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COMMENTARY ON PSALM 27
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COMMENTARY ON PSALM 27 A psalm of David, before he was anointed. found this title not in the Hexapla but in some copies. Despite this, from that fact some people took occasion to reject all the titles as lacking authenticity:1 how is it possible, they ask, for David, who was not yet anointed and had not [1049] received the grace of the all-holy Spirit, to write inspired psalms, especially as he was young at the time, was minding sheep and not running the kingdom, and was not pursued by some adversaries? They ought to understand, on the contrary, that the history of the Kings says David had been anointed twice, or rather three times: first, in Bethlehem by the prophet Samuel;2 secondly, in Hebron by the tribe of Judah after the removal of Saul;3 and thirdly, by all the tribes after the death of Mephibosheth.4 Now, this is what it says about the second anointing: “David inquired of the Lord, ‘Should I go up to one of the cities of Judah?’ The Lord replied, ‘Go up.’ David asked, ‘To which should I go?’ He replied, ‘To Hebron.’” Then the historiographer added by way of explanation of where he had gone, “The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.”5 And in turn regarding the 172 1. Theodoret has addressed the more general objection to the authenticity of the psalm titles in his preface; here he sees his task only to reconcile discrepancies in chronology if this psalm is to be inserted into David’s life story. The implication that inspiration for biblical composition also comes with anointing and appointment as king is interesting, too. 2. Cf. 1 Sam 16.13. 3. Cf. 2 Sam 2.4. 4. Cf. 2 Sam 5.3. See also note 10 on Commentary on Ps 25, on David’s interest in marginal figures like Mephibosheth, whose mention here is in fact anachronistic. 5. 2 Sam 2.1, 2.4. The Deuteronomist is not referred to by Theodoret as a prophetes, an inspired composer, but as a historiographos, just as Chrysostom third anointing thus: “All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron”; and a little later, “King David made a covenant with them at Hebron in the sight of the Lord, and they anointed David king over all Israel.”6 (2) So it is clear that he uttered this psalm before accepting the second election, and before the conduct of affairs was openly entrusted to him. So when pursued by Saul, he used these words at the time he came to the priest Abimelech, prayed in the tabernacle of God, received the blessing of the holy loaves, and escaped the hands of his enemy.7 Now, he refers to this in the psalm itself: Because he hid me in his tabernacle in the day of my troubles (v. 5). At that time also Doeg the Idumean, who was tending the royal mules there, reported David’s flight to Saul;8 hence in the psalm he says, Unjust witnesses rose up against me (v. 12). Commentary on individual verses, however, will teach us this more clearly. (3) The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: whom should I dread? (v. 1). Enlightened by you, he is saying, and illumined by the light you shed on my mind, I scorn all my enemies together.9 When evildoers pressed upon me to devour my flesh, those who distressed me and my foes themCOMMENTARY ON PSALM 27 173 likewise used the term syngrapheus (a term Theodoret will employ in opening commentary on Ps 29). 6. 2 Sam 5.1, 5.3. 7. Cf. 1 Sam 21.1–6. In quoting v. 7 of the psalm as a reflection of this incident , of course, Theodoret’s argument turns upon the tense of the verb—future in the Hebrew, not past (as often in the LXX). He actually adverts to that possibility in quoting and developing Aquila’s version of v. 6 below. 8. Cf. 1 Sam 22.9. It is interesting that Theodoret has gone to considerable trouble to research the sequence of events to justify the psalm’s title (not found in our Hebrew) and its ascription to David at a particular point in his life, this time getting all the Scriptural quotations correct (the LXX, perhaps by a Freudian slip, putting “mules...