institution. A synthesis between Yahwism and the objective realities of the ancient neighborhood resolved the crisis during the age of the Judges, subsequently resulting in David and his kingdom. Prior to the monarchy, Israel was complete as the people of God as a theocracy, Yhwh having been anointed ‘the lamp of Israel and the breath of the life of the nation’ (Lam. 4:20).65
Jerusalem and Zion are clearly closely linked in the Psalter. I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of יהוה!” Now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem– built as a city that is bound firmly together. (Psalm 122:1–3, NRSV); and, those who trust in יהוה are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever (Psalm 125:1, NRSV). cf. (65:1; 76:1,2; 87:1,2; 137:7; 147:12).
Whereas the founding of the monarchy may be viewed as the culminating point of the First Testament, the establishment of the temple and its cultic aspects served as the highpoint of Israel’s post-nomadic settled life in Palestine. The meaning and even the memory of the institution of the monarchy in Israel differed dramatically from that of its neighbors. From its seat of power in Jerusalem the bond between יהוה in Israel and the city in which יהוה is worshiped is never as pronounced as elsewhere. For instance, nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is יהוה ever described as the God of Jerusalem. Such a direct involvement between יהוה their God, and a city made by human hands—as other cities elsewhere in the ancient Near East do commonly associate—is not feasible, in principle, in Israel. This important distinction clearly sets ancient Israel apart from the neighboring monarchies. יהוה will rule over Israel and the kings will be the anointed ones of the LORD. They will always and only derive their sovereignty and their legitimacy from יהוה before whom all serve and are subservient. יהוה will not be confined in a house or a city or any sacred space made with human hands.
In the coronation (enthronement) psalms (Pss 2, 45, 93, 95–99, 110) it’s been argued that the king is there addressed as a god. But there is no evidence in the Hebrew Bible to support such speculations. 66On the contrary, many scholars dispute the idea of any divine enthronement festival, and draw attention to the significant connections that exist between these psalms and Third Isaiah. In Isaiah 52:7 the exclamation מלך אלהיך (your God reigns!) was the glad news proclaimed to an exiled Israel and provided assurance of a coming deliverance and restoration—not just of exiled Israel but of an exiled planet. Psalm 45:7, where the king appears to be addressed as God, is best rendered: Your divine throne is for all time and eternity; and in 45:8, Therefore has God your God anointed you (NRSV).
This no more presumes an apotheosis of the king than Israel is thought of as being divinized as a people when she is referred to in a divine utterance from the eighth-century BCE prophet Hosea: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my chosen/son (Hosea 11:1, LW). The glory/power of יהוה will be revealed in these sacred spaces, but the power and the glory will never be contained in them or circumscribed by them. In contrast to her neighbors, there is nothing in Israel’s history that would suggest any sort of divine kingship having been adopted. 67
As was noted previously, the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 is not only the earliest psalm which attributes decisive activity to יהוה, it is also the oldest extant fragment in the entire Hebrew Bible. So the origins of the Hebrew Bible, it may be said, can be traced to this late Bronze Age song. The story is passed down and centuries later, it extols יהוה as the delivering agent. Its context is mid-late twelfth century BCE, and lies a little distance from the events celebrated. It is a psalm of thanksgiving and praise to Yhwh (ברכו י יהוה) for victory over the Canaanite forces at Megiddo. In Judges 5:11, 13, Israel is called “the people of Yahweh,” but יהוה is not a part of the local Canaanite pantheon.
Yahweh seems to have been a cultural import to Palestine from the south. This is indicated by the Bible’s early theophany poetry (Deut 33:2; Judg 5:4–5; Hab 3:3). According to Exod 17:8, 15–16, a shrine called Throne of Yahweh (following MT) was located in Sinai as one of the station points on the exodus itinerary. A home base for Yahweh in the south also synchronizes with the tradition that this god’s particular mountain was situated in the Sinai Peninsula, which stands in sharp contrast to the alternative, “Canaanite” concept of Mount Zaphon in the north (cf. Ps 68:9).68
The Judges 5 poem also highlights the role of יהוה as Divine Warrior who dictates the outcome of the battle by causing an earthquake and sending violent storms (Judg 5:4, 5). Deborah’s song elicits the response of all nature in praise of the mighty acts of God. The Song of Deborah exhibits repetitive parallelisms that are reminiscent of fourteenth-century BCE Ugaritic texts. The poem’s language is archaic Hebrew and renders the task of translating the text very difficult. Nevertheless, this is precisely what one would expect from the Hebrew Bible’s earliest fragment. As was mentioned at the beginning שדי (shaddai, the god of the mountains), largely translated the Almighty in the LXX, appears in the Psalter in Psalms 91 and 68.
In Psalm 91, שדי (Shaddai) is indicative of the place of refuge and shelter. The fact that Shaddai is included along with the other three divine appellatives, in just one strophe, is singularly notable. Psalm 91 expresses a bedrock confidence in God. Our poet is focused on the character of God’s protective refuge of the faithful. To seek refuge in יהוה means one recognizes that nothing is analogous to the God of Israel. Trust is confidence of life in the face of all threats and all three dimensions of the psalmist’s being—heart, soul, and mind—participate in this joyous security and the enjoyment of a fullness of life and serenity of spirit, shalom.
People who dwell near God, live. People who are far from God, die! The psalmist’s concentrated images of refuge seek to repose the sheltering of the soul within the shadow of the divine presence. The entirety of ultimate refuge and security resides in God–the Almighty One. Helmer Ringgren connects these refuge images to Israel’s worshiping life in the temple. Ancient Israel’s experience of
the immanence of God in the temple . . . could not be described appropriately otherwise than by using verbs as ‘to see ‘ and ‘ to behold.’ This experience filled them with joy and happiness and gratitude. In other words, it strengthened their religious life and was a source of their inspiration.69
The presence of יהוה reflects very early on the basic and central theological conviction that יהוה acts on behalf of the people of יהוה.
Another early psalm of praise to יהוה was initiated in that crucial hour following the event of the Exodus (15:1–17). Women under the leadership of Miriam sang and danced to an astounding poem accompanied by music, inviting all the people to join them in hymnic praise. The text in Ex 15:20–21 is very explicit that instrumentation was used to accompany the women in song.
Israel’s history of worship, which reached its climax in the praises of the Psalter, was initiated in that crucial hour at the beginning of the tradition when women, under the leadership of Miriam, sang and danced to music, inviting the people to join them in hymnic praise (cf. The Song of Miriam in Ex 15); cf. The Song of the Sea, a longer poem, influenced by Canaanite literary style and mythical imagery, apparently comes from the period of the tribal confederacy that flourished before the rise of the Davidic monarchy (1200–1000 BCE).70
Dance and song are forms of religious prayer and praise in the Hebrew Bible and there are many references to Israel’s singing and dancing before יהוה. Perhaps the most famous instance of celebratory song and dance involves David in a later era (2 Sam. 6), dancing openly and in joyful abandon before יהוה and in the sight of the people! This was considered scandalous by his wife, Saul’s daughter Michal, and David was upbraided by her for his unrestrained exuberance. She failed to appreciate the depth of the intimacy in the relationship that existed between David and יהוה.
The Jewish Study Bible [Tanakh] says: “she despised him for it!” This bond between the anointed of יהוה and יהוה was never more evident, never more
