Coping in a harsh reality : the concept of the 'enemy' in the composition of Psalms 9 and 10

摘要

In this paper, Psalms 9 and 10 are read together from a literary, post-exilic perspective, arguingthat the construct of the ‘enemy’ in this composition primarily serves to strengthen the positionof the righteous. It seems that a variety of strategies are employed in this composition toestablish dichotomic-ideological categories. This results in the formation of a polarity betweenYHWH and the enemy on the one hand and the righteous and the enemy on the other. Thisseems to have been a technique through which the author or authors of this compositionsought to break free from their current social experience in order to create a new, just and fairreality for the righteous.