PSALM 74
STUDIES IN CONTENT, STRUCTURE,
CONTEXT, AND MEANING
by
Richard W. Engle
Submitted in partial
fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Theology in
Grace
Theological Seminary
May 1987
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt,
Title: PSALM
74: STUDIES IN CONTENT, STRUCTURE, CONTEXT
AND
MEANING
Author: Richard W. Engle
Degree: Doctor of Theology
Date: May,
1987
Advisers:
Dr. John. Davis (chairman) Dr. John Whitcomb , Dr. George Zemek
Building on the premise that
"all scripture is
profitable"
and noting that communal lament psalms in gen-
eral
and Psalm 74 in particular have had little definitive
treatment
by conservatives, this work seeks to identify the
role
of Psalm 74 in the community which produced it. This
process
is basic for discerning its subsequent usefulness.
The
proposition of the study is: the present significance
of
Psalm 74 is best articulated on the basis of careful
attention
to the content, structure, and function as indi-
cated
by its own text and context.
Chapters one and two develop a
comprehensive
acquaintance
with the vocabulary, syntax, and structure of
the
psalm. An initial accusatory "why?" sets the tone.
Freighted
imperatives bracketing a "hymn" (vv. 12-17)
indirectly
indict God for not intervening against "enemy"
devastation
of the temple mount. The psalm closes remind-
ing
God of prolonged inaction against His enemies. The
structure
reveals that Psalm 74 has used common language and
motifs
in an uncommon way, thereby producing a prayer that
reflects
a severe disorientation towards God. Chapters
three
and four, concerning context, show that Psalm 74
reflects
a strikingly more dynamic relationship between God
and
community than is the case in polytheistic Sumerian city
laments.
Unique features also surfaced in comparing
selected
biblical psalms with Psalm 74. While Asaph psalms
generally
vindicate God's justice, Psalm 74 raises an
unrelieved
question about it. Also, as a maskil psalm,
i.e.,
instructive (versus skillful) psalm, Psalm 74 suggests
several
insights into the spiritual condition of an
individual
or community under severe distress. In their
diminishing
faith they neither acknowledge personal sin nor
applaud
God's mercy.
The study concludes by outlining the
community's
views
about God and itself as indicated by the psalm's lan-
guage,
structure, and tone. It observes that since Psalm 74
ends
with no clear anticipation of resolution of its con-
cerns,
the interpreter must articulate the enduring values
of
Psalm 74 by referring to similar, but resolved, tensions
in
other biblical psalms. Finally, Psalm 74 is assessed
from
New Testament perspectives (i.e., Heb 4:16; 1 Cor 10-
12-14;
Matt 6:9-13).
Accepted by the Faculty of
Grace Theological Seminary
in partial fulfillment of
requirements for the degree
Doctor
of Theology
John J. Davis
John C. Whitcomb
George J. Zemek
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACCEPTANCE
PAGE iv
TABLE
OF CONTENTS v
LIST
OF ABBREVIATIONS ix
INTRODUCTION
1
The Problematic Nature of Psalm 74 2
The Purpose and Proposition of This
Study 3
The Need for This Study 4
The Procedure for the Study 6
Chapter one 6
Chapter two 6
Chapter three 6
Chapter four 7
Chapter five and conclusions 7
Chapter
I.
THE CONTENT OF PSALM 74 8
Introduction to the Chapter 8
Verse 1 10
Verse
2 21
Verse 3 33
Verse 4 43
Verse 5 47
Verse 6 49
Verse 7 51
Verse 8 54
Verse 9 60
Verse 10
67
Verse 11
72
Verse 12
75
Verse 13
80
Verse 14
89
Verse 15
95
Verse 16
99
Verse 17
101
Verse 18
104
Verse 19
107
Verse 20
115
v
Verse 21 124
Verse 22 136
Verse 23 143
A Summary of findings for Chapter
One 148
II.
THE STRUCTURE OF PSALM 74 152
A Definition of Structure 152
Previous Proposed Definitions 155
Gene Tucker 155
James Muilenburg 157
Claus Westermann 158
Graeme E. Sharrock 158
William A. Young 159
Meir Weiss 160
A Working Definition 161
Past Attempts to Express the Structure
of Psalm 74 162
Two or Three Divisions in the Psalm 163
Four Divisions in the Psalm 164
Meir Weiss 164
William A. Young 166
Five Divisions in the Psalm 167
Folker Willesen 167
Claus Westermann 169
J. P. M. van. der Ploeg 170
Graeme E. Sharrock 171
An Analysis of the Structure of Psalm 74
173
A Translation of Psalm 74 173
Verses 1-3: Introduction 175
Structure of verses 1-3 175
A Summary 180
Verses 4-11: The Present Crisis 181
Structure of verses 4-7 181
Structure of verses 8-9 187
Structure of verses
10-11 189
A Summary 191
Verses 12-17: Past Victories 192
Structure of verses
12-17 192
A summary 197
Verses 18-23: Urgent Pleas 199
Structure of verse 18 199
Structure of verses
19-21 200
Structure of verses
22-23 204
A Summary 208
A Summary Concerning the Structure of
Psalm 74 209
A Summary of Past Proposals 209
Weiss and Young 209
Sharrock 210
van der Ploeg 210
vi
A Summary of the Present
Proposal 211
A working definition 211
A synthesis of findings 212
III.
THE CONTEXT OF PSALM 74: SUMERIAN CITY LAMENTS 214
Purpose and Procedure of Chapter III 214
The Meaning of Context 214
Historical context 214
Biblical context 215
Other contexts 216
Selected
A Sumerian Congregational Lament 217
General Details of Composition 217
Classification of
recensions 217
General Themes Common to Texts A and
Ea 220
Themes in texts A and Ea
220
Relationships to Psalm
74 221
Comparisons of Texts G and Haa:
Evidence of adatation 221
Comparisons Between Psalm 74 and
"Oh Angry Sea" 223
Sumerian City Laments up to the Fall of
Ur III 224
A Lament Concerning Lagas 224
Content 224
Style 225
Theology 226
From Urukagina of Lagas to Ibbi-Sin
of
Lamentation over the
Destruction of
A Survey of the Poem 228
Comparison of a "Lamentation
over the Destruction of
Structure 231
Theology 233
A Summary of Contributions of Chapter III
to Studies in Psalm 74 236
Contributions
from "Oh Angry Sea" 236
Contributions from the
"Lamentations over the Destruction of
IV.
THE CONTEXT OF PSALM 74: BIBLICAL PSALMS 238
Introduction 238
Communal
Lament Psalms 239
Introduction
239
Occasions which call for
public laments 239
1 Chronicles 16:1-5 and
lament psalms 240
Characteristics of
communal lament psalms 243
Psalm 44 243
Synthesis of content 243
vii
Similarities and differences between
Psalm 74 and 44 245
Contributions to an understanding of
Psalm 74 246
Psalm 60 247
Synthesis of content 247
Similarities and differences between
Psalms 74: and 60 248
Contributions to an understanding of
Psalm 74 249
Psalm 79 249
Synthesis of content 249
Similarities and differences between
Psalms 74 and 79 252
Contributions to an understanding of
Psalm 74 253
Psalm 80 254
Synthesis of content 254
Similarities and differences between
Psalms 74 and 80 255
Contributions to an understanding of
Psalm 74 256
Asaph Psalms 256
Introduction 256
1 Chronicles 16:4 and
Asaph Psalms 256
Superscriptions to Asaph
Psalms 258
Psalm
50 259
Location and nature of
Psalm 50 259
Synthesis of content 260
Contributions to an
understanding of Psalm 74 260
Psalms 73 and 75 261
Synthesis of content 261
Contributions of Psalms
73 and 75 to an understanding
of Psalm 74 262
A Survey of Remaining Asaph Psalms 264
Psalm 76 264
Psalm 77 266
Psalm 81 267
Psalm 82 268
Psalm 83 268
A summary of
contributions of Psalms 76, 77, and 81-83
to an
understanding of Psalm 74 269
Maskil Psalms 270
lykWm as a Psalm Title 270
Past proposals as to
meaning 270
The book of Proverbs and
the meaning of lykWm 273
Conclusion 277
Psalm 44 278
The context of Psalm 44 278
viii
How Psalm 44 is a
didactic poem 279
Psalm 78 279
The didactic character
of Psalm 78 279
The explicit lessons of
Psalm 78 280
Psalm 88 280
Synthesis of content 280
Psalm 88 compared to
Psalm 74 280
How Psalm 88 is a
didactic poem 281
Psalm 89 282
Synthesis of content 282
Comparison of Psalm 89
to Psalm 74 283
How Psalm 89 is a
didactic poem 283
Psalm 137, Jeremiah 24, and Exilic
Relationship to Psalm 74
284
Psalm 137 284
A Survey of the Psalm 284
Similarities and differences
between Psalms 74 and 137 288
Jeremiah 24 289
The placement of
Jeremiah 24 289
The good figs as the
exiles 290
The bad figs as
resisting exile 291
Jeremiah 24: A possible meeting
point for Psalms 137 and 74 292
Exilic Judah and Mixed
Interests Among Its
Population
in
Exilic factions during
the seige of 588 B.C 293
Factions relating to
Gedaliah's assassination 294
Contributions of Studies in Psalm
137, Jeremiah 24, and
Exilic
A Note About Possible Liturgical Use of Psalm
74 296
A Summary of Contributions of Communal Lament
Psalms, Asaph
Psalms, and Maskil Psalms to an Understanding
of Psalm 74 299
Communal
Lament Psalms 299
Psalm
44 299
Psalm
60 299
Psalm 79 299
Psalm 80 300
Asaph Psalms 300
Psalm 50 300
Psalms 73 and 75 301
Psalms 76, 77, 82-83 301
Maskil Psalms 302
Psalms 32, 78, 88-89 302
Psalm 74 303
ix
V.
THE MEANING OF PSALM 74 304
The Meaning of Psalm 74 Based upon
Exegesis and
Structure 304
Verses 1, 10-11 and 20: An Axis for
Psalm 74 304
What the community
affirms about God 305
What the community
affirms about itself 306
Verses 2 and 12-17: A Recalling of
the
Distant Past 307
What the community
affirms about God 307
What the community
affirms about itself 309
Verse 3: What the Psalmist Believes
about God 310
Verses 4-11: Implications and
Assumptions about God by
the Community 310
Verses 4-7 310
Verses 8-9 311
Verses 10-11 311
Verses 18-23: Implications by the
Community about God and Itself 312
Concerning God 312
Concerning the community
312
The Meaning of Psalm 74 Based upon
Surveys in Selected
The Meaning of Psalm 74 Based upon
Selected Studies in
Other Biblical Psalms 314
A comparison of Psalm 74
with communal lament psalms and
Asaph psalms
314
A comparison of Psalm 74
with maskil psalms 315
A general statement 316
An assessment of the
prayer of Psalm 74 fromNew
Testament
perspectives 316
Hebrews 4:16 316
1 Corinthians 10:13 317
Matthew 6:9-13 317
Summary and conclusions 318
Concerning Content and
Structure 318
Concerning Sumerian Laments
319
Concerning Biblical
Psalms 319
Concerning Meaning 320
BIBLIOGRAPHY
OF WORKS CITED 322
x
LIST OF
ABBREVIATIONS
AB Anchor
Bible
AM A.
L. Oppenheim, Ancient
ANE W.
W. Hallo and W. K. Simpson, The Ancient
Near East
ANET J.
B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern
Texts
AUSS
b. Babylonian
Talmud
BDB F.
Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew
and
English Lexicon of the Old Testament
BH Biblical
Hebrew
BHS Biblia
hebraica stuttgartensia
BSac Bibliotheca
Sacra
BZAW Beihefte
zur ZAW
ca. approximately
CAD The
Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute
of the
CBQ Catholic
Biblical Quarterly
CHJI W.
D. Davies, L. Finkelstein (eds.), The
Cambrdige
History of Judaism: Vol. I, Introduction, The
Persian Period.
CMHE F. M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic
CPAI A.
R. Johnson, The Cultic Prophet in Ancient
CPIP A.
R. Johnson, The Cultic Prophet and
CPTOT J. Barr, Comparative
Philology and the Text of the
Old Testament
xi
DNTT C. Brown (ed.),
Dictionary of New Testament Theology
DWEI P.
D. Miller, The Divine Warrior in Early
ExpTim Expository
Times
GKC Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, ed. E.
Kautzsch, tr.
A. E. Cowley
GNB Good
News Bible
HB Hebrew
Bible
IBH T.
0. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
ICC International
Critical Commentary
ILC J.
Int Interpretation
JB
JSOT Journal
for the Study of the Old Testament
JBL Journal
of Biblical Literature
JSS Journal
of Semitic Studies
JTS Journal
of Theological Studies
KB L.
Koehler and W. Baumbartner, Lexicon in
Veteris Testamenti
libros
KJV King
James Version
LSJ Liddell-Scott-Jones,
Greek-English Lexicon
LXX Septuagint
m. Mishnah
MT Masoretic Text
NA Neo-Assyrian
NAB New
American Bible
NASB New
American Standard Bible
NB Neo-Babylonian
xii
NCBC R.
E. Clement, M. Black (eds.), New Century
Bible Commentary
NCOT A.
Even-Shoshan, A New Concordance of the
Old Testament
NIV New
International Version
NJPS New
Jewish Publication Society Bible
OTL G.
Wright, J. Bright, J. Barr, P. Ackroyd. (eds.), Old Testament
Library
OTS Oud
Testamentische Studien
PIW S.
Mowinckel, Psalms in
PLP C.
Westermann, Praise & Lament in the
Psalms
RHPR Revue
d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses
RSV Revised
Standard Version
S Seleucid
s The Syriac
Version
SBLASP Society of Biblical Literature
Abstracts and
Seminar Papers
SKL E.
R. Matson, A Word-Study of SKL and Its
Application to the Maskilim
SUBH W. L. Holladay, The
Root SUBH in the Old Testament
TB Tyndale
Bulletin
TDNT G. Kittel and G.
Friedrick (eds.), Theological
Dictionary of the New
Testament
TDOT G. Botterweck,, H.
Ringgren (eds.), Theological
Dictionary of the Old
Testament
TOT
TWOT R. L. Harris, G. L.
Archer, Jr., B. K. Waltke
(eds.),
Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
xiii
UT C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic
Textbook
VT Vetus Testamentum
VTSup Vetus Testamentum, Supplements
WUS J.
Aistleitner, Worterbuch der Ugaritischen
Sprache
ZAW Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft
ZDPV Zeitschrift
des deutschen Palastina-Vereins
xiv
INTRODUCTION
"Life is tough but God is good."1
These two clauses
dramatize the predicament of
the redeemed sinner. The terms
of the contrast accord well
with the repetitious movement
from lament to praise
throughout the biblical psalter. The
Hebrew title of the book, Tehillim, indicates that the
primary intent of "the
book as a whole is to render praise
to God."2
Exodus 15, one of
strikes this same movement.
Psalm 74 is different. This Psalm lacks both an
explicit vow to praise and a
direct expression of praise. 3
In a book so dominated by the
praise theme, one should ask
how Psalm 74 fits its canonical
context and how it functions
as a worship piece.
Psalm 74 is a communal lament, of which there are at
least five others.4
This Psalm is one of the longest of its
1Ronald B. Allen, Praise: A Matter of Life and
Breath (Nashville: Thomas Nelson,
Publishers, 1980), pp.
33-34.
2Paul D. Miller,
"Enthroned on the Praises of
3Verses 12-17 have strong
elements of a hymn but
they
may not be functioning in this psalm as an unsullied
expression
of praise.
4Pss 44, 60, 79, 80, 137.
1
2
type and will be employed in
this thesis as a reference
point1 to which
other biblical communal laments may be
compared.
The Problematic Nature of Psalm 74
A cursory reading of Psalms 44, 74, and 79 indicates
several features common to all
three psalms. However, a
more careful consideration of
how these psalms arrange the
material common to each of them
suggests a rather different
orientation for Psalm 74 in
comparison with the other two
psalms. Further, there are some
subtle differences of
vocabulary between Psalm 74 on
the one hand and Psalms 44
and 79 on the other. Comparison
of Psalms 60 and 80 with
Psalm 74 tend to confirm the
distinctiveness of Psalm 74
among these communal lament
psalms.
The community in Psalm 74 seems to be struggling
between embracing God in an
appropriate relationship and
accusing God of being less than
faithful to His covenant.
The psalm, as such, comes down
on the side of the latter and
the tension, characteristic of
prayers of complaint, is not
resolved. This lack of
resolution, and the absence of
attitudes on the part of the
suppliant which can lead to
1Psalm 74 has or implies
all of the parts generally
considered
to comprise the communal lament genre. Its
substantial
message and the way it uses the parts is quite
different
from the thrust of other biblical communal
laments. See Chapter II below.
3
resolution, make Psalm 74
uncharacteristic of other psalms
with which it shares obvious
commonalities.
In most psalms of complaint, the one who prays is at
least on the way to a posture
of forthright praise of God.
The believing community in any
dispensation can readily
relate to this kind of a psalm.1
Many have seen the "hymn"
section of Psalm 74 (i.e., vv.
12-17) as the psalm's
redeeming feature. A study of
the structure of the psalm
challenges this notion. If the
hymn is not really praise to
God, then one wonders how to
express the meaning and signi-
ficance of the Psalm both for
its original hearers and for
the subsequent believing
community, which affirms the value
of all the Scriptures. This
dissertation seeks to articulate
legitimate significances of
Psalm 74 for believers today.
The Purpose and Proposition of
This Study
The purpose of this thesis is to determine the role
of Psalm 74 in the community
which produced it. A determi-
nation of the role of Psalm 74
in its canonical context is
foundational for suggesting its
usefulness in post-biblical
times.
The proposition of this study is: The present
significance of Psalm 74 is
best articulated on the basis of
1Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms
(Minneapolis:
Augsburg Publishing House, 1984), p. 78
(hereafter
cited as Brueggemann, Psalms).
Brueggemann
applies the description to
Psalm 88.
4
careful attention to its
content, structure, and function as
indicated by its own text and
context. Defense of this
proposition will proceed as
indicated below under "Procedure
for the Study."
The Need for This
Study
Three recent journals have devoted an entire issue
to Psalm studies.1
Of the several hundred references to
specific Psalms passages, these
issues combine to cite only
a few texts from community
lament psalms. One issue devotes
an article to the New Testament
use of the psalms and cites
no passage from
"pure" communal laments. Among the three
issues, there are about four
citations of these psalms.
Books on psalms studies (excluding commentaries),
Bible dictionaries, and
encyclopedias produced in the post-
Gunkel era have a few
paragraphs on communal laments. To
this writer's knowledge, there
is no serious published work
on this category of psalms.
Individual psalms in this group
have received some attention in
journal articles, multi-
authored works, master's
theses, and doctoral dissertations.
In terms of individual psalms, attention has been
directed to Psalms 1, 23, 119,
and several psalms commonly
1 Paul J. Achtemeir ed. Int 39:1 (January 1985);
Russell
H. Dilday, editor-in-chief, Southwestern
Journal of
Theology 27:1 (Fall 11984); John
T. Willis, "Great Truths in
the
Psalms" The Seminary Review 31:1
(March 1985); the three
articles in this latter issue
develop the title.
5
recognized as messianic. With
regard to categories and
classifications of psalms,
attention has been directed
towards individual laments,
thanksgivings, and hymns.
Psalm 74 has perhaps received more attention than
other psalms thought to be
national laments. With the
exception of Young's
dissertation,1 treatments occur in
articles and short notes in
journals and in brief essays in
multi-authored works. Entrees
in literature indices for
communal laments or individual
psalms in that category are
sparse. One reason for scarcity
of direct attention to
these passages may be that the
New Testament appears to make
sparse use of the psalms of
interest to this study.2
Psalm 74 and its companions
tend to reflect a seemingly
inappropriate spirit towards
God. Perhaps they are not
perceived as
attractive.
No commentator nor critic has questioned whether
these psalms belong in the canon
of Scripture. Since the
New Testament values all of the
Old Testament,3 this writer
1William Arthur Young,
"Psalm 74: A Methodological
and
Exegetical Study" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of
75-13,
849) (hereafter cited as Young, "Psalm 74"). Dif-
ferences
between the present work and Young's dissertation
will
be evident.
2Aland lists Ps 44:22
(Rom 8:36), Ps 74:2 (Acts
20:28);
Ps 79:1 (Luke 21:24, Rev 11:2), 3 (Rev 16:6), 6 (1
Thess
4:5, 2 Thess 1:8), 10 (Rev 6:10; 19:2); Ps 137:8 (Rev
18:6)
in Kurt Aland, et al. The Greek New
Testament 2nd ed.
(Stuttgart:
Wurtemberg Bible Society, 1966), pp. 907-09.
3Matt 5:17-18, 2 Tim 3:16.
6
assumes it is the believer's
responsibility to discern
appropriate values in all of
the Scriptures. These values
should be based upon
hermeneutically sound procedures for
understanding the target
passage. This dissertation seeks
to help fill the lacuna with
reference to Psalm 74 so that
the believer can profit from
this text, and similar texts in
ways implied in 2 Timothy
3:16-17.
The Procedure for This Study
Chapter one
This study will first develop the content of Psalm
74 along grammatical and
syntactical lines. This will
generate basic acquaintance
with the language of the psalm.
The Hebrew text will be pointed
throughout only where
tial for clarity. Verse numbers
are from BHS.
Chapter
two
Chapter two will explore the structure and contours
of the psalm. Form-critical and
rhetorical criticism
procedures will be evaluated
for contributions which they
make to sensing the emphases
and moods of the psalm since
the time of its composition.
The approaches of Westermann
and Weiss will especially be
noted.
Chapters three
and four
Chapters three and four will treat the context of
the psalm. Chapter three begins
by noting the complexity of
7
the phenomenon
"context." Due to this complexity, these
chapters must deal selectively
with the matter. Chapter
three briefly surveys aspects
of Sumerian city laments by
focusing upon some details in
two laments. One of these was
translated by Raphael Kutscher,
"a-ab-ba hu-luh-ha"; the
second lament,
"Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer
and
compositions demonstrate the
nature and long history of
formal religious response to
national disaster in the Near
East.
Chapter four will focus on a selection of biblical
psalms from each of three classifications,
i.e., communal
lament psalms and Asaph and
Maskil psalms. The first is a
genre to which Psalm 74
belongs. The other two classes are
indicated by the title with
Psalm 74. By focusing upon
these materials and comparing
them to Psalm 74, the dynamic
"humanness" and
uniqueness of the psalm becomes sharper than
if the comparisons were not
made.
Chapter five and
Conclusions
Chapter five will discuss the meaning of the psalm
"then" and
"now." It will attempt to synthesize findings
from the previous chapters and
draw out implications. The
concluding pages will briefly
review the entire dissertation
and summarize factors which
contribute to a full apprecia-
tion of Psalm 74.
CHAPTER I
THE CONTENT OF PSALM 74
Introduction to the Chapter
The purpose of this chapter is to develop a detailed
familiarity with the
vocabulary, grammar, and syntax of
Psalm 74. It is assumed that this
is the foundation for any
discussion about the meaning of
a psalm as a unit and for
suggestions about its
significance in the biblical canon.
The approach will employ
procedures of a grammatical-
historical hermeneutic.
There are numerous translation challenges in the
psalm but the state of the text
itself is stable. Text-
critical concerns arise more
from unusual words or construc-
tions than from variant text
traditions. Suggestions for
emendation cluster around
verses 3a, 5-6, and 12. Briggs
suggests that these contain
glosses, so he simply deletes
the relevant words.1
Others attempt emendation. This study
will address these matters as
they arise.
1Charles August and Emily
Grace Briggs, A Critical
and Exegetical
Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 2 vols.,
ICC
(Edinburgh: T and T Clark, 1907), 2:151 (hereafter
cited as Briggs, Psalms).
8
9
Several passages use common terms in unusual ways
(e.g., v. 1, hml; vv. 4, 23, jyrrc; v.
12, yklm; v. 18,
hvhy). The exegesis suggests implications of these
terms
for understanding the psalm.
Syntactical and lexical
studies contribute to an
appreciation of the mood and con-
cerns of the inner world of
this psalm.1 At the same time,
these studies encourage
comparison of other biblical
materials with Psalm 74.
This chapter also notices arrangement and inter-
relationships of words where
these factors assist in clar-
ifying the meaning of a given
verse. On this dimension as
well as others, there is of
necessity, some repetition
between this chapter and
succeeding chapters. Such overlap
occurs in order to enhance the
clarity of the discussion at
the relevant point. Several
footnote references in subse-
quent chapters will cite
matters developed in this chapter.
1Meir Weiss, The Bible From Within: The Method of
Total Interpretation (Jerusalem: The Magnes
Press, 1984),
pp.
24-26, (hereafter cited as Weiss, The
Bible). Here
Weiss
summarizes what he means by the totality of a poem.
This
chapter on content implements in some measure Weiss's
"imperative
to pay close attention to the text, to every
word,
to the word-order and syntax, to synonyms and
metaphors
[and] to unusual syntactical phenomena." This is
necessary
in order to gain a sense of that of which the
"whole" consists (for quoted material
see ibid., p. 26).
10
Verse
1
Hcnl tHnz Myhlx hml
:jtyfrm Nxcb jpx NWfy
Why,
Oh God, are you perpetually angry?
Why
does your anger smoke against
the sheep of your pasturing?
hml
The urgency of the psalmist stands out as he begins
with an accusatory question, hml.1 When man addresses hml
to God, the question almost
always concerns the apparent
contradiction between God's
calling and His behavior in
relation to Israel.2
Of the forty-six times in which man so
addresses God, most of these
contexts cast reproach upon God
for this experience of
contradiction.3
1See Young, "Psalm
74." Young implies that the
complaint
or reproach notion is inherent in hml. In this,
he
follows Alfred E. Jepsen, "Warum? Eine lexicalisch and
theologische
Studie," in Das Ferne und Nahe Wort,
ed. Fritz
Maass,
BZAW, No. 105 (Bonne: Topelmann, 1967), pp. 106-13
(hereafter
cited as Jepson, "Warum?"). Jepsen's semantic
distinction
between hml
and fvdm
is too categorical. The
idea
of accusation or complaint arises rather from the
context.
2Jepsen,
"Warum?," pp. 106-08. Jepsen seeks to
distinguish
hml for
questions full of reprimand and reproach
(Tadel
and Vorwurf, p. 106) , from fvdm for questions seeking
information
with which he associates amazement or compassion
(Verwunderung, Teilnahme, pp. 107-08).
3Ibid., p. 108. Seventeen
of the forty-six times
where
hml
is so used are in the book of Psalms. Curiously,
fvdm does not occur in the Psalter. James Barr has
tabulated
the uses of hml, fvdm, hm in the Hebrew Bible
11
For Barr, "The most striking fact about 'Why?' in
biblical Hebrew is that it is
overwhelmingly a term of
direct speech."1
This factor can be easily ignored even in
a careful analysis of Psalm
literature. For the ten "Why?"
questions addressed to God in
the psalms, "the psalmists
characteristically complain that
God has neglected them, not
that He has been excessively
generous. . . ."2 This is true
in a high degree for Psalm 74,
but to a lesser degree in
some other "Why?"
psalms. In Psalm 44 the psalmist affirms
his innocence (Ps 44:17ff) and
then asks God "Awake! Do not
he angry perpetually. Why do
you hide your face? . . ."3
Psalm 79 has a virtual
confession of sin (Ps 79:8-9) then
(hereafter
cited throughout this study as HB) in James Barr,
"Why?
in Biblical Hebrew" JTS 36:1
(April 1985):1-33
(hereafter
cited as Barr, "Why? in BH"). Barr cites the
figure
17 on page 9. The article includes a critique of
Jepsen's
earlier essay "Warum?" Jepsen tried to maintain
the
issue of motivation as the distinguishing feature
between
fvdm
and hml.
The former seeks information and the
latter
intends to reproach or accuse (See Jepsen, "Warum?,"
pp.
107-08). Barr shows that Jepsen's "prime example, Exod
2:18-20"
where both interrogatives occur ("Why? in BH," p.
2),
can be explained by other than a semantic principle of
selectivity.
Other principles which may dictate word choice
include
style (p. 10), dialect (p. 14), idiolect (i.e.,
individual
speech habits, p. 16) and the type of sentence
(pp.
19ff). Several other factors include negativity, time
reference,
person, and lexical collocations (pp. 24-27).
1Barr, "Why? in
BH," p. 31.
2Ibid., p. 32f. The
figure, 10, excludes indirect
uses
of hml,
e.g., Ps. 2:1, "Why do the nations rage?"
3Ps 44:24f, “. . . jynp-hml :Hcnl Hnzt-lx . . . “
The
likeness to Ps 74:1 is notable.
12
the question "Why should
the Gentiles say, 'Where is their
God'?"1 The
psalmist acknowledges God's previous good hand
in Psalm 80:8ff then asks why
He has recently exposed the
nation to invaders.2
Six times in the HB the divine name in the vocative
immediately follows hml. Psalm 88:15 asks why God is angry
and hiding His face.3
The hml comes after a subdued but
explicit reference to God's dsH and hnvmx. Psalm
10:1 uses
hvhy
hml
in asking why Yahweh is at a distance. This
expression is actually in the
middle of an acrostic psalm
(i.e., Pss 9-10 together) in
which David affirms that Yahweh
is a just judge (Ps 9:8-19) and
that the prosperity of the
wicked will not last (Ps
10:3-15). Three times hml plus
vocative divine name are in
narrative units.4
Psalm 74:1 is the only instance in the HB where the
interrogative and divine name initiate its literary unit.
It is the only lament in which
an accusatory complaint marks
the opening and closing of the
psalm.5
1Ps 79:10.
2Ps 80:13.
3This is similar to Ps
44:24f. In terms of gattung,
Ps
88 is an individual lament and Ps 44 is largely communal
lament.
4Exod 32:11; Num 14:3;
Judg 21:3.
5Ps 88 opens with a brief
expression of confidence
and closes in a similar fashion
to Ps 74.
13
Hcnl tHnz
Often an object is supplied to tHnz because the verb
is considered to be transitive.1
Transitive verbs may be
used absolutely, but some have
both a transitive and
intransitive meaning.2
Psalm 44:10 employs the past tense
narration with the same verb tHnz followed by strong v in
vnmylktv. Hnz here
may be intransitive. The sense may be,
"Yes you are angry and
consequently you have humiliated
us."3 By
comparison, Psalm 43:2 expresses the object,
indicating a transitive sense,
"yntHnz hml,
"Why have you
rejected me."4
Hnz in
Lamentations 2:7 has vHbzm as an
object.
Psalm 44:24, :Hcnl Hnzt lx, reads easily as intransitive,
"Do
not be angry perpetually."
If the transitive notion was
intended, the object could have
been expressed. The two
clauses which follow in verse
25 both have expressed
objects.
Analogies between Psalm 74:1 and 44:24 are obvious.
Some have assumed that the
first common plural object should
1E.g., "us" as
in NASB, KJV.
2Reuven Yaron, "The
Meaning of Zanah," VT 13
(1963):237.
This discussion of Hnz has used ideas from
Yaron's
article.
3In addition to Pss 44:10
and 74:1 other possible
intransitive
uses are Pss 44:24; 77:8; 89:39 and Lam 3:31.
BDB,
p. 276 mentions but does not embrace Akkadian zenu as a
useful
cognate.
4The object is expressed
in Ps 60:3, 12 (=108:12)
where
the form is vntHnz.
14
be implied from the sense of
Psalm 74:1b. In that there are
instances where an object of Hnz is expressed, it seems
reasonable to look for an
intransitive idea in the absence
of an object.1 Hnz as
intransitive should be construed as
an adjectival perfect
The adverbial phrase Hcnl is
ambiguous.3 Cognates
to Hcn occur in Syriac, "to shine, be
illustrious, pre-
eminent, victorious," and
in Arabic "be pure, reliable."4
Thomas suggests that some Old
Testament passages, for the
noun Hcn have, rather an adverbial sense "utterly,
com-
pletely," as a corollary
to the noun concept "pre-eminent."5
He favors the superlative sense
for Psalm 74:3, Hcn tvxwm,
"desolations of the utmost
ruins."6 Ackroyd cites LXX,
ei@j
telo<j in support of this notion.7
1Ps 88:15 has ynmm
jynp rytst ywpn Hnzt tml. ywpn
could
be either direct object or adverbial accusative, "with
me."
The parallelism tends to argue for the former but the
data
is not definitive.
2Adjectival perfect
denotes "the state of the
subject
without explicit reference to a past act, . . ." as
noted
in Bruce K. Waltke, "Hebrew Syntax Notes: A Revision
of
Jouon's Grammaire De L'Hebrew Biblique," unpublished
notes,
n.d., p. 18 (hereafter cited as Waltke, "Syntax").
3Young, "Psalm
74," p. 62. 4BDB, p. 663.
5D. W. Thomas, "The
Use of Hcn
as a Superlative in
Hebrew,"
JSS, I (Spring 1956), 107 (hereafter
cited as
Thomas,
"Hcn")
.
6Ibid.
7Ackroyd, P. R. “Hcn—ei@j
telo<j,"
ExpTim 80 (1968),
p. 126 ( ereafter cited as
Ackroyd, "Hcn").
15
While utterly, completely, or to the end may fit
verse 3, all thirty instances
of Hcnl are best taken as
indicating a condition which
has prevailed forr some time and
now seems without termination.
Whereas Mlvf can have either
a positive or negative
connotation,1 Hcn is
almost always
used with reference to a
negative condition, e.g., "Yahweh
will not forget his poor ones Hcnl" (Ps 9:17).2
"Forever"3 is an abstraction foreign
to the thought
world of the Old Testament. The
HB approaches the notion of
eternity by employing concrete
imagery.4 Thus Hcnl in
Psalm
74:1, 10, and 19 is best
translated "interminably or per-
petually." The first colon
of Psalm 74 may be translated,
"Why, oh God, are you
perpetually angry?"
1For a positive use of Mlvf
see Ps
90:9; it is
parallel
to Hcn
and clearly negative in Isa 57:16.
2Hcnl occurs fourteen times
in the Psalms: 9:7, 19;
10:11;
44:24; 74:1, 10, 19; 77:9; 79:5; and 89:47. These
references
are all from lament psalms or complaint sections
of
mixed psalms. In addition, negative connotations are
obvious
in Pss 49:10, 52:7, and 103:9. Only 68:17 uses
in
a positive setting. Similarly, all uses outside the
Psalms,
e.g., five times in Job are in complaint or
judgment-speech
settings. Hcn in Isa 63:3, 6 is
apparently
a
homograph.
3As in NASB.
4A Theological Word Book of the Bible, s.v„ "Time,
Season,"
by John Marsh, p. 258-67, esp. pp. 265f. See,
e.g.,
hlvf tfbg, "everlasting hills," and Myrh
MrFb
Mlvf-df Mlvfmv . . . vdly, “before the mountains
were
brought
forth . . . even from everlasting to everlasting"
(Gen
49:6 and Ps 90:2).
16
jpx Nwfy
All occurences of the verb Nwf are
Qal.l At the
Sinai event, as part of a
theophany, the mountain Nwf
(smoked).2 Psalm
104, a creation hymn, may recall Sinai
thus identifying both the
covenant stipulations and the
created order with Yahweh.3
David uses the language of
Psalm 104:32 as he petitions
Yahweh to touch the mountains
so that they will smoke; i.e.,
he desires a theophany or
divine intervention in his
behalf.4 He equates theophany
with destruction of his
enemies.
Three remaining uses of the verb have Yahweh or His
Jx, anger,5
as the subject and His covenant people as
object. Yahweh's Jx will smoke against Israelites who wor-
ship foreign gods.6
1Exod 19:18; 20:18; Deut
29:19; Isa 7:7; Pss 74:1,
80:5,
104:32, 144:5.
2Exod 19:18, 20:18. These
passages envelope the
decalogue.
3Commentaries on Ps
104:32 note the theophany but do
not
connect creation and Sinai. See, e.g., A. A. Anderson,
The Book of Psalms, 2 vols., NCBC (
Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1981), 2:725 (hereafter cited as
Anderson,
Psalms), and Mitchell Dahood, Psalms
I (1-50),
Psalms
II (51-100), and Psalms III (101-150), The
Anchor
Bible (
1968,
1970). This citation is from Psalms III, p. 47. The
decalogue
in the context of theophany especially notices
creation.
4Ps 144:5. 5See discussion of Jx below.
6Deut. 29:19.
17
The Asaphic singer of Psalm 80:5 addresses Yahweh in
the vocative and asks, “tnwf ytm df against the prayers of
your people?" Similarly,
the poet in Psalm 74:1 asks,
hml, why
His anger/nostril Nwfy (smokes) against the sheep
of His pasture. The references
from Exodus 19 and 20,
Deuteronomy 29:19, and Psalms
104 and 144 establish a
conceptual background for the use
of Nwf in Psalms 80 and
74.1 These psalms
see Yahweh's anger against the community
as a judgment theophany. The
community perceived the divine
anger in terms of the
terrifying intensity of theophany.
Jx is
used 270 times in the Hebrew Bible of which 44
refer to human anger and 170 to
divine wrath.2 The dual
normally refers to nostrils or
nose (e.g., Gen 2:7). The
singular Jx means nose in two instances (Gen 24:47 and 2
Kgs
19:28). Each of these records
the placing of a ring in a
human nose, but for opposite
reasons. There is no clear
instance where singular rx should be taken as synechdoche,
i.e., nose, for
"face."3 To sum up, over 60 percent of the
1The eighth use of Nwf (Isa 7:14), is not
relevant
to
this discussion.
2Saphir, P. Athyal,
"The Mysterious Wrath of Yahweh"
(Ph.D.
dissertation, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1964),
p.
10 (used by permission of the author). TDOT, s.v. “Jnx,”
by
Elsie Johnson, 1:354.
3The dual Mypx is synechdoche for face
several
times.
Finch suggests twenty-one times in Thomas E. Finch,
"A
Study of the Word, 'ap and the
Concept of Divine Wrath in
the
Old Testament" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological
Seminary, 1975), p. 47, n. 3.
18
occurrences of Jx refer to divine anger. In these instances
it should normally be
translated "wrath" or "anger."1 There
is ambiguity in a few poetic
passages.
The verb Jnx occurs
in lament Psalms 60 and 79 and
in a lament section in Psalm
85.2 Elsewhere it is found in
Solomon's anticipatory prayer
and in a lament statement by
Ezra.3 Five times
the verb expresses the Lord's anger
against individuals or the
nation who violated His will in
specific incidents of conduct.4
Covenantal implications of
the verb and its noun are evident.
Jx is
usually paired with a root from the semantic
field of "heat," e.g.
, hrH and hmH.5 This factor
1 Jnx as a verb root from
which Jx
derives, occurs
fourteen
times. God is always the subject. The object is
either
the covenant community or a member thereof. Thus the
verb
is always in a context of covenantal relationship
between
Yahweh and the nation. (The one exception is Ps
2:12,
but here the nations can turn Yahweh's Jx aside by
acknowledging
His king.) By comparison to the verb, Jx is
used
several times relative to Gentiles, e.g., Exod 4:14; Ps
2:5;
Hab 3:12.
2Some regard Ps 85 as a
national lament.
3Respectively, 1 Kgs 8:46
(=2 Chr 6:36) and Ezra
9:14.
4The objects are: Moses
(Deut 1:37, 4:21); the
nation
in the wilderness (Deut 9:8); Aaron (Deut 9:20);
Solomon,
for acknowledging foreign gods (1 Kgs 11:9, cf.
Deut
29:19); the northern kingdom at the seige of
(2
Kgs 17:18).
5TDOT, s.v. “Jx,” by Elsie Johnson,
1:353-54 and E.
cited
as Erlandsson, "Wrath").
19
illuminates its use with Nwf. Moses warns that hvhy-Jx and
His zeal will smoke against the
arrogant in
ship foreign gods (Deut 29:19).
Later David will describe a
storm theophany of God: There
will arise smoke from His
vpxb
(i.e.,
nostrils) and fire from His mouth will con-
sume."1 The
parallelism strongly indicates nose rather than
anger for Jx.
Referring to the holier-than-thou, Yahweh says,
"These are smoke in my
nose and fire kindling all the day."2
The ambiguous relationship
between nose and anger is evident
in the Hebrew Bible but unique
to Hebrew among the Semitic
languages.3
Many agree that in so many words Jx focuses on
psychosomatic effects of anger.
This assumes that anger is
an emotion.4 The idea of breathing or snorting lies in the
background. The derived
meaning, anger, has largely
superceded the reference to the
nose though the latter still
persists.
1A free translation of Ps
18:9ab to show the
chiasmus: verb-subject-prepositional phrase::subject-
prepositional
phrase-verb. For ambiguous use see Ezek
38:18,
"my fury will come up in my anger," as in NASB. KJV
has
"face."
2Isa 65:5; here Jx could be nose/face or
anger.
3Johnson, “Jx,” 1:351.
4Erlandsson, "Wrath," p. 112.
20
The divine king (74:12) as shepherd of his people is
found in Psalms 95:7; 100:3;
74:1; and 79:13.1 In these
texts people are designated vtyfrm Nxc. Psalms 95 and 100
exhort the Nxc (community), that since it is dependent on
God, the people should worship
Him. Psalms 74 and 79
complain that since the people
are dependent upon God for
"pasturing,"2
He ought to help them in their distress. The
poet employs the figure in
Psalm 44:12, 23. Here the
complaint is that Yahweh, in
consequence of His anger, has
given the people as sheep to be
slaughtered, i.e., to be
used as food, lkxm. This idea may be implicit in Psalm
74:19.3
1See John Gray, The Biblical Doctrine of the Reign
of God (Edinburgh: T and T
Clark, 1979), p. 266. Under the
general
heading of "The Reign of God in Apocalyptic" Gray
discusses
the convergence of three motifs, chaos, stormy
sea,
and God as shepherd, in enthronement psalms and other
passages.
Psalm 74 utilizes aspects of each of these
motifs.
Concerning the last, Gray states on page 325, "The
Shepherd
is well known in royal texts from the ancient Near
East
as a figure for the king." Additional passages
include,
e.g., Ezek 34:15, 23, 31 (cf. here John 21:15-17,
Pss
23:1; 80:1; and Isa. 53:7.) For a massive treatment of
"shepherd"
as royal terminology, consult Donald L. Fowler,
"The
Context of the Good Shepherd Discourses" (Th.D.
dissertation,
Grace Theological Seminary, 1981).
2By comparison with hfrm,
tyfrm is a
noun of action
pointing
not to the place of feeding but to the shepherd in
the
act of feeding. See BDB, p. 954. Franz Delitzsch,
Biblical Commentary on
the Psalms,
3 vols. (
MI:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959), 2:329 (here-
after
cited as Delitzsch, Psalms) calls tyfrm
Nxc "a
char-
acteristically
acteristically Asaphic expression."
3Ps 74:19 may imply this
idea, cf. pp. 108-110
below.
21
The Psalm begins with an "accusatory
interrogative,"
probing God with two questions.
The first is a general
question concerning God's
interminable anger. The second
question is more specific and
has an implicit incongruity.
Why is God venting His
theophanic-type wrath against the
sheep He is supposed to feed?
Verse 2
Mdq tynq jtdf rkz
jtlHn Fbw tlxg
:vb tnkw hz Nvyc-rh
Remember
your appointed assembly
which you created long ago
When
you redeemed the tribe which
is your inheritance
Even
Mount
in which you dwelt.
jtdf
rkz
The Qal imperative rkz with
God as subject has an
identifiable matrix of use in
the Bible. A convenient
starting point is the preterite
rkzyv in Exodus 2:24. In
the general context of God's
preparing Moses for the Exodus,
the enslaved Israelites cry to
God for relief, "and God
heard their cry and God
remembered His covenant with Abra-
ham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob," rkz and tyrb both occur.
The first imperative with God as subject is in
Exodus 32. The golden calf has
incited Yahweh's anger in
verse 10, ypx-rHyv. He
wanted to destroy the nation but
22
Moses interceded, "Why Oh
Yahweh does your anger burn
against your people" (Exod
32:11a). In verses l1b-13 Moses
uses three factors to motivate
God not to destroy. (1) God
has brought them out of
should the Egyptians mock God
and say that He brought the
nation to the mountains in
order to destroy them? Verse 12
shares the following words with
Psalm 74: hml, Mtlklv (hlk,
Ps 74:11), Jx. (3)
Remember, rkz,
Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob!1 Here Moses
reminds God of His covenant obligation.
Exodus 2:24 and 32:10-13
combine to form a background for a
major perspective in Psalm 74. rkz, tyrb, Jx, hlk, and hml
demonstrate lexical and
conceptual ties between Psalm 74 and
Exodus material. The covenantal
thrust of rkz in
Psalm 74
is enhanced by its object, jtdf which presumes a community.2
tyrbl
Mbh
in verse 20 further embellishes the covenantal
atmosphere in the psalm.
Following the Lord's instruction to Jeremiah to give
a devastating message of
judgment, the prophet himself
responds to the message of doom
with a communal lament,
1Brevard S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in
(London:
SCM Press, 1962), p. 32 (hereafter cited as
Childs,
Memory). Childs states that –l
rkz "is
a technical
term
which bears a specific juridical meaning, . . ." but
only
with God as subject. Moses recounts this Exod 32
prayer
to a later generation (Deut 9:26-27).
2Ibid., pp. 35-36. Childs
mentions that hdf with
rkz is
covenant terminology.
23
"Have you completely
rejected
Remember and do not annul your
covenant with us (Jer 14:19a,
21a). In addition to synonyms,
Jeremiah 14:19-21 and Psalm
74 share the words Cxn, Mw, rkz, and tyrb. Where
God is the
subject, most other uses of
imperative rkz are
either com-
plaints or petitions in behalf
of a threatened or suffering
people.1
Several studies have explored the meaning of rkz in
the HB.2 Pedersen
sought to show that thought and action
were viewed as one in the
Hebrew psychology.3 Barr and
Childs, however, deny the
identity and believe rather that
rkz has a
semantic range that includes the intellectual
aspect of remembering and the
willing-acting aspect.4 While
affirming the distinction,
Child's still asserts "God
1rkz is one of several
imperatives commonly used in
the
petition of complaints. See Herman Gunkel and Joachim
Begrich,
Einleitung in die Psalmen (
and
Ruprecht, 1933), p. 128 (hereafter cited as Gunkel,
Einleitung).
2For bibliography see
TDOT, s.v. “rkz,” by H.
Eising,
4:64.
3Johanes
vols.
(London: Oxford University Press, 1962) 1:99-101,
106-107
(hereafter cited as Pedersen, ILC).
4Childs, Memory, pp. 22-23; James Barr, The
Semantics
of Biblical Language (
Press,
1961), p. 34. Barr's comments relate to the problem
in
general, not to rkz specifically.
24
remembering always implies His
movements toward the object
of His memory."1
The urgency of the imperative rkz is underlined by
Psalm 88:6 which notes that
those whom God does not remember
are forsaken among the dead and
are like the slain who lie
in the grave.2 As
the psalmist implores God to remember, he
is, in fact, asking God to take
appropriate action to
relieve the distress of the
community.
hdf is
derived from dfy,
"to appoint, designate."3
The noun refers to a
"company assembled together by
appointment or acting
concertedly."4 It is used of the
Leviticus, and Numbers.5 Psalms uses it nine times.6 Psalm
68:31 employs hdf figuratively for a herd of bulls
threatening God's people. This
illustrates the idea of
banding for concerted action.
Six of the Psalms references
use hdf to designate a band opposed to God's people or
His
will. The three remaining uses
designate
1Childs, Memory, p. 34. Paradigmatic examples for
the
close relationship between rkz and action, when God is
the
subject, are God "remembered Noah" and subdued the
waters
(Gen 8:1) and God "remembered Rachel" and caused her
to
conceive (Gen 30:22).
2Ibid., p. 33.
3BDB, p. 416. 4Ibid.,
p. 417.
5hdf
is also
used several times in Joshua 9 and 27.
6Pss 7:8; 22:17; 68:31;
74:2; 86:4; 106:17, 18;
111:1.
25
congregation in the same way as
the three interior books of
the Pentateuch and Joshua. The
immediate context of Psalm
74:2 suggests that hdf intends to recall God's care during
the wilderness period. The
suffix on jtdf
represents God as
the possessor of the
congregation.1
Mdq
tynq
BDB lists two roots for hnq. The
second is the one
from which hnq, "stalk or reed," is derived.2
hnq-I is
the
concern of this study. The
fundamental meaning appears to
be "get, acquire."
This meaning services all but six of the
eighty-four uses of this root.3
Coppes agrees with KB in
supposing a third hnq root meaning "to create."4
The
former, however, says,
"The relation of these two roots
(i.e., to acquire; to create or
the two meanings of the one
root) has been much
debated."5 Each of the six passages
which potentially carry the
meaning "to create" can make
sense with some variation of
the notion "to acquire."6
1Genitive of possession
correlates nicely with the
verb
tynq.
For this use of genitive see Ronald J. Williams,
Hebrew Syntax: An
Outline,
2nd ed. (
cited
as Williams, Syntax). The subjective
genitive, i.e.,
"the
congregation which God has appointed," is tempting.
2BDB, p. 889.
3TWOT, s.v. "hnq," by Leonard J.
Coppes, 2:803-04.
4Ibid., and KB, p. 843. 5Coppes,
“hnq,”
p. 804.
6Psalm 139:13--you
possessed my kidneys; you
overshadowed
me (reading Nks-I) in my mother's womb (if
26
The plausibility of "create" for these six
instances, all in poetry, is
strengthened by the use of qny
in poetic texts from Ugarit.4
While Psalm 74 includes
motifs from the themes of
creation and the Exodus event
is not always clear which of
these themes lies behind the
poet's choice of words as he
develops his poem. Several
words, as with hnq, can be applied to either of these
events. The dual idea of
originating ("I have produced a
man") and acquiring
("I have gotten a man") are latent in
the first use in Genesis 4:1.
Psalm 139:13 strongly
supports the idea "to
create" as an appropriate rendering of
Nns-II, then "created" as NASB, NIV, is
better).
Genesis 14:19, 22--"Blessed be
El Elyon, possessor
of
heaven and earth." This rendering emphasizes the thought
of
control without specifying how God secured control of the
universe
(NASB and KJV)„
Deuteronomy 32:6--"Is he (i.e.,
Yahweh) not your
father,
your possessor? He made you and established you."
The
key words are bx, hnq, hWf, Nvk. The first two terms
could
emphasize control, but in parallel with and
they
probably focus on origination. (For origination in hnq
cf.
BDB, p. 888.)
Psalm 78:54--"He brought them
(His people) unto the
border
of His holy place, this mountain which His right hand
acquired.
Coppes prefers "created" here but acknowledges
that
this is not clear, (cf. Coppes, “hnq,” p. 804). This
is
the most ambivalent of the six passages which allegedly
support
the idea "to create."
Proverbs 8:22--"'Yahweh
possessed me at the beginning
of
His way, before His works of old" (as in NASB, KJV). The
note
in NIV suggests, "Yahweh brought me forth at the
beginning
of His way," implying not creation, but some idea
like
"at the beginning, His works were clothed in wisdom."
4UT, 51:3:26, 30; 4:32.
27
the root.l Genesis
14:19, 22 pairs nicely with Genesis 1 to
suggest the legitimacy of
"to create."
Mdq may
have either a temporal ("aforetime; ancient
time") or spatial
("in front, east") reference.2 The tem-
poral idea may, in turn, refer
to God (Ps 55:20), the time
of creation (Prov 8:22, 23),
the time of the patriarchs (Mic
7:20), the conquest (Ps
44:2-4), before current stresses
(Lam 1:7, 5:21), or some time
in the indefinite past (Isa
45:21; Lam 2:17).3
The use in Psalm 74:2 refers to the time
when the nation was formed,
i.e., the Exodus. The clause
Mdq
tynq
is an asyndetic relative clause.4
jtlHn Fbw lxg
lxg
differs from hdp in
that the former emphasizes
either the privilege or duty of
redemption.5 The primary
1Harriet Brundage Lovitt,
"A Critical and Exegetical
Study
of Psalm 139" (Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia Univer-
sity,
1964;
rated,
64-11, 304), pp. 138-41. In addition, one may note
that
lxg and
hnq
may be part of a broken pair in Exod 15.
(vv.
12-13) pairs with hnq (vv. 16-17). Both occur in
clauses
and together they envelope an account of the dread
of
the Gentiles as
use
of hnq
here also is ambiguous.
2BDB, 869.
3John Philip LePeau,
"Psalm 68: An Exegetical and
Theological
Study," (Ph.D. dissertation,
1981,
8128429),
pp. 223-224, n. 481 (hereafter cited as LePeau,
"Psalm
68").
4GKC, p. 488, #155n.
5TWOT, s.v. by R. Laird
Harris, 1:144. hdp,
by comparison, stresses
"the transfer of ownership from one
28
feature is the kinsman relationship.1
The four situations
which the root addresses are:
1) freeing encumbered land
(Lev 25:25ff) or a relative who
had sold himself for his
debts (Lev 25:48); 2) redeeming
property or non-sacrificial
animals which had been
dedicated to the Lord (Lev 27:llff);
3) serving as the avenger of
blood, i.e., legally taking the
life of the murderer of his
relative; (4) functioning fig-
uratively in the Psalms and
prophets as a designation of God
as
The responsibilities of the lxg, as such, and the law
of levirate marriage are two
distinct issues. These have
been brought together in Ruth
4.3 God as lxg does
not
involve the levirate custom.
The root with God as subject
focuses on: 1) His special
relationship to
initiated; 2) the fact that He
had already bought His people
out of Egyptian bondage. The
implied question to God of
this third clause is,
"will you not act to preserve your
inheritance for which you have
already paid a price?"
to
another through payment of a price or an equivalent
substitute."
For this statement see, TWOT, s.v. “hdp,” by
William
B. Coker, 2:216.,
1Harris, “lxg,” p. 144.
2Ibid., see also TDOT, s.v. “lxg,” by Helmer
Ringgren,
2:350-55.
3Eryl W. Davies,
"Ruth IV 5 and the Duties of
Go’el,”
VT 33:2 (1983) :233-34. lxg stresses relationship/
responsibility.
hdp
stresses the act/means of redeeming.
29
Fbw
denoted a rod for beating grain (Isa 28:7). It
was also an instrument for
counting sheep (Lev 27:32) or
disciplining a slave (Exod
21:20) or a son (Prov 23:13-14).
The development of Fbw to denote a sceptre or mark of
authority is understandable
(Gen 49:1). The meaning "tribe"
is derived from the word's
association with rulership. The
idea "tribe" is its
most frequent use.1 Wolf describes the
three instances of jtlHn Fbw as "questionable passages" as
to interpretation of Fbw.2 He hesitantly suggests "Psalm
74:2 probably refers to
In a polemic against idol-makers Jeremiah contrasts
these with Yahweh's people. The
passage (Jer 10:12-16) is
framed by creation themes and
terminology.4 A storm theo-
phany (v. 13) is juxtaposed to
the description of the
idol-maker (14-15). Verse 16
has four cola. The first and
third are in synonymous
parallelism:
.
. . bqfy qlH hlxk xl
jtlHn
Fbw lxrwyv
1TWOT, s.v. "Fbw," by Bruce K.
Waltke, 2:897. See
also
C. Umhau Wolf, "Terminology of Israel's Tribal Organi-
zation,"
JBL 65(1946):45-49 (hereafter cited
as Wolf,
"Terminology").
2Wolf,
"Terminology," p. 46 n. 5. The passages are
Jer
10:16; 51:19; Ps 74:2.
3Ibid.
4The creation of earth
and heaven is described by
using
the roots, hFn, Nvk, hWf (v. 12). Verse 16
alludes
either
to the creation of all things or specifically to
bqfy, with the participle rcvy.
30
qlH and Fbw are both predicate nominatives in the construct.
Their respective genitives may
be construed as appositional:
not like these (i.e., idol-makers)
is the portion
that is Jacob. . . . and
constitutes His inheritance.
In this complex structure Hlq and jtlHn are
broadly synony-
mous.1 Here Fbw is synonymous with the whole nation.
Jeremiah 10:12-16 is in a
context anticipating the coming
seige and destruction of
though the latter is unnamed in
this passage. Jeremiah
51:15-19 repeats Jeremiah
10:12-16 but in a context
announcing the future
destruction of
Psalm 74:1b and 2a seem to look back to the "crea-
tion" of the nation, i.e.,
the Exodus. Fbw,
therefore,
should be read as a reference
to the nation prior to the
conquest and settlement in
tribal allotments.
jtlHn is the
noun hlHn plus a 2ms suffix whose
antecedent is Myhlx from verse one. God has hlHn forty
times in the HB.2
Thirty-three times hlHn refers
to God's
1One must be very careful
in what he understands by
"synonymous."
Generally, this study assumes that all
biblical
words are used discreetly. No two terms are inter-
changeable.
This is generally the position of Rosenbaum in
Psalmography:
A Semantic Field Study" (Ph.D. dissertation,
Microfilms,
74-28.010); see, e.g., pp. 9, 83, 106 (hereafter
cited
as Rosenbaum, "Antagonist").
2LePeau, "Psalm 68," p. 105.
31
people.1
Young reads hlHn as a
genitive of location, "the
tribe of your patrimony."2
This has general support from
the six passages cited above
and from some uses of nhl in
Ugaritic literature.3
It is preferable here to use the more
common referrant and read a
genitive of apposition, "the
tribe which is your
inheritance." Coupled with lxg
the
third clause emphasizes the
value of the nation to God and
His responsibility to preserve
it.
vb tnkw Nvyc-rh
Nvyc-rh is
syntactically parallel with jtdf and
tlHn
Fbw.
tnkw is the predicate of a relative
clause for
which there is no formal
relative particle. hz a near
demonstrative, informs the
reader that the psalmist is an
eyewitness to the catastrophe
to which he alludes. Mount
Qal of Nkw occurs
111 times, twenty-eight of which
have God as subject.4
Twelve instances of Piel and three of
1Ibid. Four of these, 1
Sam 26:19; 2 San 14:16;
21:3;
and Jer 50:11, could as well have the land as the
referrant.
In addition, the word refers to God's mountain
(Exod
15:17), the city of Abel and Beth-Maacah (2 Sam
20:19),
the site of the Ezekiel (Ezek 45:1) and Solomonic
(Ps
79:1) temples and the entire
16:18).
2Young, "Psalm
74," pp. 67-68.
3UT,
'nt III.27, IV:64.
4TWOT, s.v. "Nkw," by Victor P.
Hamilton, 2:925.
32
Hiphil also have God as
subject. There are four uses of Qal
in Psalms, plus one each of
Piel and Hiphil with God as
subject. Psalm 135:21, part of
a hymn, lauds Yahweh who
dwells in
the verb in a description of
the mountain God has desired.
The fourth use, Psalm 74:2, is a bitter reminder to
God that He had, in fact, dwelt
or "tented" in
The presence indicated by Nkw is always considered "out of
the ordinary and therefore
provisional," characterized by a
certain
"precariousness."2
reserved to describe man's
dwelling among men. It is seldom
used for God's dwelling on
earth though it is frequently
used to describe God's abode in
heaven.3 When bwy and Nkw
are used of God, bwy indicates transcendence and distance,
while Nkw indicates immanence and nearness.4 Nkw is
1J. Albert Soggin, Old Testament and Oriental
Studies (Rome: Biblical
Institute Press, 1975), p. 144.
Soggin
suggests "literally: 'put up the tent, camp': this
term
appears in some . . . (biblical) texts and in the
papyri
of
of
the divine presence in the sanctuary. . . ."
2Ibid.
3Johnson, "Nkw," 2:925. 1 Kgs
8:27, "will God
indeed
bwy
on the earth?"
4Frank
(Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 1973), pp.
245-46,
299, 323-24 (hereafter cited as Cross, CMHE).
Nkw
and
bwy
are in parallel fifteen times but only three have
God
as subject, i.e., 1 Kgs 8:12-13 = 2 Chr 6:1-2; Psalm
68:17.
For further data on usage of Nkw and bwy see LePeau,
"Psalm 68," pp.
153-54. For Ugaritic skn see UT, #19.2414.
33
frequent in the tabernacle
pericopes of Exodus and the
temple passages in Ezekiel. In
sum, tynq, tlxg, jtlHn, tnkw
all stress the intimate
relationship between
To this fact the psalmist calls
God's attention.
Verse 3
Hcn
tvxwml jymfp hmyrh
:wdqb byvx frh-lk
Raise
your steps toward the utter
desolations;
The
enemy has damaged everything
in the sanctuary.
jymfp hmyrh
The emphatic imperative hmyrh
specifies precisely
the way in which God is to
remember. The juxtaposing of the
two words is a hapax legomenon.l Margolis,
followed by
Kissane, emends to Mvdh, "footstool," as a metaphor for
temple.2 LXX has e@paron ta>j xei?raj sou e]pi>
ta>j u[perhfan-
i<aj au]tw?n ei]j te<loj. . . (Ps
73:3a). The translator read
jydy
because feet or steps was too difficult.3 Briggs
retains the text: for verse 3a
but regards it as a gloss for
the last clause of verse 2. He
translates the half-verse,
1Briggs, Psalms, 2:1.52.
2Max Margolis,
"Miscellen," ZAW 31
(1911):315 and
Edward
Kissane, The Book of Psalms, 2 vols.
(
Browne
and Nolan, 1954), 2:12 (hereafter cited as Kissane,
Psalms).
3dy and Mvr occur together in Exod
17:11, Num 20:11,
and elsewhere.
34
"which your footsteps
exalted to everlasting dignity."1 It
is best to retain the imperative
and regard hmyrh as a
call
for a new theophany.2
This expression descriptively identifies the place
to which God should come. If
the root is xWn, the
meaning
is "deceptions" but
if xvw, the meaning is
"devastations."3
The superlative sense of Hcn is useful here.4 Verse 3b
supports the idea of total
devastation.
wdqb byvx frh-lk
The prominent position of lk
underscores the totally
devastating nature of the
activity of byvx. It is
appar-
ently the direct object.5
ffr in Hiphil
with b means "to do
injury or hurt," thus
"to damage."6
The parent noun fr is
frequently juxtaposed to bvF
(cf. Gen 2:9, 17) and has a
dual meaning of: 1) wrong in
relation to God's intention and
2) "detrimental in terms of
1Briggs, Psalms, 2:152, 157.
2Young, "Psalm
74," p. 70. This also is essentially
Weiser's
view in Artur Weiser, The Psalms,
trans. Herbert
Hartwell
(Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1962), p.
518
(hereafter cited as Weiser, Psalms).
3BDB, pp. 674 and 996,
respectively. LXX reads xWn,
u[perhfaniaj,
"haughtiness"; Briggs reads nwn but gives a
very
different sense; see above, p. 25, n. 4.
4Thomas, “Hcn,” p. 107 and NAB. KJV,
NASB and RSV
retain
the temporal idea.
5Delitzsch, Psalms, 2:329.
6TWOT, s.v. “ffr-I ,” by G. Herbert Livingston,
2:854.
35
its effects on man."1
It is significant for the tone of the
psalm that bvF does not occur. The dual meaning of the noun
carries through the verb. In
Psalm 74:3, however, emphasis
is on the first sense, though
the second is indirectly
applicable from the viewpoint
of the psalmist.
This verb may be a deliberate understatement for
extreme destruction and evil.
Its close connection with lk,
the preceding tvxwm, and the more complete description of
ruin in verses 4-7, all support
the idea of an understate-
ment. The notion of total
destruction seems to go beyond
the Maccabaean profanation and
so argues against that late
date. There is a contradiction
between this violent action
and its locus, wdqb. What
was sacred and set apart has been
violated. Verse 3 functions as
a transition and in other
ways.2
tyvx, rc
and
rrc
It is appropriate, in connection with verse 3, to
give attention to the concept
of "the enemy." There are six
relevant words strategically
placed in this poem. Verses 3b
and 4a use byvx and Myrrc with
two words separating them.3
rc and byvx occur with one word between them in verse 10.
1Ibid.
2See comments under
discussion of structure, p. 178.
3I have cited the
absolute plurals in this para-
graph, where the text has
suffixed plurals.
36
byvx and lbn-Mf are separated by two words in verse 18.
Verse 22 uses lbn. Verse
23 separates Myrrc and byvx with
one word. The immediate
discussion introduces the topic and
then focuses on byvx and Myrrc. Other terms will be con-
sidered as they occur in the
psalm.
History
of Research
A history of research into the identity of the enemy
in the book of Psalms may
conveniently begin with Hermann
Gunkel.l He
represents a transition in that history. While
he set psalm study as a whole
in a new direction, he largely
conformed to pre-form-critical
studies in his conclusions
about the enemy. The psalms in
the Psalter were composed by
pious individuals or groups
relatively late, though they
were patterned after psalms
used in the first temple.2
Insofar as a historical setting
could be proposed for a
given psalm, such a setting
suggested a probable identity
for the enemy.
Sigmund Mowinckel, Gunkel's student, agreed that the
psalms were originally cultic
compositions. He asserted,
however, that they were written
specifically for use in the
1This review draws much
from John Keating Wiles,
"The
'Enemy,' in Israelite Wisdom Literature." (Ph. D.
dissertation,
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
1982;
8227850),
pp. 8-18 (hereafter cited as Wiles, "Enemy").
2 Gunkel, Einleitung,
pp. 209-11
37
pre-exilic temple.1
He propounded that the Nvx-ylfvp
(workers of iniquity) were
sorcerers and demons whose curses
had brought illness to the
suppliant.2 This religious iden-
tity of the enemy was in line
with the cultic tradition
which Mowinkel believed the
Psalms to reflect--an annual New
Year Festival.
Commentators since Mowinkel have agreed that the
biblical psalms did originate
in the Israelite cult.3 They
varied on the identity of the
cult tradition. On the issue
of the enemy, Schmidt saw them
as accusers of the psalmist
in a judicial sense.4
For Schmidt this helps account for
the protestations of innocence.
To this point enemies in
the communal laments were
generally regarded as political or
military enemies from outside
the state.
Harris Birkeland categorically insisted that "the
enemies of the individual were
in principle identical with
those of the nation, viz, the
gentiles."5 Birkeland started
1Thus the title for the
work by Sigmund Mowinkel,
The Psalms in Israel's
Worship,
2 vols., trans. I). Ap-Thomas
(
2Ibid.
3Weiser, The Psalms, pp. 35-52. Weiser espoused
an
annual
Covenant Renewal Festival
4Hans Schmidt, Die Psalmen, (
[Paul
Siebeck], 1934), p. 42 (hereafter cited as Schmidt,
Psalmen),
5Harris Birkeland, The Evildoers in the Book of
Psalms, (Oslo: Dybwad, 1955)
p. 29 (hereafter cited as
Birkeland, Evildoers); Wiles, "Enemy," p. 11.
38
with the concrete terms Myrz, Mymf, and Myvg in five indi-
vidual laments.1
Further all royal psalms which mention the
enemy are national enemies.2
He claims the "I" in national
laments, which seems anomolous,
where the enemy is a foreign
power, supports his thesis.
Birkeland concludes that since
more than twenty individual
psalms are concerned with a
national enemy, the remaining
ambiguous references are
likely to follow this path. The
"myth and ritual" school,
with its cultic drama of the
dying and rising king, equates
the "I" of the psalms
with the king.3
One must grant that descriptions of national enemies
and of unidentified enemies are
much the same. However, the
language is sufficiently
elastic to apply to more than one
kind of enemy.4
Wiles makes three statements based upon past
interpretation regarding the
enemy in the psalms.5 These
considerations are useful in
discussing the enemy in Psalm
74. (1) Sometimes the enemies
are stereo-typical and
1Birkeland, Evildoers p. 14.
2See Pss 18, 20, 21, 28,
61, 89, 144, and 1 Sam
2:1-10.
3Wiles,
"Enemy," pp. 13-14.
4With Birkeland, Evildoers, p. 10. for a "myth and
ritual"
position see Ivan Engnell, Studies in
Divine King-
ship in the Ancient Near
East (
1967),
p. 170.
5Wiles, "Enemy," pp. 17-18.
39
deliberately ambiguous in order
to suggest various kinds of
hostility. (2) Sometimes the
enemies are gentiles. (3)
Sometimes an Israelite did have
personal enemies from within
the nation in a manner
suggested by certain psalm titles.1
byvx
The wholistic world-view reflected in the Old
Testament precludes ease in
differentiating between terms in
a given semantic field.2
Absolutely precise shades of
meaning of some terms are
elusive. Much Psalmic vocabulary
is specialized. Contrasts
between words for "antagonist"
and words from other semantic
fields (e.g., lydc, Myvg) make
this clear. Such specialization
is "in part a function of
the Hebrew language
itself."3
byx is a
common Semitic root.4 The Ugaritic 'yb is
1The relevant psalms are
3, 7, 18, 34, 52, 54, 56,
57,
and 59; cf. Wiles, "Enemy," pp. 5-6. Though these
psalms
are individual laments, it is an easy step from
personal
to party antagonisms.
2"Wholistic"
here means that the Old Testament is
not
concerned to define and analyze its own vocabulary and
concepts
in terms of precise categories. Its expression is
descriptive
and relational.
3Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," p. 107. Rosenbaum asserts
that
the language of the psalms is particularly specialized.
He
bases this on two assumptions. "There are no synonyms in
a
natural language. Secondly, liturgical
poetry is compact
and
uses words in a more strict manner than some other kinds
of
literature. Both assumptions are found on p. 106.
4Ugaritic--'yb, Akkadian--ayyabu; Canaanite--ibi
(in
EA
129; 96; 252:28); see TDOT, s.v. “byx,” by Helmer
Ringgren, 1:212.
40
used in terms dealing with war,
and as designations of
Baal's enemies.1
Akkadian ayyabu occurs in both
historical
and religious texts.2
The king "boasts of having destroyed
the enemies of the land in
obedience to the command of the
god." Often such enemies
are unnamed. Similarly, the enemy
in biblical laments "could
be national foes, personal adver-
saries, sorcerers, or demons;
but their work is often
described in such general terms
that it is difficult or even
s impossible to determine their
identity. . . ."3 Though the
identity of the enemy in Psalm
74 at first seems to be for-
eign invaders, the issues are
more complex than this.
The verb byx occurs
only in Exodus 23:22 where it is
parallel with rrc.4 The nouns, jybyvx and jyrrc are
cognate
accusatives of the respective
verbs in this text.5 The
enemy may be personal (as in
Ahab's view of Elijah, 1 Kgs
21:20), or a nation which
opposes God's people. The enemy
is usually named in historical
texts but is undesignated in
parenetic passages, Solomon's
dedicatory speech (1 Kgs 8:33,
34) and in Lamentations and
Psalms.
1War, UT, 1012:10, 17, 29; mythological, UT, 'nt
3:34
and 4:48-49. (Each of these has ‘ib
parallel to srt as
in
Ps 74:3-4.
2Ringgren, “byx,” p. 212. 3Ibid., p. 213.
4In general, byx means "to be an
adversary."
5 byvx and jyrrc are in successive
clauses in Ps
74:3, 4; it is bc and byvx in v.
10.
41
Exodus 23:22 is instructive for Psalm 74. Yahweh-
Elohim is the subject of byaxA and thus God can be an byvx.
In an earlier time, when
byvxl
("their
enemy"). "He fought against them" (Isa
63:10). The unprecedented idea
that God would act as an
aggressor from outside the
community, against His own
people, expresses itself in
this passage (also Lam 2:4-5).
This concept may be haunting
the psalmist in Psalm. 74.1
Myrrc
Ten psalms use Myrrc.2
Rosenbaum says of these that
only Psalm 74 has a
"clearly historical setting.3 rrc
has
the Canaanites as subject (Num
33:55) while the noun Myrrc
refers to Midianites and Kittim
(Num 25:17). Even Isaiah
11:13 uses rc in terms of international relations. These
clearly identify rc as foreign.4
jyrrc appears
only three times (Pss 74:4, 23; 8:3)
with God as the antecedent to
the suffix. Forms of the verb
JrH,
"to reproach," are found with rc words
in 31:12, 6.9
19f, and 74:10. The verb Cxn, "to revile," is never found
1The unusual emphasis on
"Your" (God's) enemy (Ps
74:4,
23, whereas Pss 44, 60, 79, 80, and 137 never expli-
citly
refer to the enemy as God's) may
imply that the
psalmist
thinks that God has mistargeted the community as
His
enemy.
2Pss 6:8; 7:5, 7; 8:3;
10:5; 23:5; 31:12; 42:11;
69:20;
74:4, 23; 143:12.
3Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," p. 83.
4Amos 5:12 and Lev 18:18 are rare exceptions.
42
with Myrrc as subject but does occur once with byx as in
74:10. JrH occurs
with byvx six times in the Psalms.1
The choice of words in Psalm 74 is more than
stylistic. byvx
sometimes refers to domestic enemies and
here this is likely. Internal
political antagonists were
common during the monarchic
era.2 If the object of an
antagonist's JrH is an individual, the verb means "to
reproach." If the object
is God, then the verb means to
blaspheme. If the antagonist is
a foreigner, then blasphemy
is inappropriate regardless of
the object.3 Cxn is
normally
used for negative relationships
between God and
Israelites.4
jyrrc are
foreigners who in Psalm 74 are character-
ized by vgxw, roaring, and lvq,
shouting. If Myrrvc of
Psalm
8:3b are characterized by
shouting, then these are seen in
sharp contrast to the
utterances of babes and sucklings in
3b. God is able to use the weak
who are submissive to him
to confound the consummate
opposition of roaring foreign
1Pss 44:17; 55:13;
69:18-19; 74:18; 89:52-53; 102:9.
22 Kgs 18:17-25 implies
pro-Egyptian and pro-
Assyrian
elements in
kingdom
(1 Kgs 12) demonstrates the reality of internal
political
factions.
3Dahood, Psalms II, p. 203. In 1 Sam 17:26
means
"insult."
4For Cxn with
see
Num 14:11, 16:30; Isa 1:4, 5:13; Jer 23:17; 2 Sam 12:14;
for
the reverse see Deut 32:19; Jer 14:21; Lam 2:1.6. Cf.
Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," p. 87, n. 30.
43
enemies in league with Israelite
malefactors.1 In sum,
jyrrc tends
to denote verbal rather than physical opposition
in all its psalms uses. This
comports with the idea that rc
does not primarily designate
one engaged in physical combat
or warfare.
Verse 4
jdfvm
brqb jyrrc vgxw
:tvtx Mttvx vmw
Those
harassing you have roared
during your appointed feast
They
have set up their standards
as the signs.
jyrrc vgxw
The verb gxw occurs
twenty times, always in Qal
stem. Twice it is used
concretely of a lion roaring.2 Once
the roar of a lion and thunder
are fused.3 All remaining
instances, except one, use the
lion's roar figuratively.4
In eight of these the Lord
roars, usually from His heavenly
or earthly abode, and eight
times an enemy, usually Gentile,
roars against his anticipated
prey.
gxw in
Psalm 74:4 is ironic; God's enemy is roaring
in gloating triumph on the site
of God's temple. The enemy
as Myrrc focuses on his oppressive measures of military
1Ibid., p. 87.
2Judg 14:5; Ps 104:21. 3Job
37:4.
4In Ps 38:9 it is the roar of guilt for sin.
44
occupation. In that jyrrc is a participial substantive, the
suffix is nicely construed as
objective genitive.1 "Those
harrassing you have roared
during your appointed feast."
jdfvm
brqb
Lamentations 2:1-11 describes the devastation that
befell
withdraws restraint from
His bow like an byvx and stations Himself against
like a rc. He destroys her palaces and fortresses (vv.
3-5). Lamentations 2:6ab is
particularly significant.
vdfvm tHw vkw Ngk
smHyv
tbwv
dfvm Nvycb hvhy Hkw
(Lam 2:6ab)
"He laid waste His covert
like a garden; He ruined His
assembly."3 vkw is His
booth or tent.4 David affirms that
the Lord will hide him in hks where the word is parallel
with vlhx (Ps 27:5). hks is a
place of divine presence.
1BDB 865. For objective
genitive see, GKC, p. 416,
#128h
and p. 438, #135m.
2yndx is the subject of verbs
denoting aggressive
and
violent actions against
institutions,
and power structure. Some of the verbs are:
byfy (v. 1); flb, "utter
destruction," (Piel stem v. 2);
fdg and vnymy . . . bywh
(v. 3); byvxk
. . . hyh (v. 5); tHw
(vv.
5-6); smHyv
(v. 6); Hnz (v. 7; cf. Ps 74:1) .
3Delbert R. Hillers, Lamentations AB (Garden City,
NY:
Doubleday and Company, 1972), p. 32.
4This is the only place
in the Old Testament with
tHw;
elsewhere it is hks.
45
On the strength of the parallelism in Lamentations
2:6a, dfvm is a place of appointed meeting. The root is
dfy,
"to appoint." Its Arabic cognate means "to promise,
threaten, predict" while
the Akkadian adu means "perh. .
. .
decide."1 The
noun dfvm ranges between appointed time
and
appointed place.2
dfvm as
appointed time, or festival, occurs in
Lamentations 2:6b. Here, dfvm forms a hendiadys with tbwv.
The second noun functions as an
attributive adjective to the
first.3 With
emphasis on the adjective, the v itself
may be
emphatic.4 "And
Yahweh has caused even the Sabbath feast to
be forgotten in
feast for dfvm in Lamentations 2:6b.
Psalm 74:4 and 8 may conform to Lamentations 2:6 in
the use of dfvm. ydfvm (v. 8) as the object of vprw is
clearly a place. jdfvm (v. 4) is less clear. The psalmist
may have been an eyewitness to
these events.5 If so,
perhaps he heard the shouts of
the occupying enemy while the
worshippers were assembled.
Thus, dfvm here may mean
1BDB, p. 416, but cf. CAD, 1:1:13ff. 2BDB,
p. 417.
3E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech Used in the
Bible (
ed.
657,
491, 506.
4GKC, p. 484, #154, n. 1.
5The poet of Lam 2 surely was an eyewitness.
46
feast. One might argue,
however, that place is intended on
the strength of
"place" :being implied in the second colon.
tvtx Mttvx vmw
The root for ttvx
is
tvx "to mark, describe with a
mark."1 The
noun in this basic sense occurs with reference
to Cain.2 The plural
denotes the military standards or
banners of the twelve tribes as
they prepared to leave
Sinai.3 This may be
the sense of the suffixed plural in
Psalm 74:4.4 The jyrrf, oppressors, set up their military
standards on the temple site.
A second possibility is to read the Mttvx as
religious symbols on analogy
with the plating on an earlier
altar, which was an tvx to the sons of Israel that they not
repeat the sin of the sons of
Korah. Aaron's rod was placed
in the ark as an tvx against the same rebellion.5 This
sense accords well with the
probable usage in Psalm 74.9
1BDB, p. 16. 2Gen 4:15. 3Num
2:10.
4J. J. Stewart Perowne, The Book of Psalms, 2 vols.
(London:
George Bell and Sons, 1879), 1:26 (hereafter cited
as
Perowne, Psalms); also A. Cohen, The Psalms (
Soncino
Press, 1968), p. 237. Dahood, Psalms II,
p. 201,
also
takes this view, but he proposes a curious emendation.
He
moves the suffix n to initial position on the following
word
and translates "they set up their emblems by the
hundreds."
This relieves the problem of accounting for a
final
accusative tvtx but is speculative, unrealistic, and
unnecessary.
5Num 16:38, 17:110; as
with Delitzsch Psalms, vol. 2,
p.
330.
47
where the reference is likely
to religious symbols. Given
the profound inter-relationship
between offical religion in
the ancient
is plausible. The cultic
orientation of Psalm 74 enhances
this interpretation.1
The second tvtx is best
construed as
an adverbial accusative of
comparison.2 The double occur-
ence is striking, perhaps to
contrast the pagan religious
signs with the disappearance of
the signs of God's holy
presence in verse 9.3
Verse 5
hlfml xybmk fdvy
:tvmdrq
Cf-jbsb
One
was known as one who raises
axes in a thicket of trees.
"The sense of verse 5 . . . and its relation to
verse 6 have been completely
misunderstood by our transla-
tors."4 On the
basis of available data only approximate
1Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150, (
Varsity
Press, 1976) p. 266, opts for military standards.
2In line with remarks in
GKC, p. 375, #118r, n. 2„
3For tvx as symbol and
"attestations of divine
presence,"
see BDB, p. 16, and Kidner, Psalms,
p. 266.
4This is from J. F.
McCurdy's note in C. B. Moll,
The Psalms, trans. with additions
by C. A. Briggs, Lange's
Commentary on the Holy
Scriptures
(
Publishing
House, n, d. ), p. 421 (hereafter cited as Moll,
Psalms). Buttenwieser calls
vv. 5-6 "hopelessly corrupt" in
Moses Buttenweiser, The Psalms. Chronologically Treated
48
meanings can be assigned to
these terms, but the general
thrust seems clear.1
A soldier was known (Niphal imperfect)
according to his ability to
raise axes in a thicket of
trees, i.e., the more
vigorously he engaged in temple
destruction, the better his
reputation. Verse 5 presents a
simile of a soldier's action.
Verse 6 describes results of
that action on temple property.
Driver labels this verb "obviously corrupt" and
suggests emending it to vfdy or vfdy.2
Either emendation
depends upon a hypothetical
Hebrew root hfd
equivalent to
the attested Arabic root da'a III which means "to pull
down."3 Driver
also suggests re-dividing hlfml and
transposing tvmdrl so that it immediately follows the
participle.
Earlier, Hyatt sought to retain the MT by proposing
that root fdy "is sometimes cognate with Arabic wd' in the
sense of 'to be quiet,' 'at
rest,' 'submissive'." 4 He
translates the verse
"Smitten at the upper entrance is the
with a New Translation (
Inc.,
1969), p. 613 (hereafter cited as Buttenweiser,
Psalms).
1Perowne, Psalms, 2:27.
2G. R. Driver,
"Hebrew Notes," JBL 68
(1949):57-58.
3Ibid.
4J. Philip Hyatt, "A
Note on 'Yiwwada' in Ps 74:5,."
AJSL
58(1941):99.
49
wooden trellis-work with
axes."1 In terms of leaving the
text intact and making sense of
the material, this solution
is commendable.
Rahlf's edition of LXX attaches vfdvy to verse 4
yielding for verses 4b-5a
"signs (pointing) to the upper
entrance they knew not."2
This rendering fails to recognize
the chiastic structure of
verses 5 and 6. Another expedient
is to emend to vfdgy from "fdg, to
cut, hew." Kissane
translates "They are cut
down as if one had brought up axes
in a thicket of trees.”3
Verse 6
dHy
hyHvtp tfv
:Nvmlhy tplykv lywkb
And
now its carvings with felling
tools and axes they have totally
destroyed.
MT reads htfv for tf. LXX has e]ce<kofan,
perhaps
from vttk, "to beat," "crush,"
"hammer."4 Some versions
have apparently read vttf, "to bend," "make crooked,"
"pervert."5
MyHtp means engravings
"on (wood overlaid with)
1Ibid. 2Also JB.
3Kissane, Psalms, 2:10, 13; see also Schmidt,
Psalmen, p. 141, GNB, :RSV, and
NIV; cf. BDB, p. 154.
4BDB, p. 510.
5NEB appears to translate
vtvf "they
ripped," while
JB uses "hacking."
50
metal" as in the temple (1
Kgs 6:21, 22, and 29).1 Perhaps
the reference is to
"valuable metal objects (and) . . .
decorative plating."2 vdHy
is
an adverbial accusative,
"altogether" or all.3
The first of two instruments is probably derived
from lwk, “to fall,” hence a "felling tool" of
some :kind.
The tvplyn were axes of some sort.4 The
imperfect Nvmlhy
emphasizes the action in
progress and with initial htfv it
may reflect an eyewitness
account.
In spite of the difficult words, MT makes sense as
it stands. A straightforward
translation is best. Verse 1
presents a threatened flock.
The enemy roared like a lion
in verse 4. The soldiers smash
the temple carvings, as
woodsmen felling trees. The
imagery of forests, flocks, and
lions appear together also in
Zechariah 11:2-4.
Verse
7
jwdqm wxb vHlw
:jmw-Nkwm vllH Crxl
1BDB, p. 836. The noun
also refers to stone
engravings,
see Exod 28:11, 21, and 36 and Zech 3:9.
2Anderson, Psalms, 2:540.
3BDB, p. 403.
4Both words are hapax legomenon.
lywk is
rare in
Aramaic,
but it is used in the Targum to Jer 48:22 (BDB, p.
506),
tvplyk
is a loan word from Akkadian, kalapu
(BDB, p.
476; CAD, 8:66).
51
They
have ignited your sanctuary
with fire
They
have totally profaned the dwelling
place of your name
Hlw in
Piel often has a negative connotation.1 It
is paired with wxb three times in addition to Psalm 74:7
(Jdg 1:8, 20:48; 2 Kgs 8:11).2
jyrrc (v. 4), as the subject
of vHlw,
suggests that setting fire to the sacred precincts
was not an act of the invading
armies but rather an act of
oppression by those who occupied
The significance of wdqm is
best seen in relation-
ship to the second colon of the
verse. The root wdq
basically means separated or
dedicated. This latter idea is
concretely illustrated by its
use to designate prostitutes
in the pagan cults (Gen
38:21-22, a female prostitute; Deut
23:18, a male prostitute).
Yahweh's presence (Exod 3:5) set apart, or dedi-
cated, a place. Moses must
remove his sandals because the
ground is wdq, “holy”.
Another perspective on wdq appears
when it is dis-
tinguished from lH, a noun derived from llH, the main verb
of 74:7b. When David requested
bread for his men from the
priest at Nob, the priest
answered, lH MHl Nyx
"there is no
1But for positive use see
Exod 4:23, 5:2; Gen 8:7f;
Jer
17:8; Pss 80:12, 44:20.
2Also –b
wx vHlw,
Hos 8:14; Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12;
2:2, 5; Ezek 39:6.
52
common bread," wdq MHl Mxyk, "but
only holy (dedicated)
bread."1
Whether the bread was lH or wdq did not depend on
a quality inherent in the
bread.
This same idea is evident in Genesis 2:3 which
reports that Myhlx sanctified, wdqyv, the
seventh day. That
day was the same as the other
six in terms of Genesis 1:14,
but it was made uncommon, or
set apart for special use by
God. Yahweh accuses
dxm
vllH vtbw, "They have greatly profaned (i.e., made
common, like any other day) my
sabbaths."2 wdq and llH
appear together in a
theological setting in Leviticus 22:
31-33. Yahweh's
self-identification, hvhy ynx, occurs
at
the end of each verse. The
prohibition in verse 32 is,
ywdq
ymw tx vllHt xlv, "You shall not profane (make common)
the name of my holiness
(distinctness, separateness)."3
11 Sam 21:5. The priest
indicates that the men can
eat
the bread if they are wdq, i.e., have not recently had
sexual
relations. David affirms, wdq Myrfnh ylkvhyv; even
though
their journey has been lH, common. Though there are
religious
connotations in the passage, a basically non-
theological,
concrete contrast between wdq and lH is
evident.
lH denotes what is common,
plain, ordinary,
whereas
wdq
denotes what is set apart to special use,
uncommon,
non-ordinary. The background for the priest's
requirement
may be seen in Lev 15:18 and 21:1-9, especially
v.
6.
2Ezek 20:13 (also vv. 16,
21, 24). Jeremiah accuses
the
upper classes of his day ymw-tx vllHtv vbwt--"You turned
and
profaned (made common) my name" (Jer 34:16).
3wdq appears three times in
v. 32: ywdq,
ytwdqnv,
and Mkwdqm.
53
Psalm 74:7 may be an instance of calculated irony.
The enemy has profaned or
treated as common, vllH,
Yahweh's
wdqm, a
place of Yahweh's separateness from what is common.l
The praying community is
distressed that Yahweh permits the
enemy to treat His earthly
abode in a way that is anti-
thetical to its intended
significance.
wdqm refers
to both the tabernacle and the temple.
The word occurs seventy-four
times. The wdqm
appears to be
the location of the ark of the
covenant.2 wdqm identifies a
variety of objects including
the desert tabernacle (Exod
25:8), Israelite sanctuaries
(at Shechem, Josh 24:26,
the second temple (Neh 10:40),
and Ezekiel's temple (Ezek
43-48, et al). Twice it refers
to Yahweh as the sanctuary
of His people (Isa 8:14, Ezek
11:16). Psalm 96:6 is the one
instance which may refer to
Yahweh's heavenly abode.3
LePeau
translates Psalm 68:36:
Fearful is God from His sanctuary
for God of Israel is He.
Giver of strength and mightiness
to the people blessed of God.4
1Ps 74:7b. The object of vllH is Nkwm. The latter
is
parallel to wdqm in the first colon.
21 Chr 22:19 and 28:10.
3This survey is from
LePeau, "Psalm 68," p. 230.
4Ibid., p. 229.
54
Widely regarded as a poem from
the united monarchy, Psalm 68
has elements of a victory hymn.
This concluding verse sees
God in His fearful strength,
moving out of His earthly
abode. This is a stark contrast
to the enemy setting fire
to God's wdqm.
Verse 8
dHy Mnyn Mblb vrmx
:Crxb lx-ydfvm-lk
vprw
They
have said in their heart,
"Let us oppress them
completely."
They
have burned all the meeting
places of God in the land.
dHy
Mnyn
GKC calls Psalm 74:8 a "very corrupt passage."1
He
takes Mnyn as a substantive rather than imperfect Qal with
suffix.2 BDB
interprets the form as a verb with the meaning
"to suppress," but
acknowledges that elsewhere the meaning
is to oppress.3
Lisowsky lists eighteen appearances of the
root including Jeremiah 24:38,
46:16, 50:16, and Zephaniah
1GKC, p. 218, #76f.
2Ibid.; LXX also
interprets as a noun, sug-
ge<neia au]tw<n in the sense of a
kinship group (LSJ, p.
1659):
"They said, 'in their heart the whole brood of them
are
(set) upon this. . . .’” (see The
Septuagint Bible,
trans.
Charles Thompson, ed. Charles Arthur Muses, 2nd ed.
[
3BDB, p. 413.
55
3:1, but not including Psalm
74:8.1 Even-Shoshan lists
fifteen appearances including
Psalm 74:8, which he indicates
as the only Qal entry. He does
not include the passages
listed above. BDB lists these
passages with Psalm 123:4 as
having a Qal partiticiple used
absolutely.2 All agree on
the remaining fourteen uses of hny, all of which are in
Hiphil. The object with Hiphil
is often rg, ynf, Nvybx, wid-
ows, or orphans, i.e., people
who are powerless to protect
themselves.
dHy is an
adverbial accusative, similar to the
accusative of number.3
BDB suggests that it is used in
poetry as a synonym for Mlk, but that dHy is
more forcible,
combining the ideas "all at once as well as altogether."4
Crxb lx-ydfvm-lk vprw
LXX and Syriac read a cohortative, tybwn or tbwn,
"Let us cause to cease
from the land." The LXX translates
1The concordances cited
in this and the following
sentences
are Gerhard Liskowsky, Konkordanz Zum
Hebraischen
Alten Testament, Zweite Auflage (
Bibelgesellschaft,
1981) and Abraham Even-Shoshan, A New
Concordance of the Old
Testament
(
Ltd.,
1983).
2BDB, p. 413.
3A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3rd ed. (
T
and T Clark, 1912), .p. 99 #69, r. 3 (hereafter cited as
Davidson,
Syntax).
4BDB, p. 403; italics in original.
56
as "from," a widely
attested use in Ugaritic literature.1
It also interprets the
difficult ydfvm as
feasts. Perhaps
this latter word influenced the
use of tbwn. LXX trans-
lators could not account for a
plurality of meeting places.2
lx-ydfvm is the most vexing element in
Psalm 74:8.
that the psalm was Maccabean
since the synagogue cannot be
confidently dated earlier.3
Some alternately presume the
date of the psalm to be exilic
and thus rule out "syna-
gogues"
as a viable interpretation.
Since verse 7 states that the
temple (i.e., wdqm)
was burned, this comports well
with 2 Kings 25:9 and 587
B.C. when the temple was indeed
burned. Only the porch and
gates were said to be burned in
the Maccabaean era (1 Macc
1Gordon, UT, pp. 92-93. For a good discussion of
this
matter see Weston W. Fields, "Ugaritic Prepositions and
Hebrew
Exegesis: An Expansion of Ugaritic
Textbook Chapter
10"
(unpublished term paper for the course Advanced Ugaritic
Grammar,
Grace Theological Seminary, Dec. 18, 1975), pp.
8-13.
2A. Gelston "A Note
on Psalm LXXIV 8," VT 24:I
(1984):83
(hereafter cited as Gelston, "Ps 74:8").
3Ibid., p. 82. Others who
follow
litzsch
(Psalms, 2:331), and KJV, NASB, and NIV
are more
general
with "meeting places of God." For a summary of
current
views see Aubrey R. Johnson, The Cultic
Prophet and
1979),
pp. 132-33, n. 7 (hereafter cited as Johnson, CPIP).
57
4:38; 2 Macc 1:8, 8:33). Thus,
according to Gelston, "the
modern consensus of an exilic
date for the psalm is accept-
able.l
Assuming a Judaean provenance, how should one
understand lx-ydfvm? The most common meaning "appointed
time" will not fit since
the noun is an object of vprw.2
"Appointed gathering"
or "assembly," useful in verse 4, is
similarly not a suitable
object.
On the basis of parallelism between vdfvm and vkw in
Lamentations 2:6 where both
refer to the temple, dfvm may
clearly bear a local sense.3
This sense is the only idea
suitable as an object of vprw.
Johnson's own suggestion to
repoint to lx-ydfvm, "those who held office from
God," is
both improbable as an object of
vprw and lacks versional
support.4
If "meeting places" is correct, how does one
account
for the plural. Galling
suggests a reference to non-
Yahwistic sanctuaries, taking Crx in the broader sense
of "world."5
He adduces 2 Kings 18:33-37 as a parallel.
1Gelston, "Ps
74:8," p. 83. 2BDB, pp. 417-18.
3Gelston, "Ps
74:8," p. 83.
4Johnson, CPIP, pp. 132-33. See criticism by
Gelston,
"Ps 74:8," p. 8'87, n. 5.
5K. Galling,
"Erwagungen zur Antiken Synagoge," ZDPV
72
(1956):165, cited by Gelston, "Ps 74:8," p. 84 and p. 87,
n. 6.
58
This is improbable on three
counts.1 The context clearly
focuses on Yahwism. Secondly,
the psalmist would not regret
destruction of non-Yahwistic
sanctuaries in a lament.
Finally, it is unlikely that
the Babylonians would embark on
shrine destruction throughout
its territories.
Retaining the usual meaning of Crx, i.e.,
these may be local sanctuaries.
Supposedly, Josiah had
purged the country of rival
religious meeting places. How-
ever, Josiah's successors
restored the "high places," so
that they may have been in use
at the time of the Babylonian
campaign. Since the psalmist
has intense concern for the
temple, as indicated by his use
of jmw-Nkwm in verse 7, it
is not likely that he would
mourn the loss of potentially
rival worship sites.
S. Krauss proposed that the plural refers to the
temple complex with its many
buildings. He seeks support
in the fact that several
manuscripts read plurals in verse
4, jydfvm and
verse 7, jywdqm. Rashi
takes a local histori-
cal sense of the plural and
refers to the sanctuary at
1See the summary in
Gelston, "Ps 74:8," p. 84.
2Ibid. This follows
Gelston's general argument but
rejects
his erroneous assumption that Deuteronomy and the
former
prophets do not date earlier than the late 7th c.
B.C.
3Cited by Gelston,
"Ps 74:8," p. 84, with incomplete
data
as S. Krauss, Synagogale Altertumer (
49-51.
59
appeals to Rashi it is clear
Rashi is not saying the same
thing as Krauss. Krauss also takes
Crxb as a stereotyped
expression which for him would
otherwise be redundant. This
is a gratuitous attempt.
Gelston's final and for him "most natural"
option is
to take the plural as a
reference to other Yahwistic worship
sites. While sacrifice was proper
only at
satellite worship sites could
accommodate communal praise
and prayer along with reading
and exposition of Scripture.1
Weingreen argues that these
ingredients of later synagogue
practice were rooted in
pre-exilic times.2
There was a place of prayer at Mizpah in Maccabean
times (1 Macc 3:46). It is also
possible that some former
"high places" were
adapted for non-sacrificial aspects of
Yahweh worship after the Josiah
reforms.3 Only the location
but none of the cultic aspects
of these former high places
would have been appropriated.
There is insufficient
evidence to designate lx-ydfvm as synagogues but these may
be precursors to this
institution which flourished in inter-
testamental Judaism.
1Geiston, "Ps
74:8," p. 85.
2J. Weingreen, From Bible to Mishnah (New York:
Holmes
and Meier Publishers, Inc., 1976), pp. 120-30.
3Gelston, "Ps 74:8," p. 86.
60
Verse 9
vnyxr xl vnyttvx
xybn
dvf-Nyx
:hm-df fdy vntx-xlv
Our
signs we do not see.
There
is no longer a prophet
And
there is no one with us who
knows how long.
vnyttvx
vnyttvx
contrasts with Mttvx of
verse 4. There it
could be either military or
religious signs of the enemy.
Here the immediate context
demands religious signs. Verse 4
initiated a description of
oppressive measures by an occu-
pation army against religious
practices of the conquered.
vnyttvx begins
a response which particularizes the com-
munity's sense of
God-forsakenness.
Young argues that with hxr these ttvx are concrete
acted signs such as
circumcision or the Sabbath but more
likely miracles of God's power.1
Kraus, on the contrary,
asserts "tvtvx sind hier die Offenbarungszeichen, durch
die Jahu sein Einschreiten
ankundigt. . . .”2 As revelatory
signs these would be to confirm
a divine message. When
1Young, "Psalm
74," p. 86. In this Young follows
Schmidt,
Psalmen, p. 142 and Dahood, Psalms II, p. 202.
2Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalmen, 2 vols., 5 Aufl.
(Neukrichen-Vluyn:
Neukirchener Verlag des
Erziehungsvereins, 1978),
2.680.
61
Gideon requested from Yahweh an
tvx that Yahweh indeed had
commissioned him, Yahweh
responded by miraculously consuming
Gideon's sacrifice (Jdg 6:17
with vv. 14-21). Later Samuel
informs Saul that he will meet at
three locations three
contingents of men. At each
location Saul will participate
in a comparatively common
encounter. As these events trans-
pire, they become tvtxh, confirming God's commission upon
Saul to be king (1 Sam 10:7, 9
with vv. 1-6).
God gave confirmatory ttvx
to
Gideon and Saul. The
sign to Gideon was a miraculous
event but for Saul the signs
were a series of
"common" events.1 tvx is not necessarily
miraculous or spectacular.
Jonathan would construe the
verbal response of the Philistine
garrison as an tvx, or
confirmation that he should
proceed with his attack (1 Sam
14:10).
This latter instance shows that tvx is also revela-
tory. Jonathan perceived that
God's mind was conveyed
through the Philistine words.2
At the end of a lament David
requests a revelatory tvx that his prayer has been heard.
He wants to know that he is
about to be delivered from his
1The miraculous feature
in the Saul commissioning
account
is Samuel's prediction of the events. Other
"natural"
events serving as signs are found at 1 Sam 2:34
and
Jer 44:29-30.
2See J. J. M. Roberts,
"Of Signs, Prophets, and Time
Limits:
A Note on Psalm 74:9." CBQ 39
(1977): 475-76
(hereafter cited as "Psalm
74:9").
62
adversity.1 This
kind of concern lies behind Psalm 74:9.
The Exodus plague narrative uses tvx several times.2
One of the purposes of the
plagues as ttvx was to
impart
knowledge of the true God.3
Similarly, Yahweh pronounces
judgment upon people of
the tvx of the coming death of Pharoah Hophra that they
might know the certainty of His
words of judgment.4
The Saul and Gideon events show that tvtx may
confirm divine action and, therefore,
divine presence. At
Michmash (1 Sam 14:10) and in
David's lament (Ps 86:17)
ttvx may
reveal the divine will and intent. The Exodus
plagues and the predicted death
of Pharoah Hophra intended
to convey knowledge about God.5
Each of these factors may
be present in Psalm 74:9.
1Ibid., p. 476. Roberts
compares a passage from
Ludlul, "'[In] waking
hours he sent the message and showed
the
favourable sign (ittus damqatu) to my
peoples.'" (Cited
from
W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom
Literature [
Clarendon
Press, 1960] pp. 50-51:46-47.)
2Exod 4-13 passim. 3E.g., Exod
7:3, 5.
4Jer 44:29-30.
5Helfmeyer has outlined
seven functions of tvtx,
i.e.,
to affirm knowledge (Jer 44:29-30); to impart
knowledge
(Gen 4:15; Exod 12:13); to motivate faith (Exod
4:1-9);
as memorials (Exod 13:19; Josh 4:6); as covenant
signs
(Gen 9:17; 17:11; Exod 31:13, 17); as confirmation (1
Sam
2:34; 2 Kgs 20:8); signs (Isa 8:18; Ezek 4:1-3). For
the list see TDOT, s.v. "tvx," by F. J. Helfmeyer, 1:171-88.
63
vnyxr xl
vnyxr as a
verb of perception may be translated as
simple past, "we did not
see," present perfect, "we have not
seen," or as a general
present, "we do not see."1 The last
is preferable here,2
especially in that the two nominal
clauses that follow are best
cast into the present tense.
The present idea fits well with
the apparent eyewitness
account of temple profanation (vv.
4-7).
xybn
dvf Nyx
Johnson notes that prophetic function was
characterized by the use of ttvx.3 This observation helps
to explain the proximity of
clauses and ideas relating to
ttvx and xybn in Psalm 74:9. There is no prophet to bring
from God an assuring word that
God will act favorably in
behalf of the praying
community.4 Johnson sees the
psalmist's denial of a
prophetic presence as implying that
1See Thomas 0. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical
Hebrew (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1971), p. 38, #4
(hereafter
cited as Lambdin, IBH).
2For the clause GNB has
"All our sacred symbols are
gone;"
on
our behalf we do not see." KJV, NASB, and NIV are
similar
to NAB.
3Aubrey R. Johnson, The Cultic Prophet in Ancient
52-54
(hereafter cited as CPAI).
4This is the perception of the community. God's
servants
do not always have a correct perception; see, e.g.,
Abraham's
expedient in relationship to Hagar (Gen 16) and
Elijah's complaint (1 Kgs
19:13-18).
64
he is not a prophet but seeks
to fill a prophetic function,
namely, intercession for a
needy suppliant.l
The clause has been understood variously. Young
says it is possible that
"there is no longer one who has as
intimate a relationship with
God as did men like Abraham."2
Others say that the prophets do
not discharge their office.3
Roberts proposes a plausible conceptual context for
the clause. Zechariah reports
the same consternation on the
part of the angel of Yahweh.
The angel asks how long
Yahweh's indignation will last
beyond the predicted seventy
years (Zech 1:12). Again,
Hananiah's prediction of a two-
year year limit on the
Babylonian oppression of
materialize (Jer 28:3). Ezekiel
attests the fact that the
faith of many in
predictions of false prophets
did not materialize. "Yahweh
does not see us. Yahweh has
forsaken the land"
(Ezek 8:12, 9:9).4
1Johnson, Psalmody, pp. 131-32. For the prophet as
intercessor
see Gen 20:7; 1 Sam 7:4-6; Jer 21:1-10,
27:16-18,
37:3-10, 42:1-22; Amos 7:2-3, 5-6 (but here see
Robert
R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in
Ancient
(Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1980), pp. 267, 283-84.
2Young, "Psalm
74," pp. 86-87. The only other use
of
won in Pss apparently refers to Abraham, Ps 105:15.
3Kraus, Psalmen, 2:680; see also Ezek 7:26 and
Lam
2:9.
4Roberts, "Psalm 74:9," pp. 479-80.
65
The spread of the proverb ". . . every vision comes
to naught," irritated Yahweh
so that He announced the end of
"false vision" and
"flattering divination" (Ezek 12:22-24).
His word of imminent judgment
will be performed without
delay (Ezek 12:25). These
factors demonstrate that in bib-
lical times a true prophet
could be at hand but the people
may be so distraught from
prolonged anguish that it seems to
them there is no prophet,
"whose words could be counted on
to come to pass."1
The last clause, "there is no one who knows how
long" may reflect a list
of prophets, who like Hananiah, had
made optimistic predictions
regarding collapse of
and return of furniture and
treasure to the temple. Indeed,
in Psalm 74, especially verses
4-8, enemy presence has a
high profile. Psalm 74:9
depicts the community's perception
that Israelite oracular
practice has failed.
hm-df fdy vntx-xlv
tvx as an
indicator that an event will take place in
a specified period of time is
found in Isaiah 7:16. The
Immanuel sign consists in part
in indicating that within
1This is essentially the
view of Roberts on Psalm
74:9.
He does date the Psalm to the exilic period, after
587
B.C. (see Roberts, "Psalm 74:9," p. 475), and suggests
that
the psalmist may have discounted Jeremiah as a traitor
and
Ezekiel as a madman. Thus, Ps 74:9 reflects a "histori-
cally
conditioned failure of confidence" (p. 480). While
this
date may not be certain, Roberts' idea has merit, given
the mood of the psalm and the
malaise which it reflects.
66
the usual amount of time it
would take this child's discre-
tionary powers to develop, the
lands of
will be deserted. Several
predictions in the Bible have
built-in time limits for their
fulfillment. Unlike Isaiah
7:16 and 37:30 these do not
include the use of tvx.1
All of these instances of prediction of divine judg-
ment specify either its arrival
or its duration. Roberts
sites several illustrations
from cuneiform texts which
indicate "predetermined
limits to the periods of divine
wrath."2 Thus,
biblical and extra-biblical material attest
a practice of specifying time
limits on divine judgment upon
the community.
It is not accidental that the first and last cola
mention tvx and hm-df
respectively.3 The Psalmist is
lIsa 37:30 indicates a
three-year process as tvxh
the
sign that Yahweh will judge the Assyrian king.
Announcements
of judgment without tvx include: desolation
of
year
(Isa 21:6); breaking of the Babylonian yoke within two
years
(Jer 28:3); Judaean exile and desolation of
each
last seventy years (Jer 25:11-12 and Isa 23:15, 17);
for
brief discussion see Roberts, "Psalm 74:9," pp. 477-78.
2Ibid., p. 478 (incl.
notes 18-23); e.g., Roberts
quotes
an omen text, ". . . the Umman-manda will arise and
rule
the land. The gods will depart from their daises, and
Bel
will go to
vengeance
will he exercised and the gods will return to
their
place." Roberts cites from George Smith, Cuneiform
Inscriptions III, 61 mo. 2:21'-22'.
3hm-df should be retained as
integral with vnyttvx
and
forming a repetition with ytm-df in v. 10. Buttenweiser
(Psalms, p. 616) and Young ("Psalm
74," p. 87) omit as
dittography.
67
concerned to know "how
long" the period of divine wrath then
at work would last. There were
neither ttvx, nor a xybn to
announce or explain an tvx.
Verse
10
rc
JrHy Myhlx ytm-df
:Hcnl jmw byvx Cxny
How long, Oh God, will the adversary
taunt
Will the enemy defy your name perpetually.
Jrh and Cxn
The psalmist reaches a climactic point of despair
with the final colon of verse
9. There is no appointed
voice to inform the community
of the duration of its
anguish. He focuses his
attention more particularly upon
God Himself, allowing the
devastated temple to recede
He takes up the question of
"how long" the adversary will
revile God's name.
JrH-I occurs
as a verb thirty times, twenty-four of
which are Piel. Goliath defied
17:10, 26). The Rabshekah reproached the Lord (2 Kgs 10:22,
23). Idolatrous Israelites blasphemed the Lord on the
mountains (Isa 65:5).1
JrH is
perhaps an Aramaic root meaning to be sharp,
keen, acute, hence the Hebrew
verb may mean "to say sharp
1Renderings of Cxn are from
KJV.
68
things against, to taunt."1
It may also connote "to cast
blame."2 The
verb is placed opposite dbk, to
honor (Prov
14:31). He who oppresses the
poor does JrH to his
Maker,
whereas kindness to the poor, dbk, honors God. Thus, one
taunts God or says sharp things
against Him by improper
treatment of the poor. Zebulun
as a tribe, valiant in war,
was said to JrH their life even to death (Judg 5:18).3
To sum up, in general JrH means
to scorn or dis-
honor, often by verbal taunts.
The rc in v. 10 is the
foreign occupation force
attempting to keep defeated Jeru-
the notion of vgxw, roars (v. 4) by God's jyrrc.
Cxn is
similar to JrH in
that the latter spews forth
contemptible speech, whereas
the former is more likely to be
active, e.g., treat with
contempt or to treat scornfully.
Cxn
denotes an action or attitude whereby a former recipient
of a favorable disposition or
service is consciously viewed
or treated with disdain.4
Nathan informs David that, Cxn
hvhy
ybyvx tx tcxn, "You have utterly caused the enemies of
1BDB, p. 537.
2TWOT, s.v. "JrH," by Thomas E.
McComiskey,
1:325-26;
e.g., if the pupil does well the teacher will not
be
blamed (Job 27:11).
3See C. F. Keil and F.
Delitzsch, Joshua, Judges,
Ruth, trans. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old
Testament (
Company,
reprint ed., 1960), p. 319.
4TWOT,
s.v. "Cxn,"
by Leonard J. Copper, 2:543.
69
Yahweh to scorn" (or
blaspheme--2 Sam 12:14).1 The implica-
tion is that not only has David
despised Yahweh or con-
sciously treated Him with
disdain,2 but he has driven others
to do the same. Rather than
affirming Yahweh, David denies
Him. The ideas of affirmation
and denial are juxtaposed by
the use of vnymxy-xl . . . Cxny
in
a Yahweh complaint to
Moses when the congregation
sought to stone Joshua and
Caleb.3
Cxn
generally denotes a negative relationship be-
tween God and Israel.4
It never has rc as
subject. Psalm
74:10 and 2 Samuel 12:14 are
the only places that have
as subject.5 Since byvx designates hostile people, whether
within or outside the nation,
here it may include hostile
1The Piel often has
causative force. See GKC, p.
141,
#52g. On 2 Sam 12:14 see Hans Wilhelm Hertzberg, 1 and
2 Samuel, trans. J. S. Bowden,
OTL (
2Coppes, “Cxn,” 2:543.
3"And Yahweh said to
Moses, how long (hnx-df) will
this
people yncxny (scorn me) and how long yb vnymxy xl
(will
they not believe me)" (Num 14:11). While Cxn and Nmx
are
not antonyms, when placed in antithetical relationship,
the
words are located in generally opposite semantic fields.
4Hertzberg notes that God
or divine things are the
object
of Cxn
13 times (1 and 2 Samuel, p. 315).
The
following
have God as subject. Deut 32:16, Jer 14:21, Lam
2:6,
Ps 10:3.
5Ibid.; though 2 Sam
12:14 has hvhy ybyvx as the
syntactical
object the causative force of the Piel makes the
object
a virtual subject. Rosenbaum, "Antagonist," p. 85
excludes
2 Sam 12:14.
70
Israelites.1 The
idea of some Israelites joining with the
foreign occupation to vex the
godly has precedent in the
monarchic era.2 The
idea is further strengthened by Psalm
74:18. lbn in the
Bible generally refers to an Israelite.
lbx-Mf
(v.
18) and byvx (v. 10) each function as
subject of
Cxn.
Lexical studies in 74:10 suggest that JrH concerns
defiant, taunting, or
reproachful speech by Israelite or
foreigner. Cxn denotes an action opposite to affirming God
and may promote conscious
disdain of God. A non-Israelite
is never unambiguously
construed as a grammatical subject of
Cxn. Since
byvx includes both Israelites and
foreigners, it
is quite likely that the byvx in 74:10 is an Israelite. The
psalmist's complaint is
"How long, oh God, will the
foreigner speak reproachfully?
Will the hostile Israelite
perpetually disavow your
name?"
rc and byvx
rc and rrc in Psalms are of sufficient frequency to
be considered Psalms words by
Tsevat.3 Generally, these
1Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," pp. 76-79.
2E.g., the community
considers itself to have God as
Father
in spite of the fact that the nation, under the
eponyms
Abraham and
(Isa
63:15b-16). See Paul D. Hanson, The Dawn
of Apocalyp-
tic (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1975), pp. 92-93.
3Matitiahu Tsevat, A Study of the Language of the
Biblical Psalms (
Literature,
1955), p. 19; for his definition of a psalm
word, see pp. 4 and 7.
71
terms refer to foreign foes
throughout the HB. rc and byvx
both occur in ten psalms.1
rrc with byvx is found in eight
psalms.2 None of the
words commonly used as objects of
hostility in Psalms (i.e., qydc, bl-yrwy, Nvkn Hvr bl, and
dysH)
occurs in Psalm 74.3 Myvg, though found in other
national laments, does not
occur in Psalm 74.4 While there
are numerous parallels between rc and byvx there
are none
between rc and Myvg in
psalms.5 More than half the psalms
which include rc are concerned with foreign domination of
Rosenbaum suggests that the rc "plans or instigates
hostile action without
necessarily taking part in physical
combat."7 The byvx actually engages in hostile action or
has declared his intent to do
so. Numbers 10:9 helps to
sort out these terms:
1Pss 3:8; 13:3, 5; 27:2,
6, 12; 44:6, 8, 11, 17;
74:3,
10, 18; 78:42, 53, 61, 66; 81:15; 89:11, 23, 24, 43,
52;
106:10, 11, 42; 119:98, 137, 139. rc and fwr
occur in
five
psalms: 3:8; 97:10; 106:18; 112:10; 119 (passim).
2Pss 6:8, 11; 7:5-7; 8:3;
31:9, 12, 16; 42:10, 11;
69:5,
19, 20; 74:3, 4, 10, 18, 23; 143:3, 9, 12. and
occur
in 7:10; 10:2, 3, 4,13, 15; 31:18.
3Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," pp. 117-19.
4Pss 44:3, 12, 15; 79:1,
6, 10; 80:9
5cf. Num 24:8; Mic 5:8.
See Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist,"
p. 79, n. 7.
6Ibid., p. 80; Pss 44,
60, 74, 81, 89, 105, 106,
107,
136.
7Ibid., p. 81.
72
When you are at war in your own land
against an
agressor (rc) who attacks (rrch) you, you shall
sound short blasts on the trumpets,
that you may be
remembered before the Lord your God
and be delivered
from your enemies (Mytyxm).1
The rc plans warfare (Ezra 4:1); his defeat is
predicted
(Deut 32:27ff, Isa 59:10, Mic
5:8); or he oppresses the de-
feated foe (Isa 63:18, 64:1;
Ezek 39:23f). In no clear case
in Scripture is the rc cast as actually engaged in combat.2
The relationship between rc
and
byvx may be
summarized. byvx, as
the more general term, may be either
a foreign or an internal
antagonist who uses physical force
or has stated his intent to use
the same. The rc is
often a
foreign power who plans
military activity or in the occupa-
tion period exercises
oppressive control.
Verse
11
jdy bywt
hml
:hlk jqvH brqm jnymyv
Why
do you withdraw your hand
even your right hand?
From your bosom, destroy!
jnymyv jdy bywt hml
The "how long?" of verse 10 becomes a renewed
"why?"
in verse 11.3 The
"why" of verse 1 concerned the
1NJPS.
2Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," p. 82.
3For discussion of hml, see above on v. 1.
73
inexplicable anger of God
against the chosen nation. The
renewed "why"
concerns divine inaction against a taunting
adversary.
The dynamic of verse 11 turns on its anthropo-
morphisms, jdy, jnymyv, jqvH. These
terms underline the
psalmist's remonstrance of God.
jdy is one
of numerous
references in the Old Testament
to the hand of God.1 Such
uses often "point to
particular acts of Yahweh."2 The
Lord's hand was active in the
work of creation (Isa 45:12;
48:13), the piercing of the
dragon (Job 26:13; Isa 51:9),
and in holy war (Exod 14:3;
Exod 15:6). On occasion
extolled Yahweh for acts of
deliverance by His hand (Pss
89:10-11, 13; 98:1).3
The divine dy is a
symbol of God's
power to effectively intervene.
bywt here
means to withdraw or to draw back. The
Hiphil bywm describes Perez as drawing back his hand (Gen
38:29).4 This concrete
usage supports the same idea in two
figurative uses including Psalm
74:11. Jeremiah notes that
1See Walther Zimmerlie, A Commentary on the Book of
Ezekiel 1, trans. Ronald E.
Clements, ed. Frank Moore Cross,
et al, (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1979), pp. 117-18.
2Ibid.
3TDNT, s.v. “xei<r," by Eduard Lohse, 9:426-27.
4 vdy
bywm (Gen
38:29) is the antithesis to vdy-Ntyv
(v. 28).
74
Adonai vnymy bywh, has withdrawn His right hand from before
the enemy.1
The latter passage supports the notion of explana-
tory v with jnymyv.2
Yahweh's right hand punishes His
enemies (Ps 20:8) and redeemed
12).
The right hand also symbolizes that which is honor-
able (Ps 110:1). Dahood
suggests that hnymyv dy, is a
word
pair based on Ugaritic cognates
meaning left hand and right
hand.3 However, the
general context is concerned about
God's honor. Moreover, the hand
is symbolic here and the
left hand portrays negative
symbolism, e.g., "the fool's
heart is at his left" (Qoh
10:2b).4
hlk jqvH brqm
The Qere is preferred for jqvH. The
basic meaning
is bosom, but the term also
refers to the "folds of a
garment" at the waist.5
This colon may be construed as
1Ps 74:11 and Lam 2:3
concern analagous if not
identical
situations, i.e., divine anger allows the enemy to
devastate
2See GKC, p. 484, #154a,
n. 1(b).
3Dahood, Psalms II, p. 203 and Psalms I, p. 163.
Young,
"Psalm 74," p. 92 follows Dahood.
4Also, lxmw signifies the lesser
blessing (Gen
48:13-14),
weakness (Judg 3:15, 21). See TDNT,
s.v.
"ko<lpoj," by Walter
Grundmann, 1:38.
5TDNT, s.v. "ko<lpoj," by Rudolf Meyer,
3:824-25 and
TDOT, s.v. “qyH,” by G. Andre,
4:356-57.
75
elliptical and, in fact,
containing two clauses. One could
supply a word antithetical to bywt in the first colon.l
Elsewhere, God said to Moses, jqyH lx jdybywh then it is
reported jqyHm hxcvyv (Exod 4:7).2 Similarly, in
Psalm
74:11 one might supply an
imperative and its object, e.g.,
jnymy
xcvh. The sense of the colon, stated with less
vigor
than the actual text is
"from the fold of your garment
thrust
forth your right hand and destroy
the enemy."3
hlk has
been problematic. The Piel infinitive
construct occurs in the sense
of God's destroying or making
an end of the covenant people
in His anger against them (Lev
26:44).4 The same
sense is useful here, but the form should
be understood as imperative.
Verse 12
Mdqm
yklm Myhlxv
:Crxh
brqb tvfvwy lfp
Now,
Oh God, my king, from ancient time!
Worker of victories in the
midst of the earth!
1For the idea of an
ellipsis which depends upon the
contrary
of a preceding word, see Bullinger, Figures
of
Speech, pp. 58-59.
2Exod 4:7 has a different
setting from Ps 74 but the
incidence
of bwh,
dy,
and qyH
encourages comparison.
3Italics indicate the
proposed sense of the
ellipsis.
This procedure preserves both pointing and
punctuation
of MT.
4On Lev 26:44 see NASB,
"destroy" and
end."
76
The Old Testament narratives emphasize the miracle
of Yahweh in holy war and
downgrade the involvement of human
warriors. The paradigm for holy
war is the exodus event
extolled in Exodus 15.1
Yahweh is a man of war. By His
right hand He defeated His
enemy (Exod 15:6, 12). Moses
anticipates the conquest (v.
17) at which time Yahweh will
secure for
[Yahweh's] inheritance").
These victories establish, for
yklm Myhlxv
The lcs suffix is striking in a "we" psalm.
Syriac
reads first common plural.
Bardtke proposes htxv to
conform
to the first word in verses 13,
14, and 15. The htx is not
necessary here since the verse
represents a transition from
bold complaint and accusatory
request to what appears to be
a hymn of praise. There is no
textual support for inserting
the pronoun.3 LePeau
suggests that the suffix on yklm, when
it refers to God is formalized
as with yklm but he still
1Millard C. Lind, Yahweh is a Warrior (
PA:
Herald Press, 1980), pp. 23, 49-50 (hereafter cited as
Warrior).
2Ibid., pp. 53, 69-70.
Lind draws attention to the
centrality
of human kingship in victory hymns from
in
5).
3Other passages where Myhlx or lx is juxtaposed to
htx
include Isa 44:11; Pss 22:11, 63:2, 118:28, and 140:7.
77
retains the suffix in
translation of Psalm 68:25.1 yklm
appears seven times, five of
which refer to God.2
Psalm 44 fluctuates between the community and an
individual as the subject of
the psalm. The community
recalls what God did for
(44:2-3). They recall that it
was God's Nymy and
the light
of His presence (44:4). They
expect God anew to fight for
and give them victory over
their present adversaries. This
expression of confidence
concludes with a promise to praise
the name of God (44:6-9). Verse
5 begins with a virtual
direct address, Myhlx yklm xvh-htx. The words for God and
king are in reverse order
compared to Psalm 74:12.3
Psalm 44:5b is a petition, "command tyfyw
(victories) for Jacob."4
The copula xvh is
expressed,
unlike 74:12. Further 44:5 is
imbedded in a rehearsal of
God's victorious deeds of the
past and an expression of
confidence that God will
similarly work in the present.
1LePeau, "Psalm
68," p. 178.
2Ibid.; Pss 5:3, 84:4,
44:5, 68:25, 74:12.
3The psalmist addresses hvhy
as yhlxv
yklm in a
Korah
psalm that lauds the temple as God's dwelling (Ps 84:
4).
This connection between temple and kingship reminds of
Isaiah
6. The psalmist acknowledges God's kingship in Psalm
68:25
on the basis of recently achieved victories over Is-
rael's
enemies, somewhat reverse to the setting of Psalm 74.
4For tvfvwy in Psalm 44:5, the
following have
"victories":
GNB, JB, NAB,
erances."
For tvfvwy
in 74:12-- "salvation (s) GNB, RSV,
NAB,
KJV, NIV; "deliverance" NASB, "victorious" (or simi-
lar):
victories."
78
Then follows the complaint
that, at the moment, God has
rejected them. Verse 5 seems to
be a genuine confession of
faith in the form of an
affirmation of God's kingship.
Psalm 74:12 follows sharp complaint and an accu-
satory request (vv. 1-11a and 11b
respectively). It is not
clear that 74:12a is an
indicative statement affirming God's
kingship. The syntax allows for
a vocative and this would
not require one to supply a
copula. "Now, Oh God, my king
from long ago. . . ." The
psalmist then rehearses divine
victories from ancient time
(vv. 13-17) before taking up his
petition again.1
The psalmist is clear that God did achieve victories
in the past but, aside from
verse 12, he does not express
confidence that God will act in
accord with his petition in
the future. In this respect,
Psalm 74:12 differs from Psalm
44:5. This ambivalence
regarding an expression of confi-
dence, lack of a clear promise
to praise, and the absence of
confession of sin in the psalm,
combine to raise questions
as to where the psalmist is
perceptually and spiritually.
We must affirm the fundamental sincerity of the
psalmist's faith, but that
faith has a strange posture here.
Though the psalmist is
explicitly concerned about the
1The connection between
Exodus and conquest
victories
and God's kingship reaches back to
earliest
poetry, e.g., Exod 15:18, Num 23:21, Deut 33:5.
See
Cross, CMHE, p. 99, and Patrick D.
Miller, Jr., The
Divine Warrior in Early
University Press, 1973) p. 174
(hereafter cited as DWEI).
79
reproach, JdH, which God's enemies cast upon Him, he may be
mocking God by affirming God's
credentials of kingship (vv.
12a-17) in order to shame Him
for not working victory in the
present.1
tvfvwy lfp
The psalmist ascribes to God in 12b one of the
functions of kingship, i.e., to
engage in warfare. LePeau
finds "victory" a
useful sense for hfvwy in
Psalm 68:20
because the immediate context
praises God for breaking the
head of His enemies, among
other recollections of God's
triumphant acts.2 In
Psalm 74:13 God will smash, rbw, the
heads of Tanninim. Accordingly,
tvfvwy is nicely translated
"victories" in 74:12.
lfp occurs
only in poetry and in Qal only fifty-six
times.3 Seventeen of
these have God as subject. The verb
controls such objects as God's
abode (Exod 15:17), the
conquest (Ps 44:2-4),
1:5), and indirectly, My, Mynynt
and
Ntyvl in Psalm
1The psalmist's faith is
evident in the fact that he
prays.
However, there are similarities betwen his orienta-
tion
to God and Jonah's.
2The word for
"break," Ps 68:20, is CHmy. For hfvwy
see
LePeau, "Psalm 68," p. 156. Other passages where
"victory"
is acceptable are 1 Sam 14:45; Exod 14:13; Hab
3:8;
Pss 20:6, 21:6 (here NASB has "victory" in the margin).
Each
of these passages has hfvwy in a context of military
activity.
See also Young, "Psalm 74," p. 96.
3TWOT,
s.v. "lfp,"
by Victory P. Hamilton, 2:730.
80
74:13-14.1 In
general, with God as subject, lfp refers
to
actions which have
observes that the noun refers
to God's work sixteen times
and always to His work in
history and not in creation.3
This may he a clue to the
interpretation of verses 13-17.
Verse 13
My jzfb
trrvp htx
:Mymh-lf Mynynt ywxr trbw
You
stopped the sea with your strength
You smashed heads of Tanninim upon
the waters.
trrvp htx
rrp occurs
fifty-three times in the Old Testament,
forty-six times in Hiphil, but
never in Qal. The Hiphil has
tyrb as its
object twenty-one times. Elsewhere the object
includes such things as tvHx (brotherhood), dsH (loyal
love), and Fpwm (judgment).3 There appears to be a
moral
facet to the root in the
Hiphil.4 The meaning is "to break,
frustrate." The only two
uses of Po'el (including
Hithpo'el) are Isaiah 24:19 and
Psalm 74:13. While BDB and
1LePeau, "Psalm
68," p. 156.
2Ibid. 3Hamilton,
“lfp,”
p. 730.
4References respectively
are Lev 26:44; Zech 11:14;
Ps
89:34, and Job 40:5.
5TWOT,
s.v. "rrp,"
by Victor P. Hamilton, 2:738.
81
KB both suggest a separate
root, rrp-II, "to split,
divide,"
probably a single root should
be presumed.1
Perhaps the psalmist intends to impart a moral di-
mension to whatever events he
refers. The moral dimension
between God and the created
order, specifically My, is
evident in Psalm 89:10, where
Yahweh is said to lwvm, rule.
Both Psalms 89:10 and 74:13
feature the emphatic independent
pronoun htx in initial position. The use of po'el in Psalm
74 intensifies the Hiphil,
i.e., God broke up the sea or
completely frustrated (in the
sense of stopped) the sea.
My jzfb
The means of the action was God's zf, strength.
The noun occurs ninety-three
times, including forty-four in
the psalter. Fifty-nine times zf describes God, often in
hymnic portions.2
The significance of zf in
Psalm 74:13 is
informed by the fact that
except for this "hymnic inter-
lude," God's zf is emphatically not evident in the psalm.3
1BDB, p. 830; KB, p. 782.
2Exod 15:13; Pss 21:5,
77:15. Tsevat lists this as
psalms
language (Language, pp. 15, 18, 48).
3In this study,
"hymn" in its various forms, when
referring
to Ps 74:13-17 is often placed in quotation marks.
This
is to remind the reader that this study regards the
psalmist's
use of these verses as more a means of chiding
God,
somewhat bitterly, than a means of praising God or
expressing confidence in Him.
See later discussion.
82
The Bible is clear that God controls the seas.1
Day
assumes that there is a
"divine conflict with the dragon and
the sea" in the Bible.2
He then seeks to show both the fact
and reasons that the Bible
expressed a causal connection
between the conflict and God's
work of creation.3 God does
make the sea tempestuous (Jer
31:35) and compares enemy
nations like
There is no clear evidence that
God ever viewed the actual
waters as His enemy.4
Though conquest and control both
require strength, the two are
different enterprises.
God created Crxh
enveloped in water then commanded
the dividing and gathering of
waters. Thus, dry land
appeared, also called Crx, and God named the gathered waters
Mymy
(Gen
1:1-2, 6-10). Day claims that inasmuch as "there
is no longer a trace of
personality within the waters a
process of demythologization
has taken place."5 Typical of
those who hold to a chaoskampf, Day regards Genesis 1 as a
1See Prov 8:29; Job
38:8-11; Jer 5:22b (also Jer 31:
35
where God stirs up the sea so that its waves roar).
2John Day, God's Conflict with the Dragon and the
Sea (London: Cambridge
University Press, 1985), pp. 1, 4
(hereafter
cited as Day, Conflict).
3Ibid., p. 1.
4For man to view waters
as foreboding (as in Pss 69
and
88:18) is not equivalent to God viewing waters as a
threat.
5Day, Conflict,
p. 49 (italics mine).
83
sixth-century product of the
priestly school.1 This
position presumes the basic
Wellhausian re-construction of
Israelite religion.
Accordingly, it uses passages which
allow (but do not require)
mythological material in the Old
Testament to control the
interpretation of unambiguous
material such as the statements
about water in Genesis 1.
Day regards Psalm 104 as a striking parallel, but as
prior to Genesis 1. He cites
the mythological character of
the psalm as a reason for its
priority. Psalm 104:7 is an
"allusion to the divine conflict with the sea."2
Verse 26
notes God's creation of Ntyvl, whereas Genesis 1:21 uses the
impersonal Mynynt.3 Secondly, since vtyH (Gen 1:24) is else-
where always in poetic
material, including Psalm 124:11-12,
Genesis 1 must be dependent on
the poems. The reverse could
as well be true, though Day
does not see this. Thirdly, the
bird motif in Genesis 1:2 (JrH, Deut 32:11) and Psalm 104:3
(wings) each time in connection
with Hvr (wind) argues for
priority of Psalm 104.4
This appears to be prompted by
Day's attempt to find mythological
elements in Genesis 1.
My has
been taken by many as a personal name, i.e.,
the Ugaritic god, Yamm.5
This view is supported in part by
1Ibid., p. 53.
2Ibid., p. 52. 3Ibid.,
pp. 4-5.
4Ibid., pp. 51-53.
5E.g., Young, "Psalm
74," pp. 97-98 and Dahood,
Psalms
II,
pp. 205-06.
84
Mynynt and Ntyvl in verse 14. These are doubtless figures
of speech explained and
verified by other biblical usage.
My designates
a large body of water more than 300 times.
Seas named in the Bible include
the
nated as both the hinder or
western sea and the Sea of the
Philistines.1 The
Bible identifies the
sea and the east sea.2
The Red Sea Jvs My, the
sea of
reeds, and the
and
is a general term for a large
body of water.
The notion that My is the
name of a deity presumes a
particular use by the Bible of
mythological terms and
concepts. Young proposes that
the writer (of Ps 74) "may
not be drawing a
distinction" between the
Yamm's hostile action against
the cosmic King.4 This latter
scenario further presumes a
precreation chaos out of which
1See respectively Num.
34:6; Deut 11:24; and Exod
23:31.
For this survey TWOT, s. v., “My,” by Paul R.
Gilchrist,
1:381-82.
2See respectively Num
34:3 and Ezek 47:10,.
3For references to the
Red Sea, Nile, and
Rivers,
see Exod 10:19; Isa 11:15; Nah 3:8; and Jer 51:36.
4Young, "Psalm
74," p. 98. Those with Young, who
subscribe
to this general construction recognize in Baal and
Yahweh
the Ugaritic and biblical versions (respectively) of
the
cosmic king. While this position acknowledges that the
Bible
tries to show that Yahweh is the only cosmic king and
that
Yahweh has none of the petty finiteness of the gods of
the
myths, it is not often clear whether those who subscribe
to
the position agree with the Bible on the absolute unique-
ness
of Yahweh.
85
God, through conflict, brought
forth the ordered universe
which Genesis 1:3:ff
introduces.
trbw
rbw occurs
149 times in the Old Testament. Of
thirty-six uses of Piel, eight
are in the psalter.l Eight-
een times in prose material
this stem is used with reference
to smashing idols or cultic
articles.2 Eight of the remain-
ing uses outside of the Psalms
have to do with acts of judg-
ment by God or destruction of
enemy weaponry or defenses by
God or man. Of the eight
psalmic uses, five concern God's
smashing or neutralizing
weaponry, defenses, or assets of
the enemies of God's people.3
Clearly, rbw Piel
predomi-
nantly has God as subject, as
in Psalm 74:13 and controls
objects which are offensive to
God or menace God's people.
Mynynt ywxr
Mynynt ywnr as an
object of rbw is
ambiguous if
extracted from its context in
this psalm in particular and
the biblical context in
general.4 Data concerning
lTWOT, s.v. "rbw-I," by Victor P.
Hamilton, 2:901.
2E.g., images (2 Kgs
11:18, 23:14); cultic articles
(Exod
31:3; Deut .12:3; 2 Kgs 25:13).
3Pss 3:8 (teeth); 46:10
(bow); 48:8 (ships); 76:4
(arrows);
107:11. (gates); Pss 29:5 and 105:33 (trees; the
latter
in relationship to the 7th plague against
4Elsewhere rbw-I always has a concrete
literal
object.
Mynynt ywxr is the only instance of
a metaphorical
object.
86
in the HB indicates that the
term refers to an enemy of
God.1
Nynt occurs
eight times in the singular and six in
the plural. Aaron's staff
became a Nynt, serpent,
when cast
in front of Pharaoh. The
magicians' staffs similarly became
Mnynt (Exod
7:9, 10, 12).2 The prophet seeks to arouse
Yahweh's strength hvhy fvrz, which in former days had "hewn
in pieces" bhr and pierced Nynt (Isa
51:9).3 He further
calls for a new exodus to bring
Yahweh's Mylvxg
"redeemed
ones," from
people from
Isaiah 51:9-10 puts bhr and Nynt in
parallel and virtually
identifies them with
Nynt who
devours, crushes, and swallows his prey (Jer 51:
35). Nynth is in
apposition to Pharaoh, King of Egypt
1My in verse 13 need not be
seen as an enemy of God
but
rather as My
in Exod 15--part of the creation which God
manipulates
to accomplish His purposes.
2A biting serpent several
feet long is the sense
also
in Ps 91:13 and Deut 32:33.
3Nynt
tllHm bhr tbcHmh xyh-tx xvlh (Isa 51:9c). For
bcH see BDB, p. 345.
4hbr
Mvhtym My tbrHmh xyh-tx xvlh (Isa 51:10a).
brH-I, "to be dry," intransitive in Qal,
becomes transitive
in
Hiphil (BDB, p. 351). Yahweh dries up rivers including
the
The
king of Assyria boasted that he had dried up the rivers
of
87
(Ezek 29:3).1 As Nynt, Pharaoh is described as a fearsome
aquatic with scales and tough
jaws. Yahweh will abandon him
to the open field where beasts
and birds will feed on him.2
Isaiah 27:1a, b, c has often been compared to UT 67:
1-3.3 The Isaiah
verse may be charted in summary fashion:
Isaiah 27:1 UT 67
a. Yah will dqp
(punish) 1. You will mhs
(smite)
Ntyvl
(leviathan), wHn ltn. btn. brh (Lotan the
Hrb (the
fleeing serpent)
fleeing serpent)4
b. even Ntyvl the
twisted 2. You made
an end of the
serpent (twisted= Nvtlqf)
btn. qltm (wiggling
serpent)
c. and he will grh (slay) 3.
the tyrant with seven
Nynth (the
monster) which heads.5
is in Myh (the
sea) .
1Nynt, in Isa 51:9-10,
referring to
aoh)
of the Exodus, becomes in Ezek 29:3-5
7th
and early 6th centuries B.C. Ezek 32:2 compares Pharoah
to
Mynynth (plural), in a context similar to Ezek 29.
2See Ezek 29:3-5; the
terms Nynt,
hyH,
hlkx
are
comparable
to terms in Psalm 74.
3These lines are repeated
in UT 67:27-30.
4Ugaritic btn parallels
Hebrew wHn.
5In Ugaritic sb't r'sm; with this compare the
plurals
in Ps 74:13, Mynynt ywxr. Udd notes that the
num-
eral
is not explicit in Ps 74 whereas it is in the Ugaritic
material
in Stanley V. Udd, "An Evaluation of the Mythologi-
cal
Hermeneutic in Light of the Old Testament Usage of the
Leviathan
Motif," (Th.D. Dissertation, Grace Theological
Seminary,
1980), pp. 202-03 (hereafter cited as "Leviathan
Motif").
88
Isaiah 27:1 is eschatological,
metaphoric, and non-specific
while Psalm 74:13-14 is
historic.1 Similarities to Psalm 74
include the tendency to
identify Ntyvl with Nynt, their
adversarial relation to Yahweh,
great strength and skill
required of their captor and
their watery habitat.
Job protests to God as to whether he is My, or Nynth
that God must put a guard
around him (Job 7:12). Thus Job
compares My and Nynt as
large and dangerous when they pass
proper bounds. The plural Mynynt are among God's great sea
creatures included with the dxm bvF, very good, in the
completed creation (Gen 1:21,
31).2
To sum up the significance of Mynynt the concrete
term refers initially to large,
strong creatures with a
watery habitat. By the time of
Job, they were like the sea,
dangerous if not controlled.
The larger species of Mynyt
were scaly, strong and given to
stirring up waters. In
their ferocity and strength to
devour they became a symbol
for great kings and empires who
punished
lIbid., pp. 210-12 and
Day, Conflict, pp. 141-45;
also
Erik Haglund, Historical Motifs in the
Psalms (Upsala:
GWK
Gleerup, 1984), pp. 7-9; 56-58.
2The Mynynt are juxtaposed as
direct objects to the
verb
xrb
(Gen 1:21). Perhaps Moses was aware of the
mythological
connotations regarding great creatures in the
religious
literatures of his day. The juxtaposition of xrb
and
Nynt
may have been deliberate for polemical reasons.
Further,
Ps 148:7 calls on Mynynt to praise Yahweh.
89
The plural ywxr in
74:13 has been likened to the
seven-headed monster who was an
arch enemy to the hero gods
of the pagan myths. The plural Mynynt has been read as a
plural of majesty so as to give
the term in 74:13 a singular
idea. wxr often means chief or leader (e.g., Exod 18:25).
At any rate, in that Pharoah is
compared elsewhere to both
Nynt
and
Mynynt and the survey shows a
heavy tendency to
compare
Mynynt represents
true plurals and refers to chiefs of
divisions of
Exodus. Perhaps there is some
irony that the Mynynt were
smashed in their own habitat
(i.e., on their own terms) upon
the waters.
Verse
14
Ntyvl ywxr tccr
htx
:Myycl Mfl lkxm vnntt
You
crushed the heads of Leviathan.
You gave him as food to desert
animals.
tccr
Ccr is
used nineteen times, including eleven in the
simple stems. In these stems
the verbal action is against
an inherently vulnerable
object, e.g., society's needy, a
bruised reed, a weakened
nation.1 Two uses in causative
1Amos 4:1; Isa 42:3; Ezek 29:7.
90
stems include twins crushing
together in a womb and the
crushing of a skull.1
The three uses of Piel have God as
subject as in Psalm 74:14.
Zophar charges that Job has Ccr,
"oppressed," or
better, severely oppressed the poor. When
King Asa was
"enraged" at Hanani's rebuke, he imprisoned the
prophet and "grievously
oppressed"2 some of the people.
Though all the uses of Piel have the intensive
force, the sense of Ccr in Psalm 74:14 differs from the
sense of the other two uses.3
Those imply extreme measures
of oppressing of the vulnerable
by the mighty. The object
in Psalm 74:14 is not
characterized on the human plane as
"vulnerable." Ntyvl is mighty whether taken in a meta-
phorical, mythological, or
literal sense. The sense of the
Piel here is underlined by
comparing it with the parallel
use of the two Niphals, Cvrt and rbwt
in
Ezekiel 29:7. In
this passage the subject,
Pharaoh, is crushed and broken
when
God crushed in pieces that
which was mighty.4
1Gen 25:22; Judg 9:53.
2For "enraged"
see NASB and Ccr in Piel see BDB, p.
954.
The other two uses of Piel are Job 20:19 and 2 Chr
16:10.
3On intensive force of
Piel, GKC, p. 141, #52f, g.
4Besides Psalm 74:14,
only Judges 10:8 uses Ccr in a
passage
which echoes warlike aggression. There it is a
po'el
in conjunction with Qal Ccr, to shatter. The text is
reporting
that the Ammonites and Philistines oppressed
91
Ntyvl ywxr
Nynt
appears to be a general designation for great
aquatic animals, with Ntyvl, a sub-species of the class
According to Isaiah 27:1, he
will be the object of
Yahweh's hard, great, and
strong sword.1 He is described as
Hrb
wHn,
fleeing serpent, and Nytlmqf wHn, the
twisted
serpent. He is equated with Nynth, which lives Myb, in
the
sea.2
Isaiah 27:1 uses Ntyvl as a
proper noun in a context
(Isa 26:10-27:13) that refers
to an eschatological judgment
on
similarities to a crocodile.
Psalm 104:26 compares Ntyvl, a
sea creature, to ships. The
comparison probably relates to
size.3 Job 3:8
indicates that to rouse Ntyvl is
dangerous.
God describes Ntyvl as fierce, large, and strong (e.g., MT,
Job 41:2, 26). He is a scaly
animal, inhabiting large
bodies of water, beyond compare
to anything on land.4
Ntyvl as a
creature of God is a metaphor for a
military foe of
1The adjective hwq, hard, has a range of
meaning,
"severe
. . . fierce . . . intense . . . stubborn" (BDB, p.
904).
2My, in Isa 27:1 may refer
to the
designating
large river, see Neh 3:8 and Jer 51:36; BDB, p.
411.
3Psalm 104:25-26 mentions
the swarms of creatures in
the
sea, "great and small."
4MT: vlwm
rpf-lf-Nyx (Job
40:25a).
92
likened to Nynt (Ezek 29:3, 32:2). thr,
listed with other
foes of
refers to bhr in a probable reference to the Exodus (Ps 89:
10).
crisis (Isa 30:7). Isaiah 51:9
equates bhr and Nynt. This
complex of data, as a context
for Ntyvl in Psalm 74:14,
emphasizes the magnitude of
Yahweh's victory over
Myycl Mfl lkxm vnntt
vnntt2 may be
paranomasia with the preceding Ntyvl
and Mynynt in verse 13. Here Ntt controls two accusatives.
The suffix, whose antecedent is
Ntyvl, is direct object.
is best taken as accusative of
the product into which
the object Ntylv, by virtue of some action, will become.3
Myycl Mfl is the
indirect object.4 Low proposed
1These remarks generally
agree with Udd's
conclusions
on interrelationships of these terms (Udd,
"Leviathan
Motif," pp. 25-30).
2Yqtl as preterite in a
qtl-yqtl sequence; for
several
examples see Dahood, Psalms III, pp.
420-21.
3GKC, p. 371, #117ii
lists Ntn
as a verb which may
control
an accusative of the product.
4GKC, p. 381, #119s calls
this use of "nota dativi"
to introduce the remoter
object.
93
reading My yclmfl, "to the sharks of the sea."1
LXX reads
tai?j ]Aiqi<ofin. LXX also reads ]Aiqi<opej for Myyc in Psalm
72:9. Syriac reads 'sjn' from Mycf
or
"the stregthened
one."
Mf is
used of the ant and rock badger (Prov 30:25)
and an army of locusts (Joel
2:2). Here it may refer to an
army of animals, i.e., Myyc. The fact that the crushed
Ntyvl
can
feed so many emphasizes its size.2 Johnson
conjectures hyenas for Myyc on the grounds that the hyena
fits the scene of desolation
suggested by Isaiah 34:14 and
Jeremiah 50:39.3
Dahood, alternatively, for Mfl, sees
vocative lamedh
and two roots for Mmf. Mmf-I to be strong from which Mf,
1The proposal in BHS
apparatus apparently originated
with
Text of the Old
Testament
(
1968),
pp. 236-37 (hereafter cited as Barr, CPTOT).
Löw
rendered
Clmf
"shark," (as in KB, p. 715). He appealed to
Arabic
m-l-s which in Lane means "be
slippery." (E. W.
Lane,
Arabic English Lexicon, 8 vols. [
7:2736.)
Lane was cited by Barr, CPTOT, p.
236, with
incomplete
data. 'amlas is cited as "a smooth headed man"
or
"a thing that slips out of one's hand by reason of its
smoothness."However,
for a fish as a slippery thing the
word
is "malisa." While the latter word designates a
slippery
surfaced fish, Barr says "it is . . . doubtful
whether
'amlas . . . is the name for a kind
of fish [italics
in
original]" (Barr, CPTOT, p.
236). Barr summarizes the
use
of Clmf
for shark in extra-biblical Hebrew and finds
that
there is either no entry or that it is treated as a
"suggestion"'
(CPTOT, PP. 236-37).
2Johnson, Psalmody, p. 135.
3Johnson's argument: is
based on his assumption of
the
chaos monster, chaoskamp and
pre-creation chaos (Ibid.,
pp. 135-36).
94
("people") derives,
and Mmf-II, "to be wise,
shrewd."1
Using Mf as "wise one," Dahood proposes a
chiasmus whose
frame, Mfl . . . jzfb encloses Ntyvl-wxr . . . Mynynt
ywxr.
zzf and Mmf appear together also in Psalms 77:15-16 and
89:14. The warrior god who
combines intelligence and
strength occurs as a motif
elsewhere.2
Myyc as
desert occurs in Psalm 72:9. Thus Yahweh
not only slays the great sea
monster but feeds desert
dwellers with the carcass. The
juxtaposition of My and Myyc
is a merism expressing Yahweh's
universal sovereignty. An
advantage which Dahood rightly
claims is that the text is
preserved without consonantal
emendation. There is a trans-
parent irony in verses 13-14.
The great monster which
terrorized so many is served as
food for others. There may
also be a subtle irony by the
Psalmist: You oh God, who
rule ocean and desert, can you
not rid your holy mountain of
your adversary?
1Dahood compares two Akk.
roots: emqu, "wise,
wiley,"
and emūqu, "physical
strength, ability," Mitchell
Dahood,
"Vocative Lamedh in Psalm
74:14," Biblica 5:59
(Fasc.
2, 1978):262-63 (hereafter cited as Dahood, "Ps
74:14").
He says Mf,
people, "scarcely fits the context."
Other
instances of Mf as wise include a pun of Rehoboam's
name
(HB, Mfbhr
= "abounding in sagacity") and a divine
epithet
in Isa 28:29 revocalizing MT from Mfime to Mfame, "This
too
is from the Sagacious" (Ibid., p. 262). This does
preserve
the consonantal text.
2Ibid., p. 263. The
passages are Isa 10:13, 40:28,
and especially Job 26:12.
95
Verse 15
lHnv
Nyfm tfqb htx
:Ntyx
tvrhn twbvh htx
You
broke open a spring and water course
You dried up the everflowing flood.
Nyfm tfqb
One factor on which there is consensus regarding
Psalm 74:12-17 is that the
verses recall God's mighty acts
of long ago. The identity of
the acts is debated. Through
the 19th century scholars
generally agreed that verses 12-14
concerned God's parting of the
the Egyptians.1
Verse 15 was thought to refer to Moses'
smiting of the rock to get
water and the drying up of either
the Red Sea or
wilderness years. Verses 16-17
described aspects of
creation.
Gunkel, however, proposed that these verses and
other Old Testament passages
derived from the Near Eastern
myth of God's victory over the
personified watery chaos
prior to His work of creation.2
Ugaritic texts came to
1E. Konig, Die Psalmen (
(cited
by J. A. Emerton, "'Spring and Torrent' in Psalm
74:15,"
Volume clu Congres, VTSup 15
[1966]:130 [hereafter
cited
as Emerton, "Psalm 74:15"']).
2Herman Gunkel, Schopfung and Chaos in Urzeit und
Endzeit (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck
and Ruprecht, 1895), pp-
41-45. See, e.g., Ps 89; 10-13,
Job 26:12-14 and 38:4-11.
96
light after Gunkel wrote. In
these Baal triumphs over ltn
(dragon) and ym (
Emerton denies that these
materials relate the battle to the
creation of the world.1
Emerton, persuaded by Gunkel's thesis, asserts "that
verses 12-14 refer to the
dragon myth."2 He allows "an
allusion to events in the . . .
Exodus."3 Specifically
concerned with verse 15, he
summarizes past interpretations.
In these, 15a refers to the
creation of springs and wadies
on land looking forward to
verses 16 and 17. 15b has God
drying up Ntyx tvrhn and looking back to verses 13-14.
tvrhn
are
"probably" cosmic ocean currents which, under
God's attack, were "dried
up" so as to produce dry land (as
in Ps 104:6-9).4
Emerton criticizes this construction on two grounds.
First, if 15b refers to
creation of dry land it is premature
to mention springs and wadies
in 15a. Second, it is strange
to have a reference to friendly
waters preceding a reference
to hostile waters. As Psalm
89:12a follows a reference to
the pre-creation struggle, so
Psalm 74:16a likely follows a
similar reference. It is
possible, therefore, that the two
1Emerton, "Psalm
74:15," p. 122.
2Ibid., pp. 122-26. For a
recent espousal of
Emerton's
views, see Day, Conflict, pp. 21-25.
3Emerton, "Psalm
74:15," p. 123.
4Ibid.
97
cola form a transition from the
chaos battle to the ordering
of creation.
It is critical for Emerton's view of verses 12-17 to
show that both cola of verse 15
refer to pre-creation
waters. His position presumes
that God is in conflict with
all pre-creation waters. The
crux is in verse 15a. He
allows the
"possibility" that tfqb
denotes hostile activity
in that it compares with verbs
elsewhere which presume the
chaoskampf.1
Four of sixteen uses of Qal refer to dividing
the Red Sea.2 Three
times the verb denotes breaching enemy
defenses.3 Twice God
splits the ground (Judg 15:19) or a
rock (Isa 48:21) to supply
water to thirsty people.4
The Niphal has a similar distribution of uses. God
brought the Noachian flood
waters when Mvht tnvfm-lk vfqbn
(Gen 7:11). Proverbs 3:20, with
similar terms, probably
alludes to establishment and
control of the water cycle at
creation. The simple stems of fqb are never used in a way
that Emerton proposes. On the
contrary, Judges 15:19 and
lEmerton, "Psalm
74:1.5," p. 125. He cites rrp and
rbw, Ps 74:13, Ccr, 74:14; xkd (crush), Ps 89:11; bcH (hew
a
is in pieces) and llH (pierce), Isa 51:9; CHm (smite) and LLH,
Job
26:12-13. fqb is used in Exod 14:16;
Isa 63:12, 78:13;
Neh
9:11, all in reference to the
2 See n. 1, above.
32 Sam 23:16; 1 Chr
11:18; 2 Chr 21:17.
4The remaining uses are
not relevant to this
discussion.
98
Isaiah 48:21 encourage the
conclusion that Psalm 74:15a
refers to the provision of
water at Marah and Kadesh.l
Emerton uses Genesis 7:11 as a basis to show that
Psalm 74:15a may refer to the
draining of pre-creation
hostile waters before God
established the present order.2
God may have used a reversal of
Genesis 7:11 to cause dry
land to appear, but there is no
hint that such action was
against an enemy.
On the basis of this treatment of verse 15a, verse
15b is regarded as a
consequence of the first colon.
Assuming, however, that verses
12-17 recite, "mighty acts of
God in history" which took
verse 15b recalls the drying up
of the Jordan River.3 tvrhn
is probably a plural of
intensity recalling the fullness of
the river at the time of
crossing.4
1While this writer's
position on verse 15 is clearly
stated,
one should admit that verses 15-17 could refer to
acts
recorded in Gen 1; cf. also Prov 8:20, 24.
2Emerton, "Ps
74:15," pp. 127-29.
3H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms (Grand
Rapids:
Baker Book House; reprint ed., 1969), p. 538
(hereafter
cited as Leupold, Psalms). Young has
a helpful
survey
of the use of words from v. 15 in the HB but he
emphasizes
the ambiguity of its meaning in order to allow
for
possible meaningful reference to the conflict myth
(Young,
"Psalm 74," pp. 102-06).
4Buttenweiser, Psalms, p. 614. Delitzsch, Psalms,
2:33,
suggests "the several streams of the one
the
plural of intensity see GKC, pp. 396-97, 124ab, and Josh
3:15.
99
Verse 16
hlyl jl-Jx Mvy jl
:wmwv rvxm tvnykh htx
Yours
is the day; yea! yours
is the night.
You
have confirmed a luminary,
even the sun.
hlyl jl-Jx Mvy jl
l of
possession stresses God's ownership of day and
night.l They are to
serve His purpose.2 Their bounds are
set by Him and under His
control.3 The point may be that
since the cosmos serves His
purpose, how is it that God's
present enemy prevails. For von
Rad hlyl is "a survival of
the darkness of Chaos, now . .
. kept in bounds. . . . But
the day is . . . that primeval
light . . . the first born of
the works of creation"
(cf. Gen 1:3)4 This is a strained
attempt to see a reference to
the chaos battle. The order
of the text rather suggests a
simple affirmation of the
present cosmic order which
extends back to the creation.
The language of verses 16 and
17 duplicates vocabulary and
concepts from Genesis 1-2.
1For l of possession see GKC,
p. 419, #129a.
2Anderson, Psalms, 2:545.
3Josh 10 illustrates
divine control.
4Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, 2 vols.,
trans.
D. M. G. Stalker (
lishers, 1962), 1:144.
100
The second colon reverts to emphatic htx.1 Nvk is
part of the vocabulary of
creation.2 "Thus says Yahweh hWf,
who made it (i.e., the earth),
Yahweh rcvy, who formed it
hnykhl, for
the purpose of establishing it" (Jer 33:2). The
root occurs as a verb 217 times
in all stems except Qal.3
Eighty-five of these are
Hiphil.4
The Hiphil, Niphal, and Polel are used for appoint-
ment or establishment of a
throne or dynasty.5 The persis-
tent meaning of the root,
whether used for creation or
rulership, is "to make
firm" or to make permanent.6 The
issue in Psalm 74:16 is divine
power and control. There-
fore, tvnykh conveys the perfective sense with reference
to
God's appointment of wmwv rvxm to rule the heavens in the
1"Thou, and no other," J. A.
Alexander, Psalms, 2
vols.
(New York: Charles Scribner and Company, 1871),
2:171
(hereafter cited as Alexander, Psalms),italics
are in
the
original.
2Briggs, Psalms, 2:156, uses "prepare, create"
(italics
in original). See Jer 33:2; Pss 93:1, 119:74; Prov
3:16,
8:27; Job 31:15.
3TWOT, s.v. “Nvk,” by John N. Oswalt, 1:964-65.
4LePeau surveys the range
of uses for Nvk (LePeau,
"Psalm
68," pp. 105-07).
5E.g., Hiphil--2 Sam
7:12; 1 Kgs 2:24; Niphal--Pss
89:37,
93:2; Polel--2 Sam 7:13.
6BDB, pp. 465-66. This is
preferable "to make
straight," KB, p. 426.
101
manner described in Genesis
1:14-18.1 Psalm 89:36-37 uses
Niphal Nvky to emphasize the delegated and continuing role
of sun and moon as illustrative
of the permanence of the
Davidic dynasty.
wmwv
rvxm
rvxm may be
taken as a collective or as moon.l The
former presumes a hendiadys or
a genus-species relationship
like verse 11 (jnymyv jdy).2 The latter, as an
interpreta-
tion, provides a chiasmus
within verse 16 and implies a
word-pair.3 This idea
is attractive but forced. The hen-
diadys is preferred. The
emphasis on the sun strengthens a
tendency of verse 16 to allude
to Joshua's long day. The
whole verse is aware of God's
kingship and power at creation
but emphasizes the continued
and present demonstration of
God's cosmic rule. A.
corresponding divine control of the
historical situation seems to
be lacking.
Verse
17
Crx
tvlvbg-lk tbch htx
:Mtrcy
htx JrHv Cyq
1For collective see KJV,
RSV, LXX, and McCurdy in
Moll,
Psalms, p. 422; for moon see
Psalms, 2:545.
2Alexander, Psalms, 2:171.
3Dahood, Psalms II, p. 207 and Young, "Psalm
74,"
pp. 106-07.
102
You have established all the
temperature zones of the
earth
As for summer and winter, you have
formed them.
Crx lvbg-lk tbcH
The causative force of the Hiphil implies purpose or
intent. Yahweh is the subject
of Hiphil bcn five
times.
Four of these portray Yahweh as
setting limits on one entity
as a benefit for another.1
He set the limits on the waters
of the
78:13). He establishes borders
of people (or land boun-
daries) with reference to the
sons of
He will set up or protect the
borders of the widow (Prov
15:25). He has established all
the borders of the earth (Ps
74:17).
Only this verse has an ambiguous object for bcn
tvlvbg occurs
nine times in the Old Testament.2 BDB
indicates both
"border" and "territory" for lvbg but
only
"border" for hlvbg.3 The latter could easily be
territory
in Isaiah 28:25. There is no
discernible distinction of
meaning between the two genders
of this word.
1The exception is Ps
41:13.
2hlvbg occurs once; masculine
singular, 233 times;
masculine
plural, 7 times. References for feminine plural
are
Num 32:33, 34:2, 12; Deut 32:8; Josh 18:20, 19:49; Isa
10:13;
Ps 74:17; Job 24:2.
3BDB, pp. 147-48.
103
In
all passages, except Psalm 74:17, the context
furnishes some definition of
the intended border(s). Psalm
74:17 has been explained with
reference either to the
tribal allotments after the
conquest or to the establishment
of land masses either at
creation or after the flood.1
Several, based on 17b, refer
these "boundaries" to the
seasons of the year.2
Dahood mentions “temperature zones.”3
Whereas all forms of lvbg usually refer to geographical
boundaries, references to
cosmic factors in verses 16 and 17
and the parallelism of 17
justify temperature zones here.
Mtrcy hbx JrHv Cyq
This clause helps to clarify the ambiguous Crx lvbg.
Verse 17b is the only verbal
clause in the so-called hymn
which places the verb in final
position. This was done
possibly to form an inclusion
with verse 13a.4 By
comparison to Nvk and bcn which
convey an abstract idea of
power, rcy is anthropomorphic. Its frozen form, rcvy, is
frequently used for a potter.5
Hence the idea of fashioning
1As tribal allotments,
perhaps Delitzsch, Psalms,
2:334;
as land masses, Cohen, The Psalms, p.
239.
2See Gen 1:14 and
Psalms, p. 539; Briggs, Psalms, 2:156 mentions the first
two,
but prefers "seasons."
3Dahood, Psalms II, p. 207.
474:13a and 17b.
5E.g., Jer 18:2, 3, 4,
11. rcy
is also a creation
word: Gen 2:7; Pss 95:5,
104:26; Isa 45:18; Jer 33:2.
104
or forming to suit ones
purposes is prominent. Yahweh
formed summer and winter as a
perpetual cycle.
Verse
18
hvhy
JrH byvx txz-rkz
:jmw vcxn lbn Mfv
Remember
this, the enemy has
taunted, Oh Yahweh
And
a foolish people have disdained
your name.
JrH byvx txz-rkz
Verses 18-23 resume the imperatives of verses 2-3.
There Yahweh was summoned to
remember His chosen people.
Here the psalmist petitions
Yahweh to remember what His ad-
versaries have done.
The verbs JrH and Cxn are paired as they were in
verse 10. However, the
progressive imperfects of verse 10
have become present perfects.l
The subject, because of his
action, has brought about a
state for which he is culpable.
The complaint of verse 10
focused on the acts. Verse 18 em-
phasizes the culpability of the
enemy for his act. The
placement of the subject before
the verb in each colon marks
the change of emphasis.
Further, the portrayal of the subject for each verb
has changed. There the
oppressive occupation, styled as
caused reproach. Here byvx is culpable for causing
1Waltke, "Syntax," p. 18.
105
reproach. This term can include
both foreign and domestic
enemies who engage in hostile
actions.1
hvhy
hvhy could
be the object of the verb but it is best
to regard JrH as intransitive (as in v. 10) and hvhy as
vocative.2 As such it corresponds to Myhlx in verse 10.
The tetragrammaton in the
Elohistic Psalter is unusual.3
With yklm (v. 12) it frames the "hymn" and
emphasizes the
intimate and genuine concern of
the psalmist. The two terms
help to relieve an otherwise
scathing rebuke of God.
lbn Mfv
byvx as
subject of Cxn (v.
10) corresponds to the
action of lbn-Mf (v. 18). Also the action of byvx (v. 18,
JrH) corresponds
to the action of lbn (v. 22,
jtprH). The
use of lbn
in
this psalm hints strongly that the enemy may
include Israelites as well as
foreigners.
lbn is
associated with words for "folly" in Proverbs
three times.4 Though
it is rendered "fool" in the English
1Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," pp. 72-73, 76-•78.
2Young, "Psalm
74," p. 110 reads, hvhy as direct
object.
3Briggs, Psalms, 2:160,
considers hvhy
gloss here
and
deletes, metri causa.
4lbn is an antonym to bydn
(prince) in
Prov 17:7,
similar
to lysk
in Prov 17:21 and similar to hbf (negative
sense)
in Prov 30:22. A lysk is one who has a propensity to
make wrong choices and spurns
knowledge. See TWOT, S.V.
106
versions, Donald concludes that
it "is properly outside the
field."1 The
Proverbs passages indicate that the lbn uses
inappropriate speech, deserves
hunger and causes parents to
sorrow. Job says it is hlbn to curse God and die because of
personal calamity (Job 2:10).
Most uses of hlbn (folly)
point to conduct which violates
covenant stipulations in
Israel.2 Because of
Israel's perversity, Moses calls her
MkH
blv lbn Mf (Deut 32:6).3 Most non-Psalmic uses
represent lbn as an Israelite who deliberately violates
covenant stipulations.4
Psalms uses lbn five
times. Psalms 14 and 53 are
nearly identical. One notes
that the lbn says vblb (in his
heart), "There is no
God." He does not necessarily
verbalize his thought but his
conduct betrays him. Further
the lbn seems to be identical with Nvx ylfp (Pss 14:4;
43:5). These are most closely
associated with fwr and
are
“lysk,” by Louis Goldberg,
1:449-50 and Trevor Donald, "The
Semantic
Field of 'Folly' in Proverbs, Job, Psalms, and
Ecclesiastes,"
VT 13 (1963):287 (hereafter cited as
Donald,
"Folly").
1Ibid., p. 286.
2E.g., Deut 22:21; Josh
7:15; Judg 19:23f; 1 Sam
25:25
(there is a pun on Nabal's name); Isa 32:6.
3Deut 32:21 threatens to
chastise
lbn. Here lbn may indicate a more
general notion like
"impious."
4Donald ventures that “hlbn
seems to be
the semantic
opposite
of lsH"
(Donald, "Folly," p. 289). This may also
be
true for lbn
(cf. tvlbn
, Job 2:10).
107
likely Israelites.1
Thus lbn in Psalms 14 and 53 are
probably Israelite malefactors
characterized more by moral
and religious culpability than
by military hostility per se.
A similar explanation may
attach to Psalm 39:9 where David,
under divine chastening, does
not want to be the object of
lbn
hpvH.
He fears the verbal abuse of an aggressively
impious Israelite.
For Psalm 74:18 and 22 it is likely that lbn is a
group of Israelites which cooperates
with the foreign
occupation in verbal taunts
against the godly. They might
also cooperate in inflicting
physical abuse on the
community.2
Verse
19
jrvt
wpn tyHl Ntt-lx
:Hcnl Hkwt-lx jyynf
tyH
Do
not give to the wild beast
the life of your turtledove
The
life of your afflicted ones
do not forget perpetually.
hyH
hyH in
general refers to living things, especially
wild animals. The special idea
derives from the vitality of
1Wiles,
"Enemy," pp. 30-31, 35-42. While Nvx-ylfp
are
Israelite they are not necessarily one homogenous group.
2See Rosenbaum, "Antagonist," pp.
86, 96-98.
108
that which is said to be hyH.l Psalm 74:19a has tyH which
may be construed as a rare
feminine absolute.2 The
reference in 74:19b cannot be
wild beast. BDB suggests the
meaning "life," but
"only in late poetry."3
Dahood has suggested community for hyH in 74:19b.
The same word means
"troops" in 2 Samuel 23:13. The
parallel passage, 1 Chronicles
11:15, has hnHm, camp.4
The
choice between
"community" and "life" is difficult but the
latter is best for Psalm
74:19b. The twofold use of the
term in this verse is probably
a pun. The psalmist may be
reflecting his concern that God
may regard
different from her predators.5
If MT is retained, the
psalmist is equating hyH (v. 19a) with byvx and lbn-Mf (v.
18).
The negative imperative with lx is employed twice in
verse 19 on the extremities of
a chiasmus. Ntt is used in a
fashion similar to vnntt in verse 14, i.e., "do not give as
food to the wild beast."
The objects of the two verbs in
this verse are juxtaposed. Thus,
they attract attention.
1BDB, pp. 310-312. 2GKC,
p. 223, #80f.
3Without inferring a late
date, one may cite Pss
78:50,
143:3, and Job 33:8. See BDB, p. 312.
4jtyH in Ps 68:11 is a
similar use to Ps 74:19b.
BDB,
p. 312, suggests "community, family, troop" for Ps
68:11.
See also LePeau, "Psalm 68," p. 106.
5For hyH as predatory animal,
see Gen 37:20, 33; Lev
26:6; Pss 68:31, 79:2.
109
wpn should
be taken in the sense of "life" as the "inner
living being"1
of jrvt.
jrvt is
difficult. Some have emended to hdvt
since
d could
have been mistaken for r. This, however, dilutes
the probable emphasis on and
identity of the objects. "Give
not to the wild beast the soul
of the one who confesses
you.”2
rvt as
dove, is found fourteen times, eleven of
which have the bird as a
sacrifice.3 A pair of Myrt can
serve as a guilt offering if
the offerer cannot afford one
from the Nxc, flock.4 Again, if a leper is too
poor to
bring two lambs, he can bring
two Myrt among other items as
an offering (Lev. 14:21f).5
The pairing of rvt with Myynf of the second colon
underlines the vulnerability of
the community for whom the
psalmist speaks. There is a
possible contrast between
Ntyvl-ywxr (v.
14) and rvt (v. 19). Both are objects of
1BDB, p. 659.
2NEB; but
"turtledove" in MT, JB, NAB, NIV, NASB,
and
KJV.
3E.g., Gen 15:9; Lev
1:14; 5:7, 11; 12:6; 15:14, 27;
Num
6:10; Ps 74:19.
4Lev 5:7, 11; 12:8.
5The word for poor is ld, one lacking
(financial)
power
(BDB, p. 195). Lev 14:30 refers to these offerings as
within
vdy,
his power.
110
the verb and both are viewed as
food for animals. As the
"hymn" reminds God
that He was able to feed the powerful
to lesser animals so this
petition has some ironic sarcasm
and a type of role reversal.
There (v. 14) the powerful was
fed to the lesser; here (v. 19)
God may be "relinquishing"
the lesser to the powerful. The
request is, "Do not give
the defenseless rvt over to wild beasts.1 God is in
danger
of looking like one who once
destroyed the mighty but cannot
now protect the weak. The
protection of the weak becomes
the explicit focus of the second
colon.
hyH means
life twelve times.2 At a primary level
hyH and wpn are synonymous in this passage.3 hyH as a
posi-
tive quality of Myynf, is employed in the second colon as a
pun with its counterpart in the
first colon.4 There hyH
has the role of antagonist of
the community and, supposedly
God's enemy. Thus, the verse as
a whole implicitly accuses
God of confusing the elect with
the enemy.
1For a vanquished foe
left to wild animals see I Sam
17.46;
Ezek 29:5; 39:4; for Israell see Ezek 5:17; 14:15, 21;
33.27;
34.5, 8. See TDOT, "hyH," by Helmer
Ringgren, 4:343.
The
sons of Qorah complain lkxm Nxfk vnntt (Ps 44:12).
2Ringgren, " hyH," 4:332. KB
translates 18 passages
with
"life" (KB, p. :297).
3BDB, p. 659. Ps 143:11
parallels ynyHt
to xycvt
4Dahood, Psalms
II, p. 207.
111
Myynf
"The vitality of your Myynf
afflicted
ones, do not
forget." ynfl with jd and Nvybx in
verse 21 introduces the
much-discussed theme of the
poor in the Old Testament.2
There are four separate roots
which use hnf: I, to answer;
II, to be occupied; III to be
bowed down or afflicted; IV to
sing.3 ynf
derives from hnf-III.4
The verb, normally piel,
is used to describe Sarah's
treatment of Hagar (Gen 16:6),
treatment of His enemies (Deut
26:6).
ynf
usually denotes "a person suffering some kind of
disability or distress."5
Deuteronomy 24:14-15 describes
the hired servant as Nvybxv ynf. The owner must not qwf,
oppress, ynf, as the hired servant, because he is ynf, i.e.,
already in distress. He needs
his wages daily. Should the
1It is not clear whether
there is a distinction
between
ynf and
vnf.
Perhaps it is an instance of
interchanges
between y
and v
(GKC, p. 66, #17c; a perpetual
qere;
also Ernst Wurthwein, The Text of the Old
Testament
[
2For a thorough review of
the literature, see Peter
ment,"
(Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1972), pp.
3-22.
Also, Richard D. Patterson, "The Widow, the Orphan
and
the Poor in the Old Testament and the Extra-Biblical
Literature,"
BSac 130:519 (July-September, 1973): 223-225.
3BDB, pp. 772, 77.
4TWOT, s.v. "hnf-II," by Leonard J.
Coppes, 2:683;
but
Bammel sees ynf related to a merging of hnf-I and hnf-II
in
TDNT, s.v. "ptwxo<j," by Ernest
Bammel, 6:888.
5TWOT,
s.v., "hnf-III,"
by Leonard Coppes, 2:683.
112
owner be remiss the ynf can pray to Yahweh against the owner
and Yahweh will defend the ynf. This passage also iden-
tifies ynf as either an Hx
(brother)
or rg (stranger).
Leviticus 19:10 classifies the ynf and rg as
both
having a right to the gleanings
of the field. These two
passages imply that the ynf, though an Israelite, does not
have land which he can work. Hauck
and Schultz argue that
the term is primarily social
and economic and that in the
Pentateuch it denotes a person
who has been wrongfully
deprived of his inheritance.1
Coppes is correct both in
substantially agreeing with
this position and in disagreeing
that the term in the Pentateuch
denotes a social class as
distinct from a social
condition.2
That material deprivation and social oppression were
closely associated and marked
While God requires His people
to deal justly with the
the king is especially
responsible to be fair and generous
to the oppressed in his realm.4
Psalm 72 presents the
1Bammel, "ptwxo<j," 6:888.
2Coppes, “hnf-III,” p. 682.
3E.g., Isa 3:4; Ezek
18:17.
4E.g., Isa 10:2. Ps 82 is
a clear statement of
God's
protection of the rights of the destitute, including
the
following pairs: Mvtyv ld, wrv ynf, and Nvybxv
ld. The
princes
or judges of the land (those who come to the city
gate)
are instructed to . . . vqydch. . . . vFpw (judge and
vindicate)
the destitute and deliver them from the Myfwr.
Each
of these nouns characterizes Israelites as distinct
from
foreigners, in terms of condition or conduct. Psalm
113
latter idea and illustrates
some of the background for the
community's complaints against
God, the true king in Psalm
74. The community, through the
psalmist, views itself as
ynf, Nvybx, and jd (Ps
74:19, 21) .
ynf may
suffer physical affliction such as sickness
(Ps 88:11) or exile (Isa
51:21). The latter idea easily
extends to oppression from
foreign invaders as in Psalm
74:4-9. Physical affliction to
the godly transforms itself
into internal or spiritual
affliction.1 It is difficult to
distinguish between external
and internal affliction of the
subjects of Psalm 74. The most
prominent feature is the
spiritual anguish over God's
inaction, though physical
affliction cannot be dismissed.
Yahweh forbids exploitation of ynf in legal material
(e.g., the covenant code, Exod
22:24). Isaiah, writing
during the last half of the
eighth century, seems to equate
collapse of the Judaean state,
any who oppressed Nvybxv vnf
would be punished (Ezek 22:29).
The "tragedy of the exile
72:2
calls upon the king to Fpwmb . . . Nydy Yahweh's
Myynfv . . . Mf. The king should Fpw the Mf-yynf, fwy
the
Nvybx, and xkd (crush) the wqvf
(Ps 72:4). If
the human
king
was responsible to treat Nvybxv ynf properly, no wonder
the
psalmist in Ps 74 calls on God, his king, to deliver the
Nvybxv ynf and defeat those
oppressing him and his
community.
See further Ps 72:12-14.
1Psalms of individual
lament provide clear examples
e.g.,
Pss 22:25, 25:16, 19:30.
114
led to a collective use of ynf
outside the psalms" (Isa
49:13, 51:21, 54:11).1
ynf occurs
seventy-five times including twenty-nine
in the Psalms. Nvybx occurs sixty-one times with twenty-
three in the Psalms. Both are
cited in the covenant code
and Deuteronomy.2
Hkwt-lx . . . rkz
This sequence (Ps 74:18-19) is seen compacted in 1
Samuel 1:11, Hannah's prayer.3
yntrkzv
jtmx ynfb hxrt hxr Mx
jtmx tx Hkwt xlv
The sense is "if you remember me for good,"
i.e., give me a
son.4 This is
clearly an appeal for action and shows an
essential connection between
remembering and acting.5 The
main point of the protasis is
reinforced by stating the
opposite "and (if) you
will not forget." To forget, here,
would be to fail to act
beneficently, i.e., to fail to give
a
son.
1Bammel,
"ptwxo<j," 6:893.
2E.
g., ynf, Exod 22:24; Deut 15:11; 24:12, 14, 15;
Nvybx Exod 23:6, 11; Deut 15:4, 7, 9, 11;
24:14.
31 Sam 1:11 has four
verbs in the protasis: hxrt
httnv . .
. Hkwt xlv . . . yntrczv. Ps 74:19 uses negative
imperative
Hkwt-lx.
4Hannah requests that God
function for her in the
same
way that He did for the barren Rachel (Gen 30:22).
5Pederson, ILC, 1:99-101 and Child's critique in
Childs, Memory, p. 29.
115
The imperative rkz (Ps
74:18a) , remember to act in
judgment against your enemies,
is balanced by the negative
imperative Hkwt-lx (Ps 74:1.9b), do not forget to act favor-
ably toward your Myynf (i.e., your people who are acutely
afflicted).1
priate here. Hkw does not refer to "unintentional failure
to call to mind the plight of
the sufferer, but rather a
deliberate aloofness on the
part of God."2 One of the con-
cerns of the supplicant in
Psalm 74 is that God is aloof
while His temple is destroyed
and His name is reproached.
Verse 20
tyrbl
Fbh
:smH
tvxn Ckx-ykwHm vxlm yk
Consider
the covenant,
because the dark places of the
land are filled as pastures
where violence prevails.
tyrbl
Fbh
hxr is the "common word for
seeing with the eyes
(Gen 27:1)."3
Accordingly, it occurs about thirteen hundred
1For the same contrast in
the indicative mood, see
the
psalmist's affirmation “Myynw tqfc Hkw xl rkz. . ." (Ps
9:13).
2Anderson, Psalms, vol. 1, p. 128, on Ps 13:1.
3TWOT,
s.v. “hxr,” (contributor not cited),
2:823.
116
times. Among its special uses,
is "to look at with favor .
. . . (show) regard."1
hxr in
Hiphil means to show and
often takes a double object.
There is no Piel for hxr.
Fbn occurs
sixty-nine times, never in Qal, once in
Piel, sixty-eight times in
Hiphil.2 This root, therefore,
may function as a virtual Piel
for hxr.3 Fbn may
then have
a range of meaning comparable
to hxr but with an intensified
nuance. Thus, Coppes has some
grounds for proposing for "a
careful, sustained, favorable
contemplation."4 Isaiah 5:12
indicts
Yahweh's works.5 The
Psalmist is urging God to regard
carefully and favorably the tyrb.
Yahweh appears to the godly who are distressed.
Mkybx
Mhrbx lx vFybh, "Consider carefully (or here,
"remember") Abraham,
your father" (Isa 51:2). The passage
draws attention to the
Abrahamic covenant without using the
1BDB, p. 907.
2Even-Shoshan., ed., NCOT lists Fbn, Isa 5:30, as a
Niphal.
BDB (p. 613) and Lisowsky regard the form as Piel.
3GKC, p. 145, #53d, notes
that some verbs are
"inwardly
. . . intensive Hiphils . . . which express action
in
some particular direction." By analogy Fbn in Hiphil may
be
construed as to look intently, to consider carefully or
have
regard for.
4TWOT, s.v. “Fbn,” by Leonard J. Coppes, 2:546.
Coppes
does not spell out the basis for his proposal. He
does
cite Isa 5:12, Ps 74:20, and 119:6, 15 as instances.
5Isa 5:12 has vFyby
and vxr in parallel cola. For
hxr as "to regard with favor," see BDB,
p. 907, paragraphs
6b and 7.
117
word tyrb. With
claim covenant benefits in time
of distress. Psalm 74:20
reverses the roles. The nation
calls on God to pay atten-
tion to His covenant
obligations to His distressed people.
As Psalm 74:2 urged God to
remember, rkz, His
covenant
people,1 so the
psalmist now appeals to the tyrb
itself.
The etymology of tyrb is
uncertain.2 Some regard
the noun as a derivation from hrb, "to eat," and connect the
word with a festive meal as
part of a covenant ceremony.3
Others connect the tyrb with an Akkadian preposition birit,
"between, among."
This assumes gratuitously that the
preposition developed into a
noun.4 Weinfeld prefers to
associate the Hebrew noun with
an Akkadian noun, biritu,
which designates a
"clasp" or "fetter."5 Biritu
is then
related to the term for treaty,
riksu. tyrb, along
with
Akkadian riksu, "implies first and foremost the notion of
'imposition,'" rather than
parity.6
lhdf, hlHn, and Nvyx-rh are part of the
nomenclature
in
the history of covenant between God and
2TDOT, s.v. “tyrb,” by Moshe Weinfeld,
2:253.
3Ludwig Kohler,
"Problems in the Study of the
Language
of the Old Testament," JSS 1
(1956):4-7. Weinfeld
considers
this "dubious" (Weinfeld, "tyrb," 2:254).
4Weinfeld, “tyrb,” 2:254.
5CAD 2:254-55
6Weinfeld, “tyrb,” 2:255. tyrb is identified with
hvcm, hrmx, MypH, and Mydqp (Deut 4:13, 33:9; Isa
24:5; Pss
50:16, 103:18).
118
The terms for covenant throughout the ancient Near
East range in meaning from
commitment on the one hand to
friendship and mutual
understanding on the other. tyrb as
obligation is parallel to tydf,1 rbd,2
dvs,3 hrvt.4
tyrb as
friendship is paired with dsH,5 implies hbvF6 or Mvlw.7
Standard verbs for maintaining an established
covenant are rmw,8 bcn,9
and rkz.10 As noted above, Fbh is
in the semantic field of rkz, with particular reference to
covenant maintenance.
Covenant as imposition with attendant stipulations
is manifest in the Sinaitic
covenant. Covenant, emphasizing
friendship and benefaction is
seen in the Abrahamic (land)
and Davidic (dynasty). These
are modeled after the royal
grants by the suzerain to the
vassel in the ancient Near
East.11
Eichrodt recognized a vital relationship between
covenant and '
1Exod 31:18 and Deut 9:9. 2Ps
108:8.
3Ps 25:14. 4Hos 8:1. 5Deut
7:9.
62
Sam 2:6. 7Jer
33:9.
8Gen
17:9; Ps 89:28, 31; Deut 7:9, 12.
9Ps 25:10. 10Gen
9:15; Lev 26:42, 45; Ps 106:45.
11See Weinfeld, 2:270-71.
12Walther Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament,
2
vols., trans. J. A. Baker (
Press, 1961), 1:36-45
(hereafter cited as Eichrodt, TOT).
119
Sinaitic covenant a background
for
the kingship of God.1
Recent research has agreed that
monarchy and is rooted in the
beginnings of Israelite
history.2
The suzerain-vassal covenant relationships between
second millennium, were
political. By contrast, the cove-
nants between God and
religious. Indeed "the
idea of covenant between a deity and
a people is unknown to us from
other religions and cul-
tures. "3
tyrb in
Psalm 74:20, especially in light of the
spoiling of
especially the
Abrahamic-Davidic grants. Whereas in the
Abrahamic covenant, Yahweh
stressed the Mkl . . . Mfl yl
Myhlxl
(my
people . . . your God) relationship, here the
psalmist appeals to God on the
basis of yklm . . . jtdf
(your assembly . . . my king).4
1Ibid., pp. 363-64.
2Weinfeld, "tyrb," 2:278-79; see
Judg 8:22-23; 1 Sam
8:6-7,
10:19.
3Ibid., 2:278.
4For "your God . . .
my people" see Lev 26:12 and
Exod 6:7.
120
Though an idea of divine kingship was general in the
ancient Near East,
before the introduction of its
human monarchy. By contrast
human and divine kingship were
always closely related
elsewhere.1
Beginning with yk, as MT
stands, Psalm 74:20 is
difficult. Attempts to solve
the enigma include:2
0 lock upon the covenant: how full
the earth's asylums
are--of dwellings of cruelty (Ewald).
Look down upon your temple; the city
is filled with
darkness; the country side with violence (Dahood).
Look to the fat ones; for they are
full. The dark
places of the earth are full of violence (Briggs).
Look at the covenant, for the deep
places of the earth,
habitations of violence are full (Eerdmans).
Have regard for your creatures, for
they are full of
violence, for the earth is the haunt
of violence
(Gunkel) .
Look to your covenant, because the
dark places of the
earth have been filled with
habitations of lawlessness
(LXX).
MT reads, "Consider the
covenant because the dark places of
the earth are filled with
pastures of violence." There is
nothing internal to this verse
that gives a clue to its
meaning. Most retain tyrb in its common meaning as
1Weinfeld, "tyrb," 2:278-79.
2The sources in the order
cited are Heinrich Ewald,
Commentary on the Psalms, trans. E. Johnson (
Williams
and Norgate, 1881), pp. 232-33; Dahood, Psalms
II,
pp.
199, 208; Briggs, Psalms, 2:151; LXX;
Eerdmans, Psalms,
p.
232; H. Gunkel, Die Psalmen, 5 Aufl.
(
hoeck
and Ruprecht, 1968), pp. 325-26; Young, "Psalm 74,"
pp. 115-18.
121
covenant. Gunkel, however,
reads tvxyrb for tyrb which
occurs elsewhere only in the
singular.l He emends vocaliza-
tion. Briggs reads txyrb from xrb-II, to be fat, an analogy
with Psalm 73:4.2
Dahood opts for jtrybl an analogy
with
Akka- than birtu, "citadel, castle" and Hebrew hryb,
temple.3 Young correctly assesses this transposition
of y
and r and vowel change as "purely conjectural
and
unnecessary."4
LXX interpolated a suffix to tyrb in order to
clarify the latter as God's
covenant.5 Dahood and Young
follow LXX in using the suffix
but they divide MT yk so as
to yield vxlmy.6
Crx-ykwHm
Crx-ykwHm is a hapax. Ewald's solution is itself a
conjectured hapax! He suggests jwHm, asylum, from jwH,
"to
1Gunkel, Die Psalmen, pp. 325-26;
and
Num 16:30.
2Briggs, Psalms, 2:151. The lexical support (BDB,
p.
135)
is stronger for using xrb-II than for xrb-I.
3Dahood, Psalms
II, p. 208 and BDB, p. 108. All
uses
are post-exilic except Dan 8:2.
4Young, "Psalm
74," p. 116.
5LXX retained yk with o!ti. See Briggs' note,
Psalms, 2:160.
6LXX retained the Hebrew
perfect by using an aorist
passive
form. Young's point vxlmy may then be translated
"is
filled" ("Psalm 74," p. 116) is blunted by the fact that
xlm can be intransitive and take an English present
transla-
tion. See Lambdin, IBH, pp. 38-39, #44; pp. 93-95, #87.
122
withhold--be assuaged."1
Dahood and Young repoint to
ykwHm.2
The prefix is the preposition "with" and final i
vowel a genitive ending.3
Dahood takes Crx as
"city," as in
2 Chronicles 32:4.4
Gunkel emends to yktkwm. This
harmo-
nizes with Genesis 6:12:
Crxh
lf vkrd tx rwb lk tyHwh
However, it is contrary to the
attitude of the community.
This psalm reflects no
admission of sin.5
From the translations given above, it is clear that
there is little agreement on
the syntactical relationships
of the two constructs, ykwHm and tyxn,
within the verse.
For some, ykwHm signals the subject and tyxn the accusative
of the object.6
Dahood and Young make the verb and the Nm
lEwald, Psalms, p. 232; BDB, p. 262. Though this
is
the
probable sense, the emendation is gratuitous.
2Dahood, Psalms II, p. 208; Young, "Psalm
74," p.
116.
3For -Nm
xlm as
"with" see Ps 127:5; Jer 51:34; Ezek
32:6;
Qoh 8:1. BDB, p. 579, cites Ps 127:5 as a "rare" use
of
In ,
4For bibliography on Crx as city, see Dahood, Psalms
II, p. 208.
5The comparison with Gen
6:12 and the disclaimer
about
confession of sin in Psalm 74 are points made by
Young,
"Psalm 74," p. 116. This writer had developed this
perspective
on Ps 74 before Young's dissertation came to his
attention.
Young does not employ the term "confession of
sin"
but rather refers to "the people as wrongfully
afflicted"
(italics in original).
6For direct object with
verbs of filling which are
yet
virtually intransitive, see GKC, p. 369, #117. See
Ewald, Briggs, and LXX above,
p. 120.
123
serve double duty.l
This preserves the consonants but
radically rework the syntax.
Eerdmans takes tvxn in
appo-
sition to ykwHm.
These varied attempts may signal a need to explain
the MT as it is. The dark
places probably refer to hiding
places of the godly in their
search to escape harassment.
The Crx-ykwHm replaced the razed lx-ydfvm of verse 8.
Secrecy was desired for the
former whereas the latter had
been public.
tvxn
tvxn
appears elsewhere eleven times. "Pastures" is
always an appropriate
translation. Once the term is part of
a figurative expression2
and three times desirable pastures
are in view.3 Seven
times pasture-lands are made useless by
divine judgment. The LXX has
influenced some to translate
tvxn as
habitations, dwellings, or haunts.4 One should
retain "pastures,"
and not (with Young) re-divide the conso-
nantal text to make sense of
the passage.
tvxn
figurative and recalls jtyfrm Nxc of
verse
1. There it is a contradiction
that God's anger should
1Dahood, Psalms II, p. 208; Young, "Psalm
74," p.
116.
2Ps
23:2. 3Joel
2:23; Pss 83:13, 65:13.
4"Habitations"--Eerdmans,
Psalms, p. 232,; RSV, NASB,
and
KJV; "dwellings"--Ewald, Commentary
on the Psalms, p.
232;
"haunts"--Gunkel, Die Psalmen,
p. 325;
124
smoke against the sheep of His
pasture. Here it is a con-
tradiction that pastures should
be scenes of violence
against the sheep, i.e., Nvybx and ynf. The Crx-ykwHm
should have been places of
escape and refuge from the
harassment that prevailed in
Zion.1 Instead they became
pastures in which violence smH fed itself. The violence was
the enemies' relentless pursuit
of the godly. This is the
context for the imperative, Fbh, which stops short of charg-
ing God with covenant violation
but does assume that He has
covenant obligation to protect
and preserve.
Verse
21
Mlkn jd bwy-lx
:jmw vllhy Nvybxv ynf
Let
not the crushed one turn away humiliated.
Let the afflicted and the needy
praise your name.
bwy-lx
Syriac reads bwy-lx
"let (him) not dwell" but MT is
doubtless correct, though its
meaning is not clear.2 bvw is
the twelfth most frequent root,
occurring 1,059 times.3
1Cf. Ezek 7:23; for
similar ideas see Eerdmans,
Psalms, p. 358.
2Young,
"Psalm 74," prefers bwy (pp. 118-19).
3Approximate
distributions are 680 Qals, 355
Hiphils, 5 Hophals, and 10
polels.
125
ing are dominant for Qal: (1)
to turn or return, involving
physical motion; (2) as an
auxiliary verb meaning "again"
when correlated with a second
verb;2 (3) in a covenant con-
text, returning to God or
turning away from God or evil.
The covenant context for bwy) is clear because of tyrb in
verse 20.
The root occurs seventy-one times in the Psalms but
only four are jussives.3
The Old Testament has twenty-two
instances of the patterns bwy (or –bwy). Two of these
should be parsed as imperfect
since the context clearly
demands this.4 Of
the twenty remaining jussives, only two
lack a following preposition.5
Psalm 6:1 translates "let
all my enemies be ashamed and
very terrified, let them turn
1William L.
Testament (Leiden: E. J.
Brill'Company, 1958), pp. 59ff
(hereafter
cited as
follows
agrees with TWOT, s.v. "bvw," by Victor P.
Hamilton,
2:909.
Approximate distributions are (1) 270 times, (2) 120
times,
(3) 130 times.
2E.g., Gen 26:18.
3Ps 6:11, vbwy, reads best as a
jussive; Ps 85:9 is
apparently
jussive with bwy-lx; Ps 119:79 has bvwy but makes
the
best sense as a jussive. MT in Ps 74:21 is beyond
dispute
morphologically, with the tone-long holem and lx.
4Isa 12:1, Dan 11:28.
5bvw in Qal is intransitive,
thus it is normally
correlated
with various propositions, e.g., Nm, Num 25:4; l,
Ps
85:9; yrHx, 1 Sam 15:31; lx, Exod 32:13. See BDB,
pp.
996-99.
126
back and be suddenly
ashamed."1 The idea "turn back" rather
than "return" fits
nicely in Psalm 74:21 for reasons noted
below. Usually the meaning of bvw is somewhat clarified by
use of a preposition.
The prefixed conjugation for bvw is preceded by
only twice. Psalm 85:9b has bvw as a likely jussive, in
spite of the middle l. Because of lx,
jussive makes the
best sense, "let not (the
godly) return to folly." Preposi-
tion l
clarifies the sense of bvw.
To sum up, bwy-lx
(Ps
74:21) is the only morpholog-
ically unambiguous negative
jussive for bvw in the
Old
Testament. Further, it is one
of the rare instances of Qal
bvw which
lacks a clarifying preposition. The verse has
contrasting cola. Since the
second colon assumes a positive
approach in which God welcomes
the worshipper, the first
colon suggests a repulsed
approach. The translation is
reasonably clear, "let not
the crushed one turn away humili-
ated." The meaning
probably concerns a suppliant whose
prayer is not heard. Stated
positively, it is the well-
known request for God to hear
the desperate prayer. The
negative jussive underscores
the potential felt by an in-
creasingly dejected community.
1 I have read jussives
throughout, with KJV. NASB
reads
imperfects. Either is possible. For vbwy KJV has
"return" while NASB
has "'turn back."
127
Qal "having moved in a particular direction, to move there-
upon
in the opposite direction, the implication being
(unless
there is evidence to the contrary) that one will
arrive
at the initial point of departure."1 The psalmist
is
concerned that the crushed one,
in his state of despair,
will approach God in prayer but
that God, for whatever rea-
son, will not hear.2
Thereupon, the suppliant will return
to the sense of despair which
moved him toward God for help.
The return implicit in bvw here is not a reference to
repentance. Confession of sin
and repentance are not a part
of the psalm.3 Nor
does bvw have to do with return from
exile.4 This psalm
presents the praying community as living
near the temple environs.5
jd is a
rare adjective meaning oppressed or
crushed.6 As a
substantive it is parallel to one who is in
1Holladay, SÛBH, p. 53 (the original is completely
italicized).
2Heb 4:16 encourages a
very different attitude for
the
suppliant.
3I.e., repentance is
neither affirmed nor denied, a
feature
unusual for biblical laments.
4For bvw in this sense, see Ezra
2:1, Heb 7:6, Isa
10:22,
Jer 22:10, and Zech 10:10.
5Cf. Ps 74:4-9.
6J. Kenneth Kuntz,
"Supplications and Reflection in
Times
of Trouble: A. form-critical Investigation of Psalm 9-
10" SBL Seminar Papers (1975):1:109 (hereafter cited as
128
distress, i.e., hvcb (Ps 9:10). The root rc is familiar to
Psalm 74. Psalm 10:18 pairs jd with Mvty as objects
of
Yahweh's fairness in judgment.1
Proverbs 26:28 suggests the
obverse where jd is the "crushed" object of a lying
tongue.
Here the term is parallel to Nvybxv ynf.
The parent verb xkd
illustrates the nuance of jd.
xkd has hvhy yndx as subject crushing Rahab in Psalm 89:11,
a figure for God’s awesome
power over the mightiest foe.
Conversely, Solomon commands
the strong to not crush, -lx
xkdt, the ynf by manipulating judicial procedures (Prov
22:22).2 Yahweh
will, Mtyr byry, plead their case.3
Again,
Yahweh says the ideal king will
qwvf xkdy, crush
oppressors.4
Kuntz,
"Ps 9-10"). This discussion of jd draws upon TDOT,
s.v.
"xkd,"
by H. F. Fuhs, 3:203-07. jd occurs only in Pss
9:10;
10:18; 74:21; and Prov 26:28.
1Psalms 9-10 comprise a single
acrostic piece.
Kuntz
argues that the use of jd and other infrequent.
expressions
in each psalm supports the unity of the two
psalms.
2For similar concepts
with some correspondence in
vocabulary,
e.g., hny,
hxf-III,
qwf,
see Exod 22:20-23 and
Lev
19:13.
3Prov 22:22-23 and Ps
74:21-22 share ynf and the
roots
xkd
and byr.
Ps 74:22 is an instance of role
reversal,
in that God is implored to argue His own case, in
comparison
to Prov 22:23.
4Ps 72:4. The objects of qwvf are Mf-yynf and
Nvybx ynb. Vv. 12-14 develop v. 4 and use several
roots
relevant
to or used in Ps 74, e.g., words for poor include
Nvybx (3 times), ynf and ld (synonym to words in Ps
74).
The
prayer by the poor implicit in Ps 74 is represented by
fvwm. smH occurs in Pss 72: 14 and 74:20. Verb roots for
129
The psalmist has already recalled God's powerful
destruction of Ntyvl and Mynynt.5
This hymnic segment
served to remind God, the king
(yklm, vs. 12), of His past
power. Now the appeal to God
for help for the oppressed may
be based on what God said kings
ought to do.l These three
uses of the verb xkd, suggest the utterly crushed state of
the object of the action.2
jd connotes an intensely abject
condition inflicted by a vastly
superior antagonist.
Mlk occurs
usually in the Niphal, as here,3 and
often parallel to wvb (nine times).4 The Niphal may mean
to be "humiliated,
ashamed, put to shame, dishonoured, con-
founded."5 This
stem features the condition into which one
has been brought without
special reference to the cause.6
deliverance
common to Ps 74 and Ps 72:12-14 are lcn (a
synonym),
fwy,
lxg.
5See above, discussion of
vv. 13-14.
1See note 3 above on
Psalm 72.
2Ps 89:11; Prov 22:22; Ps
72:4. Seventeen of
eighteen
uses of xkd,
including these three, are in an
intensive
stem.
3Mlk appears 26 times in
Niphal; 10 in Hiphil; 2 in
Hophal.
This paragraph is dependent upon TWOT,
s.v. “Mlk,”
by
John N. Oswalt, 1:442-43.
4Jer 5:12, 31:19; Ezek
9:6; Isa 41:11, 45:16, 17,
35:4;
Ezek 36:32; Jer 14:3. The noun hmlk is used in
connection
with wvb
at least six times. It is paired with
hprH in Ps 71:13.
5BDB, pp. 483-84.
6Hophal would draw
attention to the cause of the
humiliation; see 1 Sam 25:15
and Jer 14:3.
130
Mlk, used
alone, refers to "a more general disgrace result-
ing from any kind of
humiliation."1 The idea of wound seems
prominent.2 Mlkn
ranges
from wounding the body, to shame
brought on by malignment of
character, to shame for heinous
sin, to the shame of defeat and
captivity.3
The expression of Psalm 74:21a is somewhat
figurative but its implications
can be concrete for the one
praying. The jd, ynf, and Nvybx, in this psalm are not
separate groups within the
society. As words from a single
semantic field they describe
the suffering community.
Individuals within the
community may be regarded as fitting
the description of one or more
or these terms.
The jd has
already been crushed by the oppressors
described elsewhere in the
psalm. If God repulses him when
he prays for relief, he will be
further humiliated. jd will
become more intensely
appropriate for him.
Nvybxv ynf
Some derive Nvybx
from
hbx, "to lack, be in
need."4
Humbert understands the word to
express "not only a
1Oswalt, “Mlk,” 1:443.
2This is based on an
Arabic cognate "wound,"
KB,
p. 440.
3Examples are: body--1
Sam 25:7; character--1 Sam
20:34,
Isa 50:6, Lam 2:15; sin--Ezek 16:27, Jer 3:3, 6:15,
8:12;
military defeat--Isa 30:3, Ezek 32:30.
4TDOT, s. v. “Nvybx,” by G. Johannes Botterweck,
1:28;
see also TDOT, s. v. "hbx," by Bo Johnson,
1:24-26. An
Arabic
word, 'aba, has an opposite meaning,
to "refuse" or
be
unwilling (KB, p. 3).
131
deficiency, but also an
expectation and a demand."1 Several
connect Nvybx with Ugaritic 'bynt and 'bynm.2
Nvybx is
contrasted with land owner (Exod 23:11).
He is to be released from debt
in the Sabbatic year (Deut
15:2). His landlessness is also
implied when he is equated
with a rykw, hired servant (Deut 24:14-15).
qydc (innocent
or vindicated) is sometimes parallel
to Nvybx (Amos 2:6, 5:12).3 A transition from
Nvybx as
literally poor to a group
within society, i.e., a social
class, is evident in Amos and
Jeremiah.4
Yahweh Himself judged the cause of the needy (Jer
22:16). The Nvybx plea to Yahweh for a favorable hearing
(Pss 40:18, 86:11). They love
Yahweh (40:14) and His
salvation (86:1). Yahweh does
not always forget them (Ps
9:19). The Nvybx calls on God to not forsake him (9:11),
not be distant (10:1, 35:22). He
asks God to arise, hmvq
(10:12, 12:6, 35:23) as a
warrior, byr or MHl (9:4-16,
10:14, 74:19-21). With God as
subject and Nvybx as
object
1Cited by Botterweck, “Nvybx,” 1:28 from P. Humbert,
"Le Mot Biblique 'ebyon,"
RHPR 32 (1952):1-6.
2Joseph Aistleimer, Worterbuch der Ugaritschen
Sprache. Herausgegeben von Otto
Eissfeldt. 4. Auflage.
(Berlin:
Akademie-Verlag, 1974), p. 3;
#24.
3Kapelrud notes that
those who should have adminis-
tered
qydc,
justice, were in fact guilty of oppressing the
qydc, innocent; see Prov 22:22, Exod 23:6, 11. Arvid
S.
Kapelrud,
"New Ideas in Amos," VTSup 15 (1966):203.
4For the literally
poor--Exod 23:6, 11; Deut 15:4,
7, 9, 11; a social class--Amos
4:5; Jer 5:28, 20:13.
132
the following verbs for deliver
are used in Psalms: lxg
(69:19); fwy (12:2, 69:36, 86:2, 16); lcn (40:14, 86:13).
The stance and concerns of Nvybx in Psalm 74 reflect its
general posture throughout
Psalms. He is dependent upon God
to rescue him from a variety of
distresses.1
The Nvybx is a
landless individual who has desperate
needs.2 The need may
be material or spiritual. Economic
deprivation could promote a
sense, of spiritual dependence
upon God. Or a godly life could
promote responses from
those with economic or
political strength that bring on
material privation.
The ynf, too,
is landless, but he also suffers acute
affliction in the form of
malice, sickness, or economic
destitution. The ynf is an object of severe social or judi-
cial mistreatment.
If Psalm 74 dates to the exilic era, the Nvybxv ynf
are, as always, in some
respect, landless. The terms may be
equivalent to the whole nation
if the land is viewed as
belonging to a foreign power.
If the psalm intends to imply
that some Israelites, e.g., the
more wealthy, afflict their
poverty-stricken brethren, then
the terms describe a dis-
franchised social class.
1All passages cited in
this paragraph are from
Psalms
unless otherwise noted,
2This is based, in
general, on the original meaning
of
hbx,
"to lack, to be in need;" Johnson, "hbx," 1:24.
133
Based partly on the vocabulary for the antagonists,1
and on the tenor of the whole
psalm, these terms designate a
group within the remnant living
in
occupation. It is composed
predominantly of economically
distressed people. Their
external distress and material
need motivates them to seek
God's help and to virtually
promise to praise Him. They are
landless; they are a social
class within
close to God.
vllhy
vllhy should
be taken as a jussive corresponding to
the negative jussive bwy-lx.2 The plural is common for this
root and is expected in a
community lament.3 The plural,
however, bears on the meaning
of llh-II. This
root occurs
150 times and only in the
intensive stems. There are a few
"secular" uses in
which people are praised for such assets
as beauty, wealth, or good
sense.4 Most uses have God or
1See above, pp. 39-43.
2Williams, Syntax, p. 34, #185.
3TDOT, s.v. “llh,” by Helmer Ringgren,
3:407.
hdvh rather than llh predominates in
individual psalms of
praise;
ibid., 3:408. Individual laments have a vow of
praise
in the voluntative, i.e., hllhx, e.g., Ps 35:18,
69:31,
109:30.
4Gen 12:15; Ezek 26:17; Prov 12:8.
134
His name as the object.l
The place of praising is either
the temple or the congregation.2
tvdvh and llh are often co-ordinate with instruments
of song and with ryw, rmz, and rps.3 Based on these co-
ordinates, llh is a jubilant verbal expression, often to
musical accompaniment. It
involves a moderate to grand
intensity of sound and is
intended to extol God for Himself
and His works.
The object of praise in 74:21 is God's Mw. The noun
occurs 778 times in the
singular. To cut off the Mw meant
to eliminate the person.4 When God names a person, the name
suggests the character,
function, or work which God expects
from the one He names.5
Acknowledgment of the god's name for securing divine
blessing is ancient.6
Yahweh promises His presence at
1About 70 of these are in
the Psalter. Judg 16:24
is
the only instance with a foreign god as object; the
people
vllhy
Dagon.
2Temple--Ps 84:5, Isa
64:10; congregation--Pss
22:23,
35:18, 107:32.
3With each other--Ezra
3:11,
instruments-- 2 Chr 5:13; 7~t11--2 Chr 31:2, Jer 20:13; rmz--
Pss 146:2, 149:3; rps--Ps 22:23.
4Deut
7:24, 9:14; 1 Sam 24:21.
5Gen 17:5, 15-16, 35:10;
Isa 7:14, 9:5, 6; see TDNT,
s.v.
"o@noma,"
by Hans Bietenhard, 5:254.
6Gen 32:30; Judg 13:18f; Bietenhard, "o@noma," 5:255.
135
places which He memorializes.1
Ultimately, God made
divine presence are closely
related.3 God's presence in the
temple is distinct from His
throne in heaven.4 Concern that
Yahweh's name be dishonored is
expressed in Psalm 79:9-10.5
hvhy
Mw,
an equivalent of which is used in Psalm 74:18,
becomes far more common after
the exile, especially in
psalmic parallels.6
Bietenhard considers Mw an
alternate
designation for Yahweh in this
psalmic use.7
Verse 21b is an antithesis to 21a. The first colon
requests God not to turn back
the crushed one from His
presence, thereby repulsing his
prayer for help. Rather he
requests that this needy and
afflicted one praise Yahweh's
name, i.e., Yahweh. Though the
temple is in ruins, the
psalmist still desires a divine
presence which he may extol.
1Exod 20:24. 21
Kgs 11:36, 2 Kgs 21:4, etc.
32 Sam 7:13; 1 Kgs 3:2,
5:17, 8:17, 9:3, 7; 2 Kgs
21:7;
see Bietenhard, "o@noma," 5:256.
4Ibid., Bietenhard cites
M. Schmidt, Prophet u.
Tempel, pp. 93-94; see also
Solomon's prayer in 1 Kgs 8.
Bietenhard
has noted "by having the shem
and not Yahweh
Himself
dwell in the temple, both a high and low estimation
of
the temple is secured. Yahweh is not tied to the temple,
He
is enthroned in heaven. But the significance of the
cultic
site is safeguarded by the fact that He causes His
shem
to dwell there." For the quote, ibid., pp. 256-57.
5See also Ezek 20:9.
6Ibid., 5:257; see Pss
7:17, 9:10, 18:49, 68:4,
86:12,
91:1, etc.
7Bietenhard, "o@noma," 5:257, 260.
136
The two cola together, on the surface, imply a
favorable hearing and
anticipate deliverance from the pre-
sent distress. The latter would
become the grounds for
praise.l Rather than
a God who has not heard the prayer-
speech of one in need, the
psalmist desires a God who,
because He has given victory to
the afflicted and needy,
will hear the praise-speech of
the delivered one.
Verse 22
jbyr hbyr Myhlx
hmvq
:Mvyh-lk lbn-ynm jtprH rkz
Arise,
Oh God! Plead your case!
Remember
the taunt against you
from the impious all the day.
hmvq
This verse features three imperatives. The root Mvq
occurs 629 times in various
uses. The concrete idea is to
arise from a prostrate position
brought on by such things as
sleep, sickness, or mourning.
It is used in specialized
settings, such as arising for
cultic, social, or official
reasons.2 It has a
martial sense in which there is either a
literal rising to do battle or
a figurative use in which God
1The feature is frequent
in individual laments (Pss
22:33-34,
35:18, 102:19).
2 BDB, p. 877; TWOT, s. v. “Mvq,” by Leonard J.
Coppes,
2:793-94, e.g., Num 11:32, "arise and stand."
Lambdin,
IBH, pp. 238:40, #173, calls this a
"complementary
usage."
137
is perceived as engaging in
combat. Psalm 74:22 employs
in this latter way.
A paradigm use of the imperative is Numbers 10:35.
As the Israelites, in virtual
battle array, depart from
jybyvx vcpyv hvhy hmvq
Here it is difficult to
distinguish between a possible aux-
iliary Mvq and a martial use. The battle context is clear.
At any rate, Moses expects God
to take military action in
behalf of
lidity of the Psalm title, hmvq in Psalm 3:8 is a plea for
divine military action in
behalf of David.
Psalm 7:7 uses hmvq in a
similar fashion. Here the
verb parallels hrvf, arouse yourself. Isaiah 51:9 demon-
strates the appropriateness of
this term for a military
setting.1 The
prophet recalls that Yahweh's arm (i.e., His
might) was rvf, awake, when He defeated the Egyptian army of
the Exodus. Psalm 7:7-9, in
fact, shows a mixing of judi-
cial and military concerns.2
Divine judicial punishment
often involves military action.
The military connotation
for Mvq is seen in Psalm 27:3 in which the subject is
1vrvf
and Mvq also appear in the call
for Deborah and
Barak
to prepare for battle, Judg 5:12.
2Judicial terms in Psalm
7:7-9 are Fpwm,
vnFpw,
and
yqdcn. Psalm 76:10 also uses , hmvq, with God as subject in
a
context
which mixes judicial and military concerns.
Anderson,
Psalms, 1:95-96, 2:552-54 notes this
fusion in Pss
7 and 76.
138
and the verb is Mvqt. Psalm 35:1-2 employs four imperatives
hbyr, MHl, qzHh, and hmvq.1 Their appearing together shows
that each, has a military
connotation.2
jbyr hbyr
hbyr, as
seen above, can call for military activity.
It primarily refers to physical
strife or combat.3 byr also
denotes verbal strife.4
Judicial significance is a short
step from informal verbal
contention. In legal contexts God
is usually the subject, as in
Psalm 74:22.5 byr in Qal
occurs sixty-six times, about
one-fourth of which are in the
classical prophets where God
has controversy with His peo-
ple. The verb occurs five times
in Psalms.6 The noun
appears seven times in the
Psalter, sixty-two times over-
all.7 It is found in
a virtual cognate accusative
1The objects of the first
three are ybayriy; (those
contending
with David), ymHl and Ngm (a small shield). See
Psalm
35:1-2; verses 1-8 contain several words and themes
from
the military motif.
2In addition, Pss 9:20
and 10:12 employ hmvq
settings
much like Psalm 74, i.e., desire for vindication of
the
vulnerable with strong allusions to divine military
activity.
3Exod 21:18, s.a. Deut
33:7; Judg 11:28.
4See also the people
"quarrelling" (NASB) with
Moses,
Exod 17:2.
5For human disputation in
court, see Prov 25:8-9.
6Pss 35:1, 74:22, 103:9,
119:154.
7Pss 18:44, 31:21, 35:23,
43:1, 55:10, 74:22.
139
relationship twelve times.1 Myhlx
is
the subject in two of
these, Psalms 4:3:1 and 74:22,
both of which are in the
Elohistic Psalter. Elsewhere hvhy is the subject.
In each, except Psalm 35:1, Jeremiah 50:34, 51:36,
and the Proverbs passages, byr has a suffix. The antecedent
in the Samuel passages is
David. In Proverbs 22 and 23 it
is ld, ynf, and Mvty. In Jeremiah 50 and 51 it is respec-
tively the nation and
it is the prophet.2
In Psalms 35, 43, and 119 it is the
psalmist.3
Among these twelve instances Psalms 35:1 and 74:22
are notable. Psalm 35:1 is
unique in the list because both
noun and verb are in the
semantic range of warfare. Other
uses serve as a judicial motif.
Psalm 74:22 is unique
because only here is the
subject of the clause and the ante-
cedent to the noun suffix
identical. Elsewhere God or
Yahweh pleads someone else's
cause. It is tautological to
observe that only a vulnerable
individual needs an
11 Sam 24:15, 25:39; Jer
50:34, 51:36; Mic 7:9; Pss
35:1,
43:1, 74:22, 119:154; Prov 22:23, 23:11; and Lam 3:58.
2Lam 3:58 has ywpn-ybyr; for purposes of this
survey,
the effect is the same as though the suffix were
attached
to byr.
3Ps 35:1 has ybyr. This is the only one of twelve
in
which the suffix is objective genitive rather than
possessive.
140
advocate.1 Psalm
74:22 casts God, the advocate, in the role
of the vulnerable one. God is
the antecedent for the suffix
on jbyr. If hmvq serves
a military matrix in the psalm, as
suggested above, there is a tension
in the verse between hmvq
and hbyr on the one hand and the suffix j- on the other.
jtprH rkz
With God as subject, as in this Psalm, imperative
rkz is
characteristic of the complaint genre (as in Pss, Jer
and Job).2 Hymns, on
the other hand, employ the verb.3 As
noted, rkz with God as subject shows up in covenant con-
texts, e.g., the Noahic,
Abrahamic, and Palestinian
covenants.4 The
covenant context within Psalm 74 has been
presented.
hprH occurs
seventy times in singular and three
times in the plural. There are
twenty Psalms uses and
fourteen in Jeremiah. Two
Psalms uses are in community
lE.g., the poor,
afflicted, the lamenting one, the
defenseless
city.
2rkz in individual
complaints: Pss 25:6 and 119:49;
in
community complaints: Pss 74:2, 17, 22; 79:8; 106:4;
137:7;
also prophetic complaints: Isa 64:8; Jer 14:21.
3Pss 98:3; 105:8, 42;
106:45; 111:5; 136:23. See
Childs,
Memory, p. 44.
4References respectively
are Gen 8:1; 30:22; Exod
2:24;
for a useful study of the Palestinian covenants, see
William
D. Barrick, "Leviticus 26; Its Relationship to
Covenant
Contexts and Concepts" (Th.D. dissertation, Grace
Theological Seminary, 1981).
141
laments (Pss 44:14 and 74:22).1
Of the sixteen uses in
individual laments, usually the
reproach is against the
individual. Psalm 74:22 is again
unique in the Psalms in
the respect that here God is
explicitly the object of hprH.
Thus, only here is God the
vulnerable one in a byr
proceeding and the object of hprH.
The general meaning of hprH is
evident from Jeremiah
24:9. There, by means of
prophetic vision, Jeremiah sees
good and bad figs. These are
symbolic respectively of the
captives already in
officials, and the remnant of
figs, further described by a
series of nouns, hfvl hfvzl
. . . hllql hnynwl, lwml, hpvhl . . . , “They shall be a
terror, a calamity, a reproach,
a by-word, a proverb, a
taunt, a curse.”2
A hfvz is one
who has been made to tremble by
adverse treatment. A hfr is one in a calamitous condition.
A hprH is one
who is the object of slander or taunting
speech calculated to belittle.
A lwm generally means
proverb, but here a by-word,
i.e., one well-known for his
mean and despised state. A hnvnw, a development from Nw,
lIn Ps 44 and the
historical psalm, Ps 78, a segment
of
the nation became a reproach.
2For a brief discussion
of this semantic field with
special
reference to hprH see TDOT,
s. v. "JrH-II," by E.
Kutsch, 5:210, 212-13.
142
tooth, is one who is the object
of sharp words or taunts. A
hprH may
differ from hnynw in
that the former results from a
calculated campaign to
intimidate or belittle.1 A hllq
is
one who, as the object of
contemptible action, is now
contemptible.
For 1 Samuel 17:10 Herzberg translates the verb as
"defied" but in the
notes suggests "ridiculing."2 Goliath
ridicules what he perceives as
the impotence of
army to provide a champion. At
1 Samuel 25:39 the same
author translates hprH "insult." David had requested food
for his men from Nabal in
exchange for past protection.
Nabal responded as though David
was of no account, and
totally undeserving of
provisions from the wealthy Nabal
(cf. vv. 9-11).
jtprH rkz (Ps
74:22), petitions God to remember and
take appropriate action against
those who brought hprH to
Him. The psalmist perceives
that God has been the object of
a calculated campaign to insult
and intimidate or belittle.3
Mvyh-lk lbn-ynm
The protagonist in the campaign to belittle God is
expressed by lbn-ynm. BDB
surmises that the y is an
old
11 Sam 17:26; 25:39.
2Hertzberg, 1-2 Samuel, pp. 143-149.
3This regards the suffix j as objective genitive;
see Davidson, Syntax, p. 2, #2, and p. 31, #23, rem.
1.
143
indication of the genitive. Nm indicates source or author
of the action, implied in hprH.1 lbn in the
Psalms seems
generally to refer to an
impious Israelite who "speaks
nonsense."2 He
tends to be arrogant and overbearing.3 On
the basis of Jeremiah 17:11, lbn may be "one who amasses
riches unjustly."4
In general, a lbn
appears to be an
Israelite who is opposite to
the Nvybx or ynf.
The adverbial expression Mvyh-lk, indicates
the
constancy of the hprH.5 It is similar to Hcnl elsewhere in
the psalm and to dymt in the last verse. In the aggregate
these adverbs stress the
longstanding "nowness" of the
distress prompting the
complaint as a whole.
Verse 23
jyrrc
lvq Hkwt-lx
:dymt hlf jymq Nvxw
Do
not forget the voice of those
harrassing you.
The
tumult of those rising up
against you ascends continually.
1For Nm as author of the action
in Ps 74:22, see
BDB,
p. 579. For y on ynm as an old indication of
the
genitive
see ibid., p. 577, and GKC, p. 253, #901.
2TWOT, s, v. “lbn,” by Louis Goldberg,
2:547.
3Ibid.; cf. Prov 30:22. 4BDB,
p. 615.
5BDB, p. 400, has
"continually." The singular
occurs
mostly in the prophets and poetry (except Gen 6:5;
Deut 28:32, 33:12), e.g., Lam 1:3; 3:3, 14, 62; Pss 42:4,
11; 44:9, 16, 23; 74:22; 88:18;
102:9.
144
Nvxw . . . lvq
lvq has a wide
range of applications in the HB.1 It
may indicate anything that can
be heard.2 In Psalm 74:23
the meaning is akin to the
sound of an excited crowd (1 Kgs
1:40, 45) or the noise of
warriors (2 Kgs 7:6). Here lvq is
more closely defined by jyrrc. There are similarities to
Jdgmv
JrHm lvq.
"the voice of one who reproaches and
reviles," due to the
presence of byvx (Ps
44:17).
As the psalmist concludes his prayer, he reminds God
of one of the first evidences
he cited of insolence against
God--the roar of God's
adversaries in the temple area (v. 4,
above). The verb gxw, reminiscent of the roar of the lion
with his prey, has become a
noun, lvq. lvq may indicate the
roar of a lion.3
Again, the adversaries are styled as God's
enemies rather than the people's.
Nvxw occurs
sixteen times elsewhere.4 Twice Yahweh
is about to move in judgment
against the ungodly. In one of
1Sound of animals, 1 Sam
15:15; clap of thunder,
Exod
9:23; rolling of wheels, 2 Kgs 7:6; groaning, Ps 102:6;
jubilation,
Isa 48:20, TDNT, s. v. "fwnh<," by Otto Betz,
9:280-82.
2Ibid., 9:280.
3Jer 2:15; Amos 3:4; Job
4:10; Ezek 19:7, 9; Zech
11:3.
In Jer 2:15 vgxwy is in virtual parallel with nvtn
Mlvq. The young lions of Jer 2 are enemies of
perhaps
Babylonians contemporary with Jeremiah. This may
also
be close to the time of the origin of Ps 74. The same
words
are parallel in Amos 3:4.
4This excludes Ps 40:3
where a different root is
probably in use.
145
these instances Nvxw lvq, the sound of an uproar, is in fact
the voice of Yahweh (Isa 66:6).
In the second Nvxw lvq is
the sound of an uproar of a
divinely commissioned army (Isa
13:4). The other fourteen times
enemy powers or natural
forces are either under God's
control or about to experience
God's judgment.l
Psalm 74:23 is the only instance of
in which God neither causes the
tumultuous sound nor is
viewed as about to judge the
uproar. Indeed, the context
itself expresses no explicit
confidence that He can or will
subdue the enemy.
jymq
The Qal masculine plural participle of svq always
refers to adversaries.2
Of its sixteen occurrences, twelve
are in poetic texts, one of
which is part of a code name for
Babylon.3 In three
of the remaining poetic texts, the poet
expects Yahweh to deliver him
from his adversaries.4 Six
1Some of the translations
of Nvxw
are "uproar of
peoples,"
Isa 17:12; "rumbling of waters," Isa 17:13;
"riotous
revelers," Jer 45:45; "tumult" of
"a
clamor has come," Jer 25:31; "roaring of seas," Ps 65:8.
Other
passages using Nvxw are Jer 46:17, 51:55; Isa 5:14,
24:8,
25:5; Hos 10:14. Nvxw occurs twice each in Isa 17:12
and
Ps 65:8.
2Qal singular participle,
Mq,
does not appear. BDB,
p.
877.
3The code name is in Jer
51:1. The prose uses are
Deut
28:7 Exod 32:25 2 Sam 18:31 and 2 K s 16:7.
4Pss 3:2; 92:12.
146
texts affirm that God has given
victory or characteristi-
cally gives victory over Mymqt.1
The two remaining texts are the only ones which have
the objective genitive suffix,
2ms (Exod 15:7 and Ps
74:23).2 In each
instance the referent is God Himself who
is the object of the attack.3
The synonyms most closely
associated with Mymq in these passages are byvx (Exod 15:6)
and jyrrc (Ps 74:23). Moses lauds Yahweh for the fact that
His Nymy, right hand, shatters byvx, which ultimately gives
victory over jymq, "those rising up against you" (i.e.,
against Yahweh).4
The psalmist, on the contrary, has
already expressed concern about
God's apparent withdrawal of
His Nymy from striking the byvx (Ps 74:10-11). Now he calls
to God's mind the jymq Nvxw, the arrogantly tumultuous sound
of "those rising up
against you." The views of God's
ability against His adversaries
expressed by Moses and the
suppliant of Psalm 74 show a
dramatic contrast. Again, this
psalm uses a relatively common
form in a unique way.
1Deut 33:11, 2 Sam 22:40,
49 (=Ps 18:40, 49); Ps
44:6.
2Of the sixteen passages
using three indicate
the
object of attack with preposition lf plus suffix, i.e.,
2
Kgs 16:7; Ps 3:2; 92:12. The others use the objective
genitive
suffix on the participle.
3These are the only
instances of Mymq for which God
is
the object of antagonism.
4Exod 15:6-7.
147
hlf is
from a common root occurring about 900 times,
with about 700 in the Qal stem.
While Psalm 74:23 is the
only occurrence of the
masculine participle in the Psalms,
there does not seem to be a
unique sense for hlf here.1
The
closest parallel to this use of
hlf
is
in 2 Kings 19:28
(=Isa 37:29). Yahweh addresses
Sennacherib as he is
encamped outside
cant ease2 has come
up into my ears."
The psalmist emphasizes that the adversary is at
that moment challenging God's
authority. The tumultuous
sound of those rising against
God is continuously ascending.
The continuousness of the sound
is stressed by both the
participle hlf and the adverb.3 One should note
that the
author did not express an
adverbial accusative of direction
1There are fifteen Qal
masculine singular
participles
in the HB and twenty-four plural participles.
2"Arrogant
ease" builds on information in BDB, p.
983.
The adjective means basically "at ease, secure." The
context
in Isaiah 19 requires that Sennacherib is casting
the
ease with which he thinks he will conquer
the
face of God. Some, without textual support have
proposed
reading instead Nnvxw. See ibid. It is unlikely
that
Nvxw
and Nnxw
in certain contexts share the same
semantic
field.
3See for the durative
force of the participle GKC,
p.
315, #107d, the verbal force of the active participle
presents
the subject "as being in the continual
uninterrupted
exercise of an activity" (ibid., p. 356,
#16a).
For the noun dymt functioning as adverb see BDB, p.
556.
Under "going on without interruption," BDB includes Ps
74:23.
148
for the active participle.
There are other instances of a
cry of distress from oppression
or a shout of arrogant
wickedness which ascends to God
which use hlf.
Usually, the
adverbial idea is expressed by
a prepositional phrase or a
noun.1
The ambiguity introduced by the author's omission of
an adverb of location may serve
to heighten the tension he
feels about God. "Do not
forget the sound of your adver-
saries. The tumult of those who
rise up against you ascend
continually." He might
have added a gloss to the last
clause--"We hear the
tumult. Do you?"
A Summary of Findings for
Chapter One
Verses
1-3
The psalmist begins with an "accusatory interroga-
tive" charging God with an
excessively long period of anger
against His sheep (i.e.,
diction of the Shepherd-sheep
relationship. A first
imperative requests God to act
toward
consistent with God's role as
dweller at
intervene in a consequence of
divine wrath, i.e., enemy
devastation on the temple
mount.
1See, e.g., Exod 2:23, 1
Sam 5:12, Jonah 1:2. A
notable
exception is Jer 14:2. The mood of the prophetic
lament
is very similar to the mood of Psalm 74. The cry of
seems to be ignoring her
plight.
149
Verses 4-11
The psalmist reports to God that His adversaries
roar in the appointed
assemblies and place symbols of their
presence at the temple site.
"Roar" may be ironic sarcasm
recalling Yahweh's roar from
verses 5-6 are the most vexing
interpretative challenge in
the psalm. In general, the
verses report that soldiers
destroyed the temple complex as
though such activity was a
sport for them. Use of wdq and llH stress
the irony of
enemy activity and should
motivate God's intervention.
The enemy then sought to oppress the people and
destroy other worship sites.
The psalmist connects distress
of the people with destruction
of religious structures. The
use of dHy and lk
reinforces the ideas of "totally" and
"contin-ually" which
characterize the psalm. Verses 10 and
11 resume the question of verse
1. Will God suffer endless
defamation of His name? Why
does He not destroy the enemy?
Terms for antagonist in Psalm
74, byx, rrc, and lbn raise
the possibility that the enemy
is comprised of both for-
eigner and Israelite. The
recurrence of terms from verse 1
suggests conceptual and
structural relationships.
Verses 12-17
Three vocatives in verse 12 stress God's kingship
and power. The lcs suffix in a
"communal" lament demon-
strates the important relationship
between individual and
150
community. Verses 13-17 are a
highly symmetrical hymn-like
declaration of God's ancient
"victories" for the nation.
The passage alludes to the
exodus, wilderness provision,
exodus, flood, and creation).
The unasked question of the
psalmist is "Why is God
not using His power now?" These
verses expound the earlier call
to God to remember His
congregation (v. 2).
Verses 18-23
Verses 18-23 expand the imperatives of verses 2-3.
Using similar words, the poet
emphasizes the action (v. 10)
and then the agent (v. 18) in
reproaching God. The tetra-
grammaton (in the Elohistic
psalter) is unusual. The psalm-
ist desires God to protect the
vulnerable community (v. 19),
regard carefully the covenant
(v. 20), and hear the prayer
of the seeking community (v.
21). Verses 22-23 have two
vigorous imperatives and a mild
negative imperative. The
latter cloaks a misgiving that
any of the prayer in Psalm 74
will receive a favorable
response. The psalm ends without
answer and with a subdued
reminder to God that the noise of
the enemy (cf. v. 4, gxw and v. 23, Nvxw)
"ascends continu-
ally."
Unique Features in
Psalm 74
Several features in Psalm 74 are unique or rare in
comparison with the rest of the
Old Testament. Some of
151
these include initiatory hml (v. 1), the hapax
jymfp
hmyrh
(v. 3), and the use of
byx as
subject of Cxn (v.
10).
Additional features are the
verb Ccr with a mighty (as
opposed to weak) object, the
pun with tyH (v.
19), and the
use of byr with God as both subject and object (v. 22),
These factors give vitality to
the language and contribute
to a different orientation for
the psalm in comparison with
other laments.
CHAPTER II
THE STRUCTURE OF PSALM 74
The purpose of this chapter is to identify the
structure of Psalm 74 and
explain the significance of that
structure for the meaning of
the psalm as a whole and the
meaning of its parts in
relationship to the whole. The
procedure will first be to
define the term "structure" as
used in this chapter. A survey
of recent attempts to
delineate the structure of the
target psalm will follow.
Finally, and primarily, the
chapter will expound the struc-
ture of Psalm 74 based upon the
analysis of the language of
the psalm in the previous
chapter.
A Definition of
Structure
The term "structure" is variously understood
within
contemporary biblical
scholarship. Methodologies of many
practitioners of biblical
structuralism are rooted in a
concept of structures first used in physics and math. These
concepts were transposed into
such fields as linguistics,
ethnology, literary criticism,
and sociology. Claude
Levi-Strauss gave great impetus
to the application of
structuralism to studies in
anthropology, mythology, and
152
153
biblical studies.1
Others have refined the use of structur-
alist methodologies in the
study of the Scriptures.2 Among
those who have adapted aspects
of these models for biblical
research there is a wide range
of meaning assigned to
"structure" and
"structural analysis."3 On the one hand
some apply the terms to what
Patte calls "'stylistic
analysis,'" in which the
researcher is engaging in rhetori-
cal criticism.4 The
concern is with the actual words and
arrangement of the text.
Bar-Efrat is very close to this
position.5
1Claude Levi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology,
trans.
C. Jacobson and B. Grunddfest Schoepf (
Basic
Books, 1963). For extensive bibliography of Levi-
Strauss's
earlier works, see R. Barthes, et al.
Structural
Analysis and Biblical
Exegesis: Interpretational Essays,
trans.
Alfred M. Johnson (
Press,
1974), pp. 131-35.
2E.g., Jean Calloud, Structural Analysis of Narra-
tive, Semeia Supplements,
trans. Daniel Patte (
Fortress
Press, 1976); Daniel Patte, What is Structural
Exegesis? (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1976) (hereafter
cited
as Patte, Structural Exegesis).
3For a recent survey of
the range of usage, see
Robert
C. Culley, "Exploring New Directions," in The Hebrew
Bible and its Modern
Interpreters,
eds. Douglas A. Knight
and
Gene M. Tucker (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985), pp.
167-80
(hereafter cited as Culley, "New Directions").
4Patte, Structural Exegesis, p. 22.
5S. Bar-Efrat, "Some
Observations on the Analysis of
Structure
in Biblical Narrative," VT 30:2
(April 1980):155-
58.
Bar-Efrat takes issue with methodologies which delve
into
"the 'deep' structure (as opposed to the surface struc-
ture)
by using symbolic or metaphorical interpretation," p.
165.
154
On the other hand, others use complex terminology in
describing their approach and
they speak, for example, of
both mythological structures
and narrative structures as
each is comprised of a
multiplicity of structures.1 Patte
subscribes to this basic model
for structural analysis.
Indeed, he could more
accurately speak of "analysis of
structures" with reference
to each biblical narrative, no
matter how brief the unit may
be.
He identifies three levels of structures which
impose themselves on most units
of biblical material.2
"Structures of the
enunciation" (i.e., limitations which
come from the author as an
individual and limitations
imposed by the sitz im leben which he addresses) and
cul-
tural structures (e.g.,
including factors of geography,
building site, customs,
ethnology) can be discerned by
historico-critical
methodologies.3 The third level, "deep
structures," is the
primary concern of this kind of struc-
tural analysis.4
The deep structures include narrative, mythical, and
other structures, most of which
are "buried in the
lE.g., in Patte, Structural Exegesis, titles to
chapters
3 and 4 respectively are "Narrative Structures and
Exegesis"
and "Mythical Structures and Exegesis," pp. 35,
53.
By this he means that each narrative unit and
mythological
piece is comprised of several "structures."
Usually
no one of these "structures" is present in its
totality.
2Ibid., pp. 21-25. 3Ibid.,
pp. 24, 52.
4Ibid., pp. 24-25.
155
unconscious" faculty of
man.1 These deep structures include
not only what the text says but
what it implies by what it
says. They involve attitudes
and value systems.2 Culley
notes that probing deep
structures "relies heavily on the
intuition and judgment of the
investigator."3
A value in considering deep structures may be to
suggest applications of the
text. One should not use this
kind of structural analysis to
dogmatize about the meaning
which the author intended. The
following review of past
proposed definitions of
structure excludes exponents of
structural analysis whose
primary concern is deep structure.
The review and proposals which
this dissertation makes
concerning the structure of
Psalm 74 addresses the surface
and stylistic features which
the text itself uses. Some
authors cited in the footnotes
for this chapter have, them-
selves, drawn from writings on
structuralism of the
Levi-Strauss type, but this is
not a primary focus of the
present study.
Previous Proposed
Definitions
Gene
Tucker
A survey of how some scholars have understood
structure will provide a
context for a proposed working
definition. Tucker has a small
section entitled "Structure"
lIbid.,
p. 24. 2Ibid.,
pp. 32-33.
3Culley,
"New Directions," p. 177.
156
in describing the methods of Old
Testament criticism, but he
does not define what he means
by structure.1 One might
in-
fer a definition from what he
writes as follows: Structure
is the identifiable formulaic
and conventional patterns
reflected in a given text of
speech in the light of other
speech units that reflect the
same formulas and patterns.2
In effect, Tucker is more
concerned with the formulas and
patterns that lie behind the
biblical text than with those
in the text itself.3
He acknowledges that there are sui
generis
elements
in each particular Bible passage and claims
that form criticism does not
obscure uniqueness but helps
clarify the same by
distinguishing unique elements from
stereotypical and conventional
aspects of the genre con-
tained in the text.4
At the least, form critics have not
always appropriately exploited
the unique features of a
given passage.5
1Gene M. Tucker, Form Criticism of the Old Testament
(Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1971), pp. 12-13 (hereafter
cited
as Tucker, Form Criticism).
2Ibid., pp. 12-14.
3To put it differently,
Tucker is concerned about
the
formulas and patterns of the genres from which the text
has
drawn.
4Ibid., p. 15.
5Kessler critiques Tucker
for leaning too heavily on
the
diachromic (historic) aspects. See Martin Kessler, "A
Methodological
Setting for Rhetorical Criticism," in Art
and
Meaninq in Biblical
Literature,
eds. David J. A. Clines, et
al.
(Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1982).
157
James
Muilenburg
James Muilenburg applauded the contributions of form
criticism, e.g., "it
supplied a much-needed corrective to
literary and historical
criticism;"1 it assisted in distin-
guishing the kinds of
literature in the Old Testament; and
it helped to show that the
Hebrew Scriptures shared signifi-
cant features with cognate
literatures.2 However, form
criticism has so stressed the
"typical" in biblical passages
that often it lost sight of
what was "unique and unrepeat-
able" in the texts, i.e.,
the "particularity" of each text.3
A major thrust of Muilenburg's
proposals focuses on rhetori-
cal criticism. He approaches a
specific definition of
structure when he says:
What I am interested in,
above all, is . . . in
exhibiting the structural patterns
that are employed
for the fashioning of a literary
unit, whether in poetry
or in prose, and in discerning the
many and various
devices by which the predications
are formulated and
ordered into a unified whole.4
He considers this to be a rhetorical
enterprise whose
methodology is rhetorical
criticism. This criticism takes
account of such features as
climactic and ballast lines,
ring composition, strophic
structure, particles,
1James Muilenburg,
"Form Criticism and Beyond," JBL
88
(1969):2 (hereafter cited as Muilenburg, "Form Criti-
cism").
2Ibid., pp. 2-3
3Ibid., p. 5. All of
these expressions are on p. 5.
4Ibid., p. 8.
158
repetitions, relationship of
beginning of key words.1 These
are the features of a text
which constitute its structure.
Claus
Westermann
Claus Westermann, a form critic clearly following
Gunkel, uses structure in a way similar to Tucker.2
For the
most part the structure of a
given psalm is the degree to
which the psalm's parts conform
to the structure of the
category to
which the psalm belongs. In a later publication
Westermann draws brief
attention to the fact that "each
individual psalm is an entirely
unique, irreplaceable compo-
sition. Each must be heard for
itself and interpreted for
itself. . . ."3
The starting point for the structure of a
piece remains the structure of
the genre to which the piece
belongs.
Graeme
E. Sharrock
Sharrock propounds yet a different view. He appears
to be defining the term.
By structure I mean the "inherent framework" of the
psalm which arises to the reader's view from a close
1See ibid., pp. 10-17.
2Claus Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms,
trans.
Keith R. Crim and Richard N. Soulen (
Knox
Press, 1981), p. 52 (hereafter cited as Westermann,
PLP).
Pp. 1-162 of this publication are a reprint of Claus
Westermann,
The Praise of God in the Psalms,
trans. Keith R.
Crim
(Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1965).
3Claus Westermann, The Psalms: Structure, Content
and Message, trans. Ralph D. Gehrke
(
Publishing House, 1980), p. 37.
159
analysis of the text. Such a
framework may or may not
be evident at first reading. It can
seldom be reduced
to a mere outline, as is attempted
by most commenta-
tors.1
For Sharrock, structure includes dynamic dimensions
of the text, e.g., intensity
and movement, along with "more
static elements."2
Static elements include figures, ideas,
metre, placement of words and
phrases, and the verbal
pattern.3
Sharrock has improved on Muilenburg in that he
notices that structure, at
least in psalm composition, has
both static (e.g., rhetorical
devices) and dynamic elements.
The latter can be described to
some degree but they cannot
be defined.
William
A. Young
Young believes that structure is "a category of
literary analysis" in
relationship to a given utterance,
rather than an outline of a Gattung as in form criticism.4
1Graeme E. Sharrock,
"Psalm 74 A Literary-Structural
Analysis"
AUSS 21:3 (Autumn, 1983):211
(hereafter cited as
Sharrock,
"Psalm 74"). Sharrock acknowledges Rolf Knierim,
"Old
Testament Form Criticism Reconsidered" Int
27 (October,
1973):459
(hereafter cited as Knierim, "Form Criticism") for
the
expression "inherent framework."
2Ibid., p. 212.
3Ibid. Verbal pattern
refers to discernible
patterns
in the placement of verbs according to their
aspect.
4Young, "Psalm 74," p. 128.
160
"The structural question per se provides insight only into
the literary work itself,"
e.g., it is not an entree into
the mind of the author.1
There is a certain validity to
this approach. It facilitates a
needed kind of objectivity
towards the material but it
also totally separates the
author from his composition.2
Young seems to be willing to
deal with the biblical text as
a literary piece only. He
defines structure as "the
dynamic pattern of organization
which interrelates the
individual elements of a literary
composition."3
Meir
Weiss
Weiss believes that the purpose of the poetic work
is not to impart thoughts, teachings,
or feelings, but to
fashion (gestalten) them,
therefore,
Spricht es seine Wahrheit nicht in
den einzelnen
Aussagen, sondern ausschliesslich in
der Einheit des
Gestaltung, als Ganzes aus. D.h.,
die Dichtung macht
ihren Sinngehalt nur in dieser ihrer
konkreten,
einmaligen Gestalt offenbar, in
dieser Wortpragung, in
diesem Satzbau, in diesem Rhytmus and allein in diesem
1Ibid.
2It seems convenient to
ask in isolation "what does
the
Psalm say?" then ask "who said it?" (Psalm 74 claims to
be
a first person composition). This is not Young's conclu-
sion,
though he is correct in asserting "before seeking the
intention
or attitude of the author we must first thoroughly
examine
the nature of the work itself," (Ibid).
3Ibid., pp. 127-28.
161
Rhytmus und allein in diesem
besonderen Verhaltnis der
Teile untereinander undder Teile zum
Ganzen--kurz: in
dieser ihrer Struktur.1
Weiss, whom Young has used,2
tends to equate biblical poetry
with modern western poetry in
speaking of its purpose.
While the poems in the Bible
may fashion thoughts, teach-
ings, and feelings, they also
impart teachings.3 Weiss's
implied definition of structure
is more explicit and so,
more helpful than Young's. In a
later publication Weiss
says the question is not
"'To what genre does it belong?'"
but "'What is its structure?'"4
A Working
Definition
It is difficult to define structure as a working
feature in biblical exegesis.
If one opts for a concise
definition, as Young does,
clarification of terms in the
1Translation: "It
expresses its truth not in the
uniqueness
of its expressions, but finally in the unit of
its
arrangement (Gestaltung) as a whole. I.e., the poem
reveals
its meaning only in its concrete unique form
(Gestalt),
in its striking words, in its sentence structure,
in
its rhythm, and especially in its particular inter-
relationship
of parts with one another and the parts with
the
whole--in short: in its structure." The quotation is
from
Meir Weiss "Die Methode der 'Total-Interpretation,'"
SVT, 22 (1972):92
(hereafter cited as Weiss, "Total-
Interpretation").
2See Young, "Psalm
74,"' pp. 49, 143, n. 16.
3See 2 Tim 3:16-17.
Presuppositions about the
nature
of Scripture are determinative here.
4Weiss, The
Bible, p. 273. Italics in original.
162
definition is needed.1
To go beyond this is to engage in
description. As an aid in
exegesis, the structure of a
psalm may be defined as the
combination of word choice, syn-
tax, rhetorical devices, and
parallelisms in their unique
interrelationships with each
other, which the poet uses to
express his message. Clearly,
one must discover the struc-
ture by a careful reading of
the piece itself rather than by
presupposing a general pattern
to which it conforms, or by a
quick reading to sense its
apparent main themes.
Past Attempts to Express the
Structure of
Psalm 74
The history of interpretation of Psalm 74 shows no
consensus on its proper
divisions. This survey will remark
first on some commentators who
have proposed only two or
three divisions, then it will
present representative propo-
sals of those who have posited
four or more divisions. For
the sake of consistency, the
term structure will be used
only with reference to those
who subscribe to form critical
positions spawned by Gunkel's
studies or to those who employ
techniques of rhetorical
criticism as represented by
Muilenburg.2
Elsewhere the review will employ terms like
"outline" or
"divisions." For both categories the proposals
1Young's discussion of
the structure of Psalm 74
fleshes
out his definition along the lines of Muilenburg and
Weiss.
See Young, "Psalm 74," pp. 127-50.
2Gunkel, Einleitung;
Muilenburg, "Form Criticism."
163
will follow a chronological
sequence based on date of
publication as much as
possible.
Two or Three Divisions in the
Psalm
Alexander regards the psalm as a prayer for deliver-
ance reinforced by two means:
the present disaster (vv. 1-
12) and "former
mercies" (vv. 13-23).1 More recently Murphy
suggests a complaint and
description of the situation with
"motifs to induce"
divine response (vv. 1-11) and a hymn of
praise of God's power in
creation with other motifs for
intervention and a final plea
added (vv. 12-23).2 Murphy
cites Westermann as his general
model. NAB follows Murphy.3
Kirkpatrick sees three divisions. The psalmist "ex-
postulates" regarding the
divine abandonment and the despair
which has seized
that His honor is at stake and
pleads the sovereignty of
1Alexander, Psalms, 2:163. It is interesting that
he
divides at v. 12 rather than v. 11.
2Roland E. Murphy,
"Psalms," The Jerome Biblical
Commentary, eds. Raymond Brown, et
al. (
NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1968), p. 589.
3NAB,
p. 792.
4A. F. Kirkpatrick, ed., The Book of Psalms
(Cambridge:
The University Press, 1906), p. 442 (hereafter
cited
as Kirkpatrick, Psalms).
164
the psalmist repeats his
arguments and entreats God not to
abandon His people to the enemy
nor to endure their insults.
Four Divisions in the Psalm
Most commentators divide the psalm into four or five
sub-units. All commentators
consulted who subscribe to four
or five divisions, agree that
verses 18-23 constitute the
final division of the psalm.1
Almost all consider verses
12-17 to be a sub-unit. As far
as the outline or structure
of the piece is concerned, most
differences involve inter-
relationships within verses
3-11.
Meir
Weiss
Kissane, Weiss, and Young propose a four-fold
division. Kissane groups the
verses as follows: 1-5, 6-11,
12-17, 18-23.2 The
other two men work more or less with
rhetorical devices. Weiss
stressed the necessity of
structural analysis at the
International Congress for the
Study of the Old Testament in
Subsequently, this lecture was
published under the title
"Die Methode der
'Total-Interpretation.'"3 Using Psalm 74
1The lone exception may
be Westermann. See below,
pp.
169-170.
2Edward J. Kissane, Psalms, p. 9.
3See J. P. M. van der
Ploeg, "Psalm 74 and Its
Structure,"
in Travels in the World of the Old
Testament,
ed.
M. S. H. G. Herrna van Voss, et al.
(Assen, The Nether-
lands:
van Gorcum and Co., :1974), p. 204 (hereafter cited
as van der Ploeg, "Psalm
74";).
165
as an example for applying the
method, he drew special
attention to the opening and
closing phases of the unit.1
He labels verses 1-3 an
"entrance strophe" and verses 4-23
the "main part."2
Based largely on the poet's choices and
arrangement of words and ideas,
Weiss sees a "striking
parallelism" between each
of the first three verses and
what he sees as three
successive strophes in verses 4-23.3
Further, he places these three
movements under time
rubrics. His pattern is:
present (v. 1, vv. 4-11); past
(v. 2; vv. 12-17); future (v.
3; vv. 18-23). He observes
that verses 1-3 are a
"reduced likeness" of the main
part.4
1Weiss,
"Total-Interpretation," p. 93.
2Ibid., p. 98. Weiss's
terms were, respectively,
"Eingangsstrophe" and "Hauptteil." To the extent that
Weiss
separates vv. 1-3 from vv. 4-23, one might argue that
he
divides the psalm in two; but because of Weiss's
treatment
of the latter section, it seems appropriate to
consider
his a four-part structure. Van der Ploeg notes
that
Castellino preceded Weiss in proposing that vv. 4-23
amplify
vv. 1-3. Castellino differed in seeing vv. 4-23 as
a
mirror image in expanded form of the introduction. The
article
by Castellino is Giorgia Castellino, Libro
die
Salmo (
"Psalm
74," p. 205). Weiss mentions both van der Ploeg and
Castellino
in The Bible, p. 282. He did not
mention
Castellino
in his "Total-Interpretation." Castellino's
work
was not available to the present writer. Weiss
interacts
with both Castellino and van der Ploeg in a note
in
The Bible, pp. 282-83, n. 5.
3Weiss,
"Total-Interpretation," pp. 99-100.
4Ibid., p. 100.
166
William
A. Young
Young's "strophic delineation" follows Weiss
"with
some changes."1
He compares verses 1-3a to verses 3b-23 in
that each has three sections in
a "temporal progression from
present to past to
future."2 Further, 3b-23 is set off by
the roar of the enemy in verses
4 and 23. Moreover, both
prologue and body contain
successively a lament about the
present, a recall of past
victories or deliverances by God
and petitions for future
intervention. Both Young and Weiss
sub-divide the body as follows:
3b/4-11, 12-17, 18-23.
Young places 3b with 4 because
"it seems to be parallel with
v. 4" and maintains the byvx rrc word pair.3
Young believes that the structure of Psalm 74 is
actually operating on two
levels. On the one hand, the
speakers petition God using
several features of what form
critics call the "communal
lament" genre.4 However, it uses
many of these features in a
unique manner. On another
level, the author of the psalm,
who is distinct from its
speakers, undercuts the
well-constructed forensic appeal to
God.5 The
author/poet uses intentional hyperbole (e.g.,
1Young, "Psalm
74," p. 143, n. 16.
2See Ibid., p. 144, where
Young summarizes his
proposal.
3Ibid., p. 71. This
dissertation defends the MT
accentual
pattern, below, pp. 179-81, 190-91.
4Ibid., pp. 142-43. 5Ibid.,
pp. 142, 151-53.
167
hcnl, frh-lk), self-contradiction,1 and
paranomasia. Under
this third device, Young, e.g.,
points to the double use of
tyH (v.
19) and to the speakers' characterizing themselves
as "helpless sheep"
and yet presenting a "self-assured
protest" to God which
includes accusing Him of "covenant
dereliction" (v. 20).2
Young contributes many useful
insights as he develops his
methodology and expresses his
conclusions. However, a more
straightforward accounting for
the relationships between the
rhetorical features and the
obvious accusation-petition
pattern of the psalm seems
necessary.3
Five Divisions in the
Psalm
Folker
Willesen
Willesen proposes that Psalms 74 and 79 "have no
relation whatsoever to any
historic occurrence, but are
1Young admits, "by
itself, self-contradiction is not
proof
of undercutting irony" ("Psalm 74," p. 157), but
beyond
this, his examples from the psalm of self-contradic-
tion
are either not really contradictory or may be nothing
more
than unintential irony by those praying. To say that
God
is now perpetually angry need not deny that once He
acted
in favor. The fact that there is a "hymn" (vv. 13-17)
does
not contradict the community's concern to praise in the
future,
rather than to suffer what seems like continued
alienation.
Finally, verse 9 is not a complaint that they
are
"cut off" from God, but rather that they are not aware
of
any prophetic voice from God.
2Ibid., pp. 157-58.
3See below, pp. 197-98.
168
completely cultic."1
Accordingly, he is concerned only with
verses 3-9 because the rest
gives "no direct illumination of
the subject."2
This points up a weakness in Willesen's
approach because only a part of
the psalm is relevant to his
thesis. The rest is dressing.
His proposed divisions are:
1-3a, 3b-9, 10-11, 12-17,
18-23.
The opening identifies the psalm as a lamentation;
3b-9 and 12-17 are dominated by
perfects. Therefore,
Willesen argues that the defeat
of chaos is "no historic
event in our sense" but
"belongs to the cultic sphere of
life."3 That
verses 12-17 refer to a primeval battle is
only an assumption. He argues
that since verses 12-17 are
non-historical and cultic that
3b-9 are the same.
Willesen goes to some pains to show that details in
verses 3b-9 have analogies in
Ugaritic and Accadian cultic
literature. His language is
tentative.4 Verses 5-6 are
regarded as not original but
stage instructions to the
actors of the myth.5
He correctly observes that verse 9 is
part of a description whereas
verses 10-11 are an appeal to
1Folker Willesen,
"The Cultic Situation of Psalm
LXXIV"
in VT 2:4 (Oct., 1952): 289
(hereafter cited as
Willesen,
"Psalm 74").
2Ibid., p. 298. 3Ibid., p. 299.
4Ibid., e.g., pp. 300,
302, 304, 305.
5Ibid., pp. 304-05.
169
God.1 Weiss and
Young did not make this distinction between
their comments on structure.2
Claus
Westermann
In a 1965 publication, Westermann implies, by means
of a chart, the following
structure for Psalm 74: address
and introductory petition (vv.
1, 2a, 3); reference to God's
earlier saving deeds (v. 2b,
c); lament (concerning the
enemy, vv. 4-8; concerning the
community, v. 9; concerning
God, vv. 10-11); confession of
trust (vv. 12-17); petition
(hear! v. 19b, save! vv. 19a,
22a, punish! v. 23); motifs
(vv. 18-19a and 20); vow of
praise (v. 21b).3 Reference to
God's saving deeds is
apparently part of the introductory
petition and the motifs are
part of the main petition.4 In
any case, according to
Westermann, the main structure of the
psalm is address and
introductory petition (vv. 1-3); lament
(vv. 4-11); confession of trust
(vv. 12-17); petition (vv.
18-21a, 22-23); vow of praise
(v. 21b). One should observe
that there is really neither
unambiguous confession of trust
nor a clear vow of praise, in
spite of Westermann's labels.
lIbid., p. 299.
2Young alludes to the
contrasting images of God
presented
in vv. 10-11 and 12-17 but he does not mention the
change
in modal nuance, i.e., from question to report
("Psalm
74," p. 135).
3Westermann, PLP, pp. 53-54. See above, p. 5, n. 1,
on
the 1965 date.
4Ibid., p. 52 with pp. 53-54.
170
Also, verse 21b was moved to
the end of the psalm, thus
actually violating the psalm's
own structure.1 This is due
to Westermann's method of
identifying the structure before
treating the content.
J.
P. M. van der Ploeg
Van der Ploeg says that he agrees with Weiss "in
dividing the psalm roughly into
an introduction (vv. 1-3)
and a three-part body (vv.
4-23)."2 However, in his analy-
sis he singles out verses 9-11.
Verses 1-3 emphasize the
"miserable present condition"
of God's people rather than
addressing the
present-past-future, each for its own sake.3
Verse 3b previews verses 4-8.4
Verses 9-11 depict a
"psychological
consequence" of "recalling past events as
1Weiss,
"Total-Interpretation," p. 98, criticizes
Westermann
for this. Van der Ploeg, "Psalm 74," p. 206,
feels
that Westermann was simply trying to show that various
parts
of Psalm 74 function in ways that fit the genre.
Weiss's
real point is that the structure provided by the
category
"lament of the people" cannot account for the order
of
the various emphases within the individual structure of
Psalm
74. Weiss reiterates his point in Weiss, The
Bible,
pp.
281-85. Here Weiss (pp. 282-83, n. 5; pp. 285 and 290,
n.
7) cites van der Ploeg's article but does not mention the
latter's
defense of Westermann. It is interesting that a
later
work by Westermann places Structure
before Content in
the
title, i.e., The Psalms: Structure,
Content and
Message.
2Van
der Ploeg, "Psalm 74," p. 207.
3Ibid., p. 208.
4Ibid., van der Ploeg
mentions 3-8, but it appears
that he intended 4-8.
171
bearing on the present
situation."1 Verses 12-17 recall
God's power at creation as
demonstrative of the power He
still has. Verses 18-23 are a
final prayer which includes
several carefully arranged
words and ideas from verses
1-11.2 Van der Ploeg
observes that verse 23 is both a
prayer and a complaint. His
main point seems to be that,
through repetition of words and
ideas, the poet profoundly
stresses the "miserable
present."3
Graeme
E. Sharrock
Sharrock analyzes the structure of Psalm 74 accord-
ing to its dominant verbs.4
Imperatives dominate verses
1-3. He stands alone in
construing tlxg (v. 2)
as impera-
tival.5 This is not
impossible, but he does not support the
claim. He draws attention to
the "hinge" devices which
connect the successive
paragraphs.6 Verse 3b introduces the
subject of the next paragraph.7
Perfects dominate verses
4-9. The hinge is hm-df, with a near synonym at the
1Ibid. 2Ibid.,
pp. 209-10.
3Ibid., pp. 208-10.
4Sharrock, "Psalm
74," pp. 210-11.
5Ibid., p. 214. 6Ibid.
7One wonders if Sharrock
translates frh-lk (v. 3b)
as
a noun "every evil doer" under the influence of his
dominant
verb concept (here, imperatives). All of the
compared
translations (e.g., NASB, GNB, NAB,
LXX read a perfect.
172
beginning of verse 10.
Imperfects dominate verse 10-11.
Sharrock believes that the third unit, verses 10-11,
"refocuses the major
issue" of the psalm. The motivation
for God to intervene has moved
from people and temple to
God's name. The "threat to
reputation" is the "more urgent
basis" for God to act.1
The simple v, rare
on the front of
the strophe in this psalm, is
the only paragraph connector
between verses 11 and 12.2
Perfects again dominate verses
12-17.
He labels the strophes in the following manner: A
(vv. 1-3); B (vv. 4-9); C (vv.
10-11); B' (vv. 12-17); A'
(vv. 18-23). The treatment of
themes in the psalm conforms
generally to the chiastic
pattern which the verbs signal.
Strophes B and B' are
"religious" with a recall of ancient
deliverances.3
Strophes A and A' both refer to the com-
munity with animal imagery. All
five units contribute to
the theme, God's
"name." The dwelling place of God (v. 2)
becomes the dwelling place of
God's name (v. 7). Taunts
against God's name are deplored
in C (v. 10) and A' (v.
18).4 Strophe A'
holds out the prospect of praise to God's
1Ibid., p. 216.
2See also vv. 6, 9c, and
18b where v
introduces
medial
clauses.
3Sharrock, "Psalm
74," p. 221.
4Ibid., pp. 22-23.
173
name (v. 21). Strophe B' does
not use Mw but it plays on
God's reputation as a
conquering God from ancient times.1
For Sharrock, "if indeed C
is the axis . . , then the
primary theme . . . is the
status of God's name and reputa-
tion."2
Sharrock makes a valid point concerning the
importance of the verbal
pattern. He offers additional
useful insights. His article
contributes to improved
understanding of Psalm 74.
Analysis of the Structure of Psalm 74
A Translation of
Psalm 743
A Maskil of
Asaph
1. Why,
Oh God, are you perpetually angry?
Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of
your pasturing.
2. Remember
your appointed assembly which you
created in
ancient time
when you redeemed the tribe which is your
inheritance
even
3. Raise
your steps toward the utter desolations;
the enemy has damaged everything in the
sanctuary.
1Sharrock does not
endorse the mythic interpretation
of
vv. 12-17, but he appears to favor it; see ibid., p. 217,
n.
16.
2Ibid., p. 223.
3Italicized and
parenthetic terms are supplied by
the
translator. Each new line (of which most verses have
two)
is a verset, A, B, or C. For explanation of verset,
see below, p. 175, n. 1.
174
4. Those
harassing you have roared during your
appointed
feast.
They have set up their standards as the
signs.
5. One
was known as one who raises axes in a
thicket of
trees.
6. And
now its carvings with felling tools and axes
they have totally destroyed.
7. They
have ignited your sanctuary with fire.
They have totally
profaned the dwelling place of
your name.
8. They
have said in their heart, "Let us oppress them
completely."
They have burned all the
meeting places of God in
the land.
9. Our
signs (from God) we do not see.
There is no longer a
prophet;
And there is none with us who knows how long.
10. How
long, Oh God, will the adversary taunt?
Will the enemy disdain your name perpetually?
11. Why
do you withdraw your hand, even your right hand?
From
your bosom, destroy!
12. Now,
Oh God, My king from ancient time,
Worker of victories in the midst of the
earth,
13. You
stopped the sea with your strength.
You smashed heads of tanninim upon the
waters.
14. You
crushed the heads of leviathan.
You gave him as food to desert animals.
15. You
broke open a spring and water course.
You dried up the ever
flowing flood.
16. Yours
is the day; Yea! yours is the night.
You have confirmed a luminary, even the sun.
17. You
have established all the temperature zones of
the earth.
As for summer and winter, you have formed
them.
18. Remember
this! The enemy has taunted, Oh Yahweh!
And a foolish people have disdained your
name.
175
19. Do
not give to the wild beast the life of your
turtledove;
The life of your
afflicted ones do not forget
perpetually.
20. Consider
the covenant,
Because the dark places
of the land are filled as
pastures where violence prevails.
21. Let
not the crushed one turn away humiliated.
Let the afflicted and the needy praise your
name.
22. Arise,
Oh God! Plead your case!
Remember the taunt
against you from the impious--
all the day!
23. Do
not forget the voice of those harassing you.
The tumult of those
rising up against you ascends
continually.
Verses 1-3:
Introduction
Structure
of verses 1-3
Verse 1
The psalm is unique in that it begins with an
accusatory question concerning
God's unending anger against
His sheep. This introductory
question resumes with similar
questions in verses 10-11. The
envelope pattern of ques-
tions, especially with hml, ties verses 1-11 together. The
first verset, 1A1,
arrests attention with both the question
1For this chapter, the
designation "verset" is used
rather
than the more common "colon," following Hrushovski
and
Alter. See Encyclopedia Judaica, s.v.
"Prosody, Hebrew"
by
B. Hrushovski, 13:1200-01 (hereafter cited as Hrushovski,
"Prosody");
also Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical
Poetry
(New
York: Basic Books, Inc., 1985), p. 9 (hereafter cited
as
Alter, Art). There are three versets
in verse 2 of Psalm
74,
i.e., 2A, 2B, 2C. All other verses consist of two
versets,
A and B. The verse number will appear with the
capital
letter only where the capital refers to something
other
than the last-named verse number. Often, the word
"verset" will not
accompany the designation.
176
and the vocative Myhlx.1
1B makes more precise what is abstract in A.2 Hnz,
intransitive here,3
neither controls an object nor is it
correlated to a noun with a
preposition. By contrast, Nwfy
in B is clearly intransitive,
but it is correlated with an
object by means of b. This is an instance also in which the
literal sense of A is
dramatized by a figurative expression
in B.4 Undescribed
anger, MT, has become smoking wrath.
The imperfect stresses the
present progressive action
compared to the state or
condition often implied in intran-
sitive verbs.
God's wrath against God's sheep is a surprising use
of the shepherd-sheep metaphor.5
Smoking wrath and
1Hcnl
in v. 10
also supports the inclusion formed by
1A
and vv. 10-11.
2Alter, Art, p. 19.
3See the exegesis above,
pp. 13-14. Hnz as an
intransitive
rather than the more common Hnz "to abandon,"
fits
the parallelistic style better.
4Cf. Alter, Art, p. 16.
5Verse 1 clearly implies
that God is the shepherd of
refers
to
an
epithet for God in Pss 23 and 80). It is of interest
that
God as Shepherd, King, and Creator are brought together
in
Ps 74. For an exhaustive demonstration that Shepherd is
an
epithet for the king throughout the Ancient Near East and
in
the Old Testament in particular, see Fowler, "Good
Shepherd
Discourses, pp. 10-99; esp. pp. 94-99. Fowler
cautions
against over-emphasis on the fact that the epithet
is
applied only to God but never to an Israelite king in the
OT
(pp. 233-34). Psalm 74 indicts God for not
acting like a
good shepherd.
177
feeding1 are
incongruous. A similar incongruity appears
with smH tvxn, "pastures of violence," verse
20. Nothing
else in the psalm explicitly
mentions divine wrath. The
major motif of a literary unit
is "usually stated at the
beginning."2 Muilenburg
balances this note by observing
that one of the most
"conspicuous" rhetorical features by
poets of ancient
successive predications to
their culmination."3 This
proclivity is conspicuous by
its absence in Psalm 74.
Nothing is resolved, except
that the poet has expressed
himself.4
As biblical parallelisms tend to clarification in a
series of versets, one may read
verses 4-11 in that light.
The present progressive nuance
of Nwfy is amplified and
detailed by the use of
perfective perfects and imperfects in
the second strophe. Hereby, the
poet implicitly identifies
God's wrath against His sheep
with the on-sight description
of enemy plans and actions.
Verse 2
2A maintains the momentum begun with 1A using an
initial imperative. rkz occurs again in verses 18 and 22.
1jtyfrm is Hiphil ptc. as JB and NASB note.
2Muilenburg, "Form
Criticism," p. 9.
3Ibid.
4See discussion of verses 22-23 below, pp.
207-208.
178
The object, hdf, has covenant connotations in this context.1
Four words from verse 2 also
occur in Exodus 15 in a context
similar to that presupposed by
Psalm 74:2 and 12-17.2 Thus,
verse 2 raises images of the
Exodus. The perfect verbs,
with the adverb Mdq make the verse refer to the distant
past. Mdqm in verse 12 invites a connection between verse
and verses 12-17.
Versets A and B have an ab-ba pattern with the
objects bracketing the verbs. hnq is the
more ambiguous
term, with possible meanings of
"to acquire" or “to create.”
lxg
is
more specific, "to redeem." 2B and C are also
chiastic. The pattern for the
verse is ab-ba-ab. jtlHn Fbw
may tie the people and the land
together.3 Both belong to
God. 2C is concerned about the
land, Nvyc-rh, because there
God has dwelt. Emphasis within
verses 1-3 shifts from
people to temple site in 2C,
with verse 3 entirely concerned
with the latter.
1The exegesis has taken
the verbal clauses as
relative;
see above, pp. 27, 28, 31.
2hnq, Exod. 15:16; lxg, v. 13; tlHn, v. 17; jtbwl, v.
17
(from bwy,
in same semantic field with Nkw, Ps 74:2).
3The genitive (jtlHn may be either
attributive or
location.
See Donald R. Glenn, "Outline of Hebrew Syntax,"
class
notes distributed at Dallas Theological Seminary,
n.d., p. 4, #36 and p. 5, #46.
179
Verse 3
3A is figurative and abstract. The emphasis is
primarily on the Hiphil force
in hmyrh.1 Though its
combination with Mymfp is difficult,2 B clarifies its
meaning. tvxwml is made specific by wdqb in 3B. The
quantitative force of Hcn rather than the temporal is
corroborated by the object -lk in 3B. Since the enemy has
destroyed everything, lk, in the sanctuary, the psalmist
urges God to hasten to the
total ruins, and thus combat or
avenge what the enemy has done.
Verse 22 supports this
interpretation of 3A. Thus Mymfp hmyrh is a call for God to
intervene at the temple mount,
anthropomorphically expressed
("Raise your steps . .
.").
The damaged sanctuary is evidence of God's anger
against
This is a general term for
antagonist which will be various-
ly described throughout the
psalm without specifically
identifying its referrant.3
With the use of byvx the
psalmist has introduced the
three dramatis personnae of the
1The causative thrust
(see Lambdin, IBH, p. 211,
#157)
is a call for divine initiative.
2LXX reads jypk, s. "bdjk,"
"your servants" (cf.
Dahood,
Psalms II, p. 201). Briggs, Psalms, 2:157, says the
combination
is a hapaxlegomenon.
3Other terms include v.
4, Myrrc;
v. 10, rc;
vv. 18,
22,
lbn-Mf;
v. 19, tyH; v. 23, jymq. byvx occurs in vv. 3,
10, 18.
180
prayer, God, the community, and
the adversary. He will
characterize each in a variety
of ways.
The
Summary
Verses 1-3 anticipate the whole Psalm in additional
ways. Verses 10-11 and 22 will
corroborate the accusatory
tone of verse 1. God's anger
(v. 1, Hnz and Jx) is the
conceptual context for the
entire prayer. The prayer is a
response to what seems like an
unduly long expression of
that anger. A contradiction
between the people's relation-
ship ship to God and His
treatment of them quickly surfaces
(1-2). Their plight (1) is a
major issue in verses 8-9 and
19-21.
The contrast between present distress (v. 1) and
past benefits (v. 2) will
magnify in verses 4-11 and 12-17
respectively. The reference to
major ploy which the psalmist
will use to prompt relief. He
will use temple desolation to
motivate God. This is expli-
cit in verse 3.
In the context of the whole psalm, hmyrh (3A)
anticipates the ten-fold call
for divine intervention in the
distress of the community (vv.
18-23). More specifically,
3B, as an explanation of tvxwm, will have each of its terms
elaborated in verses 4-11.
Verse 3 is, therefore, pivotal
181
in anticipating both the
petition at the end (vv. 18-23) and
the description of destruction (vv.
4-11).1
Verses 4-11: The Present
Crisis
Structure
of verses 4-11
The perfect tense of 3B frhv and
the general desig-
nation of the temple as wdq serve as syntactic, lexical, and
conceptual links to verses 4-9.
The passage describes
details of the invasion of
temple precincts and oppression
by using six perfect verbs.
Verse
4
The parallelism of 4A and B is not readily apparent.
Both begin with perfect verbs
which are syntactically
parallel but semantically
unrelated.2 The nouns in A and B
are neither syntactically,
morphologically, nor semantically
equivalent.3 The
versets are phonologically parallel, with
the o intensifying from two
occurrences in A to four in B.
lSome place 3B with v. 4,
e.g., Willesen, "Psalm
74,"
p. 299; Young, "Psalm 74," p. 70. Such a break ignores
the
concretizing effect that 3B has on 3A. See Alter, Art,
pp.
19-20.
2vgxw and vmw
are
morphologically the same (i.e.,
they
parse the same way) though their roots are different,
i.e.,
Mvw
is middle-weak and gxw is middle-gutteral.
3This kind of analysis of
parallelism depends upon
certain
working definitions. Equivalence between two
versets
obtains when one has linguistic elements (word s,
sounds,
grammatical features, etc.) that parallel
corresponding
elements in the other. Syntax concerns the
182
The accentual metre is 4 + 3.1
Conceptually, the versets
are related only in that they
describe separate enemy acts
at the temple site which offend
the pious Israelite.
Verse 4 introduces a bracketing device for two
passages within the psalm.2
Verse 9, like verse 4, has 4 +
3 metre.3 Further, vnyttvx (v. 9) is a verbal repetition
from verse 4 but a grammatical
antithesis to its counter-
part, i.e., "their
signs" (v. 4) versus "our signs" (v. 9).
Thus verses 4-9 are set apart,
with their dominant perfect
verbs from verses 10-11, which
among other differences,
feature imperfects.
Verse 4 joins with verse 23 as a bracket for the
"body" of the psalm.4
4A and verse 23 have semantic
equivalence between vgxw (v. 4) and lvq and Nvxw (v. 23) and
relationship
of a word to its clause, e.g., vmw has an
object,
Mttvx,
whereas vgxw
has none. Morphology concerns
parsings.
Semantics concerns the field of meaning of a
given
term. This note draws from Adele Berlin, The
Dynamics
of Biblical Parallelism (
University
Press, 1985), pp. 140-41 (hereafter cited as
1This study confines
itself to noting accentual
metre
only, as possible supporting data. A construct form
is
counted as one accent if not joined to its absolute by
maqqeph, otherwise the
construct does not count.
2Bracket, envelope, and
inclusio are virtually
synonymous
terms designating rhetorical devices that mark
off
literary units of various sizes.
3In this study xl is proclitic and does
not count as
a
stress.
4Weiss and others
consider vv. 4-23 the "body" of
the psalm. See Weiss, The Bible, p. 285.
183
between jyrrc and jymq.1
The lexical repetition with
is obvious.
Verses 5-6
Structurally, verses 5 and 6 form a sub-unit. B is
not equivalent to A in either
verse, rather, in both, B
develops A into a complete
thought. The whole of verse 6 is
equivalent to the whole of
verse 5. The syntactic pattern-
ing of the two verses verifies
their unity:2
Verse 5: V - Pc - Av - Pp - 0
Verse 6: Cj - 0 - Av - Pp - V
This unit is framed by imperfect verbs, whereas
verses 4 and 7-8 use only
perfect verbs.3 Verses 5 and 6
are syntactically parallel.
Verse 5 is a simile and verse 6
the seconding or expanding
line.4 The imperfects may be
progressive at the time of
composition. "One is known as
1One should note that
there may be semantic equiva-
lence
without syntactic equivalence. gxw is a verb whereas
lvq and Nvxw are nouns.
2The abbreviations below
are: V-verb; Pc-
participle;
Av-adverb; Pp-prepositional phrase; 0-object;
Cj-conjunction.
3T. J. Meek has suggested
a chiasmus here (Theophile
J.
Meek, "Hebrew Poetic Structure as a Translation Guide,"
JBL 69 [March 1940]:7). The
syntax tends to support this.
4James L. Kugel, The Idea of Biblical Poetry (New
Haven:
Yale University Press, 1981), pp. 51-54 (hereafter
cited
as Kugel, Idea) where Kugel uses
"seconding" to
designate
B (Ps 74:6 has a "B" function) as echoing, defin-
ing,
or completing A.
184
one who raises axes in a
thicket of trees, and now its
carvings with felling tools and
axes they have completely
destroyed."
Verse 7
parallelism" and
understanding its effect upon the text of
which it is a part.l
While recognition and understanding
are related, they are not
identical. One may identify four
features which enhance
perceptibility of a parallelism.2
(1) Parallel versets in
juxtaposition are more apparent than
parallel versets which frame a
piece.3 (2) Sameness of
syntactic surface structure
promotes recognition.4 (3)
Perceptibility of parallelism
increases in direct proportion
to "the number of
linguistic equivalences."5 (4) When
parallelism, as such, pervades
a text, "one tends to find
1Berlin, Dynamics, pp. 130, 135.
2Ibid., pp. 130-35.
3For the former, cf. Ps
74:7; for the latter cf. 4A
with
23A.
413A and 13B are very
similar.
5Berlin, Dynamics, p. 133.
illustrated
from Psalm 74. Equivalences between 7A and B
are
more numerous (syntax, semantics, morphology, and
phonology)
than those between 3A and B (semantic
correspondence
with tvxwm).
185
parallelism even in lines which
have few or no linguistic
equivalences."1
The first three features are in the external
arrangement of the script and
Masoretic vocalization, but
the fourth is psychologically
oriented.
in a prose context Psalm 94:11
would not normally be viewed
as poetry.2 Because
this verse occurs among numerous
obvious parallelisms, it, too,
is viewed parallelistically.
Verse 7 has highly perceptible parallel versests. A
and B are juxtaposed and are
linguistically equivalent in
several ways: semantically (wdqm; jmw-Nkwm);
syntactically,
A and B both have a
prepositional phrase and each has an
object following the verb;
morphologically (vHlw, vllH, 2 ms
suffixes on the objects); and
phonologically (the verbs each
have v-l-H; the objects repeat j-w-m).3 Parallelism with
such easily detected
equivalences have been designated "hot
1Cf. ibid., pp. 130-35.
Vv. 18 and 19 prepare the
reader
to find parallelism in v. 20.
2On the fluid line
between prose and poetry, see
Alter,
Art, pp. 4-6; Kugel, Idea, pp. 78-86. Kugel con-
cludes
that "no great service is rendered by the concept of
biblical
poetry," rather, the phenomenon is an "elaboration
to
increasingly high levels of symmetry and design, and
.
. . other elevating features" (Idea,
pp. 94-95).
Dynamics, pp. 3-6, thinks Kugel
has overstated his own case.
Willesen
("Psalm 74," p. 304) suggested that Psalm 74:5-6
were
a kind of prose "'stage instructions'" within poetic
lines.
3Verse 7 illustrates
nicely
features
which enhance perceptibility of parallelism.
186
parallelism," while those
more difficult to spot are "cool
parallelism."1
Greenstein notes that with such a sequence of cool
and hot lines, the hot lines
may indicate closure or a shift
in thought flow.2 In
the present strophe verses 4-7 explic-
itly concern the temple at
verses 8-11 are on other
aspects of the catastrophe (e.g.,
the plight of the people and
defamation of God's name).
Verses 4-7 imply a temple ideology which the people
assume they share with God. The
temple is sacrosanct;
impudent action violates its
precincts; God's presence and
reputation depend on the
maintenance of the structure.3
Progression in word choice for
temple designation heightens
the sense of importance
attached to the temple: Nvyc-rh
(2C) , temple location; wdq (3B) , a general term;
a term which frequently denotes
site; jmw-jkwm (7B) the construct emphasizes dwelling
place
1Edward L. Greenstein,
"How Does Parallelism Mean?,"
A Sense of Text,
Supplement to Jewish Quarterly Review,
1982,
p. 54 (hereafter cited as Greenstein, "Parallelism").
Greenstein
borrows the terms as applied by Marshal McLuhan
to
television media.
2Ibid., p. 57.
3For Mw (vv. 7, 10, 18, 21) as
presence, reputation,
and
representation, see the concise discussion by Walther
Eichrodt, TOT 2:40-45.
187
and presence. Mw is a
virtual designation for God's
person.1
Structure
of verses 8-9
Verse 8
The perceptibility of parallelism decreases in verse
8 but it is still more obvious
than, e.g., in verse 3.
Sameness of surface structures
between 8A and B include mor-
phologically identical initial
verbs and prepositional
phrases with b in each.
On one hand, 8B relates to verse 7 with vprw and its
reference to worship facilities
(but not the temple). On
the other hand, reading Mnyn as "let us oppress them,"' 8A
relates to verse 9. The suffix
on Mnyn (3 mp) and the suf-
fixes in verse 9 ( 1 cp) all
refer to the community. Verses
4-7 concern temple destruction
and verses 8-9 concern
oppression and alienation felt
by the people.
1Lev 20:3, "b will also set my face
against that man
and
I will cut him off from among his people because he has
given
some of his offspring to molech so as to defile my
sanctuary
(wdqm)
and to profane My Holy Name (Mw-tx yllHl
ywdq).” See also Amos 2:7 which equates mistreatment
of
Myld and says that all three ywdq
Mw-tx llH.
Psalms
passages
which use Mw
as the object of an attitude, subject
of
an action, or means of divine work are Pss 54:8, 9; 20:7;
75:2;
89:25; 44:6. See ibid., pp. 41, 43.
2Perfect verbs in first
or second position in the
verset
are especially frequent in vv. 4-8 (3 cp) and vv.
13-17
(2 ms). These passages contrast with each other in
several ways.
188
Verse 8 is similar to verse 3 in that it is pivotal.
The versets in verse 8 are not
related to each other in
accordance with the more common
terminology for biblical
parallelism, i.e.,
"synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic."
This was also true in verse 3.1
8A reports a threat by the
enemy. 8B reports its
fulfillment.2
Verse 9
ttvx in
verses 4 and 9 helps to create an envelope
effect for the passage which,
in turn, ties verses 8 and 9
together. The persistence of
the perfect tense in 4-9
promotes coherence and marks
the passage off from verses
10-11 with their imperfects.
The negatives tie 9A, B, and C
together. vnyxr is a
general present and the other two
clauses are nominal so that the
condition is a present.
experience in the psalm's
original composition.3 Whereas
verse 8 complained about
oppressive enemy action, verse 9
seems to be a complaint
addressed indirectly to God that He
1With a certain
appropriateness, verse 7, in con-
trast
to vv. 3 and 8, is a synonymous parallelism. Since v.
7
is clearly a parallelism, the reader expects v. 8 to be
"parallelism."
This illustrates
which
enhances perceptibility of parallelism (see
Dynamics, pp. 134-35 and above,
pp. 32-34).
2Vv. 19 and 20 are also
reported fulfillments of the
threat
(8A) but here they take the form of requests.
3The psalm surfaces a
complex of interrelated
experiences
all perceived by the community as present.
A
sense
of "nowness" persists throughout. Examples of this
are
Hcnl
(vv. 1, 10), hm-df (v. 9, similar term, v. 10),
negative,
i.e., lx
imperatives (vv. 19, 21, 23); dymt (v.
23).
189
is withholding a prophetic
voice that might be able to
inform the people how long the
present distress will last.1
This is another form by which
God expresses His anger and it
is perceived as a distancing
maneuver by God.
The structure of verse 9 progresses in specifica-
tion. Transformation from a
verbal to nominal clause
sometimes signals this.2
Structure
of verses 10-11
Verse 10
The community does not have the normal means for
knowing how long, hm-df, the distress will last (v. 9).
ytm-df (v.
10) connects directly with verse 9. The subjects
of verses 10-11 are different
from what precedes but they
are part of the foregoing unit.
10A and B are semantically,
morphologically, and
syntactically parallel. Conceptually,
they are synonyms. They are
chiastically related but the
thoughts are synonymous. The
pattern for verse 10 is Av -
Voc - V - S = V - S - 0 - Pp.3
The opening interrogative
adverb and final prepositional
phrase both concern long
duration. Myhlx and jmw refer
to the same entity. The
1See above pp. 65-66 for
short term predictions
which
give credence to long-term predictions; also see 1 Kgs
13.
2Alter, Art, pp. 19-20; Greenstein,
"Parallelism,"
p.
47.
3The new abbreviations
are Voc-vocative; S-subject.
See above, p. 183, n. 2.
190
chiasmus stresses that the
enemy taunts God interminably.
The verbs are imperfect and so
stress the presentness of the
action.
Verse 18 is a virtual refrain to verse 10. Its
versets are conceptually
synonymous but not chiastic. After
txz-rkz the
pattern is S - V - Voc = S - V - O. Verses
10-11 conclude a strophe while
verse 18 opens a strophe.1
Verse 11
The combination of Myhlx (v.
10) and initial hml
(v. 11) shows that: verses
10-11 form an envelope with verse
1 which begins Myhlx hml. This construction suggests that
the accusatory mood pervades
verses 1-11. The prefixed
conjugations of verses 10-11
duplicate the imperfect
(v. 1) so that God's anger
against His sheep is equalled by
the enemy taunts against His
name.
Other structural features in verse 11 include equiv-
alent anthropomorphisms in A
and B. Each verset suppresses
a grammatical feature.
Juxtaposing the expressed anthropo-
morphisms in A and B shows the
intent. The ellipses are
more forceful but an expanded
translation clarifies the
idea: "Why do you withdraw
your hand even your right hand
(into the midst of your bosom)?
From the midst of your
bosom, (your hand, even your
right hand, thrust forth and)
1For other features of v. 18, see below, pp.
199-
200.
191
destroy!"1 The
translation follows MT and shows a chiastic,
antithetic, highly perceptible
parallelism.
The initial interrogatives tie verses 10-11
together. In that both verses have
hot parallelism in con-
trast to verses 8-9, the former
are a conspicuous closure to
verses 1-11. Verses 10-11, as
both closure and bracket,
encourage the reader to pause.2
A
Summary
The perfect verbs which dominate verses 4 and 7
signal both a new strophe and a
sub-unit within a strophe.
The verses describe destructive
activity at the temple site
which the community believes
profanes God's abode. Verses 8
and 9 use perfect tense verbs
but the object of enemy action
changes from temple to people
in verse 8. Verse 9 is an
indirect complaint that God is
withholding prophetic insight
in time of crisis.
Verses 10-11 display two shifts. The poet uses
imperfect verbs which emphasize
the continuous nature of
enemy activity and the object
of the action is God's name.
These verses state the
community's interpretation of enemy
1Parenthetic material is
supplied to manifest the
structure.
As noted above, p. 20, n. 1, some move hlk to
verse
12. Viewing hlk as antithesis to bywt vindicates MT
accents.
2A third encouragement to
pause is the final
imperative hlk. See comments below, p. 192.
192
actions outlined in verses 4-9.
The whole unit concludes
abruptly with a call for divine
intervention.
Verses 12-17: Past
Victories
Structure
of verses 12-17
Verse 12
Verse 12 scans 3 + 4 without transposing hlk from
verse 11.1 The
unbalanced meter of verses 11 and 12, i.e.,
3 + 4 and 3 + 4, may underline
the agitation in the impera-
tive and vocative respectively.
The 3 + 4 of verse 12 would
then set that verse off from
the "hymn" proper in verses
13-17. One should also observe
that two imperatives,
(v. 11) and rkz (v. 18), immediately bracket the unit.
may be either temporal or
indicate a vocative.2 The
exegesis has argued for three
vocatives in the verse. The
parallelism in verse 12 is more
conceptual than linguistic.
12B features a major function
of kingship, to lead in
victory.3 12B is a
stark contrast to 1B, leading to victory
versus venting one's wrath.
Verse 12 introduces scenes from the ancient past in
a manner similar to verse 2.
Both verses employ Mdq.
Verses 10-11 relate to 12-17 in
a manner similar to the
1Young ("Psalm 74,"
p. 90) transposes hlk and ends
up
with balanced meter in vv. 11 and 12, i.e., 3 + 3 and 4 +
4.
Dahood, Psalms II, pp. 203-04, leaves
hlk with
v. 11.
2Dahood, Psalms II, p. 204.
3Cf. 1 Sam 8:20.
193
relationships between verses 1
and 2. The taunting of the
divine name (vv. 10 and 18) is
the context in the psalm for
recounting victories which
secured a glorious reputation for
God.
General features of Verses 13-17
From a literary standpoint, verses 13-17 are a model
of regularity with a uniform 4
+ 4 meter and easily recog-
nized parallelism.1
The succession of perfect tenses
suggests settledness. Among the
ten versets (vv. 13-17)
only the fourth (14B, vnntt) and seventh (16B, nominal
clauses) do not use second
masculine perfects.2 On the lit-
erary level the description of
past victories sharply
contrasts with the mixture of
perfects and imperfects and
the uneven nature of the
parallelism in the description of
present distress (v. 4-11). The
major similarities between
the two passage is the
dominating positioning of perfect
tense verbs in both. This
factor invites comparison.
Just as the occasion of distress (vv. 4-9) is not
specifically identified, so also
the ancient victories and
evidences of sovereign control
are not specifically named.
Verses 13-14 use metaphors
which elsewhere stand for
1All sources examined
which treat meter agree that
it
is 4 + 4 throughout; see, e.g., Briggs, Psalms,
2:157;
Schmidt,
Die Psalmen, p. 141; Kraus, Psalmen, 2:677; Young,
"Psalm
74," pp. 97-106.
2There is order, even
with the variants. 14B is
fourth from the beginning and
16A is fourth from the end.
194
political enemies and often
Gunkel, who use the historical
critical methodologies,
accept a priori the mythical interpretation of these
verses.1 To be sure,
the myth of the sea monster has been
demythologized in 14B.2
On the strength primarily of Isaiah
51:9-11 this writer accepts the
historical interpretation.3
This interpretation makes this
hymn fit in certain respects
with the prescribed liturgy in
Deuteronomy 26:5-8. This
liturgy was intended to assist
continuity with the past and
expressing her dependence upon
God.4
1G. A. F. Knight, Psalms, 2 vols. (
The
Psalms: Translated and
Interpreted in the Light of Hebrew
Life and Worship (
1949),
pp. 56-57, 73-75; Buttenwieser, The
Psalms, p. 614;
A.
A. Anderson, Psalms, 2:543-45. A
recent work devoted to
the
chaoskampf motif in general, treating
Ps 74:12-17
specifically,
is Day, Conflict, pp. 21-25.
2This factor, among
others, has led Young to read
the
passage as an intended ambiguity between myth and Exodus
traditions;
Young, "Psalm 74," pp. 135-37, 200-02, 223-25.
3See above pp. 87-92.
Older commentators who agree
include
Delitzsch, Psalms, 2:333; Alexander, Psalms, 2:169-
71;
Moll, Psalms, p. 422; and Briggs, Psalms, 2:155. Recent
commentators
who agree include Cohen, The Psalms,
p. 239;
Kidner,
Psalms 73-150, pp. 268-69; Leupold, Psalms, pp.
538-39.
4For a fuller description
of the "credo" in Deut 26
dominating
historiography in the Psalms, see Westermann,
PLP, pp. 216, 230-32,
236-40. Westermann holds the mythical
interpretation
of Ps 74:12-17 (The Psalms, p. 46)
but his
remarks
about historiography in communal laments are
nevertheless
helpful. Deut. 26:5 as credo was elaborated by
von
Rad in Gerhard von Rad, The Problem of
the Hexateuch and
Other Essays, trans. E. W. Trueman
Dicken (
Press, 1984), pp. 2-12.
195
Rhetorical devices and
parallelism
The anaphoric use of htx
promotes cadence.1 The
calculated use of the pronoun
is evident from its sevenfold
repetition, its occurrence at
the beginning (13A) and end
(17B) of the stanza in the
manner of inclusion. After each
htx is a
perfect 2ms verb. Five of these have intensive or
causative stems.2 In
the two verbal clauses without htx the
verb is first. The pounding
repetition of ten emphatic
forms of "you"
perhaps says as much about the addressor as
about the addressee.
There is a series of nine versets with matching
syntax and a high degree of
morphological equivalences. In
each instance the verb controls
an object. 16A is a pair of
terse nominal clauses with
strong equivalences between them.
This sustained series of highly perceptible
parallelism3 has an
unusually ordered closure of a single
verset. The framing effect of Mtrcy htx has been noted
above. JrHv Cyq functions as an accusative absolute. The
syntax is radical and
arresting. The root forms a
1Anaphora is the
repetition of a single word "at the
beginning
of successive clauses: thus adding weight and
emphasis
to statements or arguments by calling special
attention
to them" (Bullinger, Figures, p.
199).
2This does not count trbw (13B) .
3Greenstein calls this
"hot parallelism," which he
says
tends to disengage the audience (Greenstein,
"Parallelism," p.
53). Here the effect is the opposite.
196
paranomasia with its duplicate JrH in the next verset.l
Besides the hinge effect there
may be an implied contrast.
God controls the winter (JrH) but allows the enemy to revile
(JrH) His
name. 2
Movement of Thought
God's victories in the distant past (Mdqm) in behalf
of
13-14 recall the divine
destruction over the pursuing
Egyptian army in Jvs-My.4 Verse 15 successively recalls
provision of water in the
wilderness and the drying up of
the
Verse 16 affirms God's regulation of the solar day
with a possible inference
concerning Joshua's long day.
This further dramatizes God's
role in fighting
battles in the past. Verses
16-17 concern natural phenomena
under God's control for the
benefit of His people. 16A,
with its nominal clauses,
justifies construing the next
three perfects as perfective in
contrast to the aoristic
perfects of vv. 13-15.5
1The distinction between
paranomasia and homonym in
Hebrew
is sometimes difficult to discern (Bullinger,
Figures, pp. 1005-07).
2See Young, "Psalm
74," p. 111. The link with JrH
is
more obvious than if the verb had been prefixed as in
v.
10.
3Exod 15:18-19. 4Exod
15:4.
5The verbal action of the
perfective occurs in the
past and its results or the
action itself continues "up to
197
The "hymn" focuses on God's defeat of a
powerful
military foe (vv. 13-14), then
it recalls instances of
timely direct divine
intervention on behalf of God's people.
In these God reversed existing
geographical circumstances;
(v. 15). Finally, God rules the
cosmos so that His people
might have a predictable,
varied, and beneficent life (vv.
16-17).
A
Summary
According to Deuteronomy 26:5-10, the worshipper was
to acknowledge God's response
to their forefather's cry of
affliction in bringing them out
of
and wonders into a productive
land. The poet of Psalm 74
selects expressions for his
"hymn" which accord with this
outline. In so doing, he
stresses God's victory, His mighty
intervention, and His
establishment and maintenance of
order. Precisely these kinds of experiences are missing
in
the rest of the psalm and are
the things for which the
community prays.
The regularity of the hymn's structure and the
divine acts which it reviews
unite to say, "When God acts,
there is order and victory."
The rest of the psalm,
however, lives with an angry,
inactive God.
the
time of the subject" (Waltke, "Syntax," p. 10). The
nuance
of the perfects in vv. 16-17 is present perfect--"You
have established, . . ."
etc. (ibid., p. 18).
198
The preceding paragraph presents the message of the
"hymn" if it could be
taken in isolation. A combination of
structural factors in the whole
psalm points in a different
direction. The passage (vv.
12-17) is isolated by impera-
tives immediately before and
after. hlk and rkz imply
present or potential
"remissness" on God's part.1 Second,
the psalm has a sustained mood
of disappointment, outside
the "hymn," regarding
God's stance toward the suppliant.
Third, the "hymn" has
a repeated intensity of direct ad-
dress. These factors suggest
that the "hymn" itself is a
rebuke to God.
Though the facts are true and the psalmist holds God
as his God, he is not so much expressing confidence or
praise as he is trying to prod
God by implied shame.2 By
comparison with God's past
great victories, He now seems
immobilized or negligent in the
face of His present enemies.
The arrogant and overpowering
actions of what the psalmist
calls God's enemies overshadow
the powerful past actions of
God. God's reputation is
vulnerable.
lI have chosen the less
common "remissness" as a
more
appropriate term than "negligence" or "dereliction."
2It is paradoxical that
the psalmist on the one hand
is
concerned that the enemy shames God (especially vv. 10,
18)
and on the other hand, his own moods and diction also
shame God.
199
Verses 18-23: Urgent
Pleas
Structure
of verse 18
Precative verb forms dominate verses 18-23. Among
the twelve versets, seven begin
with a precative of which
four are negative. rkz (v.
18) is a double duty imperative.
Two versets virtually end with
a precative. 22A has two
imperatives. There are ten
expressed precatives and one
implied.1
Verse 18 contrasts with verse 2. In the latter the
psalmist petitions God to
remember His congregation,
implying that God ought to act
in its behalf. Verse 18
repeats rkz, but calls on God to act against the enemy. A
call for action against the
enemy surfaced first in verse 3.
Verse 18 also contrasts sharply with verse 12-1.7.
The latter depicted God's
mighty victories but the former
calls Yahweh to remember that the
enemy now defies Yahweh's
name. The tetragrammaton,
unusual in the Elohistic psalter,
helps to emphasize the covenant
concerns of this series of
petitions.
That hvhy is
vocative and JrH
intransitive is
corroborated by the
corresponding vocative Myhlx in
verse
10, of which verse 18 is a
virtual repetition.2 The same
1Ten perfects and
imperfects in vv. 13-17 are
balanced
by ten precatives in vv. 18-23.
2The ususal order is
vocative--verb as in vv. 1 and
10.
200
pair of verbs occurs in verses
10 and 18 and in the same
order, intransitive then
transitive.1
jmw and hvhy both occupy the final slot, though
their syntactic functions
differ.2 Such positioning
strengthens the semantic
identity of the two. The position
of hvhy within its parallelism is conspicuous. Its use
immediately after the
"hymn" celebrating the Exodus may
serve to intensify this
petitionary section. Yahweh, the
victorious God of the Exodus,
ought to similarly exert
Himself now!
Designations for the enemy are more conspicuous in
verse 18 than in verse 10
because they precede the verb and
bear disjunctive accents. The
more general byvx gives
way
to lbn-Mf. The parallelism thus features the latter since
it is more precise and limiting3
and it is placed first in
the clause.
Structure
of verses 19-21
Verse 19
Verses 19-21 are petitions which specifically
concern God's people. These
verses contain much that is
1Alter, Art, p. 22, notes this kind of
intensifica-
tion.
Reading JrH
as intransitive is preferable to Dahood's
declaration
that the poet omits the suffix metri
causa
(Psalms II, p. 207).
2By comparison, Myhlx is distanced from jmw in v.
10.
3See the earlier
discussion; see also Alter, Art, p.
11, on his impulse to
intensification.
201
directly related to the
Israelite cult.1 19A identifies the
praying community under the
metaphor of a rvt, an
easily
ensnared bird that was a
prescribed sacrifice for those who
could not afford a larger
animal. In this clause, with a
complex of role reversals,2
the nation feels that God is now
treating His people like He
treated a mighty enemy in the
"hymn." Whereas verse
2 is positive, "Remember your special
people," verse 19 is an
obverse to this, "Do not offer your
defenseless people as
sacrifice; do not forget your
afflicted ones."
19A and B are arranged chiastically, V - 0 - 0 - V.
The juxtaposition of objects
invites comparison. rvt and
Myynf stress
the vulnerability of the community. tyH in B
is the same semantic field with
wpn but it is also a pun
with tyHl. The latter relationship confuses the
distinction
between the enemy and community.3
Finally, Hcnl
(cf.
1B and
10B) reinforces the
"presentness" of the petition as the
psalmist had done with the
description of disaster.
This is the lone verse in the psalm which explicitly
refers to a threat to the life
of the worshipping community.
As noted, the psalmist implores
God not to give the
1See the terms rvt (v. 19); tyrb
(v. 20); bwy-lx
and
vllhy) (v. 21).
2The defenseless people
assume the role of Ntyvl
(14A)
and yet they contrast to him. The superior tyH (19A)
assumes
the role of the lowly Myycl-Mf (14B). This makes it
appear
that God is placating the enemy.
3See a similar confusion of identity in Gal
5:13-15.
202
community as food to the wild
beasts. This plea recalls the
imagery from the earlier hymn
(v. 14).1
Verse 20
Verse 20 focuses directly upon God's covenant
obligations. The land which He
ought to protect has become
totally hazardous for His
people. The sheep which He should
pasture (v. 1) now try to
survive in His land (v. 2) which
is full of "pastures of
violence" (v. 20). The syntax is
difficult. Bardtke places the
caesura after vxlm,
contrary
to MT, apparently metri causa.2 As indicated
above,3 it is
better to connect vxlm yk with what follows than with what
precedes, regardless of
supposed meter.
20A is the obverse of 19B in that semantic ranges of
Fbn
and
hxr overlap. They can both mean
"to consider."4 In
a manner similar to verses 5
and 6, verse 20 does not have
paired versets. The only real
equivalence between the
versets is that B continues the
thought of A. B gives the
surface reason for the appeal
that God consider the
covenant.
1See the exegesis, p.
108, and above, p. 92.
2See BHS, Ps 74:20.
3Above, p. 123.
4 Hkwt-lx, the negation of rkz, compares to Fbn in
the
same way as rkz. For Fbn, "to
consider," see BDB, p.
270.
rrz is semantically
parallel to Hyw ("to consider;"
BDB,
p. 967 and TDOT, s.v. "rkz," by R. E.
Clements,
4:65-66, 70).
203
The aspect of covenant relationship immediately in
focus, is the preservation of a
people.1 The exegesis noted
uncertainties about proper
translation of the verse. The
dark (secret) places may be
successors to lx-dfvm (v.
8).
The possible reference to
havens for the threatened people
is strengthened by the
structure of verses 19-21. Verses 19
and 21 each have manifestly
corresponding versets. Verse 20
is more like a single
statement. This "cool parallelism"
arrests attention.2
Further, the B portions of verses 19
and 21 feature ynf, while
the A members have rvt and jd,
respectively. All three words
are characterizations of the
same community.
Verse 21
Verse 21 asks God not to turn away the prayer of the
crushed people. They would
prefer to praise (vllhy) God's
name. This would sharply
contrast with the enemy who have
polluted (vllH, v. 7) His name.3 In the lament
structure
the promise to praise often
follows an assurance that God
has answered or will answer a
prayer for deliverance.4
1Covenant concern about
land is evident in v. 2.
2Greenstein,
"Parallelism," p. 54.
3Cf. comments on N ,
above, pp. 134-35.
4Westerman, PLP, pp. 59, 64, Westermann indicated
that
an assurance of being heard and confession of trust may
overlap
(p. 64). He finds a confession of trust in Ps 74:12
and an "implied" vow
in v. 21 (p. 59).
204
There is no demonstrated sense
of assurance in this prayer.
This verse resumes a more obvious parallelism than
was evident in verse 20. Stated
differently, B tends to
clarify A by contrasting with
it. There is no explicit
point of reference from which
the jd will bwy. 21B
raises
the matter of praising, an opposite experience to that
of unanswered prayer. Praising
by the community, in the
Psalms, is usually cultic.1
The psalm shows concern about
the community gathering to meet
God at which time the
devotees engage in religious
practices.2
Structure
of Verses 22-23
Verses 22-23 call for God to act against the enemy.3
The petition section crests
with the imperatives hmvq and
hbyr
(22A).
This is the first call to consider the enemy
since verse 18 and the first
call for explicit action since
hmyrh, verse
3. Whereas this term is a clear call for
1I.e., it takes place in
the context of formal
worship.
See, e.g., Pss 100:4; 147:4; 149:1, 3; 134:2;
150:1.
For relevant discussion see Helmer Ringgren,
Israelite Religion, trans. David E. Green
(
Fortress
Press, 1966), pp. 178-84 and Georg Fohrer,
History
of Israelite Religion, trans. David E. Green
(
Abingdon
Press, 1972), pp. 195-211.
2See vv. 4, 8, 20.
3Reasons for considering
vv. 22-23 as a single
sub-unit
are: (1) hmvq and jymq form an inclusio; (2) both
verses
remind God of the impudence of the enemy; (3) both
conclude
with a similar adverbial expression, Mvyh-lk and
dymt respectively; (4) Hcwt-lx
(v. 23)
matches rkz
(v. 22)
and
their respective clauses are juxtaposed.
205
military action, hmvq and hbyr can
function in both military
and legal settings. Their
proximity to tyrbl Fbh (v.
20)
favors the legal motif.
Verse 22
Lexically, hmvq and hbyr are the most vigorous peti-
tions in the psalm. Their rapid
succession, the vocative
and the indication that
response to these imperatives is a
matter of divine self-defense
increase the tempo of the
prayer. After this climactic
call, the psalm closes with
three clauses of decreasing
intensity: imperative rkz,
negative imperative Hcwt-lx, and a nominal clause with par-
ticipial predicate.
The command to God to defend Himself is rare in the
prayers of the Bible. 22B is
metrically balanced with A and
fits the pattern of
clarification following a general
statement. Here B gives the
reason for A. In this respect
it is like verses 3 and 20.
Verse 22 has several ties with earlier data in the
psalm. The vocative Myhlx tends to form with hvhy (v. 18)
an inclusio for the petition section. Repetition of JrH in
both lines supports this
feature: Again, Myhlx in
second
position, as in verse 1,
suggests a framing device for -the
whole psalm. The use of
imperative rkz in
verses 2 and 22
also provide a correspondence
between beginning and end of
the poem. The temporal adverbs
at the ends of 1B and 22B
206
are also noteworthy. Hcnl and Mvyh-lk
are
near synonyms for
the idea of
"perpetually" or "all the time."
The psalm begins with a stress upon the perpetual
anger of God against the
community. It ends with a stress
on the continuous reproach against
God by His adversaries.1
22B summarizes the psalmist's
main point from verses 4-11.
The raucous conduct of the
adversary exposes God's name to
public ridicule. This is the
explicit reason why God should
arise to His own defense.
Verse 23
The mild initial negative imperative contrasts with
hmvq (22A)
and its stirring call to action. Verbs frame
verse 23. 23A uses a negative
imperative, while B has a Qal
participle. jymt makes
explicit the present continuous
sense of the participle.2
In this manner, B reinforces and
defines more closely the
undefined temporal orientation of
A.
The negative jussive as a negative command expresses
"a more or less definite
desire that something . . . should
not happen."3
The whole psalm assumes that God is
1See the exegesis of jtprH above, pp. 140-43.
2GKC, p. 315, #107d.
3Ibid., pp. 124-25, #46,
and pp. 130-31, #48f. On
the
difference between lx and xl, and use of lx with jussive,
see
ibid., pp. 317-19, #107o, p, w, and cf. p. 324, #110e,
with p. 321, #109a.
207
forgetting the uproar of the
enemy. 23A has the force "stop
forgetting the sound of your
adversaries." 23B sharpens
what is vague in A and gives
the reason for the petition.
Rhetorically, verse 23 is a fitting closure to the
psalm. The assonant use of o
throughout the verse and
presence in B of two
substantives (jymq Nvxw) which
have
semantic equivalents (jyrrc lvq) in A give high percepti-
bility to the parallelism.
As with verse 22, there are several connections
between verse 23 and the rest
of the psalm. Its assonant o
may be onomatapoetic for vgxw (v. 4). jyrrc
vgxw
(4A) is
semantically parallel to jyrrc lvq and so helps to bracket
the body of the psalm (vv.
4-23).1 The intransitive and
general present sense of tHnz with the present continuous
Nwfy (v. 1)
is matched by 23B, especially dymt hlf. Also,
Hcnl (1A)
and dymt (23B) are semantically
equivalent. These
relationships between verses 1 and
23 not only suggest
brackets for the whole psalm,
but they further mark the ene-
my conduct as a concrete
expression of God's wrath against
the community.
A concluding observation on verse 23 is that Hkwt-lx
on the one hand, similar to hmvq (v. 22), assumes that God
is ignoring the enemy. On the
other hand, it is
1The exact repetition of
the rare jyrrc,
with God as
the
object, strengthens the bracketing. See above, pp.
41-43.
208
anti-climactic because it
requests a more general response
to the community's predicament.
Correspondingly, it shows a
less arrogant and more
submissive attitude than hmvq.
As the psalmist "departs," the reader is left
with
nagging uncertainties. The
pitch of the psalmist's anger
rose throughout the psalm to
the bold imperative hmvq. The
redeemed commands the redeemer
to stand and fight His own
cause. The former modulates,
"if you cannot/will not arise
(hmvq) and
fight, at least stop forgetting the tumultuous
sound of those rising against
you (jymq)."
A
Summary
Verses 18-23 are in chiastic arrangement with verse
20 as the cross point.1
This verse focuses directly upon
God's covenant obligations. The
terminology of verse 2
implies covenant relationship.
Verse 20 is explicit. The
secret places of the land (v.
20) which ought to be havens
for God's sheep (v. 1) have
become "pastures of violence"
(v. 20). Neither the people nor the land enjoy
covenant
protection.
The following factors indicate that verses 18-23
comprise a chiasmus.
Thematically, verses 18 and 22-23
1The chiasmus is A (v.
18) - B (v. 19) - C (v. 20) -
B'
(v. 21 ) - A' (v. 22-23). Common terms, i.e., negative lx
and ynf relate B to B'.
209
concern the enemy.l
These sub-units also share common
vocabulary, rkz, JrH, and lbn. Verse
19 and 21 begin with
negative imperatives and
designate the community with terms
that stress its vulnerability.2
Even though FbH in
verse 20
masks an outright charge of
covenant violation, this impera-
tive, implicitly, may be the
most serious accusation in the
prayer.
A Summary Concerning the
Structure of Psalm 74
Summary of Past
Proposals
Weiss
and Young
The position of Weiss and Young on the forensic
thrust of the prayer has some
merit. Verses 1-3 do raise
present, past, and future
concerns to be elaborated in the
body of the psalm. However, the
point of the imperatives is
not future, per se, but appeal.
Both note the importance of
the initial accusation but
neither shows specfically how the
rest of the psalm follows up on
this mood.
Weiss takes the more common view that the hymn is a
confession of faith and does
not point out its numerous
structural differences from the
rest of the psalm. Young
believes that the hymn is used
to prod God but does not
demonstrate in detail why it is
not intended as praise. He
1byvx and lbn (v. 18); lbn, jyrrc
and jymq (vv. 22,
23)
.
2 rvt and Myynf (v. 19); jd, ynf, and Nvybx (v.
21) .
210
distinguishes the author from
the speakers and believes the
author included this hymn so
that he could critique the use
of the myth and show that the
speakers contradicted them-
selves by praising God with the
hymn then claiming in verse
21 that they could not praise
Him.
Sharrock
Sharrock uses verb structure as the key. He passes
over verse 1 lightly as an
introductory complaint. Verses
10-11 are the pivot point of
the psalm with their imperfects
and focus on divine name.
"Threat to reputation" is "the
major issue" of the psalm.1
Verses 12-17 are "an affirma-
tion of faith in the context of
perplexity."2 The hymn is
more for the people than for
God. Verses 18-23 are an
"intense appeal,"
which "recapitulates the previous appeals
and synthesizes the
incentives."3
Van
der Ploeg
Van der Ploeg claims that his structural and
stylistic analysis explains the
meaning of Psalm 74 in a way
different from the authors he
quotes. He follows Weiss on
the general structure. Since he
singles out verses 9-11 as
detailing psychological consequences
of why? and how long?,
he really has four main parts
in the body of the psalm. His
1Sharrock, "Psalm
74," p. 216.
2Ibid., p. 218. 3Ibid.,
p. 219.
211
main contribution is his
insistence on the psalm's orienta-
tion to the present as its dominant feature, based
upon
adverbs and interrogatives. He
could have also cited the
eyewitness orientation of
verses 4-7, the general present
(v. 9), nominal clauses and use
of imperfect tenses.
Summary of the Present
Proposal
A
working definition
To determine the structure of a psalm one must
examine a combination of
factors including word choice,
syntax, rhetorical devices, and
the nature of the paral-
lelism which the poet uses. One
must also attempt to
describe the reciprocal effects
that these factors have on
each other. On the basis of
this accumulated data, one may
identify the primary and
supporting themes which the poet
has used to express his
message.
Words and syntax were the major interest of Chapter
One of this dissertation. The
present chapter has identi-
fied numerous rhetorical
devices and examined the parallel-
isms in Psalm 74. It has also
described how the various
factors interrelate to indicate
units and sub-units within
the psalm. Further, it has used
the results of these
inquiries to distinguish
primary from supporting themes in
the poem. In the process, the
chapter has shown that from
the standpoint of structure,
Psalm 74 is an intricately
constructed unit which accuses
God of mistreating His
212
people. The following
paragraphs summarize major movements
in the psalm.
A
Synthesis of Findings
Psalm 74 begins in a unique manner by accusing God
of excessive anger against His
sheep. The whole psalm is an
angry response to the divine
anger. The psalmist carefully
details aspects of the present
crisis and interprets it as
the expression of God's wrath.
The envelope pattern evident
in verses 1 and 10-11 sustains
the accusatory mood of the
psalmist.
Verses 4-7 are an on--site description of brutal,
impudent actions of the enemy
at the temple area. Verses
8-9 state both an enemy threat
and its fulfillment against
the people and their sense that God is silent concerning the
catastrophe. Verses 10-11 are a
theological interpretation
of enemy conduct. They are
reproaching and defying God's
name, uninhibited by God.
With both affirmation and sarcasm, the psalmist, for
the community, addresses God as
king in the vocative. With
a repetition of direct address,
"You!" he reminds God of
past victories and present
cosmic sovereignty (vv. 12-17).
Immediately (v. 18) he reminds
God that it appears that the
enemy has defamed God's name.
The concluding imperatives (vv. 18-20) point to
possible covenant violation by
God as the real point at
213
issue. This charge is supported
by the fact that the land
is a violently hazardous place
for His afflicted ones. The
chiastic structure of this
passage, coupled with God's
selection of
suggests that the threat to the
life of the praying commu-
nity is the major point of the
prayer. The concern for
God's name is secondary. The
whole psalm is carefully
calculated to move God to
redirect His anger from His people
to His enemies.
CHAPTER
III
THE
CONTEXT OF PSALM 74:
Purpose and Procedure of
Chapter 3
The purpose of this chapter is to examine aspects of
the context of Psalm 74. This
part of the study will sur-
face ways in which the psalm is
similar to and discrete from
other materials with which it
shares obvious commonalities.
The procedure will be to
compare these materials with Psalm
74 rather than vice versa. The
point of reference will be
Psalm 74 in terms of its
content and structure as presented
in chapters one and two above.
The Meaning of Context
Historical
Context
The context of a literary piece, including a
biblical passage, is a complex
phenomenon. There is, for
example, an historical context
since every Bible passage
arose at a particular point in
time. Traina's outline of
what is involved in historical
context illustrates its
complexity.
The setting includes . . . date,
place and occasion of
writing; the identity of the author
and the recipients;
the characteristics and problems of
the readers; con-
temporary literature, customs and
beliefs; the social,
political, geographical and spiritual environment of
214
215
author, recipients, and characters
together with their
background.1
Traina notes that it is not always possible to
determine all of these factors
with certainty. Usually the
text itself will give clues to
some of them. Biblical data
from other passages may help.
Psalms studies presents
peculiar problems because each
psalm is a complete literary
unit. Concrete historical
references are rare in the
psalms.
Biblical
Context
A second context is the biblical context. Kaiser
identifies four levels: "sectional . . . book . . .
canonical . . . and the
immediate context."2 By "canon"
Kaiser means each text (or
passage) of Scripture in terms of
"the original writer's
intention in all of its historical
particularity."3
Kaiser warns against a distorted use of
analogia
fide.4
Specifically, passages from outside the
immediate context must not be
used in a way that contradicts
the obvious relationships
within the immediate context of
the target passage.
1Robert A. Traina, Methodical Bible Study (
by
the author, 1952), p. 153.
2Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward an Exegetical
Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House, 1981), pp. 70-71.
Logically,
Kaiser should have placed "immediate" context as
the
first level.
3Ibid., p. 81. 4Ibid.
216
Other
Contexts
Other contexts that must be considered in an exhaus-
tive approach include the
society, culture, and literature
of the believing community
which a given text addresses.
Beyond this the society,
culture, religion, and literature
of
exile, may impact the
interpretation of a given passage of
Scripture.1
Selected
as a Context
Since there is no detailed historical information
either in the prayer of Psalm
74 or its title, a specific
focus on historical context is
not fruitful. The psalm is
cast against a type of
situation rather than a precise
historical occasion. A later
chapter of this work will
probe the matter of biblical
context. The concern of this
chapter is with "other
contexts." The treatment must
necessarily be selective.
The pages that follow briefly consider aspects of
two Sumerian laments over
destroyed cities and temples. The
lament "a-ab-ba
hu-luh-ha" ("Oh Angry Sea") demonstrates a
continuous use of the
composition down to 91 B.C., thus it
both precedes and follows any
possible original historical
1 For a survey of recent
hermeneutical approaches to
OT
interpretation which utilize studies in ancient Near
Eastern
societies, cultures, and anthropology, see Culley,
"New Directions," pp.
180-91.
217
setting for Psalm 74 by several
centuries. Passages cited
will also give a sampling of
both the style and theology of
the lament which may be
compared with Psalm 74.
The second city lament to be used is the "Lamenta-
tion over the Destruction of
Sumer and
recalls the fall of Ur III and
employs a style and themes
which help to place Psalm 74 in
its Near Eastern setting.
The survey of comparisons will
also help to set Psalm 74
apart from the Sumerian
laments.
A Sumerian Congregational
Lament
Kutscher's study of a-ab-ba hu-luh-ha, i.e., "Oh
framework for considering an
ancient Near Eastern communal
lament genre.1 Such
factors, therefore, contribute an
appropriate general conceptual
and literary context for
study of Old Testament
community lament psalms including
Psalm 74.
General details of
Composition
Classification
of recensions,
Kutscher examined nine basic texts of a Sumerian
lament which represent nine
different recensions dating from
the Old Babylonian, neo-Assyrian,
neo-Babylonian, and
1This phrase is from the
title of Raphael Kutscher,
Oh
Congregational Lament (
Press, 1975), (hereafter cited
as Kutscher, Angry Sea).
218
Seleucid periods.1
He has assigned sigla A-I to these texts
and compiled and translated a
composite text of the whole
piece. The present dissertation
will use Kutscher's sigla,
but will, unless otherwise
indicated, refer to only one
representative for each text.2
The following chart is
adapted from Kutscher's work:3
Text Date Lines in Composite Text
A
B
C NB 1-118
D S 128-200
Ea S 153-187
F
G
1Ibid., p. 8. Hereafter
historical periods will
be
designated
Assyrian,
neo-Babylonian, and Seleucid periods. Approximate
B.C.
dates are OB 2000-1600; NA 800-626; NB 627-539; S
312-164.
Dates for
and
William Kelly Simpson, The Ancient Near
East (
Harcourt
and Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1971), pp. 84-103,
131-143,
144-49 (hereafter cited as Hallo, ANE).
Seleucid
period
dates are from A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient
Mesopotamia
(Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1964), p. 404
(hereafter
cited as Oppenheim, AM).
2An exception is that
text H is represented in
the
chart below by one recension from NA, i.e., Haa; and one
from
S, i.e., Hab.
3Kutscher, Angry Sea, pp. 9-10. Translation of
the
composite text with numbered lines is on pp. 143-53. A
proposed
composite text, though speculative to a degree,
provides a convenient tool.
219
Haa NA 237-296
Hab S 237-296
The earliest date
Kutscher has demonstrated that this work was
originally composed at least by
the
shown that it has been copied
and translated for a period of
at least fifteen hundred years.
The following examples show
the earliest and latest dates
from which presently available
parts of a-ab-ba hu-luh-ha
come. The tablet for text A is
in "very good
condition," and. Kutscher writes,1
The colophon of text A reads as
follows:
70 mu-bi-im
iti ziz-a u mina-kam
mu sa-am-su-[i-lu-na) lugal
Translation: "Its lines are
seventy. Month of Shabatu,
second day; year: Samsu-iluna
(became) king" (ca. 1749
B.C.E.). The figure 70 in the line
count does not
include the line inscribed on the left edge.
If one can take the information
at face value, this piece
was copied in the middle of the
of Hammurappi's successor. The
original composition may
have been many years earlier.
The composition has 17
kirugus (or
stanzas), which go through line 236. Text A
begins with stanza IV and
continues through the first line
of stanza XIV.2
1Ibid., pp. 10-11.
2No representative of the
first stanza has been
recovered.
220
The latest date
Text Ea comes from the S period and duplicates lines
153-187 from Text A. Again,
Kutscher writes,1
The colophon of Ea reads as follows:
Rev. 12. IM na-na-a-MU DUMU sa
6[0-x-x] A 30. TI. IR
GIS 60. TIN DU [MU x-x]
13, UNUG ITI GUD U. 27.
KAM MU ES. 7. KAM si-1u-ku
LUGAL
Translation: Tablet of Nana-iddin
son of A[nu?-x]
descendant of Sinlege-unninni, hand
of (GIS for SU,
i.e., the scribe) Anu-uballit son of
[xx]: Uruk, month
of Ayara, 27th day, 67th year of the
Seleucid era (=245
B.C.E.).
Certainly this text is not
earlier than 245 B.C. Referring
to the composite text as a
whole, at least parts of the
composition were used
repeatedly for over fifteen hundred
years.
General Themes Common to Texts A
and Ea
Themes
in texts A and Ea
The common lines between texts A and Ea include
stanza XI and conclude with the
third line of stanza XIII.
The passage begins with the cry
that Enlil is sleeping while
the temple and
Ea with the next two lines
supplied by A, read in trans-
lation:2
The rising Enlil will look hither,
The dignitary is the rising Wild Ox,
he will look
hither,
1Kutscher, Angry Sea, p. 12.
2Ibid., p. 150, lines 186-89.
221
Over
hither,
Over
The chief god of
some time. Finally, he arose
but only after the fate of the
city had been imposed.
Relationships
to Psalm 74
According to Psalm 74:11 and 22 the community views
God as inactive while the
nation suffers. The motif of the
responsible deity ignoring his
city is common to both
traditions. Excluding
Maccabaean times, proposed date:, for
Psalm 74 range from 722-485
B.C.1 In any event, it is clear
that the Sumerian lament
tradition started long before and
continued for two centuries
after any feasible date for
Psalm 74.
Comparisons of Texts G and
Haa:
Evidence of
Adaptation
For the history and development of the lament genre,
it is useful to compare texts G
and Haa. The two texts;
differ in two important ways.
The ersemma of text G has
script, though its provenance
is unknown.2 Its colophon
reads:
34 er-sem-ma en-lil-a-kam
i.e., "34 (lines), it is an ersemma of Enlil."
1See Rosenbaum,
"Antagonist," p. 83, n. 20.
2 Kutscher, Angry Sea, p. 13.
222
Ersemma indicates that the
piece is an appeal section as
distinguished from lament or
complaint. Haa is from the
mid-seventh century, i.e., an
NA text, hence about one
thousand years later than G.
Haa is longer than G and
fifteen of its fifty-one lines
are accompanied by an
Akkadian translation.1
These factors indicate that late
texts tend to be expansionist
and that the tradition itself
has survived several centuries.
Thirty-three out of thirty-six successive lines
(237-72) in the composite sixty
line ersemma repeat the
plea, "Turn around and
look at your city." The addressee or
form of address at the
beginning of each line changes.
Beginning with line 273, odd numbered lines repeat
the refrain of a
"destroyed flooded city." Even numbered
lines identify, in turn,
as "inundated by
water." G and Haa both have the lines
referring to
and
significant cities in the
seventh century than at the time
of G.
After a description of the common ravages of seige
(281-88) which appears in both
texts, there is a three-fold
repetition of the clause "
. . . Young and old are raging"
(289-91). Successively Nippur
Babylon and Isin precede the
clause. These lines appear only
in Haa, but are bound by a
1Ibid., p. 28
223
set of lines that are found in
both G and Haa.1 It appears
that lines 289-91 were added to
G or a similar text in order
to adapt the older poem to a NA
setting.
The first thirty-six lines are the single plea of
the ersemma, " . . , turn
around and look at your city,"
repeated thirty-three times.
The last twenty-four lines all
inform the responsible god of
the ravages of seige. Of
these, lines 273-280 identify
the cities addressed. For the
latest editions of the poems,
references to
maintain ties with the distant
past when southern
dominated the lower
Mesopotamian region. References to
millennium.
Comparisons between Psalm
74
and "Oh
Angry Sea"
Similarities between the pieces include the respon-
sible deity acting
disinterested in the devastation of his
main city and broad structural
features, e.g., parallelism
and distinct separation between
complaint and appeal sec-
tions. Dissimilarities include
polytheism and fatalism in
"Oh
of justice in Psalm 74.
1Kutscher thinks that the
last line (296) found in
Haa
was inadvertently omitted by the scribe who copied G;
Kutscher, Angry Sea, p. 143.
224
Sumerian City Laments up to the Fall of Ur
III
I
have seen and wept over them
I
have ended my lamentation for them
She
wept and eased her feelings
Nintu wailed and spent her
emotions.
These lines from Atra-Hasis dramatize a natural
response to death in any age.1 They point up a principal
function of the lament genre,
i.e., to allow grief from dev-
astating loss a viable means of
expression.
Eckard define a lament as a
song of grief, a poetic elegy of
mourning.2 This
definition focuses on the formal aspect of
lament whereas the lines from
Atra-Hasis feature a subjec-
tive aspect of lament. Laments
over destroyed cities
perhaps grew out of laments for
the dead.3
A Lament Concerning
Lagas
Content
The biblical city lament genre, in its broadest
sense, has its predecessor in
the Sumerian belles-lettres
1W. Lambert, Atra-Hasis: The Babylonian Story of
the Flood (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1969), p. 96.
2R.
Terms (New York: Monarch
Press, 1977), p. 69. For some
ideas
and bibliography used in this chapter I am indebted to
David
C. Deuel, "Lament Genre and Rite in the ANE: A
Literary
Model for Understanding Stimulous Diffusion,"
(paper
prepared for the course, The History and Archaeology
of
the Ancient Near East,
1984).
3Gaster suggests this in
Theodore H. Gaster, Myth,
Legend and Custom in the
Old Testament,
2 vols. (
Harper and Row, Publishers,
1975), 2:815.
225
with representative texts from
as early as the 24th century
B.C.1 Urukagina,
King of Lagas, suffered defeat at the
hands of Lugalzaggesi, King of
Umma. A scribe, perhaps at
the direction of Urukagina,
composed a poem which records
the "sins" of
Lugalzaggesi.2 Two expressions in turn begin
numerous lines: "He has
set fire to . . ." (=A) and "He has
laid hands on . . ." (=B).
A pattern of usage of these
statements is evident, i.e.,
A-A, B-B-B-B-B-B-B; A; B; A-A;
B-B; A-A; B-B.
The razed objects are temples and shrines. Spoils
of victory included
"precious metal (and) lapis lazuli."3
The closing lines are an
imprecation against Lugalzaggesi:4
Because the Ummaite
destroyed the bricks of
he committed a sin against Ningirsu;
he (Ningirsu) will
cut off the hands which had been
lifted (?) against him.
It is not the sin of Urukagina, the
king of Girsu. May
Nidaba, the (personal) goddess of
Lugaizaggesi, the ensi
of Umma, make him (Lugalzaggesi) bear all (these) sins.
Style
The piece is virtually full of parallelisms and
repetitious clauses in which
only the objects are varied.
There appears to be deliberate
patterning. The first part
1Hallo, ANE, pp. 46-47, 52-53.
2For a translation of the
poem, see Samuel Noah
Kramer,
The Sumerians (
Press,
1963), pp. 322-23.
3Ibid.; this phrase
recurs several times.
4Ibid., p. 323.
226
describes the aspects of the
catastrophe. The closing part
is an imprecatory wish or
prayer against the perpetrator.
Theology
Theologically, the piece assumes that it is a
"sin"
for the enemy to destroy one's
holy places and objects. The
last lines indicate that
retribution against the adversary
and vindication of the victim
is in the hands of the gods.
The importance of
"temple" is obvious from the early piece.
From Urukagina of Lagas
to
Ibbi-Sin of
Kramer suggests that, the Sumerian lamentation is a
literary genre developed by
response to periodic ravaging
of their land, cities, and
temples."1 If one
takes the latest probable date for Uruka-
gina, i.e., 2300 B.C., the next
relevant Sumerian pieces
come more than three centuries
later.
The period from the Sargonic dynasty of
through the Gutian era in
"lamentation type of
literary effort." This period embraces
approximately 2300-2115 B.C.2
Sargon of Akad conquered
Lugalzagessi in ca. 2300 B.C.3
Ur-Nammu, after a
1Samuel Noah Kramer,
"The Destruction of Nippur: A
Preliminary
Report," Eretz
2Hallo, ANE, pp. 54-60,
66.
3Ibid., p. 54.
227
governorship over
Uruk, assumed the title of King
of Ur and founded the Ur III
dynasty.1 Ur III
dates to ca. 2112 B.C.E.2
The Ur III period (ca. 2112-2004 B.C.) marked the
neo-Sumerian renaissance.
enced great achievements during
these centuries. Literary
productions included hymns, heroic
tales, and divine myths
but not formal lamentation
pieces.3
The last ruler of Ur III, Ibbi-Sin, grandson of
Sulgi, was carried off to
and destruction of
cerning this disaster, a later
poet writes:
Of
(were changed).
Nanna overtu(rned) his people as
numerous as (ewes),
Its king was depressed in his
splendid palace,
Ibbi-Sin was filled with gloom in
his splendid palace,
He shed biter tears in his
heart-rejoicing "house of
life."4
The four leading deities of
Ninhursag, decreed among other
fates for
1Ibid., pp. 77-80.
2Oppenheim, AM, p. 336.
3The Ur-Nammu and Sulgi
hymns are good examples of
the
literature from these years. For translations by S. N.
Kramer,
see ANET, pp. 583-86.
4The translation is from
Samuel Noah Kramer,
"Lamentation
over the Destruction of
613,
lines 100-110 (hereafter cited as Kramer, "
228
That the Su-people (and) the
Elamites, the enemies
inhabit their dwellings,
That its shepherd (living) in terror
in the palace be
seized by the foe,
That Ibbi-Sin be brought to the land
From
boundary of
That like a sparrow which hjs fled
its "house," he
return not to his city.1
"Lamentation over the
Destruction of
A Survey of the
Poem
The preserved portions of this lament indicate five
kirugus (or
stanzas): First stanza, lines 1-114 plus a one
line antiphon; second, lines
119-282, with the last eleven
lines (283-293)3
destroyed; third, lines 294-359 with one-
line line antiphon; fourth,
lines 360-489 with a three-line
antiphon; fifth, lines 490-500
+ x + 7 without an antiphon.4
The first 54 lines list successively 54 details of
destruction of
divine assembly. The poet
identifies the four principal
1Ibid., p. 612, lines
33-37. On the complex problem
of
discriminating among the deities in the Mesopotamian
pantheon,
see Oppenheim, AM, pp. 194-98 and
Helmer Ringgren,
Religions of the Ancient
Near East
(
2For a full translation,
see Kramer, "
pp.
611-619.
3Arabic numerals, in
parentheses, throughout the
discussion
of this lament, indicate line numbers as found in
ANET, pp. 611-619, unless
otherwise indicated.
4After line 500 in ANET, p. 619, there is an unknown
number
of missing lines (=x). The preserved part ends with
the line, "the fifth
kirugu."
229
deities and remarks that the
decree is unchangeable and
unopposable (55-57). The last
60 lines of the kirugu give
details of the Gutian invasion
noting that "Enlil brought
down the Guti from the mountain
land" (83). The graphic
description mentions cosmic
upheaval, immobilized deities,
cadavers in the
religious practices, and a
depressed king.
The second stanza recounts the destruction of
city by city. Assembly houses
(temples) were emptied (199-
202) and gods abandoned their
cities. The third stanza
focuses more specifically on
the well-known forms of
suffering, i.e., famine, dry canals,
cessation of ritual feasts and
looting of temple livestock.
The intense suffering caused
the city god, Nanna (whose
alternate name is Sin), to
plead with Enlil:1
Sin wept before his father Enlil,
"Oh my father who begot: me,
what has my city done to
you, why have you turned
against it!
Oh Enlil, what has
against it!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
among the ruins.
The Kiur, the place where Enlil
relaxes, has become a
desolate shrine.
Oh Enlil, gaze upon your city full of desolation,
Gaze upon your city Nippur, full of desolation.
The fourth kirugu
begins with Enlil's response to
Sin. Enlil cannot alter the
decree of destruction (366-67).
1 ANET,
p. 617, lines 340-42, 346-49.
230
The actions of the invader and
the anguish of the victim are
evident in these lines:
Inside it we die of famine,
Outside it we are killed by the
weapons of the Elamites.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Ekishnugal of Nanna is inhabited
by the enemy,
Its heavy . . . they shatter,
Its divine statues that filled the
shrines they cut to
pieces,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The palm-tree (covered with) mighty
copper, the might of
heroship,
Was torn down like rushes, was plucked like rushes,
arrows swirled about its base,
(Its) top way trampled in the dust, it had no one to
lift it.1
At line 457 Sin renews his plea to Enlil and this
time gains a favorable response
(466-75). Nanna and Ningal
return to their city and enter
their temples. (481-84).
The last stanza is an imprecation "Oh bitter storm.
. . . that had afflicted
. . . the land . . . the me of
heaven, the rules that govern
people--may An change them
there."2 The composition closes
with a pronouncement of
blessing on
in the pastures,' may its
increase be heavy."3
1Ibid., p. 618, lines
403-05, 412-14, 420-22.
2Ibid., p. 619, excerpted
from lines 490- 493, 496,
500.
3Ibid., lines 500 + x + 12.
231
Comparisons
of the "Lamentation over the Destruction
of
Structure
Psalm 74
Since the structures of these two pieces have only
general likenesses, it is
convenient to simplify the state-
ment of the structure of Psalm
74. Psalm 74 begins with a
thematic preview of the rest of
the psalm, mentioning in
order God's wrath against His
sheep (v. 1), an imperatival
call for God to remember his
past choice of
consequent favored position (v.
2), and an urgent imperative
for God to intervene at the
devastated temple site against
the enemy (v. 3).
A detailed description of some consequences of enemy
invasion follows. These
consequences affect the temple site
(4-7), the people (8-9), and
God's honor (10-11). The
second major movement has the
general form and substance of
a hymn that honors God for past
deliverances and present
sovereignty over the natural
order (vv. 12-17). The hymn,
in fact, chides God to action.
The final section (vv. 18-23) is an appeal to God
for relief from certain
consequences of the invasion. The
suppliant wants God to act
against those who defy His name
(vv. 18, 22, 23). He also
desires God to protect the people
from ravages of enemy violence
(vv. 19-21). From a
232
structural standpoint, one
should note that the psalm opens
by accusing God of a needlessly
prolonged expression of his
anger against His people. It
closes with no assurance that
God is going to respond
favorably to the lament petition.
Lament over
The broad movement of thought in this lament is
clear. Though the poem has five
stanzas, there is a
sequence of six discernible
concerns. First, there is a
description of the destruction
of
poet emphasizes the
irreversible decree, the use of human
agents by the gods, and the
particular destruction to each
city with a major emphasis on
In the second movement, Sin intercedes for
Enlil responds that the decree
is irrevocable (340-81). The
third movement is similar to
the first though specifically
it describes consequences of
the destruction both on the
people and the apparatus of the
cult at
The fourth movement is like the second, i.e., Sin
makes a second appeal to Enlil
(457-89). This time, how-
ever, Enlil makes a favorable
response. The fifth movement
is an imprecation against the
enemy who afflicted
(490-500). The last movement
reports a wish for
people may lie in the pastures
and that she may prosper.
The final lines are a call for
lament (500 + x + 1-7).
233
A comparison based upon
structures
The broad movement of thought in this lamentation is
Destruction--Intercession--Destruction--Intercession--Impre-
cation--Pronouncement of
blessing. For Psalm 74:4-23 the
movement is
Devastation--"Hymn"--Appeal. Psalm 74 has an
implied imprecation in certain
imperatives: hlk (v. 1l),
hmvq (v. 22).
The lamentation has no explicit praise but a
solicitous attitude toward the
gods is evident throughout.
There is no accusatory tone in
the lamentation as there is
in Psalm 74. The Sumerian
lament ends on a positive note
while Psalm 74 does not.
Theology
Since the city laments and Psalm 74 are manifestly
religious documents, it is
appropriate to compare them theo-
logically. Chapters One and Two
have already surfaced
theological ideas in Psalm 74,
though more formal statements
will be made in Chapter Four.
With this in mind, it seems
useful for present purposes to
suggest theological implica-
tions of the Sumerian lament
first. Then using specific
statements based upon Psalm 74,
one can evaluate ideas from
the Sumerian piece.
Lament over
Teaching about the
gods. The Sumerian lament is
obviously polytheistic with
each god flawed and limited in
234
some way. The ultimate power of
decision lies with a
council of gods, consequently
no god is supreme. Lesser
gods often intercede
unsuccessfully before higher gods,
though eventually the latter
may give a favorable response.
In this lament, Enlil finally
gave a favorable response.
Teaching about man.
In these laments, man is a
secondary factor. He has
nothing to do with the destruction
or prosperity of his city. He
is apparently obliged to
participate in the cult in some
way or at least provide
material support. He suffers
the fate decreed by the gods
without reference to his own
innocence or guilt. The gods
employ men as agents of
destruction. Man does not pray in
this lament.
Psalm 74
Teaching about God.
Some views about God which are
present in the psalm are
similar to ways the gods are
perceived in the Sumerian
material. For example, God can be
angry with one community for a
long time as in the Sumerian
lament. There is only one God
and He is in some way
responsible both for the
prolonged anguish of the suppliant
and the continuing taunts of
the adversary. The Sumerian
material has a fatalistic
notion of decreed destruction. By
contrast, the Bible presents
the antinomy between divine
decree and moral
responsibility. Other similarities are
235
that God is aware of but may
appear to distance Himself from
what happens on earth. God has
the power to deliver if He
so wills.
The God of Psalm 74 is also very different from the
Sumerian deities. The only true
God is in focus in the
psalm.1 He suffers
accusation and bold chiding from man.
He chooses and redeems people
and considers them His inher-
itance. He enters into covenant
with
bound by covenant in some way.
Choice and redemption of men
and entering into covenant with
men is totally missing from
the Sumerian lament.
Teaching about man.
Man has a significant role in
God's activity upon earth. The
vitality of the psalm
testifies to a dynamic
relationship between God and man.
Man can address God directly
even though in so doing he may
accuse God or chide Him
inappropriately. Man has the
potential to praise God. He is
capable of accusing God of
misconduct while he himself
acknowledges no responsibility
for a distressful situation.
Man can ravage God's holy
places and oppress and treat
violently the professing
community. Such men can be
viewed as God's enemy (Ps 74:4,
23). There is no hint of this
kind of an interface between
man and the Sumerian gods as
reflected in the Sumerian
1The OT is monotheistic.
Psalm 74 does not explic-
itly affirm
this but it does assume it.
236
laments. Man is capable of anger
against God and urgency in
his approach to God. In
Sumerian laments the counterpart to
anger against the gods is a
deep sense of resignation.
A Summary of Contributions of
Chapter III
to Studies in
Psalm 74
Contributions
from "Oh Angry Sea"
Kutscher's composite text shows that the congrega-
tional lament genre has a long
history going back at least
to the 20th century B.C.
Recensions were in use into the
first century B.C. The history
of biblical laments fits
entirely within this time span.
The parallelistic structure
and distinction between
complaint and appeals sections are
generally analogous to Psalm
74. Complaint poems focusing
upon city and temple
destruction with dire effects upon the
people were a general religious
phenomenon in the ancient
from "Oh Angry Sea"
are duplicated in the lament over
and
Contributions from the
"Lamentation
over the Destruction of
Comparison of structure and
style
The Sumerian material surveyed have a simple
parallelistic, highly
repetitious style. The structure of
the lament over
"Oh
237
Comparison of theological
content
Similarities between the Sumerian lament and Psalm
74 are the deity distanced from
his city, his use of human
agents to bring about
devastation, and a question of how
important "temple" is
to the deity. Differences are more
striking between the two
pieces. The lament is polytheistic
and no god has ultimate
authority or power. The fate of
humanity is entirely in the
hands of the gods without refer-
ence to moral issues. Psalm 74
assumes one God who alone is
the ultimate court of appeal.
There is no trace of fatal-
ism, but rather a presumption
that divine justice ought to
give relief to the sufferer.
The most striking differences between the Sumerian
materials and Psalm 74 lie in
the realm of relationship
between man and the deity. At
the poems. Priests pray on rare
occasions but most praying
is between the gods. Man is an
agent for the gods, but he
has little interaction with
them. By contrast, Psalm 74
demonstrates a dynamic
relationship between man and God.
Man accuses God and spars with
him verbally. He is not
necessarily discrete in this
but such a phenomenon does not
show up in the Sumerian
material. God's election and
redemption of a nation are also
peculiar to the Psalm.
There is an obvious real
relationship between God and man in
Psalm 74. Such a dynamic is not
evident in the Sumerian
laments.
CHAPTER IV
THE CONTEXT OF PSALM 74:
BIBLICAL PSALMS
Introduction
The
approach must be selective. Psalm 74 is one of
a group of
"we"-laments, often called communal laments.
Four such psalms will be
compared with Psalm 74, i.e.,
Psalms 44, 60, 79, and 80.
These psalms are responses of
the believing community to a
variety of national disasters
from the viewpoint of the
people of the land. Psalm 137,
sometimes grouped with these
psalms, though differently
oriented, is treated with
Jeremiah 24 in order to survey the
possible bearing of these
passages on Psalm 74.
The other two groups from which psalms for the
present study come are those
which share one of the two
terms in the title to Psalm 74.
This study assumes 'the
authenticity of these titles.1
The titles indicate factual
information which in some way
bears on the background, use,
or type of psalm. These matters
help in the interpretation
1For a fine recent study,
defending their authentic-
ity,
see James W. Fraser, "The Authenticity of the Psalm
Titles"
(Th.M. Thesis, Grace Theological Seminary, 1984)
(hereafter cited as Fraser,
"Psalm Titles").
238
239
of the psalms, even though the
precise meaning of many of
the terms is unclear.1
This study uses the content of the
psalms, comparative psalms studies,
and data from other Old
Testament books to propose
meanings of the titles and
consequent implications for
interpreting Psalm 74.
The title of Psalm 74 is Jsxl
lykWm.
There are
thirteen maskil2
psalms. Those which bear most on the study
of Psalm 74 are Psalms 44, 78,
88, and 89.3 There are
twelve Asaph psalms: Psalms 50
and 73-83. All of these
will be surveyed, but special
attention is given to Psalms
50, 73, 75, 77-80, 82 and 83.
Communal Lament
Psalms
Introduction
Occasions
which call for public laments
Sabourin suggests that collective praying in the
Old Testament has its normal
setting in the cult and that
psalms of lament by the people
"are likely to have origina-
ted in a liturgical milieu of
feast and rites celebrated in
1This position is
presented in part by F. F. Bruce,
"The
Earliest Old Testament Interpretation," in The Witness
of Tradition, vol. 17, OTS (Leiden:
E. J. Brill, 1962), pp-
41-52.
2This is the term used in
several modern English
versions,
e.g., AV and NASB.
3Other Maskil psalms are
Pss 32, 42/43, 45, 52-55,
and 142.
240
the sanctuaries."1
Brueggeman: calls these "psalms of
disorientation."2
Practices of ritual fasts in face of
national disaster predate the
first known collections of
psalms.3
Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple
previews seven situations which
may elicit prayers toward
the temple (1 Kgs 8:31-53).4
Defeat in battle (vv. 33-34),
enemy seige against Israelite
cities (vv. 37-40), and sin
against God which causes Him to
deliver His people to exile
in enemy lands (vv. 46-53) are
possible occasions which give
rise to national lament psalms.
1
Chronicles 16:1-5 and Lament Psalms
When David brought the ark of the covenant to the
city of
remind, to thank, and to
praise" Yahweh (1 Chr 16:1-4). The
1Leopold Sabourin, S. J.,
The Psalms: Their Origin
and Meaning (New York: Alba House,
1974), p. 294 (hereafter
cited
as Sabourin, The Psalms).
2Brueggemann, Psalms pp. 51-58, 67-77. Brueggemann
includes
Pss 12, 44, 58, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 94, 123,
126,
and 137; Mowinkel, PIW, 1:194,
includes also Pss 14,
89,
144, and Lam 5; Sabourin, The Psalms,
p. 297, includes,
in
addition to those already cited, Pss 77, 82, 90, 106,
108,
and 123.
3Cf. Josh 7:5-9; Judg
20:23, 26; 1 Sam 7:6.
4For a detailed exegesis
of this passage, see Samuel
Speech
of Solomon, 1 Kings 8:14-61," Ph.D dissertation,
Microfilms, 77-24, 133).
241
passage continues with a psalm
of thanksgiving (1 Chr 16:
8-36) which is a combination of
parts of three psalms later
included in the book of Psalms
(Pss 105:1-15; 96; 106:1,
47-48). Psalm 96 is an
elaborate call to praise Yahweh with
a song. Psalms 105 and 106 both
use the root llh in
their
subscripts and are manifestly
concerned llhlv tvdvhl, “to
thank and to praise"
Yahweh.
First Chronicles sixteen does not identify the kind
of psalm implied by rykzhl.1 Hengstenberg, commenting on
rykzhl in the
title to Psalm 38, remarks helpfully:
rykzh always signifies only
to mention . . . according
to which the business of the
Levitical singers stood in
this llhlv
tvdvhlv rykzhlv,
to remind, and to praise,
and to extol, the rykzh can only form the
antithesis to
the other verbs, to which also the
prefixed points.
The Levites had partly
to sing the songs of
lamentation and prayer, and partly
also those of praise
and thanksgiving. The exposition:
for remembrance, is
confirmed also by the subject of the
two Psalms (Psalms
38 and 70), which have this in the
superscription,
wherein it is to be noted, that in
Psalm lxx, the
superscription thus indicated is the
more remarkable,
since that Psalm contains precisely
the complaining and
supplicating part of Ps. xl, with
the exclusion of the
praising and extolling part.2
Eerdmans concurs when he
states:
The meaning of the term in the title
is "to induce Jahu
to notice the man who prays" [i.e., to bring to
1C. F. Keil, The Books of the Chronicles, Biblical
Commentary on the Old
Testament
by C. F. Keil and F.
Delitzsch
(
Company,
n.d.), p. 209 (hereafter cited as Keil,
Chronicles).
2 E. W. Hengstenberg, Commentary on the Psalms, 3
vols.,
trans. John Thomson and Patrick Fairbairn (
T. & T. Clark, 1847), 2:43.
242
remembrance].
In both psalms [Psalm 38 and 70] he was
in
need of immediate relief, "make haste to help me"
(xxxviii 23, lxx 2).1
The Hiphil infinitive may, therefore, imply the use
of the jussive or imperative of
rkz when the poet petitions
God.2 Only in Psalm
105:5 is this imperative a part of an
entreaty bearing upon a
praiseworthy act of God.3 Elsewhere
rkz draws
attention to something that affects the worshipper
(e.g., Pss 25:6; 74:2; 89:48;
Jer 14:21; Lam 5:11).
The Hiphil of rkz means
to "cause to remember" or
"to keep in
remembrance."4 As a psalm title in the
individual complaints of Psalm
38 and 70, the infinitive
construct, yrkzh may function to remind the singers or
hearers that experiences like
these do afflict individuals.
Or the term may simply identify
the piece as one suitable
for reminding God that such
experiences are the lot of
believing men. In 1 Chronicles
16:4 since the last two
terms are directed to God,
perhaps the latter idea for rykzhl
is more suitable, though the
two thoughts are not mutually
exclusive.
IEerdmans, B. D., The Hebrew Book of Psalms (
E.
J. Brill, 1947), p. 79 (hereafter cited as Eerdmans,
Psalms).
2See Donald R. Glenn,
"A Critical Study of the
Communal
Lament Psalms" (Th.M. Thesis, Dallas Theological
Seminary,
1965) p. 23, for this idea. I am indebted to
Glenn's
work for this study on 1 Chr 16:4.
3Ibid. 4BDB,
p. 270.
243
Characteristics
of communal lament Psalms
Elements which mark communal lament psalms are: (1)
introductory address and cry
for help; (2) a recall of God's
earlier saving acts; (3) a
complaint concerning God, the
enemy, and the people; (4) an
affirmation of confidence in
God; (5) a petition which often
uses words for "hear! save!
punish!" (6) motivations
for God to intervene; (7) a "double
wish" directed toward the
community and against the enemy;
(8) a vow of praise.1
There is no psalm that exhibits all
of these features. The ordering
of these marks varies among
the psalms of communal lament.
The comparisons in the
discussions below will suggest
reasons for some of these
variations.
In conclusion, because of the meaning of rykzh,
because of its appearance in
the titles to Psalms 38 and 70,
complaints by the individuals,
and because of the frequent
use of rkz in laments, rykzhl in 1
Chronicles 16:4 probably
refers to the large class of
psalms often called laments,
whether individual or communal.
Psalm
44
Synthesis
of content
The title implies that this psalm was in the reper-
toire of the choir master,
therefore, usable in a musical
1Adapted from and in an
order suggested by
Westermann, PLP, pp. 53-54.
244
setting. Neither the heading
nor the psalm itself give a
clue to the historical
occasion. Verses 2-9 recall the
conquest and subsequent
deliverances by God. They focus on
"then." In the middle
of the passage an individual,
perhaps the king,1
unambiguously affirms God's kingship.
The complaint to God concerning "now" occurs
after
the extended statement of
confidence (44:10-15). Whereas
Psalm 74 concerns an invasion
of
defeat when the army went out
to battle. The psalmist
understands the defeat as an
expression of God's anger. The
metaphor of a sacrificial
animal stands for the defeated
army (v. 12). This psalm
portrays the nation as a reproach
(v. 15).
The third section (vv. 16-23) is a protestation of
innocence. The king(?)
acknowledges that he takes the
reproach against the nation
personally (vv. 16-17) though it
is not clear whether the enemy
directed its taunts against
God or the army. In spite of
defeat the people have
remained true to God and His
covenant. They affirm that
their suffering in battle is
for God's sake (Ps 44:23).
The final section (vv. 24-27) is dominated by two
imperatives each in verses 24
and 27. The imperatives are
hrvf, rycqh, hmvq, and vndp, "arouse thyself,"
"awaken,"
"rise up" (to fight),
and "redeem us." The first two of
1Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50, Vol. 19. Word
Biblical Commentary, eds. David A. Hubbard et al. (
Word Books, Publishers, 1983),
pp. 31-32.
245
these are accompanied by two hml questions which explicitly
concern why God seems to be
ignoring their plight by
sleeping. Though accusatory,
they are more moderate than
the hml accusations against God in Psalm 74. The final
appeal is based upon God's dsH.
Similarities
and differences
between Psalms 74 and 44
The synthesis points to the important common
vocabulary between Psalms 74
and 44. Among the shared roots
are Mdq, JrH (to
reproach or taunt), Hnz, Hkw, and Nxc.
Concepts of God's redemption of
inactive God occur in both
psalms.
These similarities between the psalms make their
differences all the more
striking. The specific occasions
are different in that Psalm 44
concerns an attempt by
to press a battle outside
two psalms is different,
creating different immediate con-
texts for the numerous words
which the psalms share.
Psalm 74 begins with a highly charged prologue which
includes an accusation of
uncalled for prolongation of
divine anger and an urgent call
to come to
with the enemy. This sharp
reaction to God's anger seems to
pervade the entire Psalm. Psalm
44 begins with an explicit
expression of confidence in
God, in the present (vv. 6-7)
based on His giving victories,
in the distant past (v. 2),
and more recently (v. 8). The
psalm then continues to make
246
its complaints (vv. 9-15,
1.9-23) and requests 24-27 in a
more moderate way than Psalm
74.
Psalm 44 includes a protestion of innocence which
gives rise to the hml questions to God about His ignoring
them. The psalm also appeals to
God's dsH in its last two
words. Both of these features
are entirely missing from
Psalm 74. Both psalms refer to tyrb. However,
Psalm 44 has
the psalmist affirming
obedience to covenant stipulations,
perhaps a reference to the
Sinaitic covenant. Psalm 74:20
calls on God to be careful to
fulfill His covenant respon-
sibilities with a probable
reference to a royal grant, such
as the Abrahamic or Davidic
covenant. The difference in
references to covenant in Psalm
74 and 44 are characteristic
of the differences in
orientation. The community in Psalm
44 is puzzled by its recent
defeat in warfare. The suppli-
ant in Psalm 74 is angry and
keeps God on the "defensive"
throughout the psalm.
Contributions
to an understanding of Psalm 74
By comparing Psalms 44 and 74 several ambiguous
features in Psalm 74 become
pronounced. The title to Psalm
74 does not indicate that it
was part of the music reper-
toire of the cult. Psalm 44
begins with an expression of
confidence in God and ends with
an appeal to God's dsH.
Therefore, though in distress,
the community expresses
confidence and hope. These
attitudes are, at best, subdued
in Psalm 74.
247
The community shares with God as an object of enemy
reproach. Psalm 74 emphasizes
only that God is reproached.
If God is distanced from the
people in Psalm 74, perhaps
they also are distanced from
Him. The people in Psalm 44
affirm covenant loyalty,
proclaim their innocence, and
appeal to God's dsH. The people in Psalm 74 mention neither
their innocence, nor God's dsH but they imply that He
neglects His covenant
obligations. The community in Psalm
74 affirms the reality of God
but is reluctant to embrace
Him in the unambiguous way that
is evident in Psalm 44.
Psalm
60
Synthesis
of content
Four of the five communal lament psalms with which
this study is concerned have Hcnml in the title. Many
believe the term refers to
"the director of music" or
choirmaster.1 Psalm
60, with Psalms 45 and 80, have the
additional term Nwvw-lf,2 which may indicate the name
of a
melody to which the psalm was
sung. tvdf, "testimony"
also
occurs in Psalms 60 and 80,
further specifying the melody.3
Psalm 60 begins like Psalm 74, with a complaint to
God using the root Hnz (v. 3). Here there is an expressed
1Cohen, The Psalms, p. 8.
2Ps 80 uses the
preposition lx and Pss 45 and 80
have
Mynww.
3 Cohen,
The Psalms, p. 189.
248
object making the verb
transitive. God has "rejected"' the
people. The last clause of the
verse is an appeal for God
to restore, vnl bbvwt. The psalm ends with an explicit
expectation of favorable
response by God to the prayer (v.
14). The complaints and
requests throughout the psalm are
conditioned by the expectancy
with which the psalm opens and
closes.
The psalmist next describes the hardship God has
brought to His people (vv.
4-5), but he immediately concedes
that God leads those who fear
Him and that He wants to
deliver His people (vv. 6-7a).
Verse 7 concludes with a
specific plea for God to
deliver and answer the seeking
community.
Verses 8-10 announce an oracle from God, perhaps
delivered by a prophet,
proclaiming His sovereignty over
with a direct request for God
to lead
victory over her adversary.
Similarities and
differences
between
Psalms 74 and 60
Common vocabulary indicates common concerns.
Common words are Hnz, Jnx, Nymy, bvw and fwy. Themes of
complaint, request, and desire
to honor God appear in both
psalms. As with Psalm 44, the
mood and structure are
noticeably different from Psalm
74.
249
Psalm 60 contrasts with Psalm 74 in the following
ways. Psalm 60 virtually begins
and ends with expectation
of deliverance. Psalm 60 names
the enemy and has received a
word from God, probably through
a prophet. Psalm 60 uses
the roots bvw and fwy in a
positive way and expressly denies
hope of deliverance by man. On
this last point, the praying
community in Psalm 74 places
itself in a sparring mode with
God rather than a dependent
mode.
Contributions
to an understanding of Psalm 74
Both the heading and the content of Psalm 60
indicate a specific occasion
that gave rise to the psalm,
making it quite suitable to use
in later specific occasions
of military defeat. The psalm
renounces dependence upon man
and reaffirms dependence upon
God. Psalm 74 lacks this
specificity of occasion. This
may combine with the lack of
indications for use of Psalm 74
in a musical setting to
imply a wholly different
intended use for Psalm 74 than for
Psalm 60. Some theological
assumptions in Psalms 60 and 74
are the same but the psalms
move in different directions.
Psalm 79
Synthesis
of content
Psalm 79 begins with the familiar introductory cry
to God in the first clause with
vocative Myhlx. The
adversary Myyvg, Gentiles, a word never used in Psalm 74.
God's people are styled as His
inheritance hlHn. The
250
psalmist complains that the Myyvg, have defiled the temple,
for the verb xmF occurs rather than llh (Ps 74:7). The term
for temple is lkyh, a word not found in Psalm 74. lkyh is a
"loanword from Sumerian e-gal 'large house,' 'palace,'
'temple.'"1 The
Akkadian equivalent, ekallu, more
often
means palace than temple and
generally refers to large
rooms.2 Ugaritic
uses the hkl for the palace of the
god,
hence it is "temple."3
In the accounts of the building of
Solomon's temple (1 Kgs 6-7; 2
Chr 3-4) and in Ezekiel's
temple vision (Ezek 41), lkyh refers only to the middle
area, the wdq, or holy place.4
Verse 2 is a graphic report of human carnage to the
extent that the dead Israelites
became food, lkxm for
the
birds and beasts, hyH. This motif occurs in Psalm 74:19.
Psalm 79 presents the people as
God's Mydbf and MydysH,
servants and loyal ones. These
terms emphasize their will-
ing submission and loyalty to
God. The community reports
that it is a hmrH, rfg, and slq to its neighbors (i.e.,
reproach, scoffing, and
derision).
The characteristically lament question hm-df, how
long, occurs in verse 5. Verse
6 has an explicit
1TDOT, s.v. "lkyh,"' by M. Ottosson,
3:382.
2Ibid., pp. 382-83.
3See WUS, p. 827 and UT,
p. 763.
4Ottosson, “lkyh,” p. 383.
251
imprecation against the enemy.
The reason for imprecation
is enemy victimizing of God's
people.
Verse 8 acknowledges a possible relationship between
past sin and present suffering
and appeals for God's com-
passions, MymHr. Verse 9 is a direct imperative to God for
deliverance. Related verbs are nvrzf and vnlvch . Psalm
74
appeals for deliverance with
less direct terminology. The
third imperative in verse 9, rpk, is a request for forgive-
ness of sin. The motivation for
God to respond to these
requests is for the sake of His
name, a motivation which
Psalm 74 emphasizes.
The hml, why,
question is designed to motivate God
to deliver His people (v. 10).
In keeping with Barr's
conclusions that hml is pre-eminently a term of direct
address, this is a major
significance in Psalm 79.1 It was
the context and structure in
Psalm 74 that supports the
notion of accusation. The word
has a different context in
Psalm 79 and the psalm itself
has a different structure.
Verse 10 returns to the
imprecatory tone of verses 6-7. The
idea seems to be "Chastise
the enemy for its treatment of
servants."
Verse 11 is an appeal to God to hear the prayer or
groaning, hqnx of His people. The psalmist lauds God's
1For Barr's conclusions, see above, pp. 10-11.
252
strength, something Psalm 74
does not do, except in a chid-
ing way in the "hymn"
of verses 13-17. Verse 12 resumes the
imprecation to punish
reproach with which they
reproached the Lord. The accusa-
tive "reproach" is
cognate with the verb vprH in
this verse.
The root occurs several times
in both Psalms 74 and 79. The
enemy in this psalm is
designated by vprH (vv. 4,
12) as
well as Myvg. The psalm ends with an affirmation that the
people are God's flock and they
promise to praise Him
forever.
Similarities and
differences
between
Psalms 74 and 79
Both psalms are concerned about enemy presence in
the temple and the death of
people caused by an invasion.
However, Psalm 79 has greater
emphasis on the people, while
Psalm 74 leaves the superficial
impression that the temple
is the greater concern. The
terms for the enemy in Psalm 79
are more generic, i.e., Myyvg and Mynkw, and
certainly non-
Israelite. The term for temple
is more neutral in Psalm 79;
temple terms in Psalm 74 are
specifically religious. Rea-
sons for divine action against
the enemy in Psalm 79 relate
to violence against the people;
in Psalm 74 the motivation
relates to God's temple and His
name.
The self-concept of the community differs. They are
servants and godly ones in
Psalm 79 (vv. 2, 10). In Psalm
74 they are crushed, poor, and
afflicted. Both psalms use
253
Myhlx
and
hvhy but only Psalm 79 uses yndx. The
"how long"
and "why" questions
are more rhetorical than accusatory in
Psalm 79. Psalm 79 begins by
reporting an enemy invasion
that defiled the temple and
devastated city and people. It
continues by acknowledging sins
and asking for divine com-
passions and deliverance. It
ends with the people
acknowledging that they are
God's flock and promising to
praise Him forever. By
contrast, Psalm 74 begins with angry
accusation, contains no
reference to sin, requests no com-
passions, MymHr, and ends reminding God of the continuous
tumult against Him.
Contributions
to an understanding of Psalm 74
The vague but descriptive way Psalm 74 refers to the
enemy compared to precise
non-Israelite terms in Psalm 79
leaves the question open in
Psalm 74 as to whether some of
the enemy are Israelites. The
use of distinctly religious
terms for temple in Psalm 74
leaves the question open
concerning the candor of the
prayer itself. The terms for
community in Psalm 74, except
for Nxc, focus on the condi-
tion of the people rather than
on their relationship to God
as in Psalm 79. The absence in
Psalm 74 of confession of
sin and explicit promise to
praise God, and the non-use of
ynvdx point
in a similar direction to other factors noted
above. Arguments from silence
are not conclusive but these
comparative factors may suggest
that the praying community
254
in Psalm 74 is very distraught
by prolonged oppression and,
shows some signs of a
spiritually elitist attitude with some
cynicism toward God.
Psalm
80
Synthesis
of content
Psalm 80 sets an aspect of its own context by the
nature of its initial address (v.
2) combined with a refrain
which occurs four times in the
song (vv. 4, 8, 15, 20).1
The psalm title, combined with
the high profile refrain,
makes it clear that the psalm
was used in public worship at
an early time in its history.
Verse 2 addresses God with vocative substantival
participles as one who
shepherds
flock and is enthroned above
the cherubim. This affirms
God's immanence and
transcendence as well as His kingship.
The refrains address God in a
manner that increasingly
affirm the community's
confidence in Him, i.e., Oh God! (v.
4); Oh God of hosts! (vv. 4,
15), and Oh Yahweh, God of
hosts! (v. 20).
The first, second, and fourth refrains are appeals
for God to restore the nation
to His favor and allow His
1Pss 79 and 80 are the
only laments of the five
treated
in this section of the thesis which have rvmzm in
the
title; 55 additional psalms include inn in their
titles.
See Gerald H. Wilson, "Evidence of Editorial
Divisions
in the Hebrew Psalter," VT 34:3
(1984), esp. pp.
340-42 (hereafter cited as
Wilson, "Editorial Divisions").
255
countenance, Mynp to shine forth. The third refrain begins
in verse 15 and the reference
to countenance in verse 15 is
an indirect imprecation against
the enemy. The first stanza
is a request for God to awaken
and deliver the nation (v.
3). The second stanza complains
that God has "smoked"
against His people's prayers;
He has fed them tears and made
them a laughing stock among
their enemies (vv. 6-7).
The third stanza contrasts the way God prospered the
nation by means of the Exodus,
conquest, and occupation with
the present crisis in which He
has exposed the nation to its
enemies as a cultured vine with
its hedges broken down (vv.
9-14). The fourth stanza asks
God to look down at His
destroyed vine and especially
"upon the son whom You have
strengthened for Yourself"
(v. 16)1 The people promise God
in the last stanza that if He
will deliver them from the
present crisis, they will not
turn from Him but will call
upon His name. The psalm is
marked by both urgency and
confidence that God will act.
The expression of confidence
is the weighted element.
Similarities and
differences
between
Psalms 74 and 80
The common vocabulary includes Nxc, hfwy, ytm-df,
Nwf, hml, Nvmy, and Mw . Common themes concern God's anger,
1This is probably a
primary reference to the
reigning
King of Israel, either David or Solomon (cf. vv.
2-3,
referenced to
messiah (cf. v. 18).
256
the Exodus and conquest, and
God's might. The refrain
conditions the way in which
Psalm 80 uses these common
features.
The requests in the refrain for God to restore and
revitalize the nation imply the
people's sense of their own
culpability. The reference to
God as enthroned above the
cherubim and the request that
He look down from heaven (vv.
2, 15) show that the people
place themselves under God.
They are not contending with
Him but are pleading for His
intervention.
Contributions
to an understanding of Psalm 74
Psalm 80 is readily seen as a piece to be sung,
unlike Psalm 74 which points to
no such usage. In Psalm 80
the community implies its own
guilt, embraces God and
depends upon Him, whereas in
Psalm 74 it indicts God unre-
lentingly without suggesting
its own culpability. Thus, the
orientation of the community to
God is similar in Psalms 44,
60, 79, and 80. Together, these
are in contrast to the
relationship between the
community and God in Psalm 74.
Asaph Psalms
Introduction
1
Chronicles 16:4 and Asaph Psalms
When David brought the ark to his city, he organized
the Levites to perform certain
services at the site. An
Asaph was a chief among
Levites, whom David appointed:
257
hvhyl llhlv tvdvhlv rykzhl
Translation: to cause remembrance
and to thank and
praise Yahweh.
Asaph and those under him were
to use musical instruments in
their service at the
tabernacle.
Later, as David prepared for the transition of king-
ship to Solomon and for the
building of the temple, he
organized a musical service for
temple ministry (1 Chr 25.1-
9). Appointments included
Asaph, "who prophesied under the
direction of the king,"
along with his sons, who are called
Jsx
ynb
(1 Chr 25:2), "the sons of Asaph." Jeduthun, "who
prophesied in giving thanks and
praising Yahweh," was given
charge over his sons. Finally,
Heman with his sons under
him constituted a third group.
Heman was the king's hzH,
seer, to encourage the king
with the words of God. They
were all to minister in
relationship to the house of God,
with instruments, under the
general direction of the king.
It is possible that Jsxl,2 could refer either to an
individual
or a guild descended from him.1
Whether or not these particular individuals are to
be identified with
corresponding names in the titles to
Asaph psalms, the passage (1
Chr 25:1-9) provides a
precedent for names of musical
instruments and prophetic
functions listed or implied in
these psalms. The earlier
1For a review of past
proposals for interpreting
with
a general preference for the guild idea, see
Fraser, "Psalm
Titles," pp. 50-54.
258
passage (1 Chr 16:1-5) supports
the high position of Asaph
in the psalmography and musical
settings for
worship just prior to temple
construction.
Superscriptions
to Asaph Psalms
rvmzm occurs
in the superscriptions to nine of the
twelve Asaph psalms.1
The term derives from the name of a
plant from which pipes suitable
for musical instruments are
made. The appropriate root, rmz-I, occurs only in Piel and
may mean either to sing (1 Chr
16:2=Ps 105:2; Ps 75:10) or
to play musical instruments (Ps
33:2).2 Its predominant
usage is for singing to
instrumental accompaniment.3
The term does not, occur in titles to Psalms 74, 78,
or 81. The last of these has
other terms relating to music
in the title and the text calls
for singing to instrumental
accompaniment (Ps 81:2-4).
Psalm 78 is statedly a wisdom
poem calculated to cause the
audience to reflect on certain
themes (cf. Ps 78:1-3). 'This
is not to infer that wisdom
poetry and music are not
compatable.4 In terms of the title
and explicit statement, Psalm
78 is primarily a didactic
poem. Since Psalm 74 has the
same title as Psalm 78 and
since neither its text nor its
structure indicate that it is
1KB, p. 510. 2BDB,
p. 274.
3E. C. B. MacLaurin,
"Joseph and Asaph," VT 25:1
(1975):41,
n. 1.
4Mowinkel, PIW,
2:94.
259
intended for musical
recitation, its primary use and
function may lie in another
direction, i.e., it is intended
to promote reflection and wise
consideration of its message.
Psalm 50
The
location and nature of Psalm 50
Psalm 50 is removed from the other eleven Asaph
Psalms (Pss 73-83). It is
located between seven psalms by
the sons of Qorah (Pss 42-49)1
and the second Davidic col-
lection (Pss 50-71).
change of authorship represents
"conscious editorial activ-
ity" to indicate some kind
of "disjuncture" between groups
of psalms within the psalter.2
Psalm 50 is different from most psalms in that it is
not a prayer. Other psalms
include passages that are or
imply speeches by God (e.g., Ps
60:8-10). Psalm 50, in its
entirety, is a Yahweh speech,
probably reported by a proph-
et, in a fashion like numerous
Yahweh speeches in the Former
Prophets. References to
prophetic functions by Asaph and
some of his family (1 Chr
25:1-9) are compatable with the
content and style of Psalm 50.
The psalm was, at one time,
to be sung as indicated by its
title rvmzm.
1Pss 42-43 are counted as
one psalm due to the
refrain
42:6, 12 and 43:5 and the fact that Ps 43 is an
"orphan"
psalm (i.e., without a title).
2Wilson, "Editorial
Divisons," pp. 339 with 338-40.
Psalm
72 by Solomon comes between groups of Davidic and
Asaph
psalms and marks the end of Book II of the Psalms (cf.
Ps 72:20).
260
Synthesis
of content
The psalmist-prophet presents a Yahweh oracle which
summons the whole earth to
court. God is righteous, qdc,
and He judges equitably, Fpw, His MydysH, godly
ones. The
issue with reference to His
people is not right sacrifices,
though these are not dismissed
as an unnecessary part of
proper ritual (vv. 7-13). In
this speech God's concern is
that they acknowledge Him with
thanksgiving and keep their
vows (vv. 14-15).
God then speaks to fwrh, the
wicked, who falsely
affirm covenant with Him. He
indicts them for wrong
conduct, implying the necessity
of right conduct by the
MydysH, and
warns that, though He has kept silence, He will
reprove and convict them (vv.
16-21). The psalm closes with
God announcing the contrasting
destinies of those who forget
God and those who honor Him,
i.e., between the righteous and
the wicked.
Contributions
to understanding Psalm 74
Psalm 50, as the first Asaph psalm in the book,
elaborates a theme that is
basic to several Asaph psalms
(Pss 73-83), i.e., God is the
righteous judge and He will
work retribution to the wicked
and deliverance to the godly.
The entire Psalm 50 is a word
from God which relates to the
divine response which the
community finds missing in Psalm
74:9. A major issue from the
community perspective in Psalm
74 may be stated, "Does
God care that the enemy is in the
261
ascendency?" Psalm 50
provides the answer but the people in
the later psalm seem unaware or
unconvinced that God will
render equitable judgment.
Psalms 73
and 75
A
synthesis of content
Psalm 73
Verse one announces that God is good to the
obedient. In the light of God's
goodness, the psalmist is
puzzled by the well-being of Myfwr (vv. 2-9). Therefore,
the psalmist questions whether
God knows who is righteous
and who is wicked (vv. 10-14).
Pondering the matter did not
help until the psalmist entered
God's sanctuary (v. 17).
Then he understood that the
destruction of the wicked was
sudden, full of terrors and
final (vv. 15-20).
The psalmist acknowledged that in spite of his
bitterness for a time about the
prosperity of the wicked, he
was continually jmf dymt, with God, and supported by God who
will ultimately receive him
"with reference to glory" (vv.
21-24). He then explicitly
expresses his confidence in God
and acknowledges the radical
difference between the faithful
and the unfaithful (vv. 25-28).
Comparing verses 1 and 28
suggests that a basic message
of the psalm is that God is
good to the obedient in the
sense of His beneficent nearness
to them, even while the
unfaithful appear to prosper.
262
Psalm 75
Psalm 75 begins as a community hymn of praise
acknowledging God's name and
wonderful works.1 The speaker
then quotes God who promises at
an appointed time to judge
the world correctly. The divine
word singles out the Myllvh
and Myfwr (boasters and wicked) as objects of that
judgment
(vv. 2-6).
The speaker resumes his own word and affirms that
God is the judge who will put
down one and exalt another and
then emphasizes the intensity
of judgment against the
wicked. This is the major theme
of the psalm (vv. 7-9). He
closes by promising, in the
first person singular, to sing
praises, i.e., hrmzx, to God forever. His last words
emphasize the radical
difference between the wicked and the
righteous at the judgment (vv.
10-11).
Themes on which this psalm touches which occur in
other Asaph psalms are God's
name, His nearness, and His
wondrous works. The main theme
of Psalm 75 is also an
important theme in the Asaph
Psalms, 50 and 73.
Contributions of Psalms
73 and 75
to
the understanding of Psalm 74
A common thread in Psalms 73 and 75
Psalm 73 is a
"wisdom" psalm because it contemplates
a basic life issue. It is also
an individual complaint
1Verse 2 has three cola.
The first one begins and
ends with the 1 cp vnydvh, "we give thanks."
263
psalm concerning the prosperity
of the wicked. When the
psalmist visited the sanctuary,
perhaps he received a word
from a priest or prophet. This
word reminded him that God
is a righteous judge and will at
the end destroy the wicked
and vindicate the righteous.
Psalm 74 is a communal com-
plaint and, on the surface,
does not appear to be a wisdom
psalm. It is concerned that God
is turning away His crushed
people and not acting against
His own enemies. These con-
cerns encase a latent question,
"Is God a righteous judge?"
Psalm 75 uses this same theme of God, the righteous
judge, who will punish the
wicked and exalt the righteous.
The context which the psalm
itself creates is different from
Psalm 73. Psalm 75 is a praise
psalm which refers to no
complaints. Verse two suggests
that it is a community
praise hymn but the final
verses have the psalmist alone
praising God. The whole psalm
is a praise to God because He
is the righteous judge.
The
location of Psalm 74 between
Psalms 73 and 75
Perhaps a compiler of the psalter deliberately
placed Psalms 73, 74, and 75
together to help elucidate
Psalm 74, a difficult maskil
psalm. Psalms 73 and 75
clearly conclude that God will
deal justly with all men.
Psalm 74 is a bitter complaint
about the enemy prevailing
over God and His people. It
never moves beyond this issue
264
and, unlike most laments, it
neither appeals to nor applauds
God's moral character and ends
without praise or hope. When
Psalm 74 was written, the
community was unable to appreciate
that God will eventually treat
all men justly. The psalms'
compiler placed the bracketing
psalms next to Psalm 74 to
help later readers to
understand that Psalm 74, from a
doctrinal standpoint, is not
complete.
The community which Psalm 74 reflects at the time
the psalm was composed, had a
deficient view of God or were
unable to bring into focus the
proper view. The psalm then
teaches, among other things,
that godly people, in great
adversity, may have their
perspective on God, His temple,
and themselves terribly
distorted. The psalm seems to say
this without resolving the
tension which such a distortion
leaves. If this line of thought
is correct, Psalm 74
dramatically alerts the
believer to such a danger.
A Survey of Remaining Asaph
Psalms
Psalm
76
A synthesis of content
Psalm 76 is a hymn of praise, even though, unlike
Psalm 75, its opening and
closing lines do not have some of
the characteristic terms for
hymns, e.g., llh or hdy. The
psalm begins by acclaiming God,
His tabernacle, and
citing some occasion when He
withstood a seige against the
city (vv. 2-4). God paralyzed
the enemy, teaching all that
265
God is to be feared (vv. 5-8).
The theme, fearing God
because of His power, brackets
the rest of the psalm (vv.
8-9, 12-13).
Verses 9-11 interpret the deliverance as God's
judgment against the enemy for
the sake of "the humble of
the land." The psalmist
encourages those who hear of this
deliverance to fulfill vows and
bring gifts to God. The
last verse announces poetically
that God rules princes and
kings of the earth.
Contributions
to the
understanding of Psalm 74
Themes in Psalm 76 which occur in Psalm 74 and other
Asaph psalms are God's name and
dwelling,
works. God's presence and anger
and His righteous judgment
against the enemy and in behalf
of the humble are especially
noteworthy. Psalm 75 praises
God because He will judge the
wicked and exalt the righteous.
Psalm 76 praises God for a
specific instance when he
defeated a foe of
of the godly in the land. The
positive nature of both of
these psalms supports the
profusion of terms relating to
music in their titles. Psalms
75 and 76 combine to depict a
community under the spur of
enemy attack, trusting God to
deal equitably with both the
enemy and His people. The
experiences of the people in
Psalm 74, in relation to themes
shared with Psalm 76, are
opposite from those in the latter
psalm.
266
Psalm
77
A synthesis of content
Psalm 77 is an individual lament. The psalmist
reports his persistent prayer
to God, yet he is disturbed
when he remembers God. He
recalls his song, tnygn, at
night
(vv. 2-7). He asks whether the
Lord will be angry, Hnzy,
and withhold His dsH forever. He complains that God's right
hand has changed, i.e., whereas
once it favored him, now it
is against him (vv. 8-11).1
The psalmist purposes to consider God's wondrous
works of old, Mdqm. Verses 15-16 feature the 2ms perfect
verb in first position,
addressed to God in a way similar to
Psalm 74.13-17. The same general theme is treated in both
passages (vv. 12-16).2
The poet describes God's might,
manifested in the past in the
storm and sea. If the last
verse with reference to Moses
and Aaron is a clue, these
descriptions relate to the
Exodus and wilderness period (vv.
17-21).
Contributions
to the under-
standing of Psalm 74
Psalm 77 has numerous words, themes and attitudes
found in Psalm 74. It does not
explicitly express hope for
1Several terms in vv.
8-11 occur also in Ps 74:
Hnz, Jx, hcnl, Hkw, and Nymy.
2Terms in vv. 12-16 which
occur in Ps 74 are rkz,
Mdqm, lfp, wdq, and lxg.
267
deliverance. However, it lacks
the sharply contentious
spirit of Psalm 74 and does
allude to God's past dsH, tvnH,
and MymHr ("loyal love, gracious acts, and
compassions").
Psalm 74 does not acknowledge
these characteristics. The
psalmist's recall of God's past
deeds and evidences of power
(vv. 12-21) seems to be a
genuine, though indirect, expres-
sion of confidence that He will
again act favorably. Psalm
77 does not end on a negative
note as Psalm 74 does.
Psalm
811
Psalm 81 has themes common to Asaph psalms. These
include concerns about feasts
(v. 4) , deliverance from
(v. 6) , God providing for and
contending with a disobedient
people in the wilderness (vv.
7-11) , appeal for
obey God (v. 14) , and conditions
for defeat of their enemy
(v. 15). Except for God's
contending with a disobedient
people and His appeal for
obedience, these themes all occur
in Psalm 74. Psalm 74, by
contrast to Psalm 81, is a one-
sided appeal by the people
which includes no acknowledgement
of what God desires. The title
to Psalm 81 and the first
stanza make it clear that it is
part of the musical
repertoire of worship. This
musical dimension is missing
from Psalm 74.
1Ps 78 will be discussed
with the maskil psalms.
Pss 79-80 were treated with
communal lament psalms.
268
Psalm
82
The psalmist indicts
on God, the possessor and judge
of all, to judge them. The
psalm as such is not a lament
but it primarily addresses and
warns unjust judges of the
people. He supports his warning
by imploring God to intervene,
using the imperative hmvq, in
a similar fashion, but under a
different setting as compared
with Psalm 74:22. Two Asaphic
themes comprise the whole
psalm: wrong living and God is
judge. The latter is the
major point of contact between
Psalms 74 and 82. In Psalm
82 the psalmist calls on God to
act in judgment, expecting
that He will. In Psalm 74 the
same call goes forth but the
psalmist is not sure that God
can so act.
Psalm 83
Like Psalms 75 and 76, Psalm 83 is both a rvmzm and
a ryw. Unlike those psalms, this one has no technical
musical term. This psalm has
several points of contact with
Psalm 74. Both psalms begin
with an address to God in the
vocative, but Psalm 74
immediately raises the accusatory
question while Psalm 83 asks
God not to be silent. Both
psalms style the enemy as God's
enemies who make boisterous
noises (Pss 74:4; 83:3). The
enemy is determined to oppress
spiracy of Syro-Palestinian
states along with an emergent
269
Both psalms appeal to God's past acts in behalf of
Exodus and Conquest, whereas
Psalm 83 relates to the judges'
era. The enemy's desire to
possess the "pastures of God,"
Myhlx
tvxn
(Ps 83:13) is similar to the report about the
"pastures of
violence," smH tvxn (Ps
74:20).
Psalm 74 may imply imprecation against the enemy (Ps
74:11, 18-20, 22-23), but Psalm
83 ends with an explicit
imprecation (Ps 83:14-19). This
may imply, by comparison,
that Psalm 83 has more concern
for defeat of the enemy than
Psalm 74. Correspondingly,
Psalm 74 is more concerned about
God's inaction.
The two psalms differ in their conclusions. Psalm
74 ends with a weak appeal for
God to remember the enemy.
Psalm 83 ends with an
imprecation tempered by the psalmist's
desire that the enemy seek the
name of Yahweh (v. 17b) and
that Yahweh alone be honored as
"most high over all the
earth" (v. 19). 'This
final expression is a major distinc-
tion between the two psalms.
A summary of
contributions of Psalms 76,
77,
and 81-83 to an understanding of Psalm 74
The psalm titles for Psalms 76, 77, 81-83 show that
all are part of the musical
repertoire for Israelite worship
at some point in the history of
these psalms. There is no
indication for musical
performance in Psalm 74. Psalm 76
270
praises God for delivering the
"humble of the land" from an
enemy siege against
lament, has some of the anguish
of Psalm 74 but contrasts
with Psalm 74 by indirectly
affirming God's dsH, tvnH and
MymHr
("loyal love, gracious acts and compassions").
Psalm 74 contrasts with Psalm 81 in that the former
does not acknowledge any reason
why God should chasten the
nation. It is a one-sided
indictment of God while Psalm 81
contains a call to praise by
the psalmist and a speech by
God. Psalm 82 expects God to
judge those who oppress the
vulnerable. Psalm 74 is not
sure that God will do this.
Psalm 83 has much that is like
Psalm 74 except that it
desires that the enemy may know
the exalted character of
God. The community itself in
Psalm 74 never affirms that
God is "the Most High over
all the earth." The community in
Psalm 74 seems rigid and
non-condescending in its approach
to God in contrast to the
stance which the community or
psalmists assume in the psalms
surveyed in this sub-section.
Maskil Psalms
lykWm as a
Psalm Title
Past
proposals as to meaning
Translation and interpretation of lykWm, i.e.,
maskil,1 as a psalm
title has a varied history. LXX uses
lExcept where the Hebrew
script is especially
useful,
the present discussion adopts the transliteration
"maskil"
from the psalm titles in NASB, NIV, RSV, AND KJV
(maschil).
271
sunhse<wj,
"of understanding," followed by the Vulgate which
uses "intellectus." Briggs believes that since lykWm is
"formed by the prefix m from lkw in the
Hiphil, consider,
contemplate, . . .
[it] is, therefore, probably a meditation
[or] meditative poem."1
Briggs followed Delitzsch in concluding that maskil
means "pia meditatio, a devout
meditation."'2 This meaning
was perhaps intended as
refinement of the tradition begun by
LXX. However, sarcasm and
imprecation (Ps 52), anguish from
divine abandonment (Ps 88) and
a mood of accusation (Ps 74)
are not the usual fare for
devout contemplation.3
Barnes believes the term means "to make wise, or to
impart instruction," i.e.,
it indicates a "didactic" piece.4
Two maskil psalms (Pss 32 and
78) support this idea. Psalm
32 is a virtual expansion and
application of God's own word,
jlykWx
"I
will instruct you" (v. 8) . Psalm 78:1-8 ex-
plicitly claims to mark the
rest of the psalm as especially
instructive. Delitzsch flatly
rejects this causative idea
1Briggs, Psalms, 1:61; italics in original.
2Delitzsch, Psalms, 1:394.
3E. Robert Matson,
"A Word-Study of SKL and its
Application
to the Maskilim" (M.A. thesis, Trinity
Matson,
"SKL").
4Albert Barnes, The Psalms, Notes on the Old
Testament, 2 vols., ed. Robert
Frew (
Book
House, 1965), 1:271 (hereafter cited as Barnes,
Psalms).
272
and prefers the softened sense
noted above.1 He and Kissane
argue that there are relatively
few didactic elements in the
maskil psalms except: for Psalm
32:8 and Psalm 78:1-8.
Oesterly and Kidner reject the
causative idea for an oppo-
site reason from Delitzsch.
They claim that other psalms
which are didactic do not have
the title, "Maskil," e.g.,
Psalms 1 and 37."2
A third view relies heavily on 2 Chronicles 30:22,
where Hezekiah spoke to the
Levites: hvhyl bvF-lkW Mylykwmh
(i.e., [the Levites] who were
skillful [having] good
insight, as essentially, NASB).3
This view also appeals to
Psalm 47:7-8 where the
congregation is addressed four times
in verse 7 with the imperative vrmz which evidently means
here, "Sing praises."4
Verse 8 concludes with lykWm vrmz
Perowne and Kirkpatrick believe
that lykWm in these passages
and in the psalms means,
"skillful or 'a skillfully
constructed song.'"5
1Delitzsch, Psalms, 1:394; also Kissane, Psalms,
1:xxiv.
2W. O. E. Oesterley, The Psalms (
Macmillan
Co., 1939), p. 15; also Kidner, Psalms
1-72, p.
38.
3A causative rendering of
the participle, as in KJV,
is
preferable (see below, p. 274).
4Also in NASB.
5Perowne, The Book of Psalms 1:86, 387; also
Kirkpatrick, Psalms, p. xix.
273
A weakness of the "skillful" view is that it
makes
judgments about form without
objective criteria for such
judgments.1
Conversely, the contemplative and didactic
views seek support from the
contents of the psalms in ques-
tion.
The book of Proverbs and
the
meaning
of lykWm
The Hiphil of lkW occurs
fifty-nine times in the HB.
A large plurality (thirteen
times) is found in the book of
Proverbs. Therefore, this book
may provide a base for
understanding the term lykWm. Other advantages of selecting
passages from this book are:
(1) several other uses are in
wisdom or wisdom-related
Scriptures, e.g., Job and Daniel;
(2) a common provenence between
Proverbs and several maskil
psalms in pre-exilic
istic construction in
well-defined aphoristic statements.2
Delitzsch denied that maskil indicates a didactic
psalm because:
It is improbable that maskil, which, in all other
instances, signifies intelligens, should, as a technical
term, mean intelligentem faciens, because the Hiphil,
hiskil,
in the causative meaning 'to impart understand-
ing,' occurs only in solitary
instances (Ps 32:8, Prov
21:11) in the Hebrew of the period before the Exile
1See Matson,
"SKL," p,. 5.
2Ibid., p. 11.
274
and only came into common use in the
later language (in
Daniel, Chronicles, and Nehemiah).1
That Hiphil causative of lkW can
mean "to instruct" is clear
from various places where it is
either parallel to a word
which connotes instruction or
where it takes a direct object
(cf. Ps 32:8; Ps 101:2; Prv
16:20, 23, and 2.1:11). Girdle-
stone cites MylykWmh in 2 Chronicles 30:22 in support of the
causative force of the root.2
The text uses the noun lkW
as its object. Girdlestone
accepts the KJV rendering,
. . . the Levites that taught
the good knowledge of the
Lord." RSV has "who
show good skill in the service of the
Lord." lkW means
"good sense . . . (or) insight" but not
"service."3
The adjective bvF
clearly modifies the noun
rather than the participle.
Proverbs 16:23 and 21:11
Proverbs 16:23 reads:
vhyp
lkWy MkH bl
Hql Jysy vytpw lfv
The heart of the wise teaches his
mouth
and to his lips he adds learning.
The parallel verbs lykwy and Jysy are
both causative
transitive verbs.
1Delitzsch, Psalms, 1:393-94.
2Robert B. Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old
Testament (
Company,
1897), pp. 224-25; cf. also BDB, p. 968.
3BDB, p. 968.
275
Proverbs 21:11 reads:
ytp-MkHy Cl-wnfb
tfd Hqy MkHl lykWhbv
wnf is a
Qal transitive infinitive construct: "When punish-
ing the scoffer, the simple
becomes wise." Its parallel
member in the second line, lykWh, also has a transitive
idea, i.e., it is a Hiphil
causative infinitive construct:
"and in teaching the wise
he receives knowledge."1
Proverbs 16:20 and 21:12
Proverbs 16:20 can bear the causative force. An
expanded translation might be
"one who gives moral (or
spiritual) instruction
concerning a matter will find good."
The participle lykWm ("one who gives moral instruction') is
parallel to the participle HFvb in the second colon. The
relevant words here translate
"one who trusts in Yahweh."
Thus this verse illustrates
both the didactic and moral
force of lykWm in the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 21:12 reads:
fwr
tybl qydc lykWm
frl Myfwr Jlsm
KJV has supplied several words
to clarify what this verse
says:
1It is best to translate
both infinitives construct
as active, against KJV and
NASB.
276
"The righteous man wisely considers the house of the
wicked; but God overthroweth the wicked for their
wickedness."
The verse employs lykWm as a
predicate adjective
with the subject qydc. The object is construed with l. The
verb-object pattern in verse
11, MkHl lykWhb is the
same as
in verse 12, . . . tybl . . . lykWm. Since
the Hiphil of
lkW
meant
"to teach" in verse 11, the same meaning can make
sense in verse 12. The
relationship between the two clauses
in verse 12 is not as clear as
for the two cola in verse 11.
If the subject qydc serves both clauses in verse 12, then
one clause may be subordinate
to the other, i.e., "When the
righteous (man) teaches the
house of the wicked, he over-
throws the wicked to
destruction."1
Proverbs 1:2-4
Proverbs 1:2-4 expresses the purpose of the book
with a series of infinitives
construct denoting purpose.
The purpose stated in verse 3
is "to receive lykWh rmvm, the
discipline of
instruction." Verse 3b indicates that such
instruction is of a moral kind.
It is instruction in qdc,
Fpwm, and Myrwym, or "righteousness, justice and
equity."2
The noun lkW
All six uses of lkW
Proverbs have a moral or
spiritual content. Obedience to
moral instruction produces
1 For this idea see
Matson, "SKL," pp. 41-42.
2NASB.
277
good insight.l A man's insight
is praiseworthy (12:8).
"Good insight produces favor" (13:15a). Insight is a source
of life (16:22). Insight produces longsuffering and
enables
its possessor to forgive those
who wrong him (19:11). A
lysk, or
morally stupid person,2 despises insight
(23:9).
Conclusion
The book of Proverbs supports the causative meaning
of lykWm, to teach or to give instruction. The use of
the
noun lkW in Proverbs shows that the content of
instruction
has a moral character. The use
of in Psalm 32:8 sup-
ports the idea that such
instruction is intended to result
in correct living before God.
The titles and content of
Psalms 32 and 78 make it highly
probable that other psalms
bearing lykWm in their titles are especially intended to
provide instruction in correct
living. This does not mean
that psalms without lykWm in the title do not provide this
kind of instruction. Its
presence simply emphasizes that
the reader should carefully
consider ways in which the psalm
teaches prudent behavior.
1In this paragraph the
underlined words are
translations
of lkW.
The references are to the book of
Proverbs.
2See BDB, p. 493.
278
Psalm 44
Using Psalm 32, the first maskil psalm, as a
starting point, one can readily
see how it is especially
instructional. The words are
not a prayer but they are
instructions to the audience
given by David. The subject is
basic. It concerns
acknowledgment of sin and forgiveness by
God. This may be David's
fulfillment of his promise in
Psalm 51:15. By comparison to
Psalm 32, Psalm 44 is a
prayer whose title indicates
the piece as part of the music
for public worship.
The
context of Psalm 44
Psalm 44 is a prayer of distress in which the com-
munity feels abandoned by God
to its enemies. Their
abandonment is felt keenly
because they have been faithful
to God. At the psalm's end they
appeal to God's dsH. How
is the psalm instructive? It is
not instructive in the same
sense as Psalm 32. Calvin's
remarks are helpful when he
says the word maskil
is sometimes found in the
inscription of psalms whose
subject is cheerful; but it is more
commonly used when
the subject treated is distressing;
for it is a singular
means of leading us to profit by the
instruction of the
Lord, when, by subduing the obduracy
of our hearts, he
brings us under his yoke.1
1John Calvin, Commentary on The Book of Psalms, 4
vols.,
trans. James Anderson (
Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1949), 2:149 (hereafter cited
as Calvin, Psalms).
279
How
Psalm 44 is a didactic poem
Calvin's point seems to be that, while the psalm, as
such, is not an instructional
piece, its subject matter,
when considered carefully,
promotes a proper way of life.
When one suffers undeservedly,
as one of God's own, he does
learn. The apostle Paul points
in this direction when,
after quoting Psalm 44:23 in
Romans 8:36, he says in verse
37, "in all these things
we overwhelmingly conquer through
Him who loved us." Psalm
44 is a maskil psalm in that, as
one contemplates its subject
matter or experiences analogous
conditions, he will be
instructed in God's way.
Psalm 78
The
didactic character of Psalm 78
The title to Psalm 78 is exactly the same as the one
for Psalm 74. The psalmist
assumes the position of a sage
and sets out to give his people
instruction, hrvt (v.
1),
which is rooted in God's law, hrvt (v. 5, the same word as
in v. 1). Each generation was
to pass on to the next what
God had done for
forget God nor be stubborn as
their fathers had been, but
would obey God's commandments
(vv. 7-8).
The psalm reviews the great provisions of God in the
Exodus, the wilderness, the
conquest and the occupation (vv.
9-64). Throughout those
centuries each generation was as
treacherous as its forebearers
(v. 57). God finally
280
abandoned
territories and chose
The
explicit lessons of Psalm 78
This psalm is patently didactic. In addition to its
direct claims to be
instructional, it reviews history so
that its explicit lessons will
not be lost on the current
generation. These lessons
concern trusting and obeying God
and neither forgetting His
works nor behaving stubbornly
towards God.
Psalm 88
A
synthesis of content
Psalm 88, an individual lament, begins with a
vocative cry to Yahweh
affirming that God is the psalmist's
only deliverance. Three times
he complains about his
unanswered prayers (vv. 2, 10,
14). The psalmist ends with
the further complaint that He
has left him alone in terror.
Perhaps this is a point of the
psalm; at the end, the
psalmist is still complaining,
alone and unanswered, but he
has not turned from God. He
thus re-affirms his opening
expression of confidence.
Psalm
88 compared with Psalm 74
This psalm is like Psalm 74 in that, as a prayer, it
ends without indication of
divine response and there is no
change of mood within the
psalm. But, unlike Psalm 74, the
281
title to Psalm 88 indicates
that it is both a maskil and a
part of the musical collection.
It is a ryw (a song), a
rvmzm (to he
sung to instrumental accompaniment), and Hcnml
(for the choirmaster). The long
title may indicate that it
would not easily be considered
a singable piece.
The psalm's singability may rest on the implied
promise to praise God (vv.
11-13). Here the psalm goes
beyond Psalm 74. The suppliant
asks, if God abandons him
to the grave, how can he praise
God? In saying this, he
affirms God's dsH, hnvmx, and hqdc (loyal love, faithfulness,
and righteousness; vv. 12, 13).
Psalm 74 does not
acknowledge these qualities in
God. This difference between
the psalms is an outgrowth of
the contrasting ways in which
these psalms begin„ Psalm 74
begins with a mood of
accusation and Psalm 88 begins
with affirmation of God.
How
Psalm 88 is a didactic poem
Psalm 88 may be didactic in a way similar to Psalm
44. The psalmist's sustained
dependence upon God in the
face of seemingly repeated
rejections by Him is instructive.
Contemplation and appropriation
of such a stance will
instill moral and spiritual
fibre in the one who focuses on
ways in which Psalm 88 is
especially didactic. The psalm
reminds one who considers what
the psalm says about its
speaker that a godly person may
come to this kind of
despondency and should be
considered compassionately by his
282
fellows. Barnes seems to concur
in this:
It was proper that such a condition
of utter despond-
ency, even in a good man, should be
described, in order
that others might see that such
feelings are not
necessarily inconsistent with true
religion, and do not
prove that even such a sufferer is not a child of God.1
Psalm 89
Synthesis
of content
The extended expression of confidence in God's
faithfulness (vv. 2-19) and the
psalmist's reminder to God
of His words concerning the
appointment of a Davidic dynasty
(vv. 20-38) are the context for
the lament of verses 39-52.
The poet addresses God, the
active agent in the distress of
the Davidic king. He emphasizes
the divine agency with a
schematic use of fourteen 2 ms
perfect verbs (vv. 39-46).
The psalmist then asks "how long?" concerning
the
divine wrath. He reminds God
that man's life is short. The
lament closes by reminding God
of His former dsH to the
Davidic line and of the present
reproach suffered by God's
servants. The latter noun is Mydbf (v. 51). Psalm 74 uses
neither dsH nor dbf, as
noted earlier. The last verse of
the lament reminds God that His
enemies, i.e., jybyvx (cf.
Ps 74:4, jyrrc), have reproached Yahweh and His anointed.
The speakers in Psalms 89 and
74 both identify the enemy as
God's enemy. In this manner
they seek to intensify God's
interest.
1Barnes,
Psalms, 2:362.
283
Comparison
of Psalm 89 with Psalm 74
The lament in Psalm 89 ends in a way similar to
Psalm 74. Psalm 89 leaves God
with the reproach of His
enemies as the concluding idea,
whereas Psalm 74 leaves the
shout of the enemy in God's
ear. These two psalms differ,
however, in a way similar to
the basic difference between
Psalms 88 and 74. The lament in
Psalm 89 has, as a main
feature of its context, the
terms dsH, hnvmx, and dbf. All
three words occur at both the
beginning and end of the psalm
(vv. 24 and 50-51). Psalm 74
avoids these terms.
How
Psalm 89 is a didactic poem
The lament in Psalm 89:39-52 has marked resemblances
to portions of Psalm 74. The
repetitious use of 2 ms per-
fect verbs is a more direct
indictment of God than the
"hymn" of Psalm 74.
The psalmist is as urgent in Psalm 89
but he does not attempt to put
God on the defensive as
happens in Psalm 74. The major
difference between the two
laments is the context
established in Psalm 89. The first
part of the psalm emphasizes
that God is loyal to His word,
faithful to His people, and
sovereign over all. It also
states that God chastises His
chosen kings when they trans-
gress His law but He promises
to maintain David's dynasty.
This implies that He restores
the transgressor if he
repents. The psalm is
especially instructive in that it
sets a proper conceptual
context in which to communicate
284
one's distresses to God. One
may seek relief even when
those distresses are the
consequence of transgressing God's
Law.
Psalm 137, Jeremiah 24, and Exilic
in Relationship to Psalm
74
Psalm 137
A
Survey of the Psalm
Structurally, Psalm 137 displays five movements:1
(1) the setting of the
principal action of the psalm, "There
we sat and wept" (vv.
1-2); (2) the immediate cause for
weeping, "Our captors
asked us . . . , 'sing for us from the
song (i.e., collection of
songs) of
reason for declining to sing,
i.e., such songs are not
appropriate to the
circumstances of the request (vv. 4-6).2
The final movements (4, 5) are
imprecations for Yahweh to
"remember"
A Mixed Genre
The first six verses include elements which may be
compared to complaints (vv.
1-3) and a confession of trust
1For a survey and
bibliography on various views of
the
structure, see William H. Shea, "Qinah Meter and
Strophic
Structure in Psalm 137," Hebrew
Annual Review, vol.
8,
ed. Reuben Ahroni (The Ohio State University, 1984), p.
201
(hereafter cited as Shea, "Psalm 137").
2Freedman rightly regards
these verses as the
"nucleus"
of a carefully composed chiasmus (David Noel
Freedman,
"The Structure of Psalm 137" in Near
Eastern
Studies in Honor of
William Foxwell Albright, ed. Hans
Goedicke [
285
(vv. 4-6).1 The imprecations of verses 7-9 may be
construed
as an extreme form of a wish
against the enemy.2 As
such,
these seem out of character
with the pious concern of the
first six verses. The psalm
includes features of communal
complaint, themes suitable to a
song of
guage appropriate to a wisdom
psalm.
Verses 1-6
The provenance of Psalm 137 has been a point of
discussion. The perfect verbs
and the use of MW
("there")
strengthen the probability that
the psalm was composed by a
1For the problem of genre
identification in this
psalm,
see Anderson, Psalms 2:896-97 and
Graham S. Ogden,
"Prophetic
Oracles Against Foreign Nations and Psalms of
Communal
Lament: The Relationship of Psalm 137 to Jeremiah
49:7-22
and Obadiah" JSOT 24 (October
1982):89-90 (hereafter
cited
as
does
not seek to identify the genre of Psalm 137 per
se but
he
does make a plausible case for a multi-level "Qinah or
lament
pattern in the psalm. He sees an unbalanced pattern
(usually
3:2) at the metrical, couplet, and strophic levels.
At
the strophic level Shea notes vv. 5-6. Vv. 5-6a are two
bicola
of self-cursing, while v. 6b is one bicolon of
implied
blessing. One need not agree with all of Shea's
proposals
to acknowledge the general validity of his obser-
vations.
See also Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101-150,
vol. 21.
Word Biblical Commentary, (
lisher,
1983), p. 237.
2C. Westermann (PLP, p. 52) implies that the
petition
of the communal lament may "wish" simultaneously
for
deliverance of the community and vengeance on the enemy
(as
in Ps 79:11-12). B. W. Anderson, (Out of
the Depths
[
Psalm
137:7-9 as "the most conspicuous example of impreca-
tion," but see also Psalm
83:13-17.
286
Judahite returned to
returned exiles recall their
concern for
beside waterways of
they remembered the city. The
reason for the intense
sadness was their captors,
mocking request for joyous songs
of
The nucleus of the psalm (vv. 4-6) takes the form of
a rhetorical question followed
by a self-imprecation. The
question is a forceful double
affirmation by the exiles
represented in this poem.
First, they equate
Yahweh, i.e., to honor the
former is to honor the latter.
To equate Yahweh with a
able. It would be mockery for
Yahweh's faithful ones to
sing of
the captors' capital to
"entertain" the captors would be
especially reproachful against
Yahweh.
The double-pronged self-imprecation underscores the
community's signal devotion to
Jerusalem.3 These verses
(5-6) continue the motif of
remembering Jerusalem-Zion. The
self-curses, perhaps extensions
of covenant curses for
1See especially vv. 1-3.
Commentators who agree
include
H. C. Leupold, Psalms, p. 932; A. A.
Anderson,
Psalms,
p. 897; Ogden, "Oracles," p. 89.
2Use of Mg emphasizes the verb hkb.
3Nymy refers to loss of
capacity to play an instru-
ment and Nvwl to inability to articulate with the mouth.
287
disobedience,1 soften the seemingly harsh imprecations
against the enemy that conclude
the poem.
Verses 7-9
Verse 7 implies that
Babylonian destruction of
object of a vaguely worded call
for divine vengeance.
Neither
8-9 are an imprecation
addressed to "the daughter of
take vengeance against Babylon.3 tb
(daughter, v. 8) pairs
with jyllf (your children, v. 9) to form an envelope
pattern
and make this imprecation
horrifyingly graphic. Both impre-
cations anticipate destructions
against
which earlier prophets had
announced.4
1See, e.g., Lev 26:33-44
with Deut 28:15-68 for a
conceptual
background of covenant curses as these may relate
to
Ps 137:5-6.
2Ogden,
("Oracles,"' p. 89), is not convincing when
he
suggests that lbb-tb refers to
confederate
vassal state to
cating
personification of cities and countries, see Allen,
Psalms 101-150, p. 237.
3 yrwx occurs twenty-six times
in Psalms. Only here
does
it announce blessing upon one who inflicts punishment
on
another. The expression is among "the typical stylistic
peculiarities"
in Old Testament wisdom literature (R. E.
Murphy,
"The Classification of Wisdom Psalms" in Studies in
Ancient Israelite
Wisdom,
ed. James L. Crenshaw [
KTAV
Publishing House, Inc., 1976], p. 459).
4E.g., against
51; against
288
The psalm is a unit with an inverted structure. It
begins and ends by mentioning
mises to "remember"
Zion-Jerusalem in an appropriate
manner.1 The last part petitions Yahweh to
"remember" the
enemy for what they did to
Similarities and
differences between
Psalms
74 and 137
Statements and implications in Psalm 74 show that,
from the community's
perspective, Yahweh has abandoned
(v. 2). The identity of the
human enemy is unspecified but
at times God also seems to be
an enemy. There is a sus-
tained contention with God,
along with a diminishing cer-
tainty about God's will or
power to respond to the crisis.
There is concern about God's
covenant faithfulness (v. 20).
Psalms 74 and 137 are similar in that the praying
body in each is pained. Both
express concern for
for Yahweh's reputation. Both
display intense feeling, yet
they differ in fundamental
ways. Psalm 74 views the calam-
ity from a virtual on-site
perspective. Psalm 137 contrasts
with Psalm 74 in that the
former seems to assume that God
will right the wrongs (see Ps
137:7-9). Psalm 137 identi-
fies the enemy and affirms the
exiles' covenant loyalty. A
willingness to suffer with
ately singing songs of
1Verses 5-6 may be
intended by the speakers to refer
to
their returned status as well as to their commitment:
while they were still in exile.
289
that undergird what is said.1 Both psalms face an unre-
solved problem but Psalm 74 has
a pervasive mood of
smoldering anger, whereas Psalm
137 is expecting its hope to
be vindicated.
Jeremiah
24
The
Placement of Jeremiah 24
Several commentators agree that Jeremiah 21-24 forms
a conceptual unit: within the
book.2 The
sequence begins
when a delegation from Zedekiah
consults with Jeremiah
(21:1-10). The prophet warns
23:8) and the false prophets
(23:9-40) then reports a vision
of two baskets of figs and
explains their relationship to
Zedekiah and others remaining
in
The bracketing passages share several features.
They each use exclusive
categories, i.e., life-death and
very good figs-very bad figs.3 Zedekiah, his officials, and
the remnant of
1Brueggemann's
description of Psalm 137 is cau-
tious.
"It is a musing, perhaps a statement of resolve for
any
who want to listen, not asking for response or even
agreement.
But it is a resolve not to be nullified."
(Brueggemann,
Psalms, p. 75).
2Their views on how the
unit is to be analyzed
differ.
See, e.g., Samuel J. Schultz, The Old
Testament
Speaks, 3rd ed. (
ers,
ers, 1980), pp. 332-34; Hobart E. Freeman, An
Introduction
to the Old Testament
Prophets (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1968),
p.
249; Robert Carroll, Jeremiah in OTL (
3Jer 21:1-10 and 24:1-10
respectively.
290
The passages differ in that
chapter 21 is a response to
Zedekiah's inquiry ca. 588 B.C.
while chapter 24 is Jere-
miah's report of a vision which
Yahweh gave to him, dated to
ca. 597. Chapter 24 also warns
Judeans dwelling in
and predicts a fearful
scattering and destruction from off
the God-given land.
The
good figs as the exiles
The good figs of Jeremiah 24, as those who were
exiled to
land, may include the speakers
of Psalm 137. These had been
in
homeland. The good figs were
not such due to "their piety
and godliness" but because
God would, in general, look with
favor upon them.1 In fact, some did prosper while in Baby-
lon (2 Kgs 25:27-30; Jer
29:4-7).
The Babylonian destruction fell on all the people--
royalty, religious
functionaries, and general populace--
because of prolonged rejection
of God's words through the
prophets (Jer 25:1-9). Clearly
some individuals, even among
those who remained in the land
after 597 and 586 B.C. were
1Charles L. Feinberg,
"Jeremiah," in vol. 3 of The
Expositor's Bible
Commentary,
ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand
Rapids:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), p. 528.
Jeconiah
was among the "good figs," yet he is given a mixed
reading
(cf. Jer 22:24-30 with 52:31-34). Also Ezek 14
implies
that the remnant in
Ezekiel are spiritually mixed
companies.
291
godly. These include Jeremiah
himself and Ebel-melech, an
Ethiopian eunuch.
The
bad figs as resisting exile
the attention of Zedekiah not
to infer that the exiles were
blameless (cf. Jer 5:1-9) but
"that Yahweh had positive
plans for the exiles,"
therefore, those remaining in the
land "should not feel
superior."1 The
ones remaining did,
in fact, feel justified in
assuming possession of property
vacated by the captives (Ezek
11:15; 33:24).2
A peaceful death was open to Zedekiah if he would
surrender (34:1-5), a choice he
spurned with disastrous
results (cf. 24:8-10 with 2 Kgs
25:7). Calvin perceives in
what sense those who remained
in
. . . As God had delayed his
punishment, they supposed
that they had wholly escaped,
especially as they had an
uncle as successor to their captive
king.
Hence, then, was their
contempt of threatenings;
hence, was their greater liberty in
sinning: they
thought that God had taken vengeance
on the exiles, and
that they were saved as being the
more excellent portion
of the community. The Prophet,
therefore, in order to
break down this presumption, which
he could not bend,
1William L.
the Book of the Prophet
Jeremiah, Chapters 1-25, ed. Paul D.
Hanson
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 656.
20n relationships between
Jer 24 and other OT
passages,
see Walter Zimmerlie, "Visionary Experience in
Jeremiah"
in
of Peter Ackroyd, ed. Richard Coggins et al. (
292
set before hem this vision, which
had been. given him
from above.1
Jeremiah 24: A possible
meeting point
for
Psalms 137 and 74
If Calvin's perception of the Jews who remained in
more excellent portion of the
community,"2 one
may see here
the seeds of an attitude that
could characterize others who
lived in the land throughout
much of the exilic era. Given
circumstances and a societal
structure outlined elsewhere,3
these "bad figs"
could spawn, among other attitudes, a dis-
position that would produce an
accusation of God similar to
that found in Psalm 74. Such
general indicators do not
permit a definitive statement
on how Jeremiah 24 might
relate to either Psalm 137 or
Psalm 74.4 The
vision (Jer
24) does provide a possible
meeting point in that Psalm 137
has a more positive orientation
toward God (good figs) and
the community of Psalm 74 is
resisting (bad figs) God's
present conduct of affairs that
seem important to the
people.
1John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the
Prophet Jeremiah and The
Lamentations,
3 vols., trans. John
Owen
(
1950),
3:225.
2Ibid.
3See below, pp. 293-95.
4It is clear that both Ps
137 and Jer 24 relate to
the same sixth-century
catastrophe.
293
Exilic Judah and Mixed Interests
Among
its Population in
Exilic Factions During
the
Seige
of 588 B.C.
There were factions in the city of
and after its sixth-century
destruction.1 During
a lull in
Nebuchadnezzar's final seige,
some royal officials charged
Jeremiah with traitorous acts
and imprisoned him. King
Zedekiah ordered his release
(Jer 37:11-18). This incident
suggests three factions: those
most loyal to Zedekiah; a
strong anti-Babylonian group;
and probably a few who were
strongly supportive of Jeremiah
(e.g., Baruch, Jer 45, and
Ebed-Melech, Jer 38:7-13;
39:18).
Nebuzaradan (an army officer) later burned the
temple, destroyed every
significant building and took most
of the residue of the
population into exile (2 Kgs 25:8-11).
The Babylonian king then
appointed Gedaliah as governor over
"the poorest of the
land" (1 Kgs 25:22, 12). Thereupon,
refugees from various lands
returned to Judah (Jer 40:11-
12). Among Gedaliah's charge
were several Judaean army
officers and likely additional
soldiers (2 Kgs 15:23). A
continuing interest in the
temple site, as it lay in ruins,
1Sources used for
surveying the history and biblical
data
on this era include John Bright, A
History of Israel,
3rd
edition (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1981),
pp.
324-72; Peter R. Ackroyd,
(hereafter
cited as
John
H. Hayes, A History of Ancient
delphia:
The Westminster Press, 1986), pp. 377-436.
294
is demonstrated by the
pilgrimage from northern cities en
route "to the house of
Yahweh" (Jer 41:5). This suggests
that possibly others with
similar concerns were scattered
throughout territories in both
north and south. The fact
that Gedaliah was placed over
"the cities of
40:5) implies a population
numbering in the thousands.
Factions Relating to Gedaliah's
Assassination
The complex makeup of the continuing population is
further illumined by Gedaliah's
asassination and its
aftermath. Ishmael, the
assassin, was supported by the king
of Ammon. That Ishmael was
"of the royal family" (2 Kgs
25:25; Jer 41:1) may suggest a
hope for early revival of the
Davidic monarchy.1 This, coupled with Johanan's plan to
take the rest of the populace
to
factions: those desiring a
Davidic king, some who may be
"agents" for foreign
interests and others who can be wooed
by
Even if all
were removed from
leadership (Jer 41:16-18;
43:5), it is likely that, in com-
ing decades, groups would
trickle back to their homeland.2
1
2Jeremiah anticipates a
return to
number
from
there
was a continuing population in
B.C.
(cf. Jer 52:30) are Ephraim Stern, "The Persian Empire
and the Political and Social
History of
295
The estate of any who remained
or soon returned was miser-
able (Lam 5:1-18). Within all
groups of Jews, wherever they
were, there were probably some
who had a lively interest in
137; Pss 74 and 79; Jer 41:5,
etc.).
A
suggested value in surveying the
post-586 B.C. population in
The foregoing is not a sociological analysis of the
Judean community in the period
under discussion. However,
it does show the probable
complex mix of interests which can
characterize a relatively small
number of people. The com-
bination of facts pointing in
the direction of the number,
diversity, and inner tensions
in this early post-586 B.C.
population intimates that a
community with these general
contours persisted in various
locations in
and 536 B.C. Living under a
variety of adverse conditions
could well have aggravated the
tenor of that populace.
Contributions of Studies in
Psalm 137,
Jeremiah 24 and Exilic Judah
to an
Understanding of Psalm
74
Although Psalm 74 did not necessarily originate in
the period described above, it
is easy to conceive of the
Persian
Period" in W. D. Davies and Louis Finkelstein,
eds.,
The
duction, The Persian
Period
(
University
Press, 1984), pp. 70-73 (Davies' volume hereafter
cited
as CHJI); also Leon J. Wood, A Survey of
History. Revised and enlarged
by David O'Brien (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House, 1986), p. 321.
296
psalm's words as an expression
of a beleaguered element
within a small society,
struggling to affirm the God of
their fathers, but incensed by
their circumstances as they
perceive them. In the absence
of data in the psalm or else-
where pointing to a reasonably
precise date of origin, it is
prudent not to attempt exact
identification of the event
which precipitated the psalm.
The foregoing assessment of
the post destruction years,
including observations relating
to Jeremiah 24, serves to
identify one kind of setting which
might elicit the words and
ideas of Psalm 74 from one whose
faith in God is not healthy.
Accordingly Psalm 137 helps to
identify a different spiritual
orientation among
scattered people.
A Note About Possible
Liturgical
Use of Psalm 74
The Mosaic sacrificial system in the Old Testament
attests a ritualistic dimension
in Israelite religion (cf.
Dt 26:1-10). There is accordingly
a high probability that
liturgical pieces accompanied
some of the ritual acts.1
Passages from the prophets
point in this direction.
Yahweh, through the prophet Joel, calls for a
national repentance in the face
of national disaster (Joel
2:12-14). He summons the whole
population to assemble at
1Harold H. Rowley, Worship in Ancient
(London:
S.P.C.K., 1967; paperback edition 1976) pp. 89,
118, 135-37 (hereafter cited as
Rowley, Worship).
297
the temple where priests should
intercede in a prayer of
lament which pleads for
Yahweh's pity and that He not give
His inheritance (i.e., His
people) over to hprH or
reproach
(Joel 2:17).1
He further assures the people of a favorable
response and reports Yahweh's
description of His promised
intervention (Joel 2:18-20).
Then he and Yahweh call for
rejoicing (vv. 21-25) and
praise (v. 26).2
Similarly,
Habbakuk's burden opens with a
complaint (Hab 1:2-4). His
prayer concludes with an
expectation of God's deliverance
and a promise to praise Him
(Hab 3:18-19). The work, set in
a national disaster, is
enclosed by major elements of the
lament genre.3
These examples show that laments in times of nation-
al disaster tend to have close
at hand some indication of
1Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah
and Micah. NICOT (
Publishing
Company, 1976) pp. 83-84 shows close parallels
betwen
Joel 2:17 and Psalm 79:8, 4, 10. For a more complete
discussion
of issues involved see G. W. Ahlstrom, Joel
and
the
2David's organization of
Levitical choirs may have
been
intended to serve such a situation as Joel 2:21-27.
See
1 Chr 16. Other laments in the OT followed by a Yahweh
oracle
assuring favorable respone to petition, in the
context
of lament, include 2 Chr 20:3-19 and Ps 60,
especially
vv. 8-10. The inclusion of Ps 70 within Ps 40 is
further
illustration of possible liturgical use of biblical
psalms
in general. See also Pss 15 and 24.
3For bibliography on
Habbakuk as a temple liturgy in
time
of disaster, see Rowly, Worship, pp.
167-68. Both a
superscript
and subscript identify Hab 3 as a psalm.
298
divine response which then
leads to some form of praising or
promise to praise by the
community. The reading of Psalm 74
which the present work proposes
does not include this
element.1
While one may venture the possible resolution of the
lament of Psalm 74 in a
liturgical setting, the psalm's
rhetorical features, pervasive
mood, and the lack of clear
indication of musical use in
the title suggest that one
should assess the psalm on its
own terms.2
1A survey of citations
from Psalm 74 in the
ian
Talmud does not help in ascertaining that the psalm was
used
in conjunction with a psalm of praise or some other
piece
that would point toward the resolution of the basic
tensions
in Psalm 74. The texts cited were Ps
74:5 in m.
'Aboth
4:5 and b. Nedarim 62a. These
passages all share
Mvdrq ("axe"), but this commonality
is unrelated to liturgi-
cal
use. Ps 74:6 is quoted in b.
Sanhedrin 96b as an
illustration
of the vigor with which the sanctuary was
attacked.
B. Menahoth. 36b cites Ps 74:11 in a manner
unrelated
to the question of liturgical use. M.
'Aboth 5:4
refers
to ten "WONDERS" at the
text
lists Ps 74:13 as recalling one of these wonders, i.e.,
the
waters "congealed and hardened." B.
Gittin 56b cites
Titus'
attack upon the temple (70 A.D.) as illustrative of
God's
adversaries roaring in the sanctuary, as in Ps 74:4.
The
edition consulted was Isidore Epstein, ed., The
Baby-
lonian Talmud Translated
into English with Notes, Glossary
and Indices 62 vols. and index (
Publications,
Inc., 1959). A later revision of this work,
not
available to this writer, is Isidore Epstein, ed., The
Babylonian Talmud
Translated into English with Notes,
Glossary and Indices [Rev. Ed.] 18 vols. and
index (
Soncino
Press, 1961).
2The relationship of
communal lament psalms to
congregational
praise psalms, especially in terms of liturgy
in ancient Israelite religion,
merits further study.
299
A Summary of Contributions of Communal
Lament
Psalms, Asaph Psalms, and Maskil
Psalms
to an Understanding of
Psalm 74
Communal Lament Psalms
Psalm
44
Psalm 44, in contrast to Psalm 74, unambiguously
affirms trust in God by means
of its opening expression of
confidence and its closing
appeal to God's loyal love.
These factors demonstrate the
community's embrace of God in
spite of His seeming desertion
of them though they are
innocent. They are confident
that God will act favorably
though they have no present
evidence.
Psalm
60
The heading and content of Psalm 60 give a speci-
ficity of historical occasion
as the cause of lament which
Psalm 74 lacks. Psalm 60,
renouncing dependence upon man
for deliverance, affirms that
the community's only hope is
in God. Psalm 74 tends to
rebuke God rather than express
total dependence upon Him. The
contrasting titles and
structures of Psalms 60 and 74
suggest that Psalm 74 was
intended for other than musical
presentation.
Psalm
79
By comparing Psalm 79 with Psalm 74 the enemy in the
latter is not unambiguously
only Gentiles. There the people
300
are servants and godly ones,
terms which stress that they
are under God. Corresponding terms in Psalm 74 stress the
affliction of the people. Psalm
74's non-use of yndx fits
this pattern.
Psalm 80
Psalm 80 is a piece to be sung. The people imply
their own guilt and explicitly
depend upon God. None of
these observations are
attributable to Psalm 74. Comparing
Psalms 44, 60, 79, and 80 with
Psalm 74, one wonders why in
the latter, the community
neither affirms its innocence (as
in Psalm 44) nor acknowledges
sin (as in Psalm 79).
Asaph
Psalms
Psalm 50
Use of lykWm in the
title and lack of terms relating
to music, contrary to most
Asaph psalms, suggests that Psalm
74 is primarily intended to
promote reflection and wise
consideration of its message.
Psalm 50 is a Yahweh speech
which affirms that God will
certainly judge the wicked and
vindicate the righteous. The
community in Psalm 74 seems
unaware or unconvinced that
this is so, although this is
clearly their concern. Psalm 50
also emphasizes that God is
greatly concerned about the
behavior of people who profess
His name, a subject which is
not raised in Psalm 74.
301
Psalms
73 and 75
The psalmist in Psalm 73 is puzzled by the well-
being of the wicked. Upon
entering the sanctuary he
realized the destiny of the
wicked and that he himself was
continually with God regardless
of troubles in his life.
The psalmist's initial question
about the justice of God was
resolved. Psalm 75 is a
communal hymn praising God that as
judge, He exalts one and puts
down another and is righteous
in doing so.
Psalm 74, unlike Psalm 73, is not a wisdom psalm as
such but the community is
concerned about the same issue as
in Psalm 73. For the community,
the problem is not resolved
within Psalm 74. But the one
who ponders Psalm 74 in the
light of the psalms on either
side will realize what had
eluded the people who are
speaking within the psalm. A
psalms compiler, perhaps
deliberately, placed these three
psalms together to show how
intense suffering may distort
the thinking and assault the
faith of the believing
community. The reader knows
that the problem within Psalm
74 is resolved along lines
featured in Psalms 73 and 75.
Psalms
76, 77, 82-83
The psalmist in Psalm 76 recognizes that God
delivers the "humble of
the land." The individual in great
distress in Psalm 77 still
affirms God's loyal love,
302
gracious acts, and compassions.
The psalmist expects God to
judge those who oppress the
vulnerable, a point on which the
community expresses doubt in
Psalm 74. Psalms 74 and 83 are
similar except that the
psalmist in Psalm 83 desires the
enemy to seek God and know His
exalted character. Psalm 74
does not rise to this level.
Maskil Psalms
Because of the meaning of in
the book of
Proverbs and its use in the
titles to Psalms 32 and 78, it
is likely that a maskil psalm
is one which is especially
intended to provide instruction
in correct living. These
psalms are not all instructive
in the same way. The psalms
previously examined illustrate
a variety of ways in which
these psalms are didactic.
Psalms
32, 78, 88-89
Psalms 32 and 78 purport to be instructional words
by an individual who assumes
the role of a teacher. Psalm
44 uses prayer words rather
than teaching words, but the
prayer is instructive as one
contemplates the teaching
potential of undeserved
suffering, aggravated by unanswered
prayer. Psalm 88 is didactic in
a similar way. The
lamenter's initial affirmation
that God is his only
deliverance has not been
rejected even though no answer to
the prayer is indicated. Psalm
89 emphasizes the value of
303
complaint to God even when the
distresses are consequences
of transgression. The complaint
should be presented with
full awareness that God is
faithful to His words whether
these are words of promise or
warning.
Psalm
74
Psalm 74 is a didactic psalm. Its function, as
such, must be articulated in
the context of other didactic
psalms. Psalms 32, 74, 78, and
142 are the only maskils
which do not indicate a musical
function, whether in the
title or the content. Psalm 142
is distinctly a lament
prayer but the last verse
implies that David has received
assurance that God will answer.
Psalm 74 is the only maskil
prayer that has no musical
indication and no assurance of an
answer. Its intended function,
according to its title,
seems most like the patently
instructional Psalms 32 and 78.
As a prayer, it is different
from these. Psalm 74 is a
didactic psalm in that it
indicates that a believer can come
under such distress that he
loses perspective on how to
properly relate to God. Though
God is diminished in his
eyes, it is still God to whom
he appeals.
CHAPTER V
THE MEANING OF PSALM 74
The Meaning of Psalm 74 Based upon
Exegesis and Structure
Verses 1, 10-11, and 20:
An Axis for Psalm 74
The psalm begins with the psalmist's direct question
to God concerning His seemingly
interminable anger against
His people.1 The sheep-pasture metaphor and the
incongruity
of the wrath of God, the
Shepherd, smoking against His
sheep, expands the question
about anger (v. la, lb). This
mood of questioning God's
continuing anger against
sustained at least through
verses 10-11. Only verse 1 has
specific terms for anger, but
the question words of verses
10-11 maintain the opening
mood. The direct imperative of
verse 20, "Look carefully
at the covenant," suggests that
the psalmist thinks that God is
not acting in accord with
His promise to the nation.
Thus, the basic mood of dissat-
isfaction runs unrelieved
throughout the psalm.
Using verses 1, 10-11, and 20 as an axis indicating
the community's present views
of God and its view of itself
1The words
"psalmist" and "community" are used
interchangeably throughout this
discussion.
304
305
in relationship to God, a
number of theological propositions
suggest themselves.
What
the community affirms about God
God is approachable by His people and hears their
prayers of distress. He may
become exceedingly angry with
His people, and, as verse 1
indicates, this anger may con-
tinue for a long time. God is
the shepherd of His people.
While "shepherd" is
likely an epithet of God's kingship over
His people, the metaphor
nevertheless implies certain rela-
tionships which God sustains
with His people. Verse lb
teaches that He feeds His
People. This involves provision
of actual food but also implies
the larger idea that God
sustains His people to the
extent of preserving their life.
For this psalmist, God seems,
at present, to be contra-
dicting dicting that sustaining
work.
Viewing verses 10-11 as part of an axis in Psalm 74,
further ideas surface. The
three questions raised by verses
1, 10-11, "why?"
(twice) and "how long?," indicate that God
sometimes acts in ways that not
only puzzle His People, but
disturb them. One might speak
of the disturbing ways of God
with His people. Specifically,
from verse 11, God does not
always act with destructive
force against the enemy at the
time the praying community
thinks He should.
Verse 20, the third point of the axis, implies that
the community believes that God
has entered into covenant
306
relationship with the nation
and that He is presently remiss
in fulfilling His obligation
within that covenant. The
questions of verses 1, 10, and
11 and the imperative of
verse 20 combine to demonstrate
another dimension of the
community's view of God. The
Almighty, in some sense, can
be called to account by His
people for His actions or non-
actions actions in relationship
to them. The community does not
soften this perspective within
this psalm. In the context
of the Old Testament, this
conception of God is erroneous,
but it demonstrates that the
people believe that they can
approach Him openly and
honestly.
In summary, based on verses 1, 10-11, and 20 as an
axis of Psalm 74, the community
believes that God hears bold
and candid prayers of His
people. Although God, as king,
accepts the responsibility to
preserve His people, He can
also be angry with them. An
obverse of His anger against
His people is His failure to
destroy the enemy.l
Finally,
the community believes that God
enters into covenant with
His people and, thereby,
commits Himself to do certain
things for them. This covenant
then becomes a basis on
which the people appeal to God.
What
the community affirms about itself
Verses 1, 10-11, and 20 show that the community
believes it has both the right
and privilege of appeal to
1The enemy is styled in,
the psalm as God's enemy,
but, in fact, he is also the
enemy of the people.
307
God. The mood of the psalm
implies that they appeal more on
the basis of right than
privilege. However, in light of the
whole Old Testament, this
orientation should be reversed.
As the psalm unfolds, the
foundation of this appeal is an
affirmation of God, i.e., the
people's faith in Him is the
basis of their prayer. The
frequent vocative addresses to
God (vv. 1, 10, 12, 18, 22)
demonstrate this underlying
faith.
The community views itself as God's flock and for
this reason, as warranting His
protection and provision.
That they understood the royal
implications of the
shepherd-flock metaphor seems
evident from verse 12 where
they address God as king. Yet,
as they claim His
protection, they also challenge
His absolute kingship in
raising questions (vv. 1, 10,
11) and in implying covenant
remissness (v. 20). There is no
explicit hint in the psalm
that they are under God. In
effect, they are contending
with Him and attempting to
bring Him into line with their
perspective on their present
distress.
Verses 2 and 12-17: A
Recalling
of the Distant Past
What
the community affirms about God
As the community recalls, in these two passages,
acts by God in behalf of
dox beliefs about God. However,
their present appropriation
308
of these truths may be tenuous
due to their great distress.
They may be using them to chide
rather than applaud God.
Nevertheless, the people affirm
that He created them as a
nation long ago (for a similar
thought, cf. Isa 43:7) and
that He redeemed them in such a
way that they became His in-
heritance. God is their creator
and their redeemer. They
also affirm that He, in some
sense, dwelt on
focusing on His presence or
immanence with His people.
Verses 12-17 include an address to God (v. 12)l and
a hymn form (vv. 13-17) which
focuses on His beneficial
acts, presumably in behalf of
the nation long ago. This
passage is not explicit as to
which acts the psalmist
intends. The exegesis sought to
show that verses 13-14 are
probably a metaphorical
reference to the Exodus event, that
15a recalls the provision of
water in the wilderness and
that 15b-17 recall aspects of
the crossing of the
the conquest, and a means for
agricultural productivity in
the land. Verses 2 and 12-17
each sharply contrast with
verses 1 and 4-11 respectively.
This passage (vv. 12-17) also implies certain
affirmations about God. Most
prominently, He is king of
the psalmist and of
worker of victories or
deliverances, demonstrating His might
1The 1cs in verse 12 is
nevertheless also
representative of the
community.
309
in the past by defeating a
mighty foe. God works through
the same event to destroy
armies in the sea and sustain
creatures in the desert. He
controls water for man's bene-
fit, i.e., brings water out of
the rocks and dries up rivers
to provide a way of passage. He
rules the stellar bodies so
that they serve the needs of
man. Normally, man needs the
regularity of day and night,
winter and summer, but he may
need special intervention by
God as in Joshua's "long day."
God controls both nations and
the natural order (vv.
13-17). The entire passage points
in the direction of His
kingship over
universal king. The psalmist
seems to be using these
implied propositions to
encourage or shame Him into inter-
vening in the present crisis.
If God controls movements
upon earth and in the heavens,
why does He not now destroy
His enemy on
What
the community affirms about itself
Man is capable of appreciating his own position as
God's congregation and His
chosen inheritance. He can also
recognize that God has chosen
to dwell in his midst (v. 2).
The psalmist demonstrates
further that he can recall and
rehearse in forceful hymnic
fashion God's great acts from
the past. Usually in the Old
Testament this style and sub-
ject matter constitute a hymn
of praise.
310
In the structure of Psalm 74, however, verses 2 and
12-17 seem to be conditioned by
negative statements or
inferences about God on both
sides of these otherwise posi-
tive expressions. Thus, while
the psalmist demonstrates a
capacity to praise God, he can
use that capacity to chide or
even shame Him. This seems
especially possible with the
strong 2ms emphasis (vv. 12-17)
coupled with the fact that
this passage is bracketed by
statements that implicitly
rebuke God for allowing the
enemy to verbally abuse and deny
Him. With words of prayer, the
psalmist may himself be
demeaning God. If this is so,
the psalmist is, to some
degree, guilty of the same
offense for which he wants God to
judge others.
Verse 3: What the
Psalmist
Believes About
God
God can intervene in the distresses of His people.
Verse 3a also implies that He
has absented Himself from Mt.
in heaven, believes that God
has distanced Himself from the
community's earthly scene.
Verse 3b implies that God is
concerned about the temple site
as a holy place.
Verses 4-11: Implications and
Assumptions
About God by the Community
Verses
4-7
The psalmist now seeks to induce divine action. by
describing terrible acts by the
enemy and referring to God's
311
sanctuary and the dwelling
place of God's name. The psalm-
ist implies that his view of
the temple and God's view are
the same. In a sense,
therefore, the psalmist gives some
credence to the erroneous
notion: God's thoughts are like
man's thoughts.
Verses
8-9
The psalmist seeks to move God to act by reporting
adverse conditions that prevail
in relationship to the
community. By means of this
report, he implies that God is
concerned about the well-being
of His people and that He
normally communicates His plans
to His people by means of a
prophet. The reverse of the
latter is also implied; God
sometimes denies His Word to
His people.1
Verses
10-11
These questions by the psalmist are built upon an
assumption about God: God
allows the enemy to reproach and
deny His name. Since the
questions are complaints, one may
probe possible reasons that the
psalmist makes the above
stated assumption. These
reasons, in their turn, suggest
additional assumptions: first,
God's view about what
reproaches His name is the same
as the psalmist's view.
Second, God is not able to deal
with this enemy, although
1The Old Testament
elsewhere teaches that, if God's
people
lack His Word, it is because they have spurned an
earlier word from God; cf. Amos
7:14-16; 8:10-11.
312
verses 12-17 may be an attempt
to dismiss this assumption.
Third, God does not desire to
punish the enemy. Fourth,
God's timing for confronting
the enemy is the same as the
psalmist's. Fifth, related to
the previous idea, God's
objectives for allowing enemy
activity have been achieved.
Verses 18-23:
Implications
by the Community
Concerning
God
In these verses the community views God as refusing
to act against a reproachful,
boisterous enemy (vv. 18, 22b
-23). In this respect, this
series of precatives is similar
to verses 10-11. Verses 18 and
21 suggest an obverse to
this. God has abandoned His
people, making them vulnerable
to the enemy. He may also
humiliate His people by refusing
to answer their prayer (v.
21a). God's failure to punish
the enemy and protect His
People may be the basis of the
psalmist's major perspective in
verses 18-23. God is remiss
in fulfilling His covenant.
Anti-climactic to the charge
concerning covenant violation,
the psalmist views God as
being in need of pleading His
own case, i.e., He believes
God should defend Himself or,
to put it differently, God is
vulnerable.
Concerning
the community
Verses 18-23 taken together, especially in light of
the prominence which the
structure accords to covenant
313
violation and the successive
imperatives which call on God
to defend Himself, suggest
additional views that the commu-
nity has about itself. It
believes that it has adequately
defended its initial accusatory
"why?" (v. 1) and if God
does not act in accord with the
prayer, His reputation in
the eyes of onlookers will be
diminished. The community
assumed that its own
perspective on its distress and what
God ought to do is generally
correct.
The Meaning of Psalm 74 Based
upon
Surveys in Selected
Sumerian
City
Laments
Sumerian city laments existed for centuries before
and after the biblical laments
were in use. The complaints,
appeals, subject matter,
parallelisms, and structure of the
two lament traditions are very
generally analagous. Thus,
Psalm 74 was a part of its Near
Eastern environment and used
aspects of a general and
ancient literary tradition.
Theologically, Psalm 74 is a striking contrast to
the Sumerian laments. Psalm 74
has a more complex and com-
pact structure. Its brevity
compared to the Sumerian
laments emphasizes the intense
variety of expression within
the psalm compared to the
Sumerian works. This dynamic
expression perhaps reflects the
dynamic relationship between
man and God in the psalm. In
the Sumerian material, man has
no vital relationship to the
gods. Gods pray to gods, but
man seldom prays to the gods.
314
Psalm 74 assumes that God is the only God in con-
trast to the polytheism of the
Sumerian poems in which no
god is really supreme.
Paradoxically, the Sumerian poems,
with their less than sovereign
gods, have no counterpart to
the community contending with
God in Psalm 74. Though this
contention is not demonstrably
appropriate, it does testify
to a concept of intimacy with
God that is foreign to the
Sumerian literature.
The Meaning of Psalm 74 Based
upon
Selected Studies in
Other
Biblical
Psalms
Psalm 74 stands apart from all of the psalms which
were compared with it in
chapter five in a major respect.
Of those psalms, all included
one or more of the following:
unambiguous praise of God;
confession of sin; claim of
innocence from specific
transgressions; acknowledgement of
God's loyal love, faithfulness
or compassions; terms which
specifically place the
suppliant under God, e.g., servants
or godly ones; some specific
indication within the psalm,
that the problem which prompted
the complaint or prayer
would be resolved. Psalm 74 has
none of these features.
A Comparison of Psalm 74 With
Communal
Lament Psalms and Asaph
Psalms
Psalm 74 is like other communal laments in its
subject matter and elements
normally included in such a
lament, but it uses these
elements differently. The
315
complaint is more sharp and
bold in Psalm 74 and its hymn
probably has a negative rather
than positive function. This
psalm is also like other Asaph
psalms in that it raises the
basic issue of divine justice
in relationship to the dis-
tress of God's people.
It is unlike these psalms in that it puts God on
trial and implies that He is
the vulnerable one. Other
Asaph psalms affirm that He is
the righteous judge and the
righteous and the wicked will
each ultimately receive appro-
priate blessing or retribution.
In light of these ways in
which Psalm 74 differs from
other formally similar psalms,
Psalm 74 is not an appropriate
pattern for praying in time
of distress. While its
directness and subject matter are
exemplary, one should avoid its
abuse of directness and its
tendency to demean God,
A Comparison of Psalm 74 with
Maskil Psalms
Psalm 74, compared with other maskil psalms, is dif-
ficult to explain. However,
viewed as a didactic psalm, not
in terms of an example of how
to pray, but as an index to
conditions and potentialities
of godly people under great
distress, the psalm may promote
numerous insights: (1)
Faith under prolonged trial may
assume a strange posture.
(2) One must have other biblical
psalms in order to assess
and appreciate the uniqueness
of Psalm 74. (3) Great stress
can cause a believer to
challenge God's position as God; one
316
should be forewarned concerning
this by observing the
process at work in Psalm 74.
(4) One should appropriate
from similar psalms certain
elements, conspicuous by their
absence in Psalm 74, which
would prevent or correct the
severe disorientation to God
evident in Psalm 74. (5) One
should be compassionate toward
and ready to counsel from the
Scriptures a distressed
believer whose confidence in God is
tending towards the state of
doubting evident in this Psalm.
A General
Statement
Psalm 74 is a communal lament psalm which bears
several unique features. It is
a prayer by a community
which has suffered prolonged
distress. The tendency of the
people to meet God on an equal
plane contradicts their af-
firmation of God's kingship.
The suppliant has contradicted
itself in other ways in the
psalm. The prayer reflects a
lively but diminishing faith.
It is significant that there
is no implied response from God
within the psalm. By the
end of the psalm it is possible
that the community thinks
God is its enemy when, in fact,
the community is contesting
with God.
An Assessment of the Prayer of
Psalm 74
from New Testament
Perspectives
Hebrews
4:16
Psalm 74 is a bold prayer arising from a deep sense
of need. The writer to the
Hebrews exhorts the needy to
317
come boldly "with freedom
of speech" to the throne of grace
to find mercy and grace for
their need. The open speech of
the laments is appropriate but
such openness should be
accompanied by seeking God's
grace and loyal love. This
dimension is missing from Psalm
74.
1
Corinthians 10:13
Suffering is a common lot of mankind. God is
faithful. He will not allow His
own to be tested above the
sufferer's ability to bear the
test (1 Cor 10:13). The
immediate context of this
pronouncement by the apostle Paul
(cf 1 Cor 10:12, 14) implies a
need for renunciation of
confidence in all but God
alone. The community's sense of
the faithfulness of God is weak
in Psalm 74; hence there
is a tendency to depend on
argument to elicit God's
intervention.
Matthew
6:9-13
The prayer that Christ taught His disciples to pray
is suitable for an Old
Testament context. The prayer should
acknowledge God's fatherly
concern (cf. Isa 9:6; Jer :31:9).
It should hold God's name in
proper esteem, a dimension
which the prayer of Psalm 74
formally recognizes. The con-
cern for God's kingdom and
accomplishment of God's will on
earth are alluded to in Psalm
74 but the community's own
embracing of God's kingship is
not clear. The issue of
forgiveness of debts, i.e.,
sins, is missing from Psalm 74,
318
though it is present explicitly
or implicitly, where rele-
vant, in most other psalms
studied. It is significant that
Psalm 74 does not reflect the
full scope of a prayer pattern
commended by Christ. This fact
cautions the reader on how
he should assess Psalm 74.
Summary and Conclusions
The introduction to this dissertation noted that,
while most biblical laments
move from lament to praise, this
movement in Psalm 74 is almost
non-existent. The praise
element that at first seems
present is rather a means which
the community uses to chide God
to action. The psalmist
struggles between embracing God
in confident trust and
accusing Him of excessive anger
and covenant neglect. In
view of this downside nature of
the psalm, the question of
the psalm's significance for
the past and present becomes a
prominent issue.
Concerning Content and
Structure
The proposition for this study is: The present
significance of Psalm 74 is
best articulated on the basis of
careful attention to its
content, structure, and function as
indicated by its own text and
context. Chapter one expound-
ed sufficient vocabulary and
grammar to identify moods and
movements in the psalm. On the
basis of a clear picture of
the text of the psalm, chapter
two sought to identify promi-
nent structural features in
order to determine conceptual
319
movements and emphases. This
study showed that the opening
mood of the psalmist's
objection to God's prolonged anger
persisted to the end. The
psalmist's response climaxed with
the unusual charge that God was
remiss in keeping covenant
commitments. The psalm closes
with an inference that God
must now rise to His own
defense, an idea unique to Psalm
74.
Concerning Sumerian Laments
Chapter three showed some general features that
Psalm 74 shares with ancient
Sumerian city laments. Strik-
ing features of the former, when
the latter are compared
with it, include the assumption
that there is only one God.
Most striking is the dynamic
relationship between the
community and God evident in
the lively prayer of Psalm 74.
Concerning Biblical Psalms
Chapter four showed how this psalm shares common
themes with both communal
lament and Asaph psalms, yet tends
to use these themes in ways
quite different from other
psalms in these classes. The
absence of terminology in
Psalm 74 that shows the
community's submission to God and
acknowledges God's grace or
faithfulness, sets it apart from
all other psalms used in the
comparison. This psalm leaves
one with the picture of a
distressed, bitter, accusing com-
munity; apparently a believing
community whose confidence in
God is waning.
320
The major clue to the psalm's function came in exam-
ining how Psalm 74 is a maskil
psalm or a didactic poem.
It was shown that the psalm is
didactic primarily as an
evidence that the condition of
the diminishing faith of a
distressed community is a
potential for any believer or com-
pany of believers.
Contemplation of this potential invites
the compassion and concern of
other believers. It stirs the
one who ponders this Scripture
in a manner advocated by this
dissertation to use the
Scriptures for oneself and others in
order to prevent or relieve the
condition of weakening and
cynical faith evident in the
psalm.
This prayer thus encases a potential condition that
is unwelcome, yet, timeless. As
a single psalm, Psalm 74 is
a warning that many correct
beliefs can be distorted or
pushed into the background of
one's thinking. As a psalm
within the canon, Psalm 74
underlines the importance of
considering psalms close by and
throughout the Bible in
order to develop a proper
perspective on the target psalm.
Concerning Meaning
Chapter five outlined numerous theological affirma-
tions, assumptions, and
implications in Psalm 74. Viewed
from its theological
contributions, the passage enhances a
proper view of God and of the
dynamic relationship between
God and the believer. However,
it can also show how dis-
tressing experience sometimes
diminishes God to a position
321
closer to man in the eyes of
the distressed one. Psalm 74
is a forceful example of the
dangers arising from a failure
to recognize man's sinful state
and failure to applaud God's
faithfulness and compassions to
His elect.
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Please report any errors to Ted
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