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

Chapter 5: Concatenation in Psalms 3-8significance is reduced by the fact that in Psalms 5 and 6 it is used in the fixedphrase פֹףֲ‏ לֵ‏ י אָ‏ וֶ‏ ן (“evildoers”), whereas in Psalm 7 it is used in a very differentidiom, יְחַ‏ בֶ‏ ל־אָ‏ וֶ‏ ן (“he conceives evil”). חָ‏ לַ‏ צ (44:12:2) is not a significant linkbecause it occurs in the sense “deliver” in Psalm 6:2, but “plunder” in Psalm7:5. The allusions to God’s “anger” in 6:2 and 7:7 present a striking contrast(see below), but אַ‏ פ (277:35:2) is too common a term to attribute muchsignificance to its occurrence in both psalms. יָדָ‏ ה (111:67:2), “to give thanks”,is also too common to provide a striking link. Although יָשַ‏ ע (205:57:4) iscommon, the exact form הושִ‏ יףֵ‏ נִ‏ י (12:11:3), Hiphil imperative masculine singularwith 1cs suffix, occurs in 3:8, 6:5 and 7:2 within my corpus. In 3:8 and 7:2, theappeal is for deliverance from enemies, but in 6:5 the “enemy” is sickness.The most important shared lexeme seems to be קָ‏ שַ‏ ש (26:14:4, “enemy”), whichoccurs in 6:8, 7:5 and 7:7 (and 8:3). Psalms 6, 7 and 8 are the only times thisterm occurs in two or more consecutive psalms. The significance of קָ‏ שַ‏ ש isunderlined by the fact that the synonym אָ‏ יַב (283:74:4) also occurs in Psalms6, 7 and 8. On its own, אָ‏ יַב is too common to stand out. However, its close215