chariots?
Her wisest ladies make answer,
indeed, she answers the question herself:
Are they not finding and dividing the spoil?”
A girl or two for every man;
spoil of dyed stuffs for Sisera,
spoil of dyed stuffs embroidered
for my neck as spoil?
So perish all your enemies, O יהוה!
But may your friends be like the sun
as it rises in its might.”
The importance of this poem or hymn of praise is striking in its similarity to the Ugaritic language wherein the poet in Judges 5 describes a theophany. In this earliest instance, the mountains quaked before YHWH, the One of Sinai, before YHWH, the God of Israel (Judg 5:5). The translation of the verb quake assumes the form נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) from the root זָלַל (zalal, to shiver and shake). Some scholars interpret the Hebrew in the sense of flowing, liquid matter (as in volcanic magma). The LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Targum all understand the word נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) in this way. Indicative of the theophanic formula is the appearance of the angel of יהוה (Judg 5:23) with יהוה personified as the divine warrior defending the ancient clans from their enemies in Canaan.
It is an instructive bit of song for it introduces us into the world of Hebraic poetry–a world which in another thousand years will usher forth in Sepher Tehillim, the book of Praises. The theophany described as it is portrayed in Judges 5 is disclosed in this ancient poem dating from the late thirteent-century BCE—not far removed from the events being celebrated. Ancient Israel’s first psalm in Judges 5, Deborah’s Song, is “the oldest surviving extended fragment of Hebrew literature.” (REB p. 251).
It is explicitly described as having been sung and it is one of the earliest markers that can be traced to having been laid down at the dawn of the Hebraic traditions. The traditions of ancient Israel refer not only to the sacred texts that have come down to us but also include the life of worship and the liturgies that shaped that worship. Israel’s psalms are the best examples we have from the Hebrew scriptures of the shape and the shaping of ancient Israel’s worshiping life. In them we have the words Israel spoke in response to the word of יהוה being addressed to them. The origins of several other key markers, one of which is the Zion tradition, is directly connected to the ark narratives. The tradition of the election of Zion by יהוה is, of course, based upon the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem. 58 The connection of the ark tradition with the temple is later called into question by the prophets, particularly Jeremiah.59
There are many patterns of thought connected with the ark in the Hebrew scriptures. It was originally designated as the ark of Elohim which is the general usage in the books of Samuel. It was considered the place where יהוה was enthroned (Num 10:35–36; I Sam 4:4; II Sam 6:2). With the ark was connected the idea of יהוה as leader of the host. In deuteronomistic thought the ark and the covenant are joined and the “Ark of the Covenant” is said to contain the tables of the law. In chronistic thought, the cherubim are for the protection of the law and not for the place where יהוה sits enthroned. In the story of II Sam 6, the ark is brought to Jerusalem and merely placed in a tent. Later the building of the temple and the housing of the ark are combined.
The presence of the ark in Jerusalem meant that יהוה dwelt in the midst of [his] people. Centered around the choice of Jerusalem by יהוה as [his] dwelling place was, very much like the Davidic election tradition, joined to and expanded by pre-Israelite traditions. This is so from the very earliest compositions to the latter ones and brings the book of Psalms to its final resolution and close. The ark represented the presence of God at the heart of historic ancient Israel’s corporate life and worship. It is in these traditions rather than in the prophetic work of Isaiah, for example, that the origin of the tradition of Zion’s inviolability must be found. Memories of the ark of God continued to resonate deeply in the collective consciousness of the psalmists.
“The narratives on the youth of Samuel (eleventh century B.C.E.) were written in later times and edited by the Deuteronomistic school, but they include an incidental note on the ark, which bears the mark of authenticity . . . the ark was apparently kept in the temple of Shiloh, in the central mountain range of Ephraim, but there is no indication that it played any significant part in the life of the nation. The narrative merely states: ‘The lamp of Elohim had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of Yahweh, where the ark of Elohim was . . .’ (I Sam. 3:3). The text does not suggest that the cultic object was considered as the visible sign of the permanent presence of Yahweh in the shrine. On the contrary, the recital of the vision in which Samuel was called to a prophetic mission clearly implies that the divine manifestation was distinct from the ark. The renaissance of interest in the ark under David was the prelude to a most important development in the Hebraic theology of presence. It contributed to the astounding development of the myth of Zion.”60
The concept of God’s dwelling in Zion has its origins in, and is based on, the presence of the ark of God in the temple in Jerusalem. 61A variant prophetic tradition made certain distinctions relative to the ark and temple. 62From several narratives in the Hebrew Scriptures, we know that the ark was closely associated with the presence of God. In some 75 psalms dispersed throughout all five books of the Psalter, the presence of God in Zion is an essential feature, whether in the prayers of the communal longing to return “home” after the exile, or in the hymns of the community experiencing the presence of יהוה in their midst.
The title Psalms of David so-called, indicates something of the relationship of David and his line with The Psalter as a communal document; those psalms which are entitled A Psalm of David, and appear to suggest Davidic authorship, must be understood with the following caveat: The prepositions in Hebrew are not distinct and may be imprecise. For example, those certain psalms may be understood as meaning “for, dedicated to, concerning, David”. Such psalms seem to evoke his persona as the chief representative of the dynasty of David without implying that he himself was the author of each psalm.
There are many psalms that might be assumed as having been authored by David.63 Such speak too of David as the founder of the temple (2 Sam. 7), even though David did not build it, which marks out the temple as the focal point for the good life and the hope for the future. It is not surprising then that the ark would embody memories of the celebrations and the triumphs of יהוה during the early days of the conquest of Canaan. In Shechem, and likely Bethel and Shiloh as well, the ark conferred its cultic concreteness upon both dimensions of the Mosaic covenant: vertical, since it exhibited the bond which united יהוה to Israel; and horizontal, since it cemented the solidarity of the heterogeneous tribes under their shared allegiance. The ark of Elohim became known as the ark of the covenant only in the later deuteronomistic traditions, which date from the seventh-century BCE and constituted part of the major reforms instituted at that time during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah.
The Deuteronomists are, of course, responsible for the book of Deuteronomy. The other pentateuchal sources reflect the ongoing editorial process of the Yahwistic theologians. In 2 Sam. 6, which is fairly late in the tradition, the ark is first referred to as the ark of יהוה. In the editorial composition by the Deuteronomist historian(s) it is clear that the ark of יהוה will be housed in a tent or tabernacle rather than the temple which David longs to erect to the glory of the LORD.64 The locus of Jerusalem was always understood by Jewish historians, prophets, and psalmists who perceived Zion clearly in theological terms, as Israel’s theological home. The theology of Zion is given its clearest expression in the book of Psalms. Jerusalem as a symbol runs like a sacred, golden thread through the entire fabric of Judaism.
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