Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 70:1 (NA 2019)
Article: The Re-Presentation Of David In Psalms 140–143
Author: Jill Firth

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The Re-Presentation Of David
In Psalms 140–1431

Jill Firth

([email protected])

It is counterintuitive to find individual laments like Psalms 140–143 near the end of the Psalter, as the arc of the Book of Psalms is often described as from lament to praise and from psalms of the individual to psalms of the community. The placement of these psalms is intriguing, as many commentators see Books IV–V as an ‘answer’ to the disaster of the fall of Jerusalem and loss of Davidic kingship in Psalm 89, and the last collection of לדוד (ledavid) psalms (Pss 138–145) as an ‘answer’ to the communal lament of Psalm 137.

The presence and character of David at the end of the Psalter is hotly debated by scholars. Some commentators claim continuity of David’s royal authority throughout the whole Psalter (emphasising Psalms 110 and 132), while others suggest a change in the presentation of David in Books IV–V (Pss 90–150), arguing that the ‘I’ is a generic figure who no longer represents David, or that David is disempowered, diminished, and dependent compared with Books I–III. The connection to David of the ledavid psalms is controversial, as לדוד can mean ‘of’, ‘to’, or ‘for’ David.

This study examines the placement of Psalms 140–143 near the end of the Psalter, asking whether David is presented in these psalms, whether he is presented differently from Books I–III, and examining the placement of these individual Davidic laments in the arc of the Psalter. Part I introduces the research questions in Chapter 1, the scholarly debate in Chapter 2, and the methodology in Chapter 3. In Part II, Chapters 4–7 examine whether the presentation of David shows

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continuity or change with Books I–III by a contextual examination of words and phrases found both in Psalms 140–143 and in Books I–III. The study compares the diction of the ‘I’ and David’s circumstances in relation to enemies and in relation to God to see whether the presentation of the ‘I’ in Psalms 140–143 is generic, or if it is distinctively linked to the presentation of the ‘I’ in the ledavid psalms of Bo...