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

Chapter 5: Concatenation in Psalms 3-8כָ‏ ל־פֹףֲ‏ לֵ‏ י ( evildoers because his enemies are all ‏(שמע plus רול)‏ hear his voice‏.(ףָ‏ וֶ‏ ןis derived שושֵ‏ ש similarity. (6:8) represent another point of קושְ‏ שָ‏ י (5:9) and שושְ‏ שָ‏ יfrom a root meaning “to look, to watch” (Hamilton 1999:913). In the Psalter, itis used to describe enemies who lie in wait, watching for an opportunity to traptheir victim (see §4.3.5). The homonym קושֵ‏ ש is a more general term for“enemy”, yet in Psalm 6 it seems to be used with reference to the psalmist’sfoes who are seeking to exploit the opportunity presented by his illness (see§4.4.5; cf. Mays 1994a, 61). Thus both psalmists perceived a threat fromenemies who were waiting to exploit any opportunity to attack them. In thelight of the significance of קושֵ‏ ש as a link between Psalms 6, 7 and 8 (seechapter 6), I consider this to be an important verbal link.In the early stages of my analysis, I perceived no meaningful relationshipsbetween Psalms 5 and 6 that might have persuaded the editors to bring themtogether. My detailed analysis has changed that perception. There are clearverbal and thematic connections. The headings of the two psalms are sosimilar as to suggest that they both belonged to the same initial group ofיהוה שָ‏ מַ‏ ע רולִ‏ י ‏,כָ‏ ל־פֹףֲ‏ לֵ‏ י ףָ‏ וֶ‏ ן psalms. Shared words, phrases and themes such asand קושֵ‏ ש/שושֵ‏ ש provide plausible grounds on which the editors might havejuxtaposed them within a collection.213