Original Research - Special Collection: Reception of Biblical Discourse in Africa

Interpreting paired phenomena in the Hebrew Psalter and in African indigenous sacred texts

Michael K. Mensah
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 80, No 2 | a8878 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.8878 | © 2024 Michael K. Mensah | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 12 April 2023 | Published: 15 May 2024

About the author(s)

Michael K. Mensah, Department for the Study of Religions, College of Humanities, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; and, Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, School of Humanities, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

The Hebrew Psalter is a repertoire of paired phenomena. From parallelisms to twin Psalms, biblical scholars have paid attention to these structural and poetical features as keys to unlocking and interpreting the meaning and theology of these psalms. Unfortunately, the otherwise admirable results of these exegetical works remain abstract and largely removed from the interests of the African reader. An alternative way of engaging these texts is to realise that paired phenomena are not exclusive to the Hebrew Psalter. African indigenous sacred texts such as the Adinkra of the Akan people equally contain similar phenomena though relatively little attention has been paid to them. This article, using a dialogical approach of African Biblical Hermeneutics, studies the twin Psalms 111 and 112 as an example of a paired phenomenon in the Psalter. It brings this text into dialogue with the Adinkra denkyemfunefu to illustrate how focussing on similar structural phenomena in either text uncovers the same theme of the common good in either text and facilitates the reception of the biblical discourse in contemporary African contexts.

Contribution: It is argued that common literary features in biblical and African indigenous sacred texts could be harnessed as vehicles for facilitating the reception of biblical discourse in contemporary Africa.


Keywords

sacred texts; Psalms 111 and 112; paired phenomena; Adinkra; common good

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