Psalm 104

The 104th Psalm (according to Greek counting the 103rd) is a psalm in the Bible. According to its kind it belongs to the hymns of an individual.

structure

In his well-known psalm commentary from 1929, the Old Testament scholar Hermann Gunkel structured the psalm as follows:

1. Verses 1–2a: Introduction and general description
2. Verse 2b-4: Part one : Talk about the past . First of all, YHWH's creation of heaven
3. Verses 5-9: Second, about the earth
4. Verses 12-18: God's division of the world between earth and water. The psalmist ponders the purpose of these things
   1. Verses 10-12: About springs and streams
   2. Verses 13-18: About the rain from heaven, which gives the earth fertile water
5. Verses 19-23: Third: description of the stars
6. Verses 24–30: Part two : Speak of the present . General consideration for all living beings
   1. Verses 24–26: The psalmist draws the sum: astonishment at creation
   2. Verses 27–30: Description of God's power over his creatures in life and death
7. Verses 31–35: Third part : Speak of the future and include wishes ...
   1. Verse 31f: ... for God
   2. Verse 33f: ... for yourself
   3. Verse 35: ... against the wicked

Relationship with other accounts of creation

The creation story seems to have a relationship with the report from the first chapter of the book of Genesis ( Gen 1  EU ). There the stars are only named after the creation of land and sea. In addition, a relationship between the Psalm and the descriptions of nature in Babylonian and Egyptian hymns can be observed. B. with the great Aton hymn of Akhenaten .

reception

In church songs the psalm is reflected in:

• How lovely is Maien , Martin Behm (1606) EG 501
• On the soul, to praise God , Martha Müller-Zitzke (1947) EG 602 (regional part of the Evangelical Church of Württemberg ) as well as in the Evangelical hymn book Where we praise you, new songs are growing - plus No. 106 and in the hymn book of the Evangelical Methodist Church No. 64.
• Benedic anima mea, Domino (Kv zum Magnificat, greg, Liturgy of the Hours: Vespers), GL 631.5

Motets:

• Benedic Anima mea Domino , Heinrich Isaac (1450–1517)
• Benedic anima Domino Claudin de Sermisy (1490–1562)

literature

• Eckhard von Nordheim, The Self-Assertion of Israel in the World of the Ancient Orient: Religious-historical comparison based on Gen 15/22/28, Israel's stay in Egypt, 2 Sam 7, 1 Kings 19 and Psalm 104 , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen, 1992, ISBN 3- 525-53749-2

Web links

Commons : Psalm 104  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Psalm 104 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 104 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain of settings for Psalm 104 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hermann Gunkel, Die Psalmen ( ⁶ 1986), 447ff.
2. ↑ cf. the chapter The Great Hymn of Akhenaten and Psalm 104 in Eckhard von Nordheim, The Self-Assertion of Israel in the World of the Old Orient (1992), 155
3. ↑ Where we praise you, new songs grow - plus , Munich 2018, Strube Verlag VS 4049, ISBN 978-3-89912-211-4 , No. 106