An interesting feature in the Psalter, which has been the subject of much scholarly attention for almost a hundred years now, is the sudden change of mood in the lament psalms. Unfortunately, this subject has been approached only in terms of the movement lament-praise. As the very term that has come to be associated with the subject reveals - 'Certainty of a Hearing' - lament psalms are always expected to move to praise or to some kind of resolution. Whilst not denying the presence of a movement towards praise, this dissertation seeks to offer a new approach by arguing that we do not only have a 'Certainty of a Hearing'; we also have an 'Uncertainty of a Hearing'. We do not only have a movement from lament to praise; we also have a reverse movement from praise to lament, a return to lament after praise and an alternation between lament and praise. It is important that we highlight these other movements. For focusing only on the movement towards praise actually leads to an undermining of the value of lament. Since lament is viewed as "always underway" (to use Westermann's words) towards praise, lament comes to be regarded simply as something to be done away with, praise being the goal, the more vital element. But by highlighting the other movements, the element of tension and uncertainty which forms a central part of the lament is restored. The study focuses on an analysis of the psalms containing the other movements or 'uncertainty of a hearing': Psalms 9/10,27,40,12, 28,31,35). Two related passages outside the psalms are also examined - Jer 20: 7-18 and Lamentations 3. A review of previous approaches and an analysis of representative psalms containing the movement lament-praise (Psalms 3,6,13) are provided at the beginning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:493537 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Villanueva, Federico G. |
| Publisher | University of Bristol |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1983/6861fcf4-c4d9-4045-ad1d-612364c621de |
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