Correspondence

Abstract

CORRESPONDENCE Reading Roland E. Murphy's review of my Psalms. ParI I (HS 31 [1990):154-156) I really felt a sort of relief: Professor Murphy succinctly points out the newness and strangeness of my interpretation of the psalms, leaves some room for doubts as to the validity of my basic points of view, but acknowledges generously to be "stimulated by the larger and often surprising perspective in which the psalm is viewed" (p. 156). This kind recognition of my intentions is more than I hoped to obtain when thinking of all my expert colleagues in the field. Thank you, Roland! Still, the question remains: Are we up to a new phase of psalm exegesis? Is there really an "increased sensitivity to contextual interpretation" (p. 156)? Could we substantially agree that our psalter is by and large the product of postexilic, dispersed Jewish communities instead of a pre-exilic, centralistic temple cult? What about the value of the immense amount of ancient Near Eastern and modem anthropological texts and studies relating to religious ritual? Let me focus on some of the most important issues in this forest of questions and hypotheses. (1) Although very much aware of a whole bundle of new literary theories and holistic approaches to Scripture, which all tend to encounter "the text as such," draped as an autonomous, literary, and kerygmatic entity, I consider it of primary importance to reconstruct the life-setting (better: consecutive life-settings) of any given text. To put it bluntly: human words are meaningless, until they are being identified as utterances of people, groups, interests, situations. If we fail to recognize the ancient (and strangely different!) settings of biblical texts, we consciously or unconsciously fall into the trap of incorporating biblical words into our own environment and modes of thinking. In theological terms this means: The Word of God, which "became flesh" in concrete historical and social circumstances, is being domesticated and assimilated into our own system of life, thus losing its critical edge. The quest for "life-settings" of biblical texts, splendidly inaugurated by Hermann Gunkel and Sigmund Mowinckel, needs to be vigorously pursued. Today we are much better equipped to do the necessary research than the pioneers of form-critical work could dream possible. (2) The Psalter is but a very small collection of songs and prayers which has come down through a millenary history of faith to be reused and Hebrew Studies 32 (1991) 208 Correspondence remodelled by the post-exilic Israelite communities. The psalms do contain the sediments of old expressions of faith and quite a number of layers of religious organization. There are family rituals preserved as well as tribal and royal (and even pre-Israelite Canaanite!) concepts of God and Salvation. The Psalms are the richest and deepest treasure of the most varied modes of believing in God. The psalms are directly linked to ancient Near Eastern psalmody and incantation, ritual and social constellations. They also prove comparable to virtually all known healing ceremonies, religious affairs of tribe, state, political or spiritual associations, communal and individual theological reflection. The fmal and most fonnative stage of psalm-composition and collection, it seems to me, was the perusal and creation of liturgical texts in early Jewish communities of the fifth century B.C.E. There may have occurred some "democratization" of royal psalms (as Roland E. Murphy hints on p. 155). We know that "royalistic theology" was transfonned into messianic hope (cf. Pss 2; 45; 110, etc.). But the genres "individual complaint" and "thanksgiving" most certainly were not creations of the royal court but had their very deep roots in ancient family and clan ceremonies. Professor Murphy maintains that my "conclusions are contrary to current views of modem scholarship" (p. 156), referring to interpretations of individual psalms. That may be so. But the strange fact is that during the long years of studying the psalms my fundamental assumptions about their nature and origin have changed considerably. It is from this different perspective that deviant conclusions imposed themselves. And my basic theological conviction is this: The Psalms are the very center of biblical faith (cf. also Martin Luther, Preface to the Psalms). A biblical theology based on the...