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

Chapter 6: Composition of Psalms 3-8their cantata on selected excerpts from each psalm rather than on the psalmas a whole. On the one hand, it is impossible to argue with such an approachsince one can select whatever elements one desires and claim they providethe basis for the arrangement of psalms. On the other hand, this approach ismethodologically suspect since the authority undergirding any suchreconstruction lies solely in the mind of the modern interpreter. The editors ofthe Psalter left no clues of such an agenda. If they had such an agenda, itwould be almost indiscernible to an uninformed 140 reader; therefore, onemight have expected them to leave clear signposts as to their intent (e.g.,additional superscripts), but they left no signposts whatsoever. The fact thatthey left no such evidence means that there is no methodologically sound wayfor a modern interpreter to identify their story-telling objectives by selectingexcerpts from each psalm. Any quest for an unfolding plot across a series ofpsalms must be based on information explicitly presented in the headingsand/or the content of whole psalms. Using this method, I see little evidence ofthe kind of continuity across Psalms 3-8 that might fit naturally into a narrativeplot or a cantata.140 That is, one who does not have inside information, beyond what is evident in the text, intothe editorial objective of the arrangement.286