Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 60:3 (Sep 2017)
Article: Double-Tracking In The Psalms, Book 5, As A Hermeneutical Method
Author: C. Hassell Bullock

JETS 60:3 (September 2017) p. 479

Double-Tracking In The Psalms, Book 5,
As A Hermeneutical Method

C. Hassell Bullock*

* Hassell Bullock is Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus at Wheaton College, 501 College Ave, Wheaton, IL 60187. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: Double-tracking as a hermeneutical method in the Psalter is a multilayered scheme in which historical allusions, biblical quotations, and textual and cultural allusions are intertwined to create a certain movement in the direction of a major theme or climax. After pointing out the cradle of hodu (“Give thanks”) psalms that supports the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113–118) and sets the tone to make Book 5 a virtual service of thanksgiving for Yahweh’s “love” and “faithfulness,” this article seeks to show how the postexilic community tracked its direction as a “new exodus” and reaffirmed its covenant faith by means of four theological conventions of the Mosaic covenant: (1) the first and second commandments; (2) the Shema‘; (3) the formula of grace; and (4) the covenant formula.

Key words: hodu psalms, Egyptian Hallel, Great Hallel, covenant formula, formula of grace, Shema‘

I. Description Of Double-Tracking
As A Hermeneutical Method

The hermeneutical method of double-tracking involves a multilayered scheme in which historical allusions, biblical quotations, and textual and cultural allusions are intertwined to create a certain movement in the direction of a major theme or climax. Often this methodology employs “parallelism” to track current events along the path of more ancient, saving events. In biblical perspective, it is identifiable in Deuteronomic theology and spelled out in Deut 5:2–3 as Moses calls the second generation of the exodus to observe the covenant that the Lord had made with them at Horeb:

The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers [only] that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. (Deut 5:2–3)

This paper will deal mainly with the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113–118), which was written to celebrate a complex of events: the return from Babylonian captivity, the rebuilding of the temple, and the restoration of worship.1 The delivery system of this celebration is facilitated in two ways. Firs...