Psalm 108–110, as a Davidic trilogy in Book V (Ps 107–150), reflect this notion of war.
Within the Hebrew Bible, the word שׁחר is used 43 times in a variety of prosaic and poetic texts: 23 times as a noun that is translated with ‘dawn’, ‘tomorrow’ and also ‘the morning star’; 6 times as an adjective that is translated as ‘black’; 14 times as a verb either in the
In Psalm 57:9 (also Ps 108:3),
In Psalm 110:3,
Within Song of Songs 6:10,
Foley (
Part of the twins
Occupied a minor position within the Ugaritic pantheon (Foley
They have strong astral characteristics (cf. Foley
The gender of the two gods is problematic. Although both names are masculine,
Both of the Ugarit gods
The following characteristics can be added to the above list:
Rogerson and McKay (
A negative characteristic form
Another negative characteristic according to Keel and Uehlinger (
Taking these character trades into account, one can look at Psalms 108 and 110. Psalm 108 is not a mere duplication of Psalms 57 and 60 but a redactional composition that was created with a specific intention. Although Psalm 108 is attributed to David, none of the historical information provided in the superscriptions of Psalms 57 or 60 is used for this new composition. Although, the mythical character of
Verses 8–9 reconfirm the petitioners trust in YHWH and that the crimes of the enemies will destroy them, and YHWH will restore the order of justice that was in disorder. The joyful song that the petitioner is singing, in a way, silences the verbal attack of the enemies. The musical instruments help to churn up a festive melody that awakes the morning sun. The imagery in verse 6 is recalled with God that arises (from his throne). Here the sun rises and with it comes the saving and justice making power of God. Although dawn in this verse reflects more a temporal element, the mythological language must not be ignored (Hossfeld & Zenger
Psalm 110:3 has strong mythological allusions (Bratcher & Reyburn
Verse 3b – קדשׁ בּהדרי (- in the Masoretic text reads: ‘holy garments’). Some Hebrew texts read הדר as ‘mountain’. Verse 3b – משׁחר מרחם – in the Masoretic text reads: ‘out of the womb of
In the ancient Near East, the king was seen in many of the countries not only as a representative of the god but also becoming a child or descendant of the god, as seen in Egypt with the pharaoh becoming a godly descendant. The royal theology of Israel does not reflect this royal ideology of the ancient Near East. In verse 1, the king becomes a throne companion to YHWH, but not as his physical child. In Israel, the king becomes the adoptive child of YHWH only after his anointing through the goodwill of YHWH (De Bruyn
The birth of the god-king in Erment can elucidate to the birth imagery within Psalm 110:3 where the new Pharaoh is born with the scarab (the morning sun or dawn depicted as the Egyptian god
There are several biblical passages in which the deity
The superscription of Psalm 108 with its strong musical influence (vv. 1, 2 and 3) as well as its strong military motif of a leader of an army (v. 11) indicates that the speaker of this psalm is a David or rather a king (that is presented in the singular form in this psalm). In verse 7, the ‘I’ that is represented by the king is the one that prays not for himself but for the rescue of his nation (Allen
Psalm 108:1 uses the more familiar introduction of ‘as song’ or ‘a psalm’ as seen in other Davidic psalms (cf. Ps 3–41; 52–71; 72). This confirms a deliberate association with the ‘Davidic authority’ of Psalm 108 and strengthens the use of Psalm 108 within the trilogy Psalm 108–110. Correspondents in Psalm 108:1 can be seen between the sequences of verbs ‘a song’ and ‘a psalm’ and that of the next verse in Psalm 108 with the cohortatives ‘I will sing’ and ‘I will play’ (Hossfeld & Zenger
Psalm 108 verses 1 and 2 is time bounded. The one praying is ready to start praise, and this praise arises from the inner most being of this person. Therefore, the imagery of the heart and also כּבוד that can indicate to the ‘liver’. The purpose being to indicate that all praise and emotions are directed towards YHWH. Verse 2 comes and explains this urgency through the use of musical instruments and the dawn.
Dahood (
Psalm 110:3, probably in its original wording of the psalm, showed the enthronement as a procreation or birth of the king (cf. Ps 2:7,
In Psalm 108:3, temporal and cosmological connotations can be made from the waking of the dawn. The dawn was seen as a time of help and relief (Botha
Psalms 108-110 is the dawn of two dawns, where the first dawn awakens the anticipation (Ps 108:3 – mythical awaking of dawn) of a restored nation that is actualised within the second dawn (Ps 110:3) with the creation or rather recreation (birth imagery – mythical birth of a new king) of a new era of hope and restoration for a nation that went through a period of destruction and dishonouring. Wyatt (
The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.
Both Allen (
In recent years, the importance to show the relationship between psalms has become increasingly important. These studies have helped to show that a specific psalm should not only be viewed on its own, but also its relationship to a smaller group and also in the bigger groupings. It has already been said that Psalms 108, 109 and 110 form part of a smaller Davidic collection in Book V of the Psalms. Most scholars identify these three psalms as a smaller group or Davidic trilogy because of the psalms’ introduction formulas that state that the psalms are for or from David (cf. Eybers
Not excluding the extratextual importance that can help to show the intertextual relationship between these texts. A strong relationship can be identified specifically between Psalms 108 and 110. Psalm 110 also shows intertextual references to Psalms 2, 89 and 132 (Hossfeld & Zenger
A short intertextual analysis indicates that as a primary noun
Ruppert (
The birth of the twins
One can take note of the resemblance to Psalms 57:9 and 108:3 when the dawn needs to be awaken. The goddess needs help to be awaken. The sooner the goddess is awake the sooner the psalmist can start to praise or get God’s attention cf. Psalm 7:6 and 44:23.
In verse 2, the petitioner feels that he cannot help himself and feels threatened. The imagery to come under the shadow of God’s wings is an indication that the petitioner seeks help and protection until the danger passes. The wings are like those of a mother bird that protects her infants by sheltering them under her wings and at the same time driving off the enemy with flapping wings. This imagery is especially noted in Egyptian iconography where mostly the king or pharaoh is protected by a winged deity (Hossfeld and Zenger
Verse 6 is the first hymnic refrain, which closes the first stanza (vv. 2–6). The verse is an imperative that is directed to God. The implication of the imperative lies on multiple levels as it calls on YHWH to stop the enemy of the one praying. YHWH is called by the imperative not only to stop the enemy but a request to YHWH to arise from his throne and to judge the enemy. According to Hossfeld and Zenger (
The mythological imagery connected to
Verse 3 is one of the verses that give the most text critical problems in the psalm, and it is not the purpose of this article to go into too much detail concerning text critical problems.
It has been noted that there are some text critical problems between the Hebrew (rather the Masoretic text) and the LXX versions of Psalm 110 (109), most notably is verse 3 in this regard. Zenger (Hossfeld and Zenger
Keel (
Both Allen (
Dahood (
Verses 7–8, within Psalm 57, are a song of trust in YHWH from the one praying. This trust is explained within a twofold declaration. The first declaration makes use of instruments to praise. The second is to awake the ‘dawn’. The dawn is a representation of the cycles that take place within creation. A new day that starts, a new beginning (De-Claissé-Walford et al.
The metaphor in Psalm 108:2–3 is now applied to the readiness of the awaking dawn, whereas in Psalm 57:8–9 it follows the dire situation of enemies that want to snare him in a net, Psalm 57:7 (Botha
Vriezen (
According to Hossfeld and Zenger (
By reading Psalm 110 in connection with the David-triptych, namely Psalms 108–110, one can link the Song of Deborah (Judg 5:2.9) with the words ‘your people (also understanding your people as military personnel) are complete willingness’, by doing this, one can refer to the subjugation of the Canaanite kings. Zenger (Hossfeld & Zenger