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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Psalm 30 title: house of David vs. the house (temple)
  • Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 17:01:28 -0600

Dear George,

The use of the preposition lamed often signifies a characteristic. With
regards the Psalms, I think it is easier to take the preposition this way
each time you encounter it in the express LeDawid. As such, it does not
actually mean "of David" in the sense of authorship, but rather "Davidic" in
the sense of content or tradition. Thus, the 'Davidic Psalms' are not
necessarily Psalms written by David (though they might be). Rather, they are
Davidic Psalms which imbibe Davidic theology and tradition, no matter who
wrote them. In this regard, even the psalms written in the first person
about incidents in David's life could have been written by someone else much
later than David, a bit like a monologue in one of Shakespeare's historical
plays. The issue is content, not authorship.

In this regard, the connection between the Jerusalem temple and the Davidic
dynasty may be the point of Psalm 30. It does not have to be David who is
the speaker. In fact, going by the strength of the tradition, you would
imagine that the speaker would be understood as Solomon (if it is talking
about the dedication of the first temple in Jerusalem). And good old Solomon
is as 'Davidic' as they come.


HH: Are you claiming special treatment for the phrase LDWD as opposed to all the other superscriptions phrases with L and then a personal name. There is L with Ethan, Solomon, the sons of Korah, Heman, Moses, and Asaph. Are these psalms that imbibe the theology and tradition of these men, no matter who wrote them? If you say yes to that too, it would display even further the subjective nature of the claim. On what basis do you make a claim even about the Davidic psalms? There are plenty of psalms that have no phrase with L and a personal name. And many of these are similar to psalms that are labeled as belonging to David. It is called the lamed of authorship, not the lamed of similarity.

HH: There is such a lamed with the name Hezekiah just before a poem attributed to Hezekiah in Isaiah 38:9. The Book of Isaiah is not claiming that it is a poem with the content and tradition of Hezekiah. Isaiah is claiming that Hezekiah wrote it. So this whole theory seems misguided, especially in its claim that Davidic psalms about incidents in the life of David may not have been written by David but by someone else, perhaps generations later and along the lines of fictional writings by Shakespeare.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




Best Regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College
1 Kings St, Newtown 2042, Australia
Ph: (+61 2) 9577 9774
<mailto:george.athas AT moore.edu.au> george.athas AT moore.edu.au




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