There are nearly fifty verses in Psalms where God is the subject of a verb for teaching. Six of these occurrences take place in Psalm 25. Advancing beyond previous research on God as teacher in Psalm 25, this article offers an alternative to the traditional interpretation that Ps 25:4-5 and 8-9 speak of God teaching sinners to enable them to obey torah. The case is made that these verses may be understood as God teaching his people about himself—his ways—by intervening in their circumstances, at times through a word of wisdom, rather than simply teaching them about his demands to help them overcome sin.
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“Gott als Lehrer”, pp. 53-59.
“Gott als Lehrer”, pp. 114-31.
“Gott als Lehrer”, pp. 241-45. See also W. Jentsch, Urchristliches Erziehungsdenken: die Paideia Kyriu im Rahmen der hellenistisch-jüdischen Umwelt (Gütersloh, 1951), pp. 86-91, who considersיסר in light of the topic of teaching.
Witmer, Divine Instruction, p. 5, offers a similar critique of Zenger.
Finsterbusch, YHWH als Lehrer, p. 69. See also D. J. Human, “The Tradition–Historical Setting of Psalm 25: How Wisdom Motives Contribute to its Understanding”, Verbum et Ecclesia 17 (1996), pp. 82-83, who also argues that “ways” in 25:4, 5, 8, and 9 indicates “a life of faithfulness or unfaithfulness to YHWH” in light of Deuteronomic (Deut 11:22; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16) and wisdom traditions (Prov 1:12; 2:8, 12). L. Ruppert, “Psalm 25 und die Grenze kultorientierter Psalmenexegese”, zaw 84 (1972), p. 580, argues that דרך refers to YHWH’s expectations based upon terminological parallels between Psalm 25 and 37 (esp. קוה, ענוים, בושׁ). For a critique of Ruppert’s argument, see N. Lohfink, “Lexeme und Lexemgruppen in Ps 25: Ein Beitrag zur Technik der Gattungsbestimmung un der Feststellung literarischer Abhängigkeiten”, in W. Gross, H. Irsigler, and T. Seidl (eds.), Text, Methode und Grammatik (St. Ottilien, 1991), pp. 271-295.
Finsterbusch, YHWH als Lehrer, p. 72. So P. Craigie and M. Tate, Psalms 1-50 (wbc 19; Second Edition; Nashville, 2004), p. 219; F. Hossfeld and E. Zenger, Die Psalmen I. Psalm 1-50 (Die neue Echter Bibel; Würzburg, 1993), p. 165. H.-J. Kraus, Psalms 1-59, trans. H. C. Oswald (cc; Minneapolis, 1993), p. 320, interprets דרך in 25:4-5 as priestly instruction of torah that clarifies ethical matters and grants a new vision for life in distress.
Finsterbusch, YHWH als Lehrer, pp. 61-62, notes this use of ידע hiph. (77:15; 98:2; 103:7; 106:8) elsewhere in her monograph, but does not allow this insight to inform her interpretation of 25:4.
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There are nearly fifty verses in Psalms where God is the subject of a verb for teaching. Six of these occurrences take place in Psalm 25. Advancing beyond previous research on God as teacher in Psalm 25, this article offers an alternative to the traditional interpretation that Ps 25:4-5 and 8-9 speak of God teaching sinners to enable them to obey torah. The case is made that these verses may be understood as God teaching his people about himself—his ways—by intervening in their circumstances, at times through a word of wisdom, rather than simply teaching them about his demands to help them overcome sin.
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 312 | 49 | 0 |
Full Text Views | 290 | 2 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 65 | 16 | 0 |