SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.21 número1 índice de autoresíndice de assuntospesquisa de artigos
Home Pagelista alfabética de periódicos  

Serviços Personalizados

Artigo

Indicadores

Links relacionados

  • Em processo de indexaçãoCitado por Google
  • Em processo de indexaçãoSimilares em Google

Compartilhar


Old Testament Essays

versão On-line ISSN 2312-3621
versão impressa ISSN 1010-9919

Old testam. essays vol.21 no.1 Pretoria  2008

 

'Killing them softly with this song the literary structure of Psalm 3 and its Psalmic and Davidic contexts1. Part I: An intratextual interpretation of Psalm 3

 

 

Phil J. Botha; Beat Weber

University of Pretoria

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

This is the first article in a series of two which investigate the meaning of Psalm 3. In this contribution, the syntax of the verbs and the aspects of time in Psalm 3 are analysed. This is correlated with a poetic analysis of the psalm. A division of three stanzas (2-4\\5-7\ \8-9) is proposed in which each of the three sections is seen to describe a movement from prayer to a confession of trust. The first and the last stanza seem to be two parts of a prayer in the present tense, spoken by a suppliant who is under attack from a large number of enemies. The central stanza seems to contain a description of a prayer by the same person in the past, as well as the nocturnal answer of YHWH to this prayer, something that gave the suppliant the courage in his present situation of distress to react with confidence to the fear instilled by the enemies and their words.


 

“Full text available only in PDF format”

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Auffret, P. 1979. Note sur la structure littéraire du psaume 3. ZAW 91, 93-106.         [ Links ]

Barbiero, G. 1999. Das erste Psalmenbuch als Einheit. Eine synchrone Analyse von Psalm 1-41. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang. (ÖBS 16.         [ Links ])

Bartelmus, R. 1982. HYH. Bedeutung und Funktion des hebraischen 'Allerweltswortes' - zugleich ein Beitrag zur Frage des hebraischen Tempussystems. St. Ottilien: Eos. (ATSAT 17.         [ Links ])

Botha, P. J. 2005. The Ideological Interface between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2. OTE 18, 189-203.         [ Links ]

Calvin, J. 1949 [1571]. Commentary on the Book of Psalms, Vol. I. Reprint of the first English Edition 1571. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Culley, R. C. 1991. Psalm 3: Content, Context, and Coherence, in Gross, W. et al. (eds), Text, Methode und Grammatik, 29-39. St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag.         [ Links ]

Craigie, P. C. 1983. Psalms 1-50. Waco, TX: Word Books. (WBC 19.         [ Links ])

Croft, S. J. L. 1987. The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. (JSOT.S 44.         [ Links ])

Delitzsch, F. 1973 [1867]. Psalms. Reprint of the English Translation of 1871, German 1867. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Fidler, R. 2005. 'A Touch of Support: Ps 3:6 and the Psalmist's Experience.' Bib. 86, 192-212.         [ Links ]

Fokkelman, J. P. 2000. Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible. At the Interface of Prosody and Structural Analysis. Volume II: 85 Psalms and Job 4-14. Assen: Van Gor-cum. (SSN.         [ Links ])

Fokkelman, J. P. 2002. The Psalms in Form. The Hebrew Psalter in its Poetic Shape. Leiden: Deo.         [ Links ]

Gesenius, W. & Kautzsch, E. 1962 [1909]. Hebraische Grammatik. Reprint of the 28th edition, Leipzig 1909. Hildesheim: Olms.

Gunkel, H. (& Begrich, J.) 1933. Einleitung in die Psalmen. Die Gattungen der religiösen Lyrik Israels. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. (Göttinger Handkommentar zum Alten Testament II / Ergânzungsband, completed by J. Begrich.         [ Links ])

Hossfeld, F.-L. & Zenger, E. 1992. 'Selig, wer auf die Armen achtet' (Ps 41,2). Beobachtungen zur Gottesvolk-Theologie des ersten Davidpsalters.' JBTh 7, 21-50.         [ Links ]

Hossfeld, F.-L. & Zenger, E. 1993. Die Psalmen I. Würzburg: Echter. (NEB 29.         [ Links ])

Jenni, E. 1968. Das hebraische Pi'el. Syntaktisch-semasiologische Untersuchung einer Verbalform im Alten Testament. Zurich: EVZ-Verlag.         [ Links ]

Kleer, M. 1996. 'Der liebliche Sanger der Psalmen Israels.' Untersuchungen zu David als Dichter und Beter der Psalmen. Bodenheim: Philo. (BBB 108.         [ Links ])

Kraus, H.-J. 1978. Psalmen. 1. Teilband: Psalmen 1-59. 5., grundlegend überarbeitete und verânderte Auflage. Neukirchen-Vluyn. (BKAT XV/1).         [ Links ]

Kselman, J. S. 1987. Psalm 3: A Structural and Literary Study. CBQ 49, 572-80.         [ Links ]

Lindström, F. 1994. Suffering and Sin. Interpretations of Illness in the Individual Complaint Psalms. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. (CBOT 37.         [ Links ])

McCann, J. C. 1992. The Psalms as Instruction. Interp. 46, 117-128.         [ Links ]

Oeming, M. 2000. Das Buch der Psalmen. Psalm 1-41. Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk. (NSKAT 13/1.         [ Links ])

Schroeder, C. 2000. Psalm 3 und das Traumorakel des von Feinden bedrängten Beters. Bib. 81, 243-51.         [ Links ]

Schroeder, C. 2001. History, Justice, and the Agency of God. A Hermeneutical Investigation on Isaiah and Psalms. Leiden: Brill. (BIS 52.         [ Links ])

Seybold, K. 1996. Die Psalmen. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1996. (HAT I/15.         [ Links ])

Terrien, S. 2003. The Psalms. Strophic Structure and Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI & Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans. (ECC.         [ Links ])

Van der Lugt, P. 1980. Strofiesche structuren in de Bijbels-Hebreeuwse poëzie. De geschiedenis van het onderzoek en een bijdrage tot de theorievorming omtrent de strofenbouw van de Psalmen. Kampen: J. H. Kok. (DNS.T.         [ Links ])

Van der Lugt, P. 2006. Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry with Special Reference to the First Book of the Psalter. Leiden & Boston: Brill. (OTS 53.         [ Links ])

Weber, B. 1995. Psalm 77 und sein Umfeld. Eine poetologische Studie. Weinheim: Beltz Athenäum. (BBB 103.         [ Links ])

Weber, B. 2001. Werkbuch Psalmen I. Die Psalmen 1 bis 72. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.         [ Links ]

Weber, B. 2007a. 'HERR, wie viele sind geworden meine Bedränger ...' (Ps 3,2a). Psalm 1-3 als Ouvertüre des Psalters unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Psalm 3 und seinem Präskript, in Der Bibelkanon in der Bibelauslegung. Methodenreflexionen und Beispielexegesen. Edited by E. Ballhorn & G. Steins. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 231-251.         [ Links ]

Weber, B. 2007b. Psalm 1 als Tor zur Tora JHWHs. Wie Ps 1 (und Ps 2) den Psalter an den Pentateuch anschliesst. SJOT 21, 179-200.         [ Links ]

Westermann, C. 1983. Lob und Klage in den Psalmen. 6. Auflage. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.         [ Links ]

Wilson, G. H. 1986. The Use of King-Psalms at the 'Seams' of the Psalter. JSOT 35, 85-94.         [ Links ]

Wilson, G. H. 2002. Psalms - Volume I. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. (The NIV Application Commentary.         [ Links ])

Wünsche, A. 1999 [1892]. Midrasch Tehillim oder Haggadische Erklärung der Psalmen. Nach der Textausgabe von Salomon Buber zum ersten Male ins Deutsche übersetzt und mit Noten und Quellenangaben versehen I/II. Second reprint 1892. Hildesheim: Olms.

 

 

Correspondence:
Beat Weber
Theologisches Seminar Bienenberg, Liestal, CH
University of Wales, Lampeter, UK (Associate Lecturer)
Department of Ancient Languages
University of Pretoria
Pretoria 0002, RSA. Birrmoosstr. 5, CH-3673 Linden BE (Switzerland)
E-mail: weber-lehnherr@freesurf.ch

Phil J. Botha
Department of Ancient Languages
University of Pretoria
Pretoria 0002, South Africa
E-mail: phil.botha@up.ac.za

 

 

1 This article and a forthcoming one by the same authors have grown out of investigations and discussions during 2005 and again during 2008 at the Department of Ancient Languages at the University of Pretoria. Phil J. Botha is professor of Semitic Languages at this institution and Dr. Beat Weber is a visiting research associate of this department. The title of the article is a play on the song 'Killing me softly with his song', composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It was inspired by a poem by Lori Lieberman, 'Killing me softly with his blues', which she wrote after seeing a then-unknown Don McLean perform the song 'Empty Chairs' live. The title was chosen because this psalm, in its present setting, tells about the life of David and how he overcame his enemies.

Creative Commons License Todo o conteúdo deste periódico, exceto onde está identificado, está licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons