Abstract
This article sets out to investigate how an African liberationist paradigm could be used in South Africa as a theoretical framework that shapes an inquiry into the issue of poverty in the Book of Psalms. The poor in the Davidic collections of psalms (cf. Ps 10; 23, 72; 109) will therefore be examined within the South African context in order to probe the liberating possibilities that the psalms could offer to poor black South Africans, and most importantly when the text is read in dialogue with Tsepo Tshola’s liberationist song Indlala [Starvation]. Firstly, this article discusses an African liberationist paradigm with the view to anchor the reading of psalms within a theoretical framework. Secondly, within that framework, this article uses the song Indlala as a hermeneutical tool to unlock the reality of poverty in South Africa. Thirdly, guided by an African liberationist framework the article teases out th ecategories and voices of the poor in the psalms. In the end, this article argues that the reading of poor in the Psalms, particularly with an African liberationist lens could have liberating implications for poor black South Africans.
Highlights
The discourse of the poor in the Psalms has stimulated a variety of scholarly conversations in Old Testament studies
Persuaded by the normative status enjoyed by the Hebrew Bible (HB) in present day South Africa, this article sets out to uncover the liberating possibilities that the Book of Psalms could offer the poor black South Africans
The possibility that the situation of poverty in the psalms bears striking similarity to the South African context prompts the contextual reading of the psalms
Summary
The discourse of the poor in the Psalms has stimulated a variety of scholarly conversations in Old Testament studies. The cry ‘Somebody, help me [Izingane ziphelile (The children are finished)]’ which is uttered twice (verse line 16 and 20) in the song, extends the call for the liberation of the poor to any South African.
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