View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositories NORTHERN PSALMS IN SOUTHERN CONTEXTS: DEFINING A HISTORICAL SETTING FOR THE PSALMS OF ASAPH by SPENCER J. ELLIOTT A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Master of Arts in Biblical Studies We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard …………………………………………………………. Dr. Craig Broyles, Ph.D.; Thesis Supervisor …………………………………………………………. Dr. Dirk Büchner, Ph.D.; Second Reader TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY May 2019 © Spencer J. Elliott Abstract The psalms of Asaph (50, 73-83) present an intriguing problem for their interpreters. Though these psalms show every sign of being used in the temple at Jerusalem, they contain a ponderous amount of traditions, geographic references, and names that would be more appropriate in Israel’s northern kingdom. The haphazard geographic and tradition-history provenance of these psalms is best reconciled by assuming a fundamental mixture between northern and southern material in the growing and cosmopolitan city of pre-exilic Jerusalem, beginning in the time of Hezekiah. As northern psalmists moved to Jerusalem after the conquests of the Assyrian empire in the late 8th c. BCE, they brought their traditions of worship and assimilated these traditions within the liturgies of Jerusalem’s temple. These psalms illumine how northern Israelites accommodated to their new Jerusalemite setting after 722 BCE, and how their psalms reflect their experience of forced displacement. !ii For Melissa and Sophia, Proverbs 3:13 ְֵאַירשָׁאָםד ָמָצא ְָכמחָה Proverbs 18:22 ָמָצא ִאָשּׁה ָמָצא טוֹב !iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements vi Abbreviations vii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 History in the Psalms 1 1.2 History of Research in the Psalms of Asaph 4 1.2.1 Attempts at Finding Origins and Dates for the Psalms of Asaph 5 1.2.2 Asaph and the Status Questionis 10 1.3 Methodology 11 Chapter 2: The Geographic Provenance of the Psalms of Asaph 17 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Superscriptions 18 2.2.1 David and History 18 2.2.2 Asaph and Superscriptions 21 2.3 Thematic Unity 25 2.4 Linguistic Evidence 29 2.5 Geography 33 2.5.1 Northern Geographical References 35 2.5.1.1 Tribal Names 35 2.5.1.2 Table of Nations 36 2.5.1.3 Northern Judges 38 2.5.1.4 Pastures of God 39 2.5.1.5 Large Trees and Hills 41 2.5.1.6 Naharot Etan 43 2.5.2 Southern Geographic References 44 2.5.2.1 Jerusalem 44 2.5.2.2 Mt. Moriah 45 2.6 Tradition History 47 2.6.1 Northern Tradition History 48 2.6.1.1 The Elohist 48 2.6.1.2 Deuteronomy, the Deuteronomic School, and Hosea 52 2.6.2 Southern Tradition History 58 2.6.2.1 Zion and Songs of Zion 58 2.6.2.2 Lamentations 60 2.6.2.3 Yahweh’s Ark 61 2.6.2.4 Micah 63 2.6.2.5 First Isaiah 64 2.7 Summary 66 Chapter 3: Socio-Historical Settings for the Psalms of Asaph 68 3.1 Introduction 68 3.2 The Fall of the North and the Refugee Crisis of 722 BCE 68 !iv 3.3 Literature in the Hezekian Era 77 3.3.1 The Deuteronomistic History 78 3.3.2 Prophetic Works 82 3.4 Summary 85 Chapter 4: Historical Encounters in the Psalms of Asaph 87 4.1 Introduction 87 4.2 Psalms 50 & 76: Lions, Deities, and Kings 88 4.3 Psalm 80: Man of the Right Hand 94 4.3.1 The King and the Vine 95 4.3.2 Asaph in the Septuagint 98 4.3.3 A Mix of Sun and Cloud 100 4.4 Psalm 83: Nations Gathered 103 4.5 Psalm 76: A Song of Zion 107 4.5.1 Chaoskampf and Völkerkampf 109 4.5.2 Zion and Yahweh’s Locus of Action 111 4.6 Psalm 78: An Appeal to the North 113 4.6.1 Psalm 78 and Hezekiah 113 4.6.2 Exodus and Zion 116 Chapter 5: Conclusion 121 5.1 Summary 121 5.2 Directions for Future Research 123 5.3 Conclusion 125 Bibliography 126 !v Acknowledgements The list of people who contributed towards the completion of a project like this deserve far more credit than this short acknowledgement can provide. The faculty at TWU have outdone themselves in their concern for my success in this academic journey. I spent the most time with my two readers, but it has been an honour to rub shoulders with scholars who are both active contributors to their field and effective educators. I wish to thank Dr. Dirk Büchner for his guided tour of professional academia, patience for a student with too many questions, and forgiveness for not pursuing Septuagint studies. I especially want to thank Dr. Craig Broyles for his role in the development and culmination of this thesis. His helpful instruction and experience in the field have been indispensable. Not to be outdone, Eldon and Catherine McMann have shown an incredible amount of compassion to a poor student and his family, and their generosity in providing us with a place to live enabled me to focus myself on fulfilling my duties as a student—even while learning the finer points of sheep herding. Finally, I want to thank Melissa for her tireless care and support for me during these past years at TWU. Yet again, I have devoted much of my time and energy to a thesis project, and though it has been difficult to see this through, she has encouraged me to finish what I started. Through many flights, moves, and the arrival of our daughter, she has always been there to help me remember that papers and books do not take precedence over family, friendship, or faith. !vi Abbreviations AB Anchor Bible ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by David Noel Freedman. 6 vols. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1992 AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament ANEP The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament. 2nd ed. Edited by James B. Pritchard. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954 ANES Ancient Near Eastern Studies ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. Edited by James B. Pritchard. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969 AnOr Analecta Orientalia BA Biblical Archaeologist BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BN Biblische Notizen BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Edited by Ignace J. Gelb., etc. 21 vols. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1956-2006 CBQ Catholic Bible Quarterly COS The Context of Scripture. Edited by William W. Hallo. 3 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1997-2002 D The Deuteronomic Source Dtr The Deuteronomist DtrH The Deuteronomistic Historian DULAT The Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language according to Alphabetic Transcription. Georgio del Olmo Lete and Joaquín Sanmartin. 2 vols. Translated by Wilfred G.E. Watson. Leiden: Brill, 2003. E The Elohistic Source FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament GKC Gensenius’ Hebrew Grammar. Edited by Emil Kautzsch. Translated by Arther E. Cowley. 2nd ed. Oxford: Claredon, 1910 HALOT The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Ludwig Koehler, Walter Baumgartner, and Johann J. Stamm. Translated and edited under the supervision of Mervyn E.J. Richardson. 4 vols Leiden: Brill, 1994-1999 HdO Handbuch der Orientalistik HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs IBHS An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. Bruce K. Waltke and Michael O’Connor. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1990 !vii ICC International Critical Commentary IEJ Israel Exploration Journal J The Yahwistic Source JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JBLE Journal of Biblical Literature and Exegesis JBQ Jewish Bible Quarterly JM Joüon, Paul. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Translated and revised by T. Muraoka. 2 vols. Rome: Pontifical Institute, 1991 JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSS Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series JSS Journal of Semitic Studies KAI Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften. Herbert Donner and Wolfgang Röllig. 5th ed. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002 KTU Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit. Edited by Manfried Dietrich, Oswald Loretz, and Joaquín Sanmartín. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2013 OBO Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis OTL Old Testament Library P The Priestly Source RB Revue Biblique RBL Review of Biblical Literature RIMA The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Assyrian Periods RSR Religious Studies Review SAA State Archives of Assyria SBL Studies in Biblical Literature SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature, Dissertation Series SBLMS Society of Biblical Literature, Monograph Series SJT The Scottish Journal of Theology STDJ Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah TA Tel Aviv UT Ugaritic Textbook. Cyrus H. Gordon. AnOr 38. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute VT Vetus Testamentum VTSup Supplements to Vetus Testamentum WAWSS Writings from the Ancient World, Supplement Series WBC Word Biblical Commentary ZABR Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische Rechtgeschichte ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ZDPV Zeitschrift des deutschen Palästina-Vereins !viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 History in the Psalms The modern study of ancient Israel’s history is, understandably, largely based on the narrative texts of the Hebrew Bible. These narrative works are often the standard by which the history of Israel is constructed and the historical situations of other texts, like the Psalms, have to fit within. Scholars often recognize other texts, like the prophets, as historical sources, and the social or political references from these books are placed within the framework established by the historical books.