Psalm 26

Psalm 26 recited in Hebrew (Ogg Vorbis audio file, length: 1 min 54 s, 42 kbps)

Psalm 26 verse 8 above a church portal in Wismar (with incorrect location information )

Psalm 26 verse 8 on a synagogue in Jerusalem

The 26th psalm (according to Greek counting the 25th) is a psalm of David and belongs to the series of individual lamentations .

structure

The Old Testament scholar Hermann Gunkel suggests a possibility of subdivision :

1. Verses 1-3: Request and affirmation of the righteousness of the psalmist
2. Verses 4-8: The achievements that the psalmist is aware of
3. Verse 9f: Request for salvation
4. Verse 11: Testimony of blamelessness and request again
5. Verse 12: Assurance of hearing and confident vow

Observations

The following observations can be made on the psalm:

The lack of a lawsuit

The peculiarity of the absence of a complaint is striking in the psalm: there is no reference to the wicked who in any way represent a danger to the psalmist.

Highlighting the temple

The psalm refers not only to YHWH's “house” (verse 8) and “assembly” (verse 12), but also to the rites performed by the psalmist in the temple: the symbolic washing of hands, the walking around the altar (verse 6) and the subsequent singing (verse 7).

Web links

Commons : Psalm 26  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Psalm 26 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 26 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain for settings of Psalm 26 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hermann Gunkel: Die Psalmen ⁶ 1986, p. 109f.
2. ^ ^{A b} Craig C. Broyles: Psalms concerning Temple Entry. In: The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception (2005), p. 261.