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Psalm 29: A Structural Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2011

David Noel Freedman  and
C. Franke Hyland
David Noel Freedman
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104
C. Franke Hyland
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104
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Extract

In 1935, H. L. Ginsberg published an article demonstrating the existence of Canaanite elements in Psalm 29. Among these were: 1) the mention of the benē 'ēlīm related to the assembly of the banu ili in the Ugaritic texts; 2) the glorification of the voice of Yahweh, an adaptation of the praises of Baal, the Canaanite storm god; 3) topographical references to Lebanon, Sirion, and Kadesh, all located in Syria; 4) the first discovery in the Bible of an enclitic mem (vs. 6); 5) the kingship of Yahweh, similar to the formula of Baal's triumph over his foes. Since then, others have developed and supplemented this original investigation, especially with the aid of recent work in Ugaritic. Linguistic and textual problems remain, however. The present paper suggests that a structural analysis of the psalm not only supports the integrity of the present text but also points to some complex and sophisticated techniques of Hebrew poetry.

Type
Articles
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , April 1973 , pp. 237 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1973

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References

1 A Phoenician Hymn in the Psalter, Atti del XIX Congresso Internazionale degli Orientalisti (Rome, 1935), 472–76Google Scholar; Kitvê Ugarit (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1936), 129ff.Google Scholar; an expanded version is to be found in The Rebellion and Death of Baelu, orientalia, NS: V (136), 180ff.

2 Gaster, T. H., Psalm 29, JQR 37 (1946–1947), 55–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Cross, F. M. Jr., Notes on a Canaanite Psalm in the Old Testament, BASOR, No. 117 (1950), 19–21Google Scholar; Kraus, H. J., Die Psalmen, I2 (Neukirchen, 1961)Google Scholar, ad loc.; Weiser, A., The Psalms (Philadelphia, 1962)Google Scholar; Dahood, M., Psalms I (Anchor Bible; New York, 1965)Google Scholar; Ginsberg, H. L., A Strand in the Cord of Hebraic Hymnody, Eretz Israel 9 (Albright Volume; Jerusalem, 1969), 45–46.Google Scholar

3 Both Ginsberg and Cross regard vs. 7 as incomplete. Cross speaks of haplography (BASOR 117, 20), while Ginsberg offers the following restoration: “The voice of Yahweh kindles flames / [Yea, Yahweh kindles flames] of fire” (A Phoenician Hymn. …, 474). Dahood, on the other hand, reverses the order of vss. 6 and 7 (Psalms I, 174).

4 A Ugaritic Psalm (RS 24.252), JBL LXXXIX (1970), 303.Google Scholar

5 The number seven figures in other texts dealing with the storm god theme. Ugaritic Text No. 17 lists the gods of Mt. Casius, including El, Dagan (the father of Baal), and seven storm gods (belm). The parallel Akkadian text (RS 20.24) has Adadhursag Hazi, followed by Adad 1 through Adad 6. Cf. Albright, , Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (New York, 1968), 140–43.Google Scholar An Assyrian text from Assur also gives seven Adads M. Astour suggests that the seven were differentiated “not for theological reasons, but according to the most renowned shrines of the storm god” (Some New Divine Names from Ugarit, JAOS 86 [1966], 279).Google Scholar In the Hymn to Iškur, when Enlil gives the storm winds to his son Iškur, he says, “The ‘seven’ winds I have harnessed for you as a team, the storm winds I have harnessed for you…” Cf. Kapelrud, A., The Number Seven in Ugaritic Texts, VT 18 (1968), 494–99Google Scholar: the number seven is seen to be loaded with strength and danger, a number of completion, a number denoting intensity and quality.

6 Ps. 137 is approximately the same length as Ps. 29, and has a similar structure. The midpoint of the psalm (vss. 5–6ab) is marked by a double chiasm:

For further details see Freedman, D. N., The Structure of Psalm 137, Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William Foxwell Albright, ed. by Goedicke, Hans (Baltimore, 1971), 187–205, esp. 193–98.Google Scholar

7 This is apparently Dahood's view, Psalms I, 175–76. For an example of bn ‘lm in Phoenician, see Dahood, G. R. Driver and the Enclitic Mem in Phoenician, Biblica 49 (1968), 89fGoogle Scholar

8 The following double divine names in Ugaritic may be noted: Gapnu-wa-Ugādru, “Vineyard-and-Field” (cf. Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel [Baltimore, 1942], 89)Google Scholar, and Kothar-wa-Khasis “the Very Skilful and Intelligent One” (Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan, 136–37). Double and multiple divine epithets abound in the Psalter, cf. Dahood, Psalms I, II, III, Indices under “Appellatives” and “Epithets.” On °z “victory,” see Dahood, Psalms I, 180.

9 Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan, 21.

10 Cross, BASOR 117, 21.

11 Cross, ibid., and Gordon, C., Ugaritic Handbook (Rome, 1947), 225.Google Scholar Ginsberg renders the word “fantasy” (The Legend of King Keret, BASOR Supplements, Nos. 2–3 [New Haven, 1949], 71).Google ScholarAisleitner, J. proposes “eine [hehre] vision” (Die mythologischen und kultischen Texte aus Ras Shamra [Berlin, 1959], 92).Google ScholarGray, J. favors “vision” (The Krt Text in the Literature of Ras Shamra [Leiden, 1964], 55)Google Scholar, and offers in support of his view the following translation of lines 35–36:

12 In view of the imperatives in Ps. 29:1–2, and 'imrū in Ps. 96:10, it would be plausible to read 'emōr “(all of you) say.” But it is not necessary to change the text, since variation in verb forms is to be expected in Hebrew poetry; cf. Dahood, Psalms III, 426, “Participle functioning as imperative.”

13 Cf. II Sam. 22:7 = Ps. 18:7, Isa. 6:1, Micah 1:2, Hab. 2:20, Ps. 11:4. N. Habel points out that the theophany of Baal in the storm emanates from the palace in the heavens (Yahweh Versus Baal: A Conflict of Religious Cultures [New York, 1964], 76).Google Scholar

14 UT 51: III: 14.

15 Enuma Elish, VI, lines 71ff. See Gaster, T., Thespis (New York, 1950), 74ffGoogle Scholar for a comparison between the psalm and the Enuma Elish.

16 Falkenstein, A. and Soden, W. Von, Sumerischen und Akkadischen Hymnen und Gebete (Zurich, 1953), 248–50.Google Scholar

17 Other parallels can be drawn between Iškur on the one hand and Hadad-Baal and Yahweh on the other. Just as Baal and Yahweh are “riders of the clouds,” so Iškur rides the storm wind. His voice is a roaring wind like the voice of Yahweh in Ps. 29.

18 El also has the title of “Bull” in the Ugaritic texts. See Albright's discussion of El in Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan, 119ff.

19 There is similar mention of the name of Yahweh in Pss. 66:2, 79:9, 96:10; I Chron. 16:29. Muilenburg, J. states: “… To name the name is the central cultic act” (The Speech of Theophany, Harvard Divinity School Bulletin [1964], 39).Google Scholar

20 On the divine name, yhwh-'l, see Freedman, D. N., The Name of the God of Moses, JBL LXXIX (1960), 156Google Scholar, and Cross, F. M. Jr, Yahweh and the God of the Patriarchs, HTR 55 (1962), 250ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar For a discussion of its use in the Psalter, see Dahood, Psalms I, 64, 104–05, 177, 188. The original combination is preserved in Pss. 10:12 and 31:6; the elements are separated in Pss. 18:3 and 29:3. Cf. Dahood, The Name yišmac-'ēl in Genesis 16, II, Biblica 49 (1968), 88, n.3.Google Scholar

21 E.g., in David's Lament, hmlbškm “the one who clothed you” and hmcIh “the one who put [golden ornaments] upon [your clothes]” (II Sam. 1:24); also hn'hbym “the beloved ones,” and hncymm “the lovely ones” (1:23): Cf. hhr ḥmd in Ps. 68:17 (Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan, 26–27, and references to earlier work cited there). The phrase n'm hgbr, which occurs in the Oracles of Balaam (Num. 24:3, 15) and the Last Words of David (II Sam. 23:1), is to be rendered: “… the utterance of that man whose / whom …”

22 We have the following data for the use of the definite article with Ibnwn in MT: of the total of 70 occurrences 18 are not useful for our purposes. One is followed by the he directive (Ibnwnh in I Kings 5:28), and is naturally without the article. There are 17 others all preceded by the inseparable prepositions b and k. In accordance with standard procedure, the he, if any, has been elided; the only indication of its original presence would be the vocalization: ball- and kall-. In every instance, the vocalization indicates the presence of the article, showing that the Massoretes interpreted the forms in accordance with normal prose usage (i.e., with the article). In view of the other data for the use of the article with Ibnwn, it is clear that the vocalization presupposing the article has been levelled through artificially, thus erasing possibly helpful information about the distribution. These data may also provide a clue as to what has happened in the course of transmission, though there is a significant difference between normalizing vocalization and standardizing the form of the word. Of the 52 occurrences remaining, there are 30 with the article and 22 without. Dividing the passages between poetry and prose (in accordance with the practice of BH3 or RSV), we find that there are 28 instances in poetry and 24 in prose. The distribution may be tabulated as follows:

Two of the prose occurrences without the article are in Ezek. 31:15–16. While this passage is commonly treated as prose, it is very much like the surrounding material in Ezekiel which is commonly treated as poetry: in BH3, Ezek. 31:2–9 is poetry, 10–12 is prose, 13 is poetry, and 14 is divided between prose and poetry; vss. 15–18 are considered prose, but chap. 32 is divided between prose and poetry. The other three passages in Ezekiel in which Ibnwn occurs are all taken to be poetry. Regardless of a final decision about these two occurrences, the evidence is overwhelming for the use of the article with Ibnwn in prose passages (the only other occurrence without the article is in II Chron. 2:7). While the corresponding association of Ibnwn (without the article) with poetic passages is not as strongly supported, nevertheless the preponderance of poetic passages have Ibnwn without the article. On the basis of the present text, we can affirm the correlation and say that the use of the article with Ibnwn is characteristic of prose, and the use without the article is typical of poetry. In view of the data it would be reasonable to suppose that several of the cases in poetry where the article does occur are the result of inadvertent or deliberate scribal activity tending to make the practice uniform (as is true of the vocalization of the inseparable prepositions). With respect to Ps. 29, we can say that Ibnwn in vs. 6 is perfectly proper and what we would expect. On the other hand, hlbnwn is suspect, and we would have some basis for regarding the article as secondary. But the evidence is not conclusive.

23 It does not occur at all in such early poems as Exod. 15:1–18, Judg. 5:1–31, II Sam. 1:19–27. Gen. 49 provides an interesting study: the particle does not occur in the body of the poem (‘t in vs. 25 is a scribal error for ’l), but it does occur in vs. ib, which is regarded by most scholars as a late secondary Introduction, since the poem has its own Introduction, vs. 2.

24 Cf. footnote 1.

25 Hummel, H. D.Enclitic Mem in Early Northwest Semitic, Especially Hebrew, JBL LXXVI (1957), 85–107.Google Scholar For examples in the Psalter, see Dahood, Psalms III, 408–09, and under Enclitic mem (viz. mem encliticum), in the Indices to Vols. I, II, and III.

26 On this phenomenon, see Dahood, Psalms II, 81, and literature cited there; also under Single writing of consonant … in Index. Cf. Psalms III, 371–72. There can be no doubt that the practice existed, since it is attested in the Lachish Letters: the expression ḥay yhwh is written ḥyhwh, with one yod instead of two. On the other hand, it was not widely adopted, and was ultimately abandoned, at least in the writing of official texts. Individual cases must be judged on their merits.

27 Although most translations take vs. 9c as a continuation of 9ab, there is a sharp break between the units. Gaster acknowledges the fact, and attempts to resolve the difficulty by restoring a lost line: “… the missing subject is the divine assembly. We must restore ‘… the assembly of the deities acclaiming him’ ….” Thespis, 75f.; cf. “Psalm 29,” 62. We render klw as “everyone, all of you,” taking the suffix as the nominative singular case ending (-u> -ō), instead of the 3rd m.s. pronoun: “all of it.”

28 Cf. footnote 4.

29 Dahood, Psalms 1, 180. In a number of psalms the theme of Yahweh's kingship is associated with his victory over the primeval flood. In Ps. 93 Yahweh's power over the cosmic waters is extolled. Cf. May, H. G., Some Cosmic Connotations of Mayim Rabbīm “Many Waters,” JBL LXXIV (1955), 9–21.Google Scholar Ps. 93:3–4 have been described as “the triumph of Yahweh over the oceans of origins.” Cf. Lipinski, E., Yahweh Mālak, Biblica 44 (1963), 435. Ps. 89Google Scholar, in which the heavens praise Yahweh in the assembly of the holy ones, proclaims Yahweh's successful combat with Rahab, and his victory over the sea. Isa. 51:9 describes the destruction of the chaos monster in the days of old (dwrwt ‘wlmym). The link between victory over cosmic foes and enthronement or eternal dominion is also to be seen in the formulas of Baal's triumph. Cf. Ginsberg, A Phoenician Psalm, 474; Gaster, Thespis, 75.

30 Other passages in Hebrew poetry associate the storm theophany with Yahweh's coming to redeem his people: Exod. 15, Judges 5, Hab. 3, Pss. 68, 89. Cf. N. Habel, Yahweh Versus Baal, 80. Gaster compares the closing verse of Ps. 29 with Enuma Elish: in Marduk's appearance after his victory over Tiamat, he is hailed as “the help of his people, salvation of his people,” Thespis, 76. Ginsberg suggests that the fact that Yahweh is to give cz to his people rather than to his anointed one (as in I Sam. 2:10) may be an indication of pre-monarchic composition (A Strand in the Cord of Hebraic Hymnody, 45).