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

Chapter 5: Concatenation in Psalms 3-85.5.3 Basis of arrangementLiterary and thematic links provide the basis of arrangement. The hook wordsaddressing Yahweh) serve as the primary basis for the ‏,שִ‏ מְ‏ ‏ָך (or שֵ‏ ם־יהוהplacement of Psalm 8, linking it to the end of Psalm 7 and the beginning ofPsalm 9. This link is strengthened by three sub-themes: (a) allusions toenemies as קשש and ‏,איב (b) the Lord’s majestic authority over all the earth and(c) the Lord’s vindication of those who are innocent and defenceless andweak against fierce enemies.This judgement regarding the basis of arrangement is confirmed by theobservation that Psalm 9 is a sister poem to Psalm 7. Psalm 9 echoes all themajor themes of Psalm 7 (e.g., preponderance of judgement and justicerelated terminology, Yahweh as righteous Judge, allusions to enemies,singing praise to the name of the Lord Most High), developing those themesin the reverse order, that is, whereas Psalm 7 moves from lament to praise,Psalm 9 moves from praise to lament. These observations make is probablethat Psalm 8 was inserted between Psalms 7 and 9 because of its word linksto both of them.These brief observations of the similarities between Psalms 7 and 9 raisesome doubt as to whether it was correct to end the corpus of study at Psalm8. Nevertheless, I am persuaded that Psalm 8 does provide a natural terminal226