John Kartje - Wisdom Epistemology in the Psalter: A Study of Psalms 1, 73, 90, and 107
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It is a pleasure to thank Dr. David Bosworth and Dr. Alexander Di Lella for numerous insightful comments, suggestions, and encouragements. I especially thank Dr. Christopher Begg, who accompanied me with patience, generosity, and wisdom throughout my years at The Catholic University of America. I am also deeply grateful to my parents and family for all of their tireless support.
In this concluding chapter, I briefly explore some of the implications of the findings of this study for an understanding of the canonical structure of the Psalter, focusing on how the epistemology of particular psalms can contribute to the ongoing dialogue concerning the shape and shaping of the entire collection.
In their commentary on Psalms 51100, Hossfeld and Zenger note that traditional psalms exegesis often failed to adequately account for the contextual (canonical) setting within which each psalm is situated, and they stress that one can only fully comprehend the meaning and significance of a psalm text by considering its place in the overall Psalter.
As many scholars have indicated, a complete canonical analysis can be neither purely synchronic nor diachronic, but must be attentive to the possible historical progressions that produced not only the development of individual psalm texts but also the collections of such texts into subgroupings (based on lexical and/or thematic ties), and then the further grouping of those small collections into larger ones. For example, we saw in chap. 4 of this study how it is likely that Psalms 1 and 2 were combined to achieve a particular perspective for the entire Psalter (numerous similar subgroupings have been suggested, e. g., Psalms 5051; Psalms 9092). In the Psalters final redaction, each such cluster holds a place within the five Books (a cluster might extend across the boundaries of a single Book) and thus relates to the other psalms within its respective Book(s), while each of the five Books further stand in relationship to each other.
Thus, even a purely synchronic analysis is useful both for understanding the Psalter as we have received it today, as well as for providing a helpful beginning to guide diachronic explorations of the texts. One of the least speculative synchronic claims concerning the layout of the Psalter is the observation that there seems to be a significant distinction between Books IIII and Books IVV. Given the scope and parameters of the present study, we are invited to explore whether the epistemological traits of Psalms 1, 73, 90, and 107 reflect any such distinctions.
Psalm 1 is the least epistemologically complex of the psalms considered in this study. Its primary proposition (the good flourish, the wicked perish) is presented axiomatically, and the worldview represented within the text is incapable of adequately addressing the inevitable challenges to that proposition which are posed by everyday life experience. Such challenges (e. g., why do the good suffer and the wicked prosper?) are never raised within the context of the psalm. For the psalmist, human beings presumably have no inclination to change their moral state (from wicked to good, or vice versa) and they do not interact with God other than to either continually contemplate Gods law or else to categorically reject it.
From the perspective of social epistemology, Psalm 1 reflects a rigid society that requires the indoctrination of each new generation with the above-cited primary proposition about good and evil. Nihilation is practiced in the strictest possible fashion: dissenting voices (claiming, for example, that good people might suffer, or that the wicked might prosper) are simply not acknowledged to exist.
Psalm 73 provides a significant epistemological advance over Psalm 1 insofar as the psalmist at least acknowledges the reality that wicked people do sometimes prosper, and that this situation can lead to deep anguish among the righteous. Within the worldview represented within the psalm, however, the one who is pure of heart has no direct recourse for resolving his crisis. While he holds the same axiomatic truth that sustained the psalmist in Psalm 1, that truth provides no succor to him in the face of the apparent grave injustices he witnesses. Relief finally comes to him, not because he has judiciously followed a prescribed plan for the acquisition of deeper insight and clarity, but rather as the result of a purely gratuitous revelation from God. The psalmist put himself in the position to receive such a gift (by entering Gods sanctuary), but he gives no indication that he deliberately entered the sanctuary in expectation of receiving the revelation. Furthermore, the resolution to his crisis a crisis that was precipitated by the material wellbeing of the wicked comes not via the granting of material wealth (at least not initially), but rather via an intellectual insight.
Unlike the situation in Psalm 1, here the psalmist has both the capacity to recognize his lack of knowledge as well as the desire to acquire what he does not know. He does not, however, have a method for learning. And while God is the ultimate source of the knowledge he lacks, the psalmist does not seem to know how to access that knowledge; when the psalmist actually receives the knowledge, it arrives unexpectedly.
Viewed from a social perspective, we note that the education of this psalmist is a highly individualistic affair. He wanders into the sanctuary alone and is enlightened. He gives no indication that he carries an intellectual burden which is shared by all the pure of heart. He is not sent as a representative to acquire an answer for his people, nor does he indicate a desire to share his new-found wisdom either with his peers or with future generations. The epistemological gains of the psalmist are largely a private matter. If one were to doubt that the pure of heart will always prosper (or that the wicked will be punished), there is no suggestion in Psalm 73 that such a one would be silenced by his society. But neither is there any indication that he would necessarily be enlightened with the truth.
Psalm 90 begins with an intellectual crisis that is even broader than that voiced in Psalm 73. Here the problem is not only that the righteous sometimes suffer, but that all humanity is under the burden of a toilsome and relatively brief life. The crisis gives rise to existential questions about the purpose of lives that vanish like a sigh.
As in Psalms 1 and 73, the psalmist holds an axiomatic truth about Yhwh: in this case, that Yhwh has been a safe refuge for Israel for all eternity. As in Psalm 73, the usefulness of that truth is questioned (at least implicitly). Unlike Psalm 73, however, here the psalmist has a deliberate plan for attempting to resolve his intellectual crisis. He directly appeals to Yhwh and asks to be taught, so that he might gain a heart of wisdom. Furthermore, he names the explicit lesson that he would like to learn: how to number his days rightly. While the psalmist in Psalm 73 receives the help he desires, Psalm 90 offers no such resolution: the audience is left, along with the psalmist, still awaiting a reply. Nevertheless, the psalmist in Psalm 90 conveys a greater sense of confidence than does the psalmist in Psalm 73, for the former clearly knows whom to ask, and what to ask for, in order to gain understanding about the nature of life.
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