Masters Degrees (Old and New Testament)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Old and New Testament) by Author "Choi, Junho"
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- ItemUnderstanding the literary structures of Acrostic Psalms : an analysis of selected poems(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Choi, Junho; Jonker, Louis C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: By means of literary, linguistic and comparative literary approaches, this study examines the literary structure of the alphabetical acrostic poems in the Psalms. First, a literary approach is used to analyze the form and content of each alphabetical acrostic poem to show that the literary structure of the poems is varied. Selected Psalms 9-10, 111 and 112 are translated from the Hebrew and compared to ancient Near Eastern languages especially Akkadian and Ugaritic. Second, by means of linguistic approaches, the literary structure of each poem is determined on both micro and macro levels using the researcher’s own translations of these psalms. Furthermore, a comparative literary approach is employed to compare the forms of ancient Near Eastern acrostics, in particular Akkadian, Egyptian and Ugaritic poems, to Hebrew acrostics. The analysis reveals both similarities with other ancient Near Eastern forms as well as the uniqueness of the Hebrew alphabetical acrostic poems. Both linguistic and literary insights are used to determine the relationship between the different forms. The findings suggest that the alphabetical acrostic poems were probably written around or after 1000 B.C.E. since the ancient Near Eastern poems were written before 1000 B.C.E. The unique 22-line form of the Hebrew alphabetical acrostics also indicates that Hebrew thought was distinct from what can be observed in other ancient Near Eastern texts. On the basis of this research, a conclusion is reached and suggestions for future research are made.