Paper Category: Psalms and Hebrew Poetry

Discomfort with imprecatory psalms is sometimes mitigated by appealing to Psalm 83:17[MT] as evidence that sometimes, or perhaps often, psalmists sought repentance rather than destruction for God’s enemies: “Cover their faces with shame so that they will seek your name, Lord” (CSB). Building on my recent argument for an Assyrian era setting for Psalm 83,[1] … Read more

This paper argues that Hannah’s poem (1 Samuel 2:1–10) was an integral part of its narrative context from the original composition of 1 Samuel. While many scholars contend that the poem was inserted later in the textual history of the book, both textual criticism and literary analysis suggest otherwise. Numerous studies have noted the literary … Read more

This paper proposes that the Cush oracles in Isaiah 18:1-7 and Zephaniah 3:9-10 allude to Psalm 68:32b[MT] and provide clarification for the psalmic source text’s disputed connotation. The paper will survey the history or interpretation of Psalm 68:32b and then suggest that, as the earliest layer in the history of interpretation—and a canonical one at … Read more

The Hebrew consecutive preterite (or wayyiqtol) functions as the backbone of Hebrew narrative. This verbal form stands in clause-initial position and allows the narrator to articulate a continuous chain of perfective actions and/or situations that drive the storyline forward. Other verbal forms serve complementary roles within the consecutive framework. The wǝqatal offers a clause initial … Read more

Character ethics approaches have been increasingly applied to the study of the Old Testament. In the words of William Brown (2002: xi) a character ethics approach is “more a shared outlook than an established methodology [that]…investigates the formative, as well as normative, impact that Scripture qua Scripture makes upon reading communities, both ancient and (post)modern.” … Read more

The Psalter’s characterization of the suffering and victorious king is somewhat equivocal and, thus, challenging to interpret. In several psalms, the main character declares his great guilt, yet in the same or other psalms he describes himself as righteous, innocent of any wrongdoing. The king’s regular admissions of both guilt and innocence present a challenge … Read more

In Deuteronomy 18:15–22, Moses declares God would raise up a specific prophet in the future. This prophet would stand out for at least three reasons: (1) he would be like Moses, (2) God’s people would listen to this prophet, and (3) God would judge those who refused to listen to him. This prophet, as Deuteronomy … Read more