Texts in Conversation
Psalm 68 depicts God as a king who defends widows, orphans, and the abandoned, an ancient Near Eastern ideal where just kings protect the vulnerable. The Hellenistic Jewish novel Joseph and Aseneth shows the same pattern of care for the powerless.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalm 68:5
Hebrew Bible
3 But the godly are happy; they rejoice before God and are overcome with joy. 4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name. Exalt the one who rides on the clouds. For the Lord is his name. Rejoice before him. 5 He is a father to the fatherless and an advocate for widows. God rules from his holy dwelling place. 6 God settles in their own homes those who have been deserted; he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity. But sinful rebels live in the desert. 7 O God, when you lead your people into battle, when you march through the wastelands, (Selah)
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Joseph and Aseneth 12:11
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
10 But you, Lord, rescue me from his grasp, and I shall be rescued from his mouth, before he can tear me apart and throw me into the blazing fire. The fire would throw me into a storm, and the storm would overwhelm me in darkness and throw me into the depths of the sea, and the great beast that has existed from eternity would swallow me, and I would perish forever. 11 Rescue me, Lord, before all these things happen to me; rescue me, Master, desolate and defenseless as I am, because my father and my mother have denied me and said, 'Asenath is not our daughter,' because I broke their gods in pieces and got rid of them, because I hated them completely. And now I am an orphan and desolate, and I have no other hope except you, Lord, nor any other refuge except your mercy, you friend of humanity, because you alone are the father of the orphans and the champion of the persecuted and the helper of the afflicted. Have mercy on me, Lord, and keep me pure and a virgin, forsaken and orphaned, because you alone, Lord, are a loving, good, and gentle father. For what father is as loving and good as you, Lord? 12 For look, all the houses of my father Pentephres which he has given me for an inheritance are temporary and passing away; but the houses of your inheritance, Lord, are imperishable and eternal."
Date: 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Psalm 68:5 God is called the protector of widows, and in Psalm 146:9 he takes care of them. In both instances they are mentioned in the same breath as orphans; in the latter they are mentioned at the same time as strangers. This actualizes the social law of Exodus 22:20-23. Widows, orphans, strangers, and the wretched/poor are under God’s protection, and he extends his solidarity to them. Their cry for help in oppressive situations (see Psalm 94:6) is heard and answered by God. In the Psalms, those marginalized by society and pushed to the margins of life, or those threatened by the powerful and violent, are called needy or wretched ..."
Ulrike Bail, “The Psalms: 'Who is Speaking May Be All That Matters',” in Feminist Biblical Interpretation: A Compendium of Critical Commentary on the Books of the Bible and Related Literature, ed. Luise Schottroff and Marie-Theres Wacher (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2012), 240–254.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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