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Psalm 60 Analysis

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Anderson’s paper is written to discuss the possible dating of Psalm 60 based on the way one would read and analyze it. His main point is to warn against trying to date the psalms without adequate support; many different scholars are used by Anderson to prove his point that dating is hard to do when you do not have enough information. However, he incorporated the LXX and MT as well as other psalms to solidify his claim for the date he gave the psalm. Anderson gives the reader a form-critical analysis, historical-critical analysis of the oracle and the complaint, and gives a text-critical analysis before trying to date the psalm himself. The article begins with Anderson stating the current, popular view that has been used to date psalm 60, …show more content…

He not only looked within the text that he read it out of, he looked to the oldest records of the same text to compare the two to gain more of an understanding of the author’s original intent. Additionally, he looked to the information that is known about the specific people over the millennium in which this book is dated by various people to measure a better time frame based on the context of the psalm. These contributions alone allow for scholars to continue studying this psalm in the context that Anderson has started to delve into to pin down a more exact date, with ample evidence to support …show more content…

Using other scholars and their research added to the argument, however, it would have been even more convincing if he would have included a more balanced view of scholars who agreed as well as disagreed with the view that he presented in the text. Overall, however, Anderson presented his view with enough support to convince me that his dating is the most accurate, simply because it is clear in his work that he put in the effort and care enough about the topic to search for the most reliable date based on facts presented. In his work, Anderson stresses that dating a psalm is not an easy task, but he made an honest and well thought out attempt at dating the psalm. Therefore, I believe that overall the text is a good example for other scholars to use to try and date other psalms as well as understand the process of knowing the culture of the Bible even more for a more thorough appreciation for what the text is conveying about God and his

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