Enmity laces the texture of the biblical psalms with a frequency that begs explanation. Recognizing that the enemy image abounds elsewhere in the First Testament leads to the identification of an enemy profile that includes the alien, aggressor, and desecrator. Biblical texts characteristically symbolize enemies with stereotyped animal and deviant imagery. This portrayal reveals a broad cultural pattern. Modem readers of the psalms do well to seek means of diffusing this Middle Eastern cultural process before the psalms can serve elsewhere as useful guides in prayer.
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