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147-560: The earliest document in the collection dates back to 572 BCE, about 15 years after the destruction of the Temple, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II . The most recent tablet dates back to 477 BCE, during the reign of Xerxes I , about 60 years after the Return to Zion began and about 20 years before the rise of Ezra the Scribe . The public records do not contain information on the location and date of

294-899: A Psalm 151 ; a Hebrew version of this was found in the Psalms Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls . Some versions of the Peshitta (the Bible used in Syriac churches mainly in the Middle East) include Psalms 152–155 . There are also the Psalms of Solomon , which are a further 18 psalms of Jewish origin, likely originally written in Hebrew, but surviving only in Greek and Syriac translation. These and other indications suggest that

441-590: A benediction ). These divisions were probably introduced by the final editors to imitate the five-fold division of the Torah : Many psalms (116 of the 150) have individual superscriptions (titles), ranging from lengthy comments to a single word. Over a third appear to be musical directions, addressed to the "leader" or "choirmaster", including such statements as "with stringed instruments" and "according to lilies". Others appear to be references to types of musical composition, such as "A psalm" and "Song", or directions regarding

588-418: A doxology , or a hymn of praise. There are several types of psalms, including hymns or songs of praise, communal and individual laments, royal psalms , imprecation , and individual thanksgivings. The book also includes psalms of communal thanksgiving, wisdom, pilgrimage and other categories. While many of the psalms contain attributions to the name of King David and other Biblical figures including Asaph ,

735-535: A "destroyer of nations" (משחית גוים, Jer. 4:7). The biblical Book of Jeremiah paints Nebuchadnezzar as a cruel enemy, but also as God 's appointed ruler of the world and a divine instrument to punish disobedience. Through the destruction of Jerusalem, the capture of the rebellious Phoenician city of Tyre , and other campaigns in the Levant, Nebuchadnezzar completed the Neo-Babylonian Empire's transformation into

882-519: A buffer state between his own kingdom and the Babylonian and Median kingdoms. After the fall of Harran, Psamtik's successor, Pharaoh Necho II , personally led a large army into former Assyrian lands to turn the tide of the war and restore the Neo-Assyrian Empire , even though it was more or less a lost cause as Assyria had already collapsed. As Nabopolassar was occupied with fighting Urartu in

1029-445: A builder, rather than a warrior. There are very few cuneiform sources for the period between 594 BC and 557 BC, covering much of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, and the reigns of his three immediate successors; Amel-Marduk , Neriglissar and Labashi-Marduk . This lack of sources has the unfortunate effect that even though Nebuchadnezzar had the longest reign of all of them, less is confidently known of Nebuchadnezzar's reign than of

1176-502: A concert of praise at the end. He concluded that the collection was redacted to be a retrospective of the failure of the Davidic covenant , exhorting Israel to trust in God alone in a non-messianic future. Walter Brueggemann suggested that the underlying editorial purpose was oriented instead towards wisdom or sapiential concerns, addressing the issues of how to live the life of faith. Psalm 1 calls

1323-458: A dangerously vague title. Despite these possible fears, there were no attempts made at usurping his throne at this time. One of Nebuchadnezzar's first acts as king was to bury his father. Nabopolassar was laid in a huge coffin, adorned with ornamented gold plates and fine dresses with golden beads, which was then placed within a small palace he had constructed in Babylon. Shortly thereafter, before

1470-597: A desire to return to Zion: The Al-Yahudu Tablets provide among the first Babylonian transcriptions of Israelite names. Earlier, the Assyrians, whom the Babylonians had usurped, had made several inscriptions which featured names of Israelite or Judahite provenance, including Omri , Hezekiah , Pekah and Hoshea , Jehoiachin , and Yahu-Bihdi . In particular, the common Hebrew theophoric elements Yah- and -yahu are variously transliterated as ya-ma and ya-ḫu , instead of

1617-482: A few weeks after Nebuchadnezzar's victory at Carchemish. At this point in time, Nebuchadnezzar was still away on his campaign against the Egyptians, having chased the retreating Egyptian forces to the region around the city of Hamath . The news of Nabopolassar's death reached Nebuchadnezzar's camp on 8 Abu (late July), and Nebuchadnezzar quickly arranged affairs with the Egyptians and rushed back to Babylon, where he

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1764-432: A fragmentary Babylonian inscription, given the modern designation BM 33041, from that year records the word "Egypt" as well as possibly traces of the name "Amasis" (the name of the then incumbent Pharaoh, Amasis II , r.   570–526 BC). A stele of Amasis, also fragmentary, may also describe a combined naval and land attack by the Babylonians. Recent evidence suggests that the Babylonians were initially successful during

1911-560: A huge number of casualties. Though Egypt was not conquered, the campaign did result in momentarily curbing Egyptian interest in the Levant, given that Necho II gave up his ambitions in the region. In 599 BC, Nebuchadnezzar marched his army into the Levant and then attacked and raided the Arabs in the Syrian desert. Though apparently successful, it is unclear what the achievements gained in this campaign were. In 598 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against

2058-556: A melody recognizable as the tonus peregrinus of church and synagogue. Mitchell includes musical transcriptions of the temple psalmody of Psalms 120–134 in his commentary on the Songs of Ascents. In "The Flow of the Psalms," O. Palmer Robertson posits a thematic progression throughout the five books of Psalms, delineating distinctive characteristics and emphases: Book 1: Opposition - Predominantly attributed to David, these Psalms are perceived as

2205-538: A number of minor psalm-types, including: The composition of the psalms spans at least five centuries, from the 10th-century Psalm 29 to others clearly from the post-Exilic period (i.e., not earlier than the fifth century BC). The majority originated in the southern kingdom of Judah and were associated with the Temple in Jerusalem , where they probably functioned as librettos during Temple worship . Exactly how they did so

2352-514: A prominent official in Uruk who served as its governor under the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal ( r.   669–631 BC) in the 640s BC. In Assyrian tradition, the desecration of a dead body showed that the deceased individual and their surviving family were traitors and enemies of the state, and that they had to be completely eradicated, serving to punish them even after death. The name of the son whose name

2499-517: A result, historical reconstructions of this period generally follow secondary sources in Hebrew , Greek and Latin to determine what events transpired at the time, in addition to contract tablets from Babylonia. Though use of the sources written by later authors, many of them created several centuries after Nebuchadnezzar's time and often reflecting their own cultural attitudes to the events and figures discussed, presents problems in and of itself, blurring

2646-522: A single (Egyptian) man [did not return] home. At that time Nebuchadnezzar conquered all of Ha[ma]th. The story of Nebuchadnezzar's victory at Carchemish reverberated through history, appearing in many later ancient accounts, including in the Book of Jeremiah and the Books of Kings in the Bible. It is possible to conclude, based on subsequent geopolitics, that the victory resulted in all of Syria and Israel coming under

2793-409: A special subset of "eschatological hymns" which includes themes of future restoration (Psalm 126) or of judgment (Psalm 82). Communal laments are psalms in which the nation laments some communal disaster. Both communal and individual laments typically but not always include the following elements: In general, the individual and communal subtypes can be distinguished by the use of the singular "I" or

2940-524: A third of the psalms are addressed to the Director of Music. Some psalms exhort the worshipper to sing (e.g. Pss. 33:1-3; 92:1-3; 96:1-3; 98:1; 101:1; 150). Some headings denote the musical instruments on which the psalm should be played (Pss. 4, 5, 6, 8, 67). Some refer to the Levites who sang one of eight melodies, one of which was known simply as "the eighth" ( Hebrew : sheminit ) (Pss. 6, 12). And others preserve

3087-605: A third palace, the Summer Palace, built some distance north of the inner city walls in the northernmost corner of the outer walls. Psalms The Book of Psalms ( / s ɑː ( l ) m z / SAH(L)MZ , US also / s ɔː ( l ) m z / SAW(L)MZ ; Biblical Hebrew : תְּהִלִּים , romanized:  Tehillīm , lit.   'praises'; Ancient Greek : Ψαλμός , romanized :  Psalmós ; Latin : Liber Psalmorum ; Arabic : زَبُورُ , romanized :  Zabūr ), also known as

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3234-415: Is a growing body of evidence that Nabopolassar's family originated in Uruk, for instance that Nebuchadnezzar's daughters lived in the city. In 2007, Michael Jursa advanced the theory that Nabopolassar was a member of a prominent political family in Uruk, whose members are attested since the reign of Esarhaddon ( r.   681–669 BC). To support his theory, Jursa pointed to how documents describe how

3381-561: Is designed not to achieve favor, as such, but rather to inculcate belief in Divine Providence into one's consciousness, consistently with Maimonides ' general view on Providence . (Relatedly, the Hebrew verb for prayer, hitpalal התפלל, is in fact the reflexive form of palal פלל, to intervene, petition, judge. Thus, "to pray" conveys the connotation of "judging oneself": ultimately, the purpose of prayer— tefilah תפלה—is to transform ourselves.) New Testament references show that

3528-419: Is frequently used by modern historians for the royal family he founded, and the term "Chaldean Empire" remains in use as an alternate historiographical name for the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Nabopolassar appears to, regardless of his ethnic origin, have been strongly connected to the city of Uruk , located south of Babylon. It is possible that he was a member of its ruling elite before becoming king and there

3675-445: Is no concrete evidence for this idea. Van Selms believed that a nickname like that could derive from Nebuchadnezzar's early reign, which was plagued by political instability. Nebuchadnezzar II's name, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur , was identical to the name of his distant predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar I ( r.   c. 1125–1104 BC), who ruled more than five centuries before Nebuchadnezzar II's time. Like Nebuchadnezzar II, Nebuchadnezzar I

3822-419: Is no longer mentioned in any sources after 602 BC. The damage to the text however makes this idea speculative and conjectural. In the 601 BC campaign, Nebuchadnezzar departed from the Levant and then marched into Egypt. Despite the defeat at Carchemish in 605 BC, Egypt still had a great amount of influence in the Levant, even though the region was ostensibly under Babylonian rule. Thus, a campaign against Egypt

3969-459: Is often attested under the nickname "Kudurru". Nebuchadnezzar must have been made high priest at a very young age, considering that his year of death, 562 BC, is 64 years after 626 BC. The original Kudurru's second son, Nabu-shumu-ukin, also appears to be attested as a prominent general under Nabopolassar, and the name was also used by Nebuchadnezzar II for one of his sons, possibly honoring his dead uncle. Nebuchadnezzar's military career began in

4116-466: Is on the bank of the Euphrates. He crossed the river at Carchemish. [...] They did battle together. The army of Egypt retreated before him. He inflicted a [defeat] upon them (and) finished them off completely. In the district of Hamath the army of Akkad overtook the remainder of the army of [Egypt which] managed to escape [from] the defeat and which was not overcome. They inflicted a defeat upon them (so that)

4263-641: Is recorded in the Bible, but also in the Babylonian Chronicle, which describes it as follows: The seventh year [of Nebuchadnezzar], in the month of Kislimu, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Levant, and set up quarters facing the city of Judah [Jerusalem]. In the month of Addaru [early in 597 BC], the second day, he took the city and captured the king. He installed there a king of his choice. He colle[cted] its massive tribute and went back to Babylon. Jehoiakim had died during Nebuchadnezzar's siege and been replaced by his son, Jeconiah , who

4410-620: Is unclear how the Egyptian navy would have defeated the superior navies of the Phoenician cities, and even if some cities had been taken, they must have shortly thereafter fallen into Babylonian hands again. Tyre had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar at around the same time as Judah, and Nebuchadnezzar moved to retake the city after his successful subduing of the Jews. The biblical Book of Ezekiel describes Tyre in 571 BC as if it had been recently captured by

4557-472: Is unpreserved in the letter ended with either ahi , nâsir or uṣur , and the remaining traces can fit with the name Nabû-apla-uṣur , meaning that Nabopolassar could be the other son mentioned in the letter and thus a son of Kudurru. Strengthening this connection is that Nebuchadnezzar II is attested very early during his father's reign, from 626/625 to 617 BC, as high priest of the Eanna temple in Uruk, where he

Al-Yahudu Tablets - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-556: The tonus peregrinus melody to Psalm 114. Cantillation signs, to record the melody sung, were in use since ancient times; evidence of them can be found in the manuscripts of the oldest extant copies of Psalms in the Dead Sea Scrolls and are even more extensive in the Masoretic text , which dates to the Early Middle Ages and whose Tiberian scribes claimed to be basing their work on temple-period signs. (See Moshe ben Asher's 'Song of

4851-692: The Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empire . At the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar inflicted a crushing defeat on an Egyptian army led by Pharaoh Necho II , and ensured that the Neo-Babylonian Empire would succeed the Neo-Assyrian Empire as the dominant power in the ancient Near East . Shortly after this victory, Nabopolassar died and Nebuchadnezzar became king. Despite his successful military career during his father's reign,

4998-627: The Neo-Babylonian Empire , ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Historically known as Nebuchadnezzar the Great , he is typically regarded as the empire's greatest king. Nebuchadnezzar remains famous for his military campaigns in the Levant , for his construction projects in his capital, Babylon , including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon , and for

5145-680: The Psalms , or the Psalter , is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ) called Ketuvim ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament . The book is an anthology of Hebrew religious hymns . In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, there are 150 psalms, and several more in the Eastern Christian churches. The book is divided into five sections, each ending with

5292-467: The epode are Psalm 14; the two antistrophes are Psalm 70. It is noteworthy that, on the breaking up of the original ode, each portion crept twice into the Psalter: Psalm 14 = 53, Psalm 70 = 40:14–18. Other such duplicated portions of psalms are Psalm 108:2–6 = Psalm 57:8–12; Psalm 108:7–14 = Psalm 60:7–14; Psalm 71:1–3 = Psalm 31:2–4. This loss of the original form of some of the psalms is considered by

5439-400: The ingathering of exiled Israel by a bridegroom-king; his establishment of a kingdom; his violent death; Israel scattered in the wilderness, regathered and again imperiled, and then rescued by a king from the heavens, who establishes his kingdom from Zion, brings peace and prosperity to the earth and receives the homage of the nations. These three views—Wilson's non-messianic retrospective of

5586-477: The morning services ( Shacharit ). The pesukei dezimra component incorporates Psalms 30, 100 and 145–150. Psalm 145 (commonly referred to as " Ashrei ", which is really the first word of two verses appended to the beginning of the Psalm), is read three times every day: once in shacharit as part of pesukei dezimrah , as mentioned; once, along with Psalm 20, as part of the morning's concluding prayers ; and once at

5733-474: The sons of Korah , and Solomon , David's authorship is not accepted by most modern Bible scholars, who instead attribute the composition of the psalms to various authors writing between the 9th and 5th centuries BC. The psalms were written from the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan to the post-exilic period and the book was probably compiled and edited into its present form during the post-exilic period in

5880-407: The "first" or "chief son" of Nabopolassar, and as Nabopolassar's "true" or "legitimate heir". The Neo-Babylonian Empire was founded through Nabopolassar's rebellion, and later war , against the Neo-Assyrian Empire , which liberated Babylonia after nearly a century of Assyrian control. The war resulted in the complete destruction of Assyria, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which rose in its place,

6027-449: The "plow and locksmith", mentioned in connection with the exile of Jeconiah in 597 BCE. The nature of the service described also appears to indicate a restriction imposed on them in their movement, and to a certain extent may have been in this period a status similar to that of a slave. This period may be reflected in the famous lines of Psalm 137 on the exile. Most of the Jews on the certificates made their living from agriculture. Most of

Al-Yahudu Tablets - Misplaced Pages Continue

6174-449: The 'heir' interpretation over the 'boundary' interpretation in terms of this name. There is no reason to believe that the Babylonians intended the name to be difficult to interpret or to have a double meaning. Nabû-kudurri-uṣur is typically anglicised to 'Nebuchadnezzar', following how the name is most commonly rendered in Hebrew and Greek , particularly in most of the Bible . In Hebrew,

6321-464: The 5th century BC. In English, the title of the book is derived from the Greek word ψαλμοί ( psalmoi ), meaning 'instrumental music' and, by extension, 'the words accompanying the music'. The Hebrew name of the book, Tehillim ( תהילים ), means 'praises', as it contains many praises and supplications to God. The Book of Psalms is divided into five sections, each closing with a doxology (i.e.,

6468-615: The Babylonian Tiamat , Canaanite Yam and the Leviathan which also appears in the Hebrew Bible—is "reduced to an aquatic pet with whom YHWH can play". The biblical poetry of Psalms uses parallelism as its primary poetic device. Parallelism is a kind of symmetry in which restatement, synonym, amplification, grammatical repetition, or opposition develops an idea. Synonymous parallelism involves two lines expressing essentially

6615-582: The Babylonian Empire. The outcome of these efforts was Zedekiah's open revolt against Nebuchadnezzar's authority. Unfortunately, no cuneiform sources are preserved from this time and the only known account of the fall of Judah is the biblical account. In 589 BC, Zedekiah refused to pay tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, and he was closely followed in this by Ithobaal III , the king of Tyre. In 587 BC, Ammon, Edom and Moab likewise rebelled. In response to Zedekiah's uprising, Nebuchadnezzar conquered and destroyed

6762-596: The Babylonian army. The supposed length of the siege, 13 years, is only given by Flavius Josephus, and is subject to debate among modern scholars. Josephus's account of Nebuchadnezzar's reign is obviously not entirely historic, as he describes Nebuchadnezzar as, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, invading Egypt, capturing the Pharaoh and appointing another Pharaoh in his place. A stele from Tahpanhes uncovered in 2011 records that Nebuchadnezzar attempted to invade Egypt in 582 BC, although Apries' forces managed to repel

6909-417: The Babylonian exiles resided. The al-Yahudu tablets cover a period of 100 years under Babylonian rule, especially Persian. In general, the documents show a similarity between the life of the Jews and other exiles in the kingdom at the time. In principle, it can be said that the documents attest to the tension between the preservation of Jewish identity, language, culture and religion and the need, and sometimes

7056-564: The Bible, and the 1st-century AD Jewish historian Flavius Josephus , Zedekiah attempted to flee after resisting the Babylonians, but was captured at Jericho and suffered a terrible fate. According to the narrative, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to make an example out of him given that Zedekiah was not an ordinary vassal, but a vassal directly appointed by Nebuchadnezzar. As such, Zedekiah was supposedly taken to Riblah in northern Syria, where he had to watch his sons being executed before having his eyes gouged out and sent to be imprisoned in Babylon. Per

7203-591: The Book of Psalms. Some psalms are called " maskil " ( maschil ), meaning "enlightened" or "wise saying", because they impart wisdom. Most notable of these is Psalm 142 which is sometimes called the "Maskil of David"; others include Psalm 32 and Psalm 78. A special grouping and division in the Book of Psalms are fifteen psalms (Psalms 120–134) known in the construct case, shir ha-ma'aloth ("A Song of Ascents", or "A Song of degrees"), and one as shir la-ma'aloth (Psalm 121). According to Saadia Gaon , these songs differed from

7350-637: The Books of Kings in the Bible, the campaign against Judah was longer than typical Mesopotamian wars, with the siege of Jerusalem lasting 18–30 months (depending on the calculation), rather than the typical length of less than a year. Whether the unusual length of the siege indicates that the Babylonian army was weak, unable to break into the city for more than a year, or that Nebuchadnezzar by this time had succeeded in stabilising his rule in Babylonia and could thus wage war patiently without being pressured by time to escalate

7497-567: The Catholic Church's Pontifical Biblical Commission (1 May 1910) to have been due to liturgical practices, neglect by copyists, or other causes. Verse numbers were first printed in 1509. Different traditions exist whether to include the original heading into the counting or not. This leads to inconsistent numbering in 62 psalms, with an offset of 1, sometimes even 2 verses. The Septuagint, present in Eastern Orthodox churches, includes

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7644-476: The Davidic covenant, Brueggemann's sapiential instruction, and Mitchell's eschatological-messianic program—all have their followers. However, the sapiential agenda has been somewhat eclipsed by the other two. Shortly before he died in 2005, Wilson modified his position to allow for the existence of messianic prophecy within the Psalms' redactional agenda. Mitchell's position remains essentially unchanged, but he now sees

7791-506: The Euphrates. The following year, Nebuchadnezzar marched his army along the Tigris river to do battle with the Elamites, but no actual battle happened as the Elamites retreated out of fear once Nebuchadnezzar was a day's march away. In 595 BC, Nebuchadnezzar stayed at home in Babylon but soon had to face a rebellion against his rule there, though he defeated the rebels, with the chronicle stating that

7938-583: The Ezrahite (1), and Heman the Ezrahite (1). The Septuagint , the Peshitta (the Syriac Vulgate) , and the Latin Vulgate each associate several Psalms (such as 111 and 145 ) with Haggai and Zechariah . The Septuagint also attributes several Psalms (like 112 and 135 ) to Ezekiel and Jeremiah . Psalms are usually identified by a sequence number, often preceded by the abbreviation "Ps." Numbering of

8085-685: The Harran campaign and the defeat of Ashur-uballit in 609 BCE marked the end of the ancient Assyrian monarchy, which would never be restored. According to the Babylonian Chronicles , Nebuchadnezzar also commanded an army in an unspecified mountainous region for several months in 607 BC. In the war against the Babylonians and Medes, Assyria had allied with Pharaoh Psamtik I of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt , who had been interested in ensuring Assyria's survival so that Assyria could remain as

8232-537: The Hebrew Psalter proposed—by parallel with other ancient Near Eastern hymn collections—that psalms at the beginning and end (or "seams") of the five books of Psalms have thematic significance, corresponding in particular with the placement of the royal psalms. He pointed out that there was a progression of ideas from adversity through the crux of the collection in the apparent failure of the covenant in Psalm 89, leading to

8379-504: The Kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, one of the great achievements of his reign. The campaign, which probably ended in the summer of 586 BC, resulted in the plunder and destruction of the city of Jerusalem, a permanent end to Judah, and it led to the Babylonian captivity , as the Jews were captured and deported to Babylonia. Archaeological excavations confirm that Jerusalem and the surrounding area

8526-410: The Kingdom of Judah, succeeding in capturing the city of Jerusalem . Judah represented a prime target of Babylonian attention given that it was at the epicenter of competition between Babylon and Egypt. By 601 BC, Judah's king, Jehoiakim , had begun to openly challenge Babylonian authority, counting on that Egypt would lend support to his cause. Nebuchadnezzar's first, 598–597 BC, assault on Jerusalem

8673-417: The Levant, though little information survives beyond that a "vast" amount of booty was brought from the Levant to Babylonia in 602 BC. On account of the entry for 602 BC also referring to Nabu-shum-lishir, Nebuchadnezzar's younger brother, in a fragmentary and unclear context, it is possible that Nabu-shum-lishir led a revolt against his brother in an attempt to usurp the throne in that year, especially since he

8820-569: The Medes were beginning to be seen as "enemies". By 594 BC, the failure of the Egyptian invasion, and the lacklustre state of Nebuchadnezzar's other campaigns, loomed high. According to the Assyriologist Israel Ephʿal, Babylon at this time was seen by its contemporaries more like a " paper tiger " (i. e. an ineffectual threat) than a great empire, like Assyria just a few decades prior. From his appointment as king of Judah, Zedekiah waited for

8967-407: The Neo-Assyrian Empire. The situation grew so severe that people in Babylonia itself began disobeying the king, some going as far as to revolt against Nebuchadnezzar's rule. After this disappointing early period as king, Nebuchadnezzar's luck turned. In the 580s BC, Nebuchadnezzar engaged in a successful string of military actions in the Levant against the vassal states in rebellion there, likely with

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9114-412: The Psalms concern the subject of death and says "This unatural conclusion to every human life can be understood only in the context of the original threat to the original man: 'in the day you shall eat of it you shall surely die.'" Robertson goes on to say "The anticipation from redemption fom the grave overcomes the inevitability of death. The psalmist is fully aware of his need for total deliverance from

9261-399: The Psalms differs—mostly by one—between the Hebrew ( Masoretic ) and Greek (Septuagint) manuscripts. Protestant translations ( Lutheran , Anglican , Calvinist ) use the Hebrew numbering, but other Christian traditions vary: The variance between Masorah and Septuagint texts in this numeration is likely enough due to a gradual neglect of the original poetic form of the Psalms; such neglect

9408-501: The Psalter. Gunkel divided the psalms into five primary types: Hymns are songs of praise for God's work in creation or history. They typically open with a call to praise, describe the motivation for praise, and conclude with a repetition of the call. Two sub-categories are "enthronement psalms", celebrating the enthronement of Yahweh as king, and Zion psalms, glorifying Mount Zion , God's dwelling-place in Jerusalem. Gunkel also described

9555-476: The Southern and Northern kingdoms. Expressions like "trust in God" diminish. Book 4: Maturity - Notably, with over 10 quotes from Chronicles , indicating a temporal progression beyond the initial three books. Book 5: Consummation - Robertson proposes that the Psalms of Ascent and Hallel Psalms are post-Babylonian exile compositions, portraying a culmination of themes and perspectives Most individual psalms involve

9702-567: The Vine' colophon to the Codex Cairensis). Several attempts have been made to decode the Masoretic cantillation, but the most "successful" is that of Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura (1928–2000) in the last quarter of the 20th century. Her reconstruction assumes the signs represent the degrees of various musical scales – that is, individual notes – which puts it at odds with all other existing traditions, where

9849-505: The address to "sons of God" at the opening "[is] best thought of [as] the flickering literary afterlife of a polytheistic mythology" but that "belief in them...is unlikely to have been shared by the scribal circles that produced Psalms ". The contrast between the Psalmist's theology and the surrounding area's polytheistic religion is well seen in Psalms 104:26,<refr> Psalms 104:26 </ref> in which locals' mythical fierce sea-god—such as

9996-493: The aforementioned rebellion in Babylonia itself, as well as records of a man being executed in 594 BC at Borspippa for "breaking his oath to the king". The oath-breaking was serious enough that the judge in the trial was Nebuchadnezzar himself. It is also possible that Babylonian–Median relations were becoming strained, with records of a "Median defector" being housed in Nebuchadnezzar's palace and some inscriptions indicating that

10143-452: The chronicle excuses the king by stating that he stayed in Babylon to "refit his numerous horses and chariotry". Some of the years when Nebuchadnezzar was victorious can also hardly be considered real challenges. Raiding the Arabs in 599 BC was not a major military accomplishment and the victory over Judah and the retreat of the Elamites were not secured on the battlefield. It thus appears that Nebuchadnezzar achieved little military success after

10290-472: The city of Ascalon . According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Ascalon's king was captured and taken to Babylon, and the city was plundered and levelled to the ground. Modern excavations at Ascalon have confirmed that the city was more or less destroyed at this point in time. The Ascalon campaign was preceded by a campaign in Syria, which was more successful than Nebuchadnezzar's first, resulting in oaths of fealty from

10437-465: The city withstood numerous sieges, it would not be captured until Alexander the Great 's siege in 332 BC. In the end, the siege was resolved without a need of battle and did not result in the Tyre being conquered. It seems Tyre's king and Nebuchadnezzar came to an agreement for Tyre to continue to be ruled by vassal kings, though probably under heavier Babylonian control than before. Documents from Tyre near

10584-511: The city's religious buildings, including the Esagila and Etemenanki , renovated its existing palace, constructed a brand new palace, and beautified its ceremonial centre through renovations to the city's Processional Street and the Ishtar Gate . As most of Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions deal with his building projects, rather than military accomplishments, he was for a time seen by historians mostly as

10731-564: The collection bore the imprint of an underlying message or metanarrative , but that this message remained concealed, as Augustine of Hippo said, "The sequence of the Psalms seems to me to contain the secret of a mighty mystery, but its meaning has not been revealed to me" ( Enarr. on Psalms 150:1). Others pointed out the presence of concatenation—that is, adjacent Psalms sharing similar words and themes. In time, this approach developed into recognizing overarching themes shared by whole groups of psalms. In 1985, Gerald H. Wilson 's The Editing of

10878-414: The control of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, a feat which the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser III ( r.   745–727 BC) only accomplished after five years of protracted military campaigns. The defeat of Egypt at Carchemish ensured that the Neo-Babylonian Empire would grow to become the major power of the ancient Near East, and the uncontested successor of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nabopolassar died just

11025-431: The current Western Christian and Jewish collection of 150 psalms were selected from a wider set. Hermann Gunkel 's pioneering form-critical work on the psalms sought to provide a new and meaningful context in which to interpret individual psalms—not by looking at their literary context within the Psalter (which he did not see as significant), but by bringing together psalms of the same genre ( Gattung ) from throughout

11172-642: The daily economic level, like other Babylonians, and not necessarily according to the laws of the Torah . Among the exiles, there are documents of a number of Jews of strong economic standing. Some (such as Raphaiah Ben Smachiho and his son) acted as intermediaries and credit providers to the Jewish population and managed to accumulate substantial capital. These intermediaries provided pure silver coins to concentrate tax payments of various Jews and provided farmers with means of production, such as plowing animals and grain. Due to

11319-431: The designation of the leasehold lands and directly in the jobs that the exiles were required to perform as part of the payment of taxes. Based on other documents dealing with payment of tax and service to the kingdom after their settlement, it seems that other exiles were employed in physical labor. These included construction work, excavation and maintenance of irrigation channels. It is possible that among these were many of

11466-474: The discovery of the documents in Iraq , and it seems that they were not found in an archaeological excavation. The first time the public was exposed to the documents and the settlement of al-Yahudu was in an article by two French researchers in 1999, which dealt with three legal documents of Jews in Babylon, including the city of al-Yahudu itself. These three certificates were part of a small collection of six documents in

11613-543: The documents are: The collection also contains documents from the cities of Babylon , Nippur , Borsippa , and even a document signed on the banks of the Kebar River , known in the bible as the site of the Exile and known from the Babylonian records as an irrigation canal which was also used as a transportation channel for commerce and movement of people. The collection contained no references to other biblical-known cities in which

11760-456: The earliest Christians used the Psalms in worship, and the Psalms have remained an important part of worship in most Christian Churches. The Eastern Orthodox , Catholic , Presbyterian , Lutheran and Anglican Churches have always made systematic use of the Psalms, with a cycle for the recitation of all or most of them over the course of one or more weeks. In the early centuries of the Church, it

11907-495: The earliest in origin, characterized by a focus on trust in God, with Yahweh as the dominant name. Book 2: Communication - Despite continued opposition, this book reflects an outreach even to enemies of God. The prevalent name for God shifts to Elohim, especially when borrowing sections from Book 1. Robertson suggests Book 2 may have Northern Kingdom origins. Book 3: Devastation - Marked by the overtaking of Jerusalem, this book holds out hope for Jacob and Joseph, possibly symbolizing

12054-403: The end of Nebuchadnezzar's reign demonstrate that the city had become a centre for Babylonian military affairs in the region. According to later Jewish tradition, it is possible that Ithobaal III was deposed and taken as a prisoner to Babylon, with another king, Baal II, proclaimed by Nebuchadnezzar in his place. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against Egypt in 568 BC, given that

12201-435: The end of the month in which he had been crowned, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Syria to resume his campaign. The Babylonian Chronicle records that "he marched about victoriously", meaning that he faced little to no resistance, returning to Babylon after several months of campaigning. The Syrian campaign, though it resulted in a certain amount of plunder, was not a complete success in that it did not ensure Nebuchadnezzar's grasp on

12348-563: The entire Book of Psalms prior to the morning service, on the Sabbath preceding the calculated appearance of the new moon . The reading of psalms is viewed in Jewish tradition as a vehicle for gaining God's favor. They are thus often specially recited in times of trouble, such as poverty, disease, or physical danger; in many synagogues, Psalms are recited after services for the security of the State of Israel . Sefer ha-Chinuch states that this practice

12495-478: The entire collection has been investigated mainly by two researchers, Cornelia Wunsch of Germany and Laurie Pearce of the United States. After a series of papers on documentary issues, Wunsch and Pierce published in early 2015 and 2022 the first full translations and analysis of the collection in a series of two books. The location and circumstances of the discovery of the documents have not been published. However,

12642-503: The failure of his invasion of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar's poor military record had dangerous geopolitical consequences. According to the Bible, in Zedekiah's fourth year as king of Judah (594 BC), the kings of Ammon , Edom , Moab , Sidon and Tyre met in Jerusalem to deal with the possibility of throwing off Babylonian control. Evidence that Babylonian control was beginning to unravel is also clear from contemporary Babylonian records, such as

12789-415: The fate of the psalmist. By far the most common type of psalm, they typically open with an invocation of God, followed by the lament itself and pleas for help, and often ending with an expression of confidence. In individual thanksgiving psalms, the opposite of individual laments, the psalmist thanks God for deliverance from personal distress. In addition to these five major genres, Gunkel also recognised

12936-402: The first third or so of Nebuchadnezzar's reign saw little to no major military achievements, and notably a disastrous failure in an attempted invasion of Egypt. These years of lackluster military performance saw some of Babylon's vassals, particularly in the Levant , beginning to doubt Babylon's power, viewing the Neo-Babylonian Empire as a " paper tiger " rather than a power truly on the level of

13083-400: The form of service in exchange for land. Although they can be compared to the status of land-bound tenants, they seem to have enjoyed freedom of movement, they were defined as independent entities before the Babylonian and Persian law and enjoyed the possibilities of social and economic integration. The type of service required of the exiles is mentioned in the documents, both in the context of

13230-401: The grave and body of "Kudurru", a deceased governor of Uruk, was desecrated due to the anti-Assyrian activities of Kudurru's two sons, Nabu-shumu-ukin and a son whose name is mostly missing. The desecration went so far as to drag Kudurru's body through the streets of Uruk. Kudurru can be identified with Nebuchadnezzar ( Nabû-kudurri-uṣur , "Kudurru" simply being a common and shortened nickname),

13377-413: The historic Assyrian form ya-ú . Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II ( / ˌ n ɛ b j ʊ k ə d ˈ n ɛ z ər / NEB -yuu-kəd- NEZ -ər ; Babylonian cuneiform : [REDACTED] Nabû-kudurri-uṣur , meaning " Nabu , watch over my heir"; Biblical Hebrew : נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר , romanized:  Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar ), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II , was the second king of

13524-405: The immediate family, usually in shifts, but in contemporary practice this service is provided by an employee of the funeral home or chevra kadisha . Many Jews complete the Book of Psalms on a weekly or monthly basis. Each week, some also say a Psalm connected to that week's events or the Torah portion read during that week . In addition, many Jews (notably Lubavitch , and other Chasidim ) read

13671-471: The invasion and gained a foothold in Egypt, but they were repelled by Amasis' forces. If Nebuchadnezzar did campaign against Egypt again, he was unsuccessful again, given that Egypt did not come under Babylonian rule. Nebuchadnezzar's campaigns in the Levant, most notably those directed towards Jerusalem and Tyre, completed the Neo-Babylonian Empire's transformation from a rump state of the Neo-Assyrian Empire to

13818-408: The invasion. Josephus states that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre in the seventh year of "his" reign, though it is unclear whether "his" in this context refers to Nebuchadnezzar or to Ithobaal III of Tyre. If it refers to Nebuchadnezzar, a siege begun in 598 BC and lasting for thirteen years, later simultaneously with the siege of Jerusalem, is unlikely to have gone unmentioned in Babylonian records. If

13965-620: The issue as identifying when the historical beginning of the Psalms turns to eschatology. The Psalms were written not merely as poems, but as songs for singing. According to Bible exegete Saadia Gaon (882–942) who served in the geonate of Babylonian Jewry, the Psalms were originally sung in the Temple precincts by the Levites , based on what was prescribed for each psalm (lineage of the singers, designated time and place, instruments used, manner of execution, etc.), but are permitted to be randomly read by anyone at any time and in any place. More than

14112-410: The king "put his large army to the sword and conquered his foe." Shortly thereafter, Nebuchadnezzar again campaigned in the Levant and secured large amounts of tribute. In the last year recorded in the chronicle, 594 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in the Levant yet again. There were several years without any noteworthy military activity at all. Notably, Nebuchadnezzar spent all of 600 BC in Babylon, when

14259-448: The land they leased grew dates and barley , but wheat , spices and linen were also mentioned in the documents. Analysis of the money amounts in the transactions appearing in the certificates shows that they had a low economic status relative to the kingdom. A comparison of the economic agreements from other collections in Babylon indicates the integration of the Jews into the economic life of Babylon, and it seems that they operated on

14406-407: The last great enemy, and attests to expectation of deliverance." Individual psalms were originally hymns, to be used on various occasions and at various sacred sites; later, some were anthologised, and might have been understood within the various anthologies (e.g., ps. 123 as one of the Psalms of Ascent); finally, individual psalms might be understood within the Psalter as a whole, either narrating

14553-488: The life of David or providing instruction like the Torah. In later Jewish and Christian tradition, the psalms have come to be used as prayers, either individual or communal, as traditional expressions of religious feeling. Many authors have commented on the psalms, including: Some of the titles given to the Psalms have descriptions which suggest their use in worship: Psalms are used throughout traditional Jewish worship . Many complete Psalms and verses from Psalms appear in

14700-453: The line between history and tradition, it is the only possible approach to gain insight into Nebuchadnezzar's reign. Nebuchadnezzar II's name in Akkadian was Nabû-kudurri-uṣur , meaning " Nabu , watch over my heir". The name was often interpreted in earlier scholarship as "Nabu, protect the boundary", given that the word kudurru can also mean 'boundary' or 'line'. Modern historians support

14847-597: The location of the communities mentioned in the documents, where exiled Jews settled, can be traced based on clues found in the documents' contents. The assessment is based on two main components: Based on this, researchers estimate that al-Yahudu and the other communities mentioned in the documents are located in the area southeast of the city of Nippur . Beyond the settlement of al-Yahudu, other settlements were mentioned where Jews were living or working. Some of them are well-known cities and some were apparently satellite settlements of al-Yahudu. The main localities mentioned in

14994-465: The morning and evening services. There is a Minhag (custom) to recite Psalm 30 each morning of Chanukkah after Shacharit: some recite this in place of the regular "Psalm for the Day", others recite this additionally. When a Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and tehillim (Psalms) are recited constantly by sun or candlelight, until the burial service. Historically, this watch would be carried out by

15141-636: The most impressive efforts was the work done surrounding the city's northern ceremonial entrance, the Ishtar Gate . These projects included restoration work on the South Palace, inside the city walls, the construction of a completely new North Palace, on the other side of the walls facing the gate, as well as the restoration of Babylon's Processional Street, which led through the gate, and of the gate itself. The ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's North Palace are poorly preserved and as such its structure and appearance are not entirely understood. Nebuchadnezzar also constructed

15288-522: The name for ancient eastern modes, like ayelet ha-shachar (hind of the dawn; Ps. 22); shoshanim / shushan ( lilies / lily ; Pss. 45; 60), said to be describing a certain melody; or ʻalmuth / ʻalamoth ( mute ; Pss. 9, 46), which, according to Saadia Gaon, is "a silent melody, nearly inaudible." Despite the frequently heard view that their ancient music is lost, the means to reconstruct it are still extant. Fragments of temple psalmody are preserved in ancient synagogue and church chant, particularly in

15435-402: The name is rendered in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel , נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר ( Nəḇūḵaḏreʾṣṣar ), a more faithful transliteration of the original Akkadian name. The Assyriologist Adrianus van Selms suggested in 1974 that the variant with an "n" rather than an "r" was a rude nickname, deriving from an Akkadian rendition like Nabû-kūdanu-uṣur , which means 'Nabu, protect the mule ', though there

15582-424: The name was rendered as נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר ( Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar ) and in Greek it was rendered as Ναβουχοδονόσορ ( Nabouchodonosor ). Some scholars, such as Donald Wiseman , prefer the anglicisation "Nebuchadrezzar", with an "r" rather than an "n", following the assumption that "Nebuchadnezzar" is a later, corrupted form of the contemporary Nabû-kudurri-uṣur . The alternate anglicisation "Nebuchadrezzar" derives from how

15729-404: The nature of the documents, this subject appears only implicitly. The preservation of Jewish identity can be seen in the sequence of names given to family members for at least four generations, the fact that no documents were found on Jewish holidays, and that dates were not signed on Shabbat. The documents do not show signs of people leaving for Judea, but at least two Jews have been found who had

15876-453: The new dominant power of the ancient Near East. Still, Nebuchadnezzar's military accomplishments can be questioned, given that the borders of his empire, by the end of his reign, had not noticeably increased in size and that he had not managed to conquer Egypt. Even after a reign of several decades, Nebuchadnezzar's greatest victory remained his victory over the Egyptians at Carchemish in 605 BC, before he even became king. The Babylonian king

16023-474: The new great power of the ancient Near East. In addition to his military campaigns, Nebuchadnezzar is remembered as a great builder king. The prosperity ensured by his wars allowed Nebuchadnezzar to conduct great building projects in Babylon, and elsewhere in Mesopotamia. The modern image of Babylon is largely of the city as it was after Nebuchadnezzar's projects, during which he, among other work, rebuilt many of

16170-434: The north, the Egyptians took control of the Levant largely unopposed, capturing territories as far north as the city of Carchemish in Syria, where Necho established his base of operations. Nebuchadnezzar's greatest victory from his time as crown prince came at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, which put an end to Necho's campaign in the Levant by inflicting a crushing defeat on the Egyptians. Nebuchadnezzar had been

16317-485: The occasion for using the psalm ("On the dedication of the temple", "For the memorial offering", etc.). Many carry the names of individuals, the most common (73 psalms—75 if including the two Psalms attributed by the New Testament to David) being 'of David', and thirteen of these relate explicitly to incidents in the king's life. Others named include Asaph (12), the sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Ethan

16464-424: The opportune moment to throw off Babylonian control. After Pharaoh Necho II's death in 595 BC, Egyptian intervention in affairs in the Levant increased once again under his successors, Psamtik II ( r.   595–589 BC) and Apries ( r.   589–570 BC), who both worked to encourage anti-Babylonian rebellions. It is possible that the Babylonian failure to invade Egypt in 601 BC helped inspire revolts against

16611-557: The other psalms in that they were to be sung by the Levites in a "loud melody" ( Judeo-Arabic : בלחן מרתפע ‎). Every psalm designated for Asaph (e.g. Psalms 50, 73–83) was sung by his descendants while making use of cymbals , in accordance with 1 Chronicles 16:5. Every psalm wherein is found the introductory phrase "Upon Mahalath" (e.g. Psalms 53 and 88) was sung by the Levites by using large percussion instruments having wide and closed bezels on both sides and beaten with two wooden sticks. O. Palmer Robertson observes that many of

16758-530: The plural "we". However, the "I" could also be characterising an individual's personal experience that was reflective of the entire community. Royal psalms deal with such matters as the king's coronation, marriage and battles. None of them mentions any specific king by name, and their origin and use remain obscure; several psalms, especially Psalms 93–99, concern the kingship of God, and might relate to an annual ceremony in which Yahweh would be ritually reinstated as king. Individual laments are psalms lamenting

16905-552: The possession of Israeli antiquities collector Shlomo Moussaieff . At the beginning of the 21st century, it turned out that this was not a small collection, but a collection of more than 200 documents, most of which were in two other private collections. Some of the documents were presented in 2004 at ANU – Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv and were investigated in part by Kathleen Abraham of Bar-Ilan University . Since then,

17052-419: The praise of God for his power and beneficence, for his creation of the world, and for his past acts of deliverance for Israel. They envision a world in which everyone and everything will praise God, and God in turn will hear their prayers and respond. Sometimes God "hides his face" and refuses to respond, questioning (for the psalmist) the relationship between God and prayer which is the underlying assumption of

17199-451: The prospering economy during Nebuchadnezzar's reign, sustained by his conquests. His building inscriptions record work done to numerous temples, notably the restoration of the Esagila , the main temple of Babylon's national deity Marduk , and the completion of the Etemenanki , a great ziggurat dedicated to Marduk. Extensive work was also conducted on civil and military structures. Among

17346-482: The reader to a life of obedience; Psalm 73 (Brueggemann's crux psalm) faces the crisis when divine faithfulness is in doubt; Psalm 150 represents faith's triumph when God is praised not for his rewards but for his being. In 1997, David. C. Mitchell's The Message of the Psalter took a quite different line. Building on the work of Wilson and others, Mitchell proposed that the Psalter embodies an eschatological timetable like that of Zechariah 9–14. This programme includes

17493-400: The region. He had seemingly failed to inspire fear, given that none of the westernmost states in the Levant swore fealty to him and paid tribute. Though little information survives concerning them, the Babylonian Chronicle preserves brief accounts of Nebuchadnezzar's military activities in his first eleven years as king. In 604 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in the Levant once again, conquering

17640-508: The reign of his father, though little information survives. Based on a letter sent to the temple administration of the Eanna temple, it appears that Nebuchadnezzar participated in his father's campaign to take the city of Harran in 610 BC. Harran was the seat of Ashur-uballit II , who had rallied what remained of the Assyrian army and ruled the Neo-Assyrian rump state . The Babylonian victory in

17787-522: The reigns of almost all the other Neo-Babylonian kings. Though the handful of cuneiform sources recovered, notably the Babylonian Chronicle , confirm some events of his reign, such as conflicts with the Kingdom of Judah , other events, such as the 586 BC destruction of Solomon's Temple and other military campaigns Nebuchadnezzar possibly conducted, are not covered in any known cuneiform documents. As

17934-484: The role he plays in Jewish history . Ruling for 43 years, Nebuchadnezzar was the longest-reigning king of the Babylonian dynasty . By the time of his death, he was among the most powerful rulers in the world. Possibly named after his grandfather of the same name , or after Nebuchadnezzar I ( r.   c. 1125–1104 BC), one of Babylon's greatest ancient warrior-kings, Nebuchadnezzar II already secured renown for himself during his father's reign, leading armies in

18081-447: The rulers of Phoenicia . In 603 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in a land whose name is not preserved in the surviving copy of the chronicle. The chronicle records that this campaign was extensive, given that the account mentions the construction of large siege towers and a siege of a city, the name of which does not survive either. Anson Rainey speculated in 1975 that the city taken was Gaza, whereas Nadav Na'aman thought in 1992 that it

18228-506: The same idea. An example of synonymous parallelism: Two lines expressing opposites is known as antithetic parallelism . An example of antithetic parallelism: Two clauses expressing the idea of amplifying the first claim is known as expansive parallelism. An example of expansive parallelism: Many scholars believe the individual Psalms were redacted into a single collection during the Second Temple period. It had long been recognized that

18375-423: The same poem. The Hebrew text is correct in counting as one Psalm 146 and Psalm 147. Later liturgical usage would seem to have split up these and several other psalms. Zenner combines into what he deems were the original choral odes: Psalms 1, 2, 3, 4; 6 + 13; 9 + 10; 19, 20, 21; 56 + 57; 69 + 70; 114 + 115; 148, 149, 150. A choral ode would seem to have been the original form of Psalms 14 and 70. The two strophes and

18522-433: The seventh year of Ithobaal is intended, the beginning of the siege may conjecturally be placed after Jerusalem's fall. If the siege lasting 13 years is taken at face value, the siege would then not have ended before 573 or 572 BC. The supposed length of the siege can be ascribed to the difficulty in besieging the city: Tyre was located on an island 800 metres from the coast, and could not be taken without naval support. Though

18669-451: The siege, is not certain. It is possible that the Egyptians took advantage of the Babylonians being preoccupied with besieging Jerusalem. Herodotus describes Pharaoh Apries as campaigning in the Levant, taking the city of Sidon and fighting the Tyrians, which indicates a renewed Egyptian invasion of the Levant. Apries is unlikely to have been as successful as Herodotus describes, given that it

18816-427: The signs invariably represent melodic motifs; it also takes no account of the existence of older systems of notation, such as the Babylonian and Palestinian systems. Musicologists have therefore rejected Haïk-Vantoura's theories, with her results dubious, and her methodology flawed. In spite of this, Mitchell has repeatedly defended it, showing that, when applied to the Masoretic cantillation of Psalm 114, it produces

18963-530: The sole commander of the Babylonian army at this battle as his father had chosen to stay in Babylon, perhaps on account of illness. Necho's forces were completely annihilated by Nebuchadnezzar's army, with Babylonian sources claiming that not a single Egyptian escaped alive. The account of the battle in the Babylonian Chronicle reads as follows: The king of Akkad stayed home (while) Nebuchadnezzar, his eldest son (and) crown prince mustered [the army of Akkad]. He took his army's lead and marched to Carchemish, which

19110-497: The start of the afternoon service . On Festival days and Sabbaths, instead of concluding the morning service, it precedes the Mussaf service. Psalms 95–99, 29, 92, and 93, along with some later readings, comprise the introduction ( Kabbalat Shabbat ) to the Friday night service. Traditionally, a different "Psalm for the Day"— Shir shel yom —is read after the morning service each day of

19257-702: The three sons of Korah . According to Abraham ibn Ezra , the final redaction of the book was made by the Men of the Great Assembly . Some of the psalms show influences from related earlier texts from the region; examples include various Ugaritic texts and the Babylonian Enūma Eliš . These influences may be either of background similarity or of contrast. For example, Psalm 29 shares characteristics with Canaanite religious poetry and themes. Not too much should be read into this, however. Robert Alter points out that

19404-415: The ultimate intent of curbing Egyptian influence in the region. In 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Kingdom of Judah , and its capital, Jerusalem . The destruction of Jerusalem led to the Babylonian captivity as the city's population, and people from the surrounding lands, were deported to Babylonia. The Jews thereafter referred to Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest enemy they had faced until that point, as

19551-510: The week (starting Sunday, Psalms: 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, 92). This is described in the Mishnah (the initial codification of the Jewish oral tradition ) in the tractate Tamid . According to the Talmud, these daily Psalms were originally recited on that day of the week by the Levites in the Temple in Jerusalem. From Rosh Chodesh Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah , Psalm 27 is recited twice daily following

19698-573: The will, to integrate into life in Babylon. In this respect, life in Babylon corresponds to the instruction of the prophet Jeremiah in a letter he sent from Judah to the Babylonian exiles following the exile of Jeconiah in 597 BCE ( Jeremiah 29:5–6 ). According to the documents, the Jews were defined as "Shushanu". This status is also known from other documents from the period and relates to foreign exiles who were exiled to Babylon, mainly in order to rehabilitate cities and areas devastated by past wars. These exiles received land lease for their livelihood in

19845-438: Was Kummuh in south-eastern Anatolia . In the second half of the 5th century BC, some documents mentioned the towns Isqalanu (the name derived from Ascalon) and Hazzatu (the name possibly derived from Gaza) near the city of Nippur, indicating that deportees from both of these cities lived near Nippur, and as such possibly that they had been captured at around the same time. In both 602 BC and 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in

19992-505: Was a renowned warrior-king, who appeared in a time of political upheaval and defeated the forces of Babylon's enemies, in Nebuchadnezzar I's case the Elamites . Although theophoric names using the god Nabu are common in texts from the early Neo-Babylonian Empire, the name Nebuchadnezzar is relatively rare, only being mentioned four times with certainty. Though there is no evidence that Nabopolassar named his son after Nebuchadnezzar I, Nabopolassar

20139-502: Was captured and taken to Babylon, with his uncle Zedekiah installed in his place as king of Judah. Jeconiah is recorded as being alive in Babylonia thereafter, with records as late as 592 or 591 BC listing him among the recipients of food at Nebuchadnezzar's palace and still referring to him as the 'king of the land of Judah'. In 597 BC, the Babylonian army departed for the Levant again, but appears to not have engaged in any military activities as they turned back immediately after reaching

20286-457: Was destroyed and depopulated. It is possible that the intensity of the destruction carried out by Nebuchadnezzar at Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Levant was due to the implementation of something akin to a scorched earth -policy, aimed at stopping Egypt from gaining a foothold there. Some Jewish administration was allowed to remain in the region under the governor Gedaliah , governing from Mizpah under close Babylonian monitoring. According to

20433-467: Was expected that any candidate for bishop would be able to recite the entire Psalter from memory, something they often learned automatically during their time as monks . Christians have used Pater Noster cords of 150 beads to pray the entire Psalter. Paul the Apostle quotes psalms (specifically Psalms 14 and 53 , which are nearly identical) as the basis for his theory of original sin , and includes

20580-461: Was knowledgeable in history and actively worked to connect his rule to the rule of the Akkadian Empire , which preceded him by nearly two thousand years. The significance of his son and heir bearing the name of one of Babylon's greatest kings would not have been lost on Nabopolassar. If Jursa's theory concerning Nabopolassar's origin is correct, it is alternatively possible that Nebuchadnezzar II

20727-466: Was logical in order to assert Babylonian dominance, and also carried enormous economic and propagandistic benefits, but it was also risky and ambitious. The path into Egypt was difficult, and the lack of secure control of either side of the Sinai Desert could spell disaster. Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt failed – the Babylonian Chronicle states that both the Egyptian and Babylonian armies suffered

20874-440: Was named after his grandfather of the same name, as the Babylonians employed patronymics , rather than after the previous king. Nebuchadnezzar was the eldest son of Nabopolassar ( r.   626–605 BC), the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire . This is confirmed by Nabopolassar's inscriptions, which explicitly name Nebuchadnezzar as his "eldest son", as well as inscriptions from Nebuchadnezzar's reign, which refer to him as

21021-585: Was occasioned by liturgical uses and carelessness of copyists. It is generally admitted that Psalms 9 and 10 (Hebrew numbering) were originally a single acrostic poem, wrongly separated by Massorah and rightly united by the Septuagint and the Vulgate. Psalms 42 and 43 (Hebrew numbering) are shown by identity of subject (yearning for the house of Yahweh), of metrical structure and of refrain (comparing Psalms 42:6, 12; 43:5, Hebrew numbering), to be three strophes of one and

21168-400: Was powerful, but hastily built and politically unstable. As Nabopolassar never clarified his ancestry in lineage in any of his inscriptions, his origin is not entirely clear. Subsequent historians have variously identified Nabopolassar as a Chaldean , an Assyrian or a Babylonian . Although no evidence conclusively confirms him as being of Chaldean origin, the term " Chaldean dynasty "

21315-444: Was proclaimed king on 1 Ulūlu (mid-August). The speed in which Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon might be due to the threat that one of his brothers (two are known by name: Nabu-shum-lishir and Nabu-zer-ushabshi) could claim the throne in his absence. Though Nebuchadnezzar had been recognised as the eldest son and heir by Nabopolassar, Nabu-shum-lishir, Nabopolassar's second-born son, had been recognised as "his equal brother",

21462-416: Was traditionally a builder and restorer, and as such large-scale building projects were important as a legitimizing factor for Babylonian rulers. Nebuchadnezzar extensively expanded and rebuilt his capital city of Babylon and the most modern historical and archaeological interpretations of the city reflect it as it appeared after Nebuchadnezzar's construction projects. The projects were made possible through

21609-512: Was unclear, but there are indications in some of them: "Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar" suggests a connection with sacrifices, and "Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense" suggests a connection with the offering of incense. According to Jewish tradition , the Book of Psalms was composed by the First Man ( Adam ), Melchizedek , Abraham , Moses , David , Solomon , Heman , Jeduthun , Asaph , and

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