CHAPTER II
LITERARY CONTEXT
Authorship
The author of Psalm 19 has been a dispute among scholars.
Traditionally, it is believed the author of this Psalm is David. Higher
critical scholars in the last half of the nineteenth century repudiated the
above “traditional” view on the premise that any advanced concept of religion
must necessarily be late. [1]
There is no note in the Psalm itself to lead us to know when, where,
or by whom it was written. [2]
The Superscription Le-dawid
Headings
or superscriptions introduce one hundred and one of the psalms. These headings
contain clues about the transmission.[3] Until late of 19th
century, people had understood the superscription at the beginning of the psalm
to refer to authorship. [4]
Briggs views that the ל is not the ל of authorship,
as has generally been supposed [5] and Burrus asserts
that the headings probably were not in the original manuscripts. [6] However he contend that it indicates the
authorship of David. [7] The
preposition of (le in
Hebrew), can mean more than one thing. It can mean (a) composed by
David, as we would expect; and doubtless some psalms were. But it can also mean
(b) composed for David. [8] Seventy-three
psalms, including Ps 19, have the superscription le-Dawid (“belonging to David”). [9]
In most cases the heading was attached to the psalm by the authors or by the
person to whom the author delivered the psalm. [10]
Talmudic View
In a Beraitha of
the tract Baba Bathra of the Talmud, the Psalter is placed second in the
roll of Writings; and it is said, “David wrote the Book of Psalms with the aid
of the ten ancients, with the aid of Adam the first, Melchizedek, Abraham,
Moses, Heman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korah.” [11] The
Book of Psalms was known in Maccabean times as “the Book of David (τὰ τοῦ Δαβίδ)”
(2 Macc. 2:13).[12]
New Testament Writer’s Views
The NT writer records passages which reveal that David
spoke and wrote some of the psalms. Matthew recorded the statement of Christ
that psalms belong to David (Matt 22:45). This book is often called “The Psalms
of David,” he being the only author mentioned in the New Testament (Lu 20:42)
and his name appearing in more titles than that of any other writer.[13] In the New Testament David is used as the
equivalent of the Psalter, and as such personified in the references to
particular Psalms. [14]
The Church Fathers
Augustinus (354-430 AD) says
that all the psalms were composed by David. [15]
By the first century A.D. the entire Psalter was considered “Davidic” However, only 73 of the 150 Psalms in the
Hebrew scriptures have “David” as the author, and several of these can be
interpreted as “dedicated to,” or “for” David instead of “by,” meaning
authorship.[16]
Modern
commentator such as Adam Clarke, [17]
Craigie, [18]
favor that Psalm 19 is authored by David. Jon Courson concludes, “no
doubt this psalm of David was inspired when, as a shepherd in Bethlehem, he
looked up at the skies overhead and heard the silent sermon of the stars.” [19] In
conclusion of the authorship of Psalm 19, though denied by some moderns, the
authorship of the poem was David, as Spence-Jones stated. [20]
Historical Setting
The
scriptural headings credit a majority of the psalms to David and his
contemporaries, who lived about 1000 b.c.
Genre
A psalm is a hymn of praise intended to be sung
to musical accompaniment. [21] Three
psalms are devoted to torah as the crucial medium of relationship between
God and the faithful. [22] The
psalm whose major purpose is to instruct the people about Torah, the Law of God,
qualifies
as wisdom psalms. [23] Some
of the psalms are “nature psalms,” but these differ from many secular poems
depicting nature, for in Scripture nature is never celebrated for its own sake,
but only as it points to its Creator. [24]
[1] Mark
Mangano, College Press NIV Commentary Old Testament Introduction
(Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub., 2005), 389.
[2]Adam
Clarke, Clarke's Commentary: Psalms, electronic ed., Logos Library System;
Clarke's Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1999), Ps 19:1.
[3]James
Luther Mays, Psalms, Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and
preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 11.
[4] Claus Westermann, The
Psalm: Structure, Content and Message (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing
House, 1980), 12.
[5]Charles
A. Briggs and Emilie Grace Briggs, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
the Book of Psalms (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1906-07), lxi.
[6]Deborah
Burrus, Explorer's Bible Study: Psalms of Prayer and Praise (Dickson,
TN: Explorer's Bible Study, 2001), 1:3.
[7]Deborah
Burrus, Explorer's Bible Study: Psalms of Prayer and Praise (Dickson,
TN: Explorer's Bible Study, 2001), 1:3.
[8]George
Angus Fulton Knight, Psalms : Volume 1, The Daily study Bible series
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001, c1982), 8.
[9]
The 73 psalms which are commonly called “Davidic” are as follows: Ps 3-9,
11-32, 34-41, 51-65, 68-70, 86, 101, 108-110, 122, 124, 131, 133, 138-145.
[10]Warren
W. Wiersbe, Be Worshipful, 1st ed. (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Cook
Communications Ministries, 2004), 7.
[11]Charles
A. Briggs and Emilie Grace Briggs, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
the Book of Psalms (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1906-07), liv.
[12]The
Pulpit Commentary: Psalms Vol. I, ed. H. D. M. Spence-Jones (Bellingham,
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004), iii.
[13]Robert
Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, A. R. Fausset et al., A Commentary, Critical and
Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, On Spine: Critical and
Explanatory Commentary. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997),
Ps 1:1.
[14]Charles
A. Briggs and Emilie Grace Briggs, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
the Book of Psalms (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1906-07), lv.
[15]
Augustinus, The City of God
Translated by Marcus Dods. The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. 2nd
series. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdsman. 2:352-53
[16]
Ibid, 362.
[17]
Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentary: Psalms, electronic ed., Logos Library
System; Clarke's Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1999), Ps 1:1.
[18]
Peter C. Craigie, vol. 19, Word Biblical Commentary : Psalms 1-50, Word
Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 28.
[19]Jon
Courson, Jon Courson's Application Commentary : Volume Two : Psalms-Malachi
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 22.
[20]The
Pulpit Commentary: Psalms Vol. I, ed. H. D. M. Spence-Jones (Bellingham,
WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2004), iii.
[21]Donald
C. Fleming, Concise Bible Commentary, Also Published Under Title: The
AMG Concise Bible Commentary. (Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG Publishers, 1994,
c1988), 186.
[22]James
Luther Mays, Psalms, Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and
preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 28.
[23]Robert
G. Bratcher and William David Reyburn, A Translator's Handbook on the Book
of Psalms, Helps for translators (New York: United Bible Societies, 1991),
3.
[24]Alfred
Martin, Th. D., Survey of the Old Testament II, Revised 1994, 1996, 2004
(Moody Bible Institute: Chicago, IL, 1971).
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