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.
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THE COHERENCE OF PSALMS 15–24
ment. Concerning the former, Psalm 19 shares with Psalm 15 and Ps
24,3-6 an interest in Torah as a means to “access†life, albeit without
reference to the temple as the place where this life is available in par-
ticular density (vv. 8-11) 57. It also shares with Ps 24,1-2 an interest in
creation as the ultimate horizon for the meaning of the content of the
rest of the psalm (vv. 1-7) 58. As Hossfeld summarizes it, vv. 2-11 por-
tray the interplay “of creation and the revelation of the will of YHWH.
The order undergirding the flow of time that has manifested itself ever
since the beginning of creation in the continual orbits of the heavenly
bodies (the sun) finds its continuation in the life-giving Torah†59. Ac-
cording to Psalm 19, obedience to God’s will not only gives one access
to God’s presence, but it also aligns one — in some as yet undefined
way (cf. Psalm 24) — with the very structure of the cosmos.
The special structural relationship between these three psalms be-
comes most evident when we notice the particular pattern by which
the themes are arranged: the two major stanzas of Psalm 19 are con-
cerned with creation (vv. 1-7) and Torah respectively (vv. 8-15). Psalm
15 as a whole is only concerned with one of these themes, Torah,
whereas Psalm 24 is concerned with both of them (vv. 1-2; 3-6) plus
the significant addition of a new element: the arrival of YHWH in his
temple (vv. 7-10). The thematic pattern that is created when we read
these psalms linearly is thus B./A.B’./A’.B’.C (each element coincid-
ing with a discrete prosodic unit, whether strophe[s] or stanza) 60:
Given that it is the reality behind the gates of the temple that matters and not
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the external frame of the temple itself, I take the parallelism between Torah tem-
ple on the one hand and Torah life on the other to be theologically synonymous.
Cf. WEBER, Psalmen, 130: “The opening verses 1-2 create (literally!)
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the ‘foundation’ of the following anthropological-ethical and theological
statements and at the same time prepare the reader for them†(translation my
own). Within the context of the collection as a whole, Hossfeld and Zenger
claim that YHWH’s defence of righteousness is the “‘meaning,’ not only of his
history with David as the king of Israel but also as the ‘meaning’ of creation
itself (Ps 24,1-2)†(translation mine). See also E. OTTO, “Kultus und Ethos in
Jerusalemer Theologie: Ein Beitrag zur Begründung der Ethik im Alten Tes-
tamentâ€, ZAW 98 (1986) 161-179.
HOSSFELD, in HOSSFELD – ZENGER, Psalmen: I, 134.
59
Auffret is the only commentator to have come close to this observation
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(AUFFRET, “Psaumes 15 à 24â€, 437). He sees the parallel between Psalms 24
and 19 in terms of creation and Torah, but sees vv. 7-10 as paralleled with
the second “pane†(volet) of the subcollection, which apparently has a greater
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