Psalms

Hebrew Bible

Wisdom.

I. Overview of Sapiential Literature.

a) Terminology. b) Sapiential Books.
C Sapiential Books in the Canon of Scripture TaNaK canon isn't Old Testament.

• Jewish: Ketuvim: PS, Job, Proverbs, Megilloth {scrolls: song, ecclesiastes, ruth, esther, lamentations} (Daniel, Ezra/Nehemia 1/2 Chronicles).
  

• Xn: Pentateuch, Prophetic, Poetic, Historical.
  

• Torah - God's Law, Neviim - mediation of the word, Kethuvim - human response.
  

• Historical - past, Poetry - Now, Prophetical - future.

II Authorship.

Wisdom. I. Overview of Sapiential Literature. II Authorship. III Origins, aims and principles. IV Currents in Israelite Wisdom. V Wisdom among the Nations. Canticles. 1. Name date author. ’Vanity of vanities…’ The Wisdom of the Book of Qohelet. I INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. II THE CONTENT OF THE BOOK. Reading of Qohelet. Intermezzo. The Book of Psalms. Introduction. Name. Structure. Psalms and the cult? Author. Date. Reading Biblical Poetry. a. Prose vs poetry. b. Colon/stichos c. Parallelismus membrorum d. stanza. Strophe. f. Sounds. Examples Psalm 131 Psalm 137. Psalm 58. Excursus.

a.Traditional Authorship.


1. precritical views - no single author, but attributed to one person. Traditionally,
   

• Job was written by Moses. Ez 14,14-20 there is a link between the character of moses and the character of Job.
  

• Proverbs - Prov 1:1 attributed to Solomon.
  

• Ecclesiastes - The words of Quoheleth, son of David, king of Jerusalem.
  

• Song - 1:1 Solomon mentioned as author - with the above two, are called the Solomonic books.
  

• Wisdom - Solomon.
  

• Ben Sirach - 200 BC - never attributed to magnificent figure, and perhaps this is why it jpwas not accepted. Last verse 50:27 - work of Jesus Ben Sirach. The rabbis used it and quoted it, but didn't include it in the canon.
  

• Solomon and Wisdom.
  

• Quintessential wise king of the Old Testament Tradition 1 Kgs 3:5-15, 1 Kgs 4 - 'ask what I should give you - I do not know how to go out or come in. (This is a Merism - two ends indicate the the whole) Give your servant an understanding mind Lev shomeah.' Solomon asks to become a wise judge or statesman. 1 Kgs 3:16-28 Solomons judgment of the two women quarrelling over an infant. 1 Kgs 5:9-14 Encyclopedic knowledge - knew stars, all the plants and animals: the cedar and the hyssop (Merism). 1 Kgs 10:1-8 Queen of Sheba impressed by solomon's ability to solve riddles. Wis 7:15-23 Solomon speaks of his wisdom.
  

• Later traditions, solomon is seen to have occult knowledge, power over demons. This is found in Qumran scrolls, Pseudo-Philo, Flavius Josephus Antiquitates Judaicae, Testament of Solomon. At the time of the building of the temple, there was an overseer who was possessed. The archangel michael gave solomon a ring with the pentagram which had power over demons. Later solomon fell to the hands of demons - so the message is not to traffic with demons.

III Origins, aims and principles.

1. Origins - Gerhard von Rad - Wisdom in Israel - most important book on wisdom literature. Says it is difficult to define 'wisdom' or 'sapiential' literature because it is so diverse.
   

• Wisdom is practical skill Ex 36:8, 35:25-26; 1 Kings 7:14) wisdom is the practice of life - all those with skill made curtains - is HKM - savoir vivre. Greek has Sophia - a carpenter is described as sophos. Arete in greek is skill. Wisdom is practical, and it is connected with love. Wisdom is about here and now, help here and now to be a good person.
  

• Wisdom is transcendent, comes from God, preestablished in creation Prov 8:22-31. Wisdom is in creation to be found by people. 'The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, at the first before the mountains and hills...' Both facets are found in wisdom literature.
  

2. Aims - theory of cause and effect - wisdom literature inspires people to do good in life so that good things come their way: Karma. This is the attitude of Wisdom literature. Texts are concerned with preservation of order and civilization. This is in contradistinction to another strain: Suffering of good people is a dilemma, e.g. Job's archetypal suffering. Disorder is also inherent in creation.
   

3. profane literature - is this really sacred literature? None of the great theological themes are found in the books. In contradistinction, another strain has the importance of order, related to the theology of creation. Foundation of wisdom is the fear of the Lord Prov 9:10 Reverence and piety. Aim - help people leade a good life.

IV Currents in Israelite Wisdom.

• Julius Wellhausen 19th Century 1) religious history of Israel could be reconstructed from biblical sources and you will find developments in doctrine. 2) Are the double aspects of wisdom literature related to this evolution, from anthropocentric wisdom to theocentric wisdom. Conventional, Academic and Revealed Wisdom:
  

1. Conventional Wisdom. - Israelites lived in families and clans, as nomads, then farmers. Survival was based on common sense, skills for survivals. This was collected in maxims and short proverbs, sometimes using images from agriculture. Proverbs 15:17 better vegetables where love is than a fatted ox with hate; 25:24 Better to live in corner of the housetop than to share the whole house with a contentious wife; 26:14 as a door turns on its hinges, so the lazy person in bed.
   

2. Academic Wisdom. - From the time of the monarchy and urban culture with diplomacy, law, economics. Schools of wisdom were linked to life at court and had more cultivated language and images. Professional ethos of judges, scribes and kings. Prov 16:12-15 It is an abomination for kings to do evil....; 25:4-5 Take the dross from the silver and there is material for the vessel - take the wicked from the king and he can establish his throne in righteousness. It is supposed at this stage that the literature became increasingly international. More complex industrial images.
   

3. Revelation Wisdom. - Babylonian exile 587-538BC, and post-exilic period. This was no longer practiced by the King's council, but by the priestly scribes. There is the theologization of wisdom, Spiritualization. Personification of Lady Wisdom (Prov 8:22-31; Sir 24; Wis 6:22-11:1). Wisdom is linked to the Torah (Deut 4:6-8; Bar 3:9).
   

4. Criticisms - All social contexts remain important. Originally wisdom was handed from father to son. Then in cities, the school and court become important. There is an overlap, and strains from one or the other current can be intertwined. Three genres, all practiced throughout Israels history, although one may be dominant at one time or another. It is impossible to determine Sitz in leben. (Sitz im Leben - where does the text sit in life, what is its social, liturgical or literary context where the text originated.) The distinction between profane and religious wisdom is artificial, especially with Israelite wisdom; this is a modern distinction. There are also links to non-biblical wisdom traditions.

V Wisdom among the Nations.

1. Universal Wisdom - Prov 11:22 Like a gold ring in a pigs snout is a beautiful woman without good sense. 22:7 The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is the slave of the lender. These are instinctive, folk wisdom. Theological themes are absent. Is 10:12-13 when the Lord has finished all his work, he will punish the King of Assyria, because he says by my wisdom I have done this.
   

2. Egyptian Wisdom.
   

• Scribal culture, didactic material (e.g. exemplary letters, wisdom teachings), also for heirs to the throne. There are all kinds of knowledge for official functions and education. E.g.:
  

• Thoth – Imhotep.
  

• Teachings for Merikare (farao of the 10th dynasty, ca. 2020 BCE), cf. Prov 31,1-7.
  

• Teachings of Ani (ca. 1400 BC), humble scribe.
  

• Teachings of Amenemope (ca. 1100 BC), cf. Prov 22,17-23,11, gives new definition of ‘wisdom’, more than wordly success, perfection of God.
  

• Concept of maat, cf. Prov 3,16.
  

3. Mesopotamian Wisdom.
   

• Scribal schools from the 3000 BC onwards.
  

• Encyclopedic & sapiential texts.
  

• Teachings of Surrupak (king to son).
  

• Sun-god Utu on order, cause-effect.
  

• Suffering of a good person: Babylonian Theodicy.
  

Canticles.

Canticles

1. Name date author.

1. Name: superlative shir ha shirim - lovliest song. Highest song: idiomatic translation. The title verse is a later addition because the asher is used only here in the whole book.

2. Date: traditionally ascribed to Solomon (10C BC), but linguistic features point to post-exilic or hellenistic period (or they are very old). There are no definite argument. Possibly a combination of some very old material (10th century) with some younger material (4th century). Oral traditions around different texts and growing redaction.
   

• Linguistic elements a) Relative pronoun she instead of asher; b) Cant 4:13 pardes is a persian loan word dates it after 6th century BC; c) cant 3:9 appirjon may be related to greek foreion - implying hellenistic contact, others say it's a sanskrit word and connection with the Greek is merely coincidental. d) relatively high number of aramaisms. Aramaic is slightly older than hebrew, 10th Century BC - diplomatic language, 2 Kings has a reference speaking in Aramaic. Around 500BC Persians took over area and used aramaic throughout the realm in preference to Persian. Later Aramaic that became common language and Hebrew became the language of the religious elite. This points to post-exilic, but it could also be Solomonic times; e) High number of hapax legomena - greek expression - said only once. We base our interpretation on the single occurrence. This may be accidental because it is the only love poetry in the bible, or it may be because of later influences; f) superficial similarities with Greek literature of the age but many of these are fairly superficial.
  

• Parallels a) Egyptian, Sumerian, Akkadian, Indian poetry have profane poems for wedding ceremonies; c) Hieros gamos - (Ishtar-cult), Holy wedding is a marriage of human and divine. DaVinci Code. Priest and Priestess consummate holy wedding to restore life to the land. Sometimes in imitation of the gods intercourse giving birth to the world; d) Arabic descriptive songs wasf. A descriptive song praising the object of beauty - a lady - start at the top and go down; e) Genesis Apocryphon, Aramaic version of the book of Genesis, a rewriting, there is more than what is in the bible. Gen 12 where Abraham says Sarah is beattiful - the Apocryphon has the servants of pharaoh telling pharaoh how beautiful, like a wasf. However it is not as elevated as Song. It also mentions often her hands, whereas Songs doesn't mention the hands. Her wisdom is in her hands Prov 31:10-31. Our earliest genesis text is 1 Century AD. This indicates there was more of this type of literature; f) Differences: In songs both male and female are described, but they are not identified. Very positive about the female and her role in love. Reciprocity between man and woman. Wasf is uniquely applied to the male.
  

3. Author - l'shlomo - lamed auctoris: of, for, concerning, belonging to the tradition of solomon. Pseudepigraphy - probably not written by Solomon. Solomon is mentioned in six passages in Songs in 8 short chapters. Network of associative meaning plays on words: sh.l.m, solomon, jerusalem, shalom, shulammit - shulamite. Solomon is associated with wisdom and love (700 princesses).
   

שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים, אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁלֹמֹה.

1. Canticles and Wisdom.
   

1. Reflection on love: 2:7, 3:5, 8:6-7 money can't buy love; Reciprocity bewteen Love and Wisdom (Wis 8). No mention of God, but 8:6 says the flame of love is the flame of god ya - but this may be the use of the superlative - flame as large as God. Canonicity - determined at Jamnia 90 AD - Qohelet and Songs make the hands unclean - means they are canonical you can't read them like any other book, they change you. Related to the concept of separateness. Then the book began to be read in an allegorical sense. But Jamnia may not have occurred, it was first mentioned in the 19th century; rabbinical sources don't support it. So perhaps it was only gradually accepted and at the same time it developed an allegorical meaning. Some rabbis spoke against the profane use of the text.
   

2. Protagonists.
   

Poetry - no narrative text - plot and context is not clear.


Girl, boy, group of girls, group of brothers are all attributed with parts of the text. These are not original. Is it one poem or a book of poems.


Problems with interpretation: - marked vs non-marked text, You is marked masculine, feminine, singular or plural. דֹּדֶיךָ man yik for woman. But the consonants are not marked in the original with the vowels. Reading tradition of our text is the Masoretic text (6th century). In septuagint, there was confusion between love and breasts. -


Codex Sinaiticus 4th Century - Parchment biblical text in black ink with rubrics which indicate the speakers. So already early, there is a tradition of this, almost like a stage-play.


Indications of speakers are however secondary.


3. Literary Structure.
   

1. One poem or many?
   

• Origen says it is just one poem (3rd century). Israel has Epic, Didactic or Lyric, but no Drama poetry in Hebrew literature. If you use this schema, the Song would be the only representative of the genre.
  

• Problem of genre, plot. Old folktale: shepherd lures girl from Harem, but this isn't really evident here. A scholar appoints to a wet-nurse (confident) it is a bit esoteric - but it does make everything fit.
  

• Consensus is that it is a collection of love poems, a growing text, redactors are important.
  

• But this still leaves the question of structure.
  

2. Structure markers: Keel 1986.
   

• Refrain: do not waken love before her time. וְאִם-תְּעוֹרְרוּ אֶת-הָאַהֲבָה
  

• Chapter 2:6 Let his left hand be under my head, and his right hand embrace me.
  

• 7 'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, that ye awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please.' {S}
  

• Chapter 3:5 'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, and by the hinds of the field, that ye awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please.' {S}
  

• Chapter 8:3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.
  

• 4 'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem: Why should ye awaken, or stir up love, until it please?'
  

• Formula
  

• Chapter 2:16. My beloved is mine, and I am his, that feedeth among the lilies. Dodi li v'ani lo. Ha'roeh bashoshanim. דּוֹדִי לִי וַאֲנִי לוֹ, הָרֹעֶה בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים.
  

• Chapter 6:3: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי, הָרֹעֶה בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים. {ס} 3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, that feedeth among the lilies.' Ani l'dodi v'dodi li.
  

• Chapter 7:11: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי, וְעָלַי תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ. {ס} 11 I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me..
  

• Recurring motifs:
  

• Chapter 1:2: ב יִשָּׁקֵנִי מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת פִּיהוּ, כִּי-טוֹבִים דֹּדֶיךָ מִיָּיִן. 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for thy love is better than wine. - Compare to:
  

• Chapter 4:10: י מַה-יָּפוּ דֹדַיִךְ, אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה; מַה-טֹּבוּ דֹדַיִךְ מִיַּיִן, וְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנַיִךְ מִכָּל-בְּשָׂמִים. 10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all manner of spices!
  

• Chapter 2:17: עַד שֶׁיָּפוּחַ הַיּוֹם, וְנָסוּ הַצְּלָלִים: סֹב דְּמֵה-לְךָ דוֹדִי לִצְבִי, אוֹ לְעֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים—עַל-הָרֵי בָתֶר. {ס} 17 Until the day breathe, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices. Compare to:
  

• Chapter 4:6: ו עַד שֶׁיָּפוּחַ הַיּוֹם, וְנָסוּ הַצְּלָלִים—אֵלֶךְ לִי אֶל-הַר הַמּוֹר, וְאֶל-גִּבְעַת הַלְּבוֹנָה. 6 Until the day breathe, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
  

• Key words: vineyard.
  

• Role of Redactors - Septuagint harmonized some of the parallel passages above. The question is whether these are the translators additions, or if they were in the Hebrew texts from which they were working. Also, Qumran texts leave out some sections / literary units.
  

4. Readings and Interpretation History. Spring Song
   

• Division into strophes.
  

• Division into girl - boy // boy - girl - chiastic pattern 12/21.
  

• Female priority: protagonist is the female. This is unusual for biblical literature. The male speaks only because the female allows it and reports it. Imagery: gazelle man versus dove, woman; spring, wakening love. The female sees the lover like a gazelle coming / arise, come away.
  

• Verse 2:17 Before the day blows and the shadows take flight - is this dawn or dusk? Fokkelman says morning.
  

• There is a clash between nature and culture.
  

• Formulaic verse: Dodi li v'ani lo. דּוֹדִי לִי וַאֲנִי לוֹ, Most famous phrases are said by the female.
  

• The girl is more dialogical.
  

• Verse 15 - Breaks the rhythm - is it original. Fokkelman says it is still nature imagery, it breaks through the perfection of the structure that forbids the lovers to be together. The poem is an icon with a sense of the whole. The sudden break-in is a metaphor for the guards, those who want to interrupt the love. Vineyard is also in 1:6; 8:11-12. It is always an image of the girl.
  

• 2:12 Singing / pruning הַזָּמִיר the singing and pruning pulling the blossoms from the field.
  

• Allegory is an extended metaphor - the entire text moves from the sensus litteralis to the sensus spiritualis. There is a poetic image and the literal in the metaphor. In like manner there is an anthropological and a theological reading.
  

• Are there allegorical markers - are there indications of allegory in the text itself? There are the same images in the prophets, referring to God there. It a starting point for a non-literal reading of the song of songs.
  

1. Bride: 4:8-12, 5:1; wedding 3:11. Confront Isaiah 62:5.
   

2. Unfaithfulness, prostitution 1:7, 2:5 - veiled is reference to prostitution. Confront Hosea 1-3.
   

3. Vineyard 1:6, 8:12. Confront Isaiah 5.
   

• However, it is not a prophetic book - if it was taken up for its prophetic imagery, we would expect it in the prophetic books, not the wisdom books. But in the prophetic books, the imagery is resolved, see extended song of the vineyard in Isaiah is resolved in Isaiah 5:7.
  

• Earliest period - allegorization - Qumran left out the sensual content. Septuagint has no traces of allegorization. No mention of God, except verse 8:6. No mention of Songs in New Testament. Rabbi Aqiba decries the use of the song in taverns - the struggle between theological and literal readings.
  

• Jewish Tradition used in pesach in Aschenazi. Shepardi use it every sabbath. Rashi (Rav Slomo ben Yitzak) 11th Century has extended commentary. Ibn Ezra 1200s said Heaven forbid that the Song of Songs should every belong to the genre of the love song." Verse 1:5 - Black but beautiful - sin and grace.
  

• Christian Tradition - Three trends: 1) ecclesiological reading, e.g. Mt 9:15 - wedding guests can't morn while the bridegroom is with them; Jn 3:29 - he (Jesus) who has the bride is the bridegroom. 2) mystical reading in Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 - 1153): three kisses in Songs 1:2 are kissing the foot is purgation and repentance, kissing the hand is illumination, kissing the mouth is union and a foretaste of heaven. 3) Mariological reading in Ambrose of Milan (339-397), talks about typos and antitypos, a strategy in the allegorization of scripture - an element of the old testament is the type and the counterpart is in the new testament. E.g. Verse 1:5, black but beautiful is attributed to black Madonnas.
  

• Also Origin of Alexandria 185-254. he wrote lots on the Song of songs, but we have not originals - just translations and reworkings. He interprets as 1) Solomon's wedding with a daughter of an Egyptian princess. 2) Love relation between Christ and the church. 3) Love between the Logos and the individual soul. Great textual critic.
  

• Anthropological reading: Theodore of Mopsuestia - condemned posthumously as inappropriate for christian ears. Jewish Tradition: Moses Mendelssonhn 1788 - philological treatise on the Song. Christian tradition Divino afflante spiritu 1943 - supported study of biblical texts next to their study as scriptural texts. There are literary parallels in the ancient near east. Feminist readings have come to light more recently - e.g. the female protagonist is unusual in the ancient near east. Marriage and sexuality were strictly governed - Song tries to overcome those limits and give women a more active role. Wasf is males describing women - while the opposite is found in the Song. Theological to erotic allegory, e.g. hapax legomena.

’Vanity of vanities…’ The Wisdom of the Book of Qohelet.

Hans Debel.
The content of the book: the ‘contradictions’ of Qohelet: deconstruction and reconstruction.

I INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

The book’s place in the Bible.

• Differences between the TNK and its Greek translation, the Septuagint (LXX):
  

• LXX contains more books (‘deuterocanonical’ and ‘apocryphal’ books).
  

• some books have chapters in a different order or additional chapters. E.g. Jeremiah. Additions to the hebrew text in Ester and Daniel.
  

• the sequence of the books is different: the logic of revelation (TNK Law, Mediation of the Law, Human answer) vs. the logic of history (LXX The past in the Historical books, then present answer to God - Psalms and wisdom; Prophetic literature relates to the future).
  

• The book of Qohelet:
  

• part of the wisdom literature in the Old Testament.
  

• part of the ‘poetical books’ in the LXX (the ‘present’).
  

• part of the ‘Writings’ in the TNK (כתובים, Ketuvim).
  

• part of the מגלות, Megilloth (Ecclesiastes, Soekot; Ester, Poerim; Canticles, Pesach; Lamentations, Tisj Be’Av; Ruth, Sjave’ot).
  

• Textual witnesses.
  

• The Massoretic Text (MT), cf. BHQ. We will be using this text. Qumran mainly confirms the masoretic tradition.
  

• Greek LXX: an extremely literal translation, often attributed to Aquila. Now seen to be someone in the style of Aquila, but not as extreme.
  

• Vulgate: based on MT.

• Author - Solomon as the author of the book: Eccl 1,1: “Words of Qohelet, son of David, king in Jerusalem”; cf. 1,12: “I, Qohelet, was king in Jerusalem”, Only Solomon, of Davids sons was king; Also, the texts witness the wealth and luxury of Solomon, and the notion of Solomon as the wisest among the kings. Origin saw, Proverbs, introduction for spiritual beginner; Quohelet is an intermediate course, regarding the world as futile; Songs is the mystical book. Patristic sources also see the three as father, son and spirit. Also, seen as revealing three phases of life of Solomon - romantic, practical, wisdom.
  

• Author - Arguments against the Solomonic authorship: 1) the royal fiction of Eccl 1,12-2,26, after this, no reference to Solomon. 2) details as Eccl 1,16: “all who were over Jerusalem before me” (but only David was before him); Eccl 1,12: “I was king”, (but Solomon was king till death - there is a pious legend that tries to reconcile). We know little conclusively about the author.
  

• Dating of Quohelet is important socio-cultural setting of the Persian or Hellenistic period (resp. 538-331 and 331-63 BCE), It couldn't have been written in the period of Solomon. The language of Qohelet as Late Biblical Hebrew. 1) Aramaic loanwords and influences typical of the postexilic period. The ‘translation hypothesis’ says maybe it was originally written in Aramaic. Then was translated back to Hebrew. So it was written between the exile and the 2nd century. 2) Seow: middle of the Persian period (5th-4th century BCE): because there are two Persian loanwords (פרדס and פתגם), for paradise / decree. Also it seems to echo socio-economic vocabulary of the Persian era. However Schoors KULeuven dates the book hellenistic period (3th century BCE). He feels the socio-economic connotation is unwarranted, and says the language echoes the transition from Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) to Mishnaic Hebrew (MH).
  

• The names of the book:
  

• ‘Qohelet’ (קהלת) > קהל (qhl): ‘to bring together’, ‘to gather’ → the participle denoting a function. A sage who gathers students; A prayer leader who gathers a congregation; also, qhl was used for the assembly of Israel.
  

• ‘Ecclesiastes’ (Έκκλησιαστής): the one gathering the έκκλησία (קהל).
  

• ‘Prediger’ (‘the Preacher’): Luther’s interpretation of the leader of the religious congregation. This is a reformation notion of the leader of the congregation.
  

• Structure of the book.
  

• Some say there is no structure, but rather an unconnected series of proverbs; others posit a deliberately structured treatise, but they don't find the structural framework.
  

• Different interpretations of the same facts: 1) some pericopes consisting of an incoherent series of proverbs; 2) other pericopes forming a textual unity; 3) there are also catchwords throughout the book that seem to unify some sections; 4) nevertheless, there is thematic coherence, no logical progression. we have to make sure that we don't impose our western standards of logic on the text. Bickell’s theory posits that the book was written on several pages, and the pages were dropped and picked up in the wrong order.
  

• The book in the canon of writings. Quoheleth has been called, a hedonist, a pessimist, a rationalist, an atheist. 1) Traditionally: inclusion of the book of Qohelet in the biblical canon on the ‘council’ of Jamnia (90 CE). 2) The dispute between the Beth Hillel and the Beth Shammai whether the book ‘defiled the hands’. Even after this, there continued to be debates on the inclusion for several centuries. The two decisive arguments: were based on the authorship of Solomon; and a pious interpretative framework, cf. the epilogue with references of the torah - fear of God and keep the commandments (Eccl 12,9-14). Debel thinks the epilogue was added by the author to make it more acceptable.
  

• Early Christian reading of the book (Gregory Thaumaturgos, Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome): the absolute worthlessness of earthly life and the desire for a higher, spiritual world. It recommends an ascetic life.
  

• Application of Hegel’s dialectic: Qohelet as the antithesis between Judaism (thesis) and Christianity (synthesis) - → Qohelet as παιδαγωγος εις Χριστον Teacher pointing to Christ. This is problematic because it seems to silence the dissonant voice of Qohelet in the canon: the bible as a ‘library’ of books not speaking in unison. The alternate reality proposed by its provocativeness forces us to reflect more critically on the propositions in the book.

II THE CONTENT OF THE BOOK.

• Qohelet’s contradictions "Quohelet and his contradictions" Michael V. Fox.
  

• External contradictions: Nu 15,39b and Eccl 11,9a; 1) Nu 15,39b: “You will remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes.” 2) Eccl 11,9a: “Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes.”
  

• Internal contradictions: Eccl 4,2 and 9,4; 1) Eccl 4,2: “And I thought the dead, who have already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive.” 2) Eccl 9,4: “Whoever is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.”
  

• Interpretative models: 1) Harmonization model: general rules and their exception, valid in different contexts. Thus the attempt is made to explain the contradictions. But this may do violence to the text, without the robust attempt to understand Quohelet on his own terms. 2) Biographical model: the fruit of a lifetime of study and observation, including the development of Qohelet’s thinking as he grew and developed. Thus the two parts of the contradiction may be from two parts of his own development of thought. However, you would then expect a chronological progression through the book, rather than going back and forth in a contradictory fashion. 3) Psychological model: Qohelet as a tortured soul or as a neurotic and psychotic split personality. He doesn't realize his own mania. Pathological doubter who was traumatized in youth by unrequited love. But this improperly identifies the author with the speaker in the book, though there may indeed be correlations. 4) Dialogical model: transcription of a dialogue between the teacher and his students. The parts of the contradiction are ascribed to different speakers. But there is no evidence for this in the text. 5) Literary-critical model: a complicated redactional process based on a group of authors and a group of redactors. While it can't be excluded, the approach sometimes is a matter of guess work on the part of the scholar. But perhaps Quohelet was a complex personality who saw the contradictions in the world and commented on them. 6) Citation model: Qohelet quotes from former wisdom teachings to support his argumentation, to give them a new interpretation or to refute them. Quoheleth is no Einzelgunger, but a sage critically reflecting upon a tradition. However, the text doesn't use quotation marks to indicate materials he is taking from other sources. E.g. Eccl 8:12-14.
  

• Qohelet engages in the deconstruction of the doctrine of retribution. Cf. Pr 10,27: “The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.” Traditional expectation of the pious was: the threefold expectation of wealth, old age and offspring. E.g. Job 42 where he is rewarded after his fidelity through trials. 1) deconstruction of the expectation of wealth: Eccl 5,14-15: Naked they came, naked they go forth. 2) deconstruction of the expectation of old and numerous offspring: Eccl 6,3 no matter how many years, if he doesn't enjoy life, what is good is that. 4) deconstruction of the expectation of wisdom granting eternal life:
  

• Cf. Pr 13,14: “The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, so that one may avoid the snares of death.”
  

• Pr 15,24: “For the wise the path of life leads upward, in order to avoid Sheol below.”
  

  5) deconstruction of the expectation of wisdom and eternal life: Eccl 2,15-16 - there is no enduring remembrance of the wise or of fools. 6) Qohelet’s ultimate deconstruction: The ‘vanity’ of everything: הבל (hevel), occurs 73 times in the TNK and 38 times in Quohelet. It means ‘vapour’, ‘breeze’, and often used in a figurative sense: ‘transcience’, ‘transitoriness’. As you can't grasp this contradiction, so you can't grasp vabor. The other side of the picture: Qohelet’s ‘reconstruction’ of his own wisdom. He transcends his pessimism. Cf. Eccl 5,17: “This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.” In the past verses like this are seen as a weakening of Quohelet, but it may be a resolution of the tension. He criticizes others, then formulates this as his response. If we see these two movements closely connected, we can make sense of the apparent contradictions. Eccl 3: 19-22 - retribution critized: Cf. Eccl 3,19-22: “For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other.... So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?”
  

• Sometimes Quohelet is provoking his audience. The clean and unclean share the same fate - this directly challenges Jewish purity laws.

Reading of Qohelet.

Introductory remarks on the book of Qohelet: author, date, structure, place in the canon.


The content of the book: the ‘contradictions’ of Qohelet.

READING TEXTS OF QOHELET.

1. Exegesis Ecclesiastes 9,1-10.

• Ecclesiastes 9,7-9: Qohelet as a Epicureanist and the influence of Greek philosophy? Hellenism had begun to spread in Palestine in the time of Quohelet. This does not imply dependence, but he seems at least to have been aware of it.
  

• But there are similar themes from the East: Cf. The Epic of Gilgamesh: “When the gods created mankind, death for mankind they set aside, life in their own hands retaining. Thou, Gilgamesh, let full be thy belly, make thou merry by day and by night. Of each day make thou a feast of rejoicing, day and night dance thou and play! Let thy garments be sparkling fresh, thy head be washed, bathe thou in water. Pay heed on the little one that holds on to thy hand, let thy spouse delight in thy bosom! For this is the task of mankind!”
  

1. Ecclesiastes 9,1-9: a transition from a complaint about the tragic fate of man to an appreciation of life on earth between its boundaries. He deconstructed the wantonness of life but then admits the value of life. The connection of deconstruction and reconstruction as exemplified in Ecclesiastes 9,10, the concluding verse of the pericope. 1) the provocation of Qohelet: even wisdom will perish in Sheol. כִּי אֵין מַעֲשֶׂה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן, וְדַעַת וְחָכְמָה, בִּשְׁאוֹל,. There is no sense of resurrection here. 2) Sheol is a metaphor for the grave. Since there is nothing after life, life should be enjoyed.
   

• Qohelet’s scepticism about the possibility of an afterlife: the traditional point of view of Israel. A belief in a corporeal resurrection only occurs in very late texts: Cf. Da 12,2: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” 2 Macc 7,9: “And when he was at his last breath, he said, ‘You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.’”
  

1. Ecclesiastes 1,1-11.
   

• 1 The words of Koheleth, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, saith Koheleth; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. 3 What profit hath man of all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun? 4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; and the earth abideth for ever. 5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he ariseth. 6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it turneth about continually in its circuit, and the wind returneth again to its circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again. 8 All things toil to weariness; man cannot utter it, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 That which hath been is that which shall be, and that which hath been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing whereof it is said: 'See, this is new'?—it hath been already, in the ages which were before us. 11 There is no remembrance of them of former times; neither shall there be any remembrance of them of latter times that are to come, among those that shall come after.
  

• Delimitation of the pericope - we will discuss 1-11, even though it is perhaps not all part of the original.

1. Poem as a whole An endless repetition and routine in the cosmos: the form of the pericope emphasising its content. In verse 4-7, the subject is mentioned twice in each sun, wind, earth and water are each mentioned twice, where he didn't need to. Also halak, turning and maaleh are used repeatedly.
   

• ‘There is nothing new under the sun’ Quohelet's purpose:
  

• Quohelet opposes the wisdom tradition, which thought that the wise man could leave his ‘trace’ in history and would be remembered.
  

• a conservative reaction on the hellenisation of the Ancient Near East?
  

• The theological consequences of the poem: denial of a progressive salvation history as announced by the prophets who said that God would make something new (cf. Jr 31,31-33; Ez 36,26; Js 43,19; 65,17); Quohelet presents a cyclic view of time in the poem: no progression in history, found also in F. Nietzsche (who was saying nothing new). This may also found in Greek philosophy (Heraclitus). He could be saying that history is cyclic, so we need God's intervention, but this seems to be an attempt to stifle Quohelet's dissenting voice in the canon.
  

2. Augustine in his canonical, neoplatonic interpretation of the poem and other canonical interpretations: argued that it already exists in the mind of God.
   

Intermezzo.

Prof. H. Ausloos.

Contents of the course.


Part 1: Wisdom literature - Canticles / Song of Songs; Wisdom of Jesus Sirach; Qohelet.


Intermezzo: Psalms and Wisdom Literature in the TeNaK and the Old Testament.


Part 2: Psalms - The book of Psalms; Biblical poetry in general - there are many poetic rules talk about the form which also influences meaning, the authors use stylistic elements to help express the content; Reading of psalms.

• Psalms and Wisdom Literature in TeNaK and Old Testament.
  

1. The TeNaK 1) Tora; 2) Neviim; 3) Ketuvim.
   

2. The Old Testament in Roman Catholic tradition.

• Tora (the ‘Law’) - Genesis (Bereshit); Exodus (Shemot); Leviticus (Wayiqra); Numbers (Bamidbar); Deuteronomiy (Debarim).
  

• Neviim (Prophetic books) - Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel Kings. Major Prophets: Isaiah; Jeremiah; Ezekiel. The twelve later prophets: Hosea, Joes, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
  

• Ketuvim (the Writings) - Psalms (Tehilim); Job; Proverbs (Mishlei); The ‘Megillot’: (Ruth; Song of Songs (Shir haschirim); Ecclesiastes (Qohelet); Lamentations (Eicha); Esther); Daniel; Ezra; Nehemiah; Chronicles (Divrei hajamim).
  

• The Old Testament in Roman Catholic tradition - 1) Pentateuch; 1b) Historical books; 2) Poetic books (Psalms and Wisdom literature); 3) Prophetic books.
  

1. Jewish - Tora is the word of God, Neviim are the intermediaries, Kethuvim are people's response.
   

The Pentateuch - Five books 1) Genesis (origins); 2) Exodus; 3) Leviticus (priestly laws); 4) Numbers; 5) Deuteronomy (copy of the law).

1. The ‘Historical’ books - Joshua; Judges; Ruth; Samuel; Kings; Chronicles.
   

1. ‘Poetic books’ (Psalms and Wisdom literature) These are easier to use in the christian tradition because they are not so culturally and historically bound as the historic books are. History is present here, but it is not the main point - they are dealing with our life now. It dealt with the now of biblical times, and can easily be applied to the now of today. This is the better place to start reading the bible. Job, – written by Moses according to ancient Jewish tradition. Psalms – David 10th Century. Proverbs – Solomon. Ecclesiastes (Qohelet) - Solomon. Song of songs - Solomon. Wisdom - Solomon. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus).
   

2. The Prophetic books. Isaiah; Jeremiah (Lamentations, Baruch and Letter of Jeremiah); Ezekiel; Daniel;
   

1. The Twelve (Dodekapropheton) - 1) Hosea; 2) Joel; 3) Amos; 4) Obadiah; 5) Jonah; 6) Micah; 7) Nahum; Habakkuk; 8) Zephaniah; 9) Haggai; 10) Zechariah; 11) Malachi.
   

The Book of Psalms.

Introduction.

Name.

- Christian tradition: “Psalms” comes from the greek - which is.

MT: מזמור (mizmor).

LXX: ψαλλειν (psalmos) – Vg: Psalmi.

yallein (psallein – “to sing” [accompanied by a string instrument]).


WV 1995: “zangstuk” – NBV: “psalm”.


NRSV: “Psalm.”


Codex Vaticanus (B – 4th century CE): ψαλμοι (Psalmoi) as heading of the entire book.


Psalter < ψαλτηριον (Psalt�rion) - נבל (nebel – string instrument; Ps 33,2).


WV 1995: “harp”; NBV: “harp”; NRSV: “harp”).


Codex Alexandrinus (5th century CE): yalthrion is title of the book.


In the oldest Hebrew manuscripts: no title.


In Jewish tradition: two names.


Sefer tehilim: “Book of praises”: cf. הללטו יה (Hallelujah).


Word occurs only in the Book of Psalms (104,35; 106,1.48; 113.1.9; 146-150) > הלל (halal – praise): cf. e.g. Ps 40,4; 145,1.


WV 1995 and NBV: “Halleluja” NRSV: “Praise the LORD.”


Sefer tefilot: ”Book of prayers”: Ps 72,20 (“The prayers [tephilot] of David son of Jesse are ended”) This tell us about what the book of psalms is about than simply the word stringed instrument or psalms.

Structure.

150 separate psalms (cf. MT – Codex Petropolitanus). Hebrew is a consonantal language. Masoretes began in 500ad, 1000ad is our oldest complete text. This involves an interpretation.


LXX: 151 Psalms; however: Psalm 151 is “supernumerary” (εξώθεν του αιθμου): The extra psalm is not included for historic, traditional reasons.


11QPsa: Psalms 151A and 151B: reference to David’s role as shepherd, his musical gift, Goliath, his anointing by Samuel, God’s choice of him over his brothers, and his kingship. The only psalm that refers to the life of David directly not just as the context. This makes it harder to use in prayer. Psalm 151 (Brenton).

Numbers of the psalms is different in massoretic and septuagint.

9-10 are one in the septuagint, this was the original arrangement. But the massoretes used a manuscript that combined. It is an acrostic psalm (alphabetic), so the alphabet goes across the two psalms. Psalm 10 begins with Lamed. Acrostic may be for memory, or for a 'complete' psalm. The others are not so clear why the divisions were there.


147 or 150 psalms.


Pre-Massoretic tradition: 147 Psalms.


Ps 119,164: “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous ordinances.”


7 x 7 = 49.


147 : 49 = 3.


Christian tradition: 150 Psalms; 49 (Jewish week) + 1 (reference to the Sunday) = 50;


Five “books” Pss 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150. Not clear why these books were developed. However the books each have a closing doxology. Closing doxologies: E.g. Ps 41,13: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen”. The books really don't have any structure within them. So probably the division was secondary liturgical division. Analogy with the five books of the Pentateuch. Psalms 1 and 2 may be the title of the book, indicating the book as a response of humanity to the Torah. Like 5 speeches of Jesus in Matthew.


Original collections of Psalms - other scholarly research shows other collections of psalms:


Pss 3-41: Davidic Psalter (all Psalms – except Ps 33 – are attributed to David in the heading).


Pss 42-83: Elohistic Psalter: the tetragram has been replaced by ‘Elohim’ (compare Ps 14 and 53).


42-49: Korahites.


51-71: Second Davidic Psalter.


73-83: Psalms of Asaph.


Pss 90-118: Mosaic Psalter (cf. Ps 90,1).


93-99 King Yhwh Psalms.


101; 103; 108-110: Third Davidic Psalter.


113-118: Pesach-Hallel.


Pss 120-134: Pilgrimige Psalms - heading always to pilgrimage. There is only one psalm which is clearly about pilgrimage. Perhaps the headings are a later addition.


Pss 135-136: Great Hallel.


138-145: Fourth Davidic Psalter.


146-150: Small Hallel.

Psalms and the cult?

Was it a songbook for temple cult? We don't know, though there are headings: 1) References in Psalm headings: Ps 38 and 70 (“for the memorial offering”); 92 (“A Song for the Sabbath Day”); 2) Am 5,23 says psalms were used in worship but we don't know when or which psalms, our book or others; 3) Hermann Gunkel (1862-1932): Gattenforschung (form criticism) (‘hymn’ and ‘lament’) and Sitz im Leben (the place in life of the text - the world of the text. E.g. a new king, a sabbath, a feast), He characterized the psalms, lament, hymn, etc. But most psalms are mixed forms. Titles may refer more to use than to the origin.

Psalms and music? are they music? There are many musical terms in the book of psalms. But they are obscure, even they are translated rather glibly, even if we don't know what they mean. 1) למנצח (lamnatseach): “To the choirmaster” (e.g. Ps 45) Greek translates this: to its end, but we don't know what that means either; 2) “With stringed instruments” what was this in ancient mid east (e.g. Psalm 4); 3) “For the flutes” (e.g. Ps 5); 4) Ps 45,1: “According to Lilies” what does this mean - could be a popular song - like Marching Through Georgia.


Several unidentified terms - either hapax legomena, or terms that only are found in psalms: 1) משכיל (mashkil – Ps 32,1) (WV 1995 and NBV: “een kunstig lied”); 2) Mtkm (michtam – Ps 16,1) (SV: “een gouden kleinood”; WV 1995: “Vanwege een gelofte”; NBV: “een stil gebed”).

Author.

- Traditionally: King David (1010-972 BCE) as author of the entire Book of Psalms (however: Ps 72: Solomon; Ps 90: Moses).

73 Psalm headings mention David; 1) Reference to “historical” events from David’s life (e.g. Ps 57 ~ 1 Sam 24,4-5); 2) Only in Psalm 151 reference is made to David’s life.


David as author: 1) Pseudepigraphy: David as founder of the Davidic dynasty (messianic promises: "his reign will never come to an end" – cf. 2 Sam 7) Some psalms are considered messianic, applied to Jesus, used in the New Testament; 2) David as author of songs: (1 Sam 16,14-18; 2 Sam 1,17-27; 2 Sam 6,5; 2 Sam 22 (// Ps 18). David is also associated with psalms in iconograpy which shows the reception history.

Date.

• In general: no references to historical events - although there are some exceptions. Examples.
  

• Pss 126; 137: reference to Babylonian exile? This doesn't help date the composition.
  

• Ps 18: reference to Solomon’s temple (v. 7)? This would seem to be an old psalms - but is this an old temple or the new temple 200CE.
  

• Ps 122,1: Israel did already had songs before the Exile.
  

• Although composed against the background of concrete experiences of joy, suffering, revolt or gratitude…: prayers for all generations.
  

Reading Biblical Poetry.

• “The Hebrew poets, for one, are almost always concerned with God, in the second or third person, and this may often be reversed: God keeps poets occupied, in two senses of the word. Poets either express how God touches them, in a positive or negative sense, or tell us how God fascinates them with His presence, or conversely, his distressing absence; this testimony is expressed either in a minor key – in the form of complaints or protests – or in a major key – as hymns of praise or thanks” (J. Fokkelman, Reading Biblical Poetry, p. 199).

Biblical poetry Biblical poetry makes use of many stylistic elements.

a. Prose vs poetry.

• Epic, lyric, didactic and dramatic literature. As far as we know, in Israel, there was no drama (theatre, comedy…) and no epic (narrative in verses).

• Poetry in Israel:
  

• pure lyric: Psalms, Canticles.
  

• special form of lyric literature: social criticism of the prophets though they are poets.
  

• didactic literature: Wisdom literature: Proverbs.

b. Colon/stichos

A literary verse consists of one, two or three cola (sing.: colon) or stichoi (greek - sing.: stichos) (colon ~ clause): {Note: when you speak of verse, you have to know when it is a biblical verse or a literary verse. Title is part of verse one, but it isn't a literary verse. Numbers are just for reference, not necessarily helpful in understanding.} Often in a literary verse, the second colon is playing off the first.


• bicolon: Ps 1,6.
  

• YaHWeH knows the way of the righteous.
  

• but the way of the wicked is doomed.
  

• tricolon: Ps 2,2.
  

• The kings of the earth take their stand.
  

• and regents intrigue together.
  

• against YaHWeH and his anointed.
  

• monocolon: Ps 125,5c Peace be upon Israel.

Typography Hebrew vs. English (e.g. Ps 69,4): Hebrew is a bicolon.

ה רַבּוּ, מִשַּׂעֲרוֹת רֹאשִׁי— שֹׂנְאַי חִנָּם:
עָצְמוּ מַצְמִיתַי, אֹיְבַי שֶׁקֶר— אֲשֶׁר לֹא-גָזַלְתִּי, אָז אָשִׁיב.

More in number than the hairs of my head


are those who hate me without cause;


mighty are those who would destroy me,


- those who attack me with lies.

c. Parallelismus membrorum

Lowth describes this first in 1733: Several types in a schematic notion.

• Synonymous parallelism - The second colon repeats the sense of the first in slightly differen terms. Examples:
  

• Isa 1,3 ג יָדַע שׁוֹר קֹנֵהוּ, וַחֲמוֹר אֵבוּס בְּעָלָיו; יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָדַע, עַמִּי לֹא הִתְבּוֹנָן. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Origin of ox and ass at crib. There is a parallelism within a parallism. ox/donkey; Israel/people.
  

• Am 5,24. But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
  

• Ps 114 Synonymous parallelism throughout.
  

• Psalm 114,1-2 - when you look closer, you see that there may be parts dropped out in they synonyms, missing terms. In these verses, the verbs are dropped from the second colon.
  

• Antithetic parallelism - The thought expressed in the second colon is in contrast to that in the first. Examples:
  

• Ps 1,6 - 6 For the LORD regards the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked shall perish. Chiasm - ab/ba.
  

• Ps 20,9 (NRSV: v. 8) 9 They are bowed down and fallen; but we are risen, and stand upright.
  

• Ps 37,16-17. 16. Better is a little that the righteous hath than the abundance of many wicked. 17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken; but the LORD upholds the righteous. Here the parallelism spreads in the verse, and chiasm over two verses.
  

• Prov 10,1. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son is the grief of his mother.
  

• Also in Matt 7,18 - A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.

• Synthetic parallelism - The thought of the first colon in carries further and completed in the second. Examples:
  

• Ps 3,5 With my voice I call unto the LORD, and He answereth me out of His holy mountain.
  

• Ps 14,2 2 The LORD looked forth from heaven upon the children of earth, {N} to see if there were any of understanding, that did seek after God.
  

• Ps 51,16 (NRSV: v. 15).
  

• Ps 126,1.
  

• Jon 2,3 For Thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, and the flood was round about me; all Thy waves and Thy billows passed over me.

• Climactic parallelism - A combination of the characteristics of synonymous and synthetic parallelims: the second colon ehoes or repeats part of the first and adds to it an element which carries forward or completes the sense. The first is can't be understood on its own, it must be coupled with the second to give a fuller meaning. Examples:
  

• Ps 29,1 Ascribe unto the LORD, O ye heavenly beings, ascribe unto the LORD glory and strength.
  

• Ps 93,1.
  

• Matt 6,6b.

• Internal vs external parallelism - Internal parallelism: the balance between form and thought is between the individual cola within a bicolon or tricolon. External parallelism: not only balance within a bicolon or tricolon, but between bicola or tricola. Always look for this in poetry, see it within and between, even between strophes and stanzas. Example: Ps 137,5-6:
  

• If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
  

• let my right hand wither
  

• let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
  

• if I do not remember you.

• Complete parallelism - Each term in the first colon is matched by a corresponding term in the second. Each word in the hebrew is exactly parallel in the two. 3 words, 3 words.
  

• Example: Ps 146,2 ב אֲהַלְלָה יְהוָה בְּחַיָּי; אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹהַי בְּעוֹדִי. I-will-praise JaHWeH as-long-as-I-live. I-will-sing-praises to-my-God all-my-life-long.
  

d. stanza.

Stanza (= room): a major subunit within a poem (= house). Stanzas can be regular, but need not to be. [image stanza].

• Dividing poems into stanzas.
  

• Stanza divisions based on content. Example: Deut 33: stanza division coincides with the sequence of oracles concerning Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin… no fixed length (compare Reuben [Deut 33,6] with Joseph [Deut 33,13-17]).
  

• “Stanza-markers” For example: 1) Refrain: Song of songs. Ps 67,4.6 (vv. 2-4; 5-6; 7-8). 2) Acrostic poems: Ps 119. 3) Certain particles (hineh - behold, indicates something new., ki). 4) Change of speaker: Ps 24.
  

• No hard and fast rules. That would be a computer. But human beings write it, using these tools flexibly.

Strophe.

Strophe is a group of one or more lines forming a subdivision of a stanza. Poem (= house) – Stanza (= room) – strophe (= furniture). Strophes can be regular, but need not to be.


• Some strophic patterns.
  

• Structural functions of the monocolon: 1) a monocolon opens a stanza/poem; 2) a monocolon closes a stanza; 3) a monocolon segments a poem into stanzas. E.g. Halleluia can be an opening or closing monocolon.
  

• abc/b’c’ couplet (ellipsis of the initial element). Joel 2,10a: Before him, the earth trembles; the heavens quake.
  

• Acrostics: each colon begins with a different letter (Ps 111; Pss 9-10).

• More Information: Poem, stanza, strophe, Fokkelman.

f. Sounds.

1) Biblical poetry: written poetry? There are no vowels - it was probably written later - so were psalms perhaps originally made for oral recitation. 2) Meant for oral recitation. 3) Probably the authors paid more attention to consonants than to vowels.


• Repetition of sound - repeating in a striking way certain elements of sound. E.g. i can sound happy, but it is also 1st person singular.
  

• two parts are fused together by the similarity of sound - שָׁמִיר, וָשָׁיִת (shamir wasjait – thorns and briars; Isa 5,6.)
  

• phonic repetition can fuse two elements without destroying the duality - רגל רוש (regel rosh – foot and head.)
  

• Perfect correspondence (Prov 12,5). Using the same forms of different words. מַחְשְׁבוֹת צַדִּיקִים מִשְׁפָּט; תַּחְבֻּלוֹת רְשָׁעִים מִרְמָה.

• Sound repetition due to morphemes of conjugation, gender or number often arise from the logical articulation of the language and can be inevitable. It may be intention or it may be just circumstantial. When two elements giving a similar sound are not gramatically homogenous the effect is striking: הוֹי גּוֹי (hoy goy – “Woe the people” – Isa 1,4). These are two different word forms that sound the same.

• Assonance: vowel repetition: when a series of words contains a distinctive vowel-sound or certain vowel-sounds in a specific sequence. Function: to link component parts together, e.g. single words (word-pairs), single phrases, longer segments.
  

• Ps 48,7: רְעָדָה, אֲחָזָתַם שָׁם (re’adah achazatam sham: “trembling took hold of them there.”
  

• Ps 102,7: הָיִיתִי … דָּמִיתִי (damiti … hayiti: “I was like a desert-owl, I was like a little owl of the waste places.”)
  

• Chiastic assonance: Cant 6,3: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי (ani ledodi weodi li: “I’m my lover’s and my lover’s mine.”) i o-i - o-i i Chiasm is in the lover and I, and in the sounds as well.
  

• Alliteration Consonant repetition, the effect produced when the same consonant recurs within a unit. Alliteration refers to consonants, not vowels.
  

• “Near-alliteration”: e.g. zayin/shin, kaph/heth, teth/taw, ב פ - ט
  

• Major function: to bind together the components of colon, verse, strophe, stanza or poem.
  

• Cant 3,2: בָעִיר, בַּשְּׁוָקִים וּבָרְחֹבוֹת (bair bashewaqim ubarechovot: “In the city, in the streets and in the squares.”)
  

• Onomatopeia. mimicry (the imitation of sound by a human), imitation of sound within the rules of the language.
  

• Isa 29,6: בְּרַעַם וּבְרַעַשׁ וְקוֹל גָּדוֹל; (bera’am ubera’ash weqol gadol: “With thunder and earthquake and mighty boom.”)
  

• Function: heighten imagery - oral poetry.
  

• Rhyme. When two words sound the same (sometimes difficult to distinguish from assonance or alliterations). Rhyme does not play an important part in ancient Semitic poetry. The role of rhyme is taken over by parallelism in all its forms. Commonest form of rhyme: end-rhyme (use of the same suffix:
  

• Isa 33,22 כִּי יְהוָה שֹׁפְטֵנוּ, יְהוָה מְחֹקְקֵנוּ; יְהוָה מַלְכֵּנוּ, הוּא יוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us.
  

• Isa 3,18-19: הָעֲכָסִים וְהַשְּׁבִיסִים—וְהַשַּׂהֲרֹנִים. ha’akasim wehashebisim wehashaharonim (the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents).
  

• Rhythm Ps 44,7 (“I do not trust in my bow/it is not my sword that gives victory.”) כִּי לֹא בְקַשְׁתִּי אֶבְטָח; וְחַרְבִּי, לֹא תוֹשִׁיעֵנִי. ki lo beqasti e- ki lo beqasti ebtach/wecharbi lo tojie’�nie - ki lo beqasti ebtach.
  

- ' - - ' - ' - - ' ' - - ' - = 3 accents and 3 accents.
Counting syllables - very difficult. In greek and latin, we look for accents. But in hebrew we have a written language - we don't know the sound with any certainty. Others count syllables only: usually 6-7-8 syllables.

Examples

Psalm 131

• A song of Ascent. Of David. שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת, לְדָוִד: A pilgrimage psalm - like el al. Part of a compex of psalms - 120-134 with the same heading (except 121, close) ma'alot - pilgrimage is not mentioned, sanctuary not mentioned. Other uses of ma'alot: 1) ezra - exiles go up from exile to israel. 2) kings 10 - steps to throne of a king. 3) exodus 20 - steps to the altar. So going up to sanctuary, to the temple. Psalm 122 specifically refers to Jerusalem. No clear link to the body of the psalm; it may have been added later when it was used for pilgrimage. LXX put psalm headings where they didn't exist in Hebrew. Functions of Lamed in hebrew - auctoris; belonging; for.

• Verse 1 - I is strong sound first singular, addressed to the Lord.

• Yahweh, not proud is my heart,
  

• And not raised are my eyes,
  

• And not do I involve myself in great things,
  

• and in things that are too marvellous for me.
  

• Verse 2 - אִם-לֹא is marking tahhat something new is starting here... Still Yahweh is addressed.
  

• No! I have soothed,
  

• and I have quieted my soul,
  

• Like a weaned child on its mother,
  

• like such a weaned child is upon me my soul.
  

• Verse 3 - now addressed to Israel, about the Lord. I is missing.
  

• Hope, Israel, in the Lord,
  

• from now till forever.
  

• Only Ascent psalm with Lord as first word, accented word. 4 negations: not proud, not raised, not involved, (not) in things to great, in verse 1. Im-lo of the second verse follows on that with yes, yes, yes. Anaphora links the first two and second two lines in verse 1. Two cola start with the same word. First bicolon is completely parallel; pars pro toto - a part for the whole - heart means the whole person, eyes mean me. Heart can be used to see oneself better - hoge hartig - high hearted. Eyes are used to look down on another. It is a relation of the person to the neighbor. Second bicolon has gadolot / niphla'ot - rhyme, grandeur / marvels. Now the relation of the person to God. niphla'ot נִפְלָאוֹת is the wonders of God. I know my place.
  

• Im-lo - I have soothed/quieted; like, like. Parallelism is between the verses / strophes as well. Epiphora sentences with the same ending: naphshi נַפְשִׁי. Another stylistic feature to link the cola. Heart / eyes / soul. Not my heart, not my eyes, yes my soul. This repeats the same as verse 1 in positive terms. First bicolon is statement, second bicolon is explanatory metaphor. Gamul may be already weaned, or nursing, or satisfied.
  

• The third strophe is no longer the prayer of one to God, but is an exhortation to Israel in the collective. From confidence in God, there is a paranesis??? Some scholars think this is a later addition, under the assumption that each psalm has only one literary genre. Also the meaning follows from what has come before. Wisdom isn't knowledge, but walking with God. This also relates to the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. This is now not only a personal psalm, but a community prayer, on the way to the temple - song of ascent.
  

• Kraus sees this as 3+2 1bc, 1de; 2ab is monocolon 4; 2cd 3+3; 3ab 3+3. Meter doesn't seem to help here. Counting syllables 14 syllables.
  

• Genre: song of confidence and didactic elements. Like wisdom literature in this. Date is difficult to say. Author reacts against the proud - I'm not better than others, not on a level with God - one who finds peace with God.
  

Psalm 137.

• Well known psalm, but also problematic. The author is trying to write a nice poem.

• Strophes 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 in NRSV. However, Ausloos disagrees. 1-4 are in the first plural, verse 5-6 are first singular. First plural has "oo" sound anachnu. Verse 5 then addresses Jerusalem in first plural - with "i" sound a more joyful sound. Verse 7, 2nd person addressed to the Lord, in the imperative. Verse 8 addresses Babylon.
  

• Verse 1-4 Anaphora: both 1 & 2 begin with Al. we hang our harps on the willows, but in Babylon, or in Zion (probably Babylon). There (in Babylon) our captors asked for songs. So maybe the harps are there as well. V.3. Mirth is a hapax legomenon: שִׂמְחָה - those who led away, or our tormentors. Those loafing with us. We're not sure what the meaning of the Hebrew word. 3a and 3b are closely related, so the captors and simcha. Ki links three with that came before. 1-4 would be a rather long strophe since the others are one or two verses each. Verses 3-4 turn to the idea of singing, and we have a climax in 3-4. Movement from songs, to songs of Zion to songs of the Lord. Also the verb sing is found only in 3-4. Also, lots of "S" sounds in 3-4 with Shir. Arguments agianst putting together. Ki - link and a similar term tolalinu.
  

• Verse 5-6. Right had forgets - no object. So consonants may have changed: תִּשְׁכַּח - if you reverse middle consonants the word is wither. Metathesis of consonants. But there is no textual evidence. Chiasm 5a / 6b and 5b / 6a. Also in verse 6: roof / if ... Jerusalem; if ... Jerusalem / above. Rhythm: Qina meter, 3 + 2 (used mostly in the book of lamentations - means lament). First singular "i" sound. This is joyful - but this contradicts the meaning, and the meter.
  

• Verse 7.
  

• Verse 8-9 addresses Babylon. Babel may be the destroyer 6th C or the destroyed 4th C. - this affects dating the psalm. Happy they who pay you back. Some try to soften this by saying the little ones are the sons who are soldiers. Violent biblical texts must be read from the perspective of the author - what is the perspective. Violence against violence in the old testament. Warfare terminology - you want war, this what it gets. Babel versus Jerusalem is seen as a war of the Gods of Babel and Jerusalem. Anaphora of happy as well.
  

Psalm 58.

• The title is all difficult.

• 4 elements of first strophe and last stroph: shapat, adam, tzadiq, elim. (Elem might mean silence or gods). In the rest of the psalm, the gods are not good (righteous) but bad gods. But it might mean judges who think they are gods.
  

• is וּן is the ending of 2b and 3a & b. Each colon has 4 words. 3 a&b are completely parallel.
  

• 4-6 are one stroph (in verse 7, God is addressed). These are difficult verses - dealing with the wicked. 4a&b are parallel, Verses 5-6 explain with metaphor of serpent. The judge is entirely deaf and wicked from the womb.
  

• 7-8 is addressed to God. whereas 8c is in third person. Petition to God. 7 has a chiasm: o God / teeth X fangs / oh Lord. The praying person isn't violent, but he asks God to do it. 2nd and 8th verse are related - going back to centrality of God.
  

• 8-10 is this addressed to God or the wicked or the psalmist. The subject isn't stated, but context shows it is God. Thistles are forbidden in Belgium - the cops will come. Thistles are used only for kindling. The wicked are like thistles. Lots of Hapax here.
  

• 11-12 is a positive conclusion. His feet he will wash in the blood of the wicked (like Revelation); links to violence of hands in verse 3. Chiastic psalm - first and last stroph. Accusation is negative, conclusion is positive. Stroph 2. wickedness, 4. punishment, 3. in the center - seeking the help of God.
  

• Rhythm - 19-20, 20-19. This may focus the chiastic structure. when you match 2 crime and 4 punishment, there are 100 syllables.
  

• Genre and composition history - some scholars argue the original psalm was missing 4, 7 and 11. That psalm would speak of a conflict between the gods - the elem. The elem are responsible for all evil on earth, and the Lord is against them. Then it is didactic. 4, 7, 11 were added to place the responsibility for wickedness on human beings. Central verse 7 God got a central position, asking God to do something in the problem of human evil.
  

• The motto of the current psalm is justice brings good fruits, and only the just can meet God.
  

Excursus.

• Wisdom literature is alien to the principle themes of the old testament.

*Definition of wisdom. -

• Parachute approach - broad.
  

• Pea Shooter approach - focus on the explicit, the unique - it focuses on generals and kings, as if the world was devoid of anything else.
  

• Crenshaw - wisdom is non-revelatory speech;
  

• Corpus: Proverbs Job and Eccesiastes are included - but other writings are included. What you include affects the definition and vice versa. Songs may be included, but where is the wisdom. Succession narratives may be included, but they are confined to the royal court. There have been arguments that Israels wisdom tradition is based on other wisdom traditions in the region. But cultural influence is likely. The administration of other areas had higher bureaucracy, and Solomon didn't in his government. Schools were probably local village schools when they did develop. We see references to family, homey elements; showing the probable context.
  

• Forms - Development of wisdom, short pithy sayings which later developed into longer narratives. This notion is highly unlikely and in any case unprovable. WF Albright's view written 1920-1950 a tumultuous period. Developmentalism is probably not true, and not helpful. If it is secular, there is no room for God - but that is not the characteristic of the society of ancient Israel. H.H. Schmid argues Wisdom is always religious - and God decreases in significance later on - it later focuses more on retribution. This is opposite to Von Rad.
  

• Concept of Ma'at - the organizing principle in the instructions from Egypt. Creation theology underllies Israelite wisdom according to Zimmerli; echoed by Leo Perdue. Why is this significant? Proverbs say if you follow wisdom, you will be in with the group; This is implicit here, but explicit in other parts of the text. Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 - purity rituals - thoroughly by anthropologists (Douglas, Soler). There is a perspective that through which the people parse their experience. Genetic, dietary, geographic distinction also inform distinction in social realm. Can we also have distinctions of human groups as well? Can we understand exclusion of pig and camel in the rules of qadosh, apply in the social world as well. E.g. pig meets two of three criteria and isn't included - so with people, exclusion on basis of missing one of the necessary criteria may be done.
  

• Essentialist beliefs - Motivated social cognition - i.e. why people do what they do and think what they think. One of the defining features of this thinking is that things are permanently in their category. This type of thinking exists across time and continents. Stereotypes are the same. Lay people's belief in the existence and immutability is a naieve ontology but a strong epistomology - basis of prejudice. The nature of prejudice. Allport. He treated prejudice as another version of classification. Antipathy based on a faulty and over used categorization. (Lay people means those without the luxury to 'reflect on experience'; they are too caught up in the day to day lives of quiet desperation.). Wretched of the earth. Scholastic fallacy - try to comprehend the culture - they are not reflecting on the culture, but reflecting in the culture. How the world works, and the person's position in it. Folk sociology reflect a practical engagement with the world, not just to categorize, but to base it on non-negotiable criteria - personal, genetic, behavior. Shared blood is the ultimate criteria. Pedigree is everything. There is confession of believe in God as a criteria in another place in the Torah. If there are situations where membership in Israelite communities is based on these rigid criteria, then the notion of the community of Israel needs rethinking. This is the community that has codes in proverbs. The search for qualities to order the community, mimicking the natural order, is found in Prov 1-9 with it's pursuit of wisdom, and closeness to the Divine. So it is like other OT theology. God as creator and judge is the unifying theme. Criteria are based on observation of the natural world - discerning God's design in the social order. Wisdom is natural, non-wisdom is non-natural. Perfection of the created world is behind this. Co-creation. It goes without saying, so it doesn't need military to enforce them; commonsense.

• J.P. FOKKELMAN, Dichtkunst in de bijbel. Een handleiding bij literair lezen, Zoetermeer: Meinema, 2000 (= Reading Biblical Poetry. An Introductory Guide, Louisville – London: Westminster John Knox, 2001).
  

• L. ALONSO SCH�KEL, A Manual of Hebrew Poetics (Subsidia Biblica, 11), Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2000. Almost all possible elements of biblical poetry - uses hebrew.
  

• W.G.E. WATSON, Classical Hebrew Poetry. A Guide to its Techniques, London – New York: T & T Clark, 2005 (1984). assumes hebrew as well.
  

• R. LOWTH, De sacra poesi Hebraeorum, Oxford, 1733.
  

• J.P. FOKKELMAN, The Psalms in Form. The Hebrew Psalter in its Poetic Shape, Leiden: Deo Publishing, 2002. Divides the psalms according to strophes and lays them out in parallel. It makes clear the structure of the psalm - see ps 119.
  

L.C.L. Brenton, The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English, London, 1851 [reprint 1998].


• Pietersma, A New English Translation of the Septuagint and Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included under that Title. The Psalms, New York – Oxford, 2000 (NETS).