Psalm 97 : almal moet bly wees, want Jahwe is koning

Abstract

In this article, which was presented as a paper at the congress of South African and Dutch Old Testament Scholars, the author first positions himself methodologically in terms of the South African situation. He then proceeds to use Psalm 97 to illustrate the text-immanent method, the method which he elects to apply. The findings reached are that, although this psalm derives much of its content from the remainder of the Old Testament, it nevertheless forms a coherent whole, and it can be described as an artistic poem in which various techniques of poetry are employed. However, Psalm 97 does not contain a clearly demarcated or even symmetrical strophic division. It is a persuasive text which probably dates from the post-exilic period. Apparently, the main aim of the psalm was to convince the reader/listener that the Lord is in command.