PSALM 29: A CANAANITE HYMN TO YHWH IN THE PSALTER (original) (raw)
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Semitica, 2021
This article advocates an integrated approach to the historical study of YHWH and Baal worship in ancient Israel and Judah that prioritizes, not the Hebrew Bible and the kingdom of Judah, but the non-biblical evidence and the kingdom of Israel. Adopting this approach, I provide a new reconstruction of the history of YHWH and Baal worship in ancient Israel and Judah that challenges dominant scholarly models of YHWH’s historical origins as a storm god whose worship is said to have originated among non-Israelite/non-Judahite peoples in Bronze Age Arabia. This historical reconstruction proposes that YHWH—a deity firmly rooted in the central Israelite hill country during the Iron Age—only formally became Israel’s god during the ninth century BCE, when Samaria’s Omride kings deliberately modeled the local deity YHWH on the more popular Levantine warrior storm-god Baal(-šamêm). Furthermore, I argue that YHWH only officially became Judah’s patron god and the primary deity of the Jerusalem temple under the direct influence of Omride Israel’s YHWistic political-religious reforms. Ultimately, I conclude that Baal worship was traditional in ancient Israelite and Judahite religion down to the end of the monarchic period, at which point small circles of Judahite scribes began to advocate historically innovative political-religious ideologies pitting the Israelite deity YHWH against the allegedly “foreign” god Baal.
2019
Psalms 93–100* constitute a kind of “cantata” about the manifestation of the God of Israel in the world, whose centre is in Zion. It presents in a hymnic form a universal history, from creation (93) to the attainment of peace between all the nations of the world and the cosmic harmony established by Yhwh, king of the universe (100). But it is mainly Psalms 96 and 98 which, in their very poetic composition, offer more clearly a symbolic structuring of time (in three successive phases of this kingdom) and space (the centre: Israel and in the temple – the periphery: the nations of the earth). Liturgical language deliberately employed by these Psalms allows us to read them as references to historical facts and to eschatological hopes. But from an anthropological point of view, liturgy is not merely a reference but a true action, a real event of language: it not only reports history, but also builds history. The poetic imagery of these Psalms constitute a specifically Israelite synthesis of the cultural heritage of their environment and the historical experience of their relationship with Yhwh.
2008
Psalm 87 is widely regarded as being notoriously problematic, posing difficulties on all levels. Despite all of the uncertainties that exegetes have regarding this psalm, almost all agree that the psalm deals with Zion acting as mother city. This article attempts to shed new light on the problem of Psalm 87 by examining it in its immediate context as a Korahite psalm, and ultimately from an Ancient Near Eastern social values perspective. It is argued that this approach aids in determining the meaning of the psalm, as these values were an integral part of Ancient Near Eastern society. They thus not only influenced this psalm, but also reveal a lot about the thought processes behind the psalm. In light of the examination of the psalm, a new theory is proposed about Psalm 87's dealing with the exclusivity of Zion rather than its universality.
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2018
The ‘biographical’ notes of the Masoretic ‘Book’ of Psalms are often understood as placing the psalms in dialogue with 1–2 Samuel, and casting David as a pious exemplar. As David prayed psalms in his distress, so can anyone. Indebted to an influential article by Brevard Childs, many scholars also see early traces of midrash exegesis. However, this is not all persuasive, and to inquire into these issues, the article proceeds from the observation that many of the ‘biographical’ notes cluster around similar events. In most of them, David is fleeing from Saul. Following a survey of the ‘biographical’ notes in both the Masoretic text and the Septuagint, it is argued that the often-suggested connections between the psalms and 1–2 Samuel are quite weak, and that a better way to understand the addition of ‘biographical’ notes is found when reading them in light of a resurfacing saulide-davidic rivalry in post-exilic times.
Psalm 29: Canaanite or Israelite? The Evidence of the Numerical Structure
Greenstein F. S., 2021
Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy array. 3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord , upon many waters. 4. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6. He makes Lebanon to skip 2 like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7. The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. 8. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text. This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context. Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.” The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one. The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole. This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning. This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text. The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology. The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.
A survey of English translations of Zechariah 14:21 will yield two diverse interpretive conclusions of the text. This difference is founded on how the Hebrew word כְּנַעֲנִי is to be understood within the context. Some opt for the meaning of one who is “a merchant” while others maintain that the word is to be understood as referring to a “Canaanite.” The issue is not merely a lexical one but a theological one. The implications of the interpretive choice effect both the interpretation of the text itself and the theological emphasis of the book as a whole. This thesis will defend the view that “Canaanite” is Zechariah’s intended meaning. This view will be defended by a six-fold accumulative investigation of the text. The six investigative perspectives will be expositional, lexical, structural, chronological, typological, and Biblical Theology. The work will be divided into seven parts with the full Bibliography attached to the last section.