Philip Sumpter, «The Coherence of Psalms 15–24», Vol. 94 (2013) 186-209
This article develops recent arguments that Psalms 15–24 constitute a relatively self-contained sub-collection that is chiastically arranged. It seeks to uncover the logic underlying the arrangement by attending to three points: 1) the manner in which the content of each psalm is 'expanded' and 'brought forward' in its chiastic parallel; 2) the nature of the relation between the framing psalms (15; 19; 24) and those that intervene; 3) the significance of David and Zion. In short, it argues that the editors were concerned to situate David within his true theological context.
192 PHILIP SUMPTER
Zion. The intervening psalms are more existential in nature, por-
traying the lived experience of the struggle of faith. The subject of
the struggle of faith is the partner with whom God wishes to enter
communion: the king, David, and his people. The function of the
framing psalms is to contextualize this struggle by setting it within
its ultimate theological context.
II. Aspect and Paratactic Presentation in the Bible
What was the function of chiastic presentations of religious ma-
terial in ancient Israel? One of the problems modern readers have
when confronted with paratactically organized texts is the apparent
lack of logical coherence. According to Brunner-Traut, this is be-
cause we have been trained to perceive our world in terms of per-
spective. Reality is understood to be an organically interconnected
structure whereby each element has its unique place within the
whole. Phenomena are then viewed from a particular standpoint lo-
cated outside the object under observation. The viewer’s subjective
standpoint influences the way the particular phenomena are per-
ceived; if our standpoint changes, so too does our apprehension of
the relationship of the parts.
The ancient world was no less convinced of the unity of reality,
yet it did not attempt to grasp this reality from a single, overarching
and unifying standpoint. The ancients tended to view a single phe-
nomenon from multiple perspectives at the same time in a manner
that Brunner-Traut has labelled aspective. Herbert Klement, who
has sought to apply this concept to the interpretation of the Books
of Samuel, summarizes her view in relation to the Bible as follows:
the biblical writers were interested in a gradual comprehension, a
succession of perceptions in contrast to an overall view. Aspectival
perception brings the manifestations into a bilateral relationship.
By this an overview is given of a subject in which its individual
parts are grasped and combined into a cumulative structure of these
same individual parts 18.
H. KLEMENT, II Samuel 21-24. Context, Structure and Meaning in the
18
Samuel Collection (EUSS 23/EHR 23; Frankfurt am Main 2000) 89-90.
© Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati