Victory songs often contain not only a declaration of victory, but a coming of the divine warrior to his new mountain temple.⁴³ This is the content of vv. 14-16. Shaddai, another ancient name for God, appears in v. 14 (the Almighty), and the scattering of the kings is associated with snow, another form of God’s control over nature and water. Verse 15 continues to proclaim that once the kings are scattered, God settles into a home on the mountain. Scholars have offered a whole host of geographical places for the names Zalmon and Bashan, but the point of the passage seems to be God’s taking of the mountain, not the exact location of the mountain conquered. Verse 16 declares that the warrior king has settled, and thus the battle is ended: the LORD will dwell forever.
11QPsd appears to contain an extra word, zah (“here”). Only the first letter is visible, and the text is very fragmentary. This would help clarify the situation, for the DSS reads this as declaring a specific place for God on this mountain (Florentino García Martínez, Eibert Tigchelaar, and A. S. van der Woude, Qumran Cave 11: II, 11Q2-18, 11Q20-31 [DJD 23; Oxford: Clarendon, 1998], p. 72).
Sporadic theological and historical musings by Edgar Foster (Ph.D. in Theology and Religious Studies and one of Jehovah's Witnesses).
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
The Victory Song in Psalm 68:15ff
I don't have a set view on Psalm 68:15-16, but here's something I found in the NICOT for Psalms:
Still think that shaddai here means nurturer. Mainly because of V8&9. Ps 78:23&24.
ReplyDeleteI've read many conflicting interpretations of El Shaddai, supposedly based on the Hebrew/Semitic etymology. Some suggestions are just too far-fetched IMO: nurturer is possible, but I'd need more evidence to accept it. However, I posted the quote because of how the commentary understands Elohim in Ps. 68.
ReplyDeleteEtymology has some bearing on my understanding - nurturer, but is just as driven by when it is used n connection with practical provisions.
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