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

Chapter 3: MethodologyCraigie (1998). However, unless otherwise indicated, the conclusionsexpressed are my own.3.4.2 Historical reconstructionAttempts to reconstruct the historical details concerning the writing of a psalmare highly subjective. Biblical scholars differ widely in their reconstructionsand often acknowledge that many psalms simply do not contain enough cluesto allow for anything more than a tentative reconstruction. 18 Positive,conclusive identification of the author, the date or the occasion for thecomposition of individual psalms is nearly impossible. Therefore, these18 The absence of helpful historical data in the psalms may be due to an editorial process ofremoving specific historical information in order to make the canonical psalms more suitablefor general use in worship. Scholars call this process “democratising” or “universalising” (e.g.,Mowinckel 1962:8-9; Butler 1984:387-388; Durham 1984:428). Durham (1984:428; emphasisin original) comments, “The psalms in general have undergone a process of democratizationby which psalms bound to quite specific contexts (and in some cases persons) have beenuniversalized to make them applicable in Israel’s worship on a continuing basis.” Acomparison of Psalm 18 with 2 Samuel 22 might represent an example of the process ofdemocratisation. Ross (1985:779) comments on Psalm 18: “The psalm is also recorded in 2Samuel 22 with slight variations. Perhaps some of the wording in 2 Samuel 22 was changedin this psalm for use in public worship, but this cannot be proved.”71