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

Chapter 5: Concatenation in Psalms 3-8(“Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name”). I confidently conclude שִ‏ מְ‏ ‏ָךthat in Psalms 7-9 we have a cluster of three psalms linked by theirreferences to ם־יהוה ‏,שֵ‏ with the focal Psalm 8 framed by the allusions to hisname at the end of Psalm 7 and the beginning of Psalm 9. 117Like Psalms 6 and 7, Psalm 8 contains references to enemies using thewords קשש (26:14:4) and אָ‏ יַב (283:74:4). Psalms 6-8 thus form a chain of threepsalms using identical terminology for enemies. While this might be purecoincidence, it seems unlikely for three reasons. First, nowhere else in thePsalter does קשש occur in even two consecutive psalms. Second, only twicedoes אָ‏ יַב occur in three consecutive psalms, namely, Psalms 41-45 (oneDavidic and four Korahite psalms) and Psalms 54-56 (all Davidic). Third, אָ‏ יַב isalso used in Psalm 9 and קשש in Psalm 10. Since Psalms 9-10 were originallya single acrostic poem, 118 we have a chain of four consecutive psalms using117 After completing this chapter, I discovered an online article by Professor Labuschagne(2007) in which he too observes the use of “name” as a key word in Psalms 7:18, 8:1 [sic] and10, and 9:3 and 11, used to joint Psalms 7, 8 and 9.118 In the Septuagint, Psalms 9-10 are a single psalm. In the Hebrew text, they form a singleacrostic poem. There is a widespread consensus amongst modern scholars (e.g., Bratcherand Reyburn 1991; Brueggemann 1991b; Motyer 1994; Craigie 1998; Broyles 1999; Strugnell223