Joab's curious role and David's vivid imagination in Psalm 60 : the Psalm's title as a pertinent tool for exegesis

Abstract

Among the literary devices that, by their very nature, spark one's imagination we find similes and, to a larger extent, parables and metaphors. Their effect depends on the ability of the mind to associate ideas and thereby to perceive or even mentally create the reality referred to by the literary device. However, going beyond such specifically linguistic techniques and moving on to the realm of the redactors' activity, it becomes evident that their own association of ideas and correlation of concepts were based, to a large extent, on the biblical world they visualized in their mind and/or the biblical world they wanted to create for the reader. It will be argued that imagination had a decisive role in the formation of Psalm 60, including its title, and that this was a product of the faith of those responsible for its creation. Consequently, the reader-response approach which transpires through the present study is inspired by the imagination of author and redactor alike. In other words, the latter instigates readings that propel the interpreter beyond the confines of the text. Psalm 60 is a poem immensely rich in metaphors, but a degree of complexity is added by its historical title which, it will be argued, plays a role in shifting the emphasis of the interpretation of the psalm. Before the vast array of images and metaphors found in Psalm 60, the present study will limit itself to two avenues in its exploration of the role of the imagination, namely the title and the divine oracle. The latter has God as its referent, but it also bears upon the understanding of the title in which Joab is a protagonist. Prior to this present undertaking, it is necessary to offer a preliminary analysis of the psalm at large.