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

Chapter 3: Methodologydevices to convey its message. Meter, 19 parallelism, patterning and figurativelanguage are all prominent considerations when explicating a psalm.However, the only one of these that would provide a likely basis on which aneditor might consciously juxtapose psalms would be a rich figure of speech,such as a key metaphor serving as a unifying motif. 20 Consequently, exceptfor strong figures of speech, my exegesis does not pay much attention torhetorical strategies in the text.3.4.8 Theological analysisThe final crucial step in the exegetical process is to analyse major theologicalthemes and motifs in the psalms. After link words, shared themes should19 The value of meter as an aid to understanding Hebrew poetry is hotly debated. Opinionsrange from those who consider it to be of great value (e.g., Freedman 1972; Howard 1997) tothose who deny that it has any value (e.g., Longman 1982 and 1988).20 In his analysis of literary relationships between the Kingship of Yahweh psalms, DavidHoward (1997) gave some credence to meter as a factor worth considering. However, unlikesome forms of English poetry in which meter plays a prominent role, no study of Hebrewpoetry has revealed any fixed metrical basis for the construction of Hebrew poems (so Alter1981; Longman 1982; 1988). It seems that meter was, at best, a relatively minor factor inHebrew poetry and therefore not a likely basis for the arrangement of a group of psalms.78