A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF PSALMS 107-118

Barry Craig Davis

B.A., University of Hawaii, 1968

M.Div., Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1971

Ph.D., University of Southern California, 1976

Th.M., Talbot School of Theology, 1989

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Deerfield, Illinois

June 1996

ABSTRACT

Psalms research has undergone many changes in recent years.

One method of analysis that has been on the ascendency is the

literary method, especially as it applies to the structure and

context of groups of psalms. This dissertation fits into that

classification.

Specifically, this study seeks to demonstrate that there

are intentional--and not just accidental or random--lexical and

thematic links among the psalms of the Psalms 107-118 corpus and

that the corpus as a whole exhibits a coherent and unified

structure. This dissertation compares the lexemes of each psalm

with those of the other 11 psalms, in order to differentiate

among key-lexeme links, thematic-lexeme links, and incidental-

lexeme links. This study also traces the 3 primary thematic

threads that run throughout the corpus--the need for God's

people to honor Him, God's ability to deliver His people from

distress, and God's dominion over the created order.

This dissertation reveals that, within the Psalms 107-118

corpus:

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1. Psalms that are closer to each other tend to share a

greater number of key- and thematic-lexeme links than do psalms

that are farther apart;

2. Key- and thematic-lexeme links occur primarily in 3

areas: praise, distress and deliverance, and God's character;

3. Two of the major themes--God deserves praise and God

delivers His people from distress--appear in at least 10 psalms;

the third--God dominates over the created order--appears in a

minimum of 6 psalms; and

4. The structure of the corpus is tightly knit, with

Psalms 107 and 118 forming an inclusio of thanksgiving around

the corpus, with Psalms 108-110 being linked by Davidic

superscriptions, with Psalm 114 linking the hallelujah (hy vllh)

rubric psalms (Psalms 111-113) to the hallelujah (hy-vllh)

colophon psalms (Psalms 115-117), and with Psalms 113-118

comprising a sequence of psalms known as the Egyptian Hallel

used in Israel's worship.

In conclusion, this dissertation demonstrates that the

literary approach is a valid method by which to study a series

of psalms in order to assess the significance of lexical,

thematic, and structural linkages.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xii

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION 1

Importance of the Study 1

Problem of the Study 6

Scope of the Study 7

Text of the Study 11

Assumptions of the Study 13

Overview of the History of Psalm-Sequence

Analysis 16

Methodology of the Study 22

General Analyses 23

Structural Analysis 37

Plan of the Study 28

2. THE TEXTS IN CONTEXT 29

Psalm 107 in Context 31

Introduction to Psalm 107 31

Psalms 107 and 108 33

Psalms 107 and 109 40

Psalms 107 and 110 45

Psalms 107 and 111 47

Psalms 107 and 112 50

Psalms 107 and 113 53

Psalms 107 and 114 55

Psalms 107 and 115 57

Psalms 107 and 116 59

Psalms 107 and 117 62

Psalms 107 and 118 63

Psalm 107--A Retrospective 67

Psalm 108 in Context 76

Introduction to Psalm 108 76

Psalms 108 and 109 78

Psalms 108 and 110 83

Psalms 108 and 111 85

Psalms 108 and 112 87

Psalms 108 and 113 90

Psalms 108 and 114 91

Psalms 108 and 115 93

Psalms 108 and 116 95

Psalms 108 and 117 97

Psalms 108 and 118 99

Psalm 108--A Retrospective 102

Psalm 109 in Context 109

Introduction to Psalm 109 119

Psalms 109 and 110 110

Psalms 109 and 111 113

Psalms 109 and 112 115

Psalms 109 and 113 119

Psalms 109 and 114 121

Psalms 109 and 115 123

Psalms 109 and 116 126

Psalms 109 and 117 129

Psalms 109 and 118 131

Psalm 109--A Retrospective 136

Psalm 110 in Context 143

Introduction to Psalm 110 143

Psalms 110 and 111 148

Psalms 110 and 112 150

Psalms 110 and 113 152

Psalms 110 and 114 155

Psalms 110 and 115 156

Psalms 110 and 116 158

Psalms 110 and 117 159

Psalms 110 and 118 160

Psalm 110--A Retrospective 162

Psalm 111 in Context 169

Introduction to Psalm 111 169

Psalms 111 and 112 170

Psalms 111 and 113 177

Psalms 111 and 114 179

Psalms 111 and 115 181

Psalms 111 and 116 185

Psalms 111 and 117 187

Psalms 111 and 118 189

Psalm 111--A Retrospective 192

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Psalm 112 in Context 198

Introduction to Psalm 112 198

Psalms 112 and 113 199

Psalms 112 and 114 201

Psalms 112 and 115 203

Psalms 112 and 116 207

Psalms 112 and 117 209

Psalms 112 and 118 210

Psalm 112--A Retrospective 216

Psalm 113 in Context 223

Introduction to Psalm 113 223

Psalms 113 and 114 224

Psalms 113 and 115 226

Psalms 113 and 116 230

Psalms 113 and 117 234

Psalms 113 and 118 236

Psalm 113--A Retrospective 237

Psalm 114 in Context 244

Introduction to Psalm 114 244

Psalms 114 and 115 245

Psalms 114 and 116 248

Psalms 114 and 117 250

Psalms 114 and 118 251

Psalm 114--A Retrospective 253

Psalm 115 in Context 259

Introduction to Psalm 115 259

viii

Psalms 115 and 116 260

Psalms 115 and 117 266

Psalms 115 and 118 268

Psalm 115--A Retrospective 273

Psalm 116 in Context 281

Introduction to Psalm 116 281

Psalms 116 and 117 282

Psalms 116 and 118 283

Psalm 116--A Retrospective 286

Psalm 117 in Context 291

Introduction to Psalm 117 291

Psalms 117 and 118 291

Psalm 117--A Retrospective 293

Psalm 118 in Context 297

Introduction to Psalm 118 297

Psalm 118--A Retrospective 298

3. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS 306

Summary 306

Conclusions 308

General Findings 308

Lexical Findings 309

Thematic Findings 311

Structural Findings 314

Structural and Thematic Development 320

Overall Conclusion 335

Implications 336

Doctrine of Inspiration 336

Psalms Research 344

Appendix

A. FREQUENCY OF POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT

LEXEMES FOUND IN PSALMS 107-118 354

B. PSALMS 107-118: LEXEME FREQUENCY TABLES 356

Psalm 107 357

Psalm 108 395

Psalm 109 408

Psalm 110 436

Psalm 111 444

Psalm 112 455

Psalm 113 465

Psalm 114 475

Psalm 115 482

Psalm 116 504

Psalm 117 525

Psalm 118 529

C. PSALMS 107-118: SUMMARY OF LEXEME

FREQUENCY DATA BY PSALM 565

D. PERCENTAGE OF DISCRETE LEXICAL UNITS OF

A GIVEN PSALM REPLICATED IN AT LEAST

ONE OTHER PSALM OF THE PSALMS 107-118

CORPUS 568

BIBLIOGRAPHY 569

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1. Identification of psalms containing one or

more of the primary themes of the

Psalms 107-118 corpus 312

2. Overall structure of the Psalms 107-118 corpus 315

3. Internal connections between the hallelujah

(hy vllh) rubric psalms and the hallelujah

(hy-vllh) colophon psalms 316

4. Psalm 110 as a thematic unifier of Psalms 107-113 319

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

God is gracious. He brings into our lives all that is

required to meet our needs--and then He blesses us still more.

In regard to this dissertation, He has more than met my needs.

He has given me the opportunity to study His Word and He has

brought alongside of me many people who have been gracious like

their heavenly Father in helping me to complete this work. The

following is but a meager way to acknowledge the contribution

that those chosen servants of God have made.

No dissertation would be complete without a first reader--

someone willing to take the brunt of faulty thinking and poor

writing, while managing to maintain sanity in his own life and

to give structure to the dissertation itself. In the case of

this dissertation, Dr. David M. Howard, Jr., made that