Part 1 of exegesis of psalm 124:1-2

This psalm is the cathartic culmination of all the pathos and sublime that the first 4 psalms have been leading up to. I have heard it said that the Hebrews were, rather that they are very doleful during the feast seasons. Remember the suffering. Remember. Suffer. Remember. Suffer. Ausubel says "the Jewish people imposed on itself until the coming of the Messiah, a perpetual mourning for the 'temple in Jerusalem' that had been destroyed by the Romans in the year 70AD. The commemorative program of never ending grief brought from the very beginning a rabbinic ban against all choral and instrumental music in any house of prayer. This prohibition helps explain why the art of music, was allowed to languish and wither on the vine in the synagogue" (Ausubel, 220). This ban seemed to be put in place much latter during the middle ages, 5th-10th Century AD, when rabbis perceived that borrowing and mixing of cultures in the music as assimilation and profaned it. [Pictured: Temple Timeline dates at bottom of page]

But I have meandered down this river and while the ballad may express some grief, I have experienced it as much more passionate than sorrowful; Much more exuberant in its design to reverentially magnify the Lord than to wallow in anguish. Here in Psalm 124 the ballad burst forth with the one of the foremost intentions and meaning! It is the psalm most arguably about remembering the suffering of the 5 psalms. Yet instead, all I hear are the waters rushing and smashing upon the rocks of joyous praise as an encomium to the Lord! 

These first 5 psalms come together as one movement of the ballad (having three parts) which is that victory song! And it most clearly points the finger at the Lord for the victory. Indeed they know the victory is a blessing from the Lord to them, and He has won it! At this moment, I will suggest that the next 2 movements (10 psalms) are about trusting in the Lord/blessed life with the Lord and hope for the redemption of Israel (waiting on the Lord for the prophetic messiah). These three movements are not about stagnation in suffering but jubilation for the glory of the Lord in their lives.

For this ballad may even be considered a war cry! "Not long after Judea had fallen in 70 AD and had ceased to exist as the political religious homeland of the Jews, an appraisal of the Jewish national drive for power was expressed by a rabbinic sage, 'while other peoples rely on the might of their arms, Israel's weapon is prayer" (Ausubel, 349). While other cultures focus on building up material armies, the Hebrews have always focused on developing their spiritual warfare. So in the 5th century BC - in the second commonwealth period, where we see the return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile, we have an account in Ezra that shows us how the nation began temple restoration and returned to their custom of 'going up to Jerusalem' for these feasts, as this was ordained by the Lord. And that they observed the feast with joy, "for the Lord had caused them to rejoice" (Ezra 6:22).

These devotional prayers and liturgical hymns were like spiritual weapons with which the nation declared the Lord as their fortress and strong warrior. Which effectively translated into real help, real provision, real victory. Even the battle at Jericho gives us a very tangible picture of this. "It became the peculiar province of poetry to depict the great, the beautiful, the becoming, the virtuous; to embellish and recommend the precepts of religion and virtue; to transmit to posterity excellent and sublime actions and sayings; to celebrate the works of the deity, his benefits, his wisdom; to record the memorials of the past and the predictions of the future". Such liturgical hymns such as this ballad of 'the songs of ascents' became a 'public herald', "by whose voice each memorable transaction of antiquity was proclaimed and transmitted through different ages and nations" (Lowthe, 40-41). 

I believe that this ballad was originally created as a 'victory song' and the heart of this ballad was rejoicing and was not intended for grieving or to be used for self-maceration. But it seems that the heart of this ballad from antiquity was lost or altered over time by that later regrettable tradition of mourning during the feast festivals, which took over as the centuries passed. I cannot see the main theme and purpose of these ritual feast festival prayers and hymns to be about suffering and remembering the suffering as the original intent. Rather it seems clear that this joyful ballad was hijacked and the glory of its musical expression was stomped on by that inception toward grief. This is regrettable indeed. It also has played a massive part in the message of this ballad being lost.

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I hear a song of deep reverence and devotion to a peoples G-d. I hear emotions from the deep which have no words to express themselves at the joy and gratitude for deliverance. I hear the hearts of those who hope for peace, and who hope for the promise of the messiah.

The 'songs of ascents' are meant as a petition to the Lord to keep covering the nation, keep blessing them, keep providing for them and bring the Messiah. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may they proser who love you" ps 122:6. "Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth!" ps 124:6. "Peace be upon Israel" ps 125:5. "Peace be upon Israel!" ps 128:6. "May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward" ps 129:5. "Oh Israel hope in the Lord" ps 130. "Oh Israel hope in the Lord forever!" ps 131:3. 'The Lord has chosen Zion. He has said 'This is my resting place forever, I will abundantly bless her. There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth...upon him his crown will shine'" ps132:13-18. "How good it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!" ps 133:1. "Bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion" ps 134.

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If you remember from our exegesis of psalm 120 we identified a certain pattern that seems to show up in the psalms (also in ritual customs). In that pattern we noted how usually the last thing that wraps up all the other elements (such as reverence-120, extolment-121, submission-122, petition-123) is the praise/thanksgiving. Psalm 124 is a Praise and Thanksgiving Psalm to the Lord (main theme). It is the response of the people to the deliverance petition that was made in the previous psalm 123. 

Praise Him for He delivered us - answer to psalm 123. Praise Him for He chose Israel as His servant and Jerusalem has His resting place - answer to psalm 122. Praise Him for He is our Guardian/master - answer to psalm 121. Praise Him for He heard our cries and recompenses the wicked - answer to psalm 120.

I've been very vocal concerning the difference in intent and meaning from the original poet and the pilgrim. However, in this psalm both are actually in unison, praising and giving thanksgiving and blessing to the Lord for delivering them. It is the most important theme and intention of these 5 psalms. The picture above and to the right gives us an idea of how the themes are weaving together. And Here I will again layout how the subjects of each psalm relate and weave together through the chiastic structure.

Now, in this psalm the major theme is Thanksgiving/praise and the major subject is the power of the Lord. And this comes through the recompense of the wicked. This links us back to the themes in psalm 120. The minor theme is magnifying the Lord, or reverence, which links us back to psalm 121 as it passively again declares the Lord is thy guardian/master. It is linked to psalm 122 in that verses 1-2 indicate Israel is the Lord's chosen people/servant. And again, it most directly links us to Psalm 123 as it is the answer to the petition made.

PSALM 120 A	Narrative	Power of the Lord	Recompence of the wicked	oppression from wicked nation, deliverance
PSALM 124 A'	Thanksgiving	Bless the Lord, praise and gratitude	Power of the Lord & Recompence of the wicked	magnify the Lord

In the chiastic structure of the five psalms together, this psalm makes up Aprime expressing the thought 'praise the Lord because He delivered us' (passive- He recompensed the wicked). It is the inverse of A 'the Lord will recompense the wicked' (passive - He will deliver His people). But it is a reiteration of the same meaning. Now psalm 124 is the introverted subject to psalm120 A⇄A' = 120 ⇄124. This is actually the base requirement for chiasmus at work. It doesn't always have to form this ABCB'A' line structure. 

But there is an additional element at work in that the subject is the same but said inversely. So there is a type of opposite or reverse correspondence at work. Is there such a thing as double chiasmus?  it's not opposite in being the antithesis, just in the way it is expressed. This is being done to draw attention to this principle, that deliverance goes hand in hand with recompense. We see this be brought to full clarity by coming full circle from psalm 120 (A) to complete itself through chiasmus in psalm 124 (A'). Thus also a clear succinct ABCB'A' pattern.  You can look at the full layout of this again in my previous post THEME overview. In that post we laid out that each of the 'psalms of ascents' is structured with correspondence and through chiasmus. 

I would like to now say that, as I discussed how other scholars identified chiasmus structurally in each of the psalms individually, I have not found this to be true. And I have come to the conclusion that, this is not the case. So we need to talk a little more on line structure or versification. You can view my line layout structure for all the psalms in the THEME overview post. Here I will again share the line layout for psalm 124.

 Psalm 124 - Praise and Bless the Lord for He delivered us

(complete F) R] - if not the Lord is on our (Israel's) side (He Guards/Keeps)

(complete F) R'] - if not the Lord for us (Israel), when a nation came against us 

S] we would have been destroyed when they came against us

S'] we would have been fully destroyed

S''] the nation against us would have fully destroyed us

(complete J& J')    T] Bless the Lord who has helped us

(reverse J& J')   U] Israel escaped the trap of the enemy

G'] Reverence, the Lord is my help

CONCERNING METRE & VERSIFICATION

In his Lectures on the Sacred Poetry, Lowthe discusses versification and metre of HEBREW poetry in short length. Metre has to do with duration and tempo. It mainly concerns the rhythmic nature of the verse - the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables concerning number and length such as iambic pentameter. Versification speaks to the creation of verse, or metrical line structure such as couplets & stanzas. Identifying features of line structure and metre are necessary in defining something as poetry and not just prose. These elements may seem extraneous to semantics, but they can and do play a part in how the poet brings his message across. I'm sure any scholar affluent in the ancient Greek and Latin poetry and even some Shakespearean scholar knows this better than I can even express.

Lowthe notes very little can be said on metre as there is very little to be found (earliest written material from the Mosiac time) and because the old pronunciations have been lost. Ausubel described the Hebrew Language as seemingly having the proverbial nine lives, as it repeatedly died and was resurrected. It's difficult to accurately ascribe metre because of this. I certainly haven't made any effort to try to identify metre more specifically because of my lack of understanding the Hebrew language. I'm not sure I ever will bring metre up again in this study. 

But there is enough to acknowledge a Hebrew versification. And there is ample scope concerning the style of the Hebrew poetry i.e. figurative language, the pathetic and the sublime, the parabolic (parables), the sententious etc. And these provide much adequate proof of intended poetical composition. Identifying metre and line structure is less essential in this study whereas identifying style and figura are as these elements have been and are my expressed intent from the beginning.

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I brought metre up because at this point, it plays a part in proving chiasmus at work. But also because, I realized I'm not sure it has helped me to correctly identify versification because meter plays a part in it. And because I'm still thinking of versification in Greek or Latin terms. Obviously, Greek and Latin poetry are essentially very different from the Hebrew. It is somewhat instinctual to do this because of my western European roots and scholastic upbringing. 

Lowthe contrasts Greek and Hebrew poetry first pointing out that the nature of the Greek and Latin versification, where metre is concerned, "Is copious, flowing, and harmonious, possessed of a great variety of measures, of which the impression is so definite, the effect so striking, that even if one should recite some lame and imperfect portion of a verse or even enunciate hastily several verses in a breath, the numbers would nevertheless be clearly discernible, so that in these every variety essential to poetry and verse may be provided for almost that pleasure without the smallest injury to the different meters" (Lowthe, 35).

But "in the Hebrew language the whole economy is different. Its form is simple above every other; the radical words are uniform, and resemble each other almost exactly, nor are the inflections numerous, or materially different; once we may readily understand, that its meters are neither complex nor capable of much variety, but rather simple, grave, temperate; less adapted to fluency than dignity and force. So that possibly they found it necessary to distinguish the extent of the verse by the conclusion of the sentence, lest the lines, by running into each other, should become altogether implicated and confused" (Lowthe, 35).

Hebrew verse compared with English

So, even though the translation of the Hebrew into English still retains some dignity of its original versification, it is still only a faint appearance. And it certainly doesn't retain any of the metrical form. I'm not sure it is even correct to identify versification by referring to quatrains or couplets, tetrastiches or octastiches etc. However I proceed to identify these things, I guess I will decide as I go along. The ancient Hebrew verse does have its own peculiar property, and if we are going to correctly talk about 'Hebrew Poetry' then we should understand it within its context. 

In truth, the verse structure and whatever metre may be there being effected by the translation isn't really that big of a deal. Yes, the poem does lose a sense of its natural character and unique rhythmic sound. This happens whenever you translate one text from any language to another. Yet - especially concerning semantics, the problem occurs when the translation does not accommodate the colloquiums and idiomatic nature of that language so that the meaning is confused, altered or blurry. And this has been one of the biggest motivators in my daily pursuit of the word and particularly this exegetic project. This type of study and practice gets you into the mindset of the language and culture you are engaging with. And that in turn helps you to understand the heart of the meaning behind the words better. And this too is the only way to understand those things that just don't translate from language to language.

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While it is true that the original poems are designed in a uniquely Hebrew structure, that chiasmus has been employed by the scribes who collated the book of psalms together is not in doubt. Chiasmus itself has to do specifically with structure and versification. And identifying this element of versification at work in the ballad is unequivocally essential in order to make these suggestions on the intended themes and subjects and message of the whole Ballad. Without chiasmus we could not link the psalms together nor suggest anything about the ballad as a whole other than that they were chanted during the feast festivals.

The Hellenistic period was between 3rd century BC - 1st century AD, that blending between the Hebrew and Greek. Hellenism meaning 'to make greek'. Jewish encyclopedia shared that "in the field of poetry, only the epic and drama were cultivated, traces of which, but not fully developed products are found in ancient Hebrew literature". I think this is exactly what we are seeing with this ode/ballad, traces within a very Hebrew ode. Again, the book of psalms was collated sometime within the second temple period, 5th century BC - 1 century AD. So it is very clear that the Hebrew did have and employ their own type of poetical structure and style before the Hellenistic period. And that even though they began mixing, these mixed elements stand out and it doesn't seem to lose the very Hebrew foundations.

We are not forcing chiasmus to be present in this ballad. But it doesn't appear at all in the original individual psalms. Now it is possible that it could be there, and I just can't see it because I'm working with an English translation, which is arranged structural in a different way. Maybe I have failed in this regard to see it. Again, here is a link - bible literary structure, of a site that lays out chiasmus in the psalms, you can look and make your own conclusion. You can see the original structure in the Hebrew in the photo above. It is also a link to a site that will let you look at all accents and phrasing. If chiasmus were to be found in the original psalms, this would indicate chiasmus as a common tool to the Hebrew Poet. That is a rabbit hole for another day.

Hebrew poetry does apply versification. It does have some metrical form. The verses tend to be very unequal in length. And as to the real quantity, the rhythm, or modulation, Hebrew meter and verse never seemed to really to possess that kind of sweetness or harmony.

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One of those unique forms of Hebrew structure is actually that figura parallelism. It is one of the most identifiable features of Hebrew Poetry. And there is much to talk about on this and we can't do it all right now. Parallelism, figurative language, the pathetic (pathos) and the sublime have more to do with style and not metre or verse. But we will address these things while wrapping up on versification as they do play into line structure in Hebrew poetry. These things are that which has stood out to me as some of the most identifiable markers of ancient Hebrew poetry. And not just poetry but Hebrews adorned their moral precepts, histories, record of events and prophecies of the future with these things.

Parallelism had many necessary utilities. It's highly likely that parallelism was used to such an extent because the Hebrews were at first an oratory keeper of songs and stories. The ancient world traditionally was an oral culture. Stories and songs were not written down but memorized and passed down. It may be notable that because of this, repetition was a useful tool for memorization and understanding. Such repeated phrases and line structures could make the songs and stories easier to remember. But also helped listeners remember, feel and internalize the meanings and morals like the pounding of nail until it finds is desired depth.

Where parallelism doesn't point to metrical structure, it is a unique feature in the Hebrew writings that was used to create verse structure. In the writings, "the frequent, or rather perpetual, splendor of the sentences, and the accurate recurrence of the clauses, seem absolutely necessary to distinguish the verse; so that what in any other language would appear superfluous and tiresome repetition, but this cannot be omitted without injury to the poetry" (Lowthe, 49). 

Parallelism is an artifice of the Hebrew language that prevents the poem from being just prose and brings the composition under verse structure and some metrical form. "For, when words or sentences directly correspond, or when contraries are opposed exactly to each other, or even words of a similar sound run parallel, the composition will in general have a metrical cadence" (Lowthe, 49). Parallelism plays a big part in the demonstration of line structure as a unique mechanism in Hebrew poetry. There is a meaningful analogy between the structure of the sentences and the versification, so even if there is confusion or obscurity in the line structure, and you can't really form an opinion concerning the division of the lines, to the extent that the harmony of the versification may be lost, it in no way loses the vestige of versification.

Indeed parallelism plays a great part in giving the poem a Hebrew elegance and harmony. Parallelism also renders the compositions' themes and intended subjects remarkably concise and clear while animating the expression. Where parallelism aids versification, it also confirms meaning.

Now Brevity is a unique characteristic of Hebrew poetry that plays a role in creating some form of metre also. This characteristic clearly makes itself distinct from the loquacious Greek or Latin poetry but renders the sentiments and expressions with additional strength and force. Parallelism is indisputably Brevities greatest assistant in this because its way of contracting the poem into a narrower space has thus a more energetic and pointed effect as if 'beaten out upon an anvil'. And this gives the lines a certain notable rhythm.

The language has, like all do, had its own unique sonorities. The eminent French philosopher and Semitic scholar Ernest Renan opined that the Hebrew language was "a quiver full of steel arrows, a cable with strong coils, a trumpet of brass crashing through the air with two or three notes". It was a language that was so perfectly capable of the pathetic (pathos) utterance. "It is to pour out floods of anger and utter cries of rage against the abuses of the world, calling the four winds of heaven to the assault of the citadels of evil" (Ausubel, 198). Hebrew poetry is distinguishable by its utter catharsis. They amplify "by diversifying, by repeating", sometimes adding or contrasting and it often feels very diffuse, yet still "every sentence is concise and nervous in itself" (Lowthe, 306).

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What seems to be extremely discernible to scholars and what I have been finding through my exegeses, is that like parallelism, the pathetic and the sublime, though these be the Greek words for these figures, are very much two peculiarities that are very unique to the Hebrew writing, not borrowed and mixed in. And this is Lowthe's main objective to point out in his Lectures on the Sacred Hebrew Poetry. There is no sense of reconnoitering in the text, but clear and firm points of argument not only corroborating this truth but lauding the splendid display and usage. 

 Lowthe hails pathos and the sublime as prevailing artifices specifically peculiar to Hebrew poetry (that is, not added in as a Greek element). "Hence the poetry of the Hebrews abounds with phrases and idioms totally unsuited to prose composition and which frequently appear to us harsh and unusual; which however are destitute neither of meaning nor of force, were we but sufficiently informed to judge of their true application" (Lowthe, 156). 

Pathos and the sublime, are without a doubt, the figura that naturally came to the Hebrew as the best way to express sentiment and passion through the most animated and energetic means.

But this may be true for any culture's poetry. As it is the nature of Poetry to be different than the common way of speaking, not just in the construction, but also in the more figurative imagination and the expression intended to be more exquisite. For the very origin of poetry itself comes from the vehement affections of the mind. And who else but Pathos and the Sublime can better express the image of the mind violently agitated, wrestling with the Divine and life itself? What are figura but the categorical types of genus and species created to define each peculiar impulse of the mind and heart?

Pathos and the Sublime, within application of Hebrew poetry can and do aid in metre and verse. It is the copious use of the sublime and the pathetic which can make the line arrangement and verse construction seem imbalanced, with rule or symmetry. Yet it does not negate versification and should rather encourage us to comprehend its peculiar and lofty modulations. There is much to come to know about Hebrew poetry through their way of creating verse and metre.

It is interesting to note how the Hebrew poet uses parallelism, pathos and the sublime to create verse and metre when these things are categorically figura while metre and verse are structure. We can understand when we think about alliteration, assonance, polyptoton etc. because these figura deal specifically with rhythm. But I think the point I'm trying to make, that Lowthe was flushing out, is that these are the elements that the Hebrew employed for their early poetical metre and verse. And it is different from the Greek and Latin, maybe even considered the opposite because the rules of Greek poetry deny it's liability categorically.

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Now it may be the time to actually talk about or begin the talk about the musical accents of the songs of ascents.  In Hebrew - Ta'amim or 'tastes'. Sometimes called neginot meaning 'notes' or melodies'. These type of note marks suggest to the reader where to raise or lower or even sustain one's voice. The emphasis was on the syllable rather than the musical note. "Whatever rhythm there was came from the syllable alone. Actually, the ta'amim indicated no precise tonal, time and dynamic values...the reader/cantillator was not bound by any rules. He just improvised" (Ausubel, 309). This musical system was worked out by the 9th Century AD. 

Both Lowthe and Ausubel note how music from its beginning was revered as divine. Because it was believed to be able to stir the soul or bring one into higher places thus draw one closer to G-d. It is well known and viewed that the ancient Hebrew had a unique relationship with music and its spiritual power, especially concerning worship. Music as worship has always been at the heart of Hebrew culture and life. 1 Chronicals 23-26 (likely author is Ezra) gives us a great picture of how extensive and important worship was. 

"During his reign, David had divided the Levites as follows: 24,000 carried out temple worship; 6,000 were made officials and judges; 4,000 manned the gates leading into the temple precinct; 4,000 were musicians which included singers, prophesiers, and accompanists.

The fact that four chapters of 1 Chronicles are devoted to the Levites, and only one chapter to the leaders of the military, shows the priority of the author in reestablishing the system of worship in post-exilic Jerusalem.

The responsibilities of the Levites show how broad the umbrella of worship was—priests, musicians, singers, gatekeepers, and treasurers all contributed their part to the central dimension of Israel's life as a nation".        Article - 1Chronicles, worship in David's kingdom

 It was during the second commonwealth period, post-exilic Jerusalem (5th century BC - 1 Century AD) that the "need for heightening the impact upon the worshippers of the Hebrew scriptural texts and the prayers led to the introduction of music into the service of the synagogue". During this Second Temple period, "certain fixed musical modes were introduced for the purpose of cantillating the various scriptural books". They had before been handed down orally from generation to generation, "for no musical notation system existed among the Jews in those early periods any more than it did among the contemporary Hindus, Egyptians, or Greeks. During the first years of the Talmudic era, when the Hellenistic culture influence was making itself felt in a very marked manner among the Jews, Greek musical modes and idioms were freely borrowed and adapted to the religious needs of the synagogue musical service" (Ausubel, 308).

There may have been some reversal or addition before and/or after the completion of the book of psalms. And this gives us strong proof that there is a mixture at work of Greek and Hebrew figura in this ballad. 

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Now Bullinger lays out in this Appendix, Bullinger's Appendix on THE SONGS OF DEGREES, a completely different interpretation of what the word 'degree' is than what I think. He also shares an explanation for the 'psalms of ascents' that is completely different than what I am suggesting concerning the application of chiasmus to link all the psalms together. I leave it to the reader to look through this and make their own conclusions.

But I will proceed to layout where the Spirit has been leading me and what I have found. Let's look at this title - Songs of Degrees. Firstly, there is an irregularity between psalm 121 and the other 14 psalms, in that psalm 121 gives us shir lammah 'alot while the others say shir hammah 'alot. I have no idea what this might even indicate so I'm just gonna move on.

Shir - a song. La is a Lamed preposition and with a definite article, so we get - to the. And then ma-ah 'alot - ascents. With the other plsams, it is the letter Hey with the definite article and this still gives us to the. This 'the' tells us with both nouns (song and degrees) that we are working in a specific group of psalms. And the 'to the' gets most often translated as 'of', the genitive marker that tells us the relationship of the nouns.

This group of psalms is defined by this word ma-ah-lah, ascents. Here is the link https://biblehub.com/hebrew/4609.htm that tells us this:

[" Things that come up, high degree, deal, go up, stair, step, story

1. elevation
2. (literally, the act) a journey to a higher place
3. (figuratively, the act) a thought arising
4. (literally, the condition) a step or grade-mark
5. (figuratively, the condition) a superiority of station
6. (specifically) a climactic progression (in certain Psalms)

The word מַעֲלָה occurs about forty-seven times in the Hebrew Scriptures, describing any upward movement, grade, or elevation—whether in geography, architecture, worship, or spiritual progress. Its distribution stretches from the early monarchy through the post-exilic period and into prophetic vision, weaving the theme of ascent into Israel’s history and worship life.

The root word is mah-al-eh which means cliff, upward slope, platform, stairway or elevation (literal). It can abstractly mean a rise, going up and figuratively mean in priority, chiefest. "]

Most commentaries understand this 'songs of ascents' to be about a literal going up to Jerusalem, the journey along the highways from their home to the temple in Jerusalem. Some also say it speaks to literally going up the steps of the temple. Bullinger suggests that it is actually speaking to degrees of a sundial. But I feel like this is pretty clear. It's either really talking about the literal journey up to Jerusalem or some figurative rising up. And after what I have uncovered so far, it just really feels like it is speaking to a spiritual ascent.

So I wanted to express this clearly, as I have been hinting at it with the remarks that I have been making about the ballad and the psalms as movements. Let me now say that I believe the 'songs of ascents' was compiled for the individual to ascend in the spirit first and foremost and it is not speaking to the literal ascending to Jerusalem. This group of psalms are a spiritual climactic progression.  Each psalm in this ballad causes the person to ascend 'a step' at time, higher and higher into the spirit.

With the ballad as a whole, possibly put together to traditionally be chanted by the temple priest, we can understand a strong intention to ascend in the spirit, into the presence of the Lord, together as a nation. Unity in spiritual ascension is some powerful warfare indeed. Psalm 133 is literally saying how good and precious it is to come together in unity.

So then, this being the 5th psalm in the first grouping, it would be the intended highest degree the other plasms or steps of spiritual ascension have brough us to. What is that? Thanksgiving and praise to the Lord!

We understand its placement in the ballad shows us it is wrapping everything together for this big exultation. In each of the groupings by chiasmus the spiritual steps can tell us what the order of spiritual importance each degree or step is. And which step needs to be taken first to lead to the next step. In taking the intended steps in their intended order causes one to properly accumulate all of the spiritual power so that it converges as the crescendo to the song! And in this group that last step, that crescendo is this sublimely powerful confirmation that the Lord has done it and He is their G-d! 

We will see and talk about further down, how the appearance of the liturgical strophe in verses 1-2 acts as strong additional proof for this. As this particular figura, is from the Greek dramas and plays, and is specifically used to reset the scene and move the audience from one movement into the next.

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IN THIS STUDY - The verses have the link to them so you can go directly to biblehub to look at them. Please forgive my romanized spelling of the Hebrew. You can also find the Hebrew by clicking on the verse links to look at the spelling if you wish. 

Here is a link to a website in which you can look up the figures of speech. 

And here is an extra companion: free bible commentary 124. There are a lot of things I leave out but that provide good information and comparison. There are of course, many commentaries on biblehub available to look at as well. Here is Bullinger's companion Bible study as well.

I will share a link to a bible study of which I would call bad, because it is merely conjecture and gives us nothing to connect with concerning the semantics of the expressions and actual words: John Calvin commentary psalm 124. Be wary of studies that only offer conjecture because you are only engaging with that person's opinions. Opinions and suggestions must be built off the true meaning of the words. A conjecture commentary needs to show its work in coming to their conclusions.

Free Bible Commentary is a commentary that lays out the details and information and does not make conjecture; it tells you to do your work and come to your own conclusions. For this reason I highly recommend it as a resources. Bullinger also does this. It is His studies and book that have been my foundation for this exegetical series I have ventured on. You will see that I don't always agree with him, but he is my teacher when it comes to identifying figures of speech in the scriptures. He certainly is a cut above the rest in this field of biblical study and my greatest resource and guide.

So let's get into the breakdown of the individual verses and identify as many of figures of speech as we can. We will also discuss the spirit of the psalm. and the message of the Ballad (the pilgrim's song) as we go along. Hopefully I will have written clearly that you may not become confused when I present what our original poet intention is and/or what our pilgrims ballad is saying.

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A song of ascents of David shir hammah 'alot le Daveed 1 If the Lord had not been on our side; let Israel now say lu le Adonai sehayah lanu; yomar-na Yisrael  2 If the Lord had not been on our side when men rose up against us lu le Adonai sehayah lanu; bequm alenu adam

The psalm begins with a use of Epidiegesis or re-statement. Which "is a kind of prosapodosis and it is so called when the repetition is for the purpose not of explanation, but of kindling emotion, provoking indignation or evoking comparison" (Bullinger, 397). It is not a type of parallelism because we are getting an exact repetition. It has been marked in many studies as a double protasis followed by a triple apodosis given in verses 3-5. Verses 1-5 are an annoyingly long run on sentence, but that are all linked together by these complete conditional clauses so that we see this line structure:

1] A  - if not

2] A' - if not

3] B  - then

4] B' - then, (then)

5] B'' - then

A complete conditional sentence consists of two clauses - the protasis and the apodosis. The clause containing the condition is called the protasis and the clause containing the conclusion is called the apodosis.

There is another figure at work in verses 1-2 and it is a clear use of liturgical strophe. We will see it again used in psalm 129 but not 134. Chiamus as the foundational structure gives us 3 groupings - 120-124, 125-129, 130-134. So, we see that this strophe is used in the 1st and 2nd verses of the 5th psalm in the 1st and 2nd chiastic grouping but not the 3rd. 15 psalms, 3 groupings by chiasmus (ABCA'B'). It is clear then that this figure is being used to move the ballad/ode, to make a change in direction as well as wrap up the first movement. I do believe that it is crystal clear it is a liturgical strophe that is used in the Greek dramas and tragedies. 

Because of this strophe applied on these two psalms we can see clearly how the intention of the scribes has three overarching main themes as movements that make up this ballad/ode. Then, of course, each of the psalms in their grouping are a movement with a specific purpose. 

So the strophe indicates structural division of the poem, having paragraphs (individual psalms) containing stanzas of varying line length. They are not all blank verse or non-stanzaic (only psalm 120 seems to be). As a whole, the ballad also contains its rhythm or produces some metre.

Where the appearance of this liturgical strophe seems to be clearly an element of Greek addition, not all rhythmic repetitions are. Here is a website you can read up on this and check out other strophic passages in the psalms: strophic forms in the OT and here Jewish encyclopedia on strophe in the OT. But this use of strophe here in psalm 124 and psalm 129 do appear the way we could see strophe used in an ancient Greek epic poems or tragedies. Which we noted earlier, Jewish encyclopedia said were the main things the Hebrews borrowed in poetry.

The strophe, or 'turn', when used by the Greeks in their plays, is the first stanza of an ode. In the reciting of the strophe, the chorus would move from the right of the stage to the left. This strophe would be the first half of the message or theme presented to the audience. The strophe would be followed by the antistrophe and the epode. The consistent artifice of 'strophe, antistrophe and epode' for the arrangement of an ode is accredited to the Greek Pindar in its height during the 5th century BC.  

This figure here wraps up the message and musical movement of group 1 and moves us into the next message and musical movement that is group 2. Does this make group 2 the antistrophe and group 3 the epode? We will find out as we continue to exegete.

The scribes making use of this literary device effecting movements (subjects and themes) allows a cleansing of the pallet while redirecting the intent of the ballad to then being the next ascension in the spirit. By seeing this strophe, I think the scribes who compiled the psalms together were clearly effected by the Greek influence when creating this ballad 'the songs of ascents'.

Now it is common that the following antistrophe would be metrically identical while the epode would in turn be metrically dissimilar. Right now, not having really looked too hard, I do see metrical similarity between group 1 and 2 as well as with specifically 124:1-2 and 129:1-2 while group 3 feels different and psalm 134:1-2 produces a different rhythmic metre involving a figura of repetition. We will start paying attention to this in order for proof one way or the other by watching all this as we continue through our exegesis to see if the next five psalms have similar line structure or metrical similarity in sounds.

RELATED VERSES:

Psalm 129:1-2 is the first and most important reference because it is also a song of ascents. They both happen to be the 5th psalm in their chiastic structure (they both are the B') and they are both make use of liturgical strophe.

1Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth - let Israel now declare, 2 Many a time they have persecuted me from my youth, but they have not prevailed against me".

PS 118: 2Let Israel say, 'His lovingkindness endures forever'. Let the house of Aaron say, 'His lovingkindness endures forever'. Let those who fear the Lord say, 'His lovingkindess endures forever'.

Remember that I also noted that we had use of epidiegesis in PS 123:3 'have mercy on us, have mercy on us'.  

But again, there is something different happening in psalm 124 and 129, specifically that these are a part of one large ballad (group). Psalm 118 and 123 make use of that other simple strophe and not liturgical strophe.

Daily Dose of Hebrew helps us understand the grammatical structure and more literal interpretation of verses 1-2 better in this video. We begin with a series of 'if not' conditional clauses which is finalized in verse 3. 

So that what we have in verse 1 more literally is 'if not Adonia - who existed for us, or on our behalf; let Israel say now'. And then in verse 2 the repetition 'if not Adonai - who existed for us; at the time of the rising of the man(mankind) against us'. Because of the preposition with the infinitive construct becomes a temporal clause and we get the 'when'.

So looking at the line structure you notice that I marked verses 1 and 2 as R and R' -  they are the same line iterated through epidiegesis. 

(complete F) R] - if not the Lord is on our (Israel's) side (He is in relationship with us)

(complete F) R'] - if not the Lord for us (Israel), when a nation came against us 

You also see how in parenthesis I marked them as complete F. That is I was saying that verse 120:7 and 124:1-2 are linked through complete parallelism and they are saying the same thing.

F Psalm 120:7	I have peace because I am in relationship with the Lord...	R Psalm 124:1,2	Had it not been the Lord who was for us
other translation	I have peace because the Lord is for me		If the Lord who existed for us was not on our side

Now psalm 120:7 continues to say the opposite after this, that 'they' - men for war, do not have peace (because they are not in relationship with the Lord). And we will see how the opposite is being passively implied in this psalm, that is, that the Lord is not for them or not on their side. Here is the link to the post in which we discuss this at length Part 2 of psalm 120: 5-7.

I think this link is so interesting because in psalm 120 we see that the poet is then drawing clear lines: if you are in relationship with the Lord, you are for peace or are peaceful. I don't take this to mean that you will not have struggles or face war. It is speaking to the outcome you will have.

And if you are not in relationship with the Lord, you hate peace and or are for war. This is telling us about the state of a man outside of a relationship with the Lord and that it makes him hateful in all his ways.

In psalm 120 it also talked about how the Lord will recompense the wicked and now in this psalm we are seeing the actual recompense. So that in this psalm we see the men who are for war, were recompensed and the ones for peace, who are in relationship with Adonai have peace because they are delivered.

Psalm 118:5-7 gives us this same message and it begins with the identical line of 120:1 "In my distress I called upon the Lord and he answered me". Verse 6 states "The Lord is for me, so what can men do to me?" and verse 7 follows up with the same intention as 120:7 and 124:1 saying "The Lord is on my side as my help" (which is also identical to verse 124:8 and 121:1-2). Now the passage says what was inferred in 120:7 and is flushed out in 124 - "THEREFORE, I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me". That is, they will be recompensed, or I will be delivered.

So we see in psalm 124 those who are for war would have trampled those who are for peace if the Lord had not been on their side. So we are getting a very clear message that the Lord will vindicate those who are in relationship with Him. In this regard we passively understand in this covenant relationship in which the Lord is the master, the servant has relationship requirements. Thus if the servant follows the masters statutes, the master will keep His promises. This was touched on in part 1 exegesis of psalm 120:1-4 where we began looking at verse 2 - the servant keeps the Lord's precepts.

This particular psalm is praising the Lord and giving thanks for doing exactly that - keeping His promises. Then there is magnification for how big the Lord showed up. That the Lord showed up very mighty and did something 'impossibly big' and the poet (and people) can't help but praise Him and glorify Him. This is profound awe.

VOCAB:

on the name - Adonai. Here is a link to the divine name and titles - AP4. Often you will find the translation using the title Adonai or Lord when the literal name is put. This is the case in these verses. YHWH is actually put but you will see that I wrote it out as Adonai, as the translation puts 'Lord' and not the name YHWH.

Historically with the Israelites names have a larger importance, and the Most High's even greater(divine) importance. That no Israelite would ever verbally say His name, they had many epithets like 'The Lord of Hosts' and such and the most common Hashem, 'the name'. This was something I really didn't understand until I met an Israeli girl in my backing trip who explained that there are things you wouldn't know about unless you grew up in the cultural. This was also one of the ways the nation in the ancient days could identify foreigners easily as well. Words that are pronounced different in speech than their spelling, known taboos and courtesies. 

QUESTIONS:

To ask for exegesis's sake: When is this time that is being referred to? Who is the 'man/mankind' that is begin referred to? Bullinger points to this with an interesting connection between this language and writing from a column talking about a time of siege and being trapped in a city like a bird in a cage. So we will come back to these questions in the second part of this exegesis.

Free bible commentary shares this: Psalm 124:1-5 "This is a liturgical strophe related to the deliverance of national Israel from a foreign invader (i.e., "men rose against us"). The exact historical setting is not stated". 

AUTHROSHIP:

let's address that this is the 2nd psalm of ascents that is actually marked as written by David. There are 3 others so marked within the psalms of ascent. The first one is psalm 122, which we haven't exegeted yet. Considering how in the last post we discussed how intentional these psalms were brought together by the scribes, to me this would be grounds to make a case that, at least let's say these 120-124 are written by David (and the other two lol). 

Why do I think this way? Firstly, the writing is consistent like a painter's unique brush style. You read psalms like 21,24,27,35,62 or 139 it's just so clearly David. But also, our findings are showing us how thoughtful and methodical the scribes were when compiling the book of plasms. And especially in creating the ballad the songs of ascents and the message. 

We will discuss the possible authors of the other 10 psalms when we get to them. Of course, it is entirely possible that the unaccredited psalms are written by others, and the scribes are able to fill in the gaps and go with the flow.

However, I consider this when also understand the scripture to be God breathed. The Lord is the most divine poet, and he is very organized and thoughtful in His creations. so, the divine hand guiding the scribe's hand. There seems to be this beautiful point made through this perspective, which is 'a king as a servant' that comes through when we understand these psalms to be from David.

BibleArt Servant King

This has so many implications and effects on the message coming across, as we talked about in our psalm 123 exegesis when our poet continually reaffirms, he is the servant of the Lord. Consider the implications of this message coming from a common man versus coming from a king. 

We discussed at that time also how powerful that message was when Jesus, the king of kings, made himself the servant and even encouraged us to not exult ourselves but be servants. having also previously noted how very intentional the scribes who created the book of psalms were, G-d is still the most intentional of all. And this I am fine with using as proof for this likelihood. The Word is above all else the Lord's message to us. He is also literally the most poetic, most musical, most intelligent and most capable. Whether the scribes knew it or not, what G-d wanted the scriptures to look like, will be accomplished and come back to Him having succeeded (Isaiah 55).

One study I looked at shared that by marking this particular psalm as written by David it emphasizes how the Lord delivered Israel through David. They went on to say that this was done by the Holy Spirit to allude to Christ as a wonderful foreshadow of the king to come and salvation through Christ. 

But I will go on to talk about that I think this psalm is possibly referencing coming out of Egypt. which David did not have anything to do with. And also, that it is the third grouping that mentions the throne of David in reference to the messiah coming. This would be the most likely place this foreshadowing is happening because well, it literally is foreshadowing the messiah coming. 

Lastly I will say that Bullinger believes these psalms were collated and put together by King Hezekiah. I could spend a little more time to look into this. But as for now, if it was, then we still have an actual king who formed this ballad and this king as a servant message would be maybe even firmer. The reason I feel strongly that he isn't the one who collated the 'songs of ascents' has to do with all of our Greek mixed elements. Hezekiah ruled between 714BC-687BC in the First Temple Period. And what we have seen is how Hellenism played a big part of the type of Greek elements we have been finding in our Ballad. It is possible Hezekiah collected a large amount of psalms together and this collection was later taken, edited and completed as the 'songs of ascents' by scribes during that Second Temple Period. There are always possibilities. But I would need to look into all this more. 

CONCLUSION:

On the MACRO - When we look at this composition as a whole, the ballad is very full and copious but as we look at the constitute parts, the individual psalms are actually quite sparse but are very marked by that energetic brevity. Yet I'm honestly shocked at how much the whole and the parts are actually saying. Not only that but it's very clear and expressed orderly.

looking at psalms 120-124 together, we can suggest epibole or overlaid repetition is in use. This is the repetition of same phrases at irregular intervals (Bullinger, 346). we say this because we can see multiple phrases cast upon (from έπίβαλλείν), like layers or courses of brick, several successive paragraphs. We see them repeated throughout these 5 psalms. If it was regular intervals, it would be cycloides or circular repetition.

On The MICRO- Psalm 124 is a thanksgiving psalm. This is about acknowledging the Lords Help that was given and blessing Him. It is super interesting to see something happening in the micro that also is mirrored in the macro as well, that particular pattern for correct ordered steps to take when worshipping the Lord.

Concerning metre and versification - What we see is additional uses of Greek versification through the use of chiasmus and liturgical strophe.

What is uniquely Hebrew is its own peculiar versification we see in the individual psalms. That their line structure is marked by parallelism, which paired with brevity adds to the sublimity of the expressions and messages. We might say that this is a very Hebrew characteristic of versification. 

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Upon doing all the study for this post, I feel like I've been seeing music in such a different way. As this group of poems is actually a musical song and the words are sound and melody. I see it moving and showing me a story the same way a moving picture show does. I've never seen that before...or felt it when engaging with poetry or writings in general. As I'm moving through this exegesis the words are starting to disappear and it is the sound and feeling of the that sound that is more prominently coming through.

Words really are a melody and if we speed it all up, we would feel them the way we feel notes in song. It's like, our soul is an instrument, and the words are plucking the cords of our very being. Notes affect our physical body, but the words affect the soul. It's why we feel things inexpressible when listening to music. Our soul heard the words our couldn't but nevertheless understood something.

So I'm starting to understand this complex musical notation system and symbols that the literary devices and semantic decisions are. And everything is just sound, and this is what leads us in the Spirit to the heavenly realms. And while I had been focused at the beginning of this post on this ballad as a victory song, now here at the end of it, rather I hear psalm 124 as a song of love. Great love for the Lord who has delivered them because this is what I'm feeling most when I read each verse. 

WORKS CITED:

Bible, Multiple translations pulled from https://biblehub.com/

Rev. Lowthe, Robert. Lectures on the sacred poetry of the Hebrews.1815.

Printed & Published by Joseph Buckingham. Winter-Street, Boston.

Bullinger, E.W. Figures of Speech used in the Bible. 1989.

Martino Publishing. Eyre & Spottiswoode London

Ausubel, Nathan. The book of Jewish Knowledge. 1964.

Crown Publishers, INC. New York