A Note on Psalm 29

Author(s): Aloysius Fitzgerald

Source: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 215 (Oct., 1974), pp. 61-63
Published by: American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1356316
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 A Note on Psalm 29
ALOYSIUS FITZGERALD, F. S. C.

Though different people understand the 46 the consonants b, ', I run through the whole
dependence in different ways, thanks principally to passage:
the work of Ginsberg,' Gaster2 and Cross3 it is b' snt ysrk b'l bb " I
generally agreed today that Ps 29 is at least heavily tmn rkb 'rpt bp
influenced by some Canaanite ancestor(s). The bl tl bl rbb bbbb lll
evidence upon which the consensus rests is Ps 29's bl gr' thmtm b ' I
connection with the Ugaritic corpus in the areas of bl tbn ql b'l bbb ' Ill
motif, phraseology, parallelism and meter. And in poetry like Ugaritica V, 3:1-2:
Transmission problems apart, Gaster viewed the b'l ytb ktbt gr bbb
whole as Canaanite save for the substitution of hd r[Iy] kmdb dd
"Yahweh" for "Baal". Ginsberg and Cross are of
similar mind, but would also regard verse 11 as it is unthinkable that the poet would have reversed
Yahwist plus. And Cross specifically allows for the the order of the divine names.
partial modernization of language and orthography Now it is clear that the typical Canaanite
which Ginsberg and Gaster presume. Other presentation of Baal as the god of the rainstorm
commentators, however, attempt to make more which characterizes each of these texts has been
distinctions, and there is something of a divergence used by Israelite poets in speaking of Yahweh, and
of views on the immediacy of the dependency, on such connections can be spotted with relative ease.
the degree of similarity that exists between Ps 29 But it should also be clear from what has been said
and its Canaanite ancestor(s), on the number of so far that theoretically, at least, it should be
Israelite interpolations in the psalm, on whether the possible to distinguish at times between an OT text
author(s) of Ps 29 should be viewed as Israelite that was originally Canaanite and simply adapted
using Canaanite materials or as Canaanite, and for Yahwist use by changing "Baal" to "Yahweh,"
whether "Yahweh"or "Baal" is the original divine and a genuine Yahwist text which has been
name in Ps 29 in more or less its present form.4 The influenced only more or less directly by Canaanite
intent of this note is to lend some support to the view points of view, their traditional verbalizations, and
of Gaster that the whole of Ps 29 in substantially its the texts in which they were fixed. The criterion on
present form was written by a Canaanite, that the which such a distinction could be made would be
original divine name in the psalm was "Baal," and which divine name fits the alliterative pattern(s) of
that the Israelite adaptation of the psalm involved the poetry which is being dealt with. In this regard
simply the substitution of "Yahweh"for "Baal." Ps 29 presents a parade example insofar as the
The argumentation that will be used is somewhat divine name occurs so frequently and the overall
unusual, but it is based on the readily demonstrable alliterative pattern of the poem is based on the
datum that both Ugaritic and Hebrew poetry are repetition of the consonants of the name "Baal."
highly alliterative and that frequently enough the There is not a single line where the name "Yahweh"
alliterative pattern of a piece of poetry fits the divine fits better, and in most lines it does not fit at all. The
name that appears therein. following analysis which reintroduces the original
name schematizes the data.6
Thus e.g., when Anat cries out in CTA 3:III:D:34-
36:
mn ib yp' lb' bpb " 11 (v. 1) hbw lb'l:bny 'lym bb:b 11:1
srt Irkb 'rpt bp I hbw lb'l:kbwd w'z bb:b ':' 1:
lmhit mdd it ym mmm (v. 2) hbw lb'l:kbwd gmw bb:b ': 1:
Iklt nhr il rbm nm hithww lb'l:bhdrt qd? b:b ': 11:
it is clear that both "Baal"and "Yamm"fit into the (v. 3) '1kbwd hr'ym b
alliterative patterning of the lines in which they are qwl b'l " mym b " ll
found.5 Similarly in the description of the drought b'l? mym rbym bb " II
that follows upon Aqhat's murder in CTA 19:I:42- (v. 4) qwl b'l bkh:qwl b'l bhdr bb:bb ':' 11:ll

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62 ALOYSIUS FITZGERALD, F.S.C. BASOR 215

(v. 5) qwl b'l (y)sbr 'rzym bb I connections (2b: h, h, h; 9b:y, y, y; 9a:y, y, y). But in
y'br b'l:'rzy lbnwn bb:b ' 1:1 2b (reading "Baal")h, `, 1,b, 1,b, h, S'isbetter. In 9b
(v. 6) yrqydm kmw 'gl lbnwn b 1 (b, p; ';l,1) and 9a (1,1,1, ) "Baal"fits equally well.
wsryn kmw bn r'mym b 3. In the opening unit (1-2a) note the alliterative
(v. 7) qwl b'l hsb lhbwt '" bbb ' lll sequence of b and I that "Yahweh"destroys:
(v. 9b) (qwl b'l) yIsp y'rwt b "" II la b, 1, b, 1, b, I
(v. 8) qwl b'l yhyl mdbr bb Ill lb b, 1, b, 1, b
yhyl b'l mdbr qd& bb II 2a b, 1, b, 1, b.
(v. 9) {} b'lyhwll 'ylwt b 1ll There are similar strings of alternating consonants
bhyklw {} 'mr kbwd bb I in 4-5a (1, b) and 11 (, 1).
(v. 10) b'llmbwl ysb bbb ' lll 4. Even in the cola where the divine name does
ysb b'l mlk I'wlm bb " 1111 not appear (3a; 6a, b; 9c) the consonants of "Baal"
(v. 11) b'l 'z l'mw ytn b "' 11 tend to recur. But there is a furthertendency here for
b'l ybrk 'mw bilwm bbb " 11 other alliterativepatternsto dominate. Note in 6: m,
For the interpretation of the above schema the m, n, n/n, m, n, m, m; and in 9c with klw omitted: b,
following brief remarks should be made. They are k, k, b.7
not meant to be exhaustive, but only to suggest its 5. The basic alliterative pattern of 1la is', '. In
,
clear implications: 1lb it is b, b, b. This and the other repetitions of
1. By substituting "Baal"for "Yahweh"in Ps 29 consonants from "Baal" show that 11 was written
where the divine name occurs so frequently, a great with "Baal" in mind and is consequently not
number of b's, s's, and I's have, of course, been Yahwist.8
introduced. But the point to be made is that once 6. The situation in Ps 29 is quite different from
"Baal" is inserted, its consonants find all sorts of Yahwist texts which make use of Canaanite
resonances in the text. The same is not true for materials to describe Yahweh. Am 1:2, e.g.,
"Yahweh"in the Israelite version. yhwh msyn yS'g y, y, y
2. There are only three cola in the psalm where wmyrwilm ytn qwlw y(?), y
"Yahweh" makes noteworthy alliterative was clearly composed with "Yahweh"in mind.9

I H. L. Ginsberg, Kitve Ugarit (Jerusalem, 1936) 129-31.
2T. Gaster, "Psalm 29," JQR 37 (1946-47) 55-65.
3F. M. Cross, "Notes on a Canaanite Psalm in the Old
Testament," BASOR, No. 117 (1950) 19-21. This article deals
primarily with parallelism and metrics, and is most important
insofar as it shows that the typology of Ps 29 in these areas is
early. Thus Ps 29 cannot derive its Canaanite characteristics
from the Canaanite materials already incorporated into Yahwist
literature that A. Deissler postulates are the sources of Ps 29
("ZurDatierung und Situierung der 'kosmischen Hymnen' Pss 8
19 29," in H. Gross and F. Mussner [eds.], Festschrift H. Junker
[Trier, 1961] 52-58). Cf. also Cross' updated views in Canaanite
Myth and Hebrew Epic (Cambridge, 1973) 151-54. It was the
reading of these pages that occasioned this note.
4 See, e.g., H. Strauss, "Zur Auslegung von Ps 29," ZA W 82
(1970) 98-102.
5For present purposes instances of consonant patterning that
do not involve divine names are ignored. This is not to say that
these are not striven for or are unimportant. Thus in the cola
being discussed the basic patternis: 1) b, p, b; 2) r, r, r; 3) m, m, m;
4) 1, 1,1. Each colon is distinguished by its own pattern, and there
are others running through the piece in various ways. The same
procedure will be adhered to in treating the other texts that
follow.
6The arrangement of Ps 29 used here is that of Cross in
Canaanite Myth, 152-155--except for v. 11 which he omits as a
Yahwist plus. It presumes a minimum of disturbancesduringthe
transmission of the text and omits the article, 't, and generally the
conjunction w. Similar results would be achieved from the
analysis of any reasonable arrangement of the text.
7In the case of the textually and exegetically problematic 9c it
should be noted that the tendency toward heavy alliterative
patterning throughout the poem casts some doubt on Cross'
omission of klw as a dittography. With klw left in the text the b,
b; k, k, k; I, I alliteration seems very typical. And note too the
assonance of the recurring o vowels into which klw fits.
Throughout the poem the heavy alliteration is supposed to echo
the qwl (thunder) of Baal who appearsin the storm theophany of
3-9a. In 9c as the result of this re-enactment by Baal of the
triumph that elevated him to kingship "everyone in his earthly
(heavenly?)temple says: Glory!"Here the alliteration (assonance
too) is supposed to echo the praises of Bial resounding in the
temple and probably secondarily the withdrawing qwl b'l still
heard rumbling in the distance. That the recognition of
alliterativepatterning and the intent of the poet in using it should
have text-critical implications is clear. Butin 9c where something
substantial has apparently been lost (see Gaster, 61-62) the
application of this principle is admittedly very difficult. It does,
however, suggest caution as regards klw.
8Those who argue that v. 11 is a Yahwist plus do so on the
grounds that 1-10 is a hymn that is concerned with a god of the
nature myths who appears in the storm, while 11 is a wish that

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1974 A NOTE ON PSALM 29 63

this god might intervene in history to assist his people. But the
gods of the myths also intervene in history(e.g., CTA 14:1:26ff.),
and the use of form-critical typologies in this way needlessly
limits the ability of the human mind to make very logical jumps
and ignores the individuality of distinct literary pieces. On this
last point see the recent insightful survey of R. Knierim, "Old
Testament Form Criticism Reconsidered," Interpretation 27
(1973) 435-67. In addition the 7+9 syllable count of v. 11 is
characteristic of the instances of long building-blocks Cross
isolates in the rest of the psalm.
9When the present note was already in galley, Prof. D. N.
Freedman was kind enough to call the writer's attention to his
recent study of Ps 29 (D. N. Freedman and C. F. Hyland, HTR
66 [1973] 237-56) which was missed. The oversight is regrettable
since the study is important for the overall structure,
stichometry, and interpretation of Ps 29. The study, however,
does not deal with the alliterative patterning of the psalm and
does not affect the argument used above to show that "Baal"was
the original divine name in it.

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