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
pective†perception. The initial observation that Psalms 15–24 con-
sist of a chiasm sets up the framework for identifying sets of inter-
psalm relationships. The theory of semantic intensification as a
characteristic of biblical parallelism helps us identity a series of
consistent semantic shifts between the parallel psalms within this
arrangement. In short, the content of each psalm is consistently set
within a more developed theological context. Finally, Brunner-
Traut’s thesis that juxtaposition functions to elucidate a single re-
ality helps us identify the presence of a single pattern underlying
the diversity and thereby unifying it, namely the eschatological nar-
rative of God’s consummation of creation by bringing his righteous
king, and with him the people of whom he is a type and for whom
he is a redeemer, into the reality beyond the threshold of his temple.
When read on their own as self-contained units, this theological
context escapes the reader’s attention. When read with an eye for
unifying thematic arrangement, however, we can begin to see how
the editors of this collection perceived its fragmentary elements to
cohere within a greater theological reality that encompassed their
own day and age, namely the divine economy. In short, the bridge
between the past and present was ontological, for it was grounded in
God’s unchanging ways. If my reading holds any water, then it can
help us understand the ways in which Israel’s literary heritage was
shaped in order to function as scripture for future generations of the
faithful. In the interplay between the framing psalms of theological
orientation (Psalms 15; 19; 24) and those dominated by disorientation
and reorientation (Psalms 16–18; 20–23), future readers are provided
with a means for contextualizing their own faithful struggle, regard-
less of their shifting historical, cultural, and institutional contexts.
P.O. Box 50105 Philip SUMPTER
Nazareth 16100, Israel
SUMMARY
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 be-
tween the framing psalms (15; 19; 24) and those that intervene; 3) the sig-
nificance 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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