Psalm 119: The Exaltation of Torah.

• Author: SMITH, MARK S.
• Position: Review

Psalm 119: The Exaltation of Torah. By DAVID NOEL FREEDMAN, with Jeffrey C. Geoghehan and Andrew Welch. Biblical and Judaic Studies from the University of California, San Diego, vol. 6. Winona Lake, Ind.: EISENBRAUNS, 1999. Pp. vii + 94. $19.50.

This volume undertakes a close examination of Psalm 119 within the context of alphabetic acrostics in the biblical book of Psalms. The work consists of four chapters, the first co-authored by Freedman with Geoghehan and the fourth with Welch. Chapter one surveys the alphabetic acrostics in the biblical psalms. Freedman and Geoghehan identify eight such psalms, a number which in their view is quite significant in biblical numerology. The evidence for such a claim is restricted to the number of four original books of Former Prophets plus Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the book of the Twelve, the so-called minor prophets. (In a considerably later point in the book--p. 78 n. 9--Freedman appeals also to "the eight acts of creation in Genesis 1.") The authors group the eight acrostic psalms into pairs: Psalms 9/10 with Psalm 37, Psalms 25 and 34, Psalms ill and 112, 119 and 145. The pairing of Psalms 111 and 112 is appealing if only for their proximity, a trait not shared by the other pairings. Instead, the first t wo sets are paired because the psalms' length in each pair is judged to be highly proximate and therefore hardly random. It is evident that Psalms 119 and 145 do not constitute a pair in the same manner as the others proposed. As part of a pair, Psalm 145 is exceptional insofar as it does not balance in length with Psalm 119, the acrostic psalm with which it is paired. According to the authors, Psalm 145 was evidently added to the first three pairs in order to cover the discrepancy in length between the first three pairs and Psalm 119. This was no accident, in their view.

The authors introduce an important point about acrostics, hardly mentioned by previous writers: "As often, if not always, in the symmetrical pattern of calculations of the biblical writers and especially the editors, there are significant deviations from the established norm" (p. 3). The point is worthwhile on two counts: first, this approach eschews the textual emendations customarily favored in order to get the acrostics to work as expected; and second, it may show the poetic artistry of the texts which play on the expected form with all sorts of artistic subtlety. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to explaining the...