b'Major KERUX COMMENTARY SERIES promotional campaign underwayK erux commentaries enable pastors and teachers to understand and e\x1fectively present the main message in every biblical text. Every volume is written by an expert in biblical exegesis and an experienced homiletician in partnership. \x1ce result is a commentary that is focused on biblical insights for biblical teaching, with communication strategies and illustrations that are powerful and engaging.Each volume is divided into distinct preaching segments, in which the authors guide the reader through a well-tested sequence: exe-getical analysis, theological focus, and teaching strategy. Based on the text-driven Big Idea preaching model, Kerux enhances the readers ability to deliver a message that is biblical, cohesive, and dynamic.EXEGETICALTHEOLOGICALPREACHING/ ANALYSIS FOCUS TEACHING STRATEGY Introduction to the Wisdom PsalmsIntroduction to the Wisdom Psalms le o t pbpelcieadu steotha ecye ratlaoinnecaorle-breewresf odried, n wProverbs (Hebrew; cf. NIV) Amen-em-ope (Egyptian; 12001000 B.C.) tecrtmio nRefv eplsaatolmrys(niso a \x1d uontli khea vteh et oCanoarrayn itief st, htehireGHoed- 23:4 Do not ruin yourself seeking riches C Work only for necessities rellvelcartiipotnu, rwe,hicuht) i sb aencaouthsee rt hteerym i pplicable towould be ruling tomorrow, if his reign might13h. 174; linesa S b navolve divinebe overturned by a competitor god, 25:2122 Feed your enemy and God wil reward you 2:5. . . andth l eloavsiinngg Feshedam foeodls until they are ful caotmedm tuon Gicoadtiso nla w(bsy,wwhisadteovme,ramneda tnesa)c thhiantg iss.rIen- l sidee w) oorf shthipep ca the Wisdom Psalms, there is a wisdom charac- charge.eor noni ctth ea nwdr otnhgesgidoed(twhheoo ise rinnteristic in which the righteous and the wickedWhat this m tehaantswfhora tetvheermis prop-dProverbs (Hebrew; cf. NIV) Ahiqar (Assyrian; eighth century B.C.) a T reatdioern aaln adb boeulti eGveord iss on aIstruareelias nsdti lcl etrhtea icna i sdried accotinct rdaost endo.tScoomntea ipns atlhmisswcaislldeodm oferaathu roer. osuitt Ise-. 6:15 D what is necessary to free yourself9: linesPay back a loan as soon as possible What they do have is some manner of focusB Godasre proomt nseecsessarily the same for the 13:24; cf.froom a debt quickly 13034 Spare the rod, spoil the child o Yet all psalms fall into the category ofraelitest ionns.a Hln cw eIf you spare the rod, you hate your child 6: line 81 thnr oGuogdhs g leanwesr aol rc rineasttirounc toiorn ssp eocri recv ceoamlemd uwnilil-,inhsrtiitsutia o hu ornchereaanddsmsoamnyeteixntdsi vinid tuhaelC19:18 cation.to heaven communication,c s Som Israel isgdo inthge oinlo, gtihcaat 20:20 e who curse parents wil be snufed9: line 137 T humanthrough-Posmalmmsi tmdeepnetnsd. ueon ep rbeseluipevpeo,strue in some lThuot slike a light thheei rg poadrse ncutsrse those who do not honorwohriicehsoGfo tdh ea lrsiog hrte wveaayl so hr iTmosrealhf,(wGiothd ss urbecvaetlae- whaya,t eevveerniisftsrpiritual forrather than literal, for o g w26:2 A misspoken word never rests, like a7; line 98 A tory spoken Word).thoed cu Ost hweirtshbeen taught that 27:3 sparrow 8; line 111 re twuronrsd is a bird, it \x1fies away and neverTHREE MODES OF REVELATION G sh drecahli.ng and hIasvrea elt weveerreyrSecsrtirpictuterdeAa nfodo ls anger is heavier than stone orN load of sand or salt) isIN THE OLD TESTAMENT to its history,that irneoctly to Christians. s heoatvhiienrg t h(eavne nd eab t transfers directly or ind\x1de doctrinal emphasis here will be on what in In the OT especially, wisdom is noot saitbeo uoft b outhcherpmsaaljmors geonnreta, isnu cah aesr mProanisice PSALMIST GOD SEER/PROPHET is transfe rable to modern readers, wt htdh Fisat e eer m opp oer lLonamg teon ta.n S c s d hishtoor iisc aall scoo tnhtee xNtTs,Gaboodu an o li vHh in- p aelafboiolil,t yw. h\x1do ei sbirewer eGnotd wIntroduction to the Psalter thtee lwleicsteuale rbsuotn iso t rh not stupidR E S P O N S E R E V E L A T I O N of Jesus the Christ, the unique Son of God. Introduction to the Psalter (Dahood 1970, 3:361456), these are not iden-otf sy and ethically de- (wicked versluesm reignht,t ebouut si)n o tre drmidsa cict (rruecvteulare- oire nigtn. Horeabnrte wb uwt issdpiormitu iasl lf(oJoubn, dP rnoovt eorbnlsy,Einc ctlhee-toryo wrmor d(G) eamtteurne gp) rbeeselonncgeoofaant otihsdero mcl avsesirfise - SAGE Doctrinal the way of wisdom psalms (those that exalt Yahweh [ ] as king in the past,tical languages. Still, Ugaritic word usage and c ocar tifon. Thewcontrolled creationthat the sea is just water, notor future) were dubbed Enthronementfor theology. New lessons werel communicated ina god, and only their God is truly Lord. present,by some earlier scholars (e.g., Gunkelgrammatical features offer possible solutions sioa -sctaelsl)e db uWt iasldsoom in Bo s salter and among thea MAN R E F L E C T I O N MAN \x1deologically,ds for his s thoek Pidentied byosrpteor iciotsp e odvoeersa lnl opt umrpakoese a oprs aldme sigwni,s deo.mg., present God as having graciously intervened in Hebrew. the established literary anguage of a culturePsalmssolving some remaining obscurities in(myth-in order to be understood. \x1fat the words and1998, in toto) because Mesopotamian kings wereMost signi\x1fcant have been the religiousalso Prophets. A wisdom text iest wofeteenn tehrseo rnig. hAt ewoiuses P s 11, 27 (lament), and 34, 36, 105106hueompalen(lPifse.b1y) .p \x1droev ifdaiinthgf culle wari lcl ormecmeivaen woshea tw hhaospsalmsrearmed as king through a special celebrationological) texts, which contain terminologyBaal ways of OT psalms mirror Canaaniteand re- ritual or festival, so a similar ritual was assumedused in the OT, especially the Psalms (e.g., t (psraalimse). Wisdom, as a broad category, in thep promised (Ps. 37). God saves thohre w ciosen tarnadst t hbee iwnigc mkeadd oer b foolish p been in no way minimized the revelatoryof theto have occurred in Israel in light of the contextthe storm god who rides a chariot across the sky, markable and revolutionary messageandof these psalms. However, this remains specula- Lotan the sea monster or dragon, and El the an-person does what is right or just and generallyOT is often applied to Job, Proverbs, Eccle- THEOLOGICAL EMPHASESi ts cessful or blessedco lridfei ning sh a elss o toisScoalnlegdotfh S OF THE WISDOM PSALMS trust inhnios tp grueacreapntste aen ad t prorouvbilsei-o onrst(rPasg.e 4d9y)-. flroeweBut Israelite Psalter. But as poetic prayerstion. \x1ferefore, the classication Royal Psalmscient god whom Baal wants to dethrone, with e rrmews aordf elodn wgeitvhi taysauncd asfoatoisl fias cotnioen w. hAoc decidest iaes tleast,t ear nbde csaoumsee tiitmtruth has toe oSnognsg, Nhoe pns halem wisrto tthe;o huogwhte avbero, utY achrewaetihng ( doc)t rwinaes h o rto Psalm 14:1 (= 53:1), of Solomon. Wisdomdo withwlifee d btreaoe tshkoesreswtoh op arores plaewrfkoere pae sse aasnodnc(aPns .a l73). praises composed throughout ancient Israeliteis preferred. More recently, attention has beenthe help of three other gods: Death, the Sea, and histor i y, they inevitably bore the cultural char- paid to parallels in Ugaritic religious and poeticLotan). The Canaanite words for these three arelawacter s stics (perceptions and practices) of thosetexts (Keel, 1978, 1997 in toto; for ANE prayerthe same as the Hebrew words in the OT. The to live apart from Gods revelation and reality. i We could say that ththan prophetic-basedand is unted edresiotiwesin, gY athhwate hhe ( liemste l Yfa thhwoeshewhohsoe t wruho rebel (Ps. 78).LITERARY GENRE enxfpoerrmieantcioen-b aabsoedu tm thoer erieg Phsta wlmays sh teolp li uves .knowCeacnuaraitnyi of kn tood as unchanging) . oUnehri kde ic haeooward t () is satrinoc hki mof,syaefte htyis a anndg ear r ceadne ebmurenrthtime, as the psalmists wrestle with and,wor- genres, see Longman, 2005, 4162). language used by Abraham in Canaan (ca. nine-ship their God in the midst of progress mi per- Ugaritic Language and Texts teenth century B.C.) would have been similar tosis not w tplexities, and pain in relation to theiresxedThe Ugaritic language is a Northwest SemiticUgaritic but more similar to other contemporary a theme th oct creuarlsl yi nagae n u w hjiesc po pal ec oisu pb adsetda to. nH g avien gw rervdesa loefd w hWisdom isa tno nurem fobre raposf aplmsa lbmust hos who twotfoee tlh ainboku atb Gouotd G wohdi l(eA olltehne 1r 9b8o0o, k4s1 te4a8ch). ori tshub t eto iso r oedlanteiossn sahnidp as h\x1d o isidmosmelfpgseanlmersa lplyr eisne nnta Gtuordeexperiences in light of divine promis dandCanaanite-type language, like Hebrew. SemiticCanaanite dialects.punishment. It has been demonstrate thatthat t other well-dened literary genres such\x1de psalms that have a wisdomaa t componeintht loeyllailo lno,v aen. Hd ihse w nreavther i st roicnklysfoorr st eeasveesr lpasetoinpg. i (Pnsd.1sp9e).c Hiicsa pllryo mthirsoeusg ahn vde prbroanl cooumncmemuneinctast iaornethe Israelite and Canaanite traditions were notlanguages are grouped according to similari- Yet, Hebrew poetry was not limited to thebsustained rele- ins cPluradiesdeoinrLaa mWeisndt.o Omt hcelar spssiaclmatsi osno macettuimalelys choem nbaitnuer eth oifsah posraizlmon atasl r, eesxppoenriseen ltiitaelr tartuutrhe .w \x1defor entertainment. His ruletrustworthy and lead to life (Ps. 119). strongly linked, similarities mainly existing onties by regions and compass directions (North,Psalter. Biblical psalms span both OT and NT, the technical levels of linguistics and stylisticsSouth, East, West). Hebrew is both Semitic andfrom Moses and Miriam (Exod. 15; fteenth (Avishur, 1994, in toto).Canaanite, included in the category of north- century B.C.) to Marys Magnicat in Luke 74 75Baal and the OT Psalms gods werewest Semitic. Ugaritic (deciphered from tab- 1:4655i (ca.p 6e B.C.), followed soon after by In the ANE, among polytheists, thehumans.lets found near Ugarit [Ras Shamra in modernZecharahsetr o yticp prophecy (Luke 1:6879). Semitic. The Ugariticom-often at war among themselves or withdevel- Syria]) is also northwestfor developingHebrew po orb ossible remnant f s of com-has been important In OT times, the Canaanite religion hadlanguagetheories about Hebrew lexicog- plete psalms mayeo found rom (Mosaic?) oped to a stage where the older and traditionalnewand syntax as the Canaanite languageGenesis 1:2b to the apstle John (Rev. 20; rst linguistic chief deity, El, had been ousted by Baal, a youngraphyto biblical (classical) Hebrew of whichto second centur a y A.D.). \x1fus, the psalms as a upstart, with the help of other gods in a coupclosestamount of texts are extant. Althoughliterary form or s psalmic poetic expressions (such as Mot [Death] and Yamm [Sea] and thea largeproduced a Hebrew grammar of theare not conned to the book of Psalms but are Sea Serpent, Lotan). This is why we read aboutDahoodTadeusz Penar) in light of Ugariticlocated throughout Scripture. Baal and not El in the OT. Thus, Baal, the stormPsalter (with god, usurped control of the Canaanite pantheon. The Ugaritic Lotan (= ) and the Hebrew Le-viathan () are cognate in Semitic linguisticsBiblical Chronology of Various Psalms in Scripture(i.e., note the same consonants, L-T-N; t and thTraditional Author Psalm/Poetic Verse Content Location ca. Periodare interchangeable and each language was written originally without vowels; the v in He- re Moses storm at Creation (paralelism) Genesis 1:2b 15th cent. B.C.*brew can also be o at times). Baal means Lord;Canaanite Baal Figurine, Louvmaster. The Hebrew words for G/god are: Elnd parallels with certain*Genesis 1 could rather have originated among postexilic Levites for a Sabbath lesson) 1446 B.C.(), Eloah (), and the plural ElohimSome scholarsMesopotamian mythologyMoses/Miriam Song () of the Sea ( Exodus 15 1420 B.C.(). When used in the pagan pantheon, thepsalms among\x1feyMoses Psalm 90 OT Psalms 1300 B.C.latter term meant gods. When used in connec- OTthattexts like hymns and prayers).ofDeborah Deborahs Song ( Judges 5tion with Yahweh (), the plural indicated the(religiousworship was a signicant feature greatest God. The Hebrew psalmists counteredargue(e.g., Kloos, 1986, in toto; see also the Canaanite theologians by claiming YahwehOT religion32968). \x1fe OTs Royal Psalms () not Baal () was the Creator, whoHoward, 1999, 3534Kerux commentaries are written for trained pastors and teachers who 1.) speak regularly, 2.) have some knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and 3.) spend signi\x1dcant time preparing to preach and teach Gods Word. Each volume o\x1fers the following:A detailed introduction and outline Sidebars of pertinent information and historical A summary of all preaching sections with their primarybackgroundexegetical, theological, and preaching ideas Appropriate charts and photographsPreaching pointers that join the original historical contextA theological focus to passageswith our contemporary one A contemporary big idea for every preaching unitInsights from the Hebrew and Greek text Present-day meaning, validity, and applicationA thorough exposition of the text of a main idea14 www.kregel.com'