“Let the righteous strike me; let the faithful correct me”: Psalm 141 and the Enclave of the Ṣaddiqîm

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article asks for the possible sociological and theological background of the so-called Psalms of the Righteous in the Book of Psalms. First, I discuss Christoph Levin’s understanding of this group of psalms. Then I make a close reading of Psalm 141 as a psalm which is obsessed with the implied psalmist’s fear of urging a heterodox theology. On the background of theories of “Charter Groups” (John Porter, John Kessler) and “Carrier Groups” (J.C. Alexander) and of Mary Douglas’ “group-grid theory” I propose to place Psalm 141 as well as Psalms 1, 37, and 73 within the intellectual framework of an enclave of ṣaddiqîm in Persian period Judah (and later).