The perfect concentric structure of Ps 67 and the many problems inherent to its linear reading together suggest that this song was designed to be performed in a cross-responsa fashion. In this mode of complex antiphony, the text is sung in an ascending ranking of verses by a first voice (sense voice), while a second voice responds, from verse to verse, by singing the same text in a descending ranking of verses (antisense voice). It is shown here that this sort of setting yields a coherent composite text with a meaning totally ignored in the linear reading: the revelation of Yhwh through musical performance and its wide diffusion among the nations. The reality of these composite claims is confirmed by their echo in the text of other psalms. It is concluded that Ps 67 is a song devoted to the congregation of singers for the remote diffusion of the Yhwh cult. It expresses a cosmopolite musical theology distinct from the official theology that focused exclusively on the cult of Yhwh at Jerusalem.
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January 2015
Research Article|
January 01 2015
Psalm 67 and the Cosmopolite Musical Worship of Yhwh
Bulletin for Biblical Research (2015) 25 (2): 171–187.
Citation
Nissim Amzallag; Psalm 67 and the Cosmopolite Musical Worship of Yhwh. Bulletin for Biblical Research 1 January 2015; 25 (2): 171–187. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/26371270
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