Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

12-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Mark Hamilton

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Frederick Aquino

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Kilnam Cha

Abstract

The speaker in Ps 8 proclaims a desire to serve Yahweh’s heavenly power/victory by appealing to humanity’s status as God’s images (Gen 1:27) and accepting the role of Yahweh’s new servant (Isa 55:3), as a priest/minister of God (Isa 61:1-6; cf Isa 42:1). This thesis translates אשר תנה as one word in verse 2b (אשרתנה), rendered, “May I serve your heavenly power/victory!” This is illustrated (in part) by two participles in Ps 8, ינקם (v. 3) and עבר (v. 9), which refer to cosmic foes of Yahweh—“the ones who nurse” (the goodly gods in CAT 1.23) and the “one who crosses” the seas (Leviathan). This bold/cosmic proclamation is mitigated by the eschatological vision of humanity’s reign in the verbal chiasm of verses 6-7 and the list of creatures in ascending uncontrollability in verses 8-9. Psalm 8’s use of ancient Near Eastern image-of-god ideology vis-à-vis Genesis 1 supports these claims. The way in which Genesis adapts image-of-god ideology is analogous to the way in which the role of Yahweh’s ideal king is transferred to Israel as a whole in Deutero-Isaiah. The ethical stipulations of Yahweh’s servant/ideal king for acting as God’s mediator help explain why Trito-Isaiah and Ps 8 sought to accept the role of Yahweh’s servant in the context of the priesthood. The notion that the cultic actions of the priest in the holy place have cosmic implications helps ground Ps 8’s bold proclamation to serve Yahweh’s heavenly power/victory in everyday life. The author expressed this desire to serve through a mythological worldview in which humans participate in Yahweh’s ongoing battle and certain now-but-not-yet victory against cosmic foes.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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