Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8the Septuagint has ματαίως (“for no reason” = נָ‏ ם ‏(חִ‏ instead of the MasoreticText’s לֶ‏ חִ‏ י (“jaw”). Ματαίως seems like an attempt to soften the harshness ofthe prayer for vengeance. לֶ‏ חִ‏ י is the superior reading because replacing it with(“jaw”) לֶ‏ חִ‏ י breaks both the flow of thought and the parallelism between חִ‏ נָ‏ םand שִ‏ נֵ‏ י (“teeth”). Manuscript evidence indicates uncertainty about whether thewaw with ויעניני (v. 5) should it be read as simple or conversive waw, but this isan interpretive rather than a textual matter.4.1.2 Historical reconstructionLike all the other psalms in my corpus, Psalm 3 is attributed to David (“apsalm of David”, זְ‏ מוש לְ‏ דָ‏ וִ‏ ד ‏.(מִ‏ It is also one of thirteen Davidic psalms bearingבְ‏ בָ‏ שְ‏ חו מִ‏ פְ‏ נֵ‏ י אַ‏ בְ‏ שָ‏ לום בְ‏ נו writing: an editorial description of the circumstances of(“when he fled from Absalom, his son”). The inscription implies that the psalmwas written by David in the tenth century B.C. when he fled from Absalom(see 1 Sam 15:13-17:24). “The initial flight from Absalom covered two nights,the first of which could understandably have found David despondent (1, 2)”(Motyer 1994). This suggests that the psalm would have been written on themorning after David’s flight and would mark the turning point in his emotionalstate (cf. Wilcock 2001).89