A Word Fitly Spoken: Poetic Artistry in the First Four Acrostics of the Hebrew Psalter

Description

A Word Fitly Spoken explores significant poetic devices within the four alphabetic acrostic psalms found in Book I of the Psalter. The majority of scholarly opinion has been that these acrostics are poetically and artistically deficient due to the writers’ and editors’ preoccupation with the alphabetic pattern. In contrast to this view, A Word Fitly Spoken proposes that the acrostic pattern contributes to, rather than detracts from, the poetic artistry of these psalms. In an effort to promote a holistic, canonical reading of the four acrostic poems within Book I of the Psalter, this study also examines the linguistic and grammatical connections within the text. Such a close reading repeatedly demonstrates the emotive power and the imagination of this literature in contradiction to its supposedly stiff, wooden nature. A Word Fitly Spoken is attuned to the frequent plays on word and sound that occur throughout these four poems and as such would be useful in graduate courses on biblical interpretation, Hebrew poetry, or the Psalms. Cover Copyright Information Table of contents List of Tables List of Abbreviations and Signs Acknowledgments Preface 1 Introduction Overview History of Research Philo of Alexandria Josephus, Origen, and Jerome Cassiodorus Azariah de’ Rossi John Calvin Robert Lowth Modern Commentators Gunkel and Mowinckel Marcus, Crüsemann, and Freedman Seybold, Hanson, Soll, and Davison Methodology 2 Psalm 9/10 Introduction Psalm 9 Psalm 10 Summary Translation 3 Psalm 25 Introduction Inter-textual Link to Psalm 34 Key Words and a Key Theological Shift Sound Plays and Parallelism Envelope Construction, Rhetorical Questioning, and Repetition Connections to Psalm 24 and Psalm 26 Summary Translation 4 Psalm 34 Introduction Repetitions and Parallelism Consequentiality in Parallelism Grammatical Devices, Sound Repetition, and Inclusio Links to Psalm 25 Sound Repetition and Semantic Parallelism Function of Irony and Satire in the Poem Literary Links to 1 Samuel 14 Summary Translation 5 Psalm 37 Introduction Inter-textual Links to Psalm 9/10 Sound Plays and Ironic Wordplays An Inter-textual Link with Psalm 7 Multiform Wordplay, Alliteration, and Poetic Ambiguity An Intra-textual Link, Ambiguity, and Incremental Repetition “Cut Off” and Intensifying Repetition Sound Play and Repetition Poetic Ambiguity and Satire Auditory and Visual Wordplay and an Intra-textual Link Summary Translation 6 Conclusion Emendation versus Appreciation Poetic Artistry and the Acrostic Structure Structural and Linguistic Connections between Acrostics Psalm 9/10 Psalm 25 Psalm 34 Psalm 37 Summary and Areas for Further Study Notes Bibliography Index