This is a doctoral thesis which was defended at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík, on March 4, 2019. Opponents were Maria Häusl (Leipzig) and Göran Eidevall (Uppsala). The thesis is also accessible via the the open access site of the Icelandic universities and colleges (
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/1459). A shorter version is, however, meant to be published in the ATSAT monography series in the nearest future. Despite being put forth at the University of Iceland, the writing of the thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Hubert Irsigler Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Hezekiah’s Psalm in Isaiah 38:9-20 has long been considered a most difficult text for exegetes
to interpret. The state of the transmitted text has been deemed highly corrupt, and vv. 16-17a
have been described as wholly intelligible and called “the exegete’s nightmare” (H.
Wildberger). As to the question of authorship, scholars’ views range from considering king
Hezekiah himself the author of the psalm to regarding it a product of late post-exilic redactors
of the Book of Isaiah.
In this thesis, a linguistic and literary analysis and interpretation of the structure, function, and
intention of the psalm in its narrative and historical context is endeavoured, based on an
exegetical methodological program put forth by Prof. Dr. Hubert Irsigler (Freiburg im
Breisgau) on an extensive foundation of linguistic-literary exegesis. This program comprises
the following main steps of a methodical research of a biblical Hebrew text: Determination of
the text (“Konstitution des Textes”), criticism of the individuality of the text, study of the
structural and semantic levels of the text (“Kritik der Textindividualität”), criticism of the
typicality of the text, study of the coined features and genre of the text (“Kritik der Texttypik”),
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study of the embedding of the text in its literary and historical context (“Textverankerung”),
and lastly, study of the history of the text (“Textgeschichte”).
The text-critical analysis demonstrates that the transmitted text does not show as many signs of
corruption in individual instances as research has hitherto supposed. On the other hand,
however, the analysis of the distribution of graphemes and phonemes, in addition to the
investigation of the colometric structure of the text, brings a decisive argument for the
displacement of the bicolon Isa. 38:12e.13a during the transmission history of the text. Taking
this displacement into account, the reconstructed text shows a striking structural symmetry,
whereby the middle, or the core, of the psalm is framed by bicola-pairs of extraordinary length.
As in the case of other Hebrew poems, the division of the psalm into metrical lines, or verses,
is of primary importance for the structure of the text. In Hezekiah’s psalm, the so-called Qina-
rhythm, which is typical for the lament, is the dominant metrical form. This is per se highly
interesting given the fact that the psalm has traditionally be understood as a psalm of
thanksgiving. This type of verse has two colas with altogether five poetic accents, the former
cola generally longer than the second, resulting in the accentual form 3+2. The first verse of the
psalm is given a sort of emphasis in that it is reversed and has the form 2+3. Furthermore, the
final verse is highlighted in that it departs from the metrical rule dominating the body of the
psalm, being composed according to the accentual formula 2+2. Thus, the psalm betrays an
artfully constructed, symmetrical structure, which, despite the prevailing Qina-rhythm, is
beautifully varied in that the opening and closing verses deviate from the dominant form and
that the middle of the psalm is framed with extraordinary long Qina-verses.
Apart from the above-mentioned conjecture of the colometric structure of the text, caution is
taken when it comes to emendations of the text based on textual criticism when compared to
many earlier studies. As a rule, the consonants and the vowels of the Masoretic Text are
preserved, if possible. In vv. 16-17a, a text hitherto considered to be severely corrupt and
intelligible, an innovative interpretation of the syntax reveals a logical meaning in excellent
harmony with the context, without any need of emendations to the consonants or the vowels of
the MT. According to this reading, the supplicant is, in vv. 16-17a, trying to motivate Yahweh
to come to his rescue by referring to the loss of those who are left behind in the case of his
death. By this, on the narrative level of Ch. 36-39, both the subjects of King Hezekiah and his
‘significant others’ may be intended, expressed by way of two prepositional phrases, both of
which have the syntactical status of a ‘left dislocation’ (casus pendens).
Just like the analysis of the colometric structure of the psalm, the analysis and description of
the number, kind, and distribution of words and phrases provides an interesting picture of the
construction of the text. Several words and phrases are deliberately repeated, among other
things, in order to frame individual sections of the text or create cohesion or contrast. It is, inter
alia, the purpose of the study of the structural and semantic levels of the text to shed a light on
these compositional features.
In the next step, following the structural analysis of large-scale linguistic elements
(Großsatzformen) (including complex-compound sentences), clause conjunctions are analysed
in detail, followed by the analysis of comprehensive text dimensions (Übergreifende
Textdimensionen). This entails, inter alia, verb forms, tense and aspect, text cohesion,
characters, and roles. All the aforementioned constitutes the basis for the following elaboration
of the textual semantics. This is not the place to go into the details of the semantic analysis, but
as a particularly interesting conclusion, the abovementioned interpretation of vv. 16-17a may
be mentioned, as well as the connotative implications of the verbal form applied in v. 20a,
lÿ=h ̄쪫-i=nª. This form must be considered as being an infinitive with the prefixed preposition
lÿ= and an enclitic objective pronoun, since there are no other occurrences of an infinitive with
a prefixed lÿ= in the Old Testament. However, the infinitive h ̄쪫 has its form in common with
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the imperative, and therefore, the formation lÿ=h ̄쪫-i=nª shows a striking graphical and
phonetical similarity to an imperative with an emphatic l³. In the thesis, it is suggested that the
author deliberately used this verb form in order to create an association between the denoted
infinitive and a connoted imperative and thus allow the possibility of two different functions of
the text on two different levels.
Both the study of the structure and of the meaning of the text provides reasons for believing
that Hezekiah’s Psalm was not only, or primarily, intended to function as the king’s expression
of trust and thanksgiving in the context of Isa 38 but also, and primarily, as a lament in the
mouth of the people in exile. In terms of structural elements, this is evidenced in the Qina-
metre, in the extraordinary length of the cited lament, and in the lack of clear genre-specific
features. Thus, Hezekiah’s Psalm cannot be described as a structurally typical ‘psalm of
thanksgiving’, but rather that the structural traits of the lament, the lament’s extraordinary
length, and the statement of confidence and of the certainty of God’s positive reaction
(Gewissheit der Erhörung) remain dominant, along with the expression of thankfulness, which
is, however, not explicitly expressed when compared to the explicit announcement of
thanksgiving typical for psalms of thanksgiving.
There are also ambiguous elements in terms of semantics as well as in terms of the literary and
historical context of the psalm. Given the psalm’s predominantly exilic literary horizon, the
obvious references to Isa. 13 and Isa. 33, and the various semantic ambiguities which may be
interpreted as referring to Jerusalem’s destruction and the situation of the exile, the conclusion
may be drawn that the psalm functions on two levels. Firstly (but secondarily), it acts as an
expression of trust and thanksgiving of the sick king, Hezekiah, a feeling which is aroused by
Yahweh’s promise to save him and Jerusalem in Isa. 38:5-6. Secondly (but primarily), however,
it seems very likely that the psalm is aimed at the congregation in exile. King Hezekiah may be
seen as a symbol for the exiled people of Israel, who’s capital and temple has been devastated
by the Babylonians, and who have nearly lost hope in ever being allowed to return back to their
homeland.
The analysis of the structure of Hezekiah’s Psalm and its embedding in the literary context
reveals that the psalm was exclusively composed during the exilic period for its context in Isa.
38 within the framework of a prophetic proclamation of hope. Accordingly, it was never
intended for personal use in a cultic framework. It is first and foremost the expression of lament
and prayer of the congregation. Simultaneously, however, it functions as a motivation for that
prayer and nourishment for the hope and trust in Yahweh’s positive answer based on the
promising example of Hezekiah’s experience. Thus, the two levels of the text, the denotative
and the connotative, play artfully together in the author’s exceptionally skilful implementation
of different linguistic and poetic devises.
