Monday, March 17, 2008

Echoes of Deuteronomy 6 in Psalm 1

from JBL:

There is a further association of Psalm 1 with Deuteronomy 6:6-9. Since at least as far back as Ibn Ezra the negative forms of the verb "walk" [הלך], "stand" [עמד], and "sit" [ישב] in Ps 1:1 have been associated with the positive instruction of Deut. 6:7 to recite or repeat, that is, to meditate upon, the words of the law "when you 'sit' at home, when you 'walk' on the way, when you lie down, and when you 'arise'" [קום]. The activity enjoined in Deut 6:6-9 expresses a constant and total commitment to the law of the Lord comparable to what is pronounced the blessed way of the righteous in Psalm 1.

from "Deuteronomy and Psalms: Evoking a Biblical Conversation," by Patrick D. Miller, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 118, No. 1. (Spring, 1999), p. 12.

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