The Sabbath Day in Ps 92
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Exegetical issues for Psalm 92:
Introduction
The superscription of Psalm 92 is unique in its mention of the Sabbath day:[1]
- מִזְמ֥וֹר שִׁ֗יר לְי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃[2]
- "A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day."
How, though, is the superscription relevant to the message and content of Psalm 92? We will discuss three possible relationships between the superscription and the body of the psalm:
- no relationship;[3]
- the Sabbath of creation; or
- the future Sabbath of perfect rest.
No relationship
According to some scholars, Ps 92 was simply selected for Sabbath liturgy and the superscription song for the Sabbath day reflects its liturgical use.[4] There is no direct relationship between the "Sabbath" of the superscription and the contents of the psalm.
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[Primacy of Liturgy]: The superscription of Ps 92 merely reflects its liturgical use (Bratcher & Reyburn 1991, 808 :M:; Hossfeld & Zenger 2005, 437 :C:; Friedmann 2020, 247 :A:).#dispreferred
- <Reason for selection>: The priests must have had been compelled by a satisfactory relationship between the psalm itself and its Sabbath function, just as the cases of Pss 30 and 100 (Sarna 1962, 159 :A:).
+ <Ps 30 and 100>: The superscriptions of Ps 30 as the establishing of the temple and Ps 100 recited for the "Todah" offerings (שִׁיר־חֲנֻכַּ֖ת הַבַּ֣יִת and מִזְמ֥וֹר לְתוֹדָ֑ה, respectively) are not only liturgical but also descriptive, their liturgical selection influenced by the content and message of their respective texts (see, e.g., Ps 100:4: בֹּ֤אוּ שְׁעָרָ֨יו׀ בְּתוֹדָ֗ה "Enter his gates with thanksgiving").
Creation
According to this view, "Sabbath" in the superscription refers to and is a celebration of creation—which finds its culmination in the seventh day (Gen 2:1-3)—and the YHWH's victory over the forces of chaos in creation,[5] such that the psalm is oriented primarily towards the past.
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[Creation]: The superscription of Ps 92 highlights its thematic connections to YHWH's achievements in creation, which culminate in the Sabbath.#dispreferred
+ <Creation language (v. 5)>: v. 5 speaks of "the work of your hands," which elsewhere refers to creation.#dispreferred
+ [Ps 102:26]: "Long ago your established the earth. Heaven is the work of your hands (מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ)."#dispreferred
<_ <Ps 95:9>: In Ps 95:9, a text closer to Ps 92 than Ps 102, similar terms (though lacking "hands") instead refer to the Exodus and wilderness provision.
+ [Ps 95:9]: "they saw my works" (רָאוּ פָעֳלִי).
+ <Chaos motif>: Ps 92:10 finds striking parallels in Ugaritic literature, which speaks of Baal's victory over his enemies at creation, indicating the adoption of this motif to describe YHWH establishing his dominance over creation (Sarna 1962 :A:; Friedmann 2020, 248 :A:).#dispreferred
+ [Ps 92:10]: v. 10: כִּ֤י הִנֵּ֪ה אֹיְבֶ֡יךָ׀ יְֽהוָ֗ה כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה אֹיְבֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ יִ֝תְפָּרְד֗וּ כָּל־פֹּ֥עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן (For look, YHWH, for look, your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered). #dispreferred
+ [CTA IV (68) 8-9]: CTA IV (68) 8-9: ht ibk b'lm ht ibk tmẖṣ ht tṣmt ṣrtk (Now your enemy, O Baal, Now your enemy will you smite, Now will you cut off your adversary; Avishur 1994, 235 :M:).#dispreferred
<_ <Verb tenses>: The verb forms are best understood as future yiqtols both in Ps 92:10 and CTA IV (68), so cannot readily refer to a past victory over chaos in Ps 92.
_> [Ps 92:10]
<_ <Judg 5:31>: The same phraseology might have been borrowed from Judg 5:31.
+ [Judg 5:31]: יֹאבְד֤וּ כָל־אוֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙ יְהוָ֔ה "All your enemies will perish, YHWH."
Eschaton (preferred)
According to this view, the Sabbath refers to and is an anticipation of the future state, which will be perfect rest.[6]
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[Eschaton]: The superscription of Ps 92 highlights its thematic connections to the perfect state of the future Sabbath (Athanasius :C:, cited in Delitszch 1877, 66; Theodoret of Cyrus :C:; Rashi :C:; Delitszch 1877 :C:).
+ <Vindication language>: The language of the psalm is comparable to that of Pss 37 and 73 (Alonso Schökel 1992 :C:), encouraging those struggling with the apparent flourishing of the wicked to look to the future (Theodoret of Cyrus :C:; Delitszch 1877 :C:; Vogel 2000, 217 :A:).
+ [Ps 73 parallels]: Compare, e.g., Ps 73:17 ("Until I went into the holy place of God, I began to understand their end") and Ps 92:14 ("Being transplanted in the house of YHWH, they will flourish in the courtyards of our God"); Ps 73:22 ("But I was stupid and I did not know" \[וַאֲנִי־בַ֭עַר וְלֹ֣א אֵדָ֑ע\]) and Ps 92:7 ("As stupid man does not know" \[אִֽישׁ־בַּ֭עַר לֹ֣א יֵדָ֑ע\]); Ps 73:26 ("The rock \[צוּר\] of my heart and my portion will be God forever") and Ps 92:16 ("YHWH, my rock \[צוּרִי\], is fair"); Ps 73:23 ("For look, those distant from you will perish \[כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה רְחֵקֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ\]") and Ps 92:10 ("For look, your enemies will perish" \[כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה אֹיְבֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ\]).
+ [Ps 37 parallels]: Compare, e.g., Ps 37:2 ("For they will soon wither like grass, and they will fade like green leaves on plants") and Ps 92:8 ("when wicked people flourish like a green plant and any evildoers prosper, \[it is\] for them to be destroyed forever"); Ps 37:20 ("For the wicked will perish \[יֹאבֵדוּ\], and YHWH’s enemies (will perish) like flowers in a pasture") and Ps 92:10 ("For look, your enemies, YHWH; for look, your enemies will perish \[יֹאבֵדוּ\]").
+ <Ancient Traditions>: The Mishna claims that the psalm is a song concerning the future Sabbath rest.
+ [Ancient Traditions]: Mishna Tamid 7:4: "On Shabbat (the Levites) would recite the psalm beginning: “A psalm, a song for Shabbat day” (Psalms, chapter 92). This is interpreted as a psalm, a song for the future, for the day that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for everlasting life (מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, לְיוֹם שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ שַׁבָּת מְנוּחָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָמִים)."
+ <Ps 95>: The psalm is closely followed by Ps 95, which speaks of entering into YHWH's future rest (cf. Heb 4:9: "there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God," ESV).
+ [Ps 95:9, 11]: "They even saw my works... they shall not enter into my rest (מְנוּחָתִי)."
Conclusion (A)
Although a number of scholars have claimed that Ps 92's superscription is simply a reflection of its liturgical use on the Sabbath, we find implausible that the psalm would be arbitrarily selected for such use if Sabbath themes were not present in the content and message of the psalm itself. Further, despite the apparent allusion to creation language in "the work of your hands" in Ps 92:5, and the Ugaritic parallel with v. 10,[7] it seems, rather, that the pattern of order in creation was supplementary to the order which YHWH will one day bring about in the perfect future Sabbath. If the Sabbath reference were simply a celebration of the previous victory over chaos, it would make little sense of the ongoing tension of the psalm.[8]
The hope of the psalm, in parallel fashion to both Pss 37 and 73 (which both share much common language with Ps 92) is that one day all wrongs will be made right. It is thus preferable to follow the tradition attested in Mishna Tamid 7:4,[9] and continued by Rashi,[10] in understanding the Sabbath reference of Ps 92 to point towards the eschaton and future restoration of all justice. This is apparent in the psalm's message, which encourages the righteous to consider the wicked's future destruction (vv. 7-8) and their own future flourishing (vv. 9-16). The psalm's final didactic note states that the result of this future flourishing will be in order to declare that YHWH is, in fact, fair (v. 16)—a timely reminder, perhaps against the apparent evidence of the present.[11]
Research
Secondary Literature
- Alonso Schökel, Luis. 1992. Salmos: Salmos 73-150. Estella: Verbo Divino.
- Avishur, Yitzhak. 1994. Studies in Hebrew and Ugaritic Psalms. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.
- Boeckler, Annette M. 2015. "The Liturgical Understanding of Psalms in Judaism: Demonstrated with Samples from Psalms 90-106, with a Special Focus on Psalm 92, Mizmor shir leYom haShabbat." European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe 48, no. 2: 70-82.
- Bratcher, Robert G. & Reyburn, William D. 1991. A Translator's Handbook on the Book of Psalms. New York, NY: United Bible Societies.
- Delitzsch, Franz. 1877. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.
- Friedmann, Jonathan L. 2020. "Psalm 92, Shabbat, and the Temple." JBQ 48, no. 4: 245-252.
- Gillingham, Susan E. 2014. "The Levites and the Editorial Composition of the Psalms." Pages 200-213 in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms. William P. Brown (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Hitzig, Ferdinand. 1863. Die Psalmen: übersetzt und ausgelegt. Leipzig und Heidelberg: C. F. Winter’sche Verlagshandlung.
- Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar & Zenger, Erich. 2005. Psalms 2: A Commentary on Psalms 51-100. Trans. Linda M. Maloney. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
- Kirkpatrick, Alexander F. 1903. The Book of Psalms: Books IV and V. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Radak (Kimchi, David) on Psalms.
- Rashi (Yitzchaki, Shlomo) on Psalms.
- Sarna, Nahum. S. 1962. "The Psalm for the Sabbath Day (Ps 92)." JBL 81, no. 2: 155-168.
- Simon, Uriel. 1991. Four Approaches to the Book of Psalms: From Saadiah Gaon to Abraham Ibn Ezra. New York, NY: State University of New York.
- Stec, David M. 2004. The Targum of Psalms: Translated with a Critical Introduction, Apparatus and Notes. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
- Theodoret of Cyrus, 2001. Commentary on the Psalms: Psalms 73-150. Trans. Robert C. Hill. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press.
- Trudinger, Peter. 2003. The Psalms of the Tamid Service: A Liturgical Text from the Second Temple. Boston: Brill.
- Vogel, Dan. 2000. "A Psalm for the Sabbath? A Literary View of Psalm 92." JBQ 28, no. 4: 211-221.
References
92:1 Approved
- ↑ Cf. also Pss 24, 48, 81, 82, 93, and 94 in the LXX. For the inner-Greek textual tradition of reading πέμπτη σαββάτου in Ps 81, see the apparatus in Rahlfs 1931, 221.
- ↑ Hebrew text from OSHB.
- ↑ A variant of this position is the "Levitical singer hypothesis," which argues that the Levite singers adapted psalms according to their previously-established liturgical function (Gillingham 2014, 203; cf. Trudinger 2003, 150). Nevertheless, according to this hypothesis, the entire integrity of the poetic structure must have been a late innovation, since the pattern of seven appearances of יהוה is a prevalent poetic feature—not to mention the seven verses appearing either side of the middle verse (v. 9), which also contains the central instance of יהוה—such that the psalm prior to this adaptation would be virtually unrecognizable compared to its final state and is thus irrelevant for contemporary exegesis of Psalm 92 detached from a reconstructed redaction history. For arguments against the arbitrary selection for Sabbath liturgy—which would involve later adaptation of the psalm for this designation, if there were any Sabbath themes to be found in the psalm—see the No relationship argument map. For arguments regarding the primacy of the text and its themes and later adoption to liturgical use, see the argument maps Creation and Eschaton; cf. also Radak, Hitzig (1863, 242), Kirkpatrick (1903, 559), and Sarna (1962), among others.
- ↑ In Sarna's estimation, this has been the norm among scholarship: "Scholarly opinion is well-nigh unanimous that the rubric merely designates the occasion on which, in later times, the psalm was publicly recited, and that there is absolutely no connection between the content of the psalm and the Sabbath day" (1962, 158-159).
- ↑ Related to this position, though not based on any evidence from the text of Ps 92 itself, is the tradition in both Targum Psalms and Midrash Tehilim that the psalm was given and recited by Adam, before being subsequently forgotten until Moses reintroduced it, according to Bereshit Rabbah. Targum Psalms begins, "A psalm and a song that the first human being uttered for the sabbath day" (Stec 2004, 176); Midrash Tehilim 92:2, 5 states, "he sinned ... he was expelled ... the Sabbath intervened and removed him ... When the Sabbath arrived, it acted as an advocate for him ... And for the sake of the Sabbath, he was saved from the punishment of hell. Once a person saw the power of the Sabbath, he came to say a hymn for the Sabbath, a song for the Sabbath day. 'It is good to give thanks to God,' as said by Adam, the first man"; and Bereshit Rabbah 22:13: "Adam the first man said this Psalm, but it was forgotten from his generation, and Moses came and reintroduced it in his own name: “A psalm, a song for the Shabbat day." The latter tradition may be supported by the pattern of superscriptions in Book 4 of the Psalter, in which Moses is the most recently named author (Ps 90), so his authorship is often understood to continue to psalm 100 (see, e.g., Rashi on Ps 90:1), such that Ps 92 was to be taught in to tabernacle, according to Yefet Ben ʿAli (see Simon 1991, 85).
- ↑ See, e.g., Rashi, who states, "for the Sabbath day that they would recite on Sabbaths, and it deals with the world to come, which is entirely Sabbath" (ליום השבת. שאומרי' אותו בשבתות והוא מדבר בענין העולם הבא שכולו שבת).
- ↑ Discussed at length by Sarna (1962) and Avishur (1994).
- ↑ Cf. the formulation by Vogel: "Manifestation versus faith is the central conflict of Psalm 92" (2000, 217).
- ↑ "On Shabbat (the Levites) would recite the psalm beginning: “A psalm, a song for Shabbat day” (Psalms, chapter 92). This is interpreted as a psalm, a song for the future, for the day that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for everlasting life (מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, לְיוֹם שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ שַׁבָּת מְנוּחָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָמִים)."
- ↑ "for the Sabbath day that they would recite on Sabbaths, and it deals with the world to come, which is entirely Sabbath" (ליום השבת. שאומרי' אותו בשבתות והוא מדבר בענין העולם הבא שכולו שבת).
- ↑ Once again, just like Pss 37 and 73.