6 Easter Cycle A. 1 Christmas (RCL) Cycles ABC. Psalm 148. Translation

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1 6 Easter Cycle A Translation Psalm Halleluyah! Praise the LORD from the skies. Praise him in the heights. 2. Praise him all his messengers. Praise him all his hosts. 3. Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, stars of light. 4. Praise him, highest heavens, and waters that are above the sky. 5. Let them praise the name of the LORD because he has commanded and they were created. 6. And he made them endure forever and ever. He has given a law, and they shall not transgress. 7. Praise the LORD from [below] the earth, sea serpents and all deeps. 8. Fire and hail, snow and smoke-- a stormy wind does his word. 9. The mountains and all hills. Fruit tree[s] and all cedars. 10. The wildlife and all cattle. Creeping thing[s] and bird of wing. 11. The kings of the earth and all nations. Princes and all judges of earth. 12. Bachelors and virgins as well. Old men and youths. 13. Praise the LORD s name because his name alone is high, his splendor above earth and sky. 14. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the children of Israel, the people near him. Halleluyah! 1 Christmas (RCL) Cycles ABC Text :oh «nir N C UvU Àk k«œ v o h nẍ vîi n vü«v hî, t Uḱ k«v V ḧuk k«v 1 :[uh«ẗ c m] u«ẗ c mîk F UvU Àk k«œ v uh fẗ k nîk F UvU k k v «2 :ri «t h c fi FÎk F UvU Àk k v Œ j rḧ u J n J UvUk k v «3 :o h«nẍ v kä g n r³ J t o h À N v Œ u o h nẍ v h n J UvUk k v «4 1

2 :Ut r c b u «v Ü m tu v h³ F v ü«v h o JÎ, t Uk k«v«h 5 :ri «c g«h t «k u i À, Œ bîe j o kig k s g k o sh n g«h u 6 :,I «n«v TÎk f u ohà bh B T Œ. r ẗ vîi n vü«v hî, t Uḱ k«v 7 :I r c «s v Gg v À r g Œ x ju r ri yh e u d k J sr c U J t 8 :oh«z r tîk f u hr Œ À P. g,i g c DÎk f u oh r v v 9 :;«b F ri P m u G nà Œ r v n v CÎk f u v Ḧ j«v 10 :. r«ẗ h y p«jîk f u ohr Œ À G oh Nªt kîk f u. r tîh f k n 11 :oh r g bîo g «ohà b e Œ z,i ku, CÎo d u oh ruj C 12 :o h«n J u. r tîk g I ÀsIv ŒI S c k Iń J c D G bîh«f vàü«v h oä JÎ, t U³k k v h 13 :V«ḧUk k«v IÀc«r eîo«g Œ k t r G h h b c k uh À sh x jîk f«k v³ K v T I N g k i r e o r³ḧ u 14 Preliminary Observations Psalms are all hymns that in most MSS begin with the formula hallelu-yah! (Praise the LORD!) and are sometimes called the Final Hallel to distinguish them from the Great Hallel of Psalms The present psalm envisions a choir that includes the heavenly army, elements of the physical universe, the kings and peoples of the world, and even the great sea-monsters of chaos. The cosmology, like that of the Priestly writer in Genesis 1:1-2:4a, envisions our world as floating within a great chaos of waters. Hence the reference to the waters above the heavens in verse 4. Psalm 148:1-12 in fragmentary form exists in the 11QPs a and likely would have been followed by Psalm Notes on the Text 1. o h nẍ v (BDB 1029b-1030a, HAL 1559a-1562a). It is easy to translate this word in religious texts as heaven invariably and uncritically. The context of this psalm, however, reminds us that the word also means sky because of the meteorological elements praise God along with all other aspects of the creation. In general, the translation heaven works best when a writer uses o h nẍ v in reference to the abode of the heavenly gods or at least clearly using it in a thoroughly cosmological way as in vs 4 below. Gerstenberger, however, believes that both vss 1 and 4 refer to the cosmic heavens and so finds the synonym oh «nir N C artificial. 2 Terrien finds the reference to be cosmological throughout Halleluyah! 1. J. A. Sanders DJD 4:23. The text appears to be the same as the MT except in 148:1 where it does not have,t before the divine name. Mitchell Dahood, Psalms 3::352, sees virtue in this reading but points out that the Qumran text in 2.11 (Psalm 148:7) has vuvh,t ukkv. 2. Erhard Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 2 and Lamentations, 448. Dahood, Psalms 3:352, finds a parallel to a title of Anat and an expression from Phoenician. 3. Samuel Terrien, The Psalms,

3 Praise the LORD from the skies. Praise him in the heights. 2. uh fẗ k n We are not resisting the translation angels, but messengers is a broad and acceptable translation that would include both heavenly personages while protecting the possibility that the author may also wish to include the natural elements as messengers of God s creative reality. Indeed, there may not be as much difference as a modern reader would suppose. In the Song of Deborah in Judges 5, the natural elements work together to defeat Sisera. Even the stars come down to fight against him (Judges 5:20). 4 Terrien quite correctly refers to the elements as belonging to the mythical elements of the divine sphere that will sing with the earthly chorus in the temple Praise him all his messengers. Praise him all his hosts. 3. j rḧ u J n J The sun and moon are divine beings at Ugarit as they are in the other near eastern mythologies, and to give them speech to praise the LORD runs the danger of some misunderstanding. At Ugarit špš is both the sun and the sun goddess and is feminine in gender, whereas yrh, masculine, is the moon god. 6 The expression ri «t h c fi F occurs nowhere else in scripture, and Dahood takes it to refer to the morning stars (planets). 7 The LXX reads all the stars and the light. 8 In support of an understanding like that of Kraus, shining stars, 9 we might point to the paucity of adjectives in Hebrew and the use of the construct chain to accomplish modification instead Praise him, sun and moon. Praise him, stars of light. 4. Praise him, highest heavens, and waters that are above the sky. 5. Georg Fohrer reminds us of the association between creation and God s utterance. 10 Dahood believes that the hf of the second line is not causal but, rather emphasizes the following tuv : he alone. 11 The pronoun itself, however, provides emphasis, and there is no particular need to 4. Judges 5: 20a:Æoh c fi «F v Un j k b o h n JÎi n. See Patrick D. Miller, The Divine Council and the Prophetic Call to War, VT 18 (1968): Terrien, The Psalms, Cyrus Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook, 415, For both together see Text 5.13, page Dahood, Psalms 3: pa/nta ta\ aãstra kaiì to\ fw½j. 9. Kraus, Psalmen 3: G. Fohrer, History of Israelite Religion, Dahood, Psalms 3:353. 3

4 follow this interpretation Let them praise the name of the LORD because he has commanded and they were created. 6. And he made them endure forever and ever. He has given a law, and they shall not transgress. 7.. r ẗ vîi n Cross and Freedman argued long ago that this expression refers to the underworld 12 which would give a very suitable meaning to this verse. ohà bh B T Œ (BDB 1972b, HAL 1764b). 13 The singular at Ugarit can refer to a figure like the biblical Leviathan 14 but it can also be a personal name. 15 It is striking, however, that the psalm calls upon such powers of the sea and underworld to praise God. Instead of the crushing of the Leviathan s head, the psalmist calls upon him to sing to the very divinity who in Psalm 74:13-14 crushes him. Instead of being an allusion to the cosmic myth of creation from the destruction of the primeval sea monster, as Terrien holds, 16 the picture is of a cosmic reconciliation and even reorganization.,i «n«v T (BDB 1063a, HAL 1691b). 7. Praise the LORD from [below] the earth, sea serpents and all deeps. 8. The theme of reconciliation continues with appeals to natural events that are traditionally destructive or disorderly. Hail, snow, and storm clouds (?) also join with the chthonian powers to praise God. s r c U (BDB 136a, HAL 154b). d k J (BDB 1017a, HAL 1503a). ri yh e (BDB 882b, HAL 1096b). This may mean something like smoke, as does, r«y e. In context, and perhaps it suggests the dark clouds of a storm. Dahood believes that the reference is 12. Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman, The Song of Miriam, JNES 14 (1955): , especially See literature cited in HAL, especially Werner H. Schmidt, Die Schöpfungsgeschichte der Priesterschaft, They stand in parallel in Psalm 74: See Dahood, Psalms 3:206 for a discussion of the seven-headed sea monster in the Ugaritic literature. 15.Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook, Terrien, The Psalms,

5 to volcanic smoke, 17 an unlikely reference in a part of the world that lacks active volcanos. All of these plus the windy storm (và r g Œ x ju r) do God s word (command?). 8. Fire and hail, snow and smoke-- a stormy wind does his word The mountains and all hills. Fruit tree[s] and all cedars oh Nªt k (BDB 522b, HAL 513b) The wildlife and all cattle. Creeping thing[s] and bird of wing. 11. The kings of the earth and all nations. Princes and all judges of earth (BDB, HAL ) 12. Bachelors and virgins as well. Old men and youths. 13. Praise the LORD s name because his name alone is high, his splendor above earth and sky. 14. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the children of Israel, the people near him. Halleluyah! 17.Dahood, Psalms 3:354 5