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

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8627:51:3, v. 2b) “is frequently used in martial contexts” (Coppes 1999:793; cf.HALOT 1999, s.v. ‏,רום §4), referring to arising for battle—both preparing forand entering into it. It occurs twice in Psalm 3, once of the psalmist’s enemies“rising against him” (v. 2b), perhaps implying they are preparing for battleagainst him, and once in his plea for Yahweh to arise ה יְהוָ‏ ה)‏ ‏,רּומָ‏ v. 8a). Theallusion to thousands “who have set themselves against me all around” (v. 7)seems to allude to an army arrayed against the psalmist (so Bratcher andReyburn 1991:38; VanGemeren 1991:77; Rawlinson 2004:17-18). The finalallusion uses the most common word for “enemy” יַב)‏ ‏(אָ‏ in the Psalter.Yahweh too is portrayed in military language. 28 The psalmist calls him “ashield about me” ( גֵ‏ ן בַ‏ ףֲ‏ דִ‏ י ‏;מָ‏ v. 4a). In the Psalter, 15 of the 19 references to“shield” ‏,מָ‏ גֵ‏ ן)‏ 60:19:2) refer to the Lord as a shield (personal calculation). Onlyhere, however, is מָ‏ גֵ‏ ן (a small, round shield; see Anderson 1972:72; Keel1985:224; Smith 1999:169; used metaphorically for “protection”, HALOT1999:545, s.v. 4) collocated with בַ‏ ףַ‏ ד (“around”, 104:4:1) to create an unusualmore specific figures are based on a search using the Andersen-Forbes Analysed Text(Anderson and Forbes 2005).28 For detailed studies of Yahweh as Warrior, see Craigie (1969; 1978), Janzen (1975), Lind(1980), Kang (1989) and Brettler (1993).99