Understanding the literary structures of Acrostic Psalms : an analysis of selected poems

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: By means of literary, linguistic and comparative literary approaches, this study examines the literarystructure of the alphabetical acrostic poems in the Psalms. First, a literary approach is used to analyzethe form and content of each alphabetical acrostic poem to show that the literary structure of thepoems is varied. Selected Psalms 9-10, 111 and 112 are translated from the Hebrew and compared toancient Near Eastern languages especially Akkadian and Ugaritic.Second, by means of linguistic approaches, the literary structure of each poem is determined on bothmicro and macro levels using the researcher's own translations of these psalms.Furthermore, a comparative literary approach is employed to compare the forms of ancient NearEastern acrostics, in particular Akkadian, Egyptian and Ugaritic poems, to Hebrew acrostics. Theanalysis reveals both similarities with other ancient Near Eastern forms as well as the uniqueness ofthe Hebrew alphabetical acrostic poems. Both linguistic and literary insights are used to determine therelationship between the different forms. The findings suggest that the alphabetical acrostic poemswere probably written around or after 1000 B.C.E. since the ancient Near Eastern poems were writtenbefore 1000 B.C.E. The unique 22-line form of the Hebrew alphabetical acrostics also indicates thatHebrew thought was distinct from what can be observed in other ancient Near Eastern texts.On the basis of this research, a conclusion is reached and suggestions for future research are made.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University