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

Chapter 6: Composition of Psalms 3-8perfect pattern quite appealing. I shall examine the merits of this hypothesisbelow (see §6.2.1).What can reasonably be concluded from the headings?1) Psalms 4-6 form a trio of psalms that previously belonged to the musicdirector’s collection and were inserted into the final arrangement ofBook I as a group. The rationale for placing this trio here lies in theexceptionally strong verbal and thematic links between Psalms 3 and4.2) The headings of Psalms 3 and 7 are strikingly similar to each other andcompletely dissimilar to all other headings in Book I. These two psalmsform a kind of “frame” around Psalms 4-6. It leads one to wonderwhether this framing is intentional or unintentional. If intentional, eitherPsalm 7 was added to create the frame or Psalms 3 and 7 werepreviously juxtaposed and Psalms 4-6 were inserted between them.3) As a rule, the compilers attempted to keep מִ‏ זְ‏ מוש psalms together. Theyalso tried to keep ַ ֵ לַ‏ מְ‏ נַ‏ psalms together. Since Psalm 7, which isneither a מִ‏ זְ‏ מוש nor a ַ ֵ לַ‏ מְ‏ נַ‏ psalm, divides a group of מִ‏ זְ‏ מוש psalms (Pss3-9/10) and a group of ַ ֵ לַ‏ מְ‏ נַ‏ psalms (Pss 4-14), its position in thiscollection calls for an explanation.243