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

Chapter 7: Conclusion7.2.1 Conclusions regarding the concatenation of adjacent psalmsThe first objective was to identify all links between adjacent psalms that mighthave influenced the editors’ decision to juxtapose them. For each pair ofadjacent psalms, I discovered medium to strong evidence of verbal andthematic linkage. In the case of Psalms 3-4, the verbal-thematic links arestrong enough to suggest conclusively that they motivated editors to groupthese psalms. 146 I reached the same conclusion with respect to Psalms 7-8. 147In Psalms 4-5 and 5-6, parallel headings provided the initial basis ofcollection. 148 In terms of the further basis of arrangement, if Psalms 4-5 are146 Persuasive verbal links included (a) the root קַ‏ ש (“adversary” or “adversity”) in the openingverse of each psalm, (b) allusions to “my honour” בודִ‏ י)‏ ‏,(כְ‏ (c) the phrase “many are saying”and ‏(רָ‏ שָ‏ א)‏ “call” (e) the verbs ‏,(שכב וישן)‏ sleep” (d) the hendiadys “I lie down and ‏,(שַ‏ בִ‏ ים אֹמְ‏ שִ‏ ים)‏‏.(אַ‏ ָ ה יְהוָ‏ ה)‏ Lord” occurring together and (f) the exclamation “you, O ‏(ףָ‏ נָ‏ ה)‏ “answer”147 The primary connection lies in similar references to the Lord’s “name” ם)‏ ‏(שֶ‏ strategicallyplaced as a hook word at the end of Psalm 7, the beginning and end of Psalm 8, and thebeginning of Psalm 9/10. This is reinforced by the shared allusions to enemies using the roots9/10. each of which occur in Psalms 6, 7, 8 and ‏,אָ‏ יַב and קשש148 All three psalms share three parallel elements in their headings, namely, “a psalm ofDavid”, “for the director of music” and, most significantly, the name of a musical instrument(either “stringed instruments” or “flutes”).305