PsalmsHebrew Poetry

The Greek word psalmoi

• A collection of 150 individual poems composed over a span of six centuries

• They are performed lyrics to the accompaniment of pipes, flutes, harps, as part of worship of Yahweh

Is david the author?

• May be attributed to David because he was known as a poet and a musician

• Of the 150 psalms, 116 indicate an author—all these are thought to be additions by later scribes

Categories of Psalms

• Hymns or Songs of Praise• Thanksgiving• Laments• Psalms of Blessing and Cursing• Royal Psalms• Enthronement Psalms• Wisdom and Instruction

A Dialogue

• In the Torah and the Prophets, God speaks to humanity• In the Psalms, the covenant people speak to God

Divine-Human Bond

• The Psalmists affirm the divine-human relationship despite the fact that sometimes Yahweh seems absent.

• The Psalms are both praise and lamentation

Similes

• Psalm 58“Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.”

• Psalm 17[my enemies] “They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a great lion crouching in cover.”

metaphor

• Psalm 29“The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’”

• Psalm 31 “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”

allegory

• Psalm 80 “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the

nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its boughs to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.

Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?”

Proverbs

Solomon?

• Often attributed to Solomon, but the practical advice in Proverbs comes from diverse sources from Egypt and other Near Eastern principalities

• 1 Kings attributes 3,000 proverbs to Solomon• “proverb” translates from the Hebrew “mashal” which

means “a statement of truth” or a “standard of behavior.”

Role of Wisdom

• Wisdom promotes loyalty to Yahweh• Wisdom is Yahweh’s companion

“Yahweh created me when his purpose first unfolded,

before the oldest of his works. From everlasting I was firmly set,

from the beginning, before earth came into being.”

Proverbs 8:

Wisdom as feminine

• Folly, or lack of wisdom, is like a harlot• True Wisdom is “Lady Wisdom”