Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

> From: Harold Holmyard [mailto:hholmyard AT ont.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 11:14 PM
> 
> Dear Steve,
> 
> 
> HH: I would probably not think about this topic if someone didn't bring
> it up, but thank you for the good information. That is, I would just
> have assumed that LDWD indicated authorship. But I notice one thing,
> that there is a conjunctive accent on HBYT that joins it to LDWD. This
> favors the idea that 2 Kgs 5:9 might be relevant, that is, that the
> Psalm 30 superscription might be speaking of a house belonging to David.
> But it is hard to think of people calling the temple the "house
> belonging to David." Even though he collected a lot of the wealth and
> materials that Solomon would use for its construction (1 Chronicles 29),
> and even though he received the plans for it from God (1 Chron 28:11-19,
> it seems to go too far to call it "the house belonging to David."

 [Steve Miller] Thanks Harold. Could it be connecting the House to David in
that he initiated it, as he did the Psalm? Or could the pointing be wrong?
James Thirtle "Titles of the Psalms" (ch. 10) says that there are more
pointing errors in the Psalm titles than the rest of the OT. He says, as if
speaking of translators in general, "When the points 'stereotype' a sound
reading, we are thankful for them, but when they give sanction to a
Rabbinical misunderstanding we pass them by without hesitation." He is
referring just to the Psalm titles.
> 
> HH: The other idea you mention from 2 Sam 5:11, that it might refer to
> David's own house, which Hiram built for him, seems easier to accept.
> There is no reason why David might not have had a dedication service for
> his own house. And Psalm 30 might be an appropriate sentiment for that
> occasion. Look at 2 Sam 5:12 as an index of David's state of mind at
> that time:
> 
> 2Sam. 5:11  Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with
> cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for
> David.
> 2Sam. 5:12 And David knew that the LORD had established him as king over
> Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
> 
> HH: The construction of his palace, his BYT, was a sign of stability in
> his life and in the kingdom. This is just what Psalm 30 expresses,
> extreme gratitude for God's preservation of him through all his trials
> and for the security he now enjoys:
> 
> Psa. 30:1 I will exalt you, O LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths
> and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
> 
> HH: So the conjunctive accent leads me to question seriously the way I
> was reading this Psalm superscription. And one can ask, with an earlier
> poster, whether Psalm 30 would be such a good sentiment for a temple
> dedication. David, of course, could have written a song for the
> dedication of the temple, anticipating that his son would use it for the
> occasion, but the words of Psalm 30 do not seem to fit such a theme.

[Steve Miller] Psalm 30 is about some specific terrible mistake David made
after he had been securely established by the Lord, and thus did not rely
upon God as he had previously.

Ps 30:5  For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time:
Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy cometh in the morning.
6   As for me, I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved.
7  Thou, LORD, by your favor had made my mountain to stand strong. Thou
didst hide thy face; I was troubled.

This matches David's experience at Ornan's threshing floor due to his sin of
numbering the people. He literally saw the angel of death over him. (1 Chron
21:16). He was wearing sackcloth in both passages (Ps 30:11).