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An analysis of 'Selah' in antiquity

A literary masterpiece, the Hebrew Psalter is considered one of the most complex books of the Hebrew Bible. In order to understand the whole, and its parts, interpretive clues fill the pages of this intriguing, and oftentimes obscure, book. Selah, an obscure term in the Psalter and Habakkuk, has commonly been the subject of discussion regarding its meaning and use. Many 19th century scholars have spent countless hours, and devoted many pages, to remove Selah from obscurity. Only now have we revealed a previously undiscovered clue in Selah’s use during the Second Temple period due to 20th century archaeological finds. The present work approaches each text with a “whole picture” perspective so as to examine each psalm and Selah occurrence in its immediate context. A journey through the ancient witnesses such as the Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Dead Sea Scrolls (biblical and non-biblical) not only exposes common literary features, but a communal use of the term in worship.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:760489
Date January 2018
CreatorsLyon, Ashley Elizabeth
PublisherUniversity of Birmingham
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8625/

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