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

Chapter 5Concatenation in Psalms 3-8The objective of this study is to determine the editorial rationale for thearrangement of Psalms 3-8. This chapter and the one following constitute theheart of the study, a detailed analysis of the links between these psalms thatmay have provided the editorial rationale for their arrangement. This chapteranalyses the links between pairs of adjacent psalms, while the followingchapter explores relationships across the entire selected corpus, Psalms 3-8.An analysis of the links between adjacent psalms is the logical starting pointfor an enquiry into the editorial rationale for the arrangement of a group ofpsalms because editors are most likely to be conscious of verbal or thematiclinks when juxtaposing neighbouring psalms. The probability of sharedterminology, in particular, being intentional as opposed to coincidental ishighest when studying adjacent psalms.180