The King as Exemplar: The Function of Deuteronomy's Kingship Law in the Shaping of the Book of Psalms

Abstract

This thesis suggests that Deuteronomy's Kingship Law (Deut 17: 14-20) may have functioned \nas the paradigm for the placement of kingship psalms alongside torah psalms at key \njunctures in the final form of the Psalter. It argues that there is a general background in \ndeuteronomic theology found in the torah-kingship psalm groupings (Pss 1-2; 18-21 and \n118-119) and that the theological emphases of these psalms reflect, more particularly, the \ntheology of the Law of the King. This study adopts a canonical approach to the analysis of \nthe Psalter. That is, it suggests that the ordering of the psalms within the book Z:. ZD reflects \ndeliberate and systematic editorial activity, and that-by considering the positioning4_ ý of \npsalms within the final form of the Psalter-the reader may tentatively observe the \ntheological concerns of the book's redactors. This study draws upon recent developments \nin psalms studies, where there has been a move over the last fifteen years towards \ncanonical readings of the Psalms, and suggests further developments in this approach both \nin terms of method and exegetical understanding of the texts in question. It is the conclusion \nof this thesis that the juxtaposition of kingship and torah psalms may have been the \nresult of deliberate editorial activity in order to reflect the theology of the Kingship Law in \nthe Psalter. It is further proposed that the reasons for this redaction were: (1) to shape the \npsalmic view of the eschatological king, emphasising that the expected Davidic monarch \nshould reflect the ideal, rather than the historical examples, of kingship; and, (2) to endorse \nand encourage a torah-based piety, reflected in the practices expected of the king in the \nKingship Law, amongst the readers and hearers of the Psalms.

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