Psalms

About this book

Psalm 7

1 A musical composition by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning a Benjaminite named Cush. O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. Deliver me from all who chase me. Rescue me! 2 Otherwise they will rip me to shreds like a lion; they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me.⁠ 3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, or am guilty of unjust actions, 4 or have wronged my ally, or helped his lawless enemy, 5 may an enemy relentlessly chase me and catch me; may he trample me to death and leave me lying dishonored in the dust. (Selah) 6 Stand up angrily, Lord. Rise up with raging fury against my enemies. Wake up for my sake, and execute the judgment you have decreed for them. 7 The countries are assembled all around you; take once more your rightful place over them. 8 The Lord judges the nations.⁠ Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, because I am blameless, O Exalted One. 9 May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end. But make the innocent secure, O righteous God, you who examine hearts and kidneys³².⁠ 10 The Exalted God is my shield, the one who delivers the morally upright. 11 God is a just judge; he is angry throughout the day. 12 If a person does not repent, God will wield his sword. He has prepared to shoot his bow. 13 He has prepared deadly weapons to use against him; he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. 14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness, who conceives destructive plans, and gives birth to harmful lies— 15 he digs a pit and then falls into the hole he has made.⁠ 16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans— and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head. 17 I will thank the Lord for his justice; I will sing praises to the Lord Most High!

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalms 7:8 and 11Q13 2:11

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation

Summary

In Psalm 7, the psalmist asks God to rise above the assembled peoples and judge them. In 11Q13 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, this language describes Melchizedek, who carries out judgment against Belial.

Passages

Psalms 7:8

Hebrew Bible

6 Stand up angrily, Lord. Rise up with raging fury against my enemies. Wake up for my sake, and execute the judgment you have decreed for them. 7 The countries are assembled all around you; take once more your rightful place over them. 8 The Lord judges the nations. Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, because I am blameless, O Exalted One. 9 May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end. But make the innocent secure, O righteous God, you who examine hearts and kidneys³².

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

11Q13 2:11

Dead Sea Scrolls, Biblical Interpretation · The Heavenly Prince Melchizedek

9 this is the time of the year of favor for Melchizedek and for his armies, the people of the holy ones of God, for a reign of judgment, as it is written 10 about him in the songs of David, who said, “God stands in the assembly [of El]; in the midst of the gods he judges.” And about him he said, “And above it 11 return to the heights; God will judge the peoples.” As for what he said, [“How long] will you judge unjustly and show favor to the wicked? Selah,” 12 its interpretation concerns Belial and the spirits of his lot, who […] … in their turning away from the statutes of God [to act wickedly]. 13 But Melchizedek will carry out the vengeance of the judgments of God, [and on that day he will] deliver them [from the hand of] Belial and from the hand of all the spirits [of his lot].

100–50 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 11Q13

References

“... Psalm 7:8b-9a "and above it, to the heights, return: God shall judge the nations" is cited in lines 10-11 and seems to describe Melchizedek's movement from earth to heaven. This is precisely what we should expect from a human high priest who on the Day of Atonement enters the Holy of Holies and thereby moves from earth to heaven. Nowhere in contcmpo- rary Jewish texts does an angel undergo an upward movement with the kind of salvific effect ascribed to Melchizedek in our text. Yet, this is the language of human transformation, enthronement and apotheosis. [...] But, on the other hand, to speak of Melchizedek's return to the heights picks up also the theme of Jubilee return for the human cap- tives in exile which lies at the heart of our Peshcr. Leviticus 25 repeatedly refers to 1.11c Jubilee as a time of return and Leviticus 25:13—"in this year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his prop- erty" is cited in line 2 (cf. Lev 25:10, 41) of our text and in line 6 Melchizedek makes the people return. 201 This has led Kobelski to con- elude that in lines 10 — 11 it is not the return of Melchizedek but the captives that is view. 2 0 8 However, it would be wrong to play off against one another the two possibilities. Rather, Psalm 7:8-9 has, it seems, been carefully chosen to describe Melchizedek's heaven- ward movement as representative of and determinative for the return of the people as a whole. This again tells against Melchizedek being "an angel", but is consistent with Melchizedek's divine (and rcpre- sentative) humanity. ...”

Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis, All the Glory of Adam: Liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls, STDJ 42 (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 219–220.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalms 7:8 and 11Q13 2:11

Summary

Passages

Psalms 7:8

11Q13 2:11

References

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