Abstract:
In this article, which was presented as a paper at the congress of South
African and Dutch Old Testament Scholars, the author first positions
himself methodologically in terms of the South African situation. He
then proceeds to use Psalm 97 to illustrate the text-immanent method, the
method which he elects to apply. The findings reached are that,
although this psalm derives much of its content from the remainder of the
Old Testament, it nevertheless forms a coherent whole, and it can be
described as an artistic poem in which various techniques of poetry are
employed. However, Psalm 97 does not contain a clearly demarcated or
even symmetrical strophic division. It is a persuasive text which probably
dates from the post-exilic period. Apparently, the main aim of the
psalm was to convince the reader/listener that the Lord is in command.
