Second Sunday of Easter Cycles ABC Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany Cycle B Psalm 111. Translation

Transcription

1 Second Sunday of Easter Cycles ABC Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany Cycle B Psalm 111 Translation Text 1. Halleluyah! (t) I praise the LORD with a whole heart (c) in the council of the upright, the congregation. (d) 2. Great are the acts of the LORD, (s) sought by all who take pleasure in them. (v) 3. Majesty and splendor are his work, (u) and his righteousness stands forever. (z) 4. He has made a memorial for his marvels. (j) Gracious and merciful is the LORD. (y) 5. He has given sustenance to those who fear him. (h) He will remember his covenant forever. (f) 6. The power of his acts he has declared to his people, (k) to give them the inheritance of nations. (n) 7. The works of his hands are truth and justice. (b) Sure are all his regulations. (x) 8. Sustained forever and ever, (g) they have been done in truth and uprightness. (p) 9. Deliverance he sent to his people. (m) He has commanded his covenant forever. (e) Holy and fearful is his name. (r) 10. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD. (a) Insight is good for all those who do them (sc. the commandments) (,) His praise stands forever. V ḧuk k«v 1 c c kîk f C vü«v h v sit (t) :v«s g u oh r J h si x C (c) v ü«v h h G g«n oh k«s D 2 (d) :o«vh m p jîk f k oh À JUr S Œ(s) I k g«p r s v uîsi «v 3 (v) :s«g k, s ng I À,ë s m Œ u (u) 1

2 uh,«t k p b k v G g r f z 4 (z) :v«ü«v h ou j r u iu B j (jªª) uh ẗ rh«k i, b ; r y 5 (y) :I «,h r C o kig k r«f z h (h) I N g k sh D v uh G g n «j«f 6 (f) :o«hid, k j b o À v k Œ,, k (k) y P J nu, n t uh s h h G g«n 7 (n) :uh«sue PÎk F ohà b n t Œ b (b) o kig k s g k oh fun x 8 (x) :r«jḧ u, n t C oà hug Œ g (g) IÀN g k j³ k» J,U ³s P 9 (p) I,h r C o kig k v Ü m (m) :I «n J t rib u JIsë (e) vàü«v h,ä t r h v n f j,h³ Jt» r 10 (r) o vh G«gÎk f k ci y k f G (a) :s«g k, s ng I À, K v Œ T (,) Overview After the opening Hallelujah, this Psalm is an acrostic, i. e. the first verse begins with t, and each verse thereafter begins with a succeeding letter of the alphabet. This aids in memorization but is somewhat limiting as a poetic device. Formally a hymn, 1 this psalm is unusual among the hymns in containing specific thanksgivings for the good things God has done for Israel instead of for God s cosmic majesty and deeds. This suggests a different function in the Temple liturgy from that of the other hymns. The date of the acrostics may be late. Gerstenberger suggests that they show an increasingly literate congregation, tied to the textual expression of prayer and holds that the acrostics are postexilic. 2 Gunkel and Begrich, on the other hand, write of the acrostic: The outward decoration of the aphabetic form appears particularly pleasing to this [late] period, a decorative form that can only be appreciated by the eyes while offering nothing for the ear or the spirit. 3 They link this feature of acrostics with what they deem to be a loss of energy and freshness in the latest period of hymnic composition E. Gerstenberger, The Psalms, Part 2, 273, reminds us that the acrostics are not a genre unto themselves. See also Beat Weber Zu Kolometrie und strophischer Struktur von Psalm 111--mit einem Seitenblick auf Psalm 112, Biblische-Notizen 118 (2003): Ruth Scoralick, Psalm 111--Bauplan und Gedankengang, Biblica 78/2 (1997): Gerstenberger, The Psalms, Part 2, Gunkel-Begrich, Introduction, Ibid. See further on this Timothy Lloyd Wilt, Alphabetic Acrostics: Perhaps the Form Can be Represented, Bible Translator 44 (1993): and Pierre Auffret, Essai sur la structure littéraire des Psaumes 111 et 112, Vetus Testamentum 30/3 (1980): Dennis Pardee, Acrostics and Parallelism: The Parallelistic Structure of Psalm 111, Maarav 8 (1992):

3 Claus Westermann calls this psalm a Descriptive Psalm of Praise. 5 He links these psalms with the summarizing sentences of the Declarative Psalms of Praise 6 that portray God s saving act in terms of an analytical description rather than by successive listing of salvivic acts. The descriptive psalm of praise develops this initial claim instead of heaping up new reasons for praise. 7 Terrien, on the other hand, believes that the themes of the psalm are constrained not by the form of a descriptive, analytical psalm but by the requirements of the acrostic format. 8 Notes on the Text 1. Gunkel-Begrich considered V ḧuk k«v, while attested only late, to be the original cell of the hymn-form. 9 Since Psalms also begin with this cry, and Psalm 113 also closes with it, Kraus asks reasonably whether Psalms might not be a small group of Hallelujah Psalms inserted here. 10 The fact that Psalm 112 is also an acrostic also suggests an affinity, but that raises the question of why a non-acrostic concludes the group. 1. Halleluyah! (t) I praise the LORD with a whole heart (c) in the council of the upright, the congregation. 2. oh À JUr S Œ(BDB 205b, HAL 233a). The translation studied may be attractive in light of the wisdom connotations of the psalm 11 but is no more cogent than the generic sought. 12 Kraus erfahrbar von, 13 meaning something like capable of being experienced by is a reminder that the reference may not be exclusively to a mental act. Indeed, one might imagine the telling of the great deeds of the LORD in any number of contexts as the meaning here. It is difficult to agree with William P. Brown that the idea is to study the transcendent nature of the divine. 14 It is not God s transcendent acts but God s contingent, historical acts that are to be retold or searched out by those who have pleasure in telling and hearing them. o«vh m p j (BDB 343a, HAL 340b). The LXX reflects a singular suffix here. Dahood would repoint to the adjectival form o vh m p j or might regard the MT as a shortened form of the 5. C. Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms, 122. For his definition of the category see Ibid., Ibid., S. Terrien, The Psalms, 756. See also A. Weiser, The Psalms, Gunkel-Begrich, Introduction, Kraus, Psalmen 2: Erich Zenger, Dimensionen der Tora-Weisheit in der Psalmenkomposition Ps , in Die Weisheit: Ursprunge und Rezeption. Martin Fassnacht, Wilke Andreas Leinhaupl Leinhaupl, Stefan Lucking, eds. Neutestamentliche Abhandlungen 44; Munster: Aschendorff, Pp So, correctly, Terrien, The Psalms, 755. Dahood, Psalms 3: is correct to see the expression kfk as involving the k of agency. Dahood points out, though, that this is not the understanding of the LXX which renders e)cezhthme/na ei¹j pa/nta ta\ qelh/mata au)tou=. 13.Kraus, Psalmen 2: William P. Brown, Seeing the Psalms,

4 adjective. 15 The poetry, however, may be so synoptic here, owing to the acrostic format, that the difference is unimportant. Sought by all for whom it is their pleasure may be the sense, but the present English rendering conveys the simplicity of the three short words that comprise the line. (d) 2. Great are the acts of the LORD, (s) sought by all who take pleasure in them. 3. si «v (BDB 217a, HAL 241a). r s v (BDB 214a, HAL 240a). One might be tempted to see military connotations in this term, but the hendiadys with suv decrees a somewhat general glory and splendor rendition. These two words are, however, the subject of the verbless sentence and one should not render them as adjectives. 16 (v) 3. Majesty and splendor are his work, (u) and his righteousness stands forever. 4. r f z (BDB 271a, HAL 271a). Dahood thinks the memorial in question may be the Feast of the Passover and believes the rest of the psalm points to that cultic setting. 17 Kraus also looks for a cultic setting but is not as specific as Dahood. 18 In any event, there seems to be agreement that the reference is to a cultic memorial of some kind. uh,«t k p b k (BDB 810b, HAL 927ab). See the comments above on Psalm 118:23. As noted there, this is about as close as biblical Hebrew comes to the idea of miracles. (z) 4. He has made a memorial for his marvels. (j) Gracious and merciful is the LORD. 5. ; r y (BDB 383b, HAL 380b). On the parallelism of this verse see Kugel who points to the completion of the first line by the second. 19 Selection of the term ;ry, of course, derives from the requirements of the acrostic. Although the word can mean prey, it can also mean simply food or nourishment Dahood, Psalms 2: As does the AV. The RSV, NRSV, and BCP render them adverbially as full of... This rendition is unnecessary and obscures the sense of the passage. 17.Dahood, Psalms 3: Kraus, Psalmen 2: James L. Kugel, The Idea of Biblical Poetry, 18. The translation keeping for rfz is strange. 20.Dahood, Psalms 3:123. See also Kraus, Psalmen 2:942, who takes this to be a late meaning for the word. Kraus associates this vs with the Sinai-Wilderness tradition. 4

5 Unlike Dahood, it is not at all clear to this writer which,hrc God will remember okugk. 21 It is not entirely clear that a particular covenant is intended at all. Those who fear him are those who keep the commandments. (y) 5. He has given sustenance to those who fear him. (h) He will remember his covenant forever. 6. Dahood s rendition his power by his works reflects his belief that the word jf shares the suffix of uhagn, 22 but this seems unlikely and an unnecessary complication. sh D v (BDB 616b-617a, HAL 666a) is not just any b"p verb in the hifil. It is extensively used in the Bible to mean tell or explain. 23 Once a student has mastered this important verb, the others of the class will be easy to conjugate and recognize.,, k Students will probably recognize the infinitive construct of the verb i,b here. Gunkel-Begrich pointed out that this kind of clause with the infinitive construct occurs in many late psalms. 24 This clause they consider to be an expansion of an expansion, as it were, part of an elaboration of a preceding narrative of God s mighty deeds in the past. The first expansion is God s declaration of the power of those deeds, and the secondary expansion is the purpose clause with the infinitive. Dahood misses the point of this by arguing on the basis of an eighth-century Phoenician inscription that the construction is not necessarily late. 25 There is nothing late about the construction itself. Gunkel-Begrich are arguing context. o«hid, k j b Terrien hits the point directly by commenting that the land is a gift of God even if it involved bloody conflict and dispossession. 26 He finds redemption of sorts from what he terms this suprahistorical and supraethical nationalism in the appeal to the law of God later in the poem. 27 (f) 6. The power of his acts he has declared to his people, (k) to give them the inheritance of nations. 7. uh«sue P (BDB 824ab, HAL 959b). Based on the usage of this word in the DSS, HAL translates instructions or procedures. Dahood thinks the reference is to the laws of the 21.Dahood, Psalms 3:123. How does he know that the covenant here is the covenant with the patriarchs? On the meaning of okugk one should consult the important articles of E. Jenni, Das Wort õlãm im Alten Testament, ZAW 64 (1952): and 65 (1953): Dahood, Psalms 3: Weingreen, Gunkel-Begrich, Introduction, Dahood, Psalms 3: Terrien, The Psalms, 757. See R. Murphy, Gift of the Psalms, Terrien, The Psalms,

6 Pentateuch but provides no particular reason for us to follow him in that oh fun x (BDB 702b, HAL 759b). 9. (n) 7. The works of his hands are truth and justice. (b) Sure are all his regulations. (x) 8. Sustained forever and ever, (g) they have been done in truth and uprightness. (p) 9. Deliverance he sent to his people. (m) He has commanded his covenant forever. (e) Holy and fearful is his name. 10. k f G (BDB 968b, HAL 1329b-1330a). Dahood prefers understanding of the Good One (i. e. God ) for cuy kfa, 29 whereas Kraus prefers the other meaning of kfa, namely, reward. 30 The point being made, however, is not that abstract knowledge about God is important but that the doing of God s commandments are the sine qua non of wisdom, a commonplace of wisdom teaching. 31 Terrien thinks that cuy here might be substantive what is good. 32 (r) 10. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD. (a) Insight is good for all those who do them (sc. the commandments) (,) His praise stands forever. 28.Dahood, Psalms 3: Dahood, Psalms 3:121, 125. Dahood, however, cannot muster arguments for it beyond the parallelism. 30.Kraus, Psalmen 2:939: ein schöner Lohn allen, die dannach tun. 31.See Job 28:28 32.Terrien, The Psalms,