„Mein Gott, mein Gott, zu dir erhebe ich mich in der Früh‟ – Zwei Psalmpassagen in Inschriften aus Tyros und in der patristischen Tradition

Abstract

A revision of several painted inscriptions discovered in a late antique chamber tomb in Tyre shows that they recorded verses from two Psalms (3, 6 and 62, 2-3), both not otherwise attested epigraphically. The article subsequently examines how these verses were received and interpreted in early Christian literature and by the Greek Fathers of the Church: The popular verse 6 of Psalm 3, with its reference to sleep and awakening, was understood by most—but not all—commentators as a reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The less famous first verses of Psalm 62 were usually just read as an expression of the longing for God. The juxtaposition of these two Psalms, which share the liturgical role of Morning Psalms, suggests that the verses from Psalm 62 as well as the one from Psalm 3 were understood as referring to the resurrection and used to express the deceased’s belief in salvation.