Structure of Psalms 93-100, The

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 1999 by Futato, Mark D

The Structure of Psalms 93-100. By David M. Howard, Jr. Biblical and Judaic Studies from the University of California, San Diego 5. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1997, xvi 231 pp., $35.00.

In the last fifteen years, scholars have made significant gains in understanding the Book of Psalms, since they have been studying the Psalter as a literary whole rather than as a random anthology. This work by David Howard (an extensive revision of his 1986 dissertation, directed by David Noel Freedman) makes a major contribution to this area of research. Howard seeks to demonstrate that Psalms 93-100 are a unified, coherent group that has been intentionally ordered around the theme of YHWH's kingship (p. 20).

After showing how his study fits into the history of interpreting the Psalms (chap. 1), Howard briefly discusses his methodology (chap. 2). His approach is a synchronic analysis of the structure and message of the individual psalms and the group as a whole. The text of the MT is the basis of his study: he is not concerned with the order of other traditions (like that of 11QPsa, which he takes as a liturgical anthology), and he emends the consonants only four times and revocalizes a few other words.

Chapter 3 is a commentary on the text of each individual psalm. In chap. 4, Howard studies each psalm in relation to each of the others in the group. The focus here is on several kinds of links. The most important links are the key-word links: lexical repetitions "that were undoubtedly in the editors' thinking as they made decisions about bringing the Psalter together" (p. 100), e.g. sar in 94:22 and 95:1. But thematic links also play a role. Thematic links are of two kinds: lexical repetitions that are less significant than the key-word links, e.g. kisseD in 93:2 and 94:20, and the repetition of the same idea with different vocabulary, e.g. '-dat and tora in 93:5 and 94:12 respectively.

In a sense, chap. 5 is the heart of the book, for here Howard synthesizes the data of the two previous chapters and provides a contextual reading of the group as a whole, taking into consideration the broader context of Psalms 73-89, 90-92, and 101-106. Psalms 96-99 are the core of the group, with their focus on confidence in and praise of YHWH's kingship. This inner core is bounded by Psalms 95 and 100, which have many links between them; Psalm 100 is the climax of the group, and 95 is a bridge back to 93-94. Psalm 93 is a bridge between 90-92 and 94. In keeping with numerous other scholars, Howard sees Psalms 93-100 as the climax toward which Books 1-3 build.

Four appendixes follow: (1) the dates of Psalms 93-100, (2) prose particle counts in Book 4, (3) divine names and titles in Psalms 93-100 and (4) wisdom and royal/ Zion traditions in the Psalter.

Howard has here and elsewhere articulated the difference between looking for macrostructures (the overarching shape of the Psalter as a whole) and analyzing microstructures (the detailed connections that exist between neighboring psalms) on the one hand and the need to base the former on the latter on the other hand. In this regard, Howard has made two particular contributions to the study of the shape of the Psalter, in addition to providing many fine insights into the individual texts under discussion. One, he has succeeded in demonstrating that a detailed analysis of Psalms 93-100 yields the conclusion that these psalms are not in a random order, but have been purposefully placed to communicate a message that is more than the sum of the parts. Two, Howard has shown that there is a methodology to be applied to the Psalter as a whole-a methodology that will yield valuable insights into the shape of the whole as well as into the meaning of the individual texts that make up that whole, and a methodology that can free the pursuit of the shape of the Psalter from the charge of subjectivity (at least to the degree that any method is free from this charge).

Those who consult this work will no doubt find details here and there with which they will take issue, but on the whole Howard has provided an excellent study of Psalms 93-100, which is must reading for all who are interested in these psalms in particular and/or the question of the shape of the Psalter in general. My only major criticism lies in the choice of Psalms 93-100 as the group for analysis. Given that Howard divides Book 4 into three sections, 90-94, 95-100, and 101-106, it is odd that he analyzes 93-100, a group that does not correlate with any of the three sections. Howard himself senses this tension and acknowledges the somewhat artificial nature of the group (pp. 21 and 166). Where is the boundary between the first two sections of Book 4? Should 93 be included with 90-94 or 94 with 93-100? Were 93 and 94 reversed, the boundary would be indisputable, but the separation of 94 from the previous refuge psalms (90-92) and 93 from the following kingship psalms (96-99) has made the boundary fuzzy. That 90-92 (refuge) and 95-100 (kingship) are interlocked via 93 (kingship) and 94 (refuge) is clear (see Creach, The Choice of Yahweh as Refuge in the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, 1996). And given the balanced structure of 96 ("Sing to the LORD a new song"), 97 ("The LoRD reigns"), 98 ("Sing to the LORD a new song"), and 99 ("The LoRD reigns"), bounded by 95 and 100, the group for analysis is Howard's own central section: 95-100 in the context of 90-94 and 101-106. Owing to the fuzzy boundary, however, Howard's decision to treat 93-100 does not detract from the value of the work in any significant way.