Abstract
This essay identifies the ways in which torah and piety are juxtaposed with kingship in Psalm 73. Two lines of evidence are set forth to suggest that the speaker of the psalm may be viewed appropriately as the king. The first involves the way in which language in the psalm, especially in vv. 18-28, reflects language that is particularly present in Psalms 15-24, a collection that now may be seen as an articulation of the torah piety of the king. The second line of evidence has to do with the present placing of the psalm, which provides an alternative 'script' for a monarchy that needed rethinking and redefinition after Solomon's reign. The essay explores Book III as a part of that rethinking. The shift from focus on the human king to the divine king that has been often noted in Book IV does not mean that the king disappears from view. Finally, it is suggested that the move from the picture of autonomy in vv. 2-16 to the picture of covenant responsiveness in vv. 18-28 suggests the choices always present before kingship.
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