Abstract:
Psalm 39 is a peculiar, late post-exilic wisdom composition which
reflects the style of a supplication of a sick person, but actually
rather constitutes a meditation on the transitoriness of human life. It
has been neatly integrated into the conclusion of Book I of the
Psalter by a late post-exilic redaction, but displays antithetic views
with regard to expectations about retribution expressed in other
psalms ostensibly from the same post-exilic era. This article
explores its possible purpose in view of its form, its integration into
Book I of the Psalter, and particularly its seeming contrastive stance
towards Pss 34 and 37. Its apparent criticism of the perspective on
retribution expressed in other wisdom psalms renders it very similar
to Ps 73 as well as to notions expressed in the Book of Job, and the
psalm is therefore compared to these texts as well.
