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.
197
THE COHERENCE OF PSALMS 15–24
see here in nuce an instantiation of a broader biblical pattern whereby
the temple — whether historical, eschatological, metaphorical, or all
three — is the place of fulfilment and life. When read on its own, Psalm
15 speaks only of the needs of an individual in relation to this spatially
bounded quality of existence. It is likely, however, that a post-exilic editor
may have seen that more is involved in entering such a space. It is the
function of Psalm 24 to explicate this broader theological context 34.
Psalm 24 contains the structure of Psalm 15 in miniature (ques-
tion: v. 3; answer: v. 4; promise: v. 5), and yet it embeds its concerns
between a confession of YHWH’s ownership of the world (vv. 1-2)
and a dramatic portrayal of this owner about to enter, in the capacity
of a warrior, the same place to which the individual of Psalms 15
and 24,3 desired access, namely the temple on Zion (vv. 7-10). Al-
though interpreters have often struggled to identify the coherence
of Psalm 24, its movement from creation to law to YHWH’s entry
into the temple appears to instantiate in more detail a typical bibli-
cal pattern whereby the Lord creates the world (vv. 1-2) and then
consummates it by entering it in order to dwell with his people (vv.
7-10), yet only after he has first revealed how they may dwell with
him (vv. 3-6). An example of this pattern is the P document, which
portrays the establishment of the Sabbath and the tabernacle as the
climax of creation (Exod 31,16-17), such that God’s dwelling with
his people is understood to be the meaning of creation. In the
prophets, especially Isaiah, Zion/Jerusalem is the destination of the
returning exiles who have been purified by the judgment of exile,
a narrative pattern that sits well with Psalm 24’s juxtaposition of
Jacob’s entry into Zion (vv. 3-6) and YHWH’s (vv. 7-10) (whereby
it is interesting to note that vv. 7-10 do not explicitly indicate who
YHWH has fought against: the enemies of righteous Israel to redeem
by other concerns. Cf. the Psalms commentaries by P. Craigie; E. Gersten-
berger; F.-L. Hossfeld – E. Zenger; J. Goldingay; R. CLEMENTS, “Worship
and Ethics: A Re-Examination of Psalm 15â€, Worship and the Hebrew Bible.
Essays in Honour of John T. Willis (eds. M. GRAHAM – R. MARRS – S.
MCKENZIE) (Sheffield 1999) 78-94. Given that none of these interpreters re-
lates Psalm 15 to Psalm 24 in the way that I do, they do not pick up the nar-
rative element as I do.
For a detailed analysis of the coherence of Psalm 24 which argues that
34
it contains a narrative pattern similar to the one I am arguing for in this sub-
collection as a whole, see my forthcoming article “The Coherence of Psalm
24†JSOT (date of publication as yet undetermined).
© Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati