RESPONSABILIDAD DE LA DIRECCIÓN 5.1 Compromiso de la Dirección

Having now cleared all these salient facts about the Psalms, you can now consider the approach to be taken in the process of interpretation.

Determine the type of the Psalm

The first thing to do in the process of interpreting the psalms is to decide what type of psalm you are interpreting. Is it a psalm of praise,

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thanksgiving, lamentation or a royal psalm? This becomes necessary because that would be of help in aiding the interpreter to know the theme of the psalm and the likely language to expect.

Determine its Stage of Composition

You need to determine the stage of composition that the psalm has come from. Was it in the period of Davidic patronage, or the cultic period or the post-exilic period? This would help you to determine the kind of theology to expect in the psalm. For example, the early psalms would reflect more of Deuteronomic theology while the post-exilic psalms would reflect contact with Persian dualism and its effect on Israel‟s theology.

Determine its Historical Occasion

If a psalm grows out of a historical circumstance (which is going to be the most likely), that historical circumstance should be studied carefully if you are to grasp the message of the psalm. Let us take Psalm 3 as an example.

from the inscription of the psalm, which reads, “a psalm of David, when he fled from the face of his son Absalom,” the general circumstance under which this psalm was written could be deduced. A good interpreter would then go back and read the account of Absalom‟s rebellion as recorded in 2 Samuel 15-19. You need to note however that there are some psalms that their historical circumstances are not easily determined.

If Possible, Determine the Author

You need to know that out of all the books of the Bible, it is the book of Psalms that are most subjective. Berkhof (1950) declares that “the psalms are far more subjective than other parts of the Bible, the psychological element is important for their correct interpretation.” In getting to this psychological element, you need to unravel the author, study the author‟s character and the author‟s frame of mind when the psalm was composed.

Since David however can be attached to most of the psalms, you need to be acquinted with David‟s life and character for this would lead to a better appreciation of the psalms connected with him.

Take the Literary Analysis

Note that I did not mention lexical-syntactical analysis. This is because lexical-syntactical analysis may not work here since the psalms are poems and not prose. It is important to discover that the poetic usage where

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necessary and the special use of emphasis in poetry. Let us briefly examine Psalm 121:5-6:

The Lord is your keeper,

The Lord is your shade on your right hand The sun will not smite you by day

Nor the moon by night

In these two verses, the following are used poetically: “on your right hand”

“shade”, “sun” and “moon”. If these are taken literally, the thought of the psalm would be lost. Let us then analyse the words one after the other.

On your right hand: Some scholars have taken this literally and conclude that a man‟s right hand is on the south side which the sun would be hottest and therefore needs to be protected in that area. However, if we consider the Jewish thought about the right hand, the thought of the author would be clear. Two things are to be indicated: the right hand is seen as the hand of one‟s strength which would then suggest that the Lord shall protect one‟s source of strength. Secondly, Unger, (1981) identified the right hand is “the position best adapted for the defence of the person being guarded,” thus meaning that the Lord would place himself in the best position in the bid to protect you.

Sun: if the sun is taken literally, then this psalm becomes untrue to life because it is impossible for us to be kept away from the rays of the sun as long as we are on earth here. As a result, most scholars would say that the sun is used here to refer to sun-stroke, which is a peculiar threat in the ancient Near East.

Moon: the use of the moon here is also similar to that of the sun. For example, in the ancient days among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, the moon is thought of as having the ability to exert an influence considered dangerous to human health. It is also intriguing to discover that the word for those with mental disorder is lunatic, which comes from the root word

„lunar,‟ which is also used for the moon. Also the Yoruba believes that when the new moon comes up, the mentally ill may become extremely violent. While not rejecting the thought of scholars on the metaphoric use of the sun and the moon, I feel that the thought of the poet is not more than a daily all-round protection which he has only couched poetically.

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