Psalm 116 - a Prayer of a Person in Sickness?
Staanisław Bazyliński
Pontificia Facoltà Teologica San Bonaventura , ItalyAbstract
This article deals with the event that gave rise to Psalm 116. The author proposes a serious illness of the pray-er as its interpretative matrix. This assumption is developed in three stages. First, the problematic verse 3 is examined along with other expressions. This analysis leads to the conclusion that there are no decisive obstacles to such a hypothesis. Second, the whole of Psalm 116 is taken into account, in order to place problematic elements within the Psalm into a broader context; and so as to highlight previously overlooked details in favor of illness. Third, the vocabulary and the literary motifs of the Psalm are compared and contrasted with other texts dealing with illness, to justify the validity of the proposals.
Keywords:
Psalm 116, danger of death, illness, anguish, divine intervention, recoveryReferences
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