Psalm 46

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beginning of Psalm 46 in Hebrew

The 46th psalm is a psalm of the "sons of Korach". It belongs to the so-called Zion songs and is in the 2nd book of the Psalter.

classification

According to the 2nd book of Chronicles 20:19, the sons of Korach, to whom the psalm is ascribed in the 1st verse, are probably a family of temple singers. In the introductory instruction “according to the wise virgins ” it is disputed whether it is a familiar melody or a Hebrew expression for high voices.

construction

  • Verse 1: Name of the Korach sons as authors and reference to the presentation method
  • Verses 2-4: Confession of faith in the church, even if creation were drowned in chaos
  • Verses 5–8: View of the undisturbed security of the city ​​of God , which cannot be shaken even by an attack from outside
  • Verses 9–12: Looking back at the victory of God and his peacemaking power; in verse 11, God himself speaks.

In verses 8 and 12 a refrain is repeated. This refrain was originally located between verses 4 and 5, but was probably omitted due to a transcription error.

"The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our protection."

- Psalm 46.8  Lu

Single observations

  • As in many other psalms, v. 1 gives the musical instructions. In this case the melody is of the type of the "wise girls" (עֲלָמוֹת) - there was partly one and the same melody that was used for several texts.
  • V. 2 עֶזְרָה is the feminine form from the masculine form עֵזֶר. The masculine form describes the general state (help / willingness to help), the feminine form a concretization (auxiliary act) - similar to the masculine (צֶדֶק) and feminine word (צְדָקָה) for justice (masculine: general state of justice - feminine: concrete just deed).
  • V. 4 Sela is a tone sign (cf. V. 8 and V. 12)
  • Verse 6 forms the theological center: nothing is to be feared because God is in the middle.
  • Verse 5 contains the reason why the psalm is counted among the Zion psalms: It is about the " city ​​of God " (עִיר־אֱלֹהִים).
  • V. 7 The peoples do what Zion does not - they shake.
  • V. 8 + V. 12 contain the central motifs of God's being with God, his dwelling in the city, so that peace and fearlessness are possible.

Musical reception

The song A firm castle is our god by Martin Luther from 1529 and the cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach based on it are based on Psalm 46, as well as Ludwig Hailmann's Reformation song Praise God, you pious Christians, rejoice and celebrate with David, the psalmist .

Web links

Commons : Psalm 46  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Stuttgart Explanatory Bible. ISBN 3-438-01121-2 , 2nd edition 1992, German Bible Society Stuttgart , pp. 699f
  2. ↑ The Bible with Explanations. ISBN 3-7461-0069-0 , 3rd edition 1993, Evangelische Haupt-Bibelgesellschaft , Berlin
  3. ↑ Rudolf Köhler: Handbuch zum Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch 1, II. The biblical sources of the songs, Berlin 1964, p. 325f.