To honour Yahweh in the face of adversity : a socio-critical analysis of Psalm 131

Abstract

Psalm 131 is analysed in respect of its poetic features and a probable social background. The social model which regards honour and shame as pivotal values in Mediterranean societies is used to try to determine what impact it was most probably supposed to have on the community of believers which included it into the Psalter and, consequently, its meaning for us today.