Ancient Wisdom Today » Psalms

Dig Out Your Ears! Hebrews, the LXX and Psalm 40

Maer — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:37:31 +0000

In celebration of “International Septuagint Day” Tyler Williams presents us with some Reasons to Study the Septuagint (in Honour of International Septuagint Day). I had also recently listened to D. A Carson’s sermon/lecture at UCCF Staff Training Conference on Psalm 40 where he talks about his understanding of how the LXX translates verse 40:7 and how Hebrews uses this psalm. Then Michael Heiser blogs about Hebrews’ quotation of Psalm 40:6-8 in The Naked Bible. He links to an article by Karen Jobes The Function of Paronomasia in Hebrews 10:5-7 where she contends that the author was using paronomasia for rhetorical effect.

So I thought it would be interesting to talk about Hebrews’ use of Psalm 40:7 by looking at Carson’s exposition and raising some questions. The reason why I think Carson’s treatment is useful is because he is not trying to get into technical stuff but wants to make Psalm 40 understood as a whole. I also thought it was a worthwhile exercise to see how he dealt with Hebrews’ use of Psalm 40.

My Cup Runneth Over

Maer — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:34:05 +0000

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. (Psalm 23:5)

Even people who may not be too familiar with the biblical text will recognize the phrase “my cup runneth over” as coming from the Bible (and some might even guess it is from a psalm or Psalm 23). But, what does that really mean… my cup runneth over/overflows? Yalkut Shemoni (A haggadic compilation on the books of the Old Testament) has, in my view, an unexpected interpretation:

Said R. Abbaye, “from here we learn that the cup of David in the times to come [Messianic Age] will hold 221 logs [133 liters].”

Now that’s a big cup.

Small Words Matter

Maer — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:39:47 +0000

One of the things that intrigued me about this psalm is the way it seems to play with the word ‘ak. This has been duly noticed by commentators who take the word to be either restrictive (“only”) or asseverative (“truly”). The question then becomes which of these two senses the psalmist has in mind or if both are meant. James Boice lamented, for example, that Marvin Tate took the word to be asseverative in his translation. Boice believed that what the psalmist really meant was that his confidence was in God alone, the most important theological statement of the psalm.

“The most important thing about psalm 62 is that the psalmist is making God his only object of trust.” (Boice, James M. Psalms, Vol., 510)

Pour out Your Hearts

Maer — Wed, 14 May 2008 20:06:52 +0000

In the last part of psalm 62, the psalmist exhorts the people (probably referring to the congregation as the LXX implies) to pour out their hearts before God:

But what does it mean to say that we should pour out our hearts before God?

The idea of “pouring” something before the Lord is used in similar fashion in psalm 42:4 (these things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me) or the superscription of psalm 102:1 (a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before Yahweh). But one passage in particular seems to make even more sense of this expression, 1 Samuel 1:14-17:

Several things seem to be happening here. First Eli accuses Hannah of drunkenness and emphatically tells her to put away her wine from her. Hannah then answers that drunkenness is not her problem but that she is simply a woman “troubled in spirit.” Let me paraphrase her answer: