W. Dennis Tucker, «Psalm 95: Text, Context, and Intertext», Vol. 81 (2000) 533-541
In a previous issue of Biblica (76 [1995] 540-550)
W.H. Schniedewind argued that Ps 100 had a major influence on the psalmist who
wrote Ps 95. In this study, I argue for a diachronic approach to
intertextuality, which examines both the literary and the social environment. I
contend that the two together actually create an intertextual hermeneutic which
allows the psalmist to incorporate previous traditions and texts in such a way
as to address changing social and religious demands.
Based on citation, allusion and
reversal, I contend that the
psalmist of Ps 95 did in fact incorporate element of Ps 100, but in addition,
the psalmist added the Massah-Meribah tradition, while adding a deuteronomic slant
to the psalms. The use of the Massah-Meribah tradition along the
deuteronomic influences, created a psalm that would have been particularly
appropriate for a community still reeling from the devastation of exile.
both emphasize the idea of putting God to the test — thus validating the claim that the true emphasis is on the ideas surrounding Massah and not those surrounding Meribah. Thus as Davies has suggested, the intent behind the use of the Massah-Meribah tradition is not primarily on the disobedience connected with the lack of water, as seen in the Meribah tradition, but rather the emphasis is on the questioning of the presence of God, as reflected best in the Massah tradition34.
The final verse returns the psalm to a deuteronomic tenor with the proclamation from YHWH, ‘They shall not enter my rest’. A similar proclamation of judgment does not appear in either of the primary narratives concerning Massah or Meribah (Exod 17; Num 20)35. The quote cited by the psalmist appears to have come from Deut 12,9, a text unrelated to the Massah or Meribah tradition. As Georg Braulik has noted, the phrase hxwnm-l) )wb appears in only two places, Ps 95,11 and Deut 12,936. Thus, the psalmist must have elected to conclude his work by citing a text outside of the Massah-Meribah tradition. The question that remains is why?
The word for rest, hxwnm, and the verbal form, xwn, appear throughout the deuteronomic material37. The idea of rest in the deuteronomic tradition is typically defined as ‘living at peace in the land — a deuteronomistic benefit of hope and the fruit of obedience, as well as the substance of God’s promises’38. Yet in Ps 95, the use seems to be extended beyond the geographical notion of land. In Deut 12,9, hxwnm does appear, but in specific reference to the temple — ‘the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name’. But in Ps 95,11 the threat of the oracle, ‘they shall not enter my rest’, is not really whether a worshiper can enter into the temple of God, but whether they will remain in the presence of God39. Throughout the psalm, this theme is repeated. In v. 2, the worshiper is invited to ‘come into his presence’, and through the use of the Massah-Meribah tradition, the psalmist pleads with the worshiper not to question the presence of God in the midst of his people. And the psalmist concludes the psalm with the dire consequences of those who fail to heed the words of the prophetic oracle — they will find themselves apart from the presence of God.