their oppression by Jabin of Hazor and his general Sisera, and their prayer for help (Judg. 4.1-3). Deborah is introduced as the prophetess currently judging Israel (4.4-5). She delivers an oracle to Barak ordering him to muster troops at Mt Tabor to defeat Sisera, to which he agrees only on condition that she accompany him (4.6-8). Deborah goes along, but warns that this will cost Barak credit for the victory, which will go to a woman instead (4.9). Troops from Zebulun and Naphtali are mustered (4.10), the presence of Heber the Kenite in the vicinity is noted (4.11), and Sisera brings his chariots and troops to the Wadi Kishon (4.12-13). Deborah orders Barak into battle (4.14). Yahweh confuses the Canaanites, resulting in their annihilation by Barak's troops, and Sisera flees on foot (4.15-16).
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Sisera seeks refuge with Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, who offers him drink and rest, then kills him in his sleep (4.17-21). Barak arrives on the scene to find his enemy dead by Jael's hand, thus fulfilling Deborah's prophecy (4.22). The results of the battle are summarized in terms of Israel getting the upper hand over Jabin (4.23-24). The Song of Deborah is then introduced: Dflrmrp p"Ql mm "itim "iQK1? KTin ova 'Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day (saying)' (5.1). The song's archaic language is unclear and difficult to interpret, but the main lines of development can be made out. After a description of the temporal setting (5.2) comes a first-person statement of praise of Yahweh (5.3). Yahweh's approach is described in terms of a thunderstorm theophany (5.4-5). A second temporal statement introduces a description of Israel's oppressed state which was ended by Deborah's action (5.6-7), followed by references to warfare (5.8). The description of preparations or movements for war in 5.911 includes a partial repetition of v. 2. Deborah and Barak are then called to take action (5.12), which leads to the conflict (5.13). A list of tribes with comments on their participation or absence follows (5.1418). The gathering of the enemy forces leads to their frustration (5.19). The stars and Wadi Kishon fight against the Canaanites (5.20-21), and the sounds and feelings of battle are described (5.22). A curse on Meroz for not helping Yahweh (5.23) is followed by the blessing of Jael (5.24), which leads into a graphic description of her murder of Sisera (5.25-27). A dialogue follows between Sisera's waiting mother and her attendants (5.28-30). The poem ends with a prayer for the destruction of Yahweh's enemies and the success of friends (5.31a-b). After the song appears the conventional prose notice that the land had rest for forty years (5.31c). The next verse begins a new story and chapter. The Song of Deborah is placed after the plot action has come to an end and has been summarized in ch. 4. The temporal notice Rinn DVD 'on that day' in the psalm's superscription (5.1) echoes the summary of the victory's aftermath (4.23) and sets the psalm's performance in the same general time period.1 No specifics are given, however, so the psalm has no effect on the ongoing action of either the preceding or subsequent prose narrative. The Song of Deborah then, supplemented only by a chronological notice, brings the episode to a close.
1. E.G. Webb, The Book of Judges: An Integrated Reading (JSOTSup, 46; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987), pp. 138-39.
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Semantic and Thematic Links The nature of this concluding role played by Judges 5 is illuminated by a comparison of its vocabulary and themes with those of the prose context. The Song of Deborah mentions by name all the main characters of the prose narrative: Yahweh (passim), Deborah (5.7, 12, 15; 4.4, 9, 10, 14), Barak ben Abinoam (5.12, 15; 4.6, 8-10, 12, 14, 16, 22), Jael (5.6, 24; 4.17-18, 21-22), Sisera (5.20, 26, 30; 12x in ch. 4), and even Shamgar ben Anat from the preceding account (5.12; 3.31). Only Jabin, 'king of Canaan who ruled in Hazor', who is referred to (4.2, 7, 17, 23, 24) but plays no role in the main action of ch. 4, does not appear in the psalm.1 Both accounts use the same verbs for similar actions: "]tfD for Israelites marching to the troop muster (5.14; 4.6),2 »*' for Yahweh's advance into battle (5.4; 4.14), and TV for the Israelites' descent upon the enemy (5.13; 4.14). The location of the battle according to both prose and poem is the Wadi Kishon (5.21; 4.7, 13). The Kenites and the tribes of Ephraim, Zebulun and Naphtali are mentioned in both accounts. Some of the psalm's geographic and proper names recall Judges 1, where they appear in a listing of the tribes' conquests: Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Dan, Asher and Naphtali. The specific mention of 'Taanach by the waters of Megiddo' in 5.19 is a reminder of the notice in 1.27-28 that Manasseh had failed to conquer these towns.3 Amalek (5.14) is introduced in 3.13 as an enemy of Israel, a role it continues to fulfil in chs. 6, 7 and 10 as well. Issachar and Gilead are mentioned in 5.15 and 17 for the first time in Judges, but reappear in the subsequent narratives.4 1. Jabin, king of Hazor, is also mentioned in Josh. 11.1. This raises the possibility that Judg. 4 reflects some confusion over the respective identities and roles of Jabin, Sisera, the 'king of Hazor' and the 'king of Canaan'. The poem, on the other hand, pictures 'kings' taking pan in the battle (5.2, 19). See R.G. Boling, Judges (AB, 6A; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975), p. 94. 2. A. Weiser argued that the psalm at this point is describing the tribal representatives coming to the victory ceremony ('Das Deboralied: eine gattungs- und traditionsgeschichtliche Studie', ZAWll [1959], pp. 84-85). The verb may in fact have cultic connotations in both passages, since the muster of troops was probably also a religious event. 3. Webb remarked that this passage 'is the background for the fierce battle which is fought there in chapter 4 and recalled in chapter 5' (Book of Judges, p. 119). 4. Issachar appears in 10.1; Gilead in chs. 10-12 and 21. Reuben and Machir
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The semantic connections between chs. 4 and 5 are confirmed by thematic links. In both, the battle and Sisera's death alleviate the oppression which Israel is suffering. In both, Deborah and Barak are the leaders of the Israelite tribes, Sisera is their enemy, and Jael is the one who gives Sisera hospitality and then kills him. Thus prose narrative and psalm clearly treat the same subjects and events. There are also differences between the accounts, however, and these are not confined to generic variations. The Song of Deborah provides many details of the event and its background omitted from ch. 4. Descriptions of Israel's oppressed state before the battle (5.6-8), of Yahweh's storm theophany and its effect on the battle (5.4-5, 20-21), of Deborah's role in the battle (5.12), of the participation or absence of other tribes besides Zebulun and Naphtali, and of Sisera's waiting mother (5.28-30) all find a place in the psalm but not in the prose narrative. At the same time, the psalm does not itself narrate the story sequentially. The result, as B. Lindars noted, is that 'it is virtually impossible to tell the story without drawing on both accounts, because each has gaps which can be supplied from the other.1 Thus at least part of the psalm's narrative role is to repeat and supplement the prose account of ch. 4. Discrepancies bordering on contradictions have long been noted regarding the number of tribes involved in the battle and in the manner of Sisera's death in the two versions, and have given rise to various accounts of their history of composition. These diachronic theories will be considered below. For now, the problem is to ascertain what effect these difficulties have on the psalm's narrative role. One group of interpreters argued that the contradictions are more apparent than real, or at least that they were not perceived as contradictions by the compilers of the text. In this view, the psalm's mention of other tribes concerns only the victory ceremony, not the battle in which only Zebulun and Naphtali took part (4.6, 10; 5.18), and the narrative's depiction of Sisera as asleep (4.21) rather than standing (5.26-27) is simply an attempt to describe exactly how the blow with a tent-peg was struck.2 Polzin, however, argued that these contradictions as well are not mentioned in Judges except in the Song of Deborah. 1. B. Lindars, 'Deborah's Song: Women in the Old Testament', BJRL 65 (1983), p. 159. 2. Weiser argued that the psalm had its origin in the victory cult, and hence was more concerned with which tribal representatives did or did not attend the celebration
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as others contribute to a growing 'feeling of confusion concerning the basic ideological positions of the preceding books'.1 The question, then, is whether the relationship between chs. 4 and 5 is one of repetition or juxtaposition. To answer that question, the broader thematic emphases of the two accounts must be compared. Interpreters detected more than differences of detail between the two accounts. Many argued that the emphasis in Judges 5 falls in different places than in the narrative of ch. 4. It was often claimed that one chapter emphasizes the role of humans in the event more than the other, but there was disagreement over which is which. Wellhausen thought the psalm highlights human motives and actions, while the prose subordinates everything to the outworking of Yahweh's foreordained plan.2 B. Webb and M. Bal, on the other hand, argued that it than with the battle itself ('Das Deboralied', pp. 67-97). He suggested its present narrative setting obscured its cultic nature and turned it into an epic poem, a trend continued by the Septuagint translation (p. 97). A different thesis, put forward by Wellhausen and others and recently revived by B. Halpern, maintained that the contradictions are real but unnoticed by the prose writer who composed the narrative on the basis of the misunderstood psalm (Wellhausen in F. Bleek, Einleitung in das Alte Testament [Berlin: Reimer, 4th edn, 1878], pp. 187-89; B. Stade, Geschichte Israels [Berlin: G. Grote, 2nd edn, 1889], I, p. 178 n. 1; B. Halpern, The First Historians: The Hebrew Bible and History [San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988], pp. 78-82). 1. R. Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist (New York: Seabury, 1988), p. 167. He saw in the psalm increased confusion as to what precisely happened and who was involved. Aside from the number of tribes and the manner of Sisera's death, however, the rest of these 'confusions' are lost on me. 2. J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (Gloucester, MA: P. Smith, 1973 [1878]), pp. 240-42. Wellhausen's reasoning is best summarized in his own words: 'In the song the campaign is prepared with human means... In the narrative, on the contrary, the deliverance is the work of Jehovah alone; the men of Israel are mere dummies, who show no merit and deserve no praise. To make up for this, interest is concentrated on the act of Jael, which instead of being an episode becomes the central point of the whole narrative. .. Throughout these variations of the prose reproduction we feel that the rich colour of the events as they occurred is bleached out of them by the one universal first cause, Jehovah. The presence and energy of Jehovah are not wanting in the song; they are felt in the enthusiasm which fills the Hebrew warriors, and in the terror and panic which confound the prancing vigour of the foe. But in the prose narrative, the Divine action is stripped of all mystery, and mechanic prophecy finds no difficulty in showing distinctly and with sober accuracy what the part of the Deity in the history has been. But the more special the intervention of Deity, the further is it from us; the more precise the
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is the Song of Deborah which emphasizes Yahweh's role to the exclusion of the human actors, while the narrative gives more attention to the interactions among them.1 Y. Amit suggested that the emphasis in both accounts is the same; only the modes of presentation differ.2 These differences in interpretations arose from the abstract and dualistic way in which the question was framed: is the emphasis on the divine or the human? The issue becomes clearer when the more concrete themes of each chapter are considered first. All these interpreters agreed that the interest in Judges 4 is directed not at the battle, but at the fulfilment of Deborah's prophecy that a woman would deprive Barak of the honor of victory (4.9). Thus the battle is summarized in a single verse (4.15), while the negotiations which precede it, and the murder and its revelation which follow it, occupy most of the chapter. The question of whether this narrative emphasizes human interactions (Webb, Bal) or divine providence (Wellhausen) poses a false dichotomy; in pursuing the theme of Barak's humiliation, ch. 4 clearly does both. On the other hand, Judges 5 emphasizes praise of God through descriptions of Yahweh's actions and also provides lengthy descriptions of human conditions, both of which are lacking in the prose account. Again, the dichotomy into divine and human emphases is extraneous to the text. A second disagreement over thematic intepretations of Judges 4-5 concerns whether one account reflects a more 'feminine', the other a more 'masculine' point of view. Bal and A. Globe argued that the psalm preserves a woman's version of the event, while the prose presents a male-oriented version.3 Lindars, however, offered the reverse statements about it, the less do we feel it to be there' (pp. 241-42). 1. Webb, Book of Judges, pp. 141-44; M. Bal, Murder and Difference: Gender, Genre, and Scholarship on Sisera's Death (trans. M. Gumpert; Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988), pp. 38, 44-50. Bal illustrated the difference by both versions' use of R:T: 'The words "go out", which constitute a verbal element of a concrete vocabulary, are transferred to the epic discourse to assume there a different meaning, affected by the surrounding discourse into which it has been set. In the song, Yahweh was its subject, and the addressee of the sentence as well as of the action was, again, Yahweh. His action, as well as the nonutilitarian, personal discourse that celebrates it, thereby becomes absolute. In the narrative, the subject Yahweh becomes the object of the discourse, the absentee who is the "third person", excluded from the situation of enunciation' (p. 49). 2. Y. Amit, 'Judges 4: Its Content and Form', JSOT 39 (1987), p. 103. 3. Bal, Murder and Difference, p. 115; A. Globe, 'The Literary Structure and
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characterization of the two accounts.1 It is helpful once again to examine the issues at the level of more concrete themes, rather than the overly generalized male-female dichotomy. Gender is clearly at issue in ch. 4, where the initiative and power of the female characters, Deborah and Jael, are explicitly contrasted in Deborah's oracle with the humiliation of the main male characters, Sisera and Barak. Whether or not this issue as such is primarily a male or female concern is an interpretative value judgment; it is not indicated by the text. The same gender issue does not appear in the psalm. Here gender is not made into an issue but rather affects the poetic imagery employed. A woman's point of view is most apparent in the final scenes of the Song of Deborah which describe Jael's murder of Sisera (5.24-27) and his waiting mother (5.28-30). The description of the murder scene is frequently considered to have sexual overtones.2 Bal has shown, however, that the imagery of Jael giving Sisera milk and of him falling 'betweenher feet' (5.25, 27) is more consistently maternal than sexual.3 The maternal theme is anticipated by Deborah's title 'ptofcrn DK 'a mother in Israel' (5.7) and continued in the description of Sisera's waiting mother and her attendants.4 It seems then that gender issues are a central concern in ch. 4; in ch. 5, it is not the issue of gender per se so much as a woman's point of view which gives the psalm its distinctive feel. To return then to the question of repetition or juxtaposition, it is clear that there are considerable thematic differences between the
Unity of the Song of Deborah', JBL 93 (1974), p. 495, who commented, 'as many scholars have pointed out, the last part of the poem has a distinctly feminine psychology'. 1. Lindars, 'Deborah's Song', p. 160. 2. So especially Y. Zakovitch, 'Sisseras Tod', ZAW 93 (1981), pp. 364-74, who argued on the basis of a comparison of Judg. 4-5 with similar accounts in Esther, Judith, the Samson and Delilah story, and Song of Songs. Sexual overtones in the phrase rrtn }'D 'between her feet' were picked up by the rabbinic interpreters (Zakovitch, 'Sisseras Tod', p. 367), and elaborated in Pseudo-Philo's version of Jael's story as well as in Judith (Lindars, 'Deborah's Song', p. 174). 3. Bal, Murder and Difference, pp. 105-106, 121. Bal does, however, make use of both maternal and sexual overtones in her interpretation of the two accounts. 4. Note the crude depiction of a captive woman as a Dm, 'womb', for the victor's pleasure (5.30), and Bal's treatment of the imagery's force (Murder and Difference, p. 134).
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prose narrative and the psalm.1 The Song of Deborah, however, does not so much change or challenge the preceding story as supplement it. Just as it fills in details of the battle lacking from the prose, it also describes the tribes' varying degrees of involvement, a subject ignored by the narrative which focuses on the interactions of individuals. Just as the psalm's exuberant mood finds expression in praise of Yahweh, so it also delights in and lingers over the scene of the enemy's destruction. Webb summarized the effect: The song assumes the reader's familiarity with the events which have just been narrated. The well-known facts are alluded to obliquely rather than being re-presented in detail: Deborah is cryptically referred to as 'a mother in Israel' (cf. 4.4-6), Sisera first appears, without explanation, in 5.20 (cf. 4.2-3), and so on. At other points, however, the song takes up elements from the story and elaborates upon them, giving them a dramatic force they lack in the body of the narrative. Thus Deborah's brief rhetorical question in 4.14, 'Hasn't Yahweh gone forth (K:r) before you?', finds its counterpart in the majestic picture of Yahweh going forth (R:T) from Seir as the divine warrior in 5.4-5, and the summary treatment of the battle in 4.15 finds its counterpart in the dramatic scene of 5.19-22: kings-stars-the river-pounding horsehooves.2
In its narrative context, the psalm enriches the spare and deliberate narrative with thematic vibrancy through the voice of Deborah the prophetess. The result is not so much contradiction as thematic enhancement. The thematic role of the Deborah episode within the larger context of the book of Judges is defined by the introductory summary (4.1-3) and the final chronological notice (5.31c), which designate Judges 4-5 as another account of how Yahweh used charismatic deliverers to rescue Israel. Beyond these boundaries, the Song of Deborah has few thematic links to the rest of the book. The psalm does, however, highlight interactions between the tribes and reveals some disunity, this is the first mention of a theme which reaches prominent proportions later in Judges.3 1. Amit's emphasis on their similarities ('The change in point of view endows the poem with the complementary status of recitation and repetition of the purpose by the heroes of the narrative world. Deborah and Barak, the speakers of the poem, repeat the message of the story explicity and openly' ['Judges 4', p. 103]) ignored the differences in detail and theme between the two accounts. 2. Webb, Book of Judges, p. 139. 3. Webb, Book of Judges, p. 199.
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Characterization The depiction of Deborah in Judges 4 is enhanced in several ways by ch. 5. The psalm characterizes Deborah directly as a 'mother in Israel' whose initiative led to the people's deliverance from oppression (5.7), and as a singer of war songs in battle (5.12). Both are consistent with her characterization in 4.4 as a prophetess: Poethig pointed out on the basis of 2 Sam. 20.19 that the title b«ito'3 DK 'mother in Israel' was linked to oracular authority, and she showed that a major function of women prophets throughout the ancient Near East was to accompany the army into battle, 'spurring the warriors on with shouts, oracles of victory, abusive verse directed at the enemy, and music'.1 The two chapters present different aspects of Deborah's prophetic activity. The prose narrative depicts her as delivering oracles of victory (4.6-7) and of punishment (4.9). The Song of Deborah preserves her role as a singer of war and victory songs. This characterization of Deborah is made not only by the psalm's contents, but also by its placement in Deborah's mouth (5.1). Bal argued that the song is the ultimate expression of the judge's word.2 This insight correctly links the poem's relationship to the narrative with the role of Deborah in both, but the links between victory songs and prophecy in other texts suggest that the psalm is fundamentally a prophetic word.3 According to the psalm's superscription, however, Deborah is not the only speaker. The credit for the poem is given to Barak along with
1. E.B. Poethig, 'The Victory Song Tradition of the Women of Israel' (PhD dissertation, Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1985), p. 192; on 'mother in Israel', see pp. 132-33, 184-84. She noted that Judg. 5 is the only Hebrew Victory Song to provide internal evidence for its performance (p. 127). 'Judges 5 assumes a "lead woman" as singer to lead forth the troops, but a group is also present calling on her to "awake" and on Barak to "rise up". .. The primary role of Deborah in Judges 5 is as military strategist and prophet; however, she performs those functions through her presence and her oracular encouragement which assure the troops that Yahweh is with them. The mode of delivery includes "uttering a song"' (pp. 13536). In her conclusion, Poethig retreated from claiming a necessary connection between women prophets and victory songs, but left the possibility open (p. 227). 2. 'What the lyric song could not say, it was: word of the judge—the right word. That is how poetry is defined, even today' (Bal, Murder and Difference, p. 59; the italics are Bal's). 3. The distinction between prophet and judge is probably anachronistic for the time of Deborah, perhaps less so at the time of the narrative's composition.
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Deborah.1 Barak's inclusion reverses to some extent his negative characterization in the prose narrative which is due to his refusal to enter battle without Deborah (4.8-9). Despite not getting credit for his enemy's death, Barak is here depicted as still able to praise Yahweh and celebrate the victory. The joining together of the two Israelite leaders in singing this hymn shows once again that ch. 4's juxtaposition of the female characters (Deborah, Jael) with the male characters (Barak, Sisera) is not operative in Judges 5. The psalm's characterization of Yahweh adds considerable detail and color to the restrained depiction of divine actions in the narrative. Whereas the prose restricts its references to God to the bare minimum necessary to make the causal relations explicit,2 the psalm contains a vivid theophany of Yahweh's advance from Seir (5.4-5) and of nature's role in the battle (5.20-21), implicitly by divine instigation.3 Thus the characterization of Yahweh, like the other thematic links between the chapters, is enriched and diversified by the psalm. Summary The narrative role of Deborah's Song is restricted for the most part to Judges 4-5. Beyond these chapters, the psalm contains reminders of the tribal lists in Judges 1, and anticipates the tribal discord of the latter part of the book. Apart from such thematic allusions, however, the psalm's role is limited to the immediate narrative context.
1. The suggestion has frequently been made that DBJOirp p~ai, 'and Barak ben Abinoam', is a later addition (G.F. Moore, Judges [ICC; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1895], p. 136; K. Budde, Das Buck der Richter [Freiburg: Mohr, 1897], p. 39; J.A. Soggin, Judges: A Commentary [trans. J. Bowden; London: SCM Press, 1981], p. 84). That is possible, but it is not required by the third feminine singular verb "itfm 'and she sang'; third singular verbs appear frequently before compound subjects (GKC §146g). 2. The only directly narrated divine actions are the ~oo 'selling' of Israel (4.2), Dan 'confusion' of Sisera and his army (4.15), and the WD 'humbling' of Jabin (4.23). Otherwise, Yahweh's actions are predicted in Deborah's speeches (4.6-7, 9, 14). 3. The lack of explicit connection between the actions of the stars and the Wadi Kishon and Yahweh in w. 20-21 led H.-P. Miiller to find a non-Yahwistic war epic behind many parts of the poem ('Der Aufbau des Deboraliedes', VT 16 [1966], p. 452). In the context of the finished psalm and even more of the narrative context, however, the implication of Yahweh's control of stars and river is required.
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The Song of Deborah concludes the Deborah-Barak episode. It is separated from the plot action by the narrative summary and its own superscription, and has no effect on either the preceding or subsequent plot. Thematically, however, it is closely linked with the preceding narrative. The psalm does not repeat so much as supplement the prose account with added details, emotions, scenes and characterizations. For readers of the two chapters in sequence, the almost inevitable result is a melding of the two accounts together into a single story. Methods of Interpretation The supplementary nature of the psalm's narrative role has led to a wide variety of diachronic theories of these chapters' origins. Two separate issues are at stake in the historical debates about these chapters: the history of their combination in relation to the editorial framework of the book of Judges, and the relationship between the composition of the prose narrative and the psalm. A third issue involves the relation of the prose introduction to the psalm which follows it. The framework of 4.1-3 and 5.31c marks the Deborah story as one in a long sequence of stories about 'judges' used by Yahweh to rescue Israel from oppression which was brought on by Israel's apostasy. The first historical question involves the temporal relationship between the psalm's inclusion with the prose Deborah narrative and the latter's assumption into the framework of Judges. The majority of modern interpreters argued that the poem and prose were already together before they were redacted as a unit into the larger framework.1 Some thought that the Deuteronomistic editor added the psalm at the time of the prose story's incorporation into the book.2 Rarely
1. Budde, Richter, p. 33; Boling, Judges, p. 30. M. Noth (The Deuteronomistic History [JSOTSup, 15; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1981], p. 45) credited to Dtr only the framework of the Deborah-Barak story: 4.la, 2, 3a and 5.3Ic. Presumably, then, the song was present in the previous tradition. W. Richter (Die Bearbeitungen des 'Retterbuches' in der Deuteronomischen Epoche [Bonn: P. Hanstein, 1964], p. 9) left open the possibility that the redactor found the psalm already in place, which he considered the simplest explanation, or that he added it himself. 2. J.A. Soggin, 'Bemerkungen zum Deboralied, Richter Kap. 5', TLZ 106 (1981), p. 634; idem, Judges, p. 79; for Richter's views, see the previous note.
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was the view espoused that the psalm is a post-Deuteronomistic addition.1 The above description of the Song of Deborah's narrative role accords well with the theory that the Deuteronomistic Historian found the psalm already connected with the narrative. The various types of connections between the psalm and the prose are almost all restricted to the immediately preceding narrative. There are only a few tenuous links with the rest of the book, and even less with the Deuteronomistic framework. The psalm does not seem to play an independent role within the larger book, but only functions as part and parcel of the Deborah episode. It seems likely then that the Song of Deborah was in a prose narrative context before its inclusion in the book of Judges. This, however, does not exhaust the diachronic issues surrounding the psalm. The historical relationship between the prose account of Judges 4 and the psalm in ch. 5 has been the subject of much discussion. Wellhausen, followed by many others, argued that the prose narrative about Deborah and Barak was composed on the basis of and as an explanation of the psalm.2 Halpern recently revived this thesis, arguing that 'Virtually no detail in Judges 4 is without an identifiable source; nearly all of them come from the poem, and from the historian's reconstruction of the event, based on a painstaking analysis of the poem'.3 The notion that a prose account could grow from a poem which it then incorporates is not far-fetched; the Appendix of the present study discusses the evidence for such developments in ancient Greek and Icelandic historiographical literature. The question is, does such a theory of the narrative's composition account adequately for the psalm's narrative role? A theory of the narrative's dependence on the Song of Deborah does indeed explain many details of the prose account. It does not, however, explain the underlying themes of Judges 4, which we have found to be focused on Barak's humiliation when Jael destroyed his enemy. This theme and the oracle upon which it is based are not found in the psalm. On the other hand, many details and scenes from the psalm are not reflected in the narrative. Although Judges 4 uses many details from Judges 5, it has its own point to make and borrows 1. Lindars, 'Deborah's Song', p. 159. 2. Wellhausen in Bleek, Einleitung, pp. 187-89; Stade, Geschichte Israels, I, pp. 178 n. 1; P.R. Ackroyd, 'The Composition of the Song of Deborah', VT 2 (1952), p. 162; Halpern, First Historians, pp. 78-82. 3. Halpern, First Historians, p. 82.
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selectively in order to make it. It is possible that the details derive from a common tradition behind both prose and poem, but the amount of borrowing makes the hypothesis of direct dependence more likely. However, the strong sense of difference which still prevails between narrative and psalm makes it extremely unlikely that the narrative was composed as an explanation and companion-piece to the poem. Judges 4 is rather a reworking of the psalm's tradition for different thematic and narrative purposes. The reunion of the poetic and prose traditions was therefore probably secondary to the composition of the prose account. A third issue involves the relationship of 5.1 to the psalm. The internal evidence of the Song of Deborah partially confirms and partially contradicts its ascription to Deborah and Barak. Verse 7b reads btnto'a DK Tinptf rrnin 'nnptf ID which in standard Hebrew means 'until I, Deborah, arose; I, a mother in Israel, arose' and confirms that Deborah is its author and singer.1 The Septuagint and other ancient versions, however, have a third person verb. As many interpreters have noted, the Hebrew verb '•nap could also be an archaic second feminine singular form.2 Each alternative accords with other parts of the psalm: the first person occurs in vv. 3 and 9; the second person (in the form of an imperative address to Deborah and Barak) appears in v. 12; the third person is used of Deborah and Barak in v. 15. On the basis of internal evidence, then, the Song of Deborah seems to be multi-voiced. 3 Though parts of it belong in Deborah and Barak's mouths, other parts do not. Boling suggested that 5.1 antedated the insertion of the psalm and originally introduced a short song, perhaps 5.31a-b.4 This theory accounts for the discrepancy, but it should be noted that several other poems in narrative contexts exhibit similar tensions.5 The other possibility, therefore, is that the introduction is 1. Following most commentators who take Tinptf as the relative particle tt) plus a perfect form of Dip, 'arise'. See e.g. Moore, Judges, pp. 144-45; Boling, Judges, p. 109. 2. For other instances of this form, see GKC §44h. 3. Weiser, 'Das Deboralied', p. 69; Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist, pp. 166-67. 4. Boling, Judges, p. 105. Opinions regarding Judg. 5.1 vary widely: Moore (Judges, p. 136) and Soggin (Judges, p. 84) considered it redactional; Budde (Richter, p. 39) thought it was older than the narrative context and inserted along with the psalm. 5. E.g. Exod. 15.13, 16-17 refers to the people of Israel, who are presumably
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not intended to be an exhaustive description of the singers, but simply serves to designate Deborah and Barak as the song leaders. Recently, several synchronic readings of the book of Judges as a whole were put forward.1 They did not, however, make claims regarding the composition of the book; that is, they did not argue that the same author composed psalm, prose narrative and framework. The readings instead focused on the meaning of the whole text in its final redacted form. The difficulty in positing a synchronic theory of the composition of Judges 4-5 derive partly from the relationship between story and framework, partly from the psalm itself.2 The Song of Deborah is clearly archaic in language and style,3 whereas the prose narrative is standard classical Hebrew, and the framework betrays Deuteronomistic formulas and concerns. A diachronic theory of composition therefore seems to be required. The psalm's narrative role is best explained by presuming that the Song of Deborah was composed first, served as a basis for a prose account with different thematic interests, was later combined together with that narrative, and still later came to be incorporated as a single unit into the redactional framework of the book of Judges. Intentions and Implications If the above reconstruction of its compositional history is correct, Judges 4-5 provides the earliest evidence in Hebrew literature for the singing the song, in the third person; Deut. 33 is ascribed to Moses, but 33.4 refers to him in the third person and employs a first person plural: 'Moses commanded law for us'; 2 Sam. 22, in David's mouth, uses the first person throughout but concludes with third person references to 'his king. .. his anointed. .. David' (v. 51). 1. Webb, Book of Judges; Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist, pp. 146-204. 2. Because of the eclectic nature of Judges, even as confirmed a proponent of synchronic composition as Radday did not apply the theory to this book: 'The very composite character of Judges precludes anything more than a rough chiasm' (Y.T. Radday, 'Chiasm in Joshua, Judges and Others', LB 27-28 [1973], p. 13). 3. In spite of some arguments to the contrary, the evidence for the psalm's early date seems decisive. W.F. Albright (Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan [Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968], p. 13), D.N. Freedman ('Early Israelite Poetry and Historical Reconstructions', in Pottey, Poetry and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry [Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980], pp. 169-70) and A. Globe ('Literary Structure', p. 499) placed its composition in the 12th century. For a later dating, see Soggin, 'Bemerkungen', pp. 635-36.
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placement of a psalm in a narrative context.1 Even a rough date for this development is impossible to determine, but it must have been prior to the composition of the Deuteronomistic History in the seventh to sixth centuries BCE. What then can Judges 4-5 tell us about the reasons behind the use of psalms in narrative contexts in that period? The use of the Song of Deborah in the context of the Deborah narrative enriches the latter with more explicit praise, celebration and ridicule than Hebrew prose narrative style usually contains. The narrator refrains from direct evaluative judgments, relying on indirection to convey to readers the perspective from which these events are to be viewed. The characters, however, observe no such limits and a poem in their mouths can contain the strongest statements of praise and blame, sorrow and delight. A similar combination of restrained prose third person narration of a historical event and exuberant first person victory poetry occurs in the roughly contemporaneous Piye Stela of the Egyptian 25th Dynasty, and is anticipated by Egyptian prose tales, myths and autobiographies of earlier millennia.2 These parallels raise the possibility that the development of realistic third person prose narration of historical subjects was a broad phenomenon affecting several first-millennium Near Eastern literatures, and that the restrictions placed on the narrator were part of the reason for the concentration of poetic materials in the mouths of characters. The evidence, consisting of one eighth-century Egyptian text and the corpus of Hebrew narrative, is too slim to do more than raise these possibilities. If further evidence should vindicate this hypothesis, however, it would mean that psalms in narrative contexts, far from being intrusions into the narrative mode, were required precisely to overcome
1. In the analysis of Exod. 15 in Chapter 3 above, no evidence was discovered for dating the placement of the Song of the Sea in a narrative context prior to the composition of P in or after the sixth century BCE, but its inclusion at an earlier date remains possible. 2. See the Appendix. The Piye Stela dates from c. 734 BCE. A 12th century prose myth, Horns and Seth, concludes with a celebratory hymn spoken by Isis. Egyptian prose compositions are extant from the third millenium BCE on, a fact ignored by scholars who postulate the origins of Hebrew prose genres in Israel's unique religious beliefs (e.g. S. Talmon, 'The "Comparative Method" in Biblical Interpretation—Principles and Problems', Congress Volume, Gottingen [VTSup, 29; Leiden: Brill, 1978], p. 354; Alter, Art of Biblical Narrative [New York: Basic Books, 1981], pp. 25-26).
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the limitations which Hebrew and Egyptian realistic narrative imposed. Through Deborah's voice raised in song, the writer was able to express feelings of praise, condemnation and delight which were denied to the narrator by the conventions of narrative discourse. Through the addition of the psalm to the prose narrative, the combined account was able to achieve a degree of thematic and emotional explicitness not available in Hebrew prose narrative alone. This does not explain why a psalm was added precisely here and nowhere else in the Judges narratives. The fact that a relevant psalm already existed was probably the major factor in determining its addition to the Deborah narrative. The act of combining them should not, however, be characterized as simply a compilation of topically similar but genetically heterogeneous materials. The Egyptian parallels suggest that this earliest Hebrew combination of psalm and narrative was itself governed by established literary conventions, no less than the independent composition of the poem and the prose had been. The view of psalmody and its use, which this earliest example of a Hebrew psalm in a narrative context exemplifies, has many points in contact with the use of psalmody in other ancient Near Eastern literatures. First, the psalm is used to conclude the episode on a note of high emotion in Judges 5, the Piye Stela, and the myth of Horus and Seth, and is analogous to the role of hymnic epilogues in some Mesopotamian epics (see the Appendix). Second, Judges 4-5 and the Piye Stela not only use poems in similar ways, but they use them for similar occasions, namely victory celebrations. The prevalence of this theme in many of the Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts (Exod. 15; Judg. 5; 1 Sam. 2; 2 Sam. 22) and the tendency of both Egyptian and Mesopotamian victory texts to mix narrative and hymnic elements (see the Appendix) shows that the mixture of psalms with narrative was considered particularly appropriate for rendering the subject of victory. Psalms are portrayed as the natural form for celebration to take. Third, the Song of Deborah shares with some other Near Eastern texts an appreciation of the role of women prophets in encouraging the fighters and commemorating the victory.1 All these observations indicate that the placement of a psalm in the Deborah episode was neither an arbitrary act of editorial compilation 1. For a discussion of women's roles in victory celebrations in parallels from the seventh-century Neo-Assyrian court of Esarhaddon and Ashurbannipal, see Poethig, 'Victory Song Tradition', p. 192.
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nor a sudden literary innovation, but was rather a manifestation of a broad literary tradition on the use of hymns in victory texts which reflected common assumptions regarding the nature of narrative and psalmody. When it first appeared in a form preserved in the Hebrew Bible, the tradition of placing psalms in narrative contexts seems already to have been well developed.
Chapter 6
DAVID'S THANKSGIVING (2 SAMUEL 22)
The psalm placed in David's mouth in 2 Samuel 22 also appears, with only minor variations, in the Psalter as Psalm 18. In this regard it is unique among the psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible.1 The fact that the psalm was preserved in tradition both within and apart from a narrative context sharpens the question of its role in the narrative and its implications for the history of Israelite psalmody. Narrative Role The narrative role of David's Thanksgiving is obscured by its position within a block of material (2 Sam. 21-24) which is only loosely connected internally and to the surrounding account. Thus issues of plot, semantic and thematic links, and characterization must be pursued at two levels: within the so-called 'appendix' to Samuel, and within the larger context of the books of Samuel and Kings. Plot Relations The latter half of 2 Samuel focuses on personal struggles within David's family and the political chaos that results from them. After the stories of David and Bathsheba (chs. 11-12) and of Absalom's murder of Amnon (chs. 13-14), the accounts of Absalom's revolt (chs. 15-19) closely followed by Sheba's rebellion (ch. 20) are the center of attention. Then 21.1-14 tells of a three-year famine 'in the days of David' due to Saul's destruction of the Gibeonites. David hands over for execution seven of Saul's descendents to alleviate the blood-guilt and famine, but protects Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth. 2 Sam. 21.15-22 contains brief accounts of the heroics of David's 1. 1 Chron. 16.8-36 shares material with three different Psalms, but does not appear in the Psalter as a single text.
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men in the Philistine wars, including one story in which David is saved by Abishai and is urged no longer to endanger himself by going personally into battle. David's psalm of thanksgiving (2 Sam. 22) is then introduced by a superscription: "Then David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song on the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, and he said'. In the psalm, the speaker (who in context is David, but is not named until the last verse) acclaims Yahweh as his rock and savior from enemies (22.2-4) and from death (vv. 5-7). Yahweh's theophany is described in vivid thunderstorm imagery (vv. 8-16) and Yahweh's rescue of David is re-emphasized (vv. 17-20). David describes himself as righteous and therefore deserving of deliverance (vv. 21-25), and Yahweh is described as faithful to those 'who take refuge in him' (vv. 26-31). Yahweh, the rock, is the one who trained David for war, gave him success in battle (vv. 32-43), and subjugated nations to him (vv. 44-49). The psalm ends with a vow of praise (v. 50) and a final summary of Yahweh's support for 'his king.. .his anointed.. .David' (v. 51). Chapter 23 introduces a second poem (vv. 1-7) as 'the last words of David' (23.la). It emphasizes Yahweh's support of just rulers and the eternal covenant made with David. The rest of the chapter (vv. 8-39) contains additional stories of the Philistine wars and lists of David's soldiers, including one account illustrating their fearless obedience to his most casual wish (vv. 13-17). The story of David's census and the divine punishment which it prompted (24.1-25) concludes with the purchase of Araunah's threshing floor to serve as the site of an altar and, eventually, the Temple. The first two chapters of 1 Kings contain the final episode from David's life, the palace intrigue that surrounded his death and Solomon's succession. David's Thanksgiving is not anticipated anywhere in the plot of 2 Samuel, nor is it referred to subsequently. The psalm's temporal setting 'in the day when Yahweh rescued him from all his enemies and Saul' is quite vague, though its position in the larger Samuel narrative, after David has survived serious external and internal challenges to his rule, is plausible.1 It is matched by vague temporal notices introducing other material in chs. 21-24: 'in the days of David' (21.1), 'there was war with the Philistines again' (21.15, 18, 19, 20). The material does 1.
K. Budde, Die Biicher Samuel (KHAT, 8; Tubingen: Mohr, 1902), p. 313.
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not seem to be arranged sequentially, mixing as it does episodes from the Philistine wars with David's 'last words'. The narrative offers no real indications as to when the famine, census or David's 'rest' from warfare occurred. Instead of sequential narrative, the contents of 2 Samuel 21-24 are arranged in a chiastic pattern in which the thematically similar stories of the famine (21.1-14) and census (24.1-25) form a matched pair, separated by the exploits and lists of David's soldiers (21.15-22; 23.838), which are themselves split by the two poems (22.1-51; 23.1-7).1 Thus pairs of texts are nested three deep in these chapters, one pair within another. Semantic and Thematic Links Although David's Thanksgiving has no plot connection with its context, its vocabulary and emphases link it closely to some other Samuel texts. The psalm shares with 'The Last Words of David', which immediately follows it, not only poetic form but also some distinctive vocabularly. In both, Yahweh is described as TIX 'a rock, mountain' (2 Sam. 22.3, 32, 47 [2x]; 23.3), David is the rreta 'anointed one' (22.51; 23.1), and the enemy is bi^a 'a hellfiend' (22.5; 23.6).2 Thematic links are revealed by the following phrases: God makes David stand Tron "?u 'upon (my) heights' (22.34),3 and David is called •» Dpn nnjn 'the man whom the Most High elevated' (23.1);4 David calls Yahweh TJ 'my lamp' (22.29), and ipa -1110 'like morning light' 1. This pattern was recognized by interpreters long before chiasm in Hebrew composition became a major subject of attention. See H.P. Smith, The Books of Samuel (ICC; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909 [1899]), p. xxvii; Budde, Biicher Samuel, p. 304. 2. For this translation of 'yybz, see P.K. McCarter, Jr, 2 Samuel (AB, 9; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984), p. 373. 3. M. Dahood argued that after plural nouns, this suffix is third person singular and the word should probably be vocalized bamotey here and in Hab. 3.19 (Psalms I [AB, 16; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965], p. 115). The LXX, followed by most commentators, omits the pronominal suffix. 4. MT's pointing *7i? Dpn makes it 'who was elevated on high', but cf. 4QSama "?K D'pn 'whom God elevated'. For the above translation, see T.N.D. Mettinger (' "The Last Words of David": A Study of Structure and Meaning in 2 Samuel 23.17', SEA 41-42 [1976-77], p. 149). G. del Olmo Lete considered the alternatives 'equally sound' ('David's Farewell Oracle (2 Samuel XXIII 1-7): A Literary Analysis', VT 34 [1984], p. 415).
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(23.4). In both poems, David credits Yahweh for utf' 'saving' him (22.3,4,28, 36,42,47; 23.5), and proclaims the eternality of Yahweh's support for him and his descendents (22.51; 23.5).1 Overall, however, 2 Sam. 23.1-7 emphasizes different themes from those emphasized by the psalm. Its description of David as prophet and singer (23.1) and its didactic concern with the just ruler (23.3) set a different tone from the celebration in ch. 22 of Yahweh's personal support for David.2 J.-L. Vesco observed that the depiction of David in the Last Words is more like the Chronicler's picture of him.3 David's Thanksgiving has few significant semantic links with the rest of 2 Sam. 21-24. The word 11^ 'rock, mountain', which is used four times in the psalm as a divine title, appears in the narrative of the execution of Saul's sons to describe the place where their bodies were exposed (21.10). In 21.17, David is called the bmftp -u 'lamp of Israel', but in the psalm he calls Yahweh m 'my lamp' (22.29). rrrajQ 'stronghold' also describes Yahweh's protection in the psalm, but is used more literally in the subsequent narrative of David's fortified position near Bethlehem (23.14). These connections are minimal, but do suggest that the psalm creates deeper meanings for both words and events from the surrounding material. A note of ambivalence regarding David's actions marks the narratives of the 'appendix' (as well as most of the latter half of 2 Samuel):4 the actions of Rizpah (21.10) evoke sympathy for Saul's family not 1. On these thematic and semantic links between the poems, see G.T. Sheppard, Wisdom as a Hermeneutical Construct (BZAW, 151; Berlin: De Gruyter, 1980), pp. 149-50; J.-L. Vesco, 'Le Psaume 18, Lecture Davidique', RB 94 (1987), p. 55. 2. Sheppard considered both poems' emphasis on the king's 'righteousness' (22.21 Tip-«; 23.3 pns) their 'most significant shared feature' (Wisdom, p. 150). The verbal parallel, however, disguises the difference between 22.21-25's focus on David's personal piety and 23.3's description of the 'just' ruler (which Sheppard later acknowledges in terms of the contrast between the demands of Torah and wisdom [Wisdom, 157]). The distinction is, of course, not absolute, but it nevertheless points out the different orientation of the two poems, even when they use the same vocabulary. 3. Vesco, 'Psaume 18', pp. 55-56. 4. The narratives of 2 Sam. 21-24 are not thematically very different from those which precede them in 2 Samuel (see R.A. Carlson, David the Chosen King [Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1964], pp. 195-97). What distinguishes these chapters as a separate block of material is their interruption of the temporal sequence.
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only from David but also from the readers; David's brush with death in battle (21.15-17) tarnishes his image as a warrior and prompts a rebuke from his own soldiers; David's reputation as a soldier is further reduced when one of his men is given credit for killing Goliath (21.19), a feat which a previous Samuel narrative had credited to David (1 Sam. 17); and the ambivalence is most marked in ch. 24, where David's census brings a plague upon his people but his piety also alleviates it. The psalm, however, reflects none of this. Instead it celebrates Yahweh's support for David and his wars as due to the king's worthiness and purity (22.21-25). Most interpreters have argued that David's Thanksgiving works harmoniously with the other material in chs. 21-24. Hertzberg suggested that the psalm was placed directly after the last story of David in battle (21.15-17) as an explanation of his career as a warrior,1 while Childs thought that this 'description of his weakness serves to shift the focus of this summary of David's achievements away from his glorification and forms a transition to his praise of God in ch. 22'.2 J.W. Whedbee saw all the material in chs. 21-24 as thematically focused on legitimating aspects of David's reign.3 Carlson argued that both poems fill a function completely in accord with that of the surrounding material. The psalm of thanksgiving in chapter 22 fits in with the retrospective character of the interpolation, while 23.1-7. .. harmonizes with the futural aspect most clearly expressed in chapter 24 which prepares for the building of the temple.4
He suggested that 2 Sam. 22.1-23.7 lends 'depth, by its description of the ideally "righteous" king, to the Deuteronomists' criticism of David 1. H.W. Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel (OTL; trans. J.S. Bowden; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964), p. 393. 2. B.S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), p. 274. 3. J.W. Whedbee, 'On Divine and Human Bonds: The Tragedy of the House of David', in G.M. Tucker, D.L. Peterson and R.R. Wilson (eds.), Canon, Theology, and Old Testament Interpretation (Festschrift B.S. Childs; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988), p. 163. He suggested that 21.1-14 justifies David's treatment of Saul's family, 21.15-22 and 23.9-17 highlight David's military successes against the Philistines, the psalm (esp. vv. 17-31) celebrates the bonds between God and David, 23.1-7 emphasizes the link between just rule and the Davidic covenant, and ch. 24 justifies the selection of the Temple site. 4. Carlson, David, p. 227.
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in these traditions'.1 W. Brueggemann also interpreted chs. 21-24 as an implied critique of David: 'He is a king not marked by sedaqa and tamim. The deliverance and victory of the psalm are not due to his royal person, but to the incredible fidelity of Yahweh'.2 These readings ignored the marked change in tone introduced by the poetic mode and celebrative content of David's Thanksgiving. In the narratives, the king is the center of attention; even when the focus is on his soldiers, as in 21.15-22 and 23.8-39, it is their status as David's servants which calls attention to them. God appears in the narratives only rarely (21.1, 14; 24.1, 25) and then simply to set up the conditions for the subsequent account of David's actions. In the psalm, on the other hand, the figure of the king is matched by vivid descriptions of Yahweh's actions and motives. This thematic contrast between the depiction of Yahweh in psalm and prose is familiar from other psalms in narrative contexts such as Exod. 15.1-21 and 1 Sam. 2.1-10. The effect of the combination of David's Thanksgiving with the rest of 2 Samuel 21-24 is also similar: the psalm makes explicit the divine causality behind all of David's successes and focuses attention on Yahweh as the primary subject of the Samuel narratives. By refocusing on God, the psalm does not dismiss the critiques of David that inform the latter half of 2 Samuel, but rather draws attention to a more fundamental issue, Yahweh's actions and purposes.3 Links between 2 Samuel 22 and other parts of the books of Samuel have been explored by a number of interpreters. The psalm's concluding reference to Yahweh's support for David's descendents cbw~~M 'forever' (22.51), as well as the allusion to the cbw nna 'eternal covenant' in 23.5, brings to readers' minds the account of the establish1. Carlson, David, p. 257. 2. W. Brueggemann, '2 Samuel 21-24: An Appendix of Deconstruction?', CBQ 50 (1988), p. 389. 3. The opposite view, that nothing but aesthetic interests motivated the chiastic structure of 2 Sam. 21-24, has been maintained by M. Steinberg: 'It is suggestive that the most conspicuous and large scale instance of chiasm in Samuel applies to a hodgepodge that has the least pretensions to literariness and, even with the artificial design thrown in, hardly coheres as more than an appendix' (The Poetics of Biblical Narrative [Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985], p. 40); 'The appendix . .. deliberately subordinates expository to aesthetic coherence, business to pleasure' (p. 42). On the contrary, the thematic tension regarding David is evidence for a thoroughgoing expository interest behind the arrangement and position of the 'appendix'.
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ment of the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7. Whedbee argued that chs. 21-24 as a whole correspond to 2 Samuel 5-9 and serve to reaffirm the legitimacy of David's rule.1 Brueggemann, on the other hand, suggested that the last chapters of Samuel function as a counterweight to royal theology, urging a return to more egalitarian government in Israel.2 David's Thanksgiving, however, puts more emphasis on the personal relationship of Yahweh to David than it does on modes of government. Although royal theology is clearly present in the psalm, its interest in David goes far beyond his political importance.3 Its focus, instead, seems to be on his personal piety and, in this context, royal ideology has become part of a broader theological interpretation of the figure of David. The vocabulary used to describe God at the beginning of the psalm, David's "il2i 'rock, mountain', a*7D 'cliff, crag', and mixo 'stronghold' (2 Sam. 22.2-3), is used more literally of David's hiding places from Saul in 1 Sam. 22.4-5; 23.25, 28; 24.2, 23.4 The same set of stories is linked to the psalm (22.21, 25) by the theme of David's righteousness: Saul acknowledges it (1 Sam. 24.18) and David refers to it to explain Yahweh's support for him (note the close verbal link between 1 Sam. 26.23 inpi:rn» &tf? y& mm 'Yahweh pays back a person according to his righteousness' and 2 Sam. 22.25 TptXD '"? mrr yti^ 'Yahweh payed me back according to my righteousness').5 The psalm's language thus combines with the reference to Saul in the superscription to evoke the period of David's flight from Saul as the experience reflected in the first part of the psalm. The effect of the psalm is to transform the literal language of the narratives into metaphors of 1. 'Most of the modes of legitimation initially represented in 2 Samuel 5-8 receive decisive reaffirmation here at the end of David's career. Hence these chapters function powerfully to bring to a climax central themes at work in David's reign and to set the stage for the Solomonic succession' (Whedbee, 'Divine and Human Bonds', p. 163). 2. Whereas 2 Sam. 5-8 is 'a literary enactment across the threshold from traditional Yahwism toward "centralized supra- and extratribal administration [which] signaled class and social distinctions", so the appendix is a dramatic invitation to go back across that threshold to an egalitarian covenantal mode of life' (Brueggemann, '2 Samuel 21-24', p. 395). 3. A similar point could be made regarding most of the Samuel narratives. 4. E. Slomovic, 'Toward an Understanding of the Formation of Historical Tides in the Book of Psalms', ZAW 91 (1979), p. 368. 5. Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 157.
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Yahweh's protection of David and to make explicitly clear that it was not the accidents of geography and war but rather God's relationship with David which brought him to the throne of Israel. The links between 2 Samuel 22 and its narrative contexts, both immediate and extended, are sparse by comparison with its many verbal and thematic connections with Hannah's Song at the other end of the books of Samuel. The links between the two psalms are listed in Chapter 2 above. These specific parallels can now be supplemented with the more general observation that the two psalms function thematically in their contexts in similar ways. David's Thanksgiving, like Hannah's Song, makes explicit statements regarding Yahweh's control over events. Both psalms raise the subtle and implicit indicators of divine providence contained in the Samuel narratives to the level of overt assertion. 1 Sam. 2.1-10 is the more general of the two, making only passing reference to David, while 2 Samuel 22 focuses at length on Yahweh's sponsorship of this king. The overall effect, however, is the same. Thus the books of Samuel contain at either end explicit expositions of their thematic contents, in the form of celebratory psalms. The psalms do not reflect the subtlety of the narrative and so miss many thematic nuances which the prose preserves. Instead, they expound a basic theme with poetic claims that cannot be misunderstood: Yahweh's purposes were accomplished through David.1 David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22 contains a number of points of contact with the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, both semantic (such as the frequent use of ~rra 'rock, mountain' as a divine title) and thematic.2 The similarities in the contexts in which both psalms appear are striking. 2 Sam. 22.1, ruwn rrrtfn naTrw.. .in -am 'then David spoke. ..the words of this song', introduces the psalm in language very reminiscent of Deut. 31.30, nun rrptfn »-QTnn... nizta ~i:m 'then Moses spoke.. .the words of this song'.3 David's Thanksgiving, like the Song of Moses, is immediately followed by another poem 1. Childs, Introduction, p. 278. 2. Cf., e.g., the following phrases: 2 Sam. 22.31 mrr rnoR "DTI n'on^Kn fierce 'God's ways are perfect, Yahweh's sayings refined'; Deut. 32.4 D'nn TUffi cseta VDTI *» o VWB 'the work of the Rock is perfect, for all his ways are just'. 3. Budde, Bucher Samuel, p. 214; A.F. Kirkpatrick, The Book of Psalms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1903), p. 86. Cf. also Exod. 15.1 ran rrv«frm *aofir »m ntfa-ptf' m 'then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song'.
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credited to the same speaker but in a more testamentary genre. The psalms appear in the mouths of two of Israel's greatest heroes, and both are placed shortly before the speaker's death is narrated. Both psalms are part of larger blocks of variegated material (2 Samuel 21-24; Deuteronomy 31-34) which interpreters have often considered appendices to the main works. The result for a reader of the Deuteronomistic History in its entirety is that David's Thanksgiving and its context cannot help but be reminiscent of the end of Deuteronomy.1 The language used in the pietistic depiction of David in 2 Sam. 22.21-25 reappears in references to David in 1 Kings. The roots pn^ 'righteous' (22.21) and onn 'whole' (22.24) are applied to David in 1 Kgs 9.4. David's reputation for D*DTT "IDE) 'keeping the ways' of God (22.22) and obeying God's D'pn 'commandments' (22.23) is reflected in 1 Kgs 11.33 and 38.2 The use of this vocabulary is not surprising, since it is standard Deuteronomic fare. The comparison, however, serves to point out that whereas the psalm's depiction of David may be in some tension with the narratives of Samuel, it is reinforced in the narratives of Kings. Characterization The psalm in 2 Samuel 22 is placed in David's mouth and contains many first person references. It therefore characterizes David both directly, by describing him, and indirectly, by revealing his thoughts and feelings. The psalm's direct descriptions paint David in exalted terms. He is righteous and pure, observant of God's judgments and statues, and avoids evil (22.21-25). He is a mighty warrior (22.30) and conqueror of many peoples (22.44-46). One might expect that such claims in David's own mouth would indirectly characterize him as boastful and proud. This effect, however, is ameliorated because the psalm regularly credits Yahweh for David's military and political successes. In fact, the psalm's characterization of Yahweh is almost entirely in terms of his actions on behalf of David (the description is generalized 1. This comparison has been frequently commented upon by interpreters: see Budde, Bucher Samuel, p. 315; Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel, pp. 399, 415; Carlson, David, pp. 227-28, 246; P.R. Ackroyd, The Second Book of Samuel (CBC; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), pp. 203-204; Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 150; McCarter, 2 Samuel, pp. 18-19; Vesco, 'Psaume 18', pp. 54-55. 2. Childs, Introduction, p. 293.
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for other worshipers only in 22.26-28, 31-32). The psalm's depiction of David is summed up in 22.21: 'Yahweh renders to me according to my righteousness'. In a somewhat different way, this lesson is reinforced and applied more generally by the Last Words of David in 23.3-4. The point for both poems seems to be that because David was uniquely devoted to Yahweh (so the psalm) or a just ruler (so the Last Words), Yahweh supported him to a unique degree. The relationship between the psalm's characterization of David and that in the Samuel narratives is complicated. On the one hand, the psalm's glorification of Israel's second king contrasts harshly with narratives that depict him committing murder to marry Bathsheba, depending on a mercenary army to retain his rebellious kingdom, and being unable to control the subversive political activities of his own sons. On the other hand, the stories in 2 Samuel acknowledge David's military exploits and extensive political power, and repeatedly note David's heartfelt piety (2 Sam. 12.13-23; 15.25-26, 30-31; 24.17). The psalm thus elaborates and reinforces positive assessments of David already indicated in the prose, but omits the narrative's frank description of his darker side. Carlson suggested that the juxtaposition of the psalm's bright characterization of David with the narrative's more critical point of view deepens the book's critique of David by presenting an ideal Davidic king to contrast with the real one.1 The effect of the psalm's presence, however, seems to improve David's image rather than denigrate him. G.T. Sheppard therefore argued that the Samuel 'appendix' as a whole and the poems in particular serve to restrict the interpretive focus of the previous narrative 'purely in terms of what it says about David'.2 The psalm serves as a theological commentary on David's life, and characterizing David is its primary function.3 This view accords well with the semantic and thematic links between the psalm and the narrative discussed above. In each case, the psalm takes literal language from the stories of David's life and transforms it into metaphors for Yahweh's support for David. The parallel between 2 Samuel 21-24 and Deuteronomy 31-34 supports this interpretation as well: just as Moses is characterized as the ideal prophet, so David is cast as the
1. Carlson, David, pp. 253, 257. 2. Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 146. 3. Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 393; Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 149.
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ideal king.1 This ideal is used in the subsequent narratives of Kings, not to critique David's rule, but that of his successors. The result is more than simply a poetic recapitulation of David's positive achievements. David's Thanksgiving, together with Hannah's Song and the Last Words, enunciates a vision of David as the ideal king which has more to do with Yahweh's relationship to him than with the particulars of David's career. In this way, they superimpose an idealized characterization of him on the detailed narratives of his reign. Summary David's Thanksgiving shares several features in common with the psalms in preceding narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible, such as the psalm's lack of plot role and its juxtaposition in tone with the prose context. The psalm in 2 Samuel 22, like Hannah's Song, makes fewer explicit references to the narrative than do the Songs of the Sea or of Deborah. Its vocabulary stock, however, is sprinkled with allusions to the prose accounts, and its depictions of Yahweh's actions on David's behalf allow the readers to draw many parallels with the more specific narratives of David's career. Like preceding psalms in narrative contexts, 2 Samuel 22 characterizes Yahweh at length, but, unlike them, characterization of the speaker assumes the predominant role. The whole narrative role of this psalm is the depiction of David and, specifically, his close relationship with Yahweh. Semantic and thematic allusions to the narrative and to other psalms all serve to expand the characterization of David, as does the psalm's form as an individual thanksgiving.2 The narrative role of David's Thanksgiving is therefore to characterize David as Yahweh's favorite and Israel's ideal king.
1. Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 155. 2. The form-critical description of 2 Sam. 22/Ps. 18 is not straightforward, owing to the mixture of forms within the psalm. It is nevertheless clear that elements of an individual and/or royal psalm of thanksgiving predominate, even if the psalm's final form has been modified by other elements. For further discussion of the psalm's form, see H.-J. Kraus, Psalmen (BKAT, 15; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1960), I, p. 140; A.A. Anderson, 2 Samuel (WBC, 11; Dallas: Word Books, 1989), p. 262.
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The nature and organization of the materials in 2 Samuel 21—24 has led to a sharp conflict between diachronic and synchronic interpretations of David's Thanksgiving in its context. The degree of intentionality which interpreters found in the Samuel 'appendix' determined their views on whether the material is of a historically unified or composite nature. The older critical view, which has continued to attract the majority of commentators, maintained that the narratives which now introduce and conclude the section (21.1-14; 24.1-25) were first placed one after the other at this point in the larger account. They were then separated by the subsequent insertion of the lists and war narratives (21.15-22; 23.8-39), which were at a still later date themselves divided by the insertion of the two poems (22.1-23.7).1 There has been less agreement on when this process took place. Budde suggested that the two narratives were inserted by the Deuteronomists while the rest were post-Deuteronomistic insertions,2 but Noth argued that the whole section was a post-Deuteronomistic creation prompted by the division of the Deuteronomistic History into separate books.3 McCarter agreed that the material was a post-Deuteronomistic insertion, but argued on text-critical grounds that it preceded the division into books.4 Others, however, maintained that the chiastic arrangement of 2 Samuel 21-24 indicates that a single editor was responsible for the combination and insertion in this location of everything in the chapters. Again, advocates of this approach disagreed among themselves about what kind of individual (author, editor) was responsible and 1. This theory, originally put forward in 1899 and 1902 by Smith (Samuel, pp. xxvii, 373) and Budde (Biicher Samuel, p. 304), respectively, has been followed by M. Noth (The Deuteronomistic History [trans. H.G.M. Williamson; JSOTSup, 50; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987 [1943], pp. 124-25 n. 3), Ackroyd (Second Book of Samuel, p. 193), McCarter (2 Samuel, pp. 18-19), D. Damrosch (The Narrative Covenant: Transformations of Genre in the Growth of Biblical Literature [San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987], pp. 237-38) and Anderson (2 Samuel, p. 248). 2. Budde, Biicher Samuel, p. 304. 3. Noth, Deuteronomistic History, pp. 124-25 n. 3. 4. McCarter, 2 Samuel, p. 17. He pointed out that the Lucianic recension of the LXX divides Samuel from Kings differently than the MT, but has the 'appendix' in the same place.
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when the materials were placed at the end of Samuel. Carlson argued that the Deuteronomists were responsible for the shape of these chapters as well as much of the rest of the books of Samuel.1 Radday suggested that the relationship between 2 Samuel 22 and 1 Samuel 2.1-10, among other things, indicates that a single author was responsible for all of Samuel.2 Sheppard, on the other hand, considered chs. 21—24 to be among the very last additions made to Samuel, preparing it to serve as an authoritative religious book in conscious imitation of Deuteronomy.3 The clash between theories of diachronic development within the materials in 2 Samuel 21-24 and assessments of their combination by a single writer4 is striking because no one disputes the chiastic arrangement of the texts. The issue depends entirely on the degree of intentionality that interpreters are willing to grant to the pattern. Thus Ackroyd pointed out the chiasm and added 'it is difficult to see how this could have been intended from the first',5 while Sheppard thought that it 'conveys quite well the literary aesthetic skill of the editor(s) and a precise intentionality behind this redactional arrangement'.6 The debate, it turns out, rests not on the internal arrangement of the material, but on interpreters' perceptions of thematic connections or the lack thereof between the 'appendix' and the preceding Samuel narratives. If chs. 21-24 seem to play a coherent role within the larger book, then the arrangement must be intentional and a single person responsible for it. If, on the other hand, the chapters consist of no more than 'fragments that were left after completing the main narrative', as Smith put it,7 then no literary intention is at work and the arrangement must be the result of diachronic processes. Does the narrative role of 2 Samuel 22 weigh one way or the other 1. 'We find by analysis that this passage forms an integral part of the D-group's ideological use of the figure of David and the traditions surrounding him' (Carlson, David, p. 198). 2. Radday, 'Chiasm in Samuel', LB 9-10 (1971), p. 28. 3. Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 155. 4. The latter views are 'synchronic' only in the sense that a single editor combined all the materials together; Carlson and Sheppard, at least, were quite aware that most if not all of these texts have prior histories before their placement at the end of Samuel. 5. Ackroyd, Second Book of Samuel, p. 193. 6. Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 147. 7. Smith, Samuel, p. 373.
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in this debate? There are marked juxtapositions of tone and theme between David's Thanksgiving and the other materials in its immediate context, but these types of differences seem to be characteristic of psalms in narrative contexts. They cannot, therefore, serve as decisive evidence of historical discontinuity between texts, since a synchronic shift to the poetic mode could account for them just as easily as diachronic development. We have already seen in the case of Deuteronomy 31-34 that evidence of overarching redactional intention may appear in texts containing severe juxtapositions of theme and genre (Chapter 4 above). An increasing number of interpreters have argued that the materials in the last chapters of Samuel work together and within the larger book in a coherent manner. Although they frequently disagree over the purpose for which the literature was intended, these readings offer a check against too quick an assumption of incoherence in the arrangement of the chapters. In its focus on the characterization of David, the narrative role of 2 Samuel 22 matches its context even while it modifies the emphasis of the prose. There is no need, then, to postulate a diachronic development for the chiastic internal arrangement of 2 Samuel 21-24. The relationship between the last four chapters of Samuel and the rest of the book is a separate issue. The primary problem, the disruption in chs. 21—24 of the book's sequential plot, has already been mentioned. It lies beyond the scope of the present study to investigate redactionally all the material in these chapters, but it should be noted that the narrative role of David's Thanksgiving within the larger book does not contradict the thesis of 2 Samuel 21-24's secondary status. Although the psalm has various semantic and thematic links with earlier portions of Samuel, they suggest only that the psalm was written in light of narratives or traditions about David, not that it was originally attached to them.1 The tight verbal and thematic interconnections of 2 Samuel 22 and Hannah's Song in 1 Sam. 2.1-10, and even more their complementary roles within the books of Samuel, show that the two psalms were products of the same literary intention. In Chapter 2, I concluded on the basis of thematic and especially textual evidence that Hannah's Song was a secondary addition to the narrative, which supports a similar conclusion for David's Thanksgiving and its 1. For a discussion of the process of 'connective midrash' by which psalms are connected to historical narratives, see Slomovic, 'Toward an Understanding', pp. 352-55.
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surrounding material. The disruption of the textual traditions in the ancient versions due to the insertion of 1 Sam. 2.1-10 may indicate that this development occurred at a relatively late date. The evidence from both psalms therefore supports Sheppard's conclusion that the insertion of 2 Samuel 21-24 was among the very last editorial changes made in the books of Samuel.1 The fact that the psalm does not appear in Chronicles has been used by some interpreters to put forward more exact relative datings of the psalm's insertion into 2 Samuel. Vesco, for example, suggested a preChronicles date on the basis of the psalm's superscription.2 The evidence of other psalm superscriptions is of questionable relevance for 2 Samuel 22, however, because its introduction seems to have been shaped for its particular position and role in Samuel.3 Budde, on the other hand, argued that if the Chronicler had found the psalm in his copy of Samuel he would surely have used it, since he weaves together three passages from the Psalter to create another 'Davidic' psalm in 1 Chronicles 16.4 If this reasoning is accepted, along with the above conclusion that 2 Samuel 21-24 was inserted all at once, the chapters must have been added after the composition of Chronicles. The 1. Sheppard, Wisdom, p. 155. 2. Vesco, 'Psaume 18', pp. 54, 56. The connection between the history of 2 Sam. 22 and the history of psalm superscriptions is suggested by the fact that the prose introduction to David's Thanksgiving (2 Sam. 22.1) reappears, with some supplementation, as the superscription to Ps 18. Ps 18.1 precedes the Samuel material with ~cn -rate in1? nvr -Qi?1? narh, 'to the choirmaster, of the servant of Yahweh, of David which he spoke', the last three words in place of in "OTi 'then David spoke' in 2 Sam. 22.1. The rest of the superscription is identical to Samuel (except for orthographic variations), even to the point of including "inm, 'and he said', at the beginning of v. 2. Therefore Vesco and Sheppard (Wisdom, p. 149) argued that the psalm was first historicized like other Davidic psalms by the addition of the superscription, and later placed in a suitable position in the actual narratives. 3. The first half of 22.1 is modeled on Deut. 31.30, the introduction to the Song of Moses, as we have already seen. The second half is a temporal clause, starting DV3, 'in the day that', specifying the psalm's setting after David's victory over his enemies. The syntax, even with the additions in Ps. 18.1, is not the standard form found in most other historical superscriptions of the Psalter, but seems to have been dictated rather by the need to establish a temporal setting for the psalm which is lacking in the non-sequential material of the Samuel 'appendix' (B.S. Childs, 'Psalm Titles and Midrashic Exegesis', JSS 16 [1971], pp. 138-40). Cf. in 'n'3, 'in the days of David', in the introduction (21.1) to the first narrative of the 'appendix'. 4. Budde, Bucher Samuel, p. 314.
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Levitical Medley in 1 Chron. 16.8-36, however, shows clear signs of having been placed in a narrative context in imitation of David's Thanksgiving: like 2 Samuel 22, it is surrounded by accounts of Davidic personnel, its contents reappear in the Psalter, and it is paired with a version of David's last words (though as brackets around a narrative block, rather than adjacent to each other as in Samuel).1 It seems that the Chronicler did, in fact, know of 2 Sam. 22, but adapted it to such a degree that Budde and many other interpreters did not recognize it. Thus the investigation of 1 Chronicles 16 suggests that, by the time of the Chronicler, David's Thanksgiving was in place both in Samuel and in the Psalter. The evidence gathered above for the secondary status of 1 Sam. 2.1-10 and 2 Samuel 21-24 shows, however, that they were fairly late addition to Samuel. Since the characterization of David put forward by 2 Samuel 22 and 23.1-7 is close to that of the Chronicler, a date in the general period of that book's composition is appropriate.2 The relationship between 2 Samuel 22 and its narrative context provides an interesting case study on the competing claims of synchronic and diachronic theories of the text's composition. I have opted for a synchronic explanation for the psalm's immediate context (chs 21-24) but a diachronic one for the books of Samuel as a whole. It is not the simple presence or absence of literary patterns which makes the difference, for both texts seem to be carefully structured (i.e. by a chiasm shaping the 'appendix', by poetic brackets over the two books). Rather, the degree of thematic coherence, and therefore intentionality, that can be credited to the patterns is what sways the argument. In the case of the smaller passage, the combination of a chiastic structure with arguments for a thematic intention in the choice of material refutes simple assertions of incoherence. For Samuel as a whole, however, the complementary positions and narrative roles of the psalms are not sufficient to explain synchronically the disruption of the book's sequential plot by the 'appendix'. Intentions and Implications Characterization is the primary narrative role of David's Thanksgiving. In previous psalms in narrative contexts, characterization of the speaker 1. For discussion of this evidence, see Chapter 10 below. 2. Childs, Introduction, pp. 278-79; Vesco, 'Psaume 18', pp. 55-56.
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contributed to a greater or lesser extent to their thematic roles, but in 2 Samuel 22 all thematic links with the narrative serve the overriding purpose of characterizing David. The thrust of the psalm's depiction credits all of David's military and political accomplishments to Yahweh's support for him, which was in turn predicated on the king's exemplary piety. The psalm thereby refocuses the reader's attention away from the details of David's tumultuous life and towards the constancy of his religious character. In place of the complex characterization of David contained in the Samuel narratives, David's Thanksgiving offers a simple evaluation: his devotion to Yahweh was the key to his success. The psalm's reinterpretation of David is not entirely alien to the surrounding narratives; it simply emphasizes only one side of the complex figure depicted in the prose. This conclusion supports the suggestion of Chapter 2 that Hannah's Song and David's Thanksgiving were intended to provide explicit thematic commentaries on the books of Samuel. The themes of Yahweh's control over events and support for the Davidic king are announced in 1 Samuel 2 as an overture to the beginning of the kingdom. They are then emphatically reinforced by the description of David's life in 2 Samuel 22, and applied to future generations of kings by the Last Words in 2 Sam. 23.1-7.1 The force of this poetic expository frame around the books of Samuel is to subordinate all other considerations to the faithful piety of the king. It is the thesis that the king's piety is the driving force of Israel's past and future history that gives these poems a messianic flavor which they spread to all the intervening literature.2 What motivated editors to supply a thematic reinterpretation of David's life, and why did they choose poems to accomplish it? Taking these questions in reverse order, 2 Samuel 21—24 clearly exemplify the conservative editorial practices noticed above in Hannah's Song. Although the insertion is much larger and more diverse at the end of Samuel than at the beginning, the material is mostly traditional, appropriated from other contexts and combined to make the redactors' point. There is little sign here of the editorial commentary that 1. Hertzberg, 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 399: 'The theological programme for the future of the dynasty is to be found here'. 2. Childs, Introduction, p. 278: 'Both the hymnic introduction of ch. 2 and the thanksgiving psalm at the book's conclusion (ch. 22) establish a dominant eschatological, messianic perspective for the whole'.
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pervades the books of Kings. The two psalms and the Last Words were employed, it seems, because they offered the desired thematic exposition in a traditional form requiring minimal modification. That is not to say that the editors were above adding their own words when necessary. I have already mentioned the evidence for the prose introduction (22.1) being composed for the psalm's insertion in this context. Many commentators have suggested that the psalm is itself a composite of two distinct poems (22.2-20; 29-50 or 51) with an editorial transition (22.21-28) emphasizing David's righteousness.1 This theory is supported by the fact that it is precisely the bridge verses that focus the characterization of David on his piety, and the fact that the beautiful chiastic structure of 22.21-25 is reminiscent of the chiasm governing the contents of 2 Samuel 21-24 as a whole.2 A second, more obvious, reason for the use of poetic material at the end of Samuel is the conscious imitation of Deuteronomy 32-33, a move which, of course, also reveals traditionalist concerns. It can be safely assumed that the insertion of explicit thematic commentary reflects the opinion that the literature in its previous state was either insufficiently clear at certain points, which are at least now considered crucial if they were not originally, or in need of correction. For those who added the psalms to Samuel, the former was probably of greater concern than the latter, although any implicit critique of David in the narratives is certainly diluted by David's Thanksgiving. The later Samuel narratives, however, are among the most subtle and indirect in the Hebrew Bible. They show David at his best and worst and offer no neat evaluations of his career as a whole, but rather leave it to the readers to assess the actions and character of this intriguing figure. The arrangement and insertion of 2 Samuel 2124 reveals both an appreciation of the traditional narratives, pieces of 1. Thus McCarter: 'These transitional verses (21-28), together with the monotheistic formula of v. 21 (if not a still later addition. ..), may have been introduced by the editor who added the psalm to the "appendix" of the Samuel corpus. By thus combining two old poems he produced a whole with direct application to the two dominant aspects of the then extant David tradition, viz. David's vindication from his enemies. .. and his foreign conquests' (2 Samuel, p. 474). 2. For other discussions of the composition of the psalm, see Budde, Biicher Samuel, p. 314; Kraus, Psalmen, I, pp. 139-40; F.L. Hossfeldt, 'Der Wandel des Betersin Ps 18: WachstumsphaseneinesDankliedes', inE. Haag and F.-L. Hossfeldt (eds.), Freude an der Weisung des Herrn (Festschrift H. Gross; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1986), pp. 186-87; Vesco, 'Psaume 18', pp. 54-55.
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which are employed in the reinterpretation itself, and a concern to make more explicit the religious reasons for David's success. Such a concern for religious piety would most naturally arise from cultic or devotional use of the books of Samuel. The insertion of the psalms and other materials of the Samuel 'appendix' was therefore probably intended to adapt the text for such use.1 A particular picture of psalmody emerges from the use of David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22. In Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32 and Judges 5, psalms belonged to and were sung by or to the nation as a whole. In 1 Sam. 2.1-10, congregational (hymnic) psalmody was adapted for an individual's use. In 2 Samuel 22, however, not only is the psalm sung by an individual to God, but its contents focus on the individual also. Granted that the individual in question is a king and founder of a divinely elected dynasty, the force of the psalm's characterization of David is nevertheless to emphasize the individual's piety above all else. In David's Thanksgiving, psalmody is modeled as the mode of individual praise and worship which should reflect the individual's innermost feelings and relationship to God. 2 Samuel 22 shares this view of psalmody with the historical superscriptions in the Psalter, which tie the interiorized expressions of a psalm to the external conditions of an episode in David's life.2 The use of psalms at the beginning and end of Samuel also reveals an evaluation of psalmody as a reservoir of orthodox Yahwism. The editors go to psalms to find traditional texts to assert God's rule in the narratives of Samuel. This attitude was perhaps not so different from that of many modern Christians for whom the old hymns embody traditional religion as much as do the Scriptures or the creeds. The placement of psalms in Samuel acknowledges this attitude and puts it to use to help establish a picture of David as a religious example worthy of emulation by kings and commoners alike.
1. Sheppard makes a similar point when he claims that the addition of the materials in 2 Sam. 21-24 was 'canon-conscious' (Wisdom, p. 155). 2. Vesco, 'Psaume 18', pp. 18-23.
Chapter 7 HEZEKIAH'S PSALM (ISAIAH 38.9-20)
The psalm in Isa. 38.9-20 does not appear in 2 Kings 20, although 2 Kgs 18.13-20.21 is in all other major respects a doublet for Isaiah 36-39. Hezekiah's Psalm is thus the only psalm in a narrative context of the Hebrew Bible for which a parallel context has been preserved in which it is absent. Another unique feature of the poem is its superscription (Isa. 38.9), which resembles the historical superscriptions of the Psalter. These features of Hezekiah's Psalm cast light on the phenomenon of psalms in narrative contexts and the history of Israelite psalmody. Narrative Role The analysis of the narrative role of Hezekiah's Psalm is complicated by the fact that the present state of Isaiah 38 has appeared to many commentators to be disturbed and out of order. I will nevertheless attempt first to understand the psalm's role in the text as it stands, bearing in mind that the subsequent diachronic analysis may require that the conclusions be revised. Plot Relations Hezekiah's Psalm and its immediate context (Isa. 38) are part of a block of prose material (Isa. 36-39) set within a largely poetic book. Critical scholarship has traditionally divided Isaiah into two or three separate books dating from different periods, with chs. 36-39 appearing at the end of the first (Isa. 1-39). The account of Sennacherib's attack on Hezekiah and siege of Jerusalem, ending with its miraculous deliverance, is contained in Isaiah 36-37. Chapter 38 then introduces the story of Hezekiah's illness with the temporal clause Bin D'n'3 'in those days'. The king's response
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to Isaiah's prediction of his death (v. 1) is a brief prayer of petition recounting his faithful life (vv. 2-3). The prophet comes back with an oracle promising not only fifteen additional years of life, but also protection from the Assyrian king (vv. 5-6). The oracle is confirmed by a sign involving the motion of the sun and its shadow on the steps of the palace (vv. 7-8). The psalm is then introduced by a superscription: irrprn1? nron v^nn m irbro mirp'l^D 'an inscription of Hezekiah the king of Judah, when he was sick and survived his sickness'. With TTIQK ']K 'I myself said,' the psalm begins by recounting the experience of suffering, culminating in a plea for help (vv. 10-14). Whether vv. 15-16 continue this complaint or refer to healing is unclear.1 Verse 17, at any rate, credits God with having healed the psalmist, and this action is grounded in the fact that only the living, not the dead, are able to give God praise (vv. 18-19). The psalm ends with a vow of praise in the first person plural (v. 20). Isaiah then orders the application of a fig paste to Hezekiah's wound (v. 21) and the king asks for a sign to assure him that he will recover (v. 22). The next chapter, introduced by the temporal clause R7n nm 'at that time', relates how Hezekiah showed all his resources to a Babylonian embassy, which prompted Isaiah to predict that the king's treasures and descendants would be carried off to Babylon. Hezekiah's Psalm is placed in the midst of the ongoing action, between the sign and the application of the medicinal paste.2 The psalm is not mentioned in the preceding or subsequent prose narratives, and therefore does not have any direct effect on the narrative plot. In other words, the actions of the characters are not affected by Hezekiah's writing of the psalm.
1. Hezekiah's Psalm is full of difficulties for translators, and v. 16 requires considerable emendation in order to find some sense. H. Wildberger called this verse 'an exegete's nightmare' and listed the many suggestions that have been made (Jesaja [BKAT, 10; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1982], III, pp. 1444-45). 2. Commentators have commonly considered vv. 21-22 out of place or secondary. In many suggested rearrangements of the chapter, the psalm ends up concluding the chapter rather than being in the midst of the action. For further discussion of the position of the psalm relative to vv. 21-22, see below under Methods of Interpretation.
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Semantic and Thematic Links Hezekiah's Psalm has only a few semantic links with its narrative context. The vocabulary that is shared by prose and poem of Isaiah 38 points to their common concern with the king's illness, n^n 'be sick' appears in the psalm's superscription (38.9) and in the first verses of both chs. 38 and 39,1 nominal or verbal forms of the roots mo 'die, dead' (38.1 [2x],18) and rvn 'live, living' (38.1, 9, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20, 21) are found in both prose and poetry, and the psalm shares with the story an interest in Hezekiah's lifespan as measured by his 'days' (38.5, 10, 20; cf. 38.1) and 'years' (38.5, 10, 15). The use of DDK 'faithfulness' reveals a difference in emphasis between the psalm and Hezekiah's prose prayer: in 38.3 it is used of Hezekiah, in 38.18, 19 of God. The psalm's employment of TV 'descend' for the dead going down into the pit (38.18) is reminiscent of its occurrence in the description of the shadow descending the steps (38.8), and may suggest an analogy in God's reversal of both processes. Thematic analysis of the narrative role of Hezekiah's Psalm must first overcome the hurdle posed by the interpretation of its contents. Isa. 38.9-20 has been classified as both a lament and a thanksgiving, and the difference affects how one understands its role in the context. The psalm lacks the standard introductory formulas (e.g. opening address, vow of praise) of either laments or thanksgivings.2 B. Stade, followed by others, argued that it is not a thanksgiving but a petition for healing (i.e. a lament).3 J. Begrich's classification of the psalm as a thanksgiving convinced most subsequent interpreters.4 C. Westermann, 1. In the books of Kings, eight out of ten references to 'sickness' appear in stories of prophetic healings (Ahijah in 1 Kgs 14.1, 5; Elijah in 1 Kgs 17.17 and 2 Kgs 1.2; Elishah in 2 Kgs 8.7, 29; and Isaiah in the parallels to the Isaiah texts, 2 Kgs 20.1, 12) and provide a common motif to the narratives about prophets. 2. O. Kaiser, Isaiah 13-39 (trans. R.A. Wilson; OTL; London: SCM Press, 1974), p. 404. 3. B. Stade, 'Anmerkungen zu 1 K6. 15-21', ZAW 6 (1886), p. 185; so also B. Duhm, Das Buck Jesaia (HAT; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 3rd edn, 1914), p. 253; J.N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1-39 (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 674, but note his reservations on p. 681. 4. J. Begrich, Der Psalm des Hiskia (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1926), p. 17; so O. Procksch, Jesaia I (KAT, 9; Leipzig: Werner Scholl, 1930), p. 464; Kaiser, Isaiah 13-39, p. 404; Wildberger, Jesaja 28-39, pp. 1455-56; R.E. Clements, Isaiah 1-39 (NCB; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), p. 291; J.D.W. Watts, Isaiah 34-66 (WBC, 25; Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), p. 58.
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however, called Hezekiah's Psalm 'a lament that has been turned to praise',1 while K. Seybold classified it, along with most other psalms of sickness, as a hymn of praise.2 Nevertheless, Begrich's argument, that the use of 'rnaK '3R 'I myself said' at the beginning of the psalm sets the entire subsequent account of sickness in the past tense, remains decisive. Such recitals of past suffering are characteristic of thanksgivings and are often introduced by TTIDK '3R.3 Despite its unique form and ambiguities in some verses, the psalm can be safely classified as a thanksgiving, an interpretation in accord with its superscription describing the occasion 'when he was sick and survived his sickness' (38.9). As a thanksgiving, Isa. 38.9-20 reflects Hezekiah's experience of illness (vv. 10-14) and healing (vv. 15a, 17, 20a) and is therefore in accord with the basic plot of the surrounding prose story. The psalm, however, emphasizes different themes than does Hezekiah's prose prayer (v. 3). In the latter, the king describes his virtue and piety to plead for his life. The oracular response (v. 4) is noncommittal on these points, noting only Hezekiah's prayer and his tears as reasons for the respite. The psalm, on the other hand, does not depict Hezekiah as deserving of rescue but rather describes the healing in terms of the forgiveness of his sins (v. 17c). The only motivation it offers for this turn of events is God's own self-interest in preserving the life of a worshiper (vv. 18-19). The three stories that make up Isaiah 36-39—the siege of Jerusalem, Hezekiah's illness, the embassy from Babylon—may at first glance appear to be unrelated to one another, but the narrative offers subtle hints that this is not the case. Directly following the story of the siege, we are told that Hezekiah became sick 'in those days' (38.1). The oracular response to the king's prose prayer promises not only healing but also deliverance from the Assyrians (38.6). The king of 1. C. Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms (trans. K.R. Krim and R.N. Soulen; Atlanta: John Knox, 1981 [1965]), p. 80. 2. K. Seybold, Das Gebet des Kranken im Alten Testament (BWANT, 99; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1973), pp. 153, 181. 3. Begrich lists Pss. 30.7, 10-11; 31.23; 66.18; 116.4b-6, 11; Jon. 2.5; Lam. 3.54; Ecclus. 51.10-11 (Psalm des Hiskia, p. 54). There is nothing in the remainder of the psalm to challenge this identification of Hezekiah's Psalm as a thanksgiving, Westermann and Seybold's claims not withstanding. Note that another thanksgiving psalm in narrative context begins with a first person perfect (Tftnp 'I called') which also sets the following description in the past tense (Jon. 2.3).
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Babylon sent the embassy because 'he had heard that [Hezekiah] had been sick and had recovered' (39.1). The first two stories share the theme of miraculous last-minute rescue by God's direct intervention. Hezekiah's death, however, has merely been postponed for fifteen years, and at the end of the third story it turns out that the deliverance of Jerusalem was in fact also a postponement of the inevitable.1 Thus each story can be read as a metaphor for the others: military siege is the political version of physical sickness,2 which is itself the outward manifestation of Hezekiah's spiritual sin, a lack of faith which causes him to pursue political alliances. The consequences are postponed, but not forever. What impact does the presence of Hezekiah's psalm in chs. 36-39 have? The consensus answer is that it heightens his already considerable reputation for piety. H. Wildberger argued that the omission in Isaiah of any reference to Hezekiah paying tribute (2 Kgs 18.14-16) and the addition of the psalm were by the same hand, in order 'Hiskias Frommigkeit zu unterstreichen'.3 John Watts called attention to the lack of references to Hezekiah in Isaiah's oracles regarding the crisis, even though his ministers are named and criticized (Isa. 22.15-25), and suggested that the king 'is made a prime example of the meekness and humility that Yahweh demands from his new city and from his servants of the latter day (cf. 57.15; 66.2)'.4 This is not to say that Kings is less enthusiastic about Hezekiah; there he is described as uniquely 1. As Clements noted, 'The account of Hezekiah's sickness (Isa. 38) and that of the Babylonian envoys' visit to Jerusalem (Isa. 39) have been introduced to modify and particularise more closely the very high, and even exaggerated, estimate of the divine protection assured to Jerusalem in the narrative of chs. 36-37. Their intention is quite clearly to show that such protection as had been given against Sennacherib related to a very special king (Isa. 38), and that already the forewarning had been given that Jerusalem would not be similarly protected from the Babylonians (Isa. 39)' (Isaiah 1-39, p. 279). 2. 'In addition to the misery of the painful boil, Hezekiah suffered from a diplomatic illness' (Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 50). 3. Wildberger, Jesaja 28-39, pp. 1373-74. Although there is widespread agreement regarding the motives behind the addition, there is more debate regarding the omission. B.S. Childs, for example, suggested that it is merely a case of haplography due to the repetition of identical verbs in 2 Kgs 18.14 and 17 (Isaiah and the Assyrian Crisis [SBT, 3; Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1967], pp. 69-70 n. 1). 4. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 58. Cf. the comment of R.E. Clements: 'throughout the emphasis is on Hezekiah's remarkable piety' (Isaiah 1-39, p. 289).
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good among all the kings of Judah, before or since (2 Kgs 18.5). The focus in Isaiah, however, is not on Hezekiah's cultic reforms, which are the occasion for this high praise from the Deuteronomists, but rather on the king's piety in the face of death. A crucial aspect of Hezekiah's Psalm is the counterposed imagery of death and life, mortality and rebirth, all under God's control. The prophet Isaiah's oracle of healing has already established a link between the illness and the siege (Isa. 38.5-6), and so it is natural to read the following psalm in terms of both personal and national crisis. The imagery of being near death and of miraculous deliverance thus serves as a poetic reprise of the entire set of Hezekiah narratives, emphasizing God's control over all destructive and creative forces, both personal and political. The psalm's impact reaches even further. The role of Isaiah 36-39 in relation to Isaiah 40-66. has been increasingly appreciated in recent scholarship. R.F. Melugin argued that chs. 36-39 are meant to serve as the historical background for what follows, grounding the exile in the oracles of Isaiah of Jerusalem but also suggesting a hope for restoration, both through the story of Jerusalem's deliverance and through the hope expressed by Hezekiah's psalm.1 P.R. Ackroyd carried the analysis a step further, noting particular thematic and verbal parallels between these chapters and other parts of Isaiah, and argued for especially close connections between chs. 36-39 and chs. 6-9.2 Watts applied chs. 34-39 to the period of Jerusalem's destruction and exile, which was 'the reverse image from that portrayed in the history'.3 Thus the Hezekiah stories not only end with a prediction of the exile (39.6-7); as a unit they foreshadow the defeat of Jerusalem due to the diplomatic intrigues of her kings, yet also hold out promise for her restoration. In this broadened context, Hezekiah's Psalm plays a special role. 1. R.F. Melugin, The Formation of Isaiah 40-55 (BZAW, 141; Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976), pp. 176-78. 2. P.R. Ackroyd, 'Isaiah 36-39: Structure and Function', in Von Kanaan bis Kerala: Festschrift fur J.P.M. van der Ploeg (AOAT, 211; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1982), pp. 3-21. He noted that the connecting of Isaiah's work with Hezekiah to the exile was already made by Ben Sirach in Ecclus 48.24-25 (p. 3). For a listing of verbal parallels between Isa. 36-39 and 40-48, see J.B. Payne, The Unity of Isaiah: Evidence from Chapters 36-39', JETS 6 (1963), pp. 50-56. 3. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 1; cf. pp. 23-24, 62.
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The psalm draws out from the stories of military and bodily deliverance the implications of these events for the exiles: despite defeat and the threat of death, God is still able to restore life to individuals and nations. Ackroyd pointed out the vocabulary shared by the psalm with Lamentations and parts of Jeremiah which describe the experience of exile, and suggested that the psalm provides a pointer to that longed-for restoration of the temple and its worship. .. The illness of Hezekiah and the death sentence upon him thus become a type of judgment and exile, and in that measure they run parallel to the theme of judgment which is found in the ambassador story which follows; but the theme of restored life and continuing rule which follows upon Hezekiah's strong appeal to the deity, is a pointer to the possibility of such a restoration for the community.1
In the context of Isaiah, 38.9-20 foreshadows the messages of comfort and hope that begin in ch. 40. Characterization The above analysis of the psalm's thematic role in Isaiah 36-39 demonstrates that the focus is on Hezekiah's characterization. The psalm itself does not directly describe the king, but rather reports his thoughts and feelings, first at the prospect of his imminent death, then at the news of his survival. This indirect characterization of Hezekiah concentrates on his physical and mental anguish (38.10-14). The psalm does not deal with the causes of his misery (which in the context of v. 6 includes not only illness but also military siege) but dwells on the king's despair which climaxes in a single word of entreaty: '32-iP 'bail me out' (v. 14).2 On the other hand, Hezekiah's subsequent joy is muted behind the rationalization for his recovery (vv. 18-19). The resulting psalm combines an intimate portrait of suffering with a rather perfunctory description of liturgical celebration (v. 20). How does this psalm influence Hezekiah's characterization? Most interpreters think the poem enhances his reputation for piety.3 1. P.R. Ackroyd, 'An Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile: A Study of 2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38-39', SJT 27 (1974), pp. 345-46. 2. So Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 54, taking 'bail out' in the literal sense of m^ II, 'give in exchange, give surety for'. 3. E.g. Ackroyd, 'Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile', p. 345; Wildberger, Jesaja 28-39, p. 1373; Watts,Isaiah 34-66, p. 53.
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J. Oswalt, however, argued that the emphasis on mortality intentionally portrays Hezekiah in non-messianic terms as anything but the king of Isa. 9.5-6.1 The psalm's characterization is more ambiguous than either of these clear-cut alternatives would suggest. On the one hand, the psalm's position after healing has been announced but prior to its realization shows the king's trust in the prophetic oracle, and by admitting the role of forgiveness in healing (38.17) the psalm portrays a less self-righteous Hezekiah than does the prose (v. 3). On the other hand, the single reference to sin and lack of confession show that he is no second David. Instead, the psalm reinforces the king's cumulative characterization in Isaiah 36-39 as someone who learns the hard way to depend on God for personal and political deliverance, but the lesson reaches no deeper chord of guilt and repentance. The psalm's Hezekiah is preoccupied introspectively with his experience of suffering and shows little interest in the causes of his condition or the ramifications of his recovery. The result is that Hezekiah's piety does save both himself and Jerusalem for the time being, but is insufficient to forestall impending judgment completely (38.5; 39.6-8). Thematic links with the rest of Isaiah have also suggested that the psalm's characterization of Hezekiah serves as a metaphor for the people's response to exile and restoration. At this level, Hezekiah's Psalm provides a vivid description of the rrn ro3i *3D 'afflicted and wounded in spirit' to whom Yahweh responds (Isa. 66.2).2 Just as the king's despair preceded his deliverance, so the people's anguish need not lead to hopelessness, but rather to hope in a God who responds precisely to those who are most in need. Summary Hezekiah's Psalm has no effect on the prose plot despite the fact that it is located in the midst of the ongoing action. Semantic links between poem and prose are few and limited to the immediate context of Isaiah 38. The narrative role of the psalm is to characterize Hezekiah as a type of the faithful sufferer to whom God responds. Unlike the characterization of David in 2 Samuel 22, the characterization of Hezekiah in Isaiah 38.9-20 does not elevate the figure of Hezekiah to unique heights. It rather makes him an example of hope for those in need by emphasizing his suffering and helplessness. 1. Oswalt, Isaiah 1-39, p. 682. 2. Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 58. Cf. also Isa. 30.15a, 18.
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To my knowledge, no practitioners of literary analysis have attempted a purely synchronic reading of Isaiah 38 as a whole.1 The existence in 2 Kings 20 of a very similar account without the psalm necessitates a diachronic theory of how the two versions evolved. Thus defenders of the original unity of Isaiah as a whole and chs. 36-39 in particular must consider 2 Kings 18-20 a secondary revision of some sort.2 Apart from such defenders of the Isaianic authorship of the whole book, Hezekiah's Psalm is universally considered a secondary addition to Isaiah 38. Besides the fact that the psalm is absent from 2 Kings 20, the following reasons for its secondary status have been given: (1) the juxtaposition of the psalm with Isa. 38.8 and 21 is rough;3 (2) the poem has a psalter-like superscription;4 (3) the psalm appears at the wrong point in the story;5 (4) the narrative has been abbreviated to make room for the psalm;6 (5) the insertion of the psalm has resulted in the displacement of vv. 21-22;7 (6) in general, the addition of psalms to prose texts was a late development.8 The last point can be dismissed on the basis of the fact that the use of hymnic material in narratives was widespread in ancient Near Eastern literature and appears already in a pre-Deuteronomic Hebrew composition (Judg. 45). The other arguments deserve closer scrutiny. The extremely odd conclusion of Isaiah 38, with Hezekiah's request for a sign (v. 22) which had already been given (vv. 7-8), led the majority of interpreters to consider the prose text after the psalm 1. John Watts interpreted Isaiah from the synchronic standpoint of readers of its final form in the 5th century BCE, but he treated Hezekiah's Psalm separately from the rest of the chapter and considered v. 22 'tacked onto the end of the story' (Isaiah 34-66, p. 52; see 53-62). 2. Payne, 'Unity of Isaiah', p. 50; E.J. Young, The Book of Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), II, pp. 556-66. 3. Wildberger, Jesaja 28-39, p. 1458. 4. B.S. Childs, 'Psalm Titles and Midrashic Exegesis', 755 16 (1971), p. 142. 5. Stade, 'Anmerkungen', pp. 185-86. 6. Oswalt, Isaiah 1-39, p. 690. 7. Procksch, Jesaia, p. 461. 8. 'It is well known that in later times, people had an extraordinary liking for the placement of appropriate and inappropriate songs into historical texts—Jonah has to sing in the stomach of the sea monster, as do Daniel's friends in the fiery oven' (Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia, p. 252 [my translation]).
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(vv. 21-22) to be a misplaced insertion from 2 Kings 20, although there was little agreement on the relationship, if any, between the position of these verses and the psalm.1 C. Jeremias, however, argued that only v. 22, the request for a sign, is out of place. Verse 21, the use of the medicinal paste, is located in an appropriate position after the sign and the psalm.2 A related debate involves the position of the psalm itself. Stade took Hezekiah's Psalm to be a lament and thus a lengthier version of his prose prayer in 38.3, which therefore is where it should have been located.3 We have already seen, however, that though the psalm is form-critically unusual, both the superscription and internal evidence favor its classification as a thanksgiving. In that case, it is positioned similarly to other individual thanksgiving psalms in narrative contexts (Jon. 2, Dan. 2.20-23; cf. the hymn in Add. Dan. 28-68), which appear at points in stories where deliverance is expected but not yet accomplished. It seems, then, that neither v. 21 nor Hezekiah's Psalm are out of place, and their present positions do not support arguments for the psalm's secondary status. Verse 22 does seem misplaced, but this has no bearing on the psalm. The analysis given above of the psalm's narrative role in its present location is therefore unaffected by evidence of disturbances in the prose text. The arguments based on the superscription and on the rough transition from prose to poetry belong together, for it is the superscription (v. 9) which is largely responsible for the unevenness. Verse 9 lacks any verbs except in the temporal clause 'when he was sick and 1. Stade, 'Anmerkungen', p. 184; Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia, p. 250; K. Fullerton, 'The Original Text of 2 K. 20.7-11 = I. 38.7, 8, 21f.', JBL 44 (1925), p. 61; Procksch, Jesaia I, p. 461; W. Eichrodt, Der Herr der Geschichte: Jesaja 13-23 und 28-39 (Stuttgart: Calwer Verlag, 1967), p. 266; Ackroyd, 'Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile', p. 343 n. 3; Clements, Isaiah 1-39, p. 288. Y. Zakovitch argued on partially text-critical grounds for the secondary status of vv. 21-22, noting that they were originally missing in lQIsaa and secondarily added by another hand in the space at the end of the line and in the margin ('Assimilation in Biblical Narratives', in J.H. Tigay [ed.], Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism [Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985], pp. 18385). The manuscript's omission of these verses, however, is more easily explained as a case of homoioteleuton caused by the similar conclusions of v. 20, mrr tvn *7i>, and v. 22, mrr no r6im. 2. C. Jeremias, 'Zu Jes. xxxviii 21f, VT 21 (1971), pp. 104-11; followed by Wildberger, Jesaja 28-39, p. 1455. 3. Stade, 'Anmerkungen', pp. 185-86.
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survived his sickness', and therefore it is not a real narrative introduction to the psalm. Its syntax instead mirrors exactly that of the historical superscriptions in the Psalter, which Childs took to be evidence that the psalm's text was fixed to such a degree it could no longer be adapted for incorporation.1 This suggests a late date of insertion. Childs's argument is not conclusive for dating the insertion of Hezekiah's Psalm, however, since other demonstrably late psalms in narrative contexts have no superscriptions and are integrated more smoothly into the context (e.g. Add. Dan. 28-68; Tob. 13; Jdt. 16; Lk. 1.46-55). Perhaps other factors were more relevant than date in fixing the form of a psalm's transmission. Hallo connected Hezekiah's Psalm to the Sumerian and Akkadian tradition of royal letter-prayer inscriptions. 2 If the psalm was in fact preserved in a monumental inscription, this rather than its date may account for the fixation of its superscription. This theory, however, tells us little about the nature and reasons for the psalm's appearance in Isaiah 38. That leaves only Oswalt's suggestion that the prose of Isaiah 38 has been abbreviated to accommodate the psalm, a thesis which can only be tested by comparing the differences between the versions of this story in Isaiah and Kings with their versions of the other Hezekiah accounts, a project which far exceeds the scope of the present study. Clearly, however, it is not any of these particular arguments, but rather the general opinion that Isaiah 36-39 is dependent upon 2 Kings 18-20, that made most interpreters believe that the psalm is a secondary addition. The real relationship between the two blocks of 1. 'The fact that this form of historical setting, with this one exception, is unique to the Psalm setting would also tend to suggest a similarity in function. The title in Isa. xxxviii reflects a stage in the transmission of poetic tradition in which its literary fixation as an independent composition made it difficult to incorporate within a larger narrative setting' (Childs, 'Psalm Titles', p. 142). 2. W.W. Hallo, The Royal Correspondence of Larsa: I. A Sumerian Prototype for the Prayer of Hezekiah', in B.L. Eichler, et al. (eds.), Kramer Anniversary Volume (AOAT, 25; Kevalaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1976), pp. 209-24; idem, The Expansion of Cuneiform Literature', PAAJR 46-47 (1979-80), pp. 307-22; idem, 'Letters, Prayers and Letter-Prayers', Proceedings of the Seventh World Congress of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem: Perry Foundation, 1981), pp. 17-27. Hallo used aron, which he translated 'letter' (cf. 2 Chron. 21.12), in making this identification, but he also noted that if the emendation nroa is correct, its translation as 'inscription' (following LXX oTtiXoypacpva, Pss. 56.1, 57.1, etc.) would point in the same direction.
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material was probably complicated by mutual disruptions and influence, and some scholars have even suggested that the derivation was not direct but mediated through a common original text or oral tradition.1 Nevertheless, according to all these theories, the psalm was a later addition to the Isaiah text. The above investigation of the narrative role of Hezekiah's Psalm also supports this conclusion. Its paucity of semantic links with the immediate context and its thematic juxtaposition with Hezekiah's prose prayer are both consistent with it being a secondary addition in its present context. Thus it is the overall relationship between Isaiah 3639 and 2 Kings 18-20, and the role of Isa. 38.9-20 within the former, which offer the best evidence for the secondary status of Hezekiah's Psalm. There is, however, little evidence by which to date the psalm's insertion, except to note that the extent of its thematic influence suggests that it occurred during or after the compilation of the book as a single whole.2 Intentions and Implications The only clues to the reasons which motivated the psalm's insertion in Isaiah 38 are found in its narrative role in that context. We have seen that Hezekiah's Psalm characterizes the king as long-suffering and openly dependent on Yahweh, a kind of piety which later parts of Isaiah recommend to returning exiles. The addition of the psalm thus serves to further adapt the materials taken from Kings to their setting in Isaiah as a whole. Whether the psalm's addition was part of an effort in Isaiah to shift the emphasis of the Hezekiah accounts depends on the significance one is willing to attach to certain differences between the prose narratives of the two books. I remarked above that, while Isaiah adds a psalm highlighting Hezekiah's personal piety, it omits the praise of his 1. For the theory that Isaiah and Kings depended on a common original, see Jeremias, 'Zu Jes. xxxviii 21f.', pp. 108-109, and Oswalt, Isaiah 1-39, p. 690; for the notion that it was a common oral tradition, see A. Laato, 'Hezekiah and the Assyrian Crisis in 701 BC', SJOT 2 (1987), pp. 49-68. For a full discussion of the influence of the two accounts of Hezekiah's illness on each other, see Fullerton, 'Original Text,' pp. 44-62. 2. Discussions of the psalm's late date of insertion can be found in Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia, pp. 250, 252; Wildberger, Jesaja 28-39, p. 1458.
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religious reforms mentioned in 2 Kgs 18.3-6 and at much greater length in 2 Chronicles 29-31.1 Do these changes reflect an intentional de-emphasis of national cult in favor of the psalm's model of dependency on God?2 Or is it rather the psalm's emphasis on worship as a rationale for healing (Isa. 38.18-20) which drew the attention of the Isaianic school? There is not sufficient evidence to do more than mention possibilities. The possibilities do show, however, that the psalm is not a foreign element in Isaiah, but is rather at home among the book's major themes and concerns. Hezekiah's Psalm was not inserted here merely as a scribal afterthought. Its placement in this context reveals concern not only for the character of Hezekiah but also for the message of the book of Isaiah. Whatever thematic interests motivated the insertion of the psalm, it was used to provide a more intimate portrait of Hezekiah's thoughts and feelings than the prose narrative contains. Hebrew narrative shows little interest in introspective characterization, as R. Alter among others has noted: Biblical narrative offers us, after all, nothing in the way of minute analysis of motive or detailed rendering of mental processes; whatever indications we may be vouchsafed of feeling, attitude, or intention are rather minimal. . . 3
Yet Hezekiah's Psalm provides precisely such a 'detailed rendering of mental processes'. It seems then that the psalm was used to provide a depth of characterization of which conventional Hebrew narrative was not capable. This observation suggests, in turn, that psalmody was perceived by those responsible for Isa. 38.9-20 as a proper outlet for personal feelings and introspective struggles, a theory corroborated by even the most cursory examination of the Psalter's contents. Hezekiah's Psalm 1. A reference to Hezekiah's reform is preserved in Isa. 36-39 only in a derogatory form in the Rabshakeh's speech (36.7). 2. There is little agreement among interpreters as to whether Trito-Isaiah, and thereby the final form of the whole book, is anti-cultic or not. For example, opposing interpretations of Isa. 66.1-4 may be found in J. Blenkinsopp, History of Prophecy in Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1983), pp. 249-50; and Watts, Isaiah 34-66, pp. 355-56. 3. R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 1981), p. 114.
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models the use of psalmody for the most intimate expressions of an individual's life. It was natural, then, for those who wished to deepen the characterization of figures in older narratives to turn to psalmody to accomplish this purpose.
Chapter 8 JONAH'S PSALM (JONAH 2.3-10) The relation between the narrative and psalm in the book of Jonah has been studied and discussed more than any other psalm in a narrative context. The volume of research, however, has not led to unanimity but rather to a wide variety of opinions regarding the psalm's role and its originality in its present position. Narrative Role The narrative role of Jonah's Psalm is a function of its position in the book's plot, its semantic and thematic links with the surrounding prose, and its contribution to the characterization of Jonah and Yahweh. Plot Relations The book of Jonah begins with a description of Jonah's flight because of God's command to prophesy to Nineveh. By the beginning of ch. 2, he finds himself in a fish's stomach.1 At this point the psalm is introduced: "inm nnn TDD vrftK mrp^R rur ^am 'Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh his God from the fish's stomach, and he said' (2.23a). The psalm refers to Jonah's previous prayer for help (unmentioned in the narrative) and Yahweh's response (2.3). With vivid imagery, the prophet describes the experience of drowning and claims that God brought it about (2.4-7a). God rescued him upon hearing his prayer for help (2.7b-8). Contrasting himself with unfaithful idolaters (2.9), Jonah promises praise and sacrifice, and concludes 'Salvation belongs to Yahweh' (2.10). Immediately following the psalm, Yahweh orders the fish to regurgitate Jonah onto land (2.11). The next chapter begins 1. The versification of Jon. 2 differs by one between the MT and the translations. Thus MT 2.1 = trans. 1.17, MT 2.2 = 2.1, etc. The citations below follow the Hebrew enumeration.
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with a repetition of Jonah's commission and narrates his obedience (3.1-3). The psalm therefore appears at the climactic point of the first half of the book, just prior to a partial resolution of the tension in 2.11. The prior and subsequent narrative plot contains no direct references to the psalm. Its only possible influence on the plot concerns the relationship between 2.3-10 and 2.11. Is Yahweh's order to the fish a response to the psalm or not? Interpreters' answers to this question depended on their understanding of the fish's role. If the fish represents a further deterioration in Jonah's condition, then his return to dry land is a change of fortune caused by his psalm or (if one considers the psalm a secondary addition) a prayer for help mentioned in 2.2. If, on the other hand, the fish is an agent of rescue from drowning, then Jonah's return to land was the intended outcome and the psalm has no effect on the plot. The first interpretation was preferred by those who considered the psalm a secondary elaboration of the prayer mentioned in 2.2,1 the second by those who saw in the psalm of thanksgiving an indication that the fish is the means of Jonah's rescue.2 The issue therefore turns on the nature of Jonah's prayer, and cannot be resolved until other aspects of the psalm's narrative role are explored. Semantic and Thematic Links Jonah's psalm shares some vocabulary with the surrounding narrative which highlights thematic parallels between poetry and prose. The psalm's first word, TiK~ip 'I called' (2.3), alludes to a previous (unnarrated) call for help. In ch. 1, however, Jonah is twice asked to top 'call'—against Ninevah in v. 2, and to God for the sake of the sailors in v. 6—but he does not comply. The foreign sailors do call on Yahweh to forgive their actions toward Jonah (1.14), but only in the psalm's first verse do we hear that Jonah called out, and then only for himself. Only after his experience in the ocean and a repetition of the 1. E.g. H. Schmidt, 'Die Komposition des Buches Jona', ZAW 25 (1905), p. 286; H.W. Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah (trans. M. Kohl; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1986), pp. 132-33. 2. E.g. A. Feuillet, 'Les sources du livre de Jonas', RB 54 (1947), p. 181; idem, 'Le sens du livre de Jonas', RB 54 (1947), p. 344; G.M. Landes, 'The Kerygma of the Book of Jonah: The Contextual Interpretation of the Jonah Psalm', Int 21 (1967), pp. 12-14.
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commission to 'call' against Ninevah (3.2), does Jonah finally do as he has been asked (3.4).1 The psalm's vivid description of sinking into the ocean (2.4-7) climaxes with the statement 'I went down (TiTT) into the underworld, its bars [closed] behind me forever' (2.7). G. Landes pointed out that Jonah's downward motion began long before Jonah got wet: in his flight from God, he went down (TVI) to Jaffa (1.3), went down (TVI) onto the ship (1.3), and then went down (11*) to the furthest part of the ship (1.5).2 Thus Jonah's physical motion downward begins in the narrative but reaches its lowest point and is reversed in the middle of the psalm. In the vow of praise at the end of the psalm, Jonah promises "["mmm nnbtfK TITI] "itf« 'I will sacrifice to you, what I have vowed I will fulfil' (2.10). The line echoes the actions of the sailors, who nanram Dm: iTm mrr1? 'sacrificed sacrifices to Yahweh and vowed vows' (1.16).3 The effect is to set up an ironic contrast between Jonah's depiction of idolaters and himself at the end of the psalm on the one hand, and the actions of Jonah and the sailors in ch. 1 on the other. The same contrast is operative in the subsequent narrative between the actions of the Ninevites (ch. 3) and Jonah's reaction to their deliverance (ch. 4). Other links between the psalm and preceding narrative are the themes of the sea (although aside from D\ 'sea', prose and poem use different vocabulary to describe it), and of being 'inside' the ship, the fish, and Sheol (although again different terms are used: rDT 'furthest part' of the ship [1.5], nuo 'internal organ' of the fish [2.1-2], and ]03 'stomach, womb' of Sheol [2.3]).4 Overall, the thematic relationship 1. On Jonah's use of tnp, see G.H. Cohn, Das Buck Jona im Lichte der biblischen Erzdhlkunst (Studia Semitica Neerlandica, 12; Assen: Van Gorcum, 1969) p. 93; J. Magonet, Form and Meaning: Studies in Literary Techniques in the Book of Jonah (Sheffield: Almond Press, 2nd edn, 1983), p. 43; J.C. Holbert, ' "Deliverance Belongs to Yahweh!": Satire in the Book of Jonah', JSOT 21 (1981), p. 71; J.S. Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism in the Song of Jonah', in B. Halpern and J.D. Levenson (eds.), Traditions in Transformation ac(Festschrift P.M. Cross; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1981), p. 222. 2. Landes, 'Kerygma', p. 25. 3. Magonet, Form and Meaning, p. 43. 4. On the latter vocabulary, see Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah, p. 133; Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism', p. 232; and, for a psychological interpretation, R. Couffignal, 'Le Psaume de Jonas (Jonas 2, 2-10): Une catabase biblique, sa structure et sa fonction', Bib 71 (1990), pp. 549-52.
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between the psalm and the preceding narrative is marked not by repetition but by a mixture of continuity (as in Jonah's continuing descent) and contrast (as in the narrative's and psalm's depiction of foreigners). The prose introduction to the psalm (2.2-3a) contains the same formula that later introduces Jonah's prose prayer in 4.2: ^am "inm mrp'bK 'then he prayed to Yahweh and said'.1 The prayers share thematic and semantic links: Jonah blames idolaters for abandoning Dion 'their fidelity' (2.9) and then berates Yahweh for showing lorrm 'great fidelity' (4.2); he praises God for saving "n 'my life' (2.7) when »eJD3 'my life/spirit' was faint (2.8), but then asks God to take »eJS3 'my life/spirit' because he prefers death to "n 'my life' (4.3).2 The language and themes in 2.3-10 and 4.2-3 therefore suggest that the two prayers are juxtaposed within the book.3 Characterization Jonah's Psalm characterizes its speaker only indirectly. As a fairly standard individual thanksgiving, it depicts a pious worshiper, grateful for his deliverance from death and prepared to offer thank offerings. It is difficult, however, to reconcile this picture of the psalmist with the portrait of a rebellious Jonah drawn by the rest of the book. The result has been the proliferation of radically different interpretations of the psalm's characterization of Jonah in context. It has been common among critical scholars to take the pious characterization of the psalm at face value. Although this usually led to the abandonment of any attempt to interpret it in its context, G. von Rad argued that a theological reading of the whole was still possible: These two Jonah figures. . .do not simply separate into two. It is quite possible that the righteous one enters into the disobedient one and lends him his voice. And when such thanksgiving, strange though it be, comes from lips that are otherwise impious—even when that praise is seriously
1. Landes, 'Kerygma', pp. 16-17. 2. L.C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah (NICOT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), p. 199. 3. K.M. Craig explored at length the thematic use of prayers in Jonah ('The Poetics of the Book of Jonah: Toward an Understanding of Narrative Strategy' [PhD dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1989], pp. 83-111).
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For von Rad, however, the differences between the two depictions of Jonah are too great to be the work of a single author. B.S. Childs saw in the psalm's pious characterization of Jonah an attempt to 'to specify the addressee as the covenant community'.2 In that case, the psalm encourages readers to identify with Jonah, so that the final reversal in his characterization (3.10-4.3) strikes home with them as well. The psalm therefore forces one to take Jonah seriously, for as Jonathan Magonet pointed out, 'even Jonah has an inner life'.3 Finally, A. Feuillet argued that the psalm's pious characterization of Jonah together with the fish's actions serve to prove that Jonah is a true prophet, so that the non-fulfilment of Jonah's prophecy against Ninevah cannot be mistaken for false prophecy.4 Others argued that the contrast between the Jonah of the psalm and the prophet of ch. 1 reflects his change of heart brought about by the experience of being saved from death, which explains why he now obeys God's orders (3.3). D. Stuart noted, 'The psalm. ..fixes an ironic contrast: Jonah's obedience (3.3) is won by mercy; but Jonah cannot abide the thought that Ninevah's obedience could be won the same way! '5 J. Ackerman and J. Holbert saw satiric irony in the contrasting characterizations of Jonah offered by the narrative and the psalm. According to Ackerman, the psalm 'establishes major dissonances between the prophet's perception of reality and that of his narrative world'.6 Holbert argued that 1. G. von Rad, The Prophet Jonah', God at Work in Israel (trans. J.H. Marks; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1980), p. 70. 2. B.S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), p. 425. He suggested that the psalm was added secondarily when the book was being collected with others as part of the canonizing process. 3. Magonet, Form and Meaning, p. 53. 4. Feuillet, 'Le sens', p. 344. 5. D. Stuart, Hosea-Jonah (WBC, 31; Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), p. 473; similarly Cohn, Buch Jona, p. 84; A. Jepsen, 'Anmerkungen zum Buche Jona', in JJ. Stamm, E. Jenni and HJ. Stoebe (eds.), Wort-Gebot-Glaube: Walter EichrodtZum 80. Geburtstag (ATANT, 59; Zurich: Zwingli-Verlag, 1970), p. 300. 6. Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism', p. 216. Cf. Couffignal, 'Le Psaume de Jonas', pp. 549-51.
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in the context of chapter 1 and the remainder of the book it can only be seen as another inappropriate, hypocritical, pious-sounding affirmation like 1.9 before it and 4.2 after it. By it, Jonah shows the reader more clearly his true colors. His phrases sound good and right, but in the event they turn out to be empty. The negative character portrayal of Jonah in chapter 1 is sharpened in 2, as he is further and further separated from those around him by his appalling behavior. This separation is not complete until the book's end, where Jonah is in fact physically separated from everyone.1
According to this interpretation, the ironic effect of Jonah's positive depiction of himself in the psalm is to strengthen the negative characterization of him begun in ch. 1.2 The opposite interpretation has been advanced by AJ. Hauser, M. Steinberg, and K. M. Craig. They argued that readers are kept in the dark regarding Jonah's true motives in the first three chapters, leading to the inference, as Sternberg put it, that 'Jonah is too tenderhearted to carry a message of doom to a great city'.3 The action of both narrative and psalm, according to Hauser, depicts a passive Jonah manipulated by a wrathful God.4 The result is that the psalm, far from providing insight into Jonah's character, makes his characterization more ambiguous.5 Only in his prayer in 4.2-3, by this interpretation, do Jonah's true motives come to light. It is not easy to choose between these contradictory interpretations of the psalm's characterization of Jonah. One basis for making distinctions between them lies in the psalm's characterizations of another figure, Yahweh. Jonah in the psalm makes Yahweh responsible not only for his rescue (2.7-8) but also for his brush with death (2.4). The turning point in Yahweh's treatment of him is described as Jonah's prayer for deliverance (2.3, 8). A satiric reading of the psalm interprets this point of view as mistaken: it was not Yahweh but the sailors who threw Jonah into the sea, and Yahweh did not send the fish to rescue a faithful worshiper 1. Holbert, 'Deliverance', pp. 74-75. 2. 'What does YHWH think of Jonah and his song? The great fish is commanded to vomit!' (Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism', p. 225). 3. M. Sternberg, The Poetics of Biblical Narrative (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985), p. 318. Sternberg did not discuss the psalm separately from the prose narrative. 4. AJ. Hauser, 'Jonah: In Pursuit of the Dove', JBL 104 (1985), p. 30. 5. Craig, 'Poetics', pp. 63, 101.
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but to bring back the prophet to fulfil his commission.1 It is questionable, however, whether this interpretation is true to the prose narrative of chs. 1-2. The stilling of the storm (1.15) corroborates Jonah's prior and subsequent interpretation of events as being at Yahweh's instigation, and the narrative regularly depicts God responding to prayers for help with deliverance (1.14-15; 3.5-10).2 Jonah's characterization of Yahweh in the psalm thus seems to correspond with that offered by the narrator.3 The picture presented by the psalm is also at odds with the theory of Yahweh's ambiguous characterization in the first three chapters of Jonah.4 The psalm's claim that 'Salvation belongs to Yahweh' (2.10) is vindicated by the narrative of chs. 1 and 3. The notion that the book misleads readers into assuming that God is angry and punitive is not credible. Since the psalm's depiction of Yahweh is vindicated by the narrative, its characterization of Jonah deserves to be taken seriously as well. The piety expressed by the psalm is compatible with Jonah's other speeches in the book: he gives the sailors an orthodox confession of faith (1.9), he accurately diagnoses the cause of the storm and the effect of throwing him overboard (1.12), and he even gives as the reason for his disobedience a traditional description of Yahweh's nature (4.2). The psalm accords with the narrative in characterizing Jonah as an orthodox Yahwist.5 Yet the long history of interpretations which excise the psalm from the book shows that, whatever its intended effect, the psalm seems to most readers to be in tension with its context. Since the psalm's piety is at one with Jonah's other speeches, the source of this tension must lie elsewhere. I suggest that it is not created by what the psalm says, but is rather produced by the psalm's omission of any reference to 1. Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism', pp. 222-23; Holbert, 'Deliverance', pp. 71-72. 2. Landes, 'Kerygma', pp. 24, 26. 3. Satiric interpretations have settled too quickly for single causality and contradictions where the book seems to offer a more subtle depiction of dual causality, in which divine and human actions are not mutually exclusive. On dual causality in the Bible and discussion of the secondary literature, see Y. Amit, 'The Dual Causality Principle and its Effects on Biblical Literature', VT 37 (1987), pp. 385-400. 4. As suggested by Hauser, Sternberg and Craig. 5. Magonet makes the same point, emphasizing the irony implicit in this characterization (Form and Meaning, p. 52; also T.E. Fretheim, 'Jonah', in J.L. Mays [ed.], Harper's Bible Commentary [San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988], p. 729).
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Jonah's prophetic commission and rebellion.1 Jonah's Psalm may be appropriate to the immediate situation of deliverance from drowning, but it is out of place in the story of a reluctant prophet. Craig has pointed out that such stories are a staple of Hebrew narrative from Moses to Jeremiah. The expected response of a prophet to an undesirable commission is argument and excuses (Exod. 4.1, 10; Isa. 6.5; Jer. 1.6b).2 If the prophet expresses his reluctance in poetry, then a lament recounting the frustrations of the prophetic task would be most appropriate (e.g. Jer. 15.10-18; 18.19-23; 20.7-18). Jonah's Psalm is astonishing because it ignores the essential issue between the prophet and God: Jonah's refusal of a prophetic commission. Therefore Jon. 2.3-10 does not characterize Jonah as a true prophet; it ignores the issue entirely.3 Nor does the psalm contain any sign of a change of heart on Jonah's part regarding his commission. The story leaves Jonah's obedience (3.3) as unmotivated as it did his original disobedience (1.3).4 The psalm does present Jonah as an orthodox and pious Yahwist who responds to salvation with appropriate thanksgiving. Through its vivid description of the experience and emotions of drowning, it provides readers intimate insight into Jonah's thoughts and feelings, thereby casting him in a more sympathetic light. Simultaneously the context highlights Jonah's lack of reflection on his conflict with Yahweh. The tension between the sympathetic portrait in the psalm and the judgment implied by the book as a whole is acute, but not inherently contradictory. The psalm simply elicits reader identification with Jonah to such a degree that the confrontation with Jonah's true motivations in ch. 4 forces them to share his discomfort. Analysis of the psalm's characterization of Jonah thus suggests that it does serve to typify Jonah, as Childs suggested: 'The lesson which was directed to Jonah now also serves a larger audience'.5 In this regard, Jonah's Psalm is similar to other psalms in narrative contexts which evoke the readers' sympathies and identification with the characters and events of the surrounding narratives (e.g. Exod. 15). 1. This omission has been frequently noted by commentators. See e.g. Schmidt, 'Komposition', p. 286. 2. Craig, 'Poetics', pp. 77-78, and idem, 'Jonah and the Reading Process', JSOT 47 (1990), pp. 108-109. 3. Contra Feuillet, 'Le sens', p. 344. 4. Contra Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, p. 473. 5. Childs, Introduction, p. 424.
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In the book of Jonah, however, the sympathetic characterization of Jonah in the psalm sets up the readers to share in the discomfort which the revelation of his true motives will soon bring about. Summary The narrative role of Jon. 2.3-10, like 2 Samuel 22 and Isa. 38.9-20, focuses on characterization. The psalm's effect on the immediate plot (2.11) remains ambiguous. The dual causality operative in many parts of the book is probably at work here as well: the fish is the means both for returning the prophet to his task and for rescuing a worshiper who called to Yahweh in distress. The various thematic and semantic connections between poem and prose serve the purpose of characterization: they focus attention on the nature of Jonah's 'call', his complicity in his own 'descent', the pious yet inadequate nature of his prayers, and his warped self-righteousness over against the nonYahwistic sailors and Ninevites. Yet the negative characterization of Jonah created by the juxtaposition of the psalm with its context is in tension with the sympathy this vibrant thanksgiving engenders. The result is that Jonah cannot be dismissed as a one-sided satirical character, but must rather be considered as a possible depiction of the reader's own self. The psalm thus raises the readers' stakes in the book of Jonah, and helps to drive its homiletical point home. The psalm's position in the book enhances this dialectical role. Most psalms in prose contexts appear near the climax of the narrative action, either immediately prior or directly after the resolution. Jonah's Psalm, like the psalms in Isaiah 38, Dan. 2.20-23 and Add. Dan. 28-68, is placed at a point where the speaker has been led to expect deliverance which is not actually accomplished or completed until after the psalm is sung. Unlike these other texts, however, the resolution provided by Jonah's return to dry land in 2.11 is a premature ending which leaves the major plot tension unresolved. The psalm is used in a subtle manner to draw out the readers' sympathies for Jonah's predicament at sea, by playing on the expectation that the psalm's presence marks the climax and immediate resolution of the story's main conflict. The sympathies thus engendered remain after this expectation has been disappointed, thereby leaving readers vulnerable to the implications of the book's quite different climax two chapters later.
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Methods of Interpretation For most of this century, the opinion that Jonah's Psalm is a secondary addition to an otherwise unified book was nearly unanimous among critical scholars.1 The following evidence was commonly cited for this conclusion: (1) the characterization of Jonah in the psalm contradicts that of the narrative; (2) the psalm does not relate to Jonah's prophetic task; (3) the psalm is in the wrong position and should appear after Jonah is safely on land (2.11); (4) the psalm should not be a thanksgiving but a lament; (5) the psalm has a different style and vocabulary from the narrative; (6) the drowning language is metaphorical, as it is in other psalms; (7) the psalm interrupts the overarching pattern of the book.2 The arguments regarding the position and the genre of the psalm are in essence the same and rest on the claim that, inside the fish, a lament is the appropriate psalm for Jonah to voice, whereas a thanksgiving should be placed after his deliverance is complete. In both cases, the fish is assumed to be a threat to the prophet. Landes argued, however, that within the narrative the fish is the agent of Jonah's rescue from drowning, and that this is precisely the point of view of the psalm.3 This interpretation is bolstered by the comparative evidence of other psalms in narrative contexts. As noted above, individual thanksgivings tend to be placed at a point in the narrative when deliverance 1. The psalm has usually been considered the only secondary addition to Jonah, though in the 19th century a number of multiple source or redaction theories of Jonah's composition were put forward. See e.g. W. Bohme ('Die Composition des Buches Jona', ZAW 1 [1887], pp. 224-84) and H. Schmidt ('Komposition', pp. 285-310; he reviewed earlier source theories on pp. 302-10). Recent attempts at discerning layers of development in Jonah have been made by L. Schmidt ('De Deo': Studien zur Literarkritik und Theologie des Buches Jona, des Gesprdchs zwischen Abraham und Jahwe in Gen 18.22ff. und von Hi 1 [Berlin: de Gruyter, 1976], pp. 124-25) and P. Weimar ('Jon. 2, 1-11: Jonapsalm und Jonaerzahlung', BZ 28 [1984], pp. 43-68). However, the substantial unity of the prose narrative of Jonah has been maintained by the vast majority of scholars throughout the critical period. 2. For lists and discussions of these arguments, see Schmidt, 'Komposition', p. 286; Landes, 'Kerygma', pp. 4-5; Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah, pp. 129-30; G. Vanoni, Das Buch Jona: Literar- und Formkritische Untersuchung (St Ottilien: EOS, 1978), pp. 28-29; Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism', pp. 213-15; Weimar, 'Jon. 2, 1-11', pp. 44-49; Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, pp. 470-73. 3. Landes, 'Kerygma', pp. 12-14.
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is expected, but not yet accomplished. Jonah's Psalm is like Hezekiah's Psalm, Daniel's Praise and the Song of the Three in this respect. There is then little reason to consider Jon. 2.3-10 a secondary addition on the basis of either its position or genre. Arguments based on differences in vocabulary and style between the psalm and its context fail for two reasons. First, when boiled down to essentials, they merely point to the obvious differences between poetry and prose. The placement of poems in prose contexts is a common feature of Hebrew and other ancient Near Eastern literatures, and therefore offers no evidence for the diachronic development of the text.1 Second, the psalm can be original in this context and still not have been written by the author of the prose, if the prose writer borrowed it from some pre-existing source. The theory that the psalm's drowning language was originally metaphorical offers even less basis for diachronic reconstruction. The literal application of metaphorical language is a literary device which may serve to increase the irony of the psalm in this context.2 We have already seen that the psalm's characterization of Jonah is not, in fact, incompatible with that of the narrative. All of Jonah's speeches, whether poetry or prose, present a pious, orthodox Yahwist. It is in the matter of his prophetic calling that Jonah is rebellious, and this issue is ignored in the psalm. The result, as the above analysis of the psalm's narrative role has shown, is that considerable tension is generated by the conflict between sympathies aroused by the poem and the negative judgment on Jonah implied by the narrative. The psalm thus makes it more difficult for readers to evade the implications of this judgment. Therefore, if the tension between poem and prose is taken as evidence for the psalm's secondary character, one is forced to conclude that the effect of the interpolation was to strengthen the book's original point.3 If, however, the tension between the psalm and its context strengthens the book's thematic thrust, why could the 1. For the Near Eastern comparative evidence, see the Appendix. The prevalence of juxtaposed modes (prose, poetry) in the Hebrew Bible is being increasingly recognized by commentators; e.g. Stuart: 'the occasional citation of poems in prose contexts is an aspect of normal OT narrative style' (Hosea-Jonah, p. 470). 2. So J.A. Miles, 'Laughing at the Bible: Jonah as Parody', JQR 65 (1974-75), pp. 168-81; Ackerman, 'Satire and Symbolism', p. 226. 3. So Childs, Introduction, p. 425: 'The final reworking of the story simply extended the original point'.
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tension not have been the work of the book's original author? This diachronic argument falls into a vicious circle. The last argument for the psalm being a secondary addition rests on the claim that it does not fit into the larger thematic structures of the book.1 A number of interpreters, however, have presented competing analyses of Jonah in which the psalm plays a key role.2 The above discussion of the psalm's narrative role highlighted semantic and thematic links which pointed to its position in the development of chs. 1-2 and the parallel it forms with the prayer in 4.2-3. It is difficult, however, to decide between contradictory literary patterns; Jonah, like many other books, seems capable of a variety of analyses. This fact should caution one against basing compositional claims on the book's literary patterns alone. More synchronic literary studies have been made of the psalm in Jonah than of any other psalm in a narrative context. Arguments that Jon. 2.3-10 is an original part of the book have been based on the book's overarching structure, thematic and vocabulary links between poem and prose, and the appropriateness of the psalm in its present location—all points which are confirmed by the analysis of its narrative role given above. Thus unlike the psalms in narrative contexts so far examined, there is no strong evidence that Jonah's Psalm was a secondary addition to the narrative. Its narrative role is compatible with the theory that Jon. 2.3-10 was part of the original book. Intentions and Implications A comparison of Jon. 2.3-10 with the narrative roles played by other psalms in prose contexts shows several points in common: (1) like Jonah's Psalm, Exodus 15 is used to evoke reader identification with characters in the narrative; (2) both also apply established psalmic genres to unexpected characters in order to shape readers' reactions to the text; (3) 2 Samuel 22 and Isaiah 38 are used, like Jonah's Psalm, to provide inner characterizations. The book of Jonah is innovative in the thematic purpose for which it uses the psalm. These comparisons show, however, that its use is in continuity, or at least dialogue, with 1. So N. Lohfink, 'Jona ging zur Stadt hinaus (Jon. 4, 5)', BZ 5 (1961), p. 196 n. 37; Vanoni, Buck Jona, pp. 120-21; Childs, Introduction, p. 422. 2. E.g. Landes, 'Kerygma', pp. 16-18; Magonet, Form and Meaning, pp. 6162; Craig, 'Poetics', pp. 69-70.
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the conventions that seem to have governed the technique of combining psalms with prose. Could not the same narrative effects have been achieved without resorting to a shift in mode? In a modern novel, perhaps, but in Hebrew literature deep inner characterization and the close reader identification that it can engender are usually reserved for poetry. When the writer of Jonah wished to create those effects, a resort to psalmody was almost inevitable. The fact that the narrative goes on to subvert the expectations aroused by the psalm is only further evidence of the literary skill with which it is employed. One irony in the book of Jonah is that the psalm is used to illustrate the religious limitations of psalmody. Unlike most other psalms in narrative contexts which serve to model the use of psalms to express communal and individual piety, Jonah's Psalm in its context highlights the non-cultic demands being placed on Jonah and the inadequacy of an orthodox liturgical response. Hence by Jonah's example the book does not end up recommending the personal use of psalms. It rather uses the prophet as a negative example to urge obedience to God's expressed will. The narrative role of Jonah's Psalm shows that, at the time the book was written, the writer could assume readers' familiarity with psalmic conventions and the device of placing psalms in narrative contexts. Such familiarity on the readers' part was necessary if those expectations were to be subverted by the narrative. Psalmody provided a common emotional base into which the writer tapped in order to identify Jonah and the orthodox Jewish reader. Further, the individual use of psalmody in a non-cultic context must have been common in order for it to be made part of a nuanced critique of that kind of piety. Jonah is evidence, therefore, that the appropriation of cultic psalmody for non-cultic individual use was common at this point in the postexilic period.1
1. A postexilic date for Jonah's composition is widely accepted among interpreters. There is not sufficient evidence upon which to base a more precise dating. For discussions of the book's date, see Childs, Introduction, p. 419; Wolff, Obadiah and Jonah, pp. 76-78; Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, pp. 432-33.
Chapter 9 DANIEL'S PRAISE (DANIEL 2.20-23) The short psalm in the narrative of Daniel 2 shows the influence of the blessing formulas that proliferated in later books of the Hebrew Bible and is closely connected with other poetic prayers in the book. The psalm nevertheless contains points of continuity with the older literary tradition of placing psalms in narrative contexts. Narrative Role Daniel's psalm of praise achieves its narrative role by its position in the plot of Daniel 2, its semantic and thematic links with the proximate and extended contexts, and its characterization of Daniel and God. Plot Relations The psalm in Daniel 2 appears in the story of the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The king has threatened the sages of Babylon with a death sentence unless someone is able to tell him both the dream and its interpretation (2.1-13). When Daniel hears of the threat (vv. 14-16), he and his friends pray for the answer to the puzzle (vv. 17-18). God reveals it to Daniel in a night vision (v. 19a), and Daniel immediately responds with the psalm, which is introduced by "ID»I ^n ma tone? n^ 7-0 'aon p« 'then Daniel blessed the God of Heaven. Daniel spoke up, saying' (vv. 19b-20a). The psalm blesses God, to whom belong wisdom and power (v. 20), who governs the world and grants wisdom (v. 21), and who reveals secrets because nothing is hid from God (v. 22). The psalm closes by thanking God for granting Daniel's request to understand the king's dream (v. 23). After singing this psalm, Daniel hurries to the king (vv. 24-26) and tells him both the dream (vv. 27-35) and its interpretation, which
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concerns the coming of future kingdoms (vv. 36-45). The king responds by praising God (vv. 46-47) and elevating Daniel and his friends to high positions in his government (vv. 48-49). Daniel's Praise is not anticipated in the preceding prose nor is it mentioned afterwards. It has no direct effect on the plot of either this chapter or the book as a whole. Daniel gives praise when his request has been answered, though the readers are still in the dark as to the dream's nature and significance. The psalm is thus placed in the middle of the action before resolution of the tension has occurred, but at a point where resolution is expected. The poem's position is similar to that of other psalms in narrative contexts which relate thanksgiving for healing or deliverance at points in the narrative where that outcome has been indicated, but not yet fulfilled (Isa. 38, Jon. 2, Add. Dan.). Because of its location, Daniel's Praise becomes, like these other thanksgivings, an expression of trust that the expected deliverance will be brought to fruition.1 Semantic and Thematic Links The psalm is closely linked to its context by theme and vocabulary. D^n 'wise person' is mentioned by the psalm (2.21) and frequently in the prose (2.12, 13, 14, 18, 24, 27, 48), and its cognate neon 'wisdom' is a major emphasis of the poem (2.20, 21, 23). The psalm refers to the n*7D 'word, matter' of the king (2.23) which has been a central concern of the narrative (2.5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17). The poem reflects the action of the narrative with the verbs nm 'ask, seek' (2.23; cf. 2.13, 16, 18, 49) and nb: 'reveal' (2.22; cf. 2.19, 28, 29, 30, 47). tbs 'forever' is used of the king in 2.4, but the psalm applies it to God in 2.20. The psalm also enriches the story's vocabulary stock with words such as np'QJ? 'deep things' and mnon 'hidden things' (instead of the narrative's nn 'secret'), and supplements both prose and poetry's emphasis on wisdom with two references to God's mina 'power' (2.20, 23).2 The poem's description of God's control over man verts 'the seasons and times' (2.21) provides an ironic echo to Nebuchadnezzar's 1. I.E. Goldingay remarked that a 'dramatic effect is achieved by recording this confession here, while reserving the content of the revelation for later' (Daniel [WBC, 30; Dallas: Woid Books, 1989], p. 57; see 42). 2. For further discussion of the chapter's vocabulary, see Goldingay, Daniel, pp. 43-44.
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description of the Babylonian sages' attempts to buy ]ia 'time' for themselves (2.8) and to }0f 'agree upon' lies (2.9). The psalm itself introduces the theme of God as the source of all wisdom, which is repeated twice in the subsequent narrative, first by Daniel (2.27-28) and then by Nebuchadnezzar (2.47). The psalm also announces God's control over kings, which proves to be the central thrust of the dream's significance and is reflected by the king's reaction (2.47).! At one point, Daniel's interpretation echoes the phrasing of the psalm: compare fsba D'pna 'raising up kings' (2.21) with "O^o.. .D^ 'he will raise up a kingdom' (2.44). Daniel's Praise is the first of four poems with similar themes distributed through Daniel 1-6. The others appear in the mouths of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius at 3.33, 4.31-32 and 6.27-2S.2 Unlike 2.20-23, they lack the element of thanksgiving, but otherwise they parallel the psalm in emphasizing God's power, eternality and control over nature and history.3 All four passages point to God as the source of Daniel's miraculous powers.4 S. Towner noted that the poems serve a crucial role in the narrative's 'universalist theodicy' pattern which aims 'to denigrate the power of evil to prevail and to testify in a dramatic and convincing way of the superiority of Israel's CreatorRedeemer over any king or people on earth'.5 The psalm's description of God, man KTW wtfna Kim 'he changes times and seasons', also finds an echo in Daniel's vision in ch. 7, where the fourth beast is given power mi •pact mtfn1? 'to change times and law' (7.25).6 The psalm in ch. 2 makes it clear that the beast is exercising divine power, although in a limited fashion. Characterization Daniel's Praise is devoted to characterizing God directly, but by appearing in Daniel's mouth, it indirectly characterizes him as well. 1. J.J. Collins, Daniel, with an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature (FOTL, 20; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), p. 51. 2. In English Bibles, the verse enumeration differs slightly. They appear at 4.3, 4.34-35 and 6.26-27. 3. For a full discussion of the poems, see W.S. Towner, 'The Poetic Passages of Daniel 1-6*. CBQ 31 (1969), pp. 317-26. 4. W.S. Towner, Daniel (Interpretation; Atlanta: John Knox, 1984), p. 33. 5. Towner, 'Poetic Passages', p. 325. 6. A. Lacocque, Daniel in his Time (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1988), p. 66.
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His first reaction to the revelatory vision is praise and thanksgiving, expressed with complete trust that a positive outcome to his dangerous situation will now be forthcoming. Daniel is thus cast as a model of piety, which matches the narrative's depiction of him through his prayer (2.19), witness (vv. 27-28), and self-effacement (v. 30), and in which he is also characterized as a model Israelite sage (v. 14).1 The psalm matches and reinforces the context's depiction of Daniel in ideal terms. The above discussion of the psalm's thematic links with the surrounding prose has shown that characterization of God is central to its narrative role. S. Niditch and R. Doran observed that because of the psalm, 'the role of the hero, the wise man, is almost superseded by a more important protagonist, God'.2 The prose narrator does not describe God in Daniel 2. Divine characterization is left for the speeches of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, among which the psalm contains the first and most extensive depiction.3 God is the source of wisdom and power in the psalm, and thus has control over sage and king, as both Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar admit in the subsequent account. The emphasis on God's power over nature and history also echoes throughout the book of Daniel, according to L.F. Hartman: 'in its praise of God as the one who "brings about changes in the times and eras" and who "deposes kings and sets up kings", [the psalm] strikes the keynote of the whole Book of Daniel, that Yahweh is truly the Lord and Master of human history'.4 In its characterization of
1. Goldingay, Daniel, p. 36. He remarked that 'The characterization of the main figures in the story is effected by means of cartooning so as to polarize them: Nebuchadnezzar in the extremes of his original violence and anxiety and of his later reverence and gratitude, the sages exposed in their pretension and incompetence, Daniel as the model of wisdom and piety' (p. 43). 2. S. Niditch and R. Doran, The Success Story of the Wise Courtier: A Formal Approach', JBL 96 (1977), p. 191. They argued that the character motif of the divine helper is created in this chapter by w. 16-23, which they considered secondary to the basic story. 3. 'We are forced to depend upon human revelation to learn anything of divine revelation. We must trust Daniel's song of thanksgiving for information concerning God's participation in the story' (D.N. Fewell, Circle of Sovereignty: A Story of Stories in Daniel 1-6 [JSOTSup, 72; Sheffield: Almond Press, 1988], p. 54). 4. L.F. Hartman and A.A. DiLella, The Book of Daniel (AB, 23; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978), p. 145.
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God, the psalm therefore announces the central theme of both its proximate and extended narrative contexts. Summary The psalm's narrative role finds its chief expression in God's characterization in terms of power and wisdom, which announces the point towards which the story and book are driving. This role is established by close semantic and thematic links with the prose narrative of Daniel 2, with the three other poems in Daniel 1-6, and even with the vision of the fourth beast in Daniel 7. The psalm also reinforces the narrative's ideal characterization of Daniel through its pious contents and especially by its position. Daniel's Praise allows Israel's ideal sage to show his faith by announcing the theme which even Babylonian and Persian kings will eventually proclaim. Methods of Interpretation The compositional history of the book of Daniel has been the subject of intense debate, and a wide variety of methods have been used to explain the presence of Daniel's Praise in 2.20-23. This psalm has always had many defenders of its originality in this context.1 Towner in particular has argued that the psalm and the other poems in Daniel 1-6 were composed from stereotyped liturgical phrases for this narrative context and were designed by the author 'to function as theological epitomes of the significance of that experience of the speaker which is recounted in the narrative context'.2 The psalm's presence in
1. J.A. Montgomery, The Book of Daniel (ICC; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1927), p. 157; O. Ploger, Das Buch Daniel (KAT; Gutersloh: Mohn, 1965), p. 50; A. Jeffery, 'The Book of Daniel', in G.A. Buttrick, et al (eds.), The Interpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1956),VI, pp. 381; Goldingay, Daniel, p. 44. H.H. Rowley defended the unity of the entire book, although he did not address the psalm specifically ('The Unity of the Book of Daniel', The Servant of the Lord and Other Essays on the Old Testament [London: Lutterworth, 1952], pp. 237-68). O.H. Steck, on the other hand, assumed a three stage development of the book, but considered the psalm to be a theological summary of the message of the first stage, the original Daniel stories ('Weltgeschehen und Gottesvolk im Buche Daniel', Wahrnehmungen Gottes imAlten Testament: Gesammelte Studien [TBU,70; Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1982], pp. 266 n. 18, 270). 2. Towner, 'Poetic Passages', p. 322; cf. p. 318 n. 4 and p. 320.
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4QDana is proof that it was an integral part of the text by the midsecond century BCE.1 In discussing diachronic theories of the composition of Daniel 2, J.J. Collins noted that 'it is important to clarify what is meant by "secondary" here'.2 Mowinckel considered the psalm a secondary addition to the book as a whole, like the poems added to Daniel 3 in the Septuagint, and described it as 'post-canonical, late Jewish psalmography'.3 In most other theories of the book's development, however, the psalm is considered to be the work of the final author/redactor who combined the stories of Daniel 2-6 with the visions of Daniel 812.4 In that case, the psalm was inserted to help unite the book and express its overarching theological direction, the same role described for it by interpreters who find no diachronic development between it and its immediate context. The debated point concerns the relationship of the psalm to the story which surrounds it in Daniel 2. The major evidence for diachronic development here is, in P.R. Davies' words, the contradictory presentation of the hero. For whilst Daniel is presented as an unknown Jewish captive who is introduced to the king by one of the royal officers and offers to interpret the king's dream, he is also sought to be executed, along with his companions, as already belonging to the king's wise men, and he gains an audience with the king in a manner which implies such status.5
Davies concluded therefore that the original story depicted Daniel as unknown to the king. The compiler of the stories added Daniel 1 as an introduction which depicts Daniel and his friends as sages in training,
1. E. Ulrich, 'Daniel Manuscripts from Qumran. Part 1: A Preliminary Edition of 4QDana', BASOR 268 (1987), pp. 17-18. 2. Collins, Daniel, p. 49. 3. S. Mowinckel, 'Psalms and Wisdom', in M. Noth and D.W. Thomas (eds.), Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East (Festschrift H.H. Rowley; VTSup, 3; Leiden: Brill, 1955), p. 217. 4. To which stage chaps. 1 and 7 belong differs from one analysis to another. See P.R. Davies, 'Daniel Chapter Two', JTS 27 (1976), pp. 392-95; Hartman and DiLella, Book of Daniel, pp. 144-45; A. Lacocque, The Book of Daniel (trans. D. Pellaner; Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1979), p. 44; idem, Daniel in his Time, pp. 66, 75; Collins, Daniel, p. 49. 5. Davies, 'Daniel Chapter Two', p. 393.
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and inserted 2.13-23 to adapt ch. 2 to the theme of God as the source of power and wisdom.1 Niditch and Doran isolated the folk tale pattern of the success of the wise courtier, which stands behind the story in Daniel 2. They noted that vv. 17-23 fall outside the standard pattern by mixing prose and poetic modes, creating contradictions and shifting the thematic emphasis: 'The traditional simple theme about wisdom and success recedes into the background as Dan. 2 instead points to a new form in which the interpretation of dream symbols becomes the respectable norm for receiving divine revelation'. 2 They agreed that vv. 16-23 were inserted by the author of Daniel 1. The above analysis of the psalm's narrative role is consistent with the widely held view that the book's final author/compiler was responsible for the psalm and its thematic emphasis which echoes that of the book as a whole. The only point of contention is whether an older literary strata without the psalm can be discerned in Daniel 2. The comparative folklore analysis of Niditch and Doran is not conclusive on this point because it cannot show that the pure folk tale existed as a text, rather than as an oral account or even a pattern in the mind of the composer who may have already modified it for its first oral or written rendition. Thus the weight of the diachronic argument is borne by the contradictions within the prose account's depiction of Daniel. A closer examination of these contradictions is in order. In Dan. 2.13 and 18, Daniel and his friends are counted among the sages, but in v. 25 Daniel is introduced as if he were unknown to the king. D.N. Fewell suggested a synchronic solution to this problem, based on the date formula in 2.1: the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign would place this story in the midst of Daniel's three-year training period described in Daniel 1, and prior to the meeting with the king described in 1.18-19.3 In that case, they would be counted among the 1. Davies, 'Daniel Chapter Two', pp. 393-95. Similarly Hartman and DiLella, Book of Daniel, p. 144; Lacocque, Daniel in his Time, p. 66; Collins, Daniel, p. 49. 2. Niditch and Doran, 'Success Story', p. 193. 3. Fewell, Circle of Sovereignty, p. 49. The date formula is explained by commentators in various ways: lack of care on a redactor's part (Davies, 'Daniel Chapter Two', p. 394), textual disturbance (Montgomery, Daniel, p. 141), inaccurate knowledge of chronology (Hartman and DiLella, Book of Daniel, p. 138), or as reflecting Babylonian chronology, in which case 1.18-20 and 2.45-49 might be parallel accounts of the same event (Goldingay, Daniel, p. 45).
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Babylonian sages, but not yet known to the king. Fewell described the story as a flashback. This reading has the advantage of simultaneously explaining the function of two 'contradictions' within the story (the date and Daniel's lack of relationship with the king) which have otherwise been dealt with only separately and by diachronic means. By showing that they can work meaningfully in a synchronic reading of Daniel 1-2, Fewell reduced the force of diachronic arguments based upon them. A second problem, however, is .not explained by this reading: in 2.16, Daniel goes directly to the king to request time to find the dream's interpretation, but in v. 25 he must be introduced to the king by the executioner. Again, this suggests that vv. 13-23 are a secondary addition to the chapter. The description of Daniel's audience with the king in v. 16 is quite laconic and is slim evidence upon which to hang the secondary nature of eleven verses. Nevertheless, the tension is not adequately explained by synchronic readings of the chapter and so adds force to claims that the verses introduce themes that diverge from those of the original story.1 Although such thematic arguments are more than matched by the evidence for close semantic and thematic links between psalm and prose, when taken together with the problems in the prose, they do suggest redactional activity by which the story in Daniel 2 was incorporated into the larger book. Intentions and Implications The motivation for using a psalm in the narrative context of Daniel 2 is similar to that behind the psalms in the Samuel narratives. In both books, psalms are used to announce the overarching theme of the works and establish the perspective from which they should be read. The final shapers of these books thus built into them guides to their interpretation in the form of psalmic brackets (Samuel) or recurring psalmic doxologies (Daniel). In Daniel, the divergence between the emphases in prose and poetry is not as great as in Samuel, but the psalm together with the other poems in chs. 1-6 still serves to unify the book thematically. As the first and most elaborate of the poems, 1. Davies, for example, suggests that the pre-redacted story's point was the conflict between Yahweh and the gods of Babylon, whereas the redacted story points to Yahweh as the source of power and wisdom ('Daniel Chapter Two', pp. 393-94). See also Niditch and Doran's interpretation of the two accounts, quoted above.
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Dan. 2.20-23 was created as the benchmark against which the interpretation of the rest of the book should be judged. The nature of the psalm's, and thus the book's, emphasis is theocentric—God is the source of power and wisdom. Through the psalm, the author made certain that the story pointed first and foremost to God's actions and control over events, even though God does not appear as a character in the narrative. Forewarned by the psalm, the reader expects the words and behavior of characters such as Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar to illuminate not only these characters but also divine action behind the scenes, an expectation which is amply fulfilled. Thus the story is no longer, if it ever was, about a clever official in the Babylonian court. Its subject is God's rule over both exiled Jews and foreign emperors, and their dependence upon God for knowledge of their fates. Although the primary motivation for using a psalm in this context seems to have been to give the story a theocentric thrust, psalmody was probably also chosen to make explicit the narrative's implicit characterization of Daniel as a model of piety. The court adviser, Daniel, illustrates that piety is the source of wisdom. His composition of an appropriate hymn out of traditional liturgical material shows that the skills of the sage can contribute much to expressions of religious praise.1 Daniel's Praise shows that, when the book of Daniel was written, the composition and expression of psalmic poetry was considered a mark of piety. It was cultivated among the Israelite sages quite apart from its liturgical use, even though dependent upon the latter for traditional forms and vocabulary. The psalm in Dan. 2.20-23 thus provides clear evidence of the emergence of 'learned psalmography' by the Maccabean period.2 The way in which the psalm is used in Daniel also shows that psalmody was considered a reservoir of orthodox theology. Like 1. On the adaptation of liturgical forms for this context, see Towner, 'Poetic Passages', pp. 322-24. Goldingay remarked that the psalm in Dan. 2 reverses the usually psalmic progression from specific divine acts of grace to general characteristics and worship for the sake of dramatic effect, thus giving 'prominence to the particular experience of God's power and wisdom that Daniel himself has been given' (Daniel, pp. 56-57). 2. The term 'learned psalmography' was applied to this phenomenon by Mowinckel, 'Psalms and Wisdom', pp. 205-40.
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authors of earlier narratives (e.g. Exodus, Samuel), the writer of Daniel turned to psalmic poetry to establish the theocentric perspective of the book. It seems that by adapting liturgical poetry, the book of Daniel could best express its theological point briefly and convincingly.
Chapter 10 A LEVITICAL MEDLEY (1 CHRONICLES 16.8-36) 1 Chronicles 16.8-36 contains a medley composed of portions of three psalms: Pss. 105.1-15, 96.1-13a and 106.1, 47-48. Since Chronicles uses the Deuteronomistic History extensively as a source, the medley may also bear some relationship to David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22. The discussion of this psalm must therefore deal not only with its narrative role and its history in this context, but also with issues of intra-biblical interpretation. Narrative Role The medley's narrative role is unusual among the psalms in narrative contexts in that plot relations and semantic links play major parts, while characterization is less important. Plot Relations The medley appears in a narrative unit concerned with David's movement of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and his organization of the Levitical musicians (1 Chron. 15-16). David prepares a tent for the ark (15.1) and has the Levites sanctify themselves (15.1214) for the task of carrying the ark (15.15) and accompanying its movement with music (15.16). The ark's transfer is attended by the celebrations of a large crowd (15.25), sacrifices (15.26), noise and music (15.28), and dancing (15.29). Once the ark arrives in its place, David brings more offerings, blesses the people, gives out gifts (16.13) and appoints Levites as permanent ministers and musicians before the ark (16.4-7). Throughout these chapters, the narrative makes room for lengthy lists of priestly and Levitical personnel (15.4-11, 17-24; 16.5-6). The medley is placed directly after the statement that Kinn DVU
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into «]0»T3 mrr6 rmnb efeca T»n jna m 'on that day David then decreed for the first time thanksgiving to Yahweh by Asaph and his colleagues' (16.7).! The psalm begins with invocations to worship (16.8-13), then turns to exhortations regarding the covenant and to reminders of God's faithfulness to the ancestors (16.14-22). The recognition of Yahweh among the nations is enjoined and Yahweh's superiority over foreign gods declared (16.23-29). Nature's reverence for Yahweh is described (16.30-33), climaxing with an exhortation to thanksgiving (16.34). An imperative innR 'say!' introduces a communal plea for salvation in order that Yahweh may be worshiped (16.35). The medley concludes with a blessing and the congregational response, 'Amen, praise Yahweh!' (16.36). Following the psalm, the priests' and Levites' permanent assignments in Jerusalem and Gibeon are listed (16.37-42), while the people return home (16.43). The next chapter contains an account of David's desire to build the Temple. The medley's position in the sequence of events in chs. 15-16 is ambiguous because of the vague temporal notice in 16.7 (r» Rinn Di'3 'on that day then') and the predominance of lists of Levitical personnel in the immediate context.2 There are three possible interpretations of the medley's relationship to the contents of 1 Chronicles 15-16: (1) the song was sung while the ark travelled, as described in 15.28; (2) it was sung after the ark was installed and served to conclude the ceremony; (3) the medley surrounded by personnel lists represents the typical work of the Levitical singers. David's decree before the medley (16.7) to Asaph and his company and the mention of their ongoing service immediately afterwards (16.37) supports the third option, but this does not rule out the song being part of the festivities as well. Therefore, though 16.8-36 is clearly an example of the music which David appointed the Levites to perform (16.4, 7, 41), it is not clear whether 15.28 contains a reference to the medley or not. The last mention of the Levitical singers in ch. 16 notes their
1. The RSV's rendering ofrmn1? as 'thanksgiving be sung' is influenced by the following psalm and reflects the opinion, voiced by E.L. Curtis, that v. 7 shows 'that Psalms of thanksgiving (HODU Psalms) were assigned to a particular class of singers' (The Books of Chronicles [ICC; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910],p. 221). Such interpretation, however, goes beyond what the Hebrew text actually says. 2. This combination of personnel lists and vague time designations is reminiscent of David's Thanksgiving in 2 Sam. 22.
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appointment non D^iu1? "D mrr1? rmn1? 'to give thanks to Yahweh for his kindness is forever' (16.41). The clause seems to be a quotation from the preceding psalm: non D^iu1? »D mo o mrr1? run 'give thanks to Yahweh for he is good, for his kindness is forever' (16.34; cf. Add. Dan. 68). The similarity of David's command 'to give thanks to Yahweh' to the psalm's exhortation 'give thanks to Yahweh' prompts the quotation of the end of the line. The line appears frequently in latter portions of the Psalter (Pss. 100.5; 106.1; 107.1; 118.1, 29; 136.1), and is quoted again in similar narrative contexts in 2 Chron. 5.13 and 7.3, 6a.! Another depiction of the Levitical singers in 2 Chron. 20.21 explicitly places the refrain in their mouths by prefixing the word D*"1DR1 'and saying'.2 Whenever the phrase appears in Hebrew prose narrative, its use seems to have been prompted by the preceding phrase mrr1? nnin 'to give thanks to Yahweh'.3 The context is invariably one of cultic celebration. Therefore, the line '(for he is good,) for his kindness is forever' in 1 Chron. 16.41, 2 Chron. 5.13, 7.3, 6a, Ezra 3.11 and 1 Mace. 4.24 can be read either as characters' speech or as the narrator's commentary. The first option is supported by the explicit markers of quoted speech in 2 Chron. 20.21 and Jer. 33.11. However, the frequency with which the phrase appears without any speech markers in the middle of extended narrations suggests that the refrain became a reflex, not only of postexilic congregations, but of the narrator as well. Both interpretations, in fact, are probably accurate: the appearance of the line in narration indicates the liturgical response of the community and also of one of its members, the narrator. In that case, the distinction between narrator and characters has become somewhat blurred, and the exclusive use in earlier Hebrew narrative of psalmody by characters alone now shows signs of breaking down. The phrase 'for his kindness is forever' in 1 Chron. 16.41 is 1. The same phenomenon appears in Ezra 3.11 and 1 Mace. 4.24. 2. So also in Jer. 33.11. For discussions of the formula and its use in psalmody and narrative, see K. Koch, '"denn seine Giite wa'hret ewiglich'", EvT 21 (1961), pp. 531-44; H.G.M. Williamson, Israel in the Book of Chronicles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 47; K.D. Sakenfeld, The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry (HSM, 17; Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1978), pp. 165-68. 3. 1 Mace. 4.24 varies the introductory formula: euXoyow ei£ ox>pavov. .. 'they praised heaven. ..'
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therefore not so much a direct quotation of the preceding psalm as it is an indication of the degree to which the liturgical celebration expressed by the psalm imbues the narrative as well. The sentiments of the Levitical musicians and the narrator of Chronicles are the same. Semantic and Thematic Links This conclusion is reinforced by the vocabulary of cultic celebration shared by the medley and the narrative of 1 Chronicles 15-16. Poetry and prose both use the following roots in various verbal and nominal forms to describe the ceremonies surrounding the transfer of the ark to Jerusalem: rrr II 'give thanks' in 16.8, 27, 34, 35 and 16.4, 7, 41; y?n II 'praise' in 16.10, 25 and 16.4; nnfo 'rejoice' in 16.10, 31 and nnnto 'joy' in 15.16, 25; "or 'remember' in 16.12, 15 and 16.4; vtf 'sing' in 16.9, 23 and 16.42, as well as D'TiEta 'musicians, singers' in 15.16, 19, 27. The object of all this praise is Yahweh (passim) and intf 'his name' in 16.8, 10, 29, 35 and 16.2. These semantic links between the medley and its context reflect broader thematic ties. The two interwoven emphases of 1 Chronicles 15-16 are the celebration of the ark's arrival in Jerusalem (especially 15.1, 3, 25-28; 16.1-3) and the organization of the Levites and priests (15.2, 4-24; 16.4-6, 37-42), themes which are united by the medley of worship and praise placed in the mouths of the Levites. Through its many exhortations to praise and the communal response at its end, the song shows the Levites leading the people in worship, precisely the role to which David appointed them. Specifically, David's order T^rrf? ^rhi nrnrfri 'to bring to remembrance, to give thanks, and to praise' (16.4) is fulfilled literally by multiple uses of this vocabulary throughout the medley and more generally by the singing of this and other songs before the ark.1 The medley's vocabulary also reflects the emphasis in the narrative on performing everything properly: mx 'command' in 16.15 and 15.15, 16.40; VDStfn 'his judgments, ordinances' in 16.12, 14 and 15.13. Its references to the covenant (rr~a) in 16.15, 17 echo the phrase 'ark of 1. E. Slomovic (Toward an Understanding of the Formation of Historical Titles in the Book of Psalms', ZAW 91 [1979], pp. 378-79), A.E. Hill ('Patchwork Poetry or Reasoned Verse? Connective Structure in 1 Chronicles XVI', VT 33 [1983], pp. 99-100) and J.-L. Vesco ('Le Psaume 18, lecture Davidique', RB 94 [1987], p. 56) argued that the psalms were intentionally selected and combined to fulfil the instructions of v. 4.
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the covenant' found throughout the narrative (15.25, 26, 28, 29; 16.6, 37).* The ark's destination, impo 'its/his place, sanctuary' (15.1, 3), is mentioned by the medley (16.27), although not by the corresponding verse in Psalm 96 from which this portion of the medley was derived.2 The medley contains a number of semantic links to the extended narrative of 1 Chronicles. The psalm's exhortation to nations to bring nraa 'tribute' to Yahweh (16.28-29) is fulfilled in 18.2, 6 when David's wars produce tribute. The medley's final request, i3Btf» »if?K UiPtfin D*i3iT]Q u^m "ffiipi 'save us/give us victory, God of our salvation/ victory, and gather us together and deliver us from the nations' (16.35), echoes previous and subsequent stories of God giving Israel victory (hiph. of Dti*: 1 Chron. 11.14; 18.6, 13) and deliverance (hiph. of b^3 in 11.14), and gathering them together (f3p) around David (11.1; 13.2). The medley thus reflects the military concerns and situation of the surrounding narratives. These semantic links challenge the frequent comment of interpreters that the medley in general and v. 35 in particular are more appropriate to the Chronicler's historical setting than David's.3 As a historical observation on the kind of psalmody likely in David's court, the comment is certainly justified. It should not be overlooked, however, that the themes and vocabulary of the medley and even its final petition (v. 35) are just as much at home among the Chronicler's stories of the Davidic period as they are among accounts of postexilic times. The poetry and prose may both be anachronistic, but they go together well. This point also applies to the entire book. T. Butler pointed out that the medley's treatment of themes such as the ancestors, the covenant, God's kingship, Israel's kings, prophecy, idols and judgment on the nations is the same as that of Chronicles as a whole.4 1. For a comparison with the use of covenant language in Chronicles as a whole, see T.C. Butler, 'A Forgotten Passage from a Forgotten Era (1 Chron. XVI 8-36)', JBL 28 (1978), p. 147. 2. Ps. 96.6 reads leJnpo 'his sanctuary', as do some ancient translations of 1 Chron. 16.27. However, Dipn is most likely original in Chronicles. 3. Curtis, Chronicles, p. 224; W. Rudolph, Chronikbiicher (HAT, 21; Tubingen: Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1955), p. 127; H.G.M. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles (NCB; London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), p. 130; Butler, 'Forgotten Passage', p. 145. 4. Butler, 'Forgotten Passage', pp. 147-49. So also J.A. Loader, who concluded that the psalm 'brings together the whole spectrum of chronistic theology in a
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H.G.M. Williamson suggested that the medley parallels David's final prose prayer in 1 Chron. 29.10-19. He noted that both prayers emphasize the theme of the patriarchs, both celebrate Yahweh's kingship, and both end with petitions, and concluded that 'these two passages have much in common, and appropriately provide a framework to the whole section of chs. 17-29, which has been totally dominated by David's preparations for building the temple'.1 Several interpreters have noted thematic links between 1 Chron. 16.8-36 and the Levitical prayer in Nehemiah 9. They share emphases on the covenant, Abraham and deliverance.2 The similarities extend to their settings: both passages are introduced by lists of Levites and both are communal petitions. O. Ploger concluded from these parallels that 1 Chron. 16.8-36 is the first part of a bracket structuring all of the Chronicler's work, paralleled near the end by Neh. 9.5-37. Thus the work begun by David is depicted as completed in the Chronicler's own time.3 Plb'ger's theory depended, however, on the assumption that Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah are a single work by a single author, a notion increasingly disputed in recent years.4 The significance of the parallels between 1 Chronicles 16 and Nehemiah 9 can therefore be determined only through a comprehensive study of the composition of these books. Characterization The singers of the medley in 1 Chron. 16.8-36 are the Levites whose organizational lists dominate the surrounding prose. The psalm makes no reference to them, so its effect on their characterization is only indirect. Aside from carrying the ark (15.15, 25-26), the medley concentrated form' ('Redaction and Function of the Chronistic "Psalm of David" ', in W.C. van Wyk (ed.), Studies in the Chronicler [OTWSA, 19; Johannesburg: OTWSA, 1976], p. 75). 1. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, p. 186. 2. Butler, 'Forgotten Passage', p. 147. 3. O. Ploger, 'Reden und Gebete im deuteronomistischen und chronistischen Geschichtswerk', in W. Schneemelcher (ed.), Festschrift fur Gunther Dehn (Neukirchen: Kreis Moers, 1957), p. 45. 4. Arguments that they are separate works were presented by, among others, S. Japhet, 'The Supposed Common Authorship of Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah Investigated Anew', VT 18 (1968), pp. 330-71; Williamson, Israel, pp. 5-70; idem, 1 and 2 Chronicles, pp. 5-11; R.L. Braun, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah: Theology and Literary History (VTSup , 30; Leiden: Brill, 1979), pp. 52-64.
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provides the major example of the Levites fulfilling the duties to which David appoints them in 1 Chronicles 15-16. The imperatives to praise and worship studded throughout the medley and the congregational response at the end (16.36) cast the Levites as Israel's worship leaders. The greater emphasis placed on music than sacrifice may reflect the influence of postexilic synagogue worship.1 hi that case, the medley expands the characterization of the Levites from Temple functionaries into Israel's authorized and ideal leaders of community worship in whatever location. The medley's efforts at direct characterization are devoted mostly to Yahweh. It emphasizes Yahweh's amazing acts and faithfulness to Israel and its ancestors, superiority to foreign gods, and control over nature. Upon this characterization is based the final plea for deliverance. The effect of the medley's characterization of Yahweh is enhanced by the semantic links noted above with the surrounding narratives of David's victories. The poetry refocuses the book's language to emphasize Yahweh's direction of events even in stories which make no mention of God. Summary The Levitical Medley in 1 Chron. 16.8-36 is cast as a paradigm for Israel's worship by a number of features within both the poetry and the prose context. The song's placement at the inauguration of worship in Jerusalem, the narrative's emphasis on the Levites who sing it, the medley's ambiguous temporal setting, its many semantic and thematic links to Chronicles as a whole, the narrator's periodic repetition of a refrain from the psalm, and its appropriateness for postexilic worship settings all work together to make the medley a summary of the Chronicler's theology and a model for worship. It uses psalm fragments probably familiar to its first readers to depict Jerusalem's earliest worship as capable of replication in the present. The medley's narrative role is therefore to establish continuity between the cult established by David and that of the Chronicler's own day, and to draw the theological conclusions regarding the status of the Levites and the community as a whole which that continuity implies.
1. Rudolph, Chronikbucher, p. 127; J.M. Myers, 1 Chronicles (AB, 12; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965), p. 121.
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No purely synchronic studies of the medley in Chronicles have been conducted, but there has been increasing debate among historical critics regarding the originality of the medley in its context. Throughout this century, most commentators have agreed that the contents of 1 Chron. 16.8-36 were derived from Pss. 105.1-15, 96.113a and 106.1, 47-48, not vice versa.1 Many interpreters maintained that the medley is not the work of the Chronicler but a secondary insertion into its present context. The arguments were based on seams in the surrounding prose and on the relationship of the poetry to its context. The prose context of the medley contains the following indications of redactional insertions: (1) Asaph is mentioned twice in 1 Chron. 16.5; (2) verse 39 begins oddly with nKl, the sign of the direct object, and describes the Zadokites serving at the Tabernacle in Gibeon, which would most naturally follow the description in v. 4 of David's appointment of the Levites to minister before the ark; (3) the list of Levites in vv. 5-6 seems to be a variant on that in vv. 37-38, and vv. 41 and 42 seem to repeat each other.2 M. Noth therefore suggested that vv. 5-38 and 41-42 were all later insertions, vv. 5-6 being even later than vv. 37-38, while the medley in vv. 7-36 was a still more recent addition.3 Rudolph found even more redactional layers in these verses, but agreed that vv. 7-37 (including the medley) were the last addition to the chapter, inserted to make clear that singing as well as instrumental music was the responsibility of the Levites.4 This argument for the medley's secondary status rests on the observation of conflicts and repetitions in the lists of Levitical personnel immediately surrounding the psalm, rather than on difficulties between the poetry and the prose. Since the immediate context is secondary, this reasoning assumes that the medley is also. 1. P.R. Ackroyd (/ & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah [Torch Bible Commentary; London: SCM Press, 1976], pp. 64-65) alone among recent commentators suggested that the poem was an original unity. 2. For a list of the evidence, see Loader, 'Redaction and Function', p. 69. 3. M. Noth, The Chronicler's History (JSOTSup, 50; trans. H.G.M. Williamson; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1987), p. 35 (= Uberlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien [Tubingen: Niemeyer, 1957 (1943)], p. 116.) 4. Rudolph, Chronikbiicher, p. 127.
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A second argument for the poetry being a secondary addition notes that the medley reflects the vocabulary of 16.4, in which David commissions the Levites to serve before the ark. Slomovic claimed that the psalm fragments were chosen to match this verse, which therefore must already have been part of the completed book.1 It is not obvious, however, why the prose commission and poetic medley could not have been produced at the same time to match each other. Slomovic's point seems to depend on the prior observation that the medley is secondary, but does not offer independent evidence for that conclusion. Arguments for the medley being the work of the original Chronicler are mirror images of the above. Butler argued that the thematic links between the poetry and the book as a whole 'points to the strong possibility that the editor of the hymn and the Chronicler are identical. At least, the editor of the hymn faithfully followed in the footsteps of the Chronicler... ' 2 A. Hill noted the medley's role in the logical plot progression of chs. 13-20.3 They both left open the possibility of the psalm being a later addition, but pointed out that considerations of plot and theme provide no support for that opinion. Butler also attacked Noth and Rudolph's analysis of redactional activity in the Levitical lists surrounding the medley. He argued that repetitions in the material are due to the Chronicler's tendency to repeat the contents of a preceding verse after adding his own material. Thus the essence of 1 Chron. 16.4 is repeated in v. 7 after the list of personnel in vv. 5-6, and again in v. 37 after the medley in vv. 836.4 Williamson followed Butler in considering all but two verses of the chapter to be the work of the Chronicler.5 1. Slomovic, 'Toward an Understanding', p. 378; so also Vesco, 'Psaume 18', p. 56. 2. Butler, 'Forgotten Passage', p. 149. 3. Hill, 'Patchwork Poetry', p. 99. 4. Butler, 'Forgotten Passage', p. 146. This compositional technique on the part of the Chronicler was first pointed out (though not with reference to this passage) by P. Welten (Geschichte und Geschichtsdarstellung in den Chronikbiichern [WMANT, 42; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1973], pp. 190-91). If the composition of the medley was a deliberate imitation of 2 Sam. 22, as suggested below, the multiplication of descriptions of Levitical activity may also be influenced by the accounts of David's soldiers in 2 Sam. 21 and 23. 5. Williamson considered vv. 6 and 38 to be secondary (1 and 2 Chronicles, pp. 127-30; for his discussion of this compositional technique in 1 Chron. 15, see p. 122). R. Braun found the arguments for literary unity based on this technique
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The above analysis of the medley's narrative role in its context supports the claims of Butler and Hill that the poem reinforces the narrative's plot development and thematic tendencies. Therefore the only real evidence for the psalm being a later addition is the secondary nature of its immediate context, and this is disputed. The diachronic description of the relationship of the medley to its context depends on the assumption that a poem surrounded by secondary material must also be secondary, and this description has trouble explaining why the medley should have been inserted precisely at this point in the narrative. Rudolph's suggestion that it served to correct the picture of purely instrumental Levitical music is unlikely in a text which describes them as Dmefn 'singers, musicians' (15.16, 19, 27).1 Since the medley's secondary status makes no difference to the thematic interpretation of the poem or the book as a whole, and the redactional analysis of the immediate context is highly controversial, it seems best to let Occam's razor settle the debate in favor of the simpler theory and consider the medley to be the work of the Chronicler. Intentions and Implications The narrative role of 1 Chron. 16.8-36 was clearly shaped to enhance the status and position of the Levites and to validate this model for postexilic Temple and synagogue worship. By making David the authority for both the personnel assignments and psalmody's role in worship, the Chronicler put forward a strong case for their legitimacy in his own time. Thus concerns for cultic order were probably a major reason for the use of the medley in this narrative context. Butler suggested that the psalmic medley was used by the Chronicler because of the need for political circumspection.2 A psalm which 'uncompelling', but left the question of the medley's status open (1 Chronicles [WBC, 14; Waco, TX: Word Books, 1986] p. 188). In a study of synchronic uses of resumptive repetition, however, B.O. Long described this feature of 1 Chron. 16 as 'a writer's expansion of one source with material from another in a single act of literary composition' ('Framing Repetitions in Biblical Historiography', JBL 106 [1987], p. 386). 1. Rudolph also considered 15.16, 19 to be part of a secondary addition, but attributed 15.27 to the Chronicler (Chronikbiicher, pp. 117, 123). 2. Butler, 'Forgotten Passage', p. 150; so also Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, p. 128.
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requests deliverance from the nations (16.35) may seem more innocuous when set six hundred years in the past than it would be if placed in a context more contemporary with its publication. This view assumes that Chronicles in general and the medley in particular were intended to advance a political agenda which included the restoration of the Davidic monarchy.1 Despite the fact, however, that 16.35 is usually read as a reflection of the Chronicler's own time, its vocabulary links it to the political and military achievements of David narrated in 1 Chronicles (see above). The psalm's content and its immediate context focus on liturgical issues. David's role at this point is that of cult founder. In other words, the medley's liturgical implications are far more obvious than its political agenda, a point which also may apply to the Chronicler's work as a whole.2 Therefore, until both the work's political intention and the need to state it indirectly can be demonstrated, it is premature to declare the need for political circumspection to have motivated the use of psalmody in this narrative context. Plb'ger considered the medley one example of the way the Chronicler adapted and transformed speeches and prayers from the Deuteronomistic History for his own purposes. He argued that 1 Chron. 16.8-36 is a conscious imitation and complete transformation of David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22. The Chronicler inserted it here to introduce the theme of the Temple's construction, which was of crucial importance to him.3 The two psalms in narrative contexts have completely different contents, are sung by different people, and appear at different points in the history of David's reign. The setting of the Levitical Medley in Chronicles, however, is reminiscent of David's Thanksgiving. Both are introduced by vague temporal clauses, both are surrounded by personnel lists from David's court, and both work together with other
1. Butler ('Forgotten Passage', p. 149) quoted O. Kaiser's summary of the Chronicler's message: 'When the community gathered around the temple paid full obedience to God, he would grant it also independent statehood, which for the Chronicler means also the restoration of the monarchy' (Introduction to the Old Testament [trans. J. Sturdy; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1975], p. 186). 2. Braun argued that the Chronicler's focus on the Temple replaced any concern for the continuity of the Davidic dynasty: 'it amounted to a reinterpretation of the David-Jerusalem tradition in theological rather than political terms, as correctly seen by Welch, Rudolph, and Ackroyd, among others' (1 Chronicles, p. xxvii). 3. Ploger, 'Reden und Gebete', p. 41.
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prayers to bracket large sections of narrative.1 The contents of both poems also appear in the Psalter (2 Sam. 22 = Ps. 18; 1 Chron. 16.836 = Pss. 105.1-15; 96.1-13a; 106.1, 47-48), the only two psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible for which this is the case. If the Chronicler's Vorlage contained David's Thanksgiving, the writer preserved the psalm's formal features (nature of the context and introduction, psalms derived from the Psalter, bracketing of the narrative block with prayers), while providing them with entirely new contents focused on cultic rather than military and political concerns. Budde argued that if the Chronicler had found David's Thanksgiving in his copy of Samuel he would surely have used it, since he weaves together three passages from the Psalter to create another 'Davidic' psalm in 1 Chronicles 16.2 Ploger observed, however, that the Chronicler tends to use speeches and prayers differently than the Deuteronomistic Vorlage did, adapting them to highlight his own thematic concerns and interests.3 The transformation of David's Thanksgiving into a Levitical medley is therefore consistent with the Chronicler's practices elsewhere. Despite the differences in themes and contents, the formal similarities between 2 Samuel 22 and 1 Chron. 16.8-36 are too many to be dismissed as coincidence. It therefore seems that the Chronicler's placement of a psalm into a narrative context was prompted by the example of his Vorlage. He duplicated the formal characteristics of David's Thanksgiving by combining excerpts from the Psalter into a medley,4 by surrounding it with accounts of Davidic personnel,5 and 1. 2 Samuel 22 joins with Hannah's Psalm in 1 Sam. 2.1-10 to bracket all of Samuel; 1 Chron. 16.8-36 marks the beginning of the descriptions of David's plans for the Temple, while David's prayer in 1 Chron. 29.10-19 marks its close. This similarity between 2 Sam. 22 and the medley is the weakest of the three, since the medley does not pair with another psalm as David's Thanksgiving does, and marks the beginning of the bracket rather than its end. Nevertheless, the fact that it is paired with a version of David's last prayer may be a further indication that the Chronicler was aware of the twin poems in 2 Sam. 22-23, one a psalm while the other is David's 'last words'. 2. K. Budde, Die Biicher Samuel (KHAT 8; Tubingen: Mohr, 1902), p. 314. 3. Ploger, 'Reden und Gebete', p. 46; see also pp. 39-40. 4. Since the Chronicler imitates not only the form of David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel but also its appearance in the Psalter, 2 Sam. 22/Ps. 18 must have achieved its position in both locations prior to the writing of Chronicles. See further in Chapter 6 above.
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by matching it with a prose version of David's Last Words to bracket the plans for the Temple. However, the Chronicler departs dramatically from the Deuteronomic History in arranging the medley's contents, speakers, and position in the plot in order to emphasize his own particular concern: the continuing validity of the Jerusalem cult, its personnel and its forms of worship. What light does 1 Chron. 16.8-36 cast on the history of Hebrew Psalmody? More than any other psalm in a narrative context, the medley is used to directly address issues of cult and liturgical psalmody. In Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32 cultic psalmody was appropriated in order to effect the nature of the literature into which it was set, so the direction of influence was from cultic psalmody to narrative. In 1 Samuel 2 and Isaiah 38, psalmody was appropriated for individuals, so the narrative modeled, or at least reflected, personal use of psalmody. In 1 Chronicles 16, on the other hand, both medley and prose are directed to issues of the validity and organization of the Jerusalem liturgy (and, by implication, that of the synagogue). Here the direction of intended influence is from narrative to cultic psalmody. It seems, therefore, that the role of psalmody and musical personnel in liturgy was an issue of some concern, and probably controversy, at the time of the Chronicler. The relationship of musical liturgy to the sacrificial cult may have been one area of conflict (since in 1 Chron. 15-16 music is clearly given the limelight), and the emergence of a professional class of musicians (the Levites) was probably another. The creation of the Levitical Medley out of parts of three different psalms shows that the Chronicler felt free to arrange and adapt material from the Psalter without regard for its original form or context. (His use of the Deuteronomistic History is similarly free and creative.) The excerpts from the Psalter in Chronicles may, however, provide an indication that the book of Psalms had already achieved a fairly fixed form. Curtis noted that the preservation in 1 Chron. 16.36 of the doxology closing the fourth book of the Psalter (Ps. 106.48) means 'the Psalter had already been arranged in five books at the time of the Chronicler'.1 H. Gese, however, denied the redactional role of the doxology at this point in the Psalter and suggested that it may be a 5. Perhaps this, rather than redactional activity, accounts for the multiplication of lists in the medley's immediate context. 1. Curtis, Chronicles, p. 221, although he went on to comment that if the verses are a later interpolation, this inference is incorrect.
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secondary addition in both books.1 At any rate, the medley does provide an intriguing glimpse into the form and use of the Psalter at the time that Chronicles was written.
1. H. Gese, 'Die Entstehung der Biichereinteilung des Psalters', Von Sinai zum Zion (BEvT, 64; Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1974), pp. 165-66. He did, however, use the evidence of the Chronicler's medley to date a collection of psalms consisting of Pss. 90-107 to the early third century BCE.
Chapter 11
OTHER POEMS IN NARRATIVE CONTEXTS The scope of this study must now be expanded to include literary phenomena related to psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible, such as: other poems within the Hebrew Bible's prose which do not fit the praise criteria used in Chapter 1 above to distinguish 'psalms', but which nevertheless perform similar narrative roles; the psalms in narrative contexts of the Apocrypha and New Testament; and historical superscriptions in the Psalter which point to narrative contexts for the psalms to which they are prefixed. This study cannot give detailed attention to the compositional history of these texts, but can estimate the degree to which they do or do not play narrative roles similar to those of the nine psalms discussed so far. Other Poems in Narrative Contexts of the Hebrew Bible The investigation of several psalms in narrative contexts has already led to the realization that other poems were used by authors and redactors along with psalms to achieve the same or similar narrative purposes. The Blessing of Moses in Deut. 33.2-29 consists of a collection of tribal blessings (vv. 6-25) surrounded by a hymnic frame (vv. 2-5, 26-29). The examination of the narrative role of the Song of Moses (32.1-43) in Chapter 4 above showed that the latter is linked to the frame of the Blessing by common vocabulary. Each poem, however, creates a stark thematic contrast to the other. The Song of Moses is dark and ominous, predicting apostasy and punishment. The Blessing of Moses is optimistic, foreseeing fidelity and prosperity for Israel. Together, the poems present a cycle of pessimism and optimism like the prose cycles which precede them in Deuteronomy 2728 and 29-30. The shift in mode near the end of the book from rhetorical prose to poetry gives this third cycle a climactic punch
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which emphasizes for readers the options of blessing and curse. The poetry of tribal blessings is thus paired with a threatening psalm to form the centerpiece of the concluding chapters of Deuteronomy. In a similar way, David's Last Words (2 Sam. 23.1-7) are placed after David's Thanksgiving (2 Sam. 22) to form the central pair of the chiasm that structures the concluding chapters of Samuel (see Chapter 6 above). Again, semantic links between the two poems serve to highlight their thematic juxtaposition. While the psalm emphasizes David's personal piety and thanksgiving, the Last Words reveal the didactic orientation of a wisdom poem, emphasizing for the Davidic dynasty the necessity of just rule. David is cast as a prophet and singer, a depiction similar to that in Chronicles.1 The poems nevertheless work together to show the unique degree to which Yahweh supported David. For the most part, the Thanksgiving looks back on David's career, while the Last Words look forward to future Davidic kings who will be judged by the extent to which they followed in David's footsteps. Thus, while providing an idealistic conclusion to David's career, the poem also prepares the way for the history which follows. The short psalm in Dan. 2.20-23, discussed in Chapter 9 above, is the first of four poems scattered through the early part of the book (the others are in Dan. 3.33; 4.31-32; 6.27-2S).2 All four passages emphasize God's power, eternality and control over nature and history, and point to God as the source of Daniel's miraculous powers. By this characterization of God, the poems repeatedly declare the book's central theme, reinforcing it by being placed in the mouths of the emperors Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, as well as Daniel. In Daniel then, poetry is used intermittently to make explicit the book's theological message. Other poems play structural roles in narrative similar to those of psalms in narrative contexts. David's lament over Saul and Jonathan in 2 Sam. 1.17-27 is a secular dirge. It appears at the end of an episode (ch. 1) and is separated from the main plot action by an introduction specifying the poem's transmission and source (the book of Yashar).3 1. J.-L. Vesco, 'Psaume 18, Lecture Davidique', RB 94 (1987), pp. 55-56. 2. In English Bibles, the verse enumeration differs slightly. They appear at 4.3, 4.34-35 and 6.26-27. For a full discussion of the poems, see W.S. Towner, 'The Poetic Passages of Daniel 1-6', CBQ 31 (1969), pp. 317-26. 3. The poem has seemed misplaced to some commentators who thought it should be located with the description of public mourning in 1.11-12 (A. A. Anderson, 2 Samuel [WBC, 11; Dallas: Word Books, 1989], p. 14). However, its concluding
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The complaint by some commentators that 2 Samuel 1 should have been the final chapter of 1 Samuel reflects the accurate perception that the dirge concludes the story of Saul.1 The tragic poem characterizes the former king positively throughout, in contrast to the preceding narratives.2 This tension is ameliorated somewhat by David's established practice of not speaking evil of Saul, but the contrast is nevertheless notable. Thus the dirge, like many psalms, serves to conclude a large block of narrative while standing in some thematic tension with its context. Its position squarely in the middle of the books of Samuel highlights the contrast between it and the poems at either end (1 Sam. 2.1-10; 2 Sam. 22.1-23.7); a work which begins and ends with poetic celebration of Yahweh's support for David's success pauses in the middle to lament the tragic fate of Saul and Jonathan.3 Jacob's Blessing in Genesis 49 plays a similar structural role at the end of Genesis. The poem is a collection of sayings and oracles about the Israelite tribes. Its proleptic force is confirmed by the introduction specifying the contents as what will happen D'QTi mroo 'in later days' (49.1). Its position at the end of Jacob's life and near the end of Genesis enables it to mark the transition from narratives about ancestors to those about tribes, from a focus on individuals to an emphasis on the people as a whole. The poem's contents are suitable to this transitional role, with some sayings directed to Jacob's sons as individuals, others to the tribes. The book of ancestral history thus closes position and separation from the preceding action are paralleled by the positions and introductions of psalms in Exod. 15, Judg. 5 and 1 Chron. 16, and are best explained as conventional methods for introducing substantial poems into prose narrative. 1. H.W. Hertzberg, I & II Samuel (OTL; trans. J.S. Bowden; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964), p. 236; J.P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art and Poetry in the Books of Samuel. II. The Crossing Fates (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1986), p. 17. 2. Anderson, 2 Samuel, pp. 15, 20. 3. Y.T. Radday used the three psalms to suggest a chiastic structure for all of Samuel ('Chiasm in Samuel', LB 9-10 (1971), p. 22). The three poetic sections do structure the final form of the book in a definite pattern, but the dirge's placement in this context probably antedated that of the psalms; aside from its position and characterization of Saul, both of which are explained by its narrative role and the conventions of placing poems in narrative contexts, there is no evidence for the secondary character of 2 Sam. 1.17-27. The redactors who inserted 1 Sam. 2.1-10 and 2 Sam. 21-24 capitalized on the presence of the poem in 2 Sam. 1 for their restructuring of the book.
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not with a restrospective review of its main characters (like 1 Samuel does), but with contemporary and proleptic portraits of the tribal nation yet to come—a suitable conclusion to a story centered around promises of descendants and land. Like the Song of Deborah, some poems play structural roles within more limited contexts. The narrative role of Joshua's poetic command to the sun and the moon in Josh. 10.12-14 is restricted in scope to the immediately preceding narrative of the battle at Gibeon (vv. 1-11). The poem is set off from the story by the temporal clause, 'then Joshua spoke to Yahweh on the day when Yahweh gave the Amorites into the power of the Israelites' (v. 12). Afterwards, the narrator cites the source as the book of Yashar, interprets the poem, and proclaims the significance of the event (vv. 13b-14). The return of the Israelites to their camp (v. 15) clearly marks the end of the account, in spite of the fact that the pursuit of the kings continues in vv. 1643.l The poem is linked to the narrative by the place-name 'Gibeon' (10.1, 4, 6, 10, 12a), but its contents have little connection to the story; in the prose, Yahweh intervenes in the battle with a hailstorm (v. 11), but in the poem the actions of the sun and the moon are the subject. The poem, along with its prose frame, thus provides the story of the battle of Gibeon with a climactic conclusion while supplementing the account with references to celestial bodies intervening on Israel's behalf. In the more extended context, however, the poem plays no role and even interrupts the natural plot sequence leading from the battle to the pursuit of the kings. The oath of Lamech (Gen. 4.23-24) is connected to Cain's genealogy, which it concludes, by proper names, but the killing which it reports goes unmentioned in the narrative. The theme of murder is nevertheless quite appropriate to a chapter which begins with the story of Cain's murder of Abel and continues by listing Cain's descendents. The equivalence between Cain and Lamech is brought home by the poem's last line: 'If Cain was avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times!' The next verse shifts the subject to Adam's third son, Seth. The poem's narrative role is therefore to bring the story of Cain to a climactic conclusion that typifies its theme of bloodshed. Some poems in the Hebrew Bible are tightly integrated into the plots
1. For a discussion of this chapter's history of composition, see T.C. Butler, Joshua (WBC, 7; Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), pp. 112-13.
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of their narrative contexts, to a degree not found among the psalms.1 Thus Isaac's blessings of his sons (Gen. 27.27-29, 39-40) are the focus of the chapter's plot action. The blessing of the firstborn is anticipated in vv. 4, 7, 10, and 12 and motivates the actions of Esau, Rebekah and Jacob. Its consequences lead immediately to the second blessing (vv. 30-40) and eventually to Jacob's flight from his brother (vv. 4144). The poems' contents focus on the future by characterizing the sons' relations as individuals and as peoples. Their effects, however, are felt in the story's present and are crucial to the plot development. The Balaam oracles (which are of the same blessings genre as Gen. 27.27-29, 39-40; Gen. 49; Deut. 33) are the focus of the plot of Numbers 22-24. The action revolves around their performance: Balak solicits Balaam's help in order to declare them (ch. 22), is astonished by their contents, and keeps trying to change their force from blessing to curse. When he finally gives up, the story is over (24.25). Within the wider context of Numbers, the oracles and the story which contains them emphasize that Yahweh's support for Israel cannot be undermined by outside forces.2 The secular victory song recorded in 1 Sam. 18.7 is periodically repeated and influences the plot of the rest of the book. By crediting David for the deaths of ten thousand enemies to Saul's one thousand, the women celebrating Israel's victory give Saul reason to fear for his throne (18.8). This sets up the primary plot tension of the following chapters. The song spreads David's reputation to the Philistines, who repeat it on two different occasions as a reason for not trusting him (21.12 [11]; 29.5).3 The song thus furthers the plot while it emphasizes,
1. Of the nine psalms in narrative contexts, Deut. 32 has the largest plot role, but it is a special case due to its context dominated by speeches. 2. For a discussion of the role of the oracles within the book of Numbers, see D.T. Olson, The Death of the Old and the Birth of the New: The Framework of the Book of Numbers and the Pentateuch (BJS, 71; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985), pp. 153-64. Olson's analysis of the book's structure places the major division between chs 25 and 26, in which case the Balaam oracles' near-final position in the first section may play a structurally climactic role: "The Balaam oracles sound a crescendo of hope and promise at the conclusion of the first generation' (p. 160). 3. G.W. Savran noted the irony in the Philistines' repetition of this song which originally celebrated their defeat at David's hands (Telling and Retelling: Quotation in Biblical Narrative [Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988], pp. 22, 40-41, 55, 111).
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through its repetition, David's characterization as an accomplished soldier. Two chapters after David's lament marks the end of the stories of Saul, David voices another lament, this time over Abner (2 Sam. 3.3334). The narrative role of this short dirge, however, is completely different from the earlier poem. After Abner is murdered by Joab and Abishai, David takes three public actions: he orders public mourning (v. 31), he weeps and laments Abner's death (vv. 32-34) and he fasts (v. 35). As a result of his words, song of lament and actions, the public does not hold David accountable for Abner's murder. Thus the lament's performance is one of a series of actions which David takes to show his innocence, and it is an integral part of the episode's plot. Yet other short poems in the Hebrew Bible seem to be neither integrally related to the plot nor in a structurally climactic position. The Song of the Ark in Num. 10.35-36 is a liturgical poem to accompany the ark's movement, its regular performance indicated by TPl p»n Don 'whenever the ark set out' (v. 36). The poem appears at the end of Numbers 10 because the chapter reports the departure from Sinai and thus the first time that Israel's movements have been accompanied by the ark. Two poems or poetic fragments appear in the midst of itinerary notices in Num. 21.14-15 and 17-18. The first, whose source is cited as the Book of the Wars of Yahweh, is a description of the geography of the Arnon valley in Transjordan. The second is the Song of the Well, introduced by the notice that the place named ~iR3 'Well' is where Moses gave the people water. The absence of any narrative action aside from the itinerary of Israel's journey suggests that the reference to Moses was inspired by the song or the place name, or both. The same chapter also contains the Ballad of Heshbon (Num. 21.2730) which appears in the midst of the account of Israel's defeat of the Amorites and settlement in their land. The song concludes the story of the defeat of Sihon (vv. 21-26, 31), but plays no larger structural role since the following verses relate the similar defeat of another Amorite king (vv. 32-35). From this brief summary, it seems that non-psalmic poetry is used for the most part in the Hebrew Bible to perform two narrative roles: either it is used to conclude a section of narrative on a climactic note of thematic exposition, or it is used to further the plot action. Rarely
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does a single poem perform both roles (the psalm in Deut. 32 is one that does). The psalms in narrative contexts tend to perform structural roles, but genre does not seem to be the determinative factor in how poems are used. Victory songs, laments, blessings and exhortations of nature (e.g. Num. 21.17-18; Josh. 10.12-13) are all used differently in different places, often within the same book. Writers and editors of ancient Hebrew literature seem to have had the freedom to use poetry in either of these narrative roles, or neither. Poems in Narrative Contexts of the Apocrypha and New Testament The practice of placing psalms and other poetry into narrative contexts did not come to an end with the last book of the Hebrew Bible. If anything, it became more pervasive in later literature. These later uses of psalms within prose narrative had many points of continuity with the practice in the Hebrew Bible, but new conventions also emerged. In the Septuagint's translation of Daniel, extra material consisting of a prayer, bridge narrative and psalm has been added to the story of the three men in the furnace, between MT 3.23 and 24.1 The insertion begins by narrating the men's movement and praise within the furnace (v. 1) and then quotes Azariah's Prayer 'from the midst of the fire' (vv. 2-22).2 After the prayer, vv. 23-27 relate the protection given the three by an angel, and v. 28 introduces their hymn of praise (vv. 29-68). The psalm thus appears prior to the three men's deliverance from the furnace, but at a point where their rescue is expected, a position like that of several thanksgiving psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible (Isa. 38; Jon. 2; Dan. 2).3 The Prayer of Azariah 1. In addition to internal evidence that the LXX was a result of secondary expansion of a text like MT, the Qumran fragment 4QDanb contains 3.22-30 but does not have the LXX additions. It is to be dated some two centuries after the autograph, according to E. Ulrich ('Daniel Manuscripts from Qumran. Part 1: A Preliminary Edition of 4QDana', BASOR 268 [1987], pp. 17-18). 2. Dan. 3 has 30 verses in MT, and 97 in LXX. Verses within the additions are here ennumerated consecutively from v. 1 to v. 68. 3. The position of Azariah's Prayer prior to the mention of angelic intervention was judged inappropriate by many commentators: 'On one point, however, virtually all modern scholars agree, namely, the relative position of the Prayer to the Prose Narrative is totally illogical' (C.A. Moore, Daniel, Esther and Jeremiah: The Additions [AB, 44; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977], p. 41). But the sequence of a prayer for deliverance-act of deliverance-hymn of praise is not so strange, as
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is in some tension with the plot of the surrounding narrative, since its confession of national sin seems odd in the mouth of a person being executed for obeying God.1 Both the prayer and the psalm, however, accord thematically with the extended context and especially with the other hymns in Daniel 1-6.2 Like the four poems already in the text of Daniel, the LXX insertion proclaims God's control over events. Moore summarized the result: 'The effect of the interpolations is quite clear, namely, the spotlight has shifted from the king and the story's lavish setting to the faith of the martyrs and the greatness of their God'.3 Near the end of the book of Judith is a victory song in the tradition of Exodus 15 and Judges 5. Having killed the enemy general, Judith leads the women of her village in a victory dance and song of praise (16.1-17). The song is multi-voiced, speaking of Judith in the third person (cf. Deborah in Judg. 5). After the song, the narrative concludes with descriptions of the plunder being dedicated at the Temple and of Judith's long life and honored death (16.18-25). Thus the psalm follows the denouement of the main action and brings the book to a triumphant close. L. Alonso-Schokel described how it actualizes the story for readers: 'The reader is swept along by the joyous stream of prayer and hymn. He plunges into the sources of his religious experience which are bound to the historical destiny of the people. The reader must join the choir to share feelings and attitudes'.4 The song's themes are closely linked with those of the book as G.W.E. Nickelsburg noted: '[The prayer's] insertion here conforms to a typical Jewish literary pattern: deliverance comes in response to prayer' ('The Bible Rewritten and Expanded', in M.E. Stone (ed.), Jewish Writings in the Second Temple Period [CRINT; Assen: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984], pp. 149-50). It is the fact that the men could pray at all in the furnace that bothers readers, but a similar point could be made regarding Jonah's position in a fish's stomach. These concerns for realism do not seem to be shared by the texts. 1. Moore, Daniel, Esther and Jeremiah: The Additions, pp. 40-41; J.J. Collins, Daniel, with an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature (FOTL, 20; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), p. 57. D. Flusser, however, noted that 'the main motif of the prayer is very common in ancient Judaism, especially in "apotropaic" prayers recited in a situation of danger' ('Psalms, Hymns and Prayers', in M.E. Stone (ed.), Jewish Writings in the Second Temple Period, pp. 553-54). 2. Towner, 'Poetic Passages', p. 326 n. 26. 3. Moore, Daniel, Esther and Jeremiah: The Additions, p. 44. 4. L. Alonso-Schokel, S.J., 'Narrative Structures in the Book of Judith',
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a whole and emphasize the confidence that comes from true 'fear of the Lord' (16.16).1 The song and its narrative role are closely modeled on examples from the Hebrew Bible, especially Exodus 15, and the whole story reflects the oppression-deliverance pattern of the book of Judges.2 A psalm is placed in a similar position in Tobit 13. The psalm appears after the main plot action has come to an end and the angel Raphael has told Tobit and Tobias to praise God forever (12.17, 18, 20). The psalm is the last of a series of prayers in Tobit (3.2-6, 11-15; 8.5-8, 15-17; 11.14-15), each of which occurs, as P. Griffin noted, after 'an event, good or bad, which occasions them; so this song of praise comes after Raphael's revelation and exhortation'.3 P. Deselaers argued that the psalm forms the outer element of a chiastic arch structuring the central portion of the book, matching Tobit's testament to his son in 4.1-21.4 It is a general hymn of praise and makes no explicit reference to the preceding story, but neither is it in tension with the narrative's themes. The psalm increases the emphasis on wisdom elements in the book while reinforcing the characterization of Tobit as 'a person who believes in righteousness, charity, fidelity, kinship, and the Law'.5 In a manner reminiscent of Daniel, it functions Colloquy 11 (Berkeley: Center for Hermeneutical Studies, 1975) p. 18. Cf. the comment of T. Craven: 'Judith 16 fulfils a liturgical function in the story. . .The scene suggests a liturgical procession of the people on their way to Jerusalem (cf. 16.18)' (Artistry and Faith in the Book of Judith [SBLDS, 70; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983], p. 105). 1. Craven, Artistry and Faith, p. 111. 2. Alonso-Schokel, 'Narrative Structures', pp. 14, 17; Craven, Artistry and Faith, pp. 105, 111; C.A. Moore, Judith (AB, 40; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985), p. 256. 3. P.J. Griffin, 'The Theology and Function of Prayer in the Book of Tobit' (PhD dissertation, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, 1984), p. 224. 4. P. Deselaers, Das Buch Tobit: Studien zu seiner Entstehung, Komposition und Theologie (OBO, 43; Freiburg, Switzerland: Universitatsverlag, 1982), p. 417. He maintained that the book went through three redactions in addition to the original composition. The chiastic structuring of 4.1-14.1 was the work of the first redactor who wrote 13.1-9a and 14.1 for this purpose. The third redactional reworking of Tobit adapted and inserted a psalm of Jerusalem in three strophes into 13.10b-18, which reinforced the parallel with ch. 4 (Das Buch Tobit, pp. 413-14, 417, 468, 475). 5. Griffin, 'Theology and Function', p. 351; see also Deselaers, Das Buch Tobit, p. 418. S. Mowinckel cited Tobit's psalm as a casebook example of learned
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together with the other prayers in Tobit to express the book's central themes, among which is the characterization of God as master of human lives and fortunes.1 The book of 1 Maccabees contains a greater amount and variety of poetry in narrative contexts than any text examined so far. The poetry includes pieces of victory songs, hymns, individual and communal laments, judgment oracles, paranesis and praise songs to individuals.2 They are placed, like the poems in Tobit, at the low and high points of the history being narrated.3 Of the fifteen poems or segments of heightened prose isolated by G. Neuhaus,4 eight are voiced by the narrator, five are spoken by characters, one is the ambiguous response 'for he is good, for his kindness is forever' (4.24; discussed in Chapter 10 above), and one is a verse from the Psalter marked as a quotation by the narrator (7.17). This preponderance of poetry in the narrator's voice is a marked departure from the Hebrew Bible's practice of placing into the mouths of characters all poems in narrative contexts. 1 Maccabees also differs from earlier Hebrew literature in the proportion of religious to secular poetry it contains: its poems are more often celebrations of Israel's leaders (3.3-9; 14.4-15) than of God, and they are more likely to be descriptions of secular states of affairs (1.25-28, 36-40; 2.7-13; 3.45) than prayers for divine aid (3.50-53; 4.30-33). Notice should also be taken of the Psalms of Joshua preserved in fragpsalmography which mixes wisdom with liturgical elements to present prayer as a work of piety (The Psalms in Israel's Worship [trans. D.R. Ap-Thomas; 2 vols.; Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1962], p. 109); Griffin agreed (Theology and Function', pp. 226, 297). 1. The comparison with Daniel was made by Towner, 'Poetic Passages', p. 326 n. 26; and Griffin, 'Theology and Function', p. 282. 2. G.O. Neuhaus, Studien zu den poetischen Stiicken im 1. Makkabaerbuch (FzB, 12; Wurzburg: Echter Verlag, 1974), pp. 80-84, 103. 3. Neuhaus, Studien, pp. 111-14. 4. Neuhaus discussed the problem of distinguishing prose from poetry in 1 Maccabees and ended up classifying possible poems into four categories: prose, heightened prose, partly poetry and partly prose, and pure poetry (his isolation of the intermediate category of 'heightened prose' is reminiscent of Lichtheim's 'orational style' in Egyptian literature; see the Appendix below). His study covered those passages classified as heightened prose, mixed, or pure poetry: 1.25-28, 36-40, 2.7a-13, 2.44apba, 49b-64, 3.3-9a, 45, 50b-53, 4.24, 30b-33, 38, 7.17, 9.21, 41, 14.4-15 (Neuhaus, Studien, pp. 36-37).
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ments of two manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4 (4Q378 and 4Q379) and quoted in 4Q Testimonia (4Q175). The word 'psalms' in the title is somewhat misleading, according to C. Newsom, since 'the largest portion of the fragments contain material from admonitory speeches, prayers, songs, curses' in a narrative framework based on Deuteronomy and Joshua.1 In literary terms, it appears that the text was either a farewell speech of Joshua, modelled after the book of Deuteronomy, or a 'rewritten Bible' account of the book of Joshua, in the general tradition of Chronicles, Pseudo-Philo, and other such compositions. Although it is impossible to be certain, given the damaged state of the text, the evidence points in the direction of the 'rewritten Bible'.2
In some cases it is difficult to tell if the prayers are voiced by characters or the narrator,3 but in others the speaker is clearly Joshua.4 Newsom concluded, 'one can assume that the text of the Psalms of Joshua narrated the destruction of the city of Jericho and inserted into the story an occasion for celebration of the victory and praise of God'.5 In the Biblical Antiquities, Pseudo-Philo sprinkles psalms into a history which extends through Saul's reign. He includes versions of Deborah's and Hannah's Songs, and in addition supplies the lament of Jepthah's daughter (ch. 40), a psalm for David to sing at his annointing (ch. 59), and David's song in Saul's court (ch. 60). The added songs are placed at natural points in the plot and do not play structural roles. Instead, 'the prayers in the book, like the speeches, often serve to express the religious position of its author and to bring in historical events omitted earlier in the narrative'.6 The first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke contain four hymns: the Magnificat (1.46-55), the Benedictus (1.67-79), Gloria in Excelsis (2.13-14), and Nunc Dimittis (2.28-32). They are placed in the mouths of characters within the narrative (Mary, Zechariah, the angels, Simeon), but their contents are general and not closely linked to the 1. C. Newsom, 'The "Psalms of Joshua" from Qumran Cave 4', JJS 39 (1988), p. 58. She dated the text in the fifth to the third centuries BCE, but allowed that a second-century date is also possible (p. 60). 2. Newsom, 'Psalms of Joshua', p. 58. 3. E.g. 4Q378 22 i (Newsom, 'Psalms of Joshua', p. 64). 4. E.g. 4Q379 22 ii (Newsom, 'Psalms of Joshua', p. 69). 5. Newsom, 'Psalms of Joshua', p. 69. 6. Flusser, 'Psalms, Hymns and Prayers', p. 574.
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narrative.1 The first three poems conclude the episodes to which they belong, thus resembling the position of many psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible. The position and contents of the Magnificat in particular show clearly the influence of Hannah's Song (1 Sam. 2.1-10): it is voiced by a mother in celebration of the gift of a child, its firstperson praise (Luke 1.46-48) echoes Hannah's sentiments (1 Sam. 1.16; 2.1), and the reversal motif dominates its contents (Luke 1.51-54).2 As with Hannah, the nationalistic and military themes of the psalm are appropriate in Mary's mouth, because they derive from the victory song tradition of Israelite women (see Chapter 2 above). The effect of all the psalms is to make the Lukan infancy narratives sound more like the Septuagint (i.e. Scripture). The prose of these chapters is also heavily influenced by the Hebraicized Greek of the Septuagint.3 The psalms' contents proclaim a general theme of the Gospel, that God is acting to save God's people. The Revelation of John contains a large number of short songs, sung by various choruses and individuals within the narrative (e.g. 4.8b, 11; 5.9-10, 12, 13; etc.). Most proclaim the worthiness of the Lamb and enjoin worship of God, but the book also includes a lament over Babylon (18.15-20). The hymns serve to refocus attention from the events being narrated to the God who brings them about.4 The Prayer of Manasseh, now found as one of the odes appended to the Septuagint Psalter, is derived from a narrative of Manasseh's punishment, prayer and deliverance found in an early Christian document, the Didascalia.5 The prayer is modeled on the Psalms of 1. The poems have usually been considered pre-Lukan compositions which were adapted for this context by the addition of minor references such as 1.48,76-77 (so R.E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke [Garden City, NY: Image, 1979], p. 348). 2. Brown noted that it also picks up motifs from Judith, whose heroine, like Mary, responded to a blessing (Jdt. 13.18) with a psalm (Jdt. 16; Birth of the Messiah, p. 347). 3. On the language of the infancy narratives, see J.A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (AB, 28; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981), p. 312. 4. For a dramatic interpretation of the songs in terms of a Greek chorus, see J.L. Blevins, Revelation as Drama (Nashville: Broadman, 1984), pp. 19-20. 5. The prayer is first attested in the Syrian Didascalia of the 3rd century CE. It was incorporated along with its context into the Apostolic Constitutions, from which it was probably exerpted and placed among the odes for liturgical purposes (H.E. Ryle, The Prayer of Manasses', in R.H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha
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Hezekiah and Jonah as shown by the narrator's explicit reference to them, and takes as its point of departure the allusion in 2 Chron. 33.1819 to Manasseh's prayer being recorded in documents of Israel's kings and of the seers.1 The prayer is a penitential psalm for forgiveness and deliverance, unlike any of the psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible. It is placed at the appropriate place in the narrative for such a prayer, after Manasseh's capture and before his deliverance. Thus in postbiblical Jewish and early Christian literature, the convention of using psalms and other poetry in narrative contexts developed along several lines. The victory song tradition of female psalmody continued to be recognized and used in Judith and Luke, although probably more in imitation of older literary practices than out of direct contact with the living tradition.2 The tendency of later books of the Hebrew Bible to punctuate the narrative periodically with prose prayers (Chronicles) or hymnic poems (Daniel) which point out the work's central themes is carried on in the poetic additions to Daniel 3, the book of Tobit and the Revelation of John. Luke 1-2 also makes use of this tradition, but it is abandoned in the remainder of the book. Judith, Tobit and Luke 1-2 use psalms to conclude longer or shorter pieces of narrative in imitation of the Hebrew Bible. A tendency to rewrite portions of Scripture and include additional psalms at various points shows up in the 4Q Psalms of Joshua, in Pseudo-Philo, and in the Didascalia's Prayer of Manasseh. The most dramatic development in the literature of this period, however, is the use of poetry and psalmody by the narrator of 1 Maccabees. This book abandons the Hebrew Bible's convention of placing poetry only in quoted speeches, a move anticipated in the narrator's occasional use of a liturgical refrain in Ezra and Chronicles.3
[Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913], p. 613; E. Osswald, 'Das Gebet Manassas', in W.G. Kiimmel (ed.), Judische Schriften aus hellenistisch-romischer Zeit. IV. Poetische Schriften [Gutersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1974], p. 17). 1. Ryle, 'Prayer of Manasses', p. 612. 2. Jdt. 16 seems to be directly modelled on Exod. 15 and Judg. 5, while the Magnificat in Lk. 1 is based on 1 Sam. 2.1-10. Luke does not make a generic distinction between male and female psalmody—Zechariah's Benedictus contains the same nationalistic themes that Mary's song does. 3. 1 Chron. 16.41; 2 Chron. 5.13; 7.3, 6a; Ezra 3.11. The refrain is also used by the narrator of 1 Mace, in 4.24. For a discussion of the issue, see Chapter 10 above.
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Superscriptions appear on thirteen psalms in the MT Psalter specifying the events which supposedly gave rise to them, and they appear even more frequently in the LXX.1 This has led many interpreters to draw parallels between the use of historical superscriptions and the insertion of psalms in narrative contexts.2 The contents of the titled psalms usually have little to do with the stories to which the titles refer, but neither do many psalms in narrative contexts, as Slomovic observed in making this connection.3 Having examined the narrative roles of psalms within prose books, a comparison with the Psalter superscriptions is now possible on that basis. Do such titles establish narrative contexts so that these psalms function like those which are actually found in narrative? Childs and Slomovic have shown that, in spite of the lack of specific internal references to the stories in Samuel, the superscriptions in the Psalter were not placed there arbitrarily. They are rather the product of midrash, 'an exegetical activity which derived its material from within the text itself.4 Linguistic and thematic connections are found to anchor the psalm to the narrative, but this method 'is not concerned with complete harmony between the Psalm and the connected unit. It selects mutual ingredients, points out their reciprocal relationships and omits those parts which do not possess a connectable element.'5 The study of the narrative roles of psalms has turned up such non-specific 1. Such superscriptions are not limited to psalms within larger collections; cf. Hezekiah's Psalm (Isa. 38.9) and the Aramaic Prayer of Nabonidus found at Qumran (4QprNab). The introduction to the latter prayer reflects a story similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar's illness in Dan. 4, except that the king is Nabonidus (B. Jongeling, CJ. Labuschagene and A.S. van der Woude, Aramaic Texts from Qumran with Translations and Annotations [SSS, 4; Leiden: Brill, 1976], pp. 123-31; G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 3rd edn, 1987], p. 274). The text resembles the prose style of Daniel. 2. For a comparison of the ways poems are placed in narrative with the ways titles are appended to psalms in the Psalter, see B.S. Childs, 'Psalm Titles and Midrashic Exegesis', JSS 16 (1971), pp. 137-50. 3. E. Slomovic, Toward an Understanding of the Formation of Historical Tides in the Book of Psalms', ZAW 91 (1979), p. 351. 4. Childs, 'Psalm Titles', p. 143; so also Slomovic, 'Toward an Understanding', p. 352. 5. Slomovic, 'Toward an Understanding', p. 355.
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semantic and thematic connections with the context even of poems that lack many direct allusions to the narrative (e.g. 1 Sam. 2.1-10; 2 Sam. 22; Isa. 38). Thus the selection of psalms for narrative contexts, like the selection of historical superscriptions for independent psalms, seems to have been governed, at least in part, by similar exegetical considerations. Childs also pointed out that the motivation behind the use of superscriptions in the Masoretic Text was pietistic in nature: By placing a Psalm within the setting of a particular historical incident in the life of David, the reader suddenly was given access to previously unknown information. David's inner life was now unlocked to the reader, who was allowed to hear his intimate thoughts and reflections. It therefore seems most probable that the formation of the titles stemmed from a pietistic circle of Jews whose interest was particularly focused on the nurture of the spiritual life.1
Again, this inner characterization has been noted in the psalms in narrative contexts as well, especially in the individual thanksgivings placed in the mouths of David (2 Sam. 22), Hezekiah (Isa. 38) and Jonah (Jon. 2). Like the psalms with superscriptions, they provide a depth of characterization unknown to Hebrew prose narrative. There are, however, several important differences between the psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible and the psalms with historical superscriptions in the Psalter. First, the choice of narratives to which the titles point shows no attempt to imitate the structural roles played by many psalms in narrative contexts. Unlike the embedded psalms, the superscriptions do not direct attention to the conclusions of blocks of narrative, nor do they place thanksgivings at points where deliverance is expected but not yet accomplished. This observation is not as strong as it might be since it is not always clear from the title at which precise point in the text the psalm is assumed to have been voiced. M. Fishbane, however, pointed out that several passages, which have no internal references to prayer but are referred to by psalm titles, contain 'an intersentential lacuna' (a a or 0 divider in the middle of a verse) 'in precisely those contexts where one might expect or presume a prayer' .2 If these lacunae do mark the places to which 1. Childs, 'Psalm Titles', p. 149. 2. M. Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), p. 406. He noted that, though the theory that these intersentential lacunae (pics ittnio Kpos) refer to other texts is 'doubtful', yet 'there is every
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the psalm titles refer, the difference between these superscriptions and the positions of psalms in narrative contexts is easily demonstrated. Psalm 3 (and perhaps 63) are referred to 2 Sam. 16.13, squarely in the middle of the story of David's escape from Jerusalem and encounter with Shimei; Psalm 54 would be placed after the reference to David's prayer for guidance in 1 Sam. 23.4; Psalms 34 and 56 would appear in 1 Sam. 21.10 in the midst of David's flight from Saul; and Psalm 51 would be placed in 2 Sam. 12.13 directly after David's confession and before Nathan announces judgment, an appropriate position for this penitential psalm but unlike that of any psalm in a narrative context.1 The fact that laments such as Psalms 3, 51 and 56 are referred by their titles to appropriate contexts of flight or confession brings us to the second major difference between the titled psalms and those in narrative contexts, namely, their form-critical genre. There are no laments among the psalms in narrative contexts, but nine of the thirteen psalms with historical superscriptions are laments and two more mix lament components with thanksgiving.2 This generic difference highlights how little overlap there is between the Psalter and psalms in narrative contexts: only one psalm was lifted from its context into the Psalter (2 Sam. 22 = Ps. 18), and only one narratively embedded psalm derived its contents from that collection (1 Chron. 16 = Pss. 105.1-15; 96.1-13a; 106.1, 47-4S).3 Third, unlike the superscriptions, the psalms in narrative contexts are attributed to a wide variety of times and people. The historical psalm titles all focus on the life of David, but only two psalms are located in stories about him (2 Sam. 22; 1 Chron. 16).4 Perhaps then it is not coincidental that these two are the only ones whose contents reason to presume that it did stimulate or reinforce exegetical correlations — roioo. For it is remarkable that in over 40 per cent of the cases — half a dozen instances — a RpOS occurs in those historical texts referred to by the psalm titles'. 1. For this list of matches, see Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation, p. 406. BHS shows no lacuna in 1 Sam. 21.10. 2. The laments are Pss. 3, 7, 51, 54, 56, 59, 60, 63 and 142. Pss. 52 and 57 are mixed. Only Pss. 18 (= 2 Sam. 22) and 34 are thanksgivings. 3. For discussions of the evidence for the direction of derivation, see Chapters 6 and 10 above. 4. The MT Psalter's preoccupation with David is diluted somewhat in the LXX, whose psalm titles refer to a considerably wider range of persons and events. For an analysis of the LXX titles, see Slomovic, 'Toward an Understanding', pp. 356-64.
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reappear in the Psalter (though 1 Chron. 16 is not voiced by David, and the poetry is not attributed to him either in Chronicles or the Psalter). These differences between the titled psalms in the Psalter and the psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible suggest that, despite the use of similar midrashic techniques to link psalm and context and despite the emphasis that both place on characterization, different motives underlie the two groups of psalms. The MT Psalter's historical superscriptions are preoccupied with David and his dependence on God in times of trouble. The psalms in narrative contexts, on the other hand, were positioned with careful attention not only to links with the immediate context but also to the particular thematic development of each book as a whole.1 Frequently, their inclusion was accompanied by the addition of prose materials, and was part of overarching redactions of the books in which they appear. In other words, the placement of psalms into the prose of the Hebrew Bible was a narrative device, used to further the purposes of the work as a whole. The composition of historical superscriptions was not. This does not mean that the two phenomena are unrelated. The example of psalms in narrative contexts probably contributed to the development of historical titles in the Psalter. The latter in turn may have stimulated the introduction of more psalms in narrative contexts—if not in the Hebrew Bible, then in rewritten Biblical stories such as the Biblical Antiquities of Pseudo-Philo, the Didascalia, and perhaps the Psalms of Joshua. The use and location of psalms in these works resemble the contexts indicated by Psalter superscriptions more than those of psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible.
1. This is the case even for Hezekiah's Psalm, which by its superscription and loose connection to Isa. 38 could be considered most like the titled psalms of the Psalter. Chapter 7 above found that it nevertheless plays a thematic role in Isaiah as a whole.
Chapter 12 LITERARY AND HISTORICAL CONCLUSIONS
The previous chapters have investigated the psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible individually and have made only occasional comparisons between them. It remains to describe the phenomenon as a whole and set it within the broader historical context of the use of hymnic material in narratives from other ancient Near Eastern cultures and in narratives of postbiblical Jewish and early Christian literatures. The major literary conclusion arising from Chapters 2-10 is that, in the Hebrew Bible, the use of psalms in narrative contexts is a literary device used to achieve compositional (narrative) goals. The importance of this point lies in its contradiction of claims that psalms are used merely to achieve non-narrative purposes, such as aesthetic pleasure, midrashic interpretation, or to simply find an appropriate place for them.1 There are elements of truth in these views, but none of them comes to grips with the narrative roles which all the psalms play within their respective books of the Hebrew Bible. The psalms achieve compositional goals in two ways: by their positions in the narrative and by their thematic contents. Most of the psalms in narrative contexts are placed at or near the end of narrative blocks, ranging in size from single scenes or episodes (Judg. 5; 1 Chron. 16; Lk. 1-2) to whole books (Deut. 32-33, 2 Sam. 22-23, Jdt. 16, Tob. 13). In the latter, they usually share the 1. To mention only two examples: '[Psalms] found their way into the narrative books since the narrators were well aware of the pleasing effect that results when prose is interspersed with poetry' (H. Gunkel, The Psalms: A Form-Critical Introduction [trans. T.M. Horner; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967], p. 2); 'The editor or compiler of the great prose work correctly understood the place of the poems in the developing history of Israel and put them in a plausible place in the narrative' (D.N. Freedman, 'Early Israelite Poetry and Historical Resonstructions', in idem, Pottery, Poetry and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry [Winona Lake; IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980], p. 171).
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concluding role with other poetic and prose materials with which the psalms work to bring the narrative to a climactic finale. What do psalms achieve as narrative conclusions which prose alone cannot? The frequent resort to psalmody for narrative closure suggests that ancient Hebrew writers and editors found some inherent advantage in its use. Several previous chapters of this study have concluded that hymnic poetry in this position invites readers to join in the celebration, an effect which is especially strong in the victory songs of Exodus 15, Judges 5, and Judith 16. A modern analogy which illustrates the psalms' appeal is found in Broadway-style musical theater.1 The bulk of a musical play's dialogue is usually spoken, but the action is periodically punctuated by musical numbers involving song and dance either by the main actors alone or with a chorus. In contrast to the prose dialogue, which is spoken between characters and passively observed by the audience, the songs are often performed facing the spectators and addressed to them, establishing a more direct rapport between actors and audience. The most successful numbers may elicit such a positive reaction from the spectators that they become 'show-stoppers', literally bringing the action to a momentary halt while the audience registers its approval and, occasionally, prompts a repetition of the song. The writers of musicals therefore invariably place their best number, or at least a reprise of it, at the very end of the performance in order to finish the show on as good a note as possible. This effect is considerably diminished if one merely reads the script without seeing a performance, although it is not entirely lost if one knows the music. Unfortunately, modern readers of the Hebrew Bible not only have no knowledge of a psalm's original music, but they often find its poetic idiom less accessible than the prose, because of rare vocabulary, archaic grammatical constructions, and obscure allusions. Instead of appealing to and involving readers, psalms in narrative contexts are therefore more likely to alienate them and tempt them to skip to the next prose story. But the effect on ancient Hebrew readers must have been quite different, not only because of their familiarity with the words and music, but also because reading in the ancient world usually involved performance. Reading almost always meant reading aloud, and was often directed to an audience 1.
I am indebted to E.F. Davis for this analogy (pers. comm., 1989).
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who 'heard' the text.1 This would have been all the more true of literature that was read liturgically.2 Thus an ancient reading of a religious text was as similar to a modern theatrical performance as to the way we read novels in private, and the use of songs within a narrative probably affected an ancient audience in a manner analogous to the way songs within a drama affect a contemporary one. The psalms' involvement of readers has rightly been considered an example of literary actualization. 3 As songs, the psalms in narrative contexts must have had an especially strong impact on ancient Jewish readers and hearers. The words would have brought to mind musical and cultic associations and aroused a deep emotional response, as G. Nickelsburg noted: 'The poems convert the story from mere narrative to quasi-liturgical drama, eliciting the involvement of an audience attuned to such liturgical tradition and, perhaps, familiar with the compositions themselves'.4
1. The usual Hebrew verb for 'read' is mp, literally 'call out'. B.M.W. Knox summarized the evidence in 5th century BCE Athenian vase art for reading practices in the Greek world: 'From these paintings it is clear that reading was a communal affair; the solitary reader hardly appears: books were read aloud. This does not necessarily imply, as it was once fashionable to believe, that silent reading was an accomplishment so rare in antiquity that its exceptional appearance proves the rule, but it does emphasize the fact that, early and late, ancient reading was predominantly reading aloud, performance in fact—before a smaller audience than at the Dionysia or at Olympia but still a performance. The book, at this early stage of transition from a fully oral to a fully literate society, serves as a script for recital rather than as a text for individual study; though now written, literature is still a communal experience and its direct, powerful impact on the emotions of its audience, so vividly described in Plato's Ion (535e), must be kept in mind. . .' ('Books and Readers in the Greek World: I. From the Beginnings to Alexandria', in P.E. Easterling and B.M.W. Knox [eds.], The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. I. Greek Literature [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985], p. 7). On the development of silent reading, see pp. 13-14. 2. See Chapter 3 above for discussion of the possibility that the Song of the Sea was placed in Exod. 15 at the end of the plague and exodus narratives to conclude a liturgical reading. 3. J.L. Vesco, 'Psaume 18, Lecture Davidique', RB 94 (1987), pp. 18, 21. For a general discussion of literary actualization in the Hebrew Bible, see J.W. Groves, Actualization and Interpretation in the Old Testament (SBLDS, 86; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987). 4. Nickelsburg, 'The Bible Rewritten and Expanded', in M.E. Stone (ed.), Jewish Writings in the Second Temple Period (CRINT; Assen: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), p. 151.
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The 'show-stopping' potential of songs made them particularly powerful in final or near-final positions. The concluding role for psalms in narrative contexts is elaborated by their use in bracket structures around blocks of narrative. David's Thanksgiving in 2 Samuel 22 helps bring the books of Samuel to a close not only by its near-final position but also by its close connections with Hannah's Song at the beginning of those books (1 Sam. 2.110). The song near the beginning sets the mood and primes the readers/ hearers not only for the following stories, but also for the more extensive celebration of Yahweh's faithfulness to David at the end. The Levitical medley in 1 Chronicles 16, in addition to bringing the preceding episode to a close, is also the first part of a bracket surrounding the story of preparations for the Temple in 1 Chronicles 1729 (the other end is marked by David's prose prayer in 29.10-19). The psalms in Isaiah 38, Jonah 2, Daniel 2, and Add. Dan. have a different place in the narrative structure. They appear at points in the story where the main character has been led to expect divine deliverance, which is not yet accomplished or, at least, complete. The effect of placing hymns or thanksgivings at precisely this point is to highlight the speakers' trust in God's willingness and ability to save them, and thus cast them as models of piety. The repeated congruence in these psalms of an emphasis on characterization and their position prior to the resolution of plot tension suggests that this became an established literary convention in ancient Hebrew literature. Reader recognition of this convention seems to be presupposed by the book of Jonah, which proceeds to subvert it, first by leaving the main plot tension unresolved by the conclusion of the episode which contains the psalm (Jon. 1-2), and second by creating acute tension within Jonah's characterization between the pious Yahwist of the psalm (and his other speeches) and the disobedient prophet of the narrative. Jonah's Psalm matches Jonah's prayer in 4.2-3 in the larger parallel structures that shape each half of the book. Thus it, like Hannah's Song and the Chronicler's Levitical medley, shows that psalms can play more than one structural role at a time. In striking contrast to their importance to the structures of their narrative contexts, most of the psalms have no effect on the actual plot. None of them play the key plot roles that other poems do, such as Balaam's Oracles (Num. 23-24) or the victory song for Saul and David (1 Sam. 18.7; 21.12 [11]; 29.5). The only explanation for this
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phenomenon, which occurs regardless of whether the psalms are original or secondary in their narrative contexts, is that the ancient literary conventions governing psalms in narrative encouraged their use for structural and thematic purposes, rather than for advancing the plot.1 Plot development should therefore not be the primary criterion for evaluating a psalm's narrative role, from either a synchronic or diachronic perspective. It is possible that the ease with which psalms and other poetry can be inserted into prose narrative without disturbing the plot contributed to their use by redactors for the purpose of restructuring preexisting narratives. Psalms could be added to Exodus 15, 1 Samuel 2, Isaiah 38 and Daniel 2 without interfering with the plot development. At the same time, the overall shape of the narrative and its themes is altered and enhanced. It must be noted, however, that preservation of prior plot connections was not always an overriding concern. The redactional conclusion to Samuel (2 Sam. 21-24) disturbs the sequential action of the Succession Narrative through the insertion of stories belonging to an earlier period. Besides their structural roles, the other way psalms affect their narrative contexts in the Hebrew Bible is by their thematic contents. All nine psalms focus attention on God, but the theocentric emphasis is especially strong in Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32, 1 Samuel 2 and Daniel 2 (also in Jdt. 16 and Lk. 1-2). The effect of these psalms on their narrative contexts is to point out to readers God's underlying knowledge and control of events, thus turning the stories into examples of how God cares for God's people. In this way, the psalms aid in the appropriation of the narratives as religious texts, that is, as authoritative guides for the readers' beliefs and lives.2 1. J.A. Wilcoxen pointed out that narratives of the Hebrew Bible contain a wide variety of materials that do not contribute to plot development, and called for closer examination of the nature of narrative and its relation to plot ('Narrative', in J.H. Hayes [ed.], Old Testament Form Criticism [San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press, 1974], p. 95). 2. This conclusion regarding the thematic roles of psalms in narrative contexts was anticipated by Reventlow and Ackroyd: 'Occasionally inserted at critical places in the structure, psalms serve to accent internal themes that are important to the understanding of the whole book. Since Hebrew narrative style is unacquainted with an abstract, theoretical mode of discussion, psalms were especially appropriate for such thematic accentuation. Insofar as they were spoken 'before God's face', the psalms glowingly recounted in hymnic form the outlines of God's affairs. They thus
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The placement and narrative use of Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32, 1 Samuel 2 and 2 Samuel 22 reveals a concern for the religious use of narrative literature in the exilic and early postexilic periods.1 The appearance of the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 may have been motivated, at least in part, by the desire to enlist its popularity and authority for the book as a whole. The Song of the Sea seems to shape Exod. 1.1-15.21 as a unit for liturgical use, perhaps at Passover. The thematic bracket provided around Samuel by Hannah's Song and David's Thanksgiving makes explicit the book's theocentric message, which might otherwise be obscured by the subtlety of Samuel's narratives. Since the inclusion of these psalms can be roughly dated to the periods in which Israel's religious literature was being gathered and beginning to gain canonical status, the narrative roles of these psalms offer a glimpse of the kinds of concerns which shaped that collection.2 Psalms in narrative contexts invariably characterize their speaker(s), indirectly if not by direct description. Such characterization is the dominant factor in the narrative roles of 2 Samuel 22, Isaiah 38, Jonah 2, and Tobit 13, which cast the piety of David, Hezekiah, Jonah and Tobit in the familiar language of the psalms so that readers can identify themselves in these figures. The non-specific and stereotyped imagery of these psalms, which has led many interpreters to complain of their lack of connections to their contexts, makes the poems, and unfolded a deep dimension that allowed the reader to understand the deeper, divine meaning of apparently secular events' (H.G. Reventlow, Gebet im Alien Testament [Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1986], p. 284 [my translation]); 'The relative rarity of such insertions suggests that we should not suppose that they are the result of the desire of a scribe to brighten up the narrative by quoting a piece of poetry or even to preserve ancient poetic passages which might otherwise be lost, but rather of an endeavour to draw out the significance of the narrative by the use of poems which point to important elements which it is desired to underline' (P.R. Ackroyd, 'An Interpretation of the Babylonian Exile: A Study of 2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38-39', SJT 27 [1974], p. 345). 1. On this point, see the Intentions and Implications sections of Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 6 above. 2. The investigations of previous chapters support relative darings of the prose inclusion of Deut. 32 by the final Dtr redaction of Deuteronomy (exilic or immediately pre-exilic), Exod. 15 by the completion of the Pentateuch through the redaction with P (early Second Temple), and 1 Sam. 2 and 2 Sam. 22 after the completion of the Deuteronomistic History but before Chronicles (early to mid-Second Temple period).
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through them the stories of their speakers, available to readers as paradigms for their own religious experience.1 Like the nationalistic finales in Exodus 15, Judges 5, and Judith 16, these songs actualize the narrative for readers, but at a more personal and intimate level.2 Their characterization of the speaker is thus not the clear-cut, indelible depiction of a unique personality for which narrative characterization often strives, but is rather a metaphorical and allusive portrait within which readers can find both themselves and the story's main character. The result is that the nuanced characterization of the narratives is often overridden by the psalms' efforts to typify their speakers in more general terms. The narratives of Jonah, however, turn the tables on readers who, finding themselves typified in the psalm, identify with the prophet only to have his discredit reflect on them at the end of the story. This use of psalms for the internal characterization of individuals and their placement, in some cases, prior to the resolution of plot tension seems to be a postexilic development of the practice of including psalms in narrative contexts. (It is not paralleled in other ancient Near Eastern literatures.) The effect is to cast David, Hezekiah, Daniel, the three men in the furnace and Tobit as models of personal piety. In Jonah, the subversion of this narrative convention, while not attacking the devotional use of psalmody, offers an implicit critique of those who value its performance while disobeying God's expressed will. The descriptions in previous chapters of this convention at work in the narrative roles of the psalms in 2 Samuel 22, Isaiah 38, Jonah 2, Daniel 2, Add. Dan. and Tobit 13 corroborate Mowinckel's thesis of the development of 'learned psalmography' in postexilic Judaism.3 The 1. The way psalmody's stereotypical language aids its devotional appropriation was discussed at length by P.D. Miller, Jr, Trouble and Woe: Interpreting the Biblical Laments', Int 37 (1983), pp. 32-45. 2. This difference between the two kinds of actualization is perhaps best illustrated by comparing Hezekiah's Psalm (Isa. 38.9-20) with Hannah's Song (1 Sam. 2.1-10). In similar circumstances of thanksgiving for a divine answer to prayer, the introspective focus of Hezekiah's Psalm invites readers to consider their own fears of death, and parallel their reactions to those of the king. The nationalistic themes of Hannah's Song, on the other hand, direct attention away from her particular circumstances to the broader implications of God's intentions for Israel and actions in its history. 3. Mowinckel noted that many psalms in narrative contexts are thematically similar to free-standing psalms such as those in Sirach or the Psalms of Solomon. He
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devotional use of psalmody, however, was not the first nor the only influence on the inclusion of psalms in narrative contexts, as the above discussion has shown, but psalmody's popularity as an instrument of devotional piety probably did contribute to increased narrative use of psalms in the mid- and late Second Temple periods, both for characterization and other narrative purposes. Besides serving to characterize God and their speakers, two psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible play special thematic roles. The Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 is a poetic compendium of Deuteronomic theology, and is described in the preceding prose context as a parallel to the law book itself. Deut. 31.16-22 suggests that the psalm was intended to popularize the contents of the book through oral transmission and repetition. Popular recognition and acceptance of the psalm is thus presupposed, and its incorporation at the end of the book may have been intended to gain the Song's influence for the book as a whole. The Levitical medley in 1 Chronicles 16 reverses the direction of influence by using the story of David's institution of the ark in Jerusalem to validate the performance and performers of cultic psalmody. Concerns for the liturgical use of psalmody appear only here among the psalms in narrative contexts. The absence of concern for or even mention of cultic psalmody in the contexts of other psalms is rather remarkable, and may reflect a general lack of controversy regarding the subject. The context and position of the Chronicles psalm, however, shows that the status of Levitical musicians and the role of their craft in the cult was at the time of its inclusion, which can be dated along with the book to the mid-Second Temple period, sufficiently debated that the Chronicler felt an appeal to Davidic authority was required. In Chronicles and Deuteronomy then, the literary convention of psalms in narrative contexts is enlisted to gain the social acceptance of a religious agenda. The widespread use of psalms and other poems to provide explicit thematic commentary within prose narratives raises the broader issue argued that postexilic scribes considered the composition of prayers and psalms to be a pious work, and so inserted psalms into narratives about religious heroes of the past to provide edifying examples of the practice ('Psalms and Wisdom', in M. Noth and D.W. Thomas [eds.], Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [Festschrift H.H. Rowley; VTSup, 3; Leiden: Brill, 1955], pp. 211, 222; see also idem, The Psalms in Israel's Worship [trans. D.R. Ap-Thomas; 2 vols.; Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1962], II, p. 115).
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of the relationship between prose and poetry in the Hebrew Bible. Despite their appearance within the same literature, the distinctive characteristics of Hebrew prose and poetry are not blurred. Prose narrative usually eschews direct commentary, delivering its thematic message through the interplay of action and dialogue. When the narrator does offer direct evaluations (as in the books of Kings), the comments tend to be formulaic and matter-of-fact. Poetry, by contrast, does not narrate sequentially, but offers vivid descriptions of feelings and emphatic statements of ideas instead, as I. Yeivin pointed out: The substantive character of the poetry of the Bible is best given a negative definition: This poetry never narrates. Its two pre-eminent domains are the expression of religious feelings (the Psalms) and the expression of wisdom ideas (Proverbs, Job). . .The absence of narrative poetry (epic) is especially evident in those poetic chapters in which there is a description of events (the Song of the Sea [Exod. 15]; the Song of Deborah [Judg. 5]; Ps. 78, 105, 106, 114). The description highlights the significance of the events, their religious and emotional value, it praises and it derogates, but it does not narrate the action in sequence, how what happened happened.1
The use of psalms in narrative contexts underscores the differences between Hebrew prose and poetry, rather than blurring them. When writers or editors of narrative needed to make thematic emphases and emotions explicit, they did not try to reproduce the effects of poetry in prose, but simply switched modes. Explicit emotional displays and interior characterization were thus introduced into Hebrew narrative without changing its basic nature. A more thoroughgoing mix of these elements would have been possible through the use of poetic epic, but this genre is studiously avoided in the Hebrew Bible. A similar situation in ancient Egypt, where there was virtually no epic but a flourishing prose narrative literature, suggests that this combination was not purely a result of Israel's religious beliefs, as some interpreters have maintained.2 The Egyptian parallels also weigh against the notion that Hebrew narra1. I. Yeivin, EM, VII, cols 638-39, trans, and quoted by A. Preminger and E.L. Greenstein, The Hebrew Bible in Literary Criticism (New York: Ungar, 1986), p. 191. 2. E.g. S. Talmon, 'The "Comparative Method" in Biblical Interpretation— Principles and Problems', in Congress Volume, Gottingen 1977 (VTSup, 29; Leiden: Brill, 1978), p. 354; R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 1981), pp. 25-26.
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tives must have been originally transmitted in epic form.1 In the Hebrew Bible, the difference between prose and poetic style is maintained even more definitely than in Egyptian literature, where shifts between the two are far more frequent.2 The appearance of psalms and other poems in standard structural and thematic roles in Hebrew narrative indicates that their use was informed by literary conventions. This observation is confirmed by the fact that, in at least two cases (Exod. 15; Jon. 2), such conventions seem to be subverted in one way or another to sharpen the impact of the narrative's message. Such modifications of generic expectations only work if the writer can assume the readers' knowledge of the convention's usual form.3 Psalms in narrative contexts were thus part of the repertoire available within prose narrative genres. The inclusion of poetry within narrative expanded the latter's representational scope and, especially, its affective impact on readers and hearers. Descriptions of Hebrew narrative genres must therefore take into account not only the contrast with poetry, but also narrative's ability to incorporate poetic genres and thus combine their literary potential with its own.4 1. As maintained most notably by P.M. Cross (The Epic Traditions of Early Israel: Epic Narrative and the Reconstruction of Early Israelite Institutions', in R.E. Friedman [ed.], The Poet and the Historian [HSS, 26; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1983], pp. 13-39). 2. See the Appendix. 3. 'One of the most effective ways a writer can use genre is to evoke and intensify our generic expectations only to overturn them' (H. Dubrow, Genre [The Critical Idiom, 42; London: Methuen, 1982], p. 37). 4. A. Fowler distinguished such 'local inclusion' of one genre within another from 'generic mixture', in which the features of two or more genres are combined (Kinds of Literature: An Introduction to the Theory of Genres and Modes [Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982], pp. 180-81). He described the former: By a process as ordinary as embedding in syntax, a literary work may enclose another within it. If the inset form then becomes conventionally linked with the matrix, a generic transformation has taken place. . . Epic, followed in this by the novel, is particularly capacious: it can contain complete works even of medium s i z e . . . In ancient literature [i.e. classical literature], inclusion seems to have been governed by more restrictive conventions. These might call for a transitional passage introducing the inset. Moreover, the inset and the matrical genres were likely to be closely akin—as when a triumph was included in a genethliacon' (p. 179; see also Dubrow, Genre, pp. 26-29)
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The Hebrew practice of placing psalms in narrative contexts is in basic continuity with the use of hymnic poetry in the narrative literatures of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.1 It appears as a concluding and bracketing structural device in both cultures, though this usage is especially common in Sumerian and Akkadian texts. Hymnic poetry also provides thematic commentary in many ancient Near Eastern literary documents, and may have contributed to the actualization of their significance for readers. A more specific point of continuity is the use of victory songs in Akkadian, Egyptian and Hebrew battle narratives. Most of the earliest inclusions of psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible are related to this tradition (Judg. 5; Exod. 15; note victory vocabulary in Deut. 32), which therefore may have been the original stimulus for the inclusion of psalms in Hebrew narrative. The practice was then imitated and broadened in the postexilic period by the literary influence of these texts. The closest parallel to the oldest Hebrew example (Judg. 5) of the practice of placing psalms in narrative contexts is the roughly contemporaneous Piye Stela, which also presents a parallel to the reticent style of Hebrew prose narrative, a fact which raises the possibility that the latter is representative of an international literary development in the first half of the first millenium BCE. More non-Hebrew evidence, however, is required to verify the accuracy of this observation. Another point of contact with broader ancient Near Eastern literary practices emerges in Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts in the midto late Second Temple period. In these centuries the narrative use of poems and hymns multiplied, and began to appear in the narrator's voice. 1 Maccabees places hymnic formulas, hymns, heightened prose, and praise songs to individuals in the narrator's voice. In this sense, 1 Maccabees' narrative style is more like classic Egyptian prose narrative and Mesopotamian epic than is anything in the Hebrew Bible.2 Within biblical studies, K. Koch was one of the first to distinguish form-critically between 'component literary types' and 'complex literary types' which are the result of juxtapositions of the former (The Growth of the Biblical Tradition: The FormCritical Method [trans. S.M. Cupitt; London: A. & C. Black, 1969], pp. 23-26). It remained for Wilcoxen, however, to raise the issue of the various relations of component types to plot ('Narrative', p. 95). 1. For examples, see the Appendix. 2. Another example of the absorption into Jewish literature in the postexilic period of ancient non-Hebrew genres is the use of autobiography in Ezra and
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This development may already be hinted at by the narrator's apparent use of the liturgical refrain, '(for he is good,) for his kindness is forever', in 1 Chron. 16.41, 2 Chron. 5.13, 7.3, 6a, and Ezra 3.11. Aside from this example, however, the Hebrew Bible is remarkably uniform in limiting third person narration to prose. The conventions which make up genres are always historically fluid. The changes in this particular convention can be traced over time, from the monarchic period when Deborah's victory song was used to celebrate a previously narrated battle, through its elaboration in the exilic and early postexilic periods as a structural device for adapting Exodus, Deuteronomy and Samuel to liturgical use. The utilization of psalms in narrative contexts to make David, Hezekiah, Daniel, the three friends and Tobit models of personal piety and faith reflected the increased private use of psalmody in the mid- and late Second Temple period, a time when debates over its liturgical use prompted the Chronicler's portrait of David as the inaugurator of both the Jerusalem cult and its music. In the late Second Temple period, psalms were also being increasingly inserted in 'rewritten Bibles', and the narrative of 1 Maccabees abandoned the previously customary reticence and used all kinds of poetry in the narrator's voice. After this point, the distinctive features of Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts were increasingly enlisted as a form of inter-textual allusion (as in Luke and Pseudo-Philo), although they could still appear as a force for actualizing narrative (as in the Revelation of John). In sum, one convention of ancient Hebrew narrative genres is the inclusion of a distinguishable group of texts, consisting of psalms and a few other poems in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible, which through their positions and thematic commentaries contribute to narrative development. They rarely affect plot, but instead structure large blocks of material thematically, deepen the theocentric orientation of books and internal characterization of individuals, and actualize the narratives by eliciting reader participation in the songs.
Nehemiah. Autobiography is one of the oldest Egyptian prose genres, with a number of examples dating from the third millenium BCE.
Chapter 13 METHODOLOGICAL CONCLUSIONS
Ever since synchronic methods of literary analysis became popular in biblical studies, the problem of whether and how they can be combined with diachronic historical analysis has been hotly debated within the discipline. Little resolution has been achieved, with the result that many interpreters simply select one or the other approach and remain within it. The validity and even the necessity of the contrary orientation is frequently acknowledged, but, in the absence of a methodological bridge between them, they usually remain separate enterprises. Such a narrowly consistent approach was precluded in the present study by the nature of its subject-matter. A comparative analysis of the psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible requires the utilization of insights and perspectives derived from both historical and literary criticism, because it involves the description of the history of a particular literary device. In other words, it is a study in the history of literary genre, or at least one component of genre, and must therefore discuss both the narrative structure and compositional history of texts. The use of both methodological perspectives was further encouraged by the fact that the practice of placing psalms in narrative contexts is not within the standard repertoire of devices discussed by either approach, and neither method has, up to the present time, produced a sufficient and consistent explanation of it. Since the two approaches nevertheless tend to elicit contradictory inferences about the phenomenon, the only way to address the subject in a comprehensive manner is to subsume both methods into a broader description of the history of this literary device in the Hebrew Bible. The resulting studies of individual psalms in narrative contexts have demonstrated that synchronic and diachronic methods can be combined, so long as various stages in the analysis are distinguished and treated separately. The discovery of literary patterns, the development
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of theories of compositional history, and the reconstruction of the original intentions behind the text are separate operations. Each has a bearing on the others, but the nature of their interrelations may, and frequently does, vary from text to text. Not every literary pattern is an intentional production of the author, and the presence of a pattern does not preclude a long history behind its development. In Chapters 2 to 10, these analytical stages were separated into three operations: first, a psalm's narrative role in the present text was described at the synchronic level; second, a theory of the text's composition was developed based on all the available evidence, including that described in the first section; third, the intentions which lay behind the use and development of the text as described in the previous sections were reconstructed. This approach, which was worked out in practice, must now be given a general description to help evaluate the method's limitations and its applicability to other biblical texts. Crucial to the method's success is the operational priority given to a synchronic analysis of the text's narrative role. In one sense, this point is nothing more than the common-sense claim that one should read the text before interpreting it. However, in an age when most professional interpreters come to a biblical book armed with prior knowledge of an array of compositional theories and descriptions of the text's overarching message, the importance of a fresh reading of a passage must be emphasized, including close attention to the patterns at various levels in the text (the present study's focus on plot, vocabulary, themes and characterization suggests a basic but not exhaustive list). Of course reading invariably involves interpretation, but that fact need not preclude efforts to clarify the process by marking and avoiding slips into the kind of circular reasoning that undermines the whole enterprise. Such clarification is precisely what is accomplished by describing a text's literary form and patterns, while holding questions of composition and intention in abeyance. Description of the passage can then proceed relatively free of influence from assumptions regarding the larger significance of this or that feature. Claims for the operational priority of synchronic analysis have been previously voiced in biblical studies, and widely discussed in literary theory. R. Polzin summarized the theoretical discussion and concluded that 'scholarly understanding of biblical material results from a circular movement that begins with a literary analysis, then turns to historical problems, whose attempted solution then furnishes further
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refinements and adaptations of one's literary critical conclusions'.1 Such a program is perfectly in accord with that followed in the present study, so long as it is emphasized that the circle must be completed. An analysis which stops with the first step and rests content with synchronic description, as do Polzin's studies of Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic History,2 is inevitably forced to make claims regarding intention and composition unsupported by diachronic analysis, and thus short-circuiting the process. Some examples from the preceding discussions of psalms in narrative contexts illustrate the nature of this problem. The overarching structure of the book of Jonah can be and has been analyzed into various mutually exclusive patterns, some of which include the psalm while some do not. The pattern of the book thus offers little basis upon which to judge the psalm's status as original or secondary, an issue which must be adjudicated on other grounds. Any synchronic theory which considers the psalm's role in the book a product of authorial intention, but ignores compositional issues, is simply basing this conclusion on the undefended assumption that the book is an original unity. A different situation obtains in 2 Samuel 21-24. The chiastic literary structure of these chapters is acknowledged by historical and literary critics alike, but both diachronic and synchronic theories of its composition have been proposed, with correspondingly different estimations of the intentionality behind the structure. Simply to jump from pattern to intention without facing the compositional issue squarely is to base one's conclusions not on the text, but on an undefended assumption. The present study thus illustrates the value of according operational priority to synchronic analysis, but only if compositional issues are then evaluated on the basis of all the available evidence, including but not limited to the results of the close reading. The necessity of including, in the second stage of analysis, all the evidence relevant to the text's compositional history has been demonstrated in the studies of a number of psalms in narrative contexts. In 1 Sam. 2.1-10, for example, the decisive evidence for declaring the psalm a secondary addition to its immediate context was text-critical in nature and would have been missed by a close reading of the Masoretic Text alone. Analyses of the literary relationship of several 1. R. Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist (New York: Seabury, 1980), p. 6 (Polzin's italics). 2. For his explanation, see Moses and the Deuteronomist, p. 16.
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psalms to their contexts gave no basis for distinguishing levels of composition between them, but the evidence for sources or redactors in the surrounding prose required that the psalm be identified with one layer or another (e.g. Exod. 15, Deut. 32). Decisions regarding the compositional history of a number of psalms in narrative contexts proved to be highly tenuous in nature, with little evidence required to shift the balance from a synchronic to a diachronic evaluation, or back again (e.g. Dan. 2; 1 Chron. 16; Exod. 15). The difficulty of weighing the evidence in these cases makes it all the more important that nothing bearing on the issue be omitted. Synchronic analysis is thus a necessary but not an exclusive precondition for compositional history. When the full complexity of the biblical text was taken into account in evaluating the compositional history of psalms in narrative contexts, the methodological dichotomy between synchronic and diachronic explanations frequently broke down. That is, the same psalm could be labelled both 'original' and 'secondary', depending on the size of the contextual frame of reference. For example, Deuteronomy 32 and 2 Samuel 22 were judged to be original in their immediate contexts of the last four chapters of Deuteronomy and Samuel respectively, but secondary (along with those chapters) to the more extended contexts of the whole books. Conversely, Daniel's Praise together with the preceding verses (Dan. 2.13-23) seemed to be secondary to the immediate context of ch. 2, but also to be a product of a redaction which added half the material in the final book; the psalm can thus be considered original to the book of Daniel as whole. These examples are simple compared to the redactional history of the Song of Deborah (Judg. 5) in its context. The psalm is original to Judges but a secondary addition to the prose version of events in Judges 4, for the composition of which it was the original model. In the face of such complexity, the use of the labels 'original' and 'secondary' requires further qualification lest it become an exercise in empty terminology, irrelevant to an accurate description of the phenomenon being studied. Thus generalizations of whether diachronic or synchronic theories better explain psalms in narrative contexts would be misleading. The fact that previous chapters have settled for purely synchronic descriptions of the inclusion of only two psalms in narrative contexts (Jon. 2; 1 Chron. 16), both in later books of the Hebrew Bible, might tempt one to conclude that psalms in narrative contexts are a postexilic phenomenon in Hebrew literature, invariably secondary in the contexts of
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earlier books. Such a conclusion, however, completely misrepresents the diachronic results of analyzing each psalm's relation to its context—results which show the technique being used already in preDeuteronomistic and in Deuteronomic literature (Judg. 4-5, Deut. 3134). Instead of concentrating on the methodological polarity between diachronic and synchronic explanations, the compositional histories of the psalms in their narrative contexts call attention to other features of the biblical text, such as the fact that the psalms were usually inserted as part of broader redactional activities involving prose material as well, and that the insertions altered the structure of large blocks of pre-existing material. In other words, the history behind many biblical books is often sufficiently complex to offer grounds for both diachronic and synchronic theories. Only by considering all possible combinations of the evidence can their conflicting claims be adjudicated. After a synchronic literary analysis of the text has been performed and its compositional history clarified, the motivations which prompted the shape of the text can be reconstructed without fear of having proved only what one had already assumed. The separation, in this study, of the assignation of intentionality from the earlier stages of analysis is an artificial move for the purposes of methodological clarity. The circle of interpretation described by Polzin and quoted above normally revolves quite fast, but at the risk of mistaking assumptions for conclusions. By slowing the circle and isolating the reconstruction of intentionality within it, the method used here grounds such reconstruction in previous literary and compositional observations. The recognition of patterns, the isolation of layers, and the reconstruction of intentionality thus become separate steps in the process of interpretation. The price for methodological clarity is the limitation of the method to the evaluation of only those theories of composition which assume at least some degree of authorial intention. Synchronic interpretations informed by theories of reading which deny the possibility of reconstructing the author's intention do not offer sufficient basis for comparison with other readings.1 Diachronic interpretations which credit 1. This difficulty emerged most clearly in Chapter 2 above, in attempting to evaluate Miscall's reading of 1 Samuel. He found no clear intentionality in the book, only 'interminable and undecidable' questions (P.D. Miscall, 1 Samuel: A Literary Reading [Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986], p. 185). Divergences between his and other's interpretations of Hannah's Song therefore cannot be
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some features of the text to accident or impersonal historical processes are also hard to take into account. In the present study, this methodological limitation has been most evident in its inability to integrate form-critical insights (into both psalmody and narrative) with the literary analysis of the text. Form criticism's orientation toward oral genres and prehistory establishes a different context for analysis than do the literary genres and contexts presupposed here. On the other hand, source- and redaction-critical theories can and were compared with synchronic literary theories directly, since they are all text-centered approaches which assume at least some degree of author intentionality. Though not all critical readings can be accommodated by this method, the diachronic and synchronic approaches which do posit authorial intentionality in a text can be brought together, if close attention to literary patterns, the investigation of compositional history, and the reconstruction of intentionality are separated and addressed in order. But the possibility of doing so does not prove the necessity of this method, beyond the limited problem of psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible. The method used here is more widely applicable, however, because historical and literary methods must be combined if the history of literary genres and their conventions is to be traced in biblical literature. Investigations in the history of literary genre are diachronic studies of synchronic conventions. Genre history involves not only the description of the repertoire of generic conventions available to writers at specific points in history, but also the reconstruction of how they changed and developed over time, owing to the creativity of individual authors and to influences from other genres and literatures. With heavily redacted texts, such as those in the Hebrew Bible, the project requires not only that works of different periods be compared, but that layers within a work be distinguished as well in order that the conventions of one period not be confused with those of another. But the greatest possible sensitivity to synchronic composition and style is also required, so that the results reflect the literary impact of works in their own time as closely as possible. Genre history requires a comparative approach, for it is only by comparing a variety of texts that the conventions that make up genres can be recognized. The study of ancient Israel's literary genres is adjudicated on the basis of the text, but must rather be dealt with at the theoretical level.
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handicapped by the lack of ancient Hebrew literature outside the Bible to serve as a basis for such comparisons. It is therefore necessary to compare Hebrew conventions with those of other ancient Near Eastern literatures. The presence in Egypt of a large prose narrative tradition offers a broad basis for comparisons with Hebrew narrative literature. Egyptian texts provided the closest and most enlightening parallels to the Hebrew use of psalms in narrative contexts, which may suggest their value for other narrative studies as well. The value of taking a diachronic perspective toward genre development and change throughout the corpus of Hebrew literature lies in a heightened awareness of the expectations which ancient writers and readers brought to these texts, and the ways the texts both extended and subverted those expectations. The importance of such an awareness in biblical studies has been illustrated repeatedly in the present study. For example, the observation that psalms in narrative contexts of the Hebrew Bible tend to heighten the thematic message and structure of the books which contain them while only rarely affecting the plot, led to the conclusion that the practice was governed by conventions which did not require psalm and narrative to interact at the level of plot. Recognition of the conventional nature of the practice would have saved a number of diachronic and synchronic interpreters from anachronistic assumptions regarding psalms in narrative contexts. Many commentators have assumed that a psalm must be a secondary addition if its omission would not disturb the narrative plot—an argument without force when the above convention is recognized. Concerns about conflicts between prose and poetic versions of events led some literary analysts to maintain that the psalm's presence was intended to undermine the reliability of the narration, which again misses the orientation towards theme and structure rather than plot in the practice of placing psalms in narrative contexts. On the other hand, awareness of the operative conventions alerts interpreters to their subversion by creative authors. Thus the convention of victory songs being sung by women gives significance to the explicit mention of male and female singers of the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15). Similarly, the presence of a pious thanksgiving in its conventional position prior to the plot resolution in Jonah 2 highlights the fact that the main plot tension is not resolved, with the result that the psalm misleads readers into prematurely identifying with Jonah. In both cases, genre conventions are being used creatively for unusual
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effects. Modern interpreters unaware of ancient conventions miss the effect of their subversion. Thus synchronic and diachronic approaches are both vulnerable to being undermined by anachronistic assumptions and hidden narrative conventions unless they are combined together and set within the larger genre history of ancient Near Eastern literature. The method and practice of the present study are intended as a step in that direction.
Appendix HYMNS IN OTHER ANCIENT NARRATIVE TRADITIONS The appearance of a hymn in the middle of a prose story is not a standard device of modern narrative, and modern readers therefore have few models for interpreting its role and function. However, the appearance of hymnic poetry in narrative contexts is not infrequent in the Bible, and the mix of all kinds of poetry with prose in various proportions is characteristic not only of ancient Hebrew literature, but also of many texts from other ancient Near Eastern cultures. A survey of this broader literary heritage helps to overcome the cultural and chronological gap between ourselves and ancient readers by revealing, as much as possible, the assumptions and precedents which lay behind the use of poetry and particularly psalms in narrative texts. The goal here is not so much to trace patterns of literary influence and derivation as to describe the literary culture from which the uses of psalms in narrative contexts arose. Cuneiform Literature Sumerian and Akkadian narrative documents often contain hymns, usually at the beginning or end of the larger piece. Though most songs and many epics begin in media res without any prologue, hymnic prologues do appear in a wide variety of Sumerian literary works.1 The Ninurta myth Lugal-E, for example opens with a hymn of praise to Ninurta, the opening lines of which are O (warrior-)king! (Thunderstorm, whose fulgur compels compliance, Ninurta, leader, possessing august strength, raiding the highland by himself alone. Floodstorm, restless serpent swaying (to strike) at the rebel country.
1. C. Wilcke, 'Formale Gesichtspunkte in der Sumerischen Literatur', in SJ. Lieberman (ed.), Sumerological Studies in Honor of Thorkild Jacobsen (AS, 20; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), pp. 243-44. 2. Translation by T. Jacobsen, The Harps That Once. . . (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987), p. 235.
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The transition from hymn to main text is sometimes so smooth as to be invisible, but in most cases it is clearly marked.1 Akkadian epics developed the hymnic prologue along several standard patterns. C. Wilcke cited the beginning of the Agusaia Hymn, which he labeled an 'epic poem',2 as the best example of such a prologue: I will praise the colossus, the most warlike of the gods, the first-born of Ningal— I will extol your strength, your name! Ishtar, the colossus, the most warlike of the gods, the first-born of Ningal— 3 I will declare your strength once again!
The 'I will sing' or 'I will praise' formula is found in a number of other hymnic prologues to Akkadian epics, but it is relatively rare in freestanding Akkadian hymns. It appears most frequently in long personal laments.4 The beginning of the Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh Epic has not survived, but its colophon indicates that it began with the hymnic celebration of Gilgamesh in the narrator's voice, which in the later version appears after another, non-hymnic prologue. The hymn begins as follows: [Surpassing the rulers, renowned, possessing stature, [The he]ro, offspring of Uruk, the butting bull, He goes in front as a leader, He also marches at the rear as the one in whom his brothers trust. The mighty [tr]ap, protector of his troops, 6 The furious [fl]ood-wave, who destroys (even) stone walls. . .
The Standard Babylonian version of Anzu begins with a fourteen-line hymn to the god Ninurta, which serves to characterize the whole myth. The hymnic intention is made explicit in the first four lines:
1. Wilcke, 'Formale Gesichtspunkte', pp. 243-44. 2. There is some debate over the genre of the entire piece. Some scholars consider it entirely a hymn, while Wilcke argued for its character as an 'epic poem' ('Die Anfange der akkadischen Epen', ZA 67 [1977], pp. 182-85). 3. Following the German translation of Wilcke, 'Die Anfange', p. 181. 4. Wilcke, 'Die Anfange', pp. 178, 186. 5. Wilcke, 'Die Anfange', p. 211; J.H. Tigay, The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982), pp. 140-60. The hymn is in lines i,27-ii,6 of the standard (late) version. The Old Babylonian colophon cites the hymn's first line as the first line of the epic, so at least part and perhaps all of the present hymn began the work (Tigay, Evolution, pp. 48, 150). 6. Tigay, Evolution, p. 141.
208
Psalm and Story Of the son of dwellings' kin, famed (and) Mami's dear, Of the Mighty One will I sing and sing—of Enlil's godly child. Of Ninurta, famed (and) Mami's dear, Of the Mighty One will I chant all praise—of Enlil's godly child.1
The Erra Epic and the epic text CT 15.3-4 also have hymnic prologues.2 The hymnic prologues to Gilgamesh and Anzu both stand in some tension with the text which they introduce. J. Tigay, W.W. Hallo and W.L. Moran noted that the hymns allude to incidents not recounted in the narratives, and that they place the thematic emphasis at different points.3 Hallo and Moran accounted for these tensions by suggesting that, in both cases, the hymns have undergone secondary expansion.4 Tigay accepted this solution in the case of Anzu, but suggested that the Gilgamesh hymn 'was originally composed independently of the epic and was secondarily joined to it in the Old Babylonian period as an introduction'.5 The use of hymns in epic prologues was first adopted from Sumero-Babylonian literature into Middle Assyrian texts in the Tukulti-Ninurta epic, according to P. Machinist.6 The Standard Babylonian usage, however, was modified. The epic opens with a characterization of the villain (the Kassite Babylonian king), and only then describes the hero, the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 BCE). Part of this latter description consists of a royal hymn in the third person celebrating Tukulti-Ninurta's prowess and divine birth.7 It is structured internally in a chiastic pattern with a scribal dividing line marking the mid-point.8 Doxologies are very common both in narrative and hymnic Sumerian literature. They consist of a proper name and the word 'praise', and may appear in the first, second, or third person.9 A typical example is at the end of Inanna's Descent: 'O holy Ereshkigala, Praise of you is sweet'.10 Clearly distinguishable epilogues are less common, since doxologies often collect hymnic features to the point that the
1. W.W. Hallo and W.L. Moran, The First Tablet of the SB Recension of the Anzu Myth', JCS 31 (1979), pp. 65-115. 2. Wilcke, 'Die Anfange', pp. 179, 199. 3. However, Wilcke made the opposite observation regarding the Anzu Epic:' Wir beobachten aber, dass sich der Hymnus auf die im Epos erzahlte Geschichte bezieht' ('Die Anfange', p. 177). 4. Hallo and Moran, 'First Tablet', p. 75 and n. 37. 5. Tigay, Evolution, p. 158. 6. P.B. Machinist, 'The Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I: A Study of Middle Assyrian Literature' (PhD dissertation, Yale University, 1978), p. 514. 7. Machinist, The Epic of Tukulti-Nunurta I', p. 39. The hymn occupies lines IA/F, 10-27 in Machinist's transliteration and translation. 8. Machinist, The Epic of Tukulti-Nunurta I', p. 176. 9. Wilcke, 'Formale Gesichtspunkte', p. 246. 10. Jacobsen, Harps, p. 232; cf. pp. 166, 204, 232, 272. Wilcke warned that these doxologies, which belong to the text proper, should not be confused with the scribal doxology, 'Nisaba be praised', which addresses the goddess of the scribal art ('Formale Gesichtspunkte', p. 248). M. Fishbane compared such colophons with the benedictions that conclude sections of the Psalter (Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985], pp. 28-29).
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epilogue becomes absorbed by them.1 An unusually extended example is at the end ofEnlilandNinlil: Thou art Lord! Thou are master! Enlil, thou are lord! Thou art master! Nunamnir, thou art lord! Thou art master! A lord carrying great weight, lord of the storehouse, art thou! The lord making the barley sprout forth, the lord making the vines sprout forth, art thou! Lord of heaven, lord making yields be, and lord of the earth, art thou! Lord of the earth, lord making yields be, and lord of heaven art thou! Enlil being lord, Enlil being master, and inasmuch as a lord's word is a thing unalterable, his sagacious word cannot be changed! Give praise unto Mother Ninlil! 2 Father Enlil, praise!
The use of hymnic elements to conclude a Mesopotamian text is not limited to mythic and epic literature. Building inscriptions could also end with a long sequence of praises both from gods and to gods, as in the Sumerian Gudea cylinders.3 Babylonian commemorative inscriptions might conclude with a prayer. Assyrian Annalistic and Display Texts often conclude with blessings and/or short prayers.5 The appearance of hymns or prayers in the middle of a narrative is far less common than their occurrence at the beginning or the end. Nevertheless, notice should be taken of laments set within a narrative context, such as that of Marduk over Babylon in the Erra epic: Ah Babylon whose top I had made as luxuriant as that of a palm tree, but which the win[d] has scorched! Ah Babylon that I had replenished with seed like a pine cone, but whose fullness I could not sate myself! Ah Babylon that I had tended like a thriving orchard, but whose fruit I could not taste! Ah Babylon that like a seal ofelmesu (-amber) I had hung on Anum's neck! Ah Ba]bylon that I had held in my hands like the Tablet of Destinies, handing her over to 6 nobody else!
The lament is placed in the mouth of one of the epic's characters, unlike hymnic prologues and epilogues, which are in the narrator's voice.7 1. Wilcke, 'Formale Gesichtspunkte', p. 246. 2. Jacobsen, Harps, pp. 179-80; cf. pp. 319, 344, 355, 374. 3. Jacobsen, Harps, pp. 441-44. 4. A.K. Grayson, 'Histories and Historians of the Ancient Near East: Assyria and Babylonia', Or 49 (1980), pp. 160-61. 5. Grayson, 'Histories and Historians', pp. 151-54. 6. Tablet IV, 11. 40-44; translated by L. Cagni,The Poem of Erra (SANE 1.3; Malibu, CA: Undena, 1977), p. 50. Cf. Gilgamesh's lament over Enkidu (ANET, pp. 87-88). 7. The Sumerian Exaltation oflnanna, containing a mix of hymnic and narrative material, can as a whole be labelled a hymn of praise, but it reaches its narrative climax in the composition and recitation of a particular liturgy to Inanna (W.W. Hallo, The Exaltation oflnanna [New Haven: Yale
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Psalm and Story
The corpus of extant Ugaritic texts is much smaller than the Sumerian or Akkadian collections, and the beginnings of the three major mythic and epic compositions (the Ba'al cycle, Keret and Aqhat) are either fragmentary or missing. It is therefore hard to determine whether the paucity of Ugaritic hymns in narrative contexts was characteristic of ancient Ugaritic literature, or whether they have simply not survived. Aqhat does contain a short lament placed in the mouth of the goddess Anat.1 Two of the smaller mythic texts contain more extensive hymnic sections. Nikkal begins and ends with hymns introduced by 'aSr 'I sing'. Between the hymns is a short narrative section which concludes with d'aSr 'of whom I sing'.2 Shachar and Shalim begins with a hymn and contains another, both beginning 'iqr'a 'I call'.3 However, the generic nature and the purposes of these texts, especially Shachar and Shalim, are not clear. All of the cuneiform texts preserve the same mode of writing in initial hymns, medial laments or final prayers/hymns as in the rest of the text. That is, if the text is poetic, as in the myths and epics, then so is the hymn or prayer; if it is prose, it concludes with a prose prayer.4 Egyptian Literature
One must look to ancient Egyptian literature to find texts which mix prose and poetry together. In Egyptian texts, as in Biblical Hebrew, it is not always easy to distinguish between them. The poetic nature of texts is suggested when line divisions are marked, but many texts have no explicit markers. In these cases, the issue must be decided on the basis of content alone. The best indication of the presence of poetry is the repetition of lines or half-lines. Parallelism is another characteristic of Egyptian poetry. G. Fecht argued for metrical structures behind a wide variety of Egyptian texts.5 J. Foster suggested instead that 'thought couplets' are the basic structure of Egyptian verse, and appear in many texts usually considered prose.6 M. Lichtheim University Press, 1968], pp. 31-33,60-61). In this example, the liturgy plays a key role in the plot of the larger work. 1. KTU 1.18 IV 39-60; translated by J.C.L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1978), p. 113. 2. KTU 1.25 1, 38, 40. 3. KTU 1.23 1, 23. Wilcke drew atlention to both texts as parallels to the use of the 'I will praise' formula in Akkadian hymnic prologues ('Die Anfangc', p. 186). 4. In Sumerian and Akkadian texts, the lines of text usually correspond to the lines of poetry, which makes it relatively easy to distinguish poetry from prose, since in the latter no attention is given to where lines end (with the obvious exceptions of lists; see Wilcke, 'Formale Gesichtspunkte', p. 231). This scribal convention was not observed at Ugarit, with the result that the distinction between prose and poetry must be made on the basis of internal criteria such as the presence of parallelism. 5. G. Fecht, 'Die Wiedergewinnung der altagyptischen Verskunst', Mitteilungen des deutschen archaologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 19 (1963), pp. 54-96. 6. Foster defined thought couplets as composed of end-stopped lines with cadences of irregular length and a major pause at the end of the second line (J.L. Foster, Thought Couplets in Khety's
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distinguished three styles in Egyptian literature: prose, poetry and an intermediate 'orational' style between the other two. She described both poetry and oration as marked by parallelism of members, which may make them hard to distinguish. Poetry, however, was for her also characterized by heightened feelings and the use of repeated lines and rhythmic units of meaning.l There is no denying that many ancient Egyptian texts use both prose and poetry. The ambiguities involved in distinguishing them on the basis of content, however, often lead to differences among translations of the same texts in terms of what and how much is rendered in verse. In the Old and Middle Kingdoms (late third to early second millenium BCE), mortuary autobiographies and prose tales interspersed poems and songs (hymns) in the prose narration.2 Thus a tomb inscription of a high official named Uni suddenly switches from its predominantly prose account into poetry marked by the repeated line, 'the army returned in safety', then returns to prose, all in the first person voice of the dead official.3 The Story ofSinuhe incorporates three poems in three different styles into the first person narration.4 One of them plays a structurally important role as a bridge between the narration of Sinuhe's success abroad and his homesick desires to die in Egypt: A fugitive fled his surroundings— I am famed at home. A laggard lagged from hunger— I give bread to my neighbor. A man left his land in nakedness— I have bright clothes, fine linen. A man ran for lack of one to send— I am rich in servants My house is fine, my dwelling spacious— My thoughts are at the palace!5
"Hymn to the Inundation"', JNES 34 [1975], p. 9). He argued that Lichtheim's 'differences between basic forms of writing (poetry, oration, prose) are simply differences in genre, all of which are verse (lyric/hymnic, wisdom/didactic, and narrative)' (idem, 'Sinuhe: The Ancient Egyptian Genre of Narrative Verse', JNES 39 [1980], p. 98, Foster's italics). He limited the category of 'literary' prose to commemorative texts, such as stelae, royal inscriptions and tomb autobiographies (ibid., p. 110). For a summary and evaluation of the debate, see G. Burkard ('Der formale Aufbau altagyptischer Literaturwerke: Zur Problematik der Erschliessung seiner Grundstrukturen', Studien zur altdgyptischen Kultur 10 [1983], pp. 79-118). This argument is quite reminiscent of the similar debate waged among Hebraists over metrical or parallelistic structures underlying Hebrew prose texts. 1. M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings (3 vols.; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973, 1976, 1980), I, p. 11. 2. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, pp. 9, 11. 3. ANET, pp. 227-28; Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, p. 20. 4. Foster argued that the whole story is in fact narrative verse, though he nevertheless distinguished poems within the narrative on the basis of genre and intensity of language ('Sinuhe', p. 102). Line divisions are marked throughout in some manuscripts of Sinuhe, but not in others (p. 93). 5. Translation by Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, p. 228.
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Psalm and Story
Similarly, a wisdom text, 'A Dispute Over Suicide', breaks its mostly prose style when one of the responses takes the form of a lengthy poem distinguished by repeated lines.1 Some prose texts of the New Kingdom period (second half of the second millennium BCE) make a switch to poetry, or at least orational style, at the end. The tale of Horus and Seth ends with a celebratory speech by Isis, in the style of a royal hymn.2 Then Pre rejoiced greatly and said to the Ennead: 'Jubilate throughout the land, jubilate throughout the land for Horus, son of Isis!' And Isis said: 'Horus has risen as ruler, life, prosperity, health! The Ennead is in feast, heaven in joy! They take garlands seeing Horus, son of Isis Risen as great Ruler of Egypt The hearts of the Ennead exult, The entire land rejoices As they see Horus, son of Isis Given the office of his father, T Osiris, lord of Busiris.'
The effect of this concluding hymn, according to J. Spiegel, was to actualize the story for the lives of its hearers.4 In another prose text of a quite different genre, the Papyrus Lansing 'schoolbook', the last section consists of a metrically structured encomium of a teacher, each line of which begins mntk 'you are'.5 During the New Kingdom, the stylistic variety exemplified by royal monumental inscriptions increased, including some new uses of poetry. In an inscription of Thutmose III, the god Amon-Re addresses the king first in prose, then switches to a poetic recital of his deeds on the king's behalf, but concludes in prose.6 Amen-hotep Ill's building inscription is split between the king's prose account of his construction projects for Amon-Re, and the god's poetic response.7 In Ramses IPs memorial inscription of a battle at Kadesh, the prose narrative gives way to an extended poetic account of the battle in the first person voice of the king. Lichtheim argued that a new genre entered Egyptian literature at this point: The Kadesh Battle Inscriptions of Ramses II break new ground in literary form; for the long section of the inscriptions known as the Poem is a narrative poem, an epic, and
1. ANET, pp. 405-407; Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, I, pp. 163-69. 2. For comments on the hymn's style and poetic structure, see J. Spiegel, Die Erzahlung vom Streite des Horus und Seth (Leipziger Agyptologische Studien, 9; Gluckstadt: J.J. Augustin, 1937), p. 105. 3. Translation by Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, pp. 222-23. 4. Spiegel, Die Erzahlung vom Streite, p. 105. In a footnote, he compared it to the modem custom of singing the national anthem at the conclusion of a performance or celebration. 5. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, pp. 173-75 and n. 10. 6. ANET, pp. 373-75. Lichtheim considered the initial and final addresses to be in the orational style, rather than in prose (Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, p. 35). 7. ANET, pp. 375-76.
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the first of its kind in Egypt Heretofore poetry had served to celebrate and to instruct; it had not aimed at narration. The Poetical Stela ofMerneptah is a second example of this new form of poetry.1
The inscriptions of Ramses II and Merneptah are both matched in Egypt by more straightforward prose inscriptions of the same events.2 Like Mesopotamian epics, Egyptian royal inscriptions often include encomiums to or by the king in elevated (orational) language. They appear immediately after the opening titulary and before the prose narrative begins. Lichtheim described the encomium of the Great Sphinx stela of Amen-hotep II as consisting 'of ornate phrases that have become stereotypes. In the New Kingdom, such introductions became ever more elaborate'.3 They continued in use throughout the first millennium as well.4 Literary innovation did not die out after the end of the New Kingdom period. The Victory Stela of King Piye (or Pi or Piankhy; c. 734 BCE) was celebrated by Lichtheim and others as one of the most realistic royal narratives in Egyptian literature: 'The direct factual style of the inscription makes it a historical document of the first order'.5 Lichtheim translated a number of sections of direct speech (but not all of it) in verse, that is, as poetry or orational style. Two of these speeches are explicitly described in the text as songs and are placed in the mouths of a crowd. The shorter song appears at the point of the king's entrance into a defeated city: And the troops of Hare nome shouted and sang, saying: 'How good is Horus at peace in his town The Son of Re, Piye\ You make for us a jubilee, As you protect the Hare nome!'
1. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, p. 6. She noted that there is considerable dispute over whether the 'Poem' portion of the Kadesh Battle Inscription is in fact poetic or simply another prose narrative account, which 'illustrates how tentative, uncertain, and incomplete is our grasp of ancient Egyptian styles and literary forms' (II, p. 58). The variety of versification employed in translations of the Merneptah Stela suggests that a similar difficulty is encountered there (cf. ANET, pp. 376-78; Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, pp. 73-78; and the partial translation of R.J. Williams in D.W. Thomas (ed.), Documents from Old Testament Times [New York: Harper & Row, 1958], pp. 137-41). 2. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, pp. 57, 73. 3. Ancient Egyptian Literature, p. 39. 4. For example, encomiums appear in the same relative position on the Piye Stela (25th Dynasty), the Naucratis stela of Nectanebo I (30th Dynasty), and the Bentresh Stela (Persian or Ptolomaic periods). See Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, pp. 38, 87-88, 91. 5. Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, p. 67. 6. It must be noted that the nature of the first as a song is less clear from the translation of J.H. Breasted (Ancient Records of Egypt [5 vols.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1906], IV, pp.429, 444) than from Lichtheim's, but N.-C. Grimal's translation chant d'allegresse, also identifies it as a song (La stele triomphale de Pi['ankh]y au Musee du Caire [Cairo: Institut francais d'archeologie orientale, 1978], p. 71; see also p. 180). That the concluding section is a song is undoubted. 7. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, pp. 72-73.
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Psalm and Story
The longer song appears at the very end of the inscription, after a description of Piye's victorious return home: His majesty sailed south, his heart joyful, and all those near him shouting. West and East took up the announcement, shouting around his majesty. This was their song of jubilation: 'O mighty ruler, O mighty ruler. Piye, mighty ruler! You return having taken Lower Egypt, You made bulls into women! Joyful is the mother who bore you, The man who begot you! The valley dwellers worship her, The cow that bore the bull! You are eternal, Your might abides, i.l O ruler loved of Thebes!'
These hymns are similar to free-standing Egyptian hymns, and the second is reproduced virtually word-for-word in another inscription.2 The ancient Near Eastern evidence thus falls into two groups. The cuneiform texts use hymnic material as structural (primarily concluding) elements in both prose and poetic compositions, but the texts do not mix the modes of presentation. The Egyptian texts do mix the modes, and while some texts use poetry to achieve fairly standard structural purposes, others show a considerable inventiveness in its placement and use. It is ancient Egyptian, more than Semitic, literature which provides a number of partial parallels and one very close parallel (the Piye Stela) to the Hebrew usage. Psalms in narrative contexts continued to appear not only in postbiblical Jewish and early Christian works, but also in early Arabic literature. In the Aiyam al-'Arab, stories which relate mostly pre-Islamic times, events are frequently recounted both in prose and poetry. The inserted poems are usually either fakhr 'praise' or marthfyah 'lament', and there is evidence that in many cases the prose narrative was created to explain the poem.3 I. Lichtenstadter specifically referred to the Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts as precursers to the widespread use of poems in early Arabic narratives.4 Because of their dependence on the Hebrew (and perhaps Egyptian?) antecedents, these Arabic examples cannot shed light on the origins of the practice of inserting poems in prose narrative, but they do provide many additional examples of the literary technique.
1. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, p. 80. 2. Grimal, La stele, p. 170 n. 536. He noted that 'les chants jubilaires en particulier. . . utilizent les proc6d6s courants des hymnes religieux et royaux' (p. 265). 3. I. Lichtenstadter, 'History in Poetic Garb in Ancient Arabic Literature', Harvard Ukrainian Studies 3-4 (1979-80), pp. 562-63. 4. Lichtenstadter, 'History', pp. 563-64.
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Greek and Icelandic Literature Greek mythic and epic literature converted the hymnic prologue typical of the Sumero-Akkadian texts into an invocation of the gods for inspiration. Hesiod's Theogony, for example, contains in its introduction an extended hymn to the Muses.1 Here, as in the cuneiform texts, the hymn is set in the same poetic style as the rest of the piece. The setting of Greek poetic verse within a prose narrative is first found in the History of Herodotus, who often depends on poems as sources for his account. He frequently cites Homer and other poets, and quotes oracles in verse, often specifying beforehand the meter.2 We thus find in early Greek literature a dichotomy in the use of poetry. Hymnic elements are used as structural devices in epic and mythic material, but without breaking from the poetic mode of the text as a whole. In historiographic prose narrative, poetry may appear as source material, but it does not play a structural role. Medieval Icelandic literature is much more distant in time and space from the Hebrew Bible. It must nevertheless be taken into account in searching for parallels to psalms in narrative contexts because of its frequently noted similarity to Hebrew narrative, especially the tendency of some Icelandic texts to quote poetic verses in the middle of ongoing narrative. This is true mostly of those sagas whose protagonists are court poets (skalds). In the composition of these texts, the poetry may have served as the original germ around which the saga was developed.3 The resulting mix of prose and poetry has led scholars in Icelandic literature to postulate theories of composition similar to those common in Biblical scholarship.4 The credit for the increasing use of verses in Icelandic sagas can be laid, at least in part, at the feet of a single author, Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 CE). He composed two works which encouraged a revival of interest in the old skaldic poetry. The first was the Prose Edda, part of which is an instruction manual for poets. It quotes many skaldic verses as examples of various poetic techniques, and in the process 'retells
1. Theog. 37-115; R. Lamberton, Hesiod (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988), p. 55. Wilcke cited this as a further example of the 'I will praise' formula familiar from Akkadian and Ugaritic inset hymns ('Die Anfange', p. 186). 2. E.g. Herodotus 1.47, 1.62, etc. On his use of poetic sources, see W.W. How and J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928), pp. 22, 27. 3. G. Turville-Petre, The Origins of Icelandic Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953), p. 236. 4. P. Foote listed the options: 'There are three main hypotheses that may be held about the origin of verse such as that found in the saga of Gisli. It may be the work of Gisli in the tenth century as it purports to be. It may be the work of the author of the saga we now have. It may also be the creation of a man who lived some time between Gisli's death and the time when the saga was written. In this case we should be obliged to presume that a story about Gisli's life and death accompanied the verse. The verse in the present text does not make a story on its own, and it could hardly have existed independently. All these opinions about the verse in the saga of Gisli have in fact been held by earlier critics' ('An Essay on the Saga of Gisli', in The Saga of Gisli (trans. G. Johnston; London: J.M. Dent, 1963], pp. 113-14).
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Psalm and Story
the stories, whether from myth or legend, upon which they were based'.1 The second was a historical work, the Heimskringla, in which Snorri regularly quoted skaldic verses as sources for his narrative. 'Snorri's work must, therefore, have stimulated interest in and knowledge of the tremendous number of lausavisur, i.e., individual occasional verses connected with a definite situation or episode'.3 Icelandic literature therefore provides further examples in which poetry may have served as the source material for the prose narrative in which it is now found. The verses, however, are predominantly secular rather than hymnic, and the poetry does not play the same structural role in Icelandic sagas that it does in Mesopotamian literature. It is also possible that Icelandic literature was influenced by the Hebrew Bible, since Iceland had been nominally Christian for two centuries prior to the work of Snorri Sturluson and the composition of most of the sagas. Previous Research on Parallels Evidence from Near Eastern and classical literatures has not been used widely in the interpretation of Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts, but neither has it passed completely unnoticed. W.W. Hallo reconstructed the history of letter-prayers from their origins in Sumerian literature to their continued use by the Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib, and suggested that Hezekiah's Psalm (Isa. 38.9-20) stands in the same tradition.4 Hallo found a structural correspondence between Sumerian letter-prayers and Hebrew psalms of the individual. In Hezekiah's Psalm in particular, he argued that the superscription (38.9) indicates that the psalm was a letter or at least an
1. Turville-Petre, Origins, p. 227; see also P. Hallberg, The Icelandic Saga (trans. P. Schach; Lincoln, ME: University of Nebraska, 1962), p. 44. 2. Turville-Petre, Origins, p. 227. Snorri had a high view of poems as historical sources: 'Now when Harald Fairhair was king of Norway, Iceland was settled. At the court of King Harald there were skalds, and men still remember their poems and the poems about all the kings who have since his time ruled in Norway; and we gathered most of our information from what we are told in those poems which were recited before the chieftains themselves or their sons. We regard all that to be true which is found in those poems about their expeditions and battles. It is [to be sure] the habit of poets to give highest praise to those princes in whose presence they are; but no one would have dared to tell them to their faces about deeds which all who listened, as well as the prince himself, knew were only falsehoods and fabrications. That would have been mockery, still not praise. . . As to the poems, I consider they will yield the best information if they are correctly composed and judiciously interpreted' (S. Sturluson, Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway [trans. L.M. Hollander; Austin, TX: University of Texas, 1964], pp. 4-5). 3. Hallberg, Icelandic Saga, p. 44. 4. W.W. Hallo, The Royal Correspondence of Larsa: I. A Sumerian Prototype for the Prayer of Hezekiah?', in B.L. Eichler, et al. (eds.), Kramer Anniversary Volume (AOAT, 25; Kevalaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1976), pp. 209-24; idem, 'Letters, Prayers and Letter-Prayers', in Y. Gutman (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh World Congress of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem: Perry Foundation, 1981), pp. 17-27; idem, 'The Expansion of Cuneiform Literature', PAAJR 46-47 (1979-80), esp. pp. 316-17. 5. Hallo, 'Royal Correspondence', p. 213.
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inscription.1 Hallo's research thus cast light on the relationship between the psalm and its prose introduction. Since, however, the Sumerian and Akkadian letter-prayers are free-standing texts, they do not illuminate the position and role of Hezekiah's Psalm within its larger narrative context. Comparisons have more frequently been made between late second millennium Assyrian and Egyptian texts on the one hand, and the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15.118) and the Song of Deborah (Judg. 5.2-31) on the other.2 W.F. Albright argued that Exodus 15 'belongs to a wider category of triumphal songs (or hymns) which includes the long poems celebrating the "victory" of Ramesses II at Kadesh, the triumph of Marniptah over the Libyans, and the victory of Tukulti-Ninurta I over the Cossaeans of Babylonia—all from the same century BC'.3 P.C. Craigie compared the themes and contents of Judges 5 with the Tukulti-Ninurta Epic.4 After noting a number of similarities between the two texts, he concluded that 'in both bodies of literature, the victory poem was a recognizable genre, probably with an early origin'.5 Craigie compared the Assyrian epic as a whole with the Hebrew psalm in isolation; he did not compare the role of the psalm in the larger narrative of Judges 4-5 with that of the hymn at the beginning of the epic. In similar fashion, K.A. Kitchen used inscriptions from the Egyptian New Kingdom as well as the Tukulti-Ninurta Epic to support his identification of the genre and date of Exodus 15: This is a triumph-hymn, the Hebrew counterpart of the Egyptian triumph-hymns of Tuthmosis III, Amenophis III, Ramesses II and Merneptah, or even that of TukultiNinurta I of Assyria; its archaic character has been partly brought out by F.M. Cross and D.N. Freedman. . . 6
Kitchen also did not make anything of the parallel settings of hymnic poetry in narrative prose. N. Sarna, however, did argue that the usage is closely parallel and thus supports the antiquity of Exodus 15 in its setting. This genre of literature, the combination of prose narration with a laudatory hymn extolling the victory... is the Hebrew counterpart of a literary phenomenon that appears in Egypt in the period of the New Kingdom. It first emerges in mature form in the Kadesh Battle inscriptions of Ramses II, who is the most likely candidate for the pharaoh of the oppression, and it is again featured in the Stele of Merneptah, the socalled Israel Stele.7 1. Hallo, 'Royal Correspondence', p. 209. 2. E.g. J.M. Myers, 'Judges', IB, II, pp. 717-18. 3. W.F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968), p. 33. 4. P.C. Craigie, 'The Song of Deborah and the Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta', JBL 88 (1969), pp. 253-65. 5. Craigie, 'The Song of Deborah', p. 265. 6. K.A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1975), p. 133 n. 89. 7. N.M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Heritage of Biblical Israel (New York: Schocken Books, 1986), p. 114, citing Kitchen and Lichtheim for support. He argued that the difference
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The use of victory hymns in narrative inscriptions is, however, not limited to the New Kingdom period. It is rather the use of narrative poetry that distinguishes the inscriptions of Ramses II and Merneptah from other Egyptian texts, as Lichtheim made clear. The combination, in historical inscriptions, of prose narratives with poems extolling the royal victories is of course not new. What is new is that the poem should be more than a brief song of triumph that sums up the narration and should itself be narrative.1
It would be overstating the case to describe either Exodus 15 or Judges 5 as 'an epic'. They do share some features with the Egyptian new Kingdom inscriptions: they are victory hymns set in prose contexts, and they contain some poetic narration. These are the characteristics which scholars have customarily seized upon to show the nature of the psalms' genres. However, the texts also differ in fundamental respects: first, unlike the more realistic prose of the Hebrew Bible, the prose portions of the Egyptian texts are themselves highly laudatory, differing from the poetry only in style of presentation, not content; second, the Egyptian narrator's voice is responsible for both prose and poetry,2 unlike Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts which are invariably set in one or more characters' mouths. Significance for Hebrew Psalms in Narrative Contexts This brief review of ancient parallels to Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts has revealed similarities at a number of levels. In terms of the psalms' contents, the Hebrew Bible, like Egyptian and Akkadian royal inscriptions, places victory hymns into battle narratives.3 The use of an 'I will sing/praise/tell' formula is especially characteristic of Hebrew as well as Akkadian (and perhaps Ugaritic) hymns in narrative contexts. Three of the nine Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts use a variation of the formula at or near their beginning.4 Of the 150 psalms in the Psalter, only six have the formula in initial or near-initial positions.5 Many Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts are additions to the narrative; evidence of similar hymnic additions have been found in the prologues of the Gilgamesh and Anzu epics. In some cases, the Hebrew poetry served as the germ from which the between the Hebrew and Egyptian texts lies in the addressees of the hymns— God or the king. 1. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, p. 59. 2. In Lichtheim's translation, Ramses IFs Kadesh Battle Inscription begins in third person prose narration, switches to poetry, then back to prose. It then switches to poetry a second time and also changes to first person narration, which continues through the final prose section (Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, II, pp. 62-72). The Merneptah inscriptions is in the third person throughout. 3. Cf. Exod. 15; Judg. 5; JdL 16. 4. Exod. 15.1 mtto 'I will sing'; Deut. 32.1 main 'I will speak' (cf. v. 3, 'I will call [mpR] the name of Yahweh'); Judg. 5.3 Torn rrnzto 'I will sing, I will praise'. 5. n-ntfn in Ps. 89.2; Tom in Pss. 9.3, 101.1, 138.1, and 146.2; rrvtfn and nom in 108.2. The phrases appear more frequently in the middle or at the end of psalms, usually as part of a vow of praise.
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prose narrative evolved;1 analogous developments can be traced in Greek, Arabic and Icelandic historiographical literature. The tendency for Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts to occur at the end of a narrative section, serving both as climax and recapitulation of the account,2 is amply paralleled by the use of hymnic epilogues/doxologies in Sumerian and Akkadian texts of all types, as well as in some Egyptian texts. However, the corresponding use of opening hymns and encomiums in cuneiform and hieroglyphic literature does not have any clear parallels in Hebrew narrative.3 One ancient texts stands out from all the other parallels mentioned here in the degree to which it resembles Hebrew usage. The Piye Stela shares the following features with Hebrew narratives containing psalms in narrative contexts: first, the celebratory songs are placed in characters' mouths; secondly, the third person narrator is restricted to realistic prose descriptions of events; thirdly, a song is placed at the end of the account as a thematic climax and summary; fourthly, like some of the Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts, the Egyptian songs are victory hymns to the conqueror. It seems, therefore, that the closest parallel in ancient Near Eastern literature to the Hebrew use of psalms in narrative contexts is to be found in this eighthcentury BCE Egyptian (Nubian) inscription.4 The similarities of these texts to Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts are in no case close enough for there to be any question of direct literary dependence. Nevertheless, the links between the Hebrew psalms and hymns embedded in other ancient Near Eastern texts, especially the Piye Stela from c. 734 BCE, do suggest that the Hebrew usage developed out of a literary culture containing elements of both Mesopotamian and Egyptian provenance which flourished in the second half of the second and the first half of the first millennium BCE, a conclusion which should come as no surprise to any student of the Hebrew Bible.5 One further observation can be made regarding the above discussion. Two of the
1. E.g. Judg. 5 and perhaps Exod. IS. 2. Exod. 15; DeuL 32; Judg. 5; 2 Sam. 22; Jdt. 16; Tob. 13. 3. Of the nine psalms in narrative contexts, only 1 Sam. 2.1-10 appears near the beginning of a larger narrative sequence (in this case, the whole book of Samuel). Even it, however, concludes the smaller initial unit comprising the Samuel birth-narrative. 4. The fact that realistic narrative appears together with the psalms in narrative contexts both in the Piye Stela and in Hebrew narrative literature suggests the possibility of a causal connection between the two phenomena. That is, a comparison of Egyptian texts shows that a mix of narratorial voices is often accompanied by a mix of styles, moving freely between prose and poetry, description and praise. The development of a more realistic style of third person narration in the Piye Stela required the placement of explicit praise in the mouths of characters, rather than being directly expressed by the narrator as is more usual in Egyptian royal inscriptions. On the basis of this parallel, a similar development could be postulated for Hebrew literature, but Hebrew evidence for the earlier stage is lacking. 5. For an extensive description of the development of ancient Near Eastern literary genres (including discussions of many of the texts mentioned above) and their impact on Israelite historiography, see J. Van Seters, In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983).
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psalms in narrative contexts, the Song of the Sea and Deborah's Song, seem to have more frequent and closer connections with other literatures than do the rest. Since at least one of these psalms (Judges 5) sits in some of the older narrative strata of the Hebrew Bible and both psalms use archaic poetic style, they may in fact embody an early stage in the Hebrew use of psalms in narrative contexts, one closer to the common literary heritage of the ancient Near East. Some of the other psalms in narrative contexts may show the influence of a subsequent inner-Hebrew development of this literary device. In that case, the beginnings of a history of Hebrew psalms in narrative contexts are perhaps indicated by the above comparisons.
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INDEXES INDEX OF REFERENCES OLD TESTAMENT Genesis 4.23-24 6.6 15.14 24.27 27.4 27.7 27.10 27.12 27.27-29 27.30-40 27.39-40 27.41-44 27.42 29.35 31.49-52 39-40 49 49.1-27 49.1 Exodus 1-15 1-14 1.1-15.21 1.15-2.10 1.17 1.21 2.4 2.7-8 3 3.13-15 3.17
172 70 70 15 173 173 173 173 173 173 172, 173 173 70 15 66 173 171,173 70 171
48,49,51, 61 50,58, 60, 61 48,55,191 49 49 49 54 54 49 48 48,50
4.1 4.10 5.2 6 6.6-8 6.6 7.1 7.5 7.17 9.20 9.30 13 13.3-4 13.5 13.17-14.31 13.18 14-15 14 14.1-4 14.2 14.3-21 14.4 14.7 14.8 14.9 14.13-18 14.13 14.14 14.15-18 14.16 14.17 14.18 14.21 14.22
139 139 48 49 48 48,50 54 48 48 49 49 49 48 50 58 41,46 54,56,59 43,47,5560 45 41 41 41,45,48 45 45,46 45 41 46 46 46 46 45 45,48 45 41
14.23-25 14.23 14.24 14.25 14.26-29 14.26 14.27 14.28-29 14.28 14.30-31 14.31-15.21 14.31 15
15.1-21 15.1-18
15.1-11 15.1-10 15.1-2 15.1
41 43,45 41 41,45,46, 48 42 45,46 46 43,44 45,46 42,46 52 49,52 17,25,28, 29, 39, 53, 56,59,60, 77,96,97, 117,139, 143, 167, 171, 176, 177, 181, 187, 188, 190-92,19496,201, 204,217-19 16,41-62, 72,104 42,47-49, 51-53,57, 73,217 48 42,58 15 25,42,4447,51,53,
Index of References
15.22 17.15-16 18.10 19.4 23.23 23.28 24.3-8
54, 57, 106, 118 46,48 46,48,54 47 4547 46 47 45 45,46,51 45,47 58 42 48,49,51 42 46,48,50 48,51,94 50 50 94 48,50,51 50 42,44,46 43-46,57, 58 42-43,49, 51,52,54, 57 54,58 15,42,4548, 51, 53, 58 46,49 54 15 73 50 50 54
Numbers 10 10.35-36 10.36 12 16.30-34 21.14-15 21.17-18
174 174 174 55 50 174 54, 174, 175
15.2 15.3 15.4-5 15.4 15.5 15.8-10 15.8 15.9 15.10 15.11-18 15.11 15.12-18 15.12-17 15.12 15.13 15.14-16 15.14-15 15.16-17 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 15.20-21
15.20 15.21
21.21-26 21.27-30 21.31 21.32-35 22-24 23-24 22 24.25 25 26 27.12-14 33.51
174 174 174 174 173 189 173 173 173 173 79 50
Deuteronomy 1-32 75 1-30 78 1.6-4.40 75 2.4 50 2.18 50 2.25 50 4.1-40 69 4.14 50 4.22 50 4.25 68 4.26 50,67 4.30 67 4.44-28.68 75 6.1 50 6.11 50 8.11 50 8.16 67 9.18 68 11.12 67 11.31 50 18.15-18 54 27-28 71, 169 28.69-30.20 69,75 29-30 71,169 29.16-30.20 69 30.18 50 30.19 67 31-34 63,73-76, 78,79, 107, 108, 112, 202 31-32 64,65,76 31 63,66,70,
233
31.1 31.2-6 31.7-8 31.9-13 31.9 31.14-23 31.14-15 31.16-22
31.16-21 31.16 31.17-18 31.17 31.19 31.20 31.22 31.23 31.24-30 31.24-29 31.24-26 31.24 31.25 31.26-29 31.26 31.28 31.29 31.30 32-33 32
32.1-43
72,74, 76, 78 64,65 64,73 64,72,73 64,67,73, 77 68 77 64,72,73, 78 64,66,67, 69,76-79, 193 69 68 68 68 66,67,75, 81 66 67 64,72,73, 78 77 64,67,76, 79 67 67 67 69 66 66-68 67,78 65,67,105, 113 70,71, 80, 116,186 25,26,28, 39,44,54, 106, 117, 167, 173, 175, 190, 191, 193, 196, 201, 219 16,63-81, 169
234 32.1-3 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4-6 32.4 32.5 32.6 32.7-14 32.7 32.11 32.12 32.13 32.15-18 32.15 32.16 32.18 32.19-27 32.19 32.20-27 32.20 32.21 32.22 32.27 32.28-29 32.29 32.30 32.32-33 32.34-35 32.35 32.36-43 32.36 32.37-42 32.37-38 32.39-42 32.41-42 32.43 32.44-52 32.44 32.45-47 32.45 32.46-47 32.48-52 32.51 33
Psalm and Story 15,65 25,67,75, 218 68 218 65 106 68 52,73 65 68 73 68 68 65 68,74 68 73 65 68 73 67 68 68 69 69 67 68 69 73 69 69 69,70 73 70 65 69 15,65,70 63 65,72, 73, 77 77 64 65,73 73,79 73 16,65,70,
34.9 34.1-12 34.10-12
71,75,95, 173 79 68,169 68, 169 95 68,74 68, 169 68, 169 68 68 68 63 65,72,74, 78,79 73 73 54
Joshua 2.9 3.11 4.23 5.1 10.1-11 10.1 10.4 10.6 10.10 10.11 10.12-14 10.12-13 10.12 10.13-14 10.15 10.16-43 11.1 24.17
50 50 50 50 172 172 172 172 172 172 172 175 172 172 172 172 84 50
33.1-29 33.2-29 33.2-5 33.4 33.5 33.6-25 33.26-29 33.26 33.28 33.29 33-34 34
Judges 1 1.27-28 3.13 3.31 4-5 4
91 84 84 84 89,91,95, 96,202,217 84-89,93, 201
4.1-3 4.1 4.2-3 4.2 4.3 4.4-6 4.4-5 4.4 4.6-8 4.6-7 4.6 4.7 4.8-10 4.8-9 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12-13 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15-16 4.15 4.16 4.17-21 4.17-18 4.17 4.21-22 4.21 4.22 4.23-24 4.23 4.24 5
5.1 5.2-31 5.2-3 5.2
82,89,92 108 89 84,91,92 92 89 82 84,90 82 90,91 84, 85 84 84 91 82,84,87, 90,91 82,84,85 82 82 84 84 82,84,89, 91 82 87,89,91 84 83 84 84 84 85 83,84 83 83,84,91 84 28,29, 39, 53,55,8298,117, 171, 176, 181, 186, 187, 192, 194-96,201, 217-20 83,90,94 16,217 15 83
Index of References 5.3
6 7 10 10-12 10.1 21
25,83,94, 218 83,85,89, 91 84 85 83 84 84,88,90, 94 83 83 93 83-85,90, 94 83,84 83 84 84,94 84 85 89 83,84 83,85,91 84,89 84 83 83 88 83,84 83 88 85 84 88 83,85,88 84,88 83,89,92, 94 84 84 84 84 84 84
1 Samuel 1-3
19
5.4-5 5.4 5.6-8 5.6-7 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9-11 5.9 5.12 5.13 5.14-18 5.14 5.15 5.17 5.18 5.19-22 5.19 5.20-21 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24-27 5.24 5.25-27 5.25 5.26-27 5.26 5.27 5.28-30 5.30 5.31
1 1.6-7 1.6 1.16 1.26-28 1.28-2.1 1.28 2 2.1-10
2.1-2 2.1
2.2 2.3 2.4-8 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7-8 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10
2.11 2.19-21 2.21 2.35 3.3 7.9-10 7.10 12.3 17 18.6 18.7 18.8
19,21,30 22 22 180 19 20 20,21, 32, 34-36 97,115,167 16,17,1940, 55, 104, 106,111-14, 117, 166, 171,180, 181, 183, 189, 192, 200,219 19 15,20,23, 25, 31, 36, 39,180, 190, 191 23,24 19,21,23, 30 19,24 23,25 22,26,37 23 26 23,24 23-25 20,22-24 20,22-25, 31,70 20,32,3436 20 21,22 23 20 22 22 23 103 29 173,189 173
235 21.10 21.12 [11] 22.4-5 23.4 23.25 23.28 24.2 24.7 24.11 24.18 24.23 25.32 26.9 26.11 26.16 26.23 29.5 2 Samuel 1 1.11-12 1.14 1.16 1.17-27 1.19-27 3.31 3.32-34 3.33-34 3.35 5-9 5-8 7 7.35 11-12 12.13-23 12.13 13-14 15-19 15.25-26 15.30-31 16.13 18.28 19.22 20 20.19 21-24
184 173,189 105 184 105 105 105 23 23 105 105 15 23 23 23 23, 105 173,189
27, 170, 171 170 23 23 16,170,171 36 174 174 174 174 105 105 105 15 99 108 184 99 99 108 108
184 15 23 99 90 99-105, 107, 108,110-
236
21.1-14
21.1 21.10 21.14 21.15-22
21.15-17 21.15 21.17 21.18 21.19 21.20 22
22-23 22.1-23.7 22.1-51 22.1 22.2-51 22.2-20 22.2-4 22.2-3 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5-7 22.5 22.6 22.8-16 22.8 22.9 22.10 22.12
Psalm and Story 117,171, 22.14 190,200 22.16 99, 101, 22.17-31 103,110 22.17-20 100, 104 22.18 102 22.20 104 22.21-28 99, 101, 22.21-25 103, 104, 110, 163 103 22.21 100 102 22.22 100 22.23 100, 103 22.24 100 22.25 24, 26, 27, 22.26-31 29,32,3622.26-28 39,95,97 22.26 99-17,125, 22.28 140, 143, 22.29-50 155, 156, 22.29 163, 165-67, 22.30 170,83, 22.31-32 184, 189, 22.31 191, 192, 22.32-43 201,219 22.32 166, 186 22.33 103,110, 22.34 171 22.35 23,24,101 22.36 100, 106, 22.37 113, 116 22.39 16 22.40 116 22.41 100 22.42 105 22.43 136 22.44-49 23, 101, 102 22.44-46 23, 102 22.44 100 22.47 23, 101 22.48 23 22.49 100 22.50 23 22.51 23 23 23 23
23,24 23 123 100 23 23 116 100, 102, 103, 107, 116 105, 107, 108 23,107 107 107 105 100 108 23,24 23,24,102 116 101, 102 107 108 23, 106 100 23,24,101 23 23,68,101 23 23,102 23 23 23 23 102 23 100 107 23 23, 101, 102 23 23 15, 100 23,24, 95, 100-102, 104,116 100, 163
23.1-7
24.1 24.17 24.25
16,100, 101-103, 114, 115, 170 23, 100, 101, 102 108 101, 102 102 102, 104 101 100, 101, 104,110 103 100 102 103 100, 101, 110 103,104 108 104
1 Kings 1-2 8 8.13 8.15 8.39 8.43 8.49 8.56 10.9 11.33 11.38 14.1 14.5 17.17
100 50 50 15 50 50 50 15 15 107 107 120 120 120
23.1 23.3-4 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.8-39 23.9-17 23.13-17 23.14 24 24.1-25
2 Kings 1.2 8.7 8.29 18-20
120 120 120 126, 128, 129 18.3-6 130 18.5 123 18.13-20.21 118
Index of References 18.14-16 18.14 18.17 20
20.1 20.12 24-25 Isaiah 1-39 6-9 6.5 9.5-6 22.15-25 30.15 30.18 34-39 36-39 36-37 36.7 38
38.1 38.2-3 38.3
38.4 38.5-6 38.5 38.6 38.7-8 38.8 38.9-20 38.9
38.10-20 38.10-14
122 122 122 118, 126, 127 120 120 27
118 123 139 125 122 125 125 123 118,121-26, 128-30, 146 118,122 130 118,120, 122, 125, 126, 128, 140, 143, 167, 175, 183, 185, 189-92 119-21 119 120, 121, 125, 127 121 119, 123 120, 125 121, 124 119,126 120,126 118-31, 192, 216 118, 119, 120, 121, 127, 140, 182,216 16 119, 121, 124
38.10 38.11 38.12 38.14 38.15-16 38.15 38.16 38.17
39 39.1 39.6-8 39.6-7 40-66 40-48 44.2 57.15 66.2
120 120 120 124 119 120, 121 120 119, 121, 125 130 119, 121, 124 120 120 15, 119-21, 124, 127 119,126, 127 119,120, 126, 127 119,126, 127 120,122 122 125 123 123 123 68 122 122, 125
Jeremiah 1.6 9.22-23 15.10-18 17.14 18.10 18.19-23 20.7-18 20.13 21.12 33.11 42.5
139 31 139 15 70 139 139 15 70 157 66
Ezekiel 5.13
70
38.18-20 38.18-19 38.18 38.19 38.20 38.21-22 38.21 38.22
237 Jonah 1-2
1 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.9 1.12 1.14-15 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 2
2.1-2 2.1 2.2-9 2.2-3 2.2 2.3-10 2.3 2.4-7 2.4 2.5 2.7-8 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 3 3.1-3 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5-10 3.10-4.3 4
138, 143, 189 133, 137, 138 133 134, 139 134 133 137, 138 138 138 133 138 134 132 127,132144, 146, 175,183, 189, 191, 192,204 134 132 16 132, 135 132, 133 132-144 121, 132-34, 137 132, 134 137 121 132, 137 134, 135 135, 137 15, 132, 135 132, 134, 138 133,140, 141 134, 138 133 134 136, 139 134 138 136 134, 139
238 4.2-3
Psalm and Story
4.3
135, 137, 143, 189 135, 137, 138 135
Micah 1.2
66
Habakkuk 3.19
68,101
4.2
Psalms 3 7 9.3 18
18.1 18.34 30.7 30.10-11 31.23 34 51 52 54 56 56.1 57 57.1 59 60 63 66.18 75 78 89.2 90-107 96.1-13
96.6 100.5 101.1 105 105.1-15
184 184 218 24, 99, 108, 166, 167, 184 113 68 121 121 121 184 184 184
184 184 128 184 128 184 184 184 121 26 194 218 168 155, 162, 166, 184 159 157 218 194 155, 162, 166, 184
106 106.1
106.48 107.1 108.2 113 114 116.4-6 116.11 118.1 118.29 136.1 138.1 142 146.2
194 155, 162, 184 155, 166, 168 157 218 26 194 121 121 157 157 157 218 184 218
Ruth 4.14
15
Lamentations 3.54
121
106.47-48
Daniel 1-6
1-2 1 1.18-20 1.18-19 2-6 2
2.1-13 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12
2.13-23 157, 166,
162, 184
147, 149, 152, 176 152 150, 151 151 151 150 145, 147-51, 153, 175, 189, 190, 192,201 145 151 146 146 146, 147 146, 147 146 146 146
2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24-26 2.24 2.25 2.27-35 2.27-28
151, 152, 201 146, 151 145 148 146 148, 151 146, 152 151 145 146 146, 151 145 145, 146, 148 16, 127, 140, 145, 154, 170 15, 145, 146 145-47 145, 146 15, 145, 146 145 146 151, 152 145 147, 148
2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.36-45 2.44 2.45-49 2.46-47 2.47 2.48-49 2.48 2.49 3 3.23 3.24 3.33 4 4.3 4.31-32 4.34-35 6.26-27
146 146 146 146, 148 146 147 151 146 146, 147 146 146 146 175, 181 175 175 147, 170 182 147, 170 147,170 147, 170 147, 170
2.13 2.14-16 2.14 2.15 2.16-23 2.16 2.17-23 2.17-18 2.17 2.18 2.19-20 2.19
2.20-23
Index of References 6.27-28 7 7.25 8-12 Ezra 3.11
Nehemah 9 9.5-37 9.5 1 Chronicles 11.1 11.14 13-20 13.2 15-16
15.1
15.2 15.3 15.4-24 15.4-11 15.12-14 15.13 15.15 15.16 15.17-24 15.19 15.25-28 15.25-26 15.25
147, 170 147, 149, 150 147 150
15.26 15.27 15.28 15.29 16
157, 181, 197
16, 160 160 15
159 159 163 159 155, 156, 158, 161, 167 155, 158, 159 158 158,159 158 155 155 158 155, 158, 160 155, 158, 164 155 158, 164 158 160 155, 158, 164
16.1-3 16.2 16.4-7 16.4-6 16.4 16.5-38 16.5-6
16.5 16.6 16.7-37 16.7-36 16.7 16.8-36 16.8-13 16.8-9 16.8 16.9 16.10 16.12 16.14-22 16.14 16.15 16.17 16.23-29 16.23 16.25
155, 159 158, 164 155, 156, 159 155, 159 17,44, 113, 114, 156, 160, 164, 171,184-86, 189, 193, 201 155, 158 158 155 158 156, 158, 162,163 162 155, 162, 163 162 163 162 162 156, 158, 159, 163 16,99,114, 155-68 156 15 158 158 158 158 156 158 158 158 156 158 158
239 16.27 16.28-29 16.29 16.30-33 16.34 16.35
16.36 16.37-42 16.37-38 16.37 16.38 16.39 16.40 16.41-42 16.41
16.42 16.43 17-29 18.6 18.13 29.10-19 29.10 2 Chronicles 5.13
158, 159 159 158 156 15, 156-58 156, 158, 159, 165 15, 145, 161, 168 156, 158 162 156, 159, 163 163 162 158 162 156-58, 162, 181, 197 158, 162 156 160, 189 195 195 160, 189 15
20.21 21.12 29-31 33.18-19
157, 181, 197 50 197 157, 181, 197 157, 181, 196 157 128 130 181
11.14-15 12.17 12.18 12.20
177 177 177 177
6 6a 7.3
7.6
APOCRYPHA Tobit 3.2-6 3.11-15 4
177 177 177
4.1-14.1 4.1-21 8.5-8 8.15-17
177 177 177 177
240 13
Psalm and Story 15, 128, 177, 186, 191, 192,
219 13.1-9 13.10-18 14.1 Judith 13.18
16
16.1-17 16.2 16.16 16.18-25 16.18
177 177 177
Sirach 48.24-25 51.10-11
Additions to Daniel 3 146, 17576, 189,
192 175 175 175
1 180 53, 128, 176, 180, 181, 186, 187, 190, 192,219
176 15 177 176 177
/ Maccabees
123 121
2-22 23-27 28-68
178, 196 1.25-28 1.36-40 2.7-13 2.44 2.49-64 3.3-9 3.45 3.50-53 4.24
127, 140
28
175
29-68
15, 175
68
157
Prayer ofManasseh 180, 181
15
15
4.30-33 4.38 7.17 9.21 9.41 14.4-15
178 178 16, 178
178 178 178 178 178 157, 178,
181 178 178 178 178 178 178
NEW TESTAMENT
Luke
1-2 1.46-55 1.46-48 1.46-47 1.48
179, 181, 186, 190
179 180 15, 128
180
1.51-54 1.67-79 1.68 1.76-77 2.13-14 2.28-32
180
Revelation
179 15 180 179 179
4.8 4.11 5.9-10 5.12 5.13 18.15-20
180 180 180 180 180 180
INDEX OF AUTHORS Ackerman, J.S. 134, 136, 137, 138, 141, 142 Ackroyd, P.R. 13, 93, 107, 110, 111, 123, 124, 127, 162, 190,191 Albright, W.F. 13, 39, 44, 77, 95, 217 Allen, L.C. 135 Alonso-Schokel, L. 176, 177 Alter, R. 46, 96, 130, 194 Amit, Y. 87, 88, 138 Anderson, A.A. 109, 110, 170, 171 Bal, M. 86-88, 90 Earth, C.F. 13 Baumann, E. 68, 69, 77, 78 Begrich, J. 120, 121 Blenkinsopp, J. 130 Blevins, J.L. 180 Bogaert, P.-M. 20, 22, 31, 33 Bohme, W. 141 Boling, R.G. 84, 92, 94 Braun, R.L. 160, 163, 165 Breasted, J.H. 213 Brown, R.E. 180 Brueggemann, W. 104, 105 Budde, K. 22, 32, 39, 91, 92, 94, 100, 101, 106, 107, 110, 113, 116, 166 Burkard, G. 211 Burns, R.J. 53, 54, 55 Butler, T.C. 159, 160, 163, 164, 165, 172 Cagni, L. 209 Callaway, M. 30 Calvin, J. 45 Carlson, R.A. 67, 68, 77, 78, 102, 103,107,108, 111
Carrillo Alday, S. 64, 65, 76, 77, 78, 79 Cassuto, U. 13, 43 Childs, B.S. 24, 38, 43, 44, 46, 47, 50,51,53,57-59,63,66,71, 103, 106, 107, 113-15, 122, 126, 128, 136, 139, 142-44, 182, 183 Christensen, D.L. 69 Clements, R.E. 120, 122, 127 Coats, G.W. 43, 44, 50, 57, 74 Cohn, G.H. 134, 136 Collins, J.J. 147, 150, 151, 176 Couffignal, R. 134, 136 Craig, K.M. 135, 137-39, 143 Craigie, P.C. 64, 66, 217 Craven, T. 177 Cross, P.M. 13, 42-45, 47, 48, 57, 59, 69, 77, 195, 217 Curtis, E.L. 156, 159, 168 Dahood, M. 101 Damrosch, D. 110 Davidson, A.B. 43 Davies, G.H. 43 Davies, P.R. 150-52 Davis, E.F. 187 Deselaers, P. 177 DiLella, A.A. 148 Dillmann, A. 44 Doran, R. 148, 151, 152 Driver, S.R. 20, 22, 32, 35, 36, 45, 50, 57, 64-66, 68, 69, 71, 77-79 Dubrow, H. 195 Duhm, B. 120, 126, 127, 129 Durham, J.I. 44, 46, 50, 52 Eichrodt, W. 127
242
Psalm and Story
Eissfeldt, O. 77 Eslinger, L.M. 33 Fecht, G. 210 Feuillet, A. 133, 136, 139 Fewell, D.N. 148, 151 Fisch, H. 74 Fishbane, M. 183, 184, 208 Fitzmyer, J.A. 180 Flusser, D. 176, 179 Fohrer, G. 49, 57 Fokkelman, J.P. 171 Foote, P. 215 Foster, J.L. 210, 211 Fowler, A. 195 Freedman, D.N. 13, 39, 42, 45, 47, 48, 57, 59, 69, 77, 95, 186, 217 Fretheim, T.E. 138 Fullerton, K. 127, 129 Caster, T.H. 49, 76 Gerstenberger, E.S. 15, 25, 52, 53 Gese, H. 168 Gibson, J.C.L. 210 Globe, A. 87, 95 Goldin, J. 47, 50 Goldingay, J.E. 146, 148, 149, 153 Gordon, R.P. 38 Gottwald, N.K. 26, 29, 30, 40 Grayson, A.K. 209 Greenstein, E.L. 194 Greenberg, M. 16 Gressmann, H. 12, 57 Griffin, P.J. 178 Grimal, N.-C. 213, 214 Groves, J.W. 60, 188 Gunkel, H. 186 HaUberg, P. 215, 216 Hallo, W.W. 34, 128, 208, 209, 216, 217 Halpern, B. 86, 93 Harrington, D.J. 31 Hartman, L.F. 148, 150, 151 Haupt, P. 45 Hauser, A.J. 137, 138 Hertzberg, H.W. 22, 32, 103, 107, 108, 115, 171
Hill, A.E. 158, 163 Holbert, J.C. 134, 136-38 Hossfeld, F.-L. 116 How, W.W. 215 Hyatt, J.P. 43, 50, 53, 57 Irwin, W.A. 52 Jacobsen, T. 206, 208, 209 Japhet, S. 160 Jeffery, A. 149 Jepsen, A. 136 Jeremias, C. 127, 129 Jongeling, B. 182 Kaiser, O. 120, 165 Kirkpatrick, A.F. 106 Kitchen, K.A. 75, 217 Klein, R.W. 20, 25, 33, 38 Kline, M.G. 75 Knox, B.M.W. 188 Koch, K. 157, 196 Kraus, H.-J. 109, 116 Laato, A. 129 Lacocque, A. 147, 150, 151 Labuschagene, C.J. 182 Lamberton, R. 215 Landes, G.M. 133-35, 138, 141, 143 Lichtenstadter, I. 214 Lichtheim, M. 210-14, 217, 218 Lindars, B. 85, 88 Loader, J.A. 159, 162 Lohfink, N. 143 Long, B.O. 164 Machinist, P.B. 208 Magonet, J. 134, 136, 138, 143 Mayes, A.D.H. 64, 68, 69, 71, 77, 78 McCarter, P.K. 20, 22, 25, 27, 33, 35, 38, 101, 107, 110, 116 McCarthy, D.J. 75, 76 McNeile, A.H. 57, 59 Melugin, R.F. 123 Mendenhall, G.E. 75 Mettinger, T.N.D. 101 Miles, J.A. 142 Miller, P.O. 192
Index of Authors Miscall, P.O. 13, 27, 28, 33, 202 Montgomery, J.A. 149, 151 Moore, C.A. 175-77 Moore, G.F. 91, 94 Moran, W.L. 34, 208 Moulton, R.G. 43 Mowinckel, S. 12, 13, 25, 40, 45, 49, 150, 153, 177, 192 Muilenburg, J. 44, 53, 57 Miiller, H.-P. 91 Myers, J.M. 161, 217 Neuhaus, G.O. 178 Newsom, C. 179 Nicholson, E.W. 76 Nickelsburg, G.W.E. 176, 188 Niditch, S. 148, 151, 152 Noth, M. 52, 57, 58, 78, 80, 92, 110, 162 Olmo Lete, G. del 101 Olson, D.T. 173 Osswald, E. 181 Oswalt, J.N. 120, 125, 126 Payne, J.B. 123, 126 Pedersen, J. 49, 56, 61 Plo'ger, O. 149, 160, 165, 166 Poethig, E.B. 30, 38, 43, 52, 53, 55, 58, 90, 97 Polzin, R. 14, 20, 23, 24, 26-28, 33, 63, 64, 74, 85, 86, 94, 95, 199, 200 Preminger, A. 194 Procksch, O. 120, 126, 127 Radday, Y.T. 24, 26, 36, 111, 171 Rad, G. von 68, 77, 78, 136 Rendtorff, R. 49, 56 Reventlow, H.G. 13, 190 Richter, W. 92 Ritterspach, A.D. 25, 26 Robertson, D.A. 13 Rowley, H.H. 149 Rudolph, W. 159, 161, 162, 164 Ryle, H.E. 180, 181 Sack, K.H. 12
243
Sakenfeld, K.D. 157 Sarna, N.M. 56, 217 Savran, G.W. 173 Scharbert, J. 47, 57 Schmidt, H. 133, 139, 141 Schmidt, L. 141 Seeligmann, I.L. 69 Sellin, E. 68, 77 Seybold, K. 121 Sheppard, G.T. 102, 105, 107-109, 111, 113, 117 Slomovic, E. 105, 112, 158, 163, 182, 184 Smith, H.P. 20, 22, 32, 34, 36, 101, 110, 111 Soggin, J.A. 47, 91, 92, 94, 95 Spiegel, J. 212 Stade, B. 86, 93, 120, 126, 127 Steck, O.K. 149 Stek, J.H. 42 Sternberg, M. 14,. 21, 33, 37, 48, 104, 137,138 Strauss, H. 42, 43, 57 Stuart, D. 136, 139, 141, 142, 144 Talmon, S. 96, 194 Thackeray, H.St-J. 20, 22, 24, 25, 29, 32, 33, 36, 38 Tigay, J.H. 34, 207, 208 Tournay, R. 24, 39 Towner, W.S. 147, 149, 153, 170, 176,178 Trible, P. 49 Tromp, N.J. 50 Tur-Sinai, N.H. 12 Turville-Petre, G. 215, 216 Ulrich, E. 150, 175 Vanoni, G. 141, 143 Van Seters, J. 219 Vermes, G. 182 Vesco, J.-L. 13, 102, 107, 113, 114, 116, 117, 158, 163, 170, 188 Walters, S.D. 21, 31, 35 Watts, John D.W. 44, 50, 64, 120, 122-26, 130
244
Psalm and Story
Webb, B.C. 83, 84, 86, 87, 89, 95 Weimar, P. 141 Weinfeld, M. 75 Weiser, A. 84, 85, 94 Weisman, Z. 43 Welch, A.C. 69, 71 Wellhausen, J. 57, 86, 93 Wells, J. 215 Welten, P. 163 Westermann, C. 25, 121 Whedbee, J.W. 103-105 Wilcke, C. 206-10, 215 Wilcoxen, J.A. 190, 196 Wildberger, H. 119, 120, 122, 124,
126, 127, 129 Williams, R.J. 213 Williamson, H.G.M. 16, 157, 159, 160, 164 Willis, J.T. 20, 25, 26, 39 Wilson, R.R. 31, 58 Wolff, H.W. 133, 134, 141, 144 Woude, A.S. van der 182 Wright, G.E. 66, 69, 77 Yeivin, E.I. 44, 194 Young, E.J. 126 Zakovitch, Y. 88, 127
INDEX OF SUBJECTS Actualize/actualization 60, 176, 192, 196,212 Aiyam al-'Arab 214 Apostolic Constitutions 180
Form-criticism 15, 53, 109, 184, 203
Characterization 29-32,51-55, 107109, 124, 125, 130, 131, 135-40, 148, 160, 161, 183, 189, 191, 192, 194 Convention 97, 144, 189, 195, 196, 197, 203-205 Covenant 66, 75 Cult 12, 15, 80, 161, 167, 188, 193
Herodotus 215 Hesiod, Theogony 215 Hymn 24-26, 52, 53, 80, 117, 181, 206, 209, 214
Didascalia 180, 185 Egyptian Literature 18, 29, 56, 96, 97, 195-196, 204, 210-14, 217-218 Egyptian Literature, Texts Amen-hotep II 's Great Sphinx inscription 213 Amen-hotep III inscription 212 Bentrash Stela 213 Dispute Over Suicide 211 Horus and Seth 96, 97, 212 Merneptah Stela 213, 217, 218 Naucratis Stela of Nectanebo I 213 Papyrus Lansing 'Schoolbook' 212 Piye Stela 34, 56, 96, 97, 196, 213, 214,219 Ramses II's Battle of Kadesh inscription 212, 217, 218 Story ofSinuhe 211 Thut-mose HI inscription 212, 217 Uni inscription 211 Epic 13, 85, 86, 194, 196, 212, 213, 217,218
Genre 13, 29, 33, 184, 195, 203-205, 212,219
Intention(ality) 78, 110, 111, 114, 200, 202, 203 Juxtaposition 21, 28, 29, 71, 86-89, 108, 111, 112, 170 Lament 16, 120, 139, 178, 180, 184, 207, 209 Liturgy/liturgical 15, 60, 61, 157, 165, 167, 188, 191, 193 Mesopotamian Literature 18, 29, 34, 56, 96, 128, 195-96, 206-210, 217 Mesoptomian Literature, Texts Agusaia Hymn 207 Anzu 34, 207, 208 Enlil and Ninlil 209 Erra Epic 208, 209 Gilgamesh 34, 207, 208 Gudea cylinders 209 Inanna's Descent 208 Lugal-E 206 Tukulti-Ninurta Epic 208, 217 Metaphor 105, 108, 142 Mother 29, 33, 73, 88, 90, 180
246
Psalm and Story
Narrator 28, 45, 96-97, 157, 158, 178, 181,193, 196,218,219 Oral/orality 67, 79-81, 193, 203 Performance 187, 188 Piety 117, 122, 124-25, 144, 153, 183, 189, 191, 192, 197 Plot 17, 21, 34, 65, 66, 100, 133, 140, 172-74, 189, 190, 204 Poetry 11, 13, 28, 45, 76, 80, 90, 115, 116, 142, 144, 169, 170, 174, 175, 178, 193-95,210,211,214-16 Praise 15, 16, 96, 120, 121, 214 Promise and fulfilment 48-51 Prophet/prophetic 30-31, 54, 55, 72, 90, 97, 139 Prose prayer 15, 135, 160, 181, 210 Pseudo-Philo, Biblical Antiquities 31, 185 Psalter 11, 114, 167, 168, 182-85, 218 Qumran Literature 4Q Testim. (4Q175) 178 Prayer cfNabonidus (4QprNab) 182 Psalms of Joshua (4Q378, 4Q397) 178-179, 185 Reader identification 139, 143, 144 Reading 187-88
Repetition 21, 47, 48, 88 Septuagint/LXX 20, 31, 34-36, 175, 176, 180, 182 Snorri Sturluson Heimskringla 216 Prose Edda 215 Subjective/subjectivity 28 Superscription 113, 117, 118, 127, 128, 182-85, 216 Text-criticism 34-37, 200 Thanksgiving 16, 24, 26, 120, 121, 127, 183, 184, 189 Treaty 66, 75, 76 Ugaritic Literature Aqhat 210 Ba'al cycle 210 Keret 210 Nikkal 210 Shachar and Shalim 210 Aiyam al-'Arab 214 Victory songs/hymns 25, 26, 29-30, 33, 38, 52-55, 90, 97, 176, 180, 181,218,219 Wisdom 30, 31, 72, 170, 177 Women 29, 30, 38, 49, 52-55, 87, 8! 90, 97, 180
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Supplement Series 1
*2
I, HE, WE AND THEY: A LITERARY APPROACH TO ISAIAH 53 D.J.A. Clines
JEWISH EXEGESIS OF THE BOOK OF RUTH D.R.G. Beattie
*3
4 5
THE LITERARY STRUCTURE OF PSALM 2 P. Auffret
THANKSGIVING FOR A LIBERATED PROPHET: AN INTERPRETATION OF ISAIAH CHAPTER 53 R.N. Whybray REDATING THE EXODUS AND CONQUEST J.J. Bimson
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7
*8
*9 10 * 11
THE STORY OF KING DAVID: GENRE AND INTERPRETATION D.M. Gunn THE SENSE OF BIBLICAL NARRATIVE I: STRUCTURAL ANALYSES IN THE HEBREW BIBLE (2nd edition) D. Jobling GENESIS 1-11: STUDIES IN STRUCTURE AND THEME P.O. Miller
YAHWEH AS PROSECUTOR AND JUDGE: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PROPHETIC LAWSUIT (RIB PATTERN) K. Nielsen THE THEME OF THE PENTATEUCH David J.A. Clines STUDIA BIBLICA 19781: PAPERS ON OLD TESTAMENT AND RELATED THEMES Edited by E.A. Livingstone
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ISAIAH AND THE DELIVERANCE OF JERUSALEM: A STUDY OF THE INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
14
THE FATE OF KING SAUL: AN INTERPRETATION OF A BIBLICAL STORY D.M. Gunn THE DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY Martin Noth
R.E. Clements
15 16
PROPHECY AND ETHICS: ISAIAH AND THE ETHICAL TRADITION OF ISRAEL Eryl W. Davies
17 18
THE ROLES OF ISRAEL'S PROPHETS David L. Petersen THE DOUBLE REDACTION OF THE DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY Richard D. Nelson
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ART AND MEANING: RHETORIC IN BIBLICAL LITERATURE
20
THE PSALMS OF THE SONS OF KORAH
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Michael D. Goulder COLOUR TERMS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT Athalya Brenner
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AT THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD:
Edited by David J.A. Clines, David M. Gunn & Alan J. Hauser
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25 26
27 28
STORY AND THEOLOGY IN EXODUS 32-34 R.W.L. Moberly THE GLORY OF ISRAEL: THE THEOLOGY AND PROVENIENCE OF THE ISAIAH TARGUM Bruce D. Chilton MIDIAN, MOAB AND EDOM: THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF LATE BRONZE AND IRON AGE JORDAN AND NORTH-WEST ARABIA Edited by John F.A. Sawyer & David J.A. Clines THE DAMASCUS COVENANT: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE 'DAMASCUS DOCUMENT' Philip R. Davies CLASSICAL HEBREW POETRY: A GUIDE TO ITS TECHNIQUES Wilfred G.E. Watson PSALMODY AND PROPHECY W.H. Bellinger, Jr HOSEA:
AN ISRAELITE PROPHET IN JUDEAN PERSPECTIVE Grace I. Emmerson 29
30
EXEGESIS AT QUMRAN: 4QFLORILEGIUM IN ITS JEWISH CONTEXT
George J. Brooke THE ESTHER SCROLL:
THE STORY OF THE STORY 31
David J.A. Clines IN THE SHELTER OF ELYON:
ESSAYS IN HONOR OF G.w. AHLSTROM 32
Edited by W. Boyd Barrick & John R. Spencer THE PROPHETIC PERSONA: JEREMIAH AND THE LANGUAGE OF THE SELF Timothy Polk
33
LAW AND THEOLOGY IN DEUTERONOMY J.G. McConville
34
THE TEMPLE SCROLL: AN INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION & COMMENTARY Johann Maier SAGA, LEGEND, TALE, NOVELLA, FABLE: NARRATIVE FORMS IN OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE
35 36
37
Edited by George W. Coats THE SONG OF FOURTEEN SONGS
Michael D. Goulder UNDERSTANDING THE WORD: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF BERNHARD w. ANDERSON Edited by James T. Butler, Edgar W. Conrad & Ben C. Ollenburger
38
SLEEP, DIVINE AND HUMAN, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT Thomas H. McAlpine
39 40 41
THE SENSE OF BIBLICAL NARRATIVE II: STRUCTURAL ANALYSES IN THE HEBREW BIBLE David Jobling DIRECTIONS IN BIBLICAL HEBREW POETRY Edited by Elaine R. Follis ZION, THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING:
A THEOLOGICAL SYMBOL OF THE JERUSALEM CULT Ben C. Ollenburger 42
43
44 45 46 47 48
A WORD IN SEASON: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF WILLIAM MCKANE Edited by James D. Martin & Philip R. Davies THECULTOFMOLEK:
A REASSESSMENT G.C. Heider THE IDENTITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE PSALMS Steven J.L. Croft THE CONFESSIONS OF JEREMIAH IN CONTEXT: SCENES OF PROPHETIC DRAMA A.R. Diamond THE BOOK OF JUDGES: AN INTEGRATED READING Barry G. Webb THE GREEK TEXT OF JEREMIAH: A REVISED HYPOTHESIS Sven Soderlund TEXT AND CONTEXT:
OLD TESTAMENT AND SEMITIC STUDIES FOR F.C. FENSHAM Edited by W. Claassen
49
THEOPHORIC PERSONAL NAMES IN ANCIENT HEBREW: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
50
THE CHRONICLER'S HISTORY
Jeaneane D. Fowler Martin Noth Translated by H.G.M. Williamson with an Introduction
51 52
DIVINE INITIATIVE AND HUMAN RESPONSE IN EZEKIEL Paul Joyce THE CONFLICT OF FAITH AND EXPERIENCE IN THE PSALMS: A FORM-CRITICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDY Craig C. Broyles
53
THE MAKING OF THE PENTATEUCH: A METHODOLOGICAL STUDY
54
FROM REPENTANCE TO REDEMPTION: JEREMIAH'S THOUGHT IN TRANSITION
R.N. Whybray
55
56
Jeremiah Unterman THE ORIGIN TRADITION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL:
1. THE LITERARY FORMATION OF GENESIS AND EXODUS 1-23 T.L. Thompson THE PURIFICATION OFFERING IN THE PRIESTLY LITERATURE: ITS MEANING AND FUNCTION
57
N. Kiuchi MOSES:
58
HEROIC MAN, MAN OF GOD George W. Coats THE LISTENING HEART:
ESSAYS IN WISDOM AND THE PSALMS IN HONOR OF ROLAND E. MURPHY, O. CARM. Edited by Kenneth G. Hoglund, Elizabeth F. Huwiler, Jonathan T. Glass and Roger W. Lee
59
CREATIVE BIBLICAL EXEGESIS: CHRISTIAN AND JEWISH HERMENEUTICS THROUGH THE CENTURIES Edited by Benjamin Uffenheimer & Henning Graf Reventlow
60 61 62 63
HER PRICE is BEYOND RUBIES: THE JEWISH WOMAN IN GRAECO-ROMAN PALESTINE Leonie J. Archer FROM CHAOS TO RESTORATION: AN INTEGRATIVE READING OF ISAIAH 24-27 Dan G. Johnson THE OLD TESTAMENT AND FOLKLORE STUDY Patricia G. Kirkpatrick SfflLOH:
A BIBLICAL CITY IN TRADITION AND HISTORY Donald G. Schley
64 65 66 67 68
To SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE: ISAIAH 6.9-10 IN EARLY JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION Craig A. Evans THERE is HOPE FOR A TREE: THE TREE AS METAPHOR IN ISAIAH Kirsten Nielsen SECRETS OF THE TIMES : MYTH AND HISTORY IN BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY Jeremy Hughes ASCRIBE TO THE LORD: BIBLICAL AND OTHER STUDIES IN MEMORY OF PETER C. CRAIGIE Edited by Lyle Eslinger & Glen Taylor THE TRIUMPH OF IRONY IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES Lillian R. Klein
69 70
ZEPHANIAH, A PROPHETIC DRAMA Paul R. House NARRATIVE ART IN THE BIBLE Shimon Bar-Efrat
71 72 73 74
QOHELET AND HIS CONTRADICTIONS Michael V. Fox CIRCLE OF SOVEREIGNTY: A STORY OF STORIES IN DANIEL 1-6 Danna Nolan Fewell DAVID'S SOCIAL DRAMA: A HOLOGRAM OF THE EARLY IRON AGE James W. Flanagan THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF BIBLICAL AND CANAANITE POETRY Edited by Willem van der Meer & Johannes C. de Moor
75 76
DAVID IN LOVE AND WAR: THE PURSUIT OF POWER IN 2 SAMUEL 10-12 Randall C. Bailey GOD IS KING:
UNDERSTANDING AN ISRAELITE METAPHOR 77
78
79
Marc Zvi Brettler EDOM AND THE EDOMITES John R. Bartlett
SWALLOWING THE SCROLL: TEXTUALITY AND THE DYNAMICS OF DISCOURSE IN EZEKIEL'S PROPHECY Ellen F. Davies GffiEAH:
THE SEARCH FOR A BIBLICAL CITY Patrick M. Arnold, S.J.
80
THE NATHAN NARRATIVES Gwilym H. Jones
81 82 83 84
85 86
ANTI-COVENANT: COUNTER-READING WOMEN'S LIVES DM THE HEBREW BIBLE Edited by Mieke Bal RHETORIC AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION Dale Patrick & Allen Scult THE EARTH AND THE WATERS IN GENESIS 1 AND 2: A LINGUISTIC INVESTIGATION David Toshio Tsumura INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD
Lyle Eslinger FROM CARMEL TO HOREB: ELIJAH IN CRISIS Alan J. Hauser & Russell Gregory THE SYNTAX OF THE VERB IN CLASSICAL HEBREW PROSE Alviero Niccacci
87
88
Translated by W.G.E. Watson THE BIBLE IN THREE DIMENSIONS : ESSAYS IN CELEBRATION OF FORTY YEARS OF BIBLICAL STUDIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD Edited by David J.A. Clines, Stephen E. Fowl & Stanley E. Porter THE PERSUASIVE APPEAL OF THE CHRONICLER: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS Rodney K. Duke
89
90
THE PROBLEM OF THE PROCESS OF TRANSMISSION IN THE PENTATEUCH RolfRendtorff Translated by John J. Scullion BIBLICAL HEBREW IN TRANSITION: THE LANGUAGE OF THE BOOK OF EZEKffiL Mark F. Rooker
91
THE IDEOLOGY OF RITUAL: SPACE, TIME AND STATUS IN THE PRIESTLY THEOLOGY Frank H. Gorman, Jr
92
ON HUMOUR AND THE COMIC IN THE HEBREW BIBLE Edited by Yehuda T. Radday & Athalya Brenner JOSHUA 24 AS POETIC NARRATIVE William T. Koopmans
93
94 95 96
WHAT DOES EVE Do TO HELP? AND OTHER READERLY QUESTIONS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT David J.A. Clines GOD SAVES: LESSONS FROM THE ELISHA STORIES Rick Dale Moore ANNOUNCEMENTS OF PLOT IN GENESIS Laurence A. Turner
97
THE UNITY OF THE TWELVE Paul R. House
98
ANCIENT CONQUEST ACCOUNTS:
A STUDY IN ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN AND BIBLICAL HISTORY WRITING K. Lawson Younger, Jr 99 WEALTH AND POVERTY IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS R.N. Whybray 100 A TRIBUTE TO GEZA VERMES: ESSAYS ON JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND HISTORY Edited by Philip R. Davies & Richard T. White
101
THE CHRONICLER IN HIS AGE Peter R. Ackroyd
102
THE PRAYERS OF DAVID (PSALMS 51-72):
STUDIES IN THE PSALTER, II Michael Goulder
10 3
THE SOCIOLOGY OF POTTERY IN ANCIENT PALESTINE: THE CERAMIC INDUSTRY AND THE DIFFUSION OF CERAMIC STYLE IN THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES Bryant G. Wood
104
PSALM STRUCTURES:
105
106 107
108 109 110
A STUDY OF PSALMS WITH REFRAINS Paul R. Raabe ESTABLISHING JUSTICE Pietro Bovati
GRADED HOLINESS: A KEY TO THE PRIESTLY CONCEPTION OF THE WORLD Philip Jenson THE ALIEN IN THE PENTATEUCH Christiana van Houten
THE FORGING OF ISRAEL: IRON TECHNOLOGY, SYMBOLISM AND TRADITION IN ANCIENT SOCIETY Paula M. McNutt SCRIBES AND SCHOOLS IN MONARCHIC JUDAH: A SOCIO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH David Jamieson-Drake THE CANAANITES AND THEIR LAND: THE TRADITION OF THE CANAANITES Niels Peter Lemche
111
YAHWEHANDTHESUN:
112
THE BIBLICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE J. Glen Taylor WISDOM IN REVOLT: METAPHORICAL THEOLOGY IN THE BOOK OF JOB Leo G. Perdue
113 114
PROPERTY AND THE FAMILY IN BIBLICAL LAW Raymond Westbrook A TRADITIONAL QUEST:
ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF LOUIS JACOBS Edited by Dan Cohn-Sherbok
115
I HAVE BUILT You AN EXALTED HOUSE: TEMPLE BUILDING IN THE BIBLE IN THE LIGHT OF MESOPOTAMIAN AND NORTH-WEST SEMITIC WRITINGS Victor Hurowitz
116
117
118
119
120
NARRATIVE AND NOVELLA IN SAMUEL: STUDIES BY HUGO GRESSMANN AND OTHER SCHOLARS 1906-1923 Translated by David E. Orton Edited by David M. Gunn SECOND TEMPLE STUDIES: I.PERSIAN PERIOD Edited by Philip R. Davies SEEING AND HEARING GOD WITH THE PSALMS : THE PROPHETIC LITURGY FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM Raymond Jacques Tournay Translated by J. Edward Crowley TELLING QUEEN MICHAL'S STORY: AN EXPERIMENT IN COMPARATIVE INTERPRETATION Edited by David J.A. Clines & Tamara C. Eskenazi THE REFORMING KINGS: CULT AND SOCIETY IN FIRST TEMPLE JUDAH Richard H. Lowery
121 122 123 124 125
126
KING SAUL IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF JUDAH Diana Vikander Edelman IMAGES OF EMPIRE Edited by Loveday Alexander JUDAHITE BURIAL PRACTICES AND BELIEFS ABOUT THE DEAD Elizabeth Bloch-Smith LAW AND IDEOLOGY IN MONARCHIC ISRAEL Edited by Baruch Halpern and Deborah W. Hobson PRIESTHOOD AND CULT IN ANCIENT ISRAEL Edited by Gary A. Anderson and Saul M. Olyan
W.M.L.DE WETTE, FOUNDER OF MODERN BIBLICAL CRITICISM: AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY John W. Rogerson
127
128
THE FABRIC OF HISTORY: TEXT, ARTIFACT AND ISRAEL'S PAST Edited by Diana Vikander Edelman BIBLICAL SOUND AND SENSE: POETIC SOUND PATTERNS IN PROVERBS 10-29 Thomas P. McCreesh
129
THE ARAMAIC OF DANIEL IN THE LIGHT OF OLD ARAMAIC Zdravko Stefanovic
130
STRUCTURE AND THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH Michael Butterworth FORMS OF DEFORMITY: A MOTIF-INDEX OF ABNORMALITIES, DEFORMITIES AND DISABILITIES IN TRADITIONAL JEWISH LITERATURE Lynn Holden
131
132 133
135
CONTEXTS FOR AMOS: PROPHETIC POETICS IN LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE Mark Daniel Carroll R. THE FORSAKEN FIRSTBORN:
A STUDY OF A RECURRENT MOTIF IN THE PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES R. Syren ISRAEL IN EGYPT: A READING OF EXODUS 1-2 G.F. Davies
136 137
A WALK THROUGH THE GARDEN: BIBLICAL, ICONOGRAPHICAL AND LITERARY IMAGES OF EDEN Edited by P. Morris and D. Sawyer JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS: BIBLICAL THEMES AND THEIR INFLUENCE Edited by H. Graf Reventlow & Y. Hoffman
138
TEXT AS PRETEXT: ESSAYS IN HONOUR OF ROBERT DAVIDSON Edited by R.P. Carroll
139
PSALM AND STORY: INSET HYMNS IN HEBREW NARRATIVE J.W. Watts
