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

Chapter 6: Composition of Psalms 3-8psalms. 122 This reflects a clear tendency to group מִ‏ זְ‏ מוש psalms (see Wilson1985a; McFall 2000). 123 With reference to the corpus under investigation, itמִ‏ זְ‏ מוש-‏non singles out Psalm 7 as the odd member of the group, the onlypsalm among Psalms 3-9/10. The implication is that genre considerationswere a factor in the grouping of psalms, but they were not the overarchingconsideration. Given the clear tendency to cluster מִ‏ זְ‏ מוש psalms, the editorsmust have had a good reason for inserting a שִ‏ ‏ּגָ‏ יון psalm (Psalm 7 is the only8-9/10). psalms (3-6 and מִ‏ זְ‏ מוש psalm in the Psalter) in amongst six שִ‏ ‏ּגָ‏ יוןThird, Psalms 4-6 form a heading-defined trio of psalms. Their headings arevirtually identical.122 Clusters include Psalms 3-6, 8-9, 12-13, 19-24, 29-31, 38-41, 47-51, 62-68, 75-77, 79-80,82-85, 87-88, 100-101, 108-110 and 139-141. In all, we have one cluster of seven, one of six,one of five, three of four, four of three and five pairs.123 McFall (2000) argues for a four-stage sorting process in the arrangement of the Psalter.The four stages he proposes are by (a) author, (b) preponderance of divine names (whetherthemes. (c) genre (primarily in Book II) and (d) shared words or ‏,(אֱ‏ ‏ֹלהִ‏ ים or יחוה235