Elohim within the Psalms
Subtitle: petitioning the creator to order chaos in oral-derived literature
By: Terrance R. Wardlaw, Jr
Series: Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies -- 602; Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies -- 602.
Publisher: T & T Clark
Published: 2014
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 190
ISBN-13: 9780567656568
Subjects: Criticism, interpretation; Bible; Name; God (Judaism)
Description: "The issue of the so-called Elohistic Psalter has intrigued biblical scholars since the rise of the historical-critical enterprise. Scholars have attempted to discover why the name Elohim is used almost exclusively within Pss 42-83, and in particular they have attempted to identify the historical circumstances which explain this phenomenon. Traditionally, an original Yhwh was understood to have been replaced by Elohim. Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and the late Erich Zenger propose that the use of the title Elohim is theologically motivated, and they account for this phenomenon in their redaction-historical work. Wardlaw here builds upon their work (1) by integrating insights from Dell Hymes, William Miles Foley, and Susan Niditch with regard to oral-traditional cultures, and (2) by following the text-linguistic approach of Eep Talstra and Christof Hardmeier and listening to canonical texture as a faithful witness to Israel's religious traditions. Wardlaw proposes that the name Elohim within the Psalms is a theologically-laden term, and that its usage is related to pentateuchal traditions"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Toward a new hypothesis regarding the use of [YHWH] and [elohim] within the Psalter; title: A reading of [elohim] within Psalms 1-41; title: A reading of [elohim] within Psalms 42-89; title: Excursus : proposed themes of the Elohistic Psalter; title: A reading of [elohim] within Psalms 90-150; title: Conclusion.