Abstract
There are various interpretations of קדע־ילגעמב ינחני in Ps. 23.3b. Does it profess confidence in Yahweh's guidance of his people to live morally, his righteous treatment of them, his ensuring their prosperity, or some combination of these? This article contributes to the discussion by drawing upon the literary context of the Psalter for assistance in several ways. First, with the Psalter providing a ‘grammar of faith’ for its readers, seven verses containing collocations similar to Ps. 23.3b receive consideration to discern what sense they typically convey (Pss. 1.6; 5.9; 25.9; 27.11; 107.7; 119.35; 139.24). Second, this article explores how the frame of Book I and Psalms 15–24, a smaller collection within Book I, illuminate how one might read Ps. 23.3 within these contexts. Thus, the Psalter as a collocative and structural context is brought to bear on the interpretation of Ps. 23.3b.
1. Introduction
Psalm 23 is likely the most recognized psalm in the Western world. Such familiarity, however, can mask its translational and interpretive challenges.
1
This article hones in on one dilemma in the psalm. What is the meaning of the clause קדע־ילגעמב ינחני (23.3b)? Most in the English-speaking world know this clause as ‘He leads me in paths of righteousness’, adopting the language of the
2. Scholarly Approaches to Psalm 23.3b
There are generally four interpretations of קדע־ילגעמב ינחני in Ps. 23.3b. First, some find a moral connotation in קדע־ילגעמב ינחני, and interpret it as describing God guiding his people to live according to expectations as revealed in Torah. This results in translating the clause as ‘paths of righteousness’, with righteousness highlighting the psalmist's proper behavior in relation to Yahweh's expectations. From a linguistic and tradition-history perspective, Beth Tanner argues that the verb ההנ always relates to the guidance of humans (not animals) and that the tradition of a righteous Davidic king (e.g. Ps. 72) is the backdrop for the psalm. This leads her to conclude that in Ps. 23.3 Yahweh is guiding a king not on a physical path but ‘leading such as in the way of the Torah’. 2 Recently, Patrick Miller has indicated that Ps. 23.3b has overt moral connotations within the framework of Psalms 15–24. 3 Thus, scholars draw upon tradition-history and literary analyses to make their cases that קדע־ילגעמב ינחני includes a moral connotation, conveying the sense of God's guiding his people to live ‘rightly’.
Second, some emphasize the nature of God's character in Ps. 23.3b. Reuben Ahroni interprets the clause as referring to God ensuring that divine justice occurs for his followers. This stems from his interpretation of v. 4, where ‘rod’ and ‘staff’ are understood as
metaphoric expressions of two cardinal attributes of God in His dealings with His followers. The former, טבש ‘rod’ symbolizes the divine justice, and it is the one which leads the psalmist through קדצֿילגעמ ‘paths of righteousness’ (literally, ‘paths of justice’); the latter, תנעשמ ‘staff’ exemplifies the divine mercy, the בוט ‘goodness’ and דסח ‘kindness’ which shall follow (ינופדרי). Justice is often paired in the Hebrew Scriptures with Mercy and Grace (דסח) to express God's constant providential concern for His faithful ones. 4
John Goldingay focuses similarly on Yahweh's character by arguing for the notion of faithful paths, saying:
These are not merely right paths in the sense of paths that lead to the right places, the places with grass and water. Nor is the psalm introducing a moral note and asking to be led to live the right kind of life. Faithful paths are paths consistent with the divine shepherd's faithfulness. 5
Thus, some interpret this clause as expressing confidence in experiencing God's character as he guides them through life—upon paths where one experiences God's righteousness. 6
Third, others argue that moral overtones and vindication are lacking in קדצ־ילגעמב ינחני and offer translations like ‘he will guide me on right paths’, ‘proper paths’, or more creatively ‘luxuriant pastures’. 7 The chief reason for a non-moral interpretation stems from how the imagery in Ps. 23.1–4 is understood. David Clines claims that because the ‘sheep’ imagery persists throughout vv. 1–4, ‘this can hardly be an ethical sheep’; this leads him to claim that ‘these must be “right paths”’. 8 Similarly, Kraus asserts that ‘the good shepherd looks for קדצ־ילגעמ = “proper paths” that are beneficial for the flock’. 9 Kathrin Liess also argues that the use of ‘way’ (חרא) to denote a path of experiencing a happy and prosperous life in Ps. 16.11 informs 23.3b as part of the collection of Psalms 15–24; it depicts Yahweh's bringing about well-being for the psalmist. 10 Thus, some interpret 23.3b as conveying a life of benefit resulting from Yahweh's care.
Fourth, several argue that קדצ־ילגעמב ינחני calls to mind both moral and protective ideas, though this is difficult to convey in translation. 11 William P. Brown's few sentences on this clause serve as its most extensive defense. As he creatively situates Psalm 23 within the poetic world of the Psalter, he argues that the ‘pathway’ metaphor can take on ‘a vast array of connotations’. Reflecting on קדצ־ילגעמב in Ps. 23.3, he claims: ‘the powerful image of the ṣedeq path connotes both physical security and moral integrity’. 12 Thus, Brown weds together the notions of moral guidance and God's protection.
While various aspects of these four positions are open to critique, my aim here is simply to expose the need for a more thorough examination of this clause. No scholar mentioned above devotes more than a few sentences to קדצ־ילגעמב ינחני. By implication, several issues deserve more attention to substantiate a preferred interpretation. We will focus on two within the Psalter. First, though scholars consider the usage of individual words or concepts in this clause, such as החנ (Tanner) or ‘way’ (Brown, Liess), there is a need to examine instances where collocations, combinations of words and semantic domains similar to קדצ־ילגעמב ינחני occur in the Psalter. Second, Miller and Liess, examining Psalms 15–24 as a collection, and Brown, tracing the ‘way’ metaphor throughout the Psalter, provide some initial steps in utilizing the structural arrangement of the Psalter for interpretive perspective. Since Ps. 23.3b is only peripheral to their focuses, there are more insights to glean from the structural, organizational context of Book I. The conviction of this article is that closer attention to similar collocations in and to the organizational structure of the Psalter will establish a stronger basis for discerning the sense of Ps. 23.3b.
3. Psalm 23.3b and Collocations in the Psalter
The final form of the Psalter can serve in several ways as an interpretive context for individual psalms or verses. In this section, the assumption is that the 150 psalms selected for the (
a. The Collocations in Psalm 23.3b
There are three main terms in Ps. 23.3b: the verb החנ and the nouns לגעמ and קדצ. The verb החנ and other verbs for guidance, such as להנ, גהנ, and ךרד (hiphil), are typically morally neutral in the Psalter, though there are a few instances where guidance verbs convey a sense of moral leading. 14 The noun לגעמ (II) and other pathway terms (ביתנ, חרא, ךרד and ליבש) in the Psalter display a similar capacity to function non-literally both with or without moral overtones. 15 קדצ and other terms from and in parallel with the קדצ root are flexible in their ability to refer to moral behavior, 16 God's right treatment and vindication of his people, 17 or even the idea of ‘right’. 18 In other words, with קדצ being a broad term for fulfilling expectations, especially relational ones, it will be important to discern whether the term in Ps. 23.3b is describing the psalmist's righteousness, God's righteousness, or the path's reliability.
Thus, a survey of individual terms in the Psalter from the spheres of guidance, pathways, and righteousness reminds a reader that such terms can have a wide array of connotations. Interpreters, however, should give priority to collocations, instances where these semantic fields overlap. There are seven verses in the Psalter aside from Ps. 23.3 where the semantic domains of guidance and path (25.9; 119.35; 139.24), path and righteousness (1.6), or guidance, path and righteousness (5.9; 27.11; 107.7) closely associate. These verses require closer attention to discern patterns of sense conveyed by such combinations.
ךרדב םיאטח הרוי ןכ־לע הוהי רשיו־בוט וכרד םיונע דמליו טפשמב םיונע ךרדי
The psalmist believes (hopes) that God will provide sinners, like himself, with the much needed instruction that they (he) so desperately need(s). 22 The semantic link between ‘teaching’ (הרי; דמל) and ‘guidance’ (ךרד) in Ps. 25.8–9 (cf. 25.5) is important to note here. While it is far more common in the Psalter to speak of God ‘teaching’ a ‘path’, 23 the psalter may also use the ‘guidance’ metaphor to signify instructive guidance along a path by paralleling verbs for instruction and guidance (cf. 25.5, 9; 27.11; 119.33–35). In this instance, Yahweh's guidance of the poor in justice may refer to God's actions toward the poor which serve as a means of teaching (cf. Gen. 18; Isa. 26.9). In other words, the psalmist is not learning per se through Torah; he is learning through seeing God at work in the world. It is likely that this request to ‘learn’ is a polite way of asking to see God intervene in real life. This instructive guidance is rooted in the דסח of Yahweh (25.7–8, 9), as in Ps. 5.8–9. In this way, Yahweh's vindication of his people has an instructive element through learning from his involvement in the world. 24
b. Implications for Psalm 23.3b
How does the survey of collocations similar to קדצ־ילגעמב ינחני (Ps. 23.3b) in the Psalter inform our inquiry? The strongest support for interpreting this clause as conveying Yahweh's ensuring that his people experience well-being comes from Ps. 107.7, supporting a translation of ‘right paths’ for Ps. 23.3b. Psalm 119.33–35 and 139.24 support understanding 23.3b as depicting Yahweh as guiding the psalmist in the moral realm, though Ps. 25.9 may imply this as well.
When one turns to Book I, however, similar collocations endorse understanding Ps. 23.3b as primarily declaring confidence in experiencing Yahweh's righteous treatment, the vindication, of his people (5.9; 25.9; 27.11; cf. 1.6). This is supported by the repetition of such requests as being יררוש ןעמל (5.9; 27.11) with a trajectory of arriving at Yahweh's house (5.8; 27.4–5), which may accord with the use of ומש ןעמל in 23.3 (cf. 31.4) and the destiny of the psalmist being the Lord's house after making it safely through enemy territory (23.6). 31 While primarily connoting confidence in vindication from Yahweh, this is not disassociated in Book I from receiving Yahweh's instruction, as is evident in the parallels between verbs for guidance and instruction (הרי; דמל—cf. 25.9; 27.11; cf. 119.33–35). This instruction, however, is not as simple as receiving moral guidance through Yahweh's law, though moral integrity is expected (1.1, 6; Pss. 5 and 25). Similar to uses in Isa. 26.9 and Genesis 18, the psalmist desires to learn through seeing God's righteous, yet faithful and compassionate, treatment of those who fear him, though they are prone to sin (Pss. 25.9; 27.11). It is through this instructive guidance that the psalmist gains confidence that Yahweh will vindicate his people, strengthening the םיקידצ to remain faithful to Yahweh as they traverse through life surrounded by enemies on the way to Yahweh's house.
An interesting observation arises when comparing these collocations in Book I and Book V. In Book I, expressions similar to 23.3b connote Yahweh's vindicating action in the world and the psalmist's desire to learn from the expression of Yahweh's character in the real world. In Book V, presumably post-exilic, far greater emphasis is placed on living the moral life. While Psalms 1 and 19 exert this same sort of moral force within Book I as we will see below, it is interesting to note how this language of guidance and instruction in paths may have developed through time in direction toward moral living.
In summary, similar collocations throughout the Psalter endorse several understandings of קדצ־ילגעמב ינחני (Ps. 23.3b). A prioritization of collocations in Book I endorses interpreting Ps. 23.3b as expressing confidence in experiencing vindication throughout life via God's guidance, which is integrally related to receiving instruction from Yahweh through acts of faithful treatment toward his people and against his enemies. If one looks to Book V, similar collocations endorse reading Ps. 23.3b as conveying moral guidance.
4. Psalm 23.3b in the Context of the Psalter's Structure
Another way to utilize the final form of the Psalter in exegesis is to consider its intentional organization. In this approach, scholars often focus on the psalms at the ‘seams’ of the five books of the Psalter, 32 or pursue connections among adjacent psalms as clues to the organization of smaller collections. 33 The following analysis will be limited to understanding Ps. 23.3b in light of the psalms at the seams of Book I and the collection of Psalms 15–24.
a. Psalms at the Seams of Book I
Since Brevard Childs’ call to consider the final form of the Psalter, scholars have focused primarily upon the psalms at the seams of each of the five books. While Psalms 1–2 are typically treated as introducing the entire Psalter, the use of ירשא in Psalms 1–2 and 40–41 suggests that they introduce Book I as well. These seams of Book I, Psalms 1–2 and 40–41, receive attention below as to how they may inform the interpretation of Ps. 23.3b. 34
Structurally, Psalms 1 and 2 serve as a joint introduction to the Psalter and to Book I. As is well documented, by beginning Psalm 1 and ending Psalm 2 with ירשא (1.1; 2.12) these two psalms present the Psalter as an invitation to the happy life. Psalm 1 provides a wisdom orientation where those who live righteously, delighting in Torah, will flourish and the wicked will perish. Psalm 2 casts happiness as deriving from wisely finding refuge in God and his anointed. Thus, happiness results from ‘the fundamental orientation of the self to God, constantly delighting in God's “instruction” (Ps 1.2); and with finding “refuge in” God (Ps 2.12)’. 35 In both psalms, happiness relates closely to assurance of vindication, in contrast to the fate of the wicked or enemies (cf. Pss. 1.3, 6; 2.12).
Psalms 1 and 2 associate with the end of Book I, where both Psalms 40 and 41 contain ירשא sayings (cf. Pss. 32–34). Psalm 40.5 declares: וחטמ הוהי םש רבגה ירשא. This links with the theme of refuge in Ps. 2.12. Psalm 41.2 states: הוהי והטלמי הער םויב לדֿלא ליכשמ ירשא. This corresponds with Psalm 1's concern for living wisely in moral-ethical behavior. In both Psalms 40 and 41, the one finding security in God and considering the poor will be delivered (40.3; 41.2b, 12). Thus, ‘the entire book, or at least Book I, is to be read as a guide to a “happy” life. In other words, not only are Psalms 1 and 41 about happiness, but so are all the psalms in between.’ 36 Happiness is found in knowing that preservation will come for the one living with moral integrity and finding security in the Lord.
These ‘seam’ psalms for Book I may inform an interpretation of Ps. 23.3b. At the very least, guidance in the ‘tracks of קדצ’ in Ps. 23.3b is an affirmation of Yahweh's preserving vindication of one who has lived obediently in light of Psalms 1–2 and 41; the path of the םיקידצ will remain. 37 It is possible that Ps. 23.3b also is an assertion that Yahweh will help the faithful maintain the obedience that Psalms 1–2 and 41 claim are essential for the happy life. Support for this comes from similar affirmations of Yahweh as teacher in Book I (e.g. Pss. 25.8–9, 12; 27.11), though this is difficult to establish with certainty as the analysis of these verses above displays. More clarity may arise by considering Ps. 23.3b within Psalms 15–24.
b. Psalms 15–24
Psalms 15–24 is a smaller collection of psalms within Book I. It will be helpful to consider how this smaller group provides a context within which Ps. 23.3b can be understood. Patrick Miller and Pierre Auffret adopt a similar structure for Psalms 15–24, 38 though their approaches differ. This structure will inform our study below.
There are three psalms that serve as a scaffold for this group: Psalms 15, 19, and 24. Psalms 15 and 24 serve as the outer structure of this collection, or as Brown refers to them, ‘the foothills’ leading to the peak in Psalm 19. 39 As temple entrance psalms, Psalms 15 and 24 describe who can enter into the holy place of God (cf. 15.1; 24.3). The one dwelling in God's house ‘walks with integrity and does קדצ’ (15.2); this is the one with clean hands and a pure heart (24.4). In both of these psalms there are positive consequences for those who are righteous. They will enter God's house, will not be moved (15.5), and will receive vindication (הקדצ, 24.5). 40 Psalm 19 is at the center of this group. It is the pinnacle of expressing delight in Torah which Psalm 1 sets forth as leading to the happy life. 41 With Psalm 19, Psalms 15 and 24 ‘share in common the supreme value of moral conduct, specifically torah piety, and its salutary consequences (cf. 15.5b; 24.5; 19.8–10)’. 42 Thus, Psalms 15, 19, and 24 provide an orientation for this smaller collection that relates very closely with the overarching structure of Book I of the Psalter. In line with the orientation of Psalm 1, the emphasis of Psalms 15, 19, and 24 is upon the benefits of obedience to God's Torah.
There are a number of insights that these psalms which frame Psalms 15–24 contribute to understanding Ps. 23.3b. First, Psalms 15 and 24 orient a reader that entrance into Yahweh's house requires moral integrity. Since the culmination of the journey in Psalm 23 ends at God's house (23.6), 43 a reader drawing upon the context of Psalms 15–24 would be aware that entrance into God's house is only possible through moral righteousness. Thus, when coming across the claim that God will lead ‘in paths of קדצ’ (23.3b) en route to God's house (23.6), a reader could infer two things—either this psalm affirms Yahweh's protective care for an already righteous person or it describes guidance in the moral life to ensure the person has the integrity necessary for arriving at Yahweh's house. Further consideration of this literary context will shine light on which inference is preferable.
Second, the end of Psalm 19 helpfully highlights the necessity of God's assistance in living a righteous life. The psalmist recognizes the need for God's instructions to warn him (19.12) and for God to purify him from hidden sins (19.13) and to separate him from insolent people (19.14). Thus, the psalmist in Psalm 19 needs God's word and God's own purification in order to attain a moral righteousness. Moral righteousness in this collection is not simply a matter of human resolve; humanity depends upon God's instructive guidance through Torah to live righteously. This lends some support to interpreting 23.3b as conveying God's guidance in living the moral life.
Third, there is a link between Ps. 19.8a and Ps. 23.3a worth mentioning. In Ps. 19.8a, the psalmist declares that Yahweh's Torah is perfect, ‘reviving the soul’ (שנ תבישמ). The poet in Ps. 23.3a confesses that the Shepherd will revive his שפנ (בבושי ישפנ). 44 By allowing the antecedent Psalm 19 to aid the interpretation of Ps. 23.3a, it is plausible that a reader would understand the reviving of the שפנ in Ps. 23.3a as God restoring the שפנ through his הרות, as in 19.8a. By following ‘he will restore my שפנ’ with ‘he will lead me in paths of righteousness’, it is logical that a sequential reader would understand this guidance in terms of Yahweh's directive instruction.
These considerations give a slight advantage to a ‘moral’ reading of Ps. 23.3b within the frame of Psalms 15, 19, and 24. Two further links between Psalm 23 and this smaller collection of psalms deserve mention. Kathrin Liess draws attention to how Psalms 16 and 23 relate within 15–24 as psalms of trust. 45 Liess argues that Ps. 16.11a's uses of עד in the hiphil (‘you make known to me’) and a term for path (חרא) to denote confidence in Yahweh's salvation parallel the combination of החנ in the hiphil with a term for path (לגעמ) in 23.3b. This leads to her claim: ‘The interpretation “right way of life” takes a backseat’ as the focus is upon Yahweh securing a ‘comprehensively happy and secure arrangement in life and salvation for the one who prays’. 46 Liess thus interprets 23.3b as conveying Yahweh's assuring the prosperity of the psalmist.
While Liess is correct that the association between Psalms 16 and 23 as psalms of trust results in detecting a connotation of security in Ps. 23.3b, she does not go far enough in inquiring how an ethical component, so prominent in the psalms that frame this collection (Pss. 15; 19; 24), might bring an additional layer of texture to her interpretation. As Brown notes, amidst Psalm 16's emphasis on trust is a recognition of Yahweh's continual instruction (16.7), which resonates with Psalm 19's focus on the constancy of Yahweh's revelatory teaching. In this way, ‘Psalms 16 and 19 claim that adherence to torah indicates sole allegiance to Yahweh; trust and torah are bound together’. 47 To put it another way, the journey of trust toward the holy mountain is intertwined with continually receiving instruction from Torah. In this way, Yahweh's guidance in 16.11a and 23.3b call to mind Yahweh's divine instruction that fortifies the psalmist's trust. There is a linguistic connection between Ps. 17.5 and Ps. 23.3b that supports this as well. 48 In Psalm 17, the psalmist professes to have avoided the ways (תוחרא) of the violent and claims to have kept his feet firmly ‘in your tracks’ (ךיתולגעמב) with the result that his feet have not tottered (טומ, 17.5). Echoing back to the declaration that those living righteously shall not totter (טומ, 15.5), the psalmist clearly attaches moral overtones to his use of לגעמ in 17.5. This anticipates the use of לגעמ in Psalm 23. Miller summarizes this connection between 17.5 and 23.3 well:
What in Psalm 17 is part of the lament and motivation for Yahweh's response is in Psalm 23 a trusting claim about Yahweh. The one who has maintained a righteousness by keeping to the ‘tracks’ of Yahweh can, in the end, speak in confidence of the Lord having kept him in the ‘tracks of righteousness.’ 49
Such a use of לגעמ in this smaller group in 17.5 strengthens the case that 23.3b may be read as having moral overtones. 50 These associations between Ps. 23.3b and 16.11a and 17.5 suggest that Yahweh's protective care intertwines with the psalmist's right living, also made possible by God.
In summary, the smaller collection of Psalms 15–24 provides a predominately morally oriented context for understanding Ps. 23.3b. The framing psalms of this smaller collection (Pss. 15; 19; 24) and a lexical link with Ps. 17.5 create an interpretive web within which Ps. 23.3b very likely would be understood as containing moral connotations. Such moral overtones, however, must be understood in connection to the resulting security (16.11) and vindication evident in 24.5 and 15.5. Yahweh's guidance in Torah ensures a safe arrival at his house, fortifying confidence in Yahweh's vindicating care.
5. Conclusion
This study has explored whether and how the Psalter informs a reader's interpretation of Ps. 23.3b by considering how similar collocations within it and how its structural arrangement assist a reader in construing meaning. While a more far-reaching study on the topic within the rest of the Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern literature would lead to more decisive conclusions, the evidence within the Psalter points in several directions, depending upon the interpretive strategy adopted. When examining collocations similar to Ps. 23.3b, a difference arises between those occurring in Books I and V. In Book I, similar collocations convey the sense of Yahweh's vindicating actions toward his faithful (1.6; 5.9; 25.9; 27.11). This would endorse translating Ps. 23.3b with ‘he will lead me in paths of righteousness’, with an emphasis upon the psalmist experiencing Yahweh's righteousness treatment. In Book V, similar expressions speak of Yahweh's guidance in obeying Torah (119.33–35; 139.24), also endorsing a translation of ‘paths of righteousness’ though with ‘righteousness’ referring to the ethical behavior of the psalmist. There is only one verse that would support the translation of ‘right paths’ (107.7) in reference to Yahweh guiding someone on correct path that would get someone where they need to go. Thus, though the Psalter as a collocative context points in multiple directions, there may be some justification historically for adopting a reading akin to similar collocations in Book I which highlight Yahweh's righteous care for his people.
While collocations similar to Ps. 23.3b in Book I favour an understand that highlights Yahweh's righteous care for the psalmist, the seams of Book I and the placement of Psalm 23 within Psalm 15–24 strongly endorse reading the clause with an emphasis upon Yahweh guiding the psalmist to behave in accordance with expectations in Torah.
Though differing in sense, the collocative and structural contexts endorse the same translation: ‘He will lead me in paths of righteousness’. Must one choose, however, between understanding Ps. 23.3b as declaring confidence in Yahweh's righteousness treatment of the godly (i.e. vindication) and trust in Yahweh's moral instruction? They are certainly not contrasting ideas, as regularly in the analysis above we see that moral integrity is essential for experiencing the ultimate degree of vindication, which is arrival at Yahweh's house. If we allow these various strategies for uncovering meaning—collocations, book structure, and literary context—to inform an interpretation of 23.3b, a dual understanding, similar to Brown's, is preferable: Yahweh's people can be confident that they will experience his vindicating righteousness and moral guidance in route to his house.
While agreeing with David Clines that ethical guidance of a sheep is odd, which leads him to prefer ‘right paths’ for a translation, this is only strange when one thinks of the sheep literally. Since the sheep in Psalm 23 is a metaphor for the psalmist, or God's people, the poet associates sheep and humanity in a way that sparks the imagination to envisage God's ethical and/or vindicating care for the psalmist in light of sheep imagery. The best translation of this phrase, then, is ‘paths of righteousness’, connoting both confidence in God's moral guidance and in experiencing God's righteousness treatment through the twists and turns of life.
Footnotes
1.
David J. A. Clines, ‘Translating Psalm 23’, in Robert Rezetko, Timothy H. Lim, W. Brian Aucke (eds.), Reflection and Refraction: Studies in Biblical Historiography in Honour of A. Graeme Auld (VTSup, 113; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2007), pp. 67–80 (67). For the most extensive treatment of the translational problems of Ps. 23.3, see John Eaton, ‘Problems of Translation in Psalm 23.3f’, Bible Translator 16 (1965), pp. 171–76.
2.
Beth Tanner, ‘King Yahweh as the Good Shepherd: Taking another Look at the Image of God in Psalm 23’, in Bernard F. Batto and Kathryn L. Roberts (eds.), David and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J.J.M. Roberts (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2004), pp. 267–84 (275).
3.
Patrick D. Miller, ‘Kingship, Torah Obedience, and Prayer’, in Klaus Seybold and Erich Zenger (eds.), Neue Wege der Psalmenforschung (Freiburg: Herder, 1994), pp. 127–42 (136).
4.
Reuben Ahroni, ‘The Unity of Psalm 23’, HAR 6 (1982), pp. 21–34 (27). See also J. H. Eaton, The Psalms (London: T&T Clark, 2003), pp. 122–23 who emphasizes Yahweh's saving action (‘ways of salvation’) in this clause.
5.
John Goldingay, Psalms 1–41 (BCOTWP; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), p. 250.
6.
See also Eaton, ‘Problems’, pp. 172–73, who suggests this clause conveys the idea of ‘participation in the glorious salvation of God’. Pierre Auffret has a similar understanding. In a complex structural analysis where קדצ (v. 3) and דסח (v. 6) are shown to be in parallel with one another, he argues that such terms emphasize God's qualities, resulting in his translation ‘sur les traces de la justice’. See Pierre Auffret, ‘Ma coupe est comble. étude structurelle du psaume 23’, BN 126 (2005), pp. 37–43 (38).
7.
For ‘proper paths’, see Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 1–59 (trans. Hilton C. Oswald; CC; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), p. 303. For ‘right paths’, see Clines, ‘Translating Psalm 23’, p. 74; R.J. Clifford, Psalms 1–72 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), pp. 131–32; Geoffrey Grogan, Psalms (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), p. 75; James Limburg, Psalms (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2000), pp. 72–73; Willem A. VanGemeren, Psalms (EBC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, rev. edn, 2008), p. 254; Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, I (NIVAC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), p. 433; Jack R. Lundbom, ‘Psalm 23: Song of Passage’, Int 40 (1986), pp. 5–18 (13). On ‘luxuriant pastures’, see Mitchell Dahood, Psalms 1–50 (AB, 16A; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), p. 145.
8.
Clines, ‘Translating Psalm 23’, p. 74. Wilson also has a similar view, stating, ‘It can mean no more than “right path”, that is, the one that gets you where you need to go’ (Psalms, p. 433). See also Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), pp. 439–40; Lundbom, ‘Psalm 23’, p. 13.
9.
Kraus, Psalms 1–59, p. 307. See also Jouis Jacquet, Les Psaumes det le coeur de l'homme: Etude textuelle, littéraire et doctrinale. Introduction et premier livre du psautier. Psaumes 1 á 41 (Gembloux: Duculot, 1975), pp. 551, 558–59.
10.
Kathrin Liess, Der Weg des Lebens: Psalm 16 und das Lebens- und Todesverständnis der Individualpsalmen (FAT, 5; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), p. 246.
11.
William P. Brown, Seeing the Psalms: A Theology of Metaphor (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2002), p. 36. Pardee and Wilson emphasize a non-moral sense but acknowledge that moral connotations may also be present. See Dennis Pardee, ‘Structure and Meaning in Hebrew Poetry: The Example of Psalm 23’, Maarav 5–6 (1990), pp. 239–80 (274); Wilson, Psalms, p. 433.
12.
Brown, Seeing the Psalms, p. 36.
13.
Mays, The Lord Reigns, p. 6. Cf. David G. Firth, ‘The Teaching of the Psalms’, in David Firth and Philip S. Johnston (eds.), Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), pp. 159–74 (162). This is similar to what W.H. Bellinger Jr. refers to as the ‘grammar of faith’ in ‘Reading from the Beginning (Again): The Shape of Book 1 of the Psalter’, in Joel S. Burnett, W. H. Bellinger, and W. Dennis Tucker (eds.), Diachronic and Synchronic: Reading the Psalms in Real Time. Proceedings of the Baylor Symposium on the Book of Psalms (LHBOTS, 488; New York: T&T Clark International, 2007), pp. 114–26.
14.
Of the sixteen uses of the verb החנ in the Psalter, eleven are morally neutral (Pss. 31.4; 60.11; 61.3; 67.5; 73.24; 77.20; 78.14, 53; 107.30; 108.10; 139.10), three are ambiguous (Pss. 43.3; 139.24; 143.10), and two associate God's guidance with probable moral connotations (5.9; 27.11). There is a particularly strong link between this term and God's guidance of his people in the Exodus event. See Exod. 13.17, 21; 15.13; Deut. 32.12; Neh. 9.12; 9.19; Pss. 77.20; 78.14, 53. Cf. David Noel Freedman, ‘The Twenty-Third Psalm’, in Louis L. Orlin (ed.), Michigan Oriental Studies in Honor of George G. Cameron (Ann Arbor, MI: Department of Near Eastern Studies, 1976), pp. 139–66; repr. in Pottery, Poetry, and Prophecy: Studies in Early Hebrew Poetry (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1980), pp. 275–302; Pamela Milne, ‘Psalm 23: Echoes of the Exodus’, SR 4 (1974–75), pp. 237–47 (241–42). להנ occurs twice in the Psalter (Pss. 23.2; 31.4); גהנ four times (Pss. 48.15; 78.26, 52; 80.2). These terms are always morally neutral. ךרד (hiphil) has a morally neutral connotation once in the Psalter (107.7; cf. Judg. 20.43; Job 28.8; Isa. 11.15; 42.16; 48.17; Hab. 3.19), but in three instances it refers to moral guidance (Pss. 25.5, 9; 119. 35).
15.
The term לגעמ (II) occurs three other times in the Psalter. Two instances are morally neutral (65.12; 140.6) and one relates to a moral path of life (17.5). In Proverbs, a moral sense is the norm as in Prov. 2.9, 15, 18; 4.11, 26; 5.6, 21 (cf. Isa. 26.7; 59.8).
16.
E.g. Pss. 15.2–5; 45.9; 72.1–3.
17.
E.g. Pss. 5.13; 11.7; 24.5; 31.2; 34.16, 18; 35.24; 37.17, 39; 55.22; 71.2; 146.8.
18.
E.g. Pss. 4.6; 23.3; 51.21; 52.5; 58.2.
19.
Robert Alter picks up on this as he comments on the final colon in 1.6: ‘In a kind of envelope structure, this phrase loops back to “the way of offenders” at the beginning. Now we see the fate of oblivion to which such a way is condemned’ (The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary [New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007], p. 4). See also Goldingay, Psalms 1–41, p. 90. In Ps. 1 ‘way’ can refer to a moral trajectory in life (1.1) as well as to ones lot in life (1.6). By identifying the םיקידצ, those obeying the Torah (1.2), as those destined for the path of Yahweh's protective care (1.6), the intersection of pathway and קדצ establish an inseparable association between a moral trajectory in life and Yahweh's preserving care for those who take his path. Jerome F.D. Creach, ‘The Destiny of the Righteous and the Theology of the Psalms’, in Rolf A. Jacobson (ed.), Soundings in the Theology of Psalms: Perspectives and Methods in Contemporary Scholarship (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), pp. 49–61 (52–53).
20.
Jacquet, Les Psaumes, I, p. 269. See also Goldingay, Psalms 1–41, p. 130.
21.
Kraus, Psalms 1–59, p. 156. He draws upon 25.4, 5, 12; 27.1; 32.8; 86.11 for support. See also Herman Gunkel, Die Psalmen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1968), p. 20. Contra Jacquet, Les Psaumes, I, p. 269.
22.
Peter C. Craigie, with supplement by Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 1–50 (WBC, 19; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2nd edn, 2004), p. 220; Jacquet, Les Psaumes, p. I, pp. 585–86. As Gunkel notes, confidence in God's instructive guidance also arises in 25.12 and 32.8. Die Psalmen, p. 107.
23.
For הרי with path, see with ךרד in Pss 27.11; 32.8; 86.11; 119.33. For דמל with path, see with ךרד in Pss. 25.9; 51.15; Jer. 2.33; 10.2; 12.6, 16; with חרא in Ps. 25.4; Isa. 40.14. Most of these instances are morally oriented.
24.
The psalmist's desire for protection and vindication from adversaries is further apparent in Ps. 25.18–22. For more on Yahweh as teacher in Ps. 25, see Andrew T. Abernethy, ‘God as Teacher in Psalm 25’, VT (forthcoming)
25.
On הרי, see also Pss. 25.9, 12; 32.8; 86.11; 119.33. Cf. S. Wagner, ‘הרי’, in TDOT, VI, pp. 341–43.
26.
Jacquet, Les Psaumes, p. 618.
27.
An interesting connection between Pss. 23 and 107 is the reference to תומלצ (23.4; 107.10). This darkness they are in is due to their own resistance to the words and counsel of God. This may inform the context of Ps. 23.4, where walking in the shadow of death may relate to living in folly. The rod and staff is able to bring the psalmist back on the right course.
28.
See Erich Zenger, A God of Vengeance? Understanding the Psalms of Divine Wrath (trans. Linda M. Maloney; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996), pp. 28–34.
29.
James L. Mays, Psalms (Interpretation; Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1994), p. 429.
30.
Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Erich Zenger, Psalms 3: A Commentary on Psalms 101–150 (trans. Linda M. Maloney; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), p. 545. As support for a moral sense, they point to Jer. 6.16; 18.15; Pss. 5.9; 27:11.
31.
Scholars construe the structure of Ps. 23 in many ways. Most organize the psalm thematically, according to God as Shepherd (23.1–4) and God as Host (23.5–6). Douglas J. Green presents a seasonal, ‘spatial’ approach to Ps. 23. He notes a seasonal movement through the psalm from the ‘semi-arid pasturelands of Judah in the spring’, to the Judean wilderness in the late summer (23.4), and concluding in the temple in Jerusalem during the autumn harvest. See Douglas J. Green, ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Better’, in Stephen L. Cook et al. (eds.), The Whirlwind: Essays on Job, Hermeneutics and Theology in Memory of Jane Morse (JSOTSup, 336; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001), pp. 69–83 (70–71). While this psalm's correspondence with the seasons in Judah is debatable, the spatial movement from pasture lands through difficult terrain and finally to the temple of the Lord is important. The ultimate movement within the Psalm is clearly toward the house of the Lord (Ps. 23.6). For others who argue for continuity between Ps. 25.1–4 and 5–6, see David J.A. Clines, ‘Psalm 23 and Method: Reading a David Psalm’, in Tod Linafelt et al. (eds.), The Fate of King David: The Past and Present of a Biblical Icon (LHBOTS, 500; New York: T&T Clark International, 2010), pp. 175–84 (177–78); Mark S. Smith, ‘Setting and Rhetoric in Psalm 23’, JSOT 41 (1988), pp. 61–66; Ron E. Tappy, ‘Psalm 23: Symbolism and Structure’, CBQ 57 (1995), pp. 255–80.
32.
Brevard S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1979), pp. 504–25. Several key articles by Gerald Wilson (‘Shaping the Psalter. A Consideration of Editorial Linkage in the Book of Psalms’, in J. Clinton McCann [ed.], The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter [JSOTSup, 159; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993], pp. 72–82; ‘The Structure of the Psalter’, in Firth and Johnston [eds.], Interpreting the Psalms, pp. 229–46) and J. Clinton McCann (‘The Shape of Book I of the Psalter and the Shape of Human Happiness’, in McCann [ed.], The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter, pp. 340–48) are particularly focused upon psalms at the seams.
33.
E.g. Robert Luther Cole, The Shape and Message of Book III (Psalms 73–89) (JSOTSup, 307; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000); David M. Howard, The Structure of Psalms 93–100 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1997).
34.
For literary justification for focusing on the seams, see Bellinger, ‘Reading’, pp. 114–26. He argues that the prominent voice in Book I is of the wise man who walks in the way of instruction, inviting a reader to receive instruction (torah) from Book I and through this to gain a ‘grammar of faith’ for taking refuge in God.
35.
McCann, ‘The Shape of Book I’, p. 343; Wilson, ‘The Structure’, p. 237.
36.
McCann, ‘The Shape of Book I’, p. 342.
37.
See the discussion of Ps. 1.6 above.
38.
Pierre Auffret, La a bâti sa maison: Etudes de structures littéraires dans l'Ancien Testament et spécialement dans les psaumes (OBO, 49; Gottingen: Vanenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982), pp. 409–38; Miller, ‘Kingship’, pp. 127–42. Adopting a similar structure, see Bellinger Jr., ‘Reading’, pp. 120–21; Liess, Der Weg, pp. 406–11; William P. Brown, ‘“Here Comes the Sun!” The Metaphorical Theology of Psalms 15–24’, in Erich Zenger (ed.), The Composition of the Book of Psalms (BETL; Leuven: Peeters, 2010), pp. 259–77. For a treatment of Pss. 15–24 at a more popular level, see Gordon McConville, ‘“Who May Ascend the Hill of the Lord?” The Picture of the Faithful in Psalms 15–24’, in Craig Bartholomew and Andrew West (eds.), Praying by the Book: Reading the Psalms (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2001), pp. 35–58.
39.
Brown, ‘Here Comes the Sun!’, p. 262.
40.
Miller, ‘Kingship’, p. 128.
41.
Miller, ‘Kingship’, p. 127. See also the link between Pss. 19.15 and 1.3 with the verb הגה.
42.
Brown, ‘Here Comes the Sun!’, p. 264.
43.
See Ernst Axel Knauf, ‘Psalm XXIII 6’, VT 51 (2001), p. 556. He points to a link between Ps. 23.6 and its connection with ‘die ‘Einzugsliturgie’ in Ps. 24.
44.
On the significance between the difference in stems, see Bruce K. Waltke and M. O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1989), pp. 359–60, 404–407, who would see the polel as highlighting resultative causation. See also Timothy Willis, ‘A Fresh Look at Psalm XXIII 3a’, VT 37 (1987), pp. 104–106, who argues that the polel designates a plurality of action (cf. Jer. 1.17–20), leading to the translation: ‘[H]e herds me in’.
45.
Liess, Der Weg, pp. 409, 426. For an earlier articulation of this, see Samuel Terrien, ‘Wisdom in the Psalter’, in Leo G. Perdue, Bernard Brandon Scott, and William Johnston Wiseman (eds.), In Search of Wisdom: Essays in Memory of John G. Gammie (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993), p. 72.
46.
Liess, Der Weg, p. 426. My translation.
47.
Brown, ‘Here Comes the Sun!’, p. 266.
48.
Liess, Der Weg, p. 426 n. 104, acknowledges that the use of ‘way’ in Ps. 17.5 differs from its use in 16.11 and 23.3. She does not, however, explain why a verse that shares the term with לגעמ 23.3b cannot add an additional level of nuance to an interpretation of 23.3b.
49.
Miller, ‘Kingship’, p. 136.
50.
Liess, Der Weg, p. 24.