Psalm 7/Context
Context
Figures of Speech
"The poetic language is colorful and effective, employing the simile of a fierce lion (v.3), the imagery of divine weapons (vv.13-14), and the metaphor of conception and pregnancy to describe the manner in which a person conceives evil and creates deception."[1]
In addition to these images, spatial imagery runs throughout the poem, defining its structure and underlining its message.
The first stanza (vv.2-6) ends with the image of "ground" (לָאָרֶץ) // "dust" (לֶעָפָר) (v.6bc), metonymic for defeat and death. The last word of this section is ישׁכן ("lie down). From this low-point, the psalm rises progressively to a peak in the second stanza (vv.7-10). Yahweh is called to "rise" (קוּמָה, the first word of this section), to "be lifted" (הִנָּשֵׂא), to "wake" (שׁוּבָה) and to return "to the highest place" (לַמָּרוֹם; note morphological similarities to לָאָרֶץ and לֶעָפָר) from which to judge the world (v.9a). "The upward movement has been motivated by God's anger, aims at pronouncing judgment, and ends up at God's throne."[2] The third stanza (vv.11-17) returns down to the land as Yahweh executes the judgment he has decreed. The downward motion is emphasized as the wicked "dig" a "hole" (בּוֹר, v.16a) and "fall down" (נפל) into a "pit" (שַׁחַת, v.16b), where their violence "descends" upon them (יֵרֵד, the final word of this section). The psalm concludes with praise to יהוה עליון, "Most High" being the final word of the psalm.
Spatial imagery thus defines the basic three-part structure of the psalm:
- I. The Psalmist is brought down (vv.2-6)
- a. (vv.2-3)
- b. (vv.4-6)
- II. Yahweh goes up to the highest place (vv.7-10)
- c. (vv.7-8)
- d. (vv.9-10)
- III. The enemies are brought down (vv.11-17)
- e. (vv.11-14)
- f. (vv.16-17)
- Praise to the Most High God (v.18)
This interrelated complex of images underlines the message of the Psalm: When Yahweh judges the world, there is a great reversal whereby everything is set right. The righteous are brought up from the dust, and the wicked fall down into pits. In other words, when Yahweh goes up, the righteous also go up, and the wicked go down.,
Historical background
- אֲשֶׁר־שָׁ֥ר לַיהוָ֑ה עַל־דִּבְרֵי־כ֝֗וּשׁ בֶּן־יְמִינִֽי׃
Psalm 7 is one of 13 psalms with a historical note in the superscription (cf. Pss. 3; 18; 34; 51; 52; 54; 56; 57; 59; 60; 63; 142).[3] The usual syntactic formula used to present these historical notes is ב + infinitive construct. The only exceptions to this are Pss. 7 (אֲשֶׁר־שָׁ֥ר לַיהוָ֑ה) and 18 (אֲשֶׁ֤ר דִּבֶּ֙ר׀ לַיהוָ֗ה), which resemble one another syntactically (ליהוה (pf 3ms) אשׁר).[4] Furthermore, "unlike the other titles, the superscriptions of Psalms 7 and 18 do not relate unambiguously to any specific event in the life of David as portrayed in the Dtr history. This fact stands in sharp contrast to every one of the other eleven syntactically identical titles."[5] For both of these reasons, it may be concluded that "the notations of Psalms 7 and 18 do not appear to have arisen by the same hand or as a part of the same redactional or midrashic activity as did the other eleven superscriptions."[6] This may be evidence for the antiquity of these superscriptions. Indeed, the balanced number of syllables in the psalm (ss + first stanza = 122; second stanza = 47 + 47; third stanza + conclusion = 122), if not a remarkable coincidence, may support the originality of the superscription as integral to the psalm itself.
The identity of "Cush the Benjaminite" and the "words/events" (דברי) referred to are unknown. Some try and relate the historical note to some known person/event in the canonical history of David's life. The Targum, the Talmud and Midrash Tehillim interpret כוּשׁ as a figurative reference to Saul, son of קישׁ, the Benjaminite (Targum: על תברא דשׁאול בר קישׁ דמן שׁבט בנימן׃). The Greek translations (LXX, α', σ', θ') read χουσι, perhaps linking the name to the כוּשִׁי/הַכּוּשִׁי of 2 Sam. 18[7] or to חוּשַׁי הָאַרְכִּי (= χουσι in LXX) in 2 Sam. 15-16; 1 Chron. 27:33.[8] Others have taken כוּשׁ בֶּן־יְמִינִי as a reference to Shemei, the Bemjanite, who cursed David (2 Sam. 16; 19).[9] Others assume that "the notation refers to an episode from some undetermined legendary source, a story which, though popularly told, was not consigned to the Dtr history. This solution to the problem is quick and popular, most recently represented by the commentaries of Kraus (1958, p. 56), Anderson (1972, p. 93), and Craige (1983, p. 99), but formerly proposed by Kittel (1914, p. 24), Gunkel (1926, p. 25), and Weiser (1962, p. 135) among others."[10] This view is the least problematic and seems the most likely.
Although the referents in the historical notation are mostly obscure, the superscription may provide some help in reconstructing the historical background. "What we can glean from the superscription is to be found in the words which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush the Benjaminite. It is clear that the Benjaminites bore ill will to David and his reign. It is also likely from the psalm that the psalmist is crying to the Lord because of false words that have been spoken about the psalmist. It is also worth noting that the psalm was later associated with the Jewish Feast of Purim, a context in which the ill will and witness of an enemy play a key role."[11]
Apart from the superscription, details regarding the historical background of the psalm may be deduced from the psalm itself, especially vv.4-5. Craigie writes, "It is possible to form a general understanding of the substance of the false accusations from the four declarations contained in vv.4-5. (i) 'This thing' (v.4a) refers in general terms to the accusations laid against him; (ii) 'injustice' (v.4b) implies the character of the action he is said to have done. (iii) The reference to an ally (v.5a) indicates the person against whom the evil actions were said to have been done, namely a person to whom the psalmist was bound in a relationship of treaty or covenant, which should be characterized by faithfulness, not treachery. (iv) The reference to rescuing 'his (viz. the ally's) adversary' is an example of the kind of treacherous act of which the psalmist is accused, for persons or parties committed to one another in treaty were supposed also to share both friends and enemies, as illustrated in the following quotation from an ancient Hittite treaty: 'with my friend, you shall be friend, and with my enemy, you shall be enemy (ANET, 204)."[12]
- ↑ Peter Craige, Psalms 1-50, Word Biblical Commentary 19 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), 99.
- ↑ Fokkelman, Major Poems, 67.
- ↑ Gerald H. Wilson, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, SBLDS 76 (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985), 170-171.
- ↑ Rodney Hutton, “Cush the Benjaminite and Psalm Midrash” in Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986): 123–37.
- ↑ Rodney Hutton, “Cush the Benjaminite and Psalm Midrash” in Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986): 123–37.
- ↑ Rodney Hutton, “Cush the Benjaminite and Psalm Midrash” in Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986): 123–37.
- ↑ This interpretation is favored by Rodney Hutton, “Cush the Benjaminite and Psalm Midrash” in Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986): 123–37. Contra Hutton, הַכּוּשִׁי is gentillic adjective rather than a name since it takes the article (GKC, 125d.)
- ↑ so interpreted by Athanasius, "Letter to Marcellinus," https://www.athanasius.com/psalms/aletterm.htm; also Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms (Digital Psalms version, 2007), http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/otesources/19-psalms/text/books/augustine-psalms/augustine-psalms.pdf.
- ↑ Goldingay, Psalms; see sources in Hutton, “Cush the Benjaminite and Psalm Midrash.”
- ↑ Hutton, “Cush the Benjaminite and Psalm Midrash.” Calvin voiced the same opinion centuries earlier: "In my opinion... he here expresses by his proper name, and without figure, a wicked accuser, who had excited hatred against him by falsely charging him with some crime."
- ↑ Rolf Jacobson, The Book of Psalms',' The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014).
- ↑ Peter Craige, Psalms 1-50, Word Biblical Commentary 19 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), 100-101.