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Seeing The Psalter
Bob MacDonald
meafar.blogspot.com
from dust
In this volume, Seeing the Psalter, I have laid out the
complexity of this large collection of poems, poetry
with a purpose…
I have examined a limited subset of internal and
external patterns of word usage,
• some deliberate by the author,
• some deliberate by the redactors,
• some perhaps not subject to human
consciousness without access to a database.
Contents
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Seeing?
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Three principles for in-sight
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Examples …
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Larger structures in the Psalter
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Music – future thoughts
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Why study the Psalter...
Seeing?
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How can one see poetry?
–
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But who will perform and in what tongue?
–
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Surely it's in the performance ...
To see is to begin to hear
Poetry can be intimidating
–
Muted attentiveness is required ...
Three principles for in-sight
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Parallelism – rhyming ideas
–
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Robert Lowth (1710-87), parallellismus membrorum
Prosody
–
arrange by 2s and 3s
–
Singing to speech
Recurrence – the repetition of roots
–
Jonathan Magonet, A Rabbi Reads the Psalms, 2003
Parallelism
use of different words to express the same thought
●
Psalm 18:21
‫ יהוה‬will reward me for my righteousness
for the purity of my hands he will turn to me
–
●
in this case a-b-b-a in form
Psalm 18:22
for I have kept the ways of ‫יהוה‬
and I have not been wicked with my God
–
in this case a-b-a-b in form
Prosody
laying out poetry and singing to speech
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Two or three words to a line: Psalm 18:21
‫קִי‬
ִ ְ‫כצִד‬
ְִ ‫ְלנ ִי י ְהו ָה‬
ִ ‫ִי ִגְמ‬
‫כִבֹר י ָדִי יִָשִ יב ל ִי‬
ְ
●
Psalm 18:22
‫כִי שָ מרְִתִי דרְ כִי י ְהו ָה‬
‫הִי‬
ָ ‫עתִי מִאֱֹל‬
ְִ ‫ו ְֹלא ָרש‬
●
Two or three
–
–
lines to a verse
verses to a stanza
Recurrence
repeated use of the same word or phrase
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Read with a coloured pencil
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And circle the words that repeat
●
Pay attention to what is in the middle:
–
–
What is surrounded by the recurring words?
Are these words
●
●
●
●
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in sequence or
in reverse usage or
a spine or
a focus?
Psalm 18:21-22 is itself part of a section...
A section of Psalm 18
‫וַּיֹוצִיאֵ נִי ַלמֶּ ְרחָ ב‬
‫י ְחַ ְל ֵצנִי כִי חָ פֵץ בִי‬
20
He has brought me out into a spacious room
he will rescue me for he delighted in me
‫יִגְמְ ֵלנִי י ְהו ָה ְכצִדְ קִ י‬
‫כְב ֹר י ָדַ י י ָשִ יב לִי‬
21
‫ יהוה‬will reward me for my righteousness
for the purity of my hands he will turn to me
‫כִי שָ מַ ְרתִ י דַ ְרכֵי י ְהו ָה‬
‫ו ְֹלא ָרשַ עְ תִ י מֵ אֱ ֹלהָ י‬
22
for I have kept the ways of ‫יהוה‬
and I have not been wicked with my God
‫כִי כָל מִ שְ פָטָ יו ְלנֶּגְדִ י‬
‫ו ְחֻ ק ֹתָ יו ֹלא ָאסִ יר מֶּ נִי‬
23
for all his judgments are before me
and his statutes I will not put aside from me
‫ו ָאֱ הִ י תָ מִ ים עִ מֹו‬
‫ו ָאֶּ שְ תַ מֵ ר מֵ עֲ וֹנִי‬
24
and I am complete with him
and I have kept myself from my iniquity
‫וַּיָשֶּ ב י ְהו ָה לִי ְכצִדְ קִ י‬
‫כְב ֹר י ָדַ י ְלנֶּגֶּד עֵ ינָיו‬
25
and ‫ יהוה‬turned to me for my righteousness
for the purity of my hands before his eyes
The same section: recurring words
Example 2
three voices remembering, Psalm 137
‫ עַ ל נַהֲ רֹות ָבבֶּל שָ ם י ָשַ בְנּו‬1 By the rivers of Babel - there we sat
‫ גַם ָבכִינּו‬yea we wept
when we remembered Zion
‫ְבזָכ ְֵרנו אֶּ ת צִּיֹון‬
‫ עַ ל עֲ ָרבִים בְתֹוכָּה‬2 on willows in the midst of her
‫ תָ לִינּו כִנ ֹרֹותֵ ינּו‬we hung our harps
‫ כִי שָ ם שְ אֵ לּונּו שֹובֵינּו דִ ב ְֵרי שִ יר‬3 for there our captors asked us the words of a
‫ ו ְתֹו ָללֵינּו שִ מְ חָ ה‬song
‫ שִ ירּו לָנּו מִ שִ יר צִּיֹון‬and our tormentors mirth
Sing to us a song of Zion
‫ אֵ יְך נָשִ יר אֶּ ת שִ יר י ְהו ָה‬4 how will we sing such a song of ‫יהוה‬
‫ עַ ל ַאדְ מַ ת נֵכָר‬on alien ground?
‫ אִ ם אֶּ שְ כָחֵ ָך י ְרּושָ ָלִם‬5 If I forget you Jerusalem
‫ תִ שְ כַח י ְמִ ינִי‬let my right hand forget
‫ תִ דְ בַק לְשֹונִי לְחִ כִי‬6 let my tongue cleave to my palate
‫ אִ ם ֹלא אֶּ זְכ ְֵרכִי‬if I do not remember you
‫ אִ ם ֹלא ַאעֲ לֶּה אֶּ ת י ְרּושָ ָלִם‬if I do not offer you up Jerusalem
‫ עַ ל ר ֹאש שִ מְ חָ תִ י‬over my ultimate mirth
‫ זְכ ֹר י ְהו ָה ִל ְבנֵי אֱ דֹום‬7 Remember ‫יהוה‬of the children of Edom
‫ אֵ ת יֹום י ְרּושָ ָלִם‬in the day of Jerusalem
‫ הָ א ֹמְ ִרים‬those saying
‫ עָ רּו‬Expose
‫ עָ רּו עַ ד הַ י ְסֹוד בָּה‬expose her to the foundations
‫ בַת ָבבֶּל הַ שְ דּודָ ה‬8 Devastating daughter of Babel
‫ אַ שְ ֵרי שֶּ י ְשַ לֶּם לְָך‬happy the one who makes peace with you
‫ אֶּ ת גְמּולֵָך שֶּ גָמַ לְת לָנּו‬even rewards you as you rewarded us
‫ אַ שְ ֵרי שֶּ ּי ֹאחֵ ז וְנִפֵץ‬9 happy the one who grasps and smashes
‫ אֶּ ת ע ֹ ָל ַלי ִָך אֶּ ל הַ סָ לַע‬your babies on the cliff
Example 3
Psalm 145: ‫√כ‬as a drum beat
With the 25 words ending in
kaf together with the 17*
repeated 'all', Psalm 145
sounds like 'k' everywhere
*18 with the missing Nun
reconstructed
Example 4
Psalm 149
• Verse 2b uses only words from Psalm 2*
• Verses 7 to 9 use six words from Psalm 2 in sequence,
one word in each of its 6 lines
‫ לַעֲ שֹות נְקָ מָ ה בַגֹוי ִם‬7 making vengeance in the nations
and corrections in the tribes
‫תֹוכֵחֹות ַבלְאֻ מִ ים‬
‫ לֶּאְ ס ֹר מַ ְל ֵכיהֶּ ם ְבזִקִ ים‬8 to bind their sovereigns in chains
these glorious ones with iron fetters
‫וְנִ ְכבְדֵ יהֶּ ם ְב ַכ ְבלֵי ב ְַרזֶּל‬
‫ לַעֲ שֹות בָהֶּ ם מִ שְ פָ ט כָתּוב‬9 to make in them judgment inscribed
this honour to all
‫הָ דָ ר הּוא ְלכָל‬
Word and gloss
‫ בגוים‬in the nations
under his mercy
‫חֲ סִ ידָ יו‬
‫ בלאמים‬in the tribes
‫ מלכיהם‬sovereigns
Hallelu Yah
‫הַ לְלּו י ָּה‬
‫ ברזל‬iron
‫ משפט‬judgment
‫ לכל‬to all
*An integrated reading of Psalms 1 and 2 Robert Cole JSOT 98 (2002) 75-88
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Vs
7
7
8
8
9
9
Root
‫גוי‬
‫לאם‬
‫מל‬
‫ברזל‬
‫שפט‬
‫כל‬
Example 5
Psalm 11 – showing how the tables are constructed
Example 6 - Psalm 86 based on Exodus 34:6
Word and gloss * first usage 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vs Root
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‫ אתה‬you
2 ‫אתה‬
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‫ חנני‬be gracious to me
3 ‫חנן‬
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‫ אדני‬my Lord
3 ‫אדון‬
░
‫ אדני‬my Lord
4 ‫אדון‬
░
‫ אתה‬you
5 ‫אתה‬
░
‫ אדני‬my Lord
5 ‫אדון‬
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‫ ורב‬and abundant in
5 ‫רב‬
░ 5 ‫חסד‬
‫ חסד‬loving-kindness
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‫ תחנונותי‬my supplication
6 ‫חנן‬
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‫ אדני‬my Lord
8 ‫אדון‬
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‫ אדני‬my Lord
9 ‫אדון‬
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‫ אתה‬you are
10 ‫אתה‬
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‫ אתה‬you
10 ‫אתה‬
░ 11 ‫אמת‬
‫ באמת‬in your truth
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‫ אדני‬O Lord
12 ‫אדון‬
░ 13 ‫חסד‬
‫ חסד‬your loving-kindness
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‫ ואתה‬but you
15 ‫אתה‬
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‫ אדני‬O Lord
15 ‫אדון‬
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‫ וחנון‬and gracious
15 ‫חנן‬
░
‫ ורב‬and abundant in
15 ‫רב‬
░ 15 ‫חסד‬
‫ חסד‬loving-kindness
░ 15 ‫אמת‬
‫ ואמת‬and truth
‫ וחנני‬and be gracious to me ░
16 ‫חנן‬
░
‫ אתה‬you
17 ‫אתה‬
Those 6 words account for 24 words of the 147 in
the psalm in 15 of the 17 verses.
Summary: Psalm 1.1
parallelism, prosody, and recurrence
‫ַאש ְֵׁרי ָהאִיש‬
‫עִים‬
ִ ָ‫אֲשֶׁ ר ֹלא הָלְך בִעֲצִת רְ ש‬
‫עמָד‬
ָ ‫אִים ֹלא‬
ִ ‫ט‬
ָ ‫בִדֶׁ רֶׁ ְך ח‬
ְ ‫ּו‬
‫צִים ֹלא י ָשָ ב‬
ִ ‫בִמֹושב ל‬
ְ ‫ּו‬
Happy the person
who does not walk in the advice of the wicked
and in the way of sinners does not stand
and in the seat of the scornful does not sit
a-b b-a b-a, 3 x 3, not-not-not
Larger structures in the Psalter
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On the surface: 150 poems in 5 books
–
Each book is marked with a short closing doxology
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Psalm 41:14
Bless ‫יהוה‬, the God of Israel
from the everlasting and unto the everlasting
Amen and Amen
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The sandwich structure
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The overall structure
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The acrostics
On the surface
The sandwich structure
Books 2 and most of Book 3 (to psalm 86) are called the Elohist Psalter
The overall structure
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[Opening: Psalms 1 and 2
–
[Book 1 David
–
[Books 2 and 3
[Korah [Asaph [David [harvest]
●
David] Asaph] Korah [David*] Korah (Ethan)]]
–
[Book 4 Prayer of Moses … David Prayer David ...]
–
[Book 5 … to 112 … to 119, Songs of Ascent, David]]
Closing: Psalm 149]
–
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Part of the final doxology (Psalms 146-150)
*Note – David, beloved, has at least 1 psalm in every book.
The acrostics
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Only in Books 1 and 5
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All of them in Book 1 are defective
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All of them in Book 5 are perfect
●
All of the Acrostics follow a Psalm of significance and act as celebratory markers.
●
–
Psalm 8 (9-10); Psalm 24 (25); Psalm 33 (34); Psalm 36 (37)
–
Psalm 110 (111-112); Psalm 118 (119); Psalm 144 (145)
–
What is a mortal? ‫ מָהִאֱנֹוש‬Oracle - ‫נְאֻם‬,
–
Oracle, What is this humanity? ‫מָהִָאדָ ם‬
Of the substantial 176 (22x8) verse eight-fold acrostic, Psalm 119, Pascal writes:
–
Cette supplication déroule lentement ses 176 versets en un long récitatif et n'est en son
fond que la même protestation d'amour indéfiniment répétée sous diverses formes.
(cited in Les Psaumes, Desclée de Brouwer)
The poems prior to the acrostics
Psalms 1 and 2 are the intro to the Psalter and have
no inscription; Psalm 10 is the second part of Psalm
9 and as such has no inscription.
Music – future thoughts
Psalm 1:1 as interpreted by Suzanne Haik-Vantoura
The text contains signs that for 1000 years have been considered punctuation. In
the past century, SHV tested by experimentation a musical mapping based on
the idea that the signs were hand signals or chironomy, an ancient sign-language
for conductors. She has achieved a remarkable deciphering key. The jury is out.
The deciphering key
‘poetry’ in this case refers to the three books: Job, Psalms, and
Proverbs. These are traditionally known as the books of truth
since their first letters: aleph-mem-taf spell ‘truth’.
David’s lament for Absalom
An example from the former prophets of how appropriate SHV’s music is for the text.
Why study the Psalter?
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to be part of the song and conversation
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between poet and community
– between poet and reader
– between God and the elect (Epistle to the Hebrews)
to learn ‫חסד‬, covenant mercy
–
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to form the ‫חסידים‬, a world that has learned such
kindness (the quality of mercy …)