Notes on Psalm 118

More or less random notes on Psalm 118.

1) The Psalm has an interesting, clumpy, arrangement. It begins and ends with the identical exhortation to “give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, for everlasting his lovingkindness” (vv. 1, 29). The opening four verses are linked with the repetition of the refrain “everlasting His lovingkindness.” Verses 5-7 are linked wtih the repetition of “Yahweh is for me,” and verses 8-9 are identical apart from the final word (v. 8: ADAM; v. 9: NADYB, “noble ones”). Verses 10-12 all end with the identical clause “In the name of Yahweh I truly will cut them off.” Verses 15-16 repeat the phrase “the right hand of Yahweh” three times, and both verses 17 and 18 speak of death.

2) The Psalm has several reminiscences of the Song of Moses (Exodus 15). “Yah is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation” (v. 14) echoes with Exodus 15:2 (and cf. v. 21b). The celebration of Yahweh’s “right hand” is linked to Exodus 15:6. Yahweh’s answer to the Psalmist’s distress (v. 5) is like a new exodus. When the Psalmist is surrounded on all sides (the verb “surround” is repeated 4x in verses 10-12) like Israel at the sea, the Lord helps and brings salvation.

3) The verb “cut off” (MWL) in verses 10-12 is intriguing. Holladay says that the verb, in the hifil, means “ward off,” but apart from these verses there are no other instances of the verb. MWL is elsewhere the normal verb for “circumcise” (though apparently it never appears in the hifil). Even if Holladay is right and a distinct verb is used here, there seems to be at least a pun on “circumcise.” When the nations surround, the Psalms “circumcises” them in the name of Yahweh. This is an image of triumph, but perhaps it’s an image of triumph through conversion.

4) The nations surround the Psalmist like “bees.” Moses uses the word (DBWRH) to describe the swarming Amorites who met Israel when they tried to invade the land after their faithlessness at Kadesh (Deuteronomy 1:44), and Isaiah describes the invading Assyrians as bees (Isaiah 7:18). In Psalm 118, bees and thorns are poetically parallel: The nations come at the Psalmist like bees, but are burned like thorns. Equipped with stingers, bees are mobile thorns, but like thorns they will be consumed in the fire of Yahweh’s presence.

5) It’s hard to resist a Christological interpretation of verses 14b and 21b: “He is/you are for me as YESHUA.” Yahweh becomes Jesus to the Psalmist. Noting the parallelisms enriches the Christology of the passage: Yah is “strength and song” as well as YESHUA; YESHUA is strength and song (v. 14). And YESHUA is the content of Yahweh’s answer to the Psalmist’s cry for help: “I give you thanks, for You answered me; and you are to me as YESHUA” (v. 21). Verse 25 uses a different form of YSHA (HOSHY’AH), but links salvation to prosperity (TZLCH).

6) Verse 17 was among Luther’s favorites. No wonder. It not only promises life (cf. 18b), but also describes the purpose for giving life. Yahweh does not give us over to death but preserves life, so that we can “record” (SPR) his doings. Again, the Christological thrust is irresistible: The Father raises Jesus from death, so that His acts might be recorded, in the Scriptures and in the church.