Texts in Conversation
Psalm 65:8 and Psalm 19:4 both reflect an ancient view of the sun’s movement through the sky as entering and exiting through heavenly gates. Psalm 19 likens the sun to a bridegroom emerging from a hidden chamber, while Psalm 65 refers to the joyful passage of morning and evening through eastern and western gates.
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Psalm 19:4
Hebrew Bible
1 For the music director, a psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork. 2 Day after day it speaks out; night after night it reveals his greatness. 3 There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard. 4 Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to the distant horizon. In the sky he has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 Like a bridegroom it emerges from its chamber; like a strong man it enjoys running its course.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Psalm 65:8
Hebrew Bible
7 You calmed the raging seas and their roaring waves, as well as the commotion made by the nations. 8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts; you cause those near the gates of the east and the west praise you.18 9 You visit the earth and give it rain; you make it rich and fertile. God’s streams are full of water; you provide grain for the people of the earth, for you have prepared the earth in this way.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Psalm 19:4-6 says the sun comes out of his pavilion (ḥuppāṯô) like a bridegroom. The ḥuppāṯô is where the bridegroom hides before he appears in his splendour for the wedding. The application of this figure to the sun implies that the sun is hidden from the earth prior to its rising. Peoples of the ancient Near East believed there are two openings in the sky—the Gates of the East, and the Gates of the West. Through the one the sun enters in the morning to pass out at the other in the evening, and thence pursue its way back by the dark path of the underworld. Psalm 65:8 refers to the Gates of the East, and the Gates of the West: “You make the going out (môṣā’ê ‘gates’) of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.” We now know that the seasons of the year result from the yearly revolution of the earth around the sun and the tilt of the earth’s axis relative to the plane of revolution. However, the writer of Genesis would have had no knowledge of this. He would therefore not have been able to make any conceptual connection between the seasons of the year and the movement of either the sun or the moon ..."
Roberts, John R.
The Anachronism of Môʿăḏîm ‘Appointed Times’ in Gen 1.14
(pp. 1-8) SIL International, 2016
* 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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