Peter C W Ho

Location Singapore Job description Singapore is one of the most religious diverse nations in the world and is often called the gateway to Asia. Well-reputed in Asia, Singapore Bible College has produced thousands of graduates over the past seven decades serving churches and communities in different parts of the world. The mission of the College is to train faithful servants of Jesus Christ to edify the body of Christ and to make disciples of all nations. The College is confessional and interdenominational, and has a strong focus on biblical studies, theology, and missions. The School of Theology, English, invites experienced academics and practitioners with PhD qualifications, and who are willing to invest their time in Asia, to apply for this position.

Presented at the Macro Analysis of Hebrew Poetic and Prophetic Discourse Conference on October 18, 2023, Dallas International University.

Macrostructural shaping of poetic and prophetic texts is one of the missing gaps currently in the holistic and integrative studies of these books. Even within literary approaches, holistic analyses of poetic/prophetic books have been traditionally limited to the level of the poem or single prophetic discourse. And in the past three/four decades, many of these large-scale literary studies have adopted a methodology of looking for semantic parallels across texts. These studies, unfortunately, generate a lot of data with little consensus. I have found that there are many different techniques at work in the large-scale shaping of poetic and prophetic texts. Key techniques of shaping are often a combination of linear, concentric, and intertextual methods. The macrostructural analysis, used together with semantics and the traditional historical-grammatical approaches, provides a robust interpretation of the text. This paper seeks to show, through my observations of the macrostructural shapes in the Psalms, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, that the composition of these books in their final forms is cogent and coherent. Once observed, they offer the interpreters key insights into the message of the book.

This essay is an intertextual study of the concept of hope for all peoples via the word field of “nations” in three key books of the Hebrew Bible. It suggests, firstly, that the concept of hope, broadly defined as looking forward to a positive state of being, is characterized more via the attributes of Yahweh (e.g., justice and rule) in the Psalms. In Isaiah, the concept is depicted by how the nations will operate and flourish under such auspices at a future time. In Deuteronomy, hope for the nations (specifically, “foreigners”) is envisaged through Israel’s obedience to the Torah.

This paper proposes that the opening chapters of the Psalter likely has a profound intertextual resonance with the Qur’an. From at least two dozen parallels relating to the literary shape and the motif of human flourishing between the opening chapters of the Qur’an and the Psalms, connections between these two texts go deeper than heretofore recognized. Yet significant divergences remain and could ultimately render any common ground moot. Genuine interfaith conversations must be forged through a clear understanding of these differences in both texts.

The texts of the Qur’an and the Psalms have long been compared to each other. However, much of these comparisons rest on semantic and conceptual parallels. This paper proposes that the opening chapters of the Psalter have a profound intertextual resonance with the Qur’an that is beyond surface semantics. These parallels are also found in their literary forms. The approach adopted here is to analyse textual forms at strategically located texts, the opening chapters, and not merely on common semantics. We observe at least two dozen parallels relating to distinctive literary forms and the motif of human flourishing in the first few chapters of the Qur’an and the Psalms. The implication of this study is twofold: First, there are more textual parallels between the Qur’an and the Psalter than hereto understood. Second, human flourishing can form the basis of further interfaith dialogue and reflection.

The search for a principle to unite the 150 psalms has gone on for more than seventeen centuries. Although renewed efforts in this search from the 1980s have yielded important results, Psalms scholarship has yet to reach a consensus. Crystalized from a larger work, The Design of the Psalter: A Macrostructural Analysis, this chapter is an important step toward that consensus. It explores how the entire Psalter is designed, explains why it is coherent as a whole, and opens up a new paradigm to understand the Psalms.

Systematic theologians have constructed a Christology that is highly based on NT texts, which, interestingly, supports the anachronistic reading Psalms scholarship has sustained in the last two centuries. In contrast, this paper argues for a forward reading that supports the Psalms as intrinsically messianic. Methodologically, I study the Davidic psalms in five collections giving emphasis to the superscriptions, structural form and content. My observations show that the Davidic psalms first trace the establishment of the Davidic kingship followed by his downfall. Then, remarkably, the Davidic characterization shifts to a royal figure, who is blameless, victorious, and juridically condemned. The final Davidic collection reveals a community of people supplicating patiently before the arrival of a blissful and just society. The paper shows that the NT's understanding of Jesus fulfilling the messianic hopes in the Psalter is a formidable and reasonable interpretation, and need not be anachronistic.

*erratum in note 9. The article, “An Integrated Reading of Psalms 1 and 2,” JSOT 98 (2002): 75–88, should be by Robert L. Cole instead of Robert A. Cole.

With the emergence of the canonical approach to the Psalter, individual psalms are no longer studied as standalone compositions, but viewed along a continuum of psalms to provide meaning. While scholars have analysed alphabetic poems and how they add to meaning, the study of such poems has rarely gone beyond the individual psalm. This paper seeks to understand alphabetic poems within the horizon of the Psalter and whether they function together to provide meaning at the macrostructural level. The paper begins with analyses of eight generally accepted alphabetical acrostics in the Psalter. From their characteristics, a total of forty-six alphabetic poems are suggested. It is observed that these poems mark leitmotifs at prominent locations and develop the motif of David across the entire Psalter. The macrostructural logic of alphabetical poems, as a whole, is subservient to the overarching theological thrust of the Psalter.

Recent doctoral research on the Psalter continue to reinforce the idea that the 150 individual psalms are not haphazardly arranged and that various editorial techniques have been employed to shape the Psalter. In this article, I propose a novel editorial technique that has hitherto not been recognized or systematized in the literature on Hebrew poetry or the Psalms-the 'Pan-Psalter Occurrence Scheme'-a careful use and placement of certain words/phrases across the entire Psalter such that all their sequential occurrences reflect a well-designed schema. Two lexemes, ‫י‬ ‫ע‬ ‫ק‬ ‫ב‬ ('Jacob') and ‫ב‬ ‫ר‬ ‫י‬ ‫ת‬ ('covenant') are studied. The occurrences of these words are found to develop along a linear dimension (metanarrative) and display remarkable concentric arrangements. The POS technique suggests that the entire Psalter is indicative of intentional and careful macrostructural design. This article will contribute to our knowledge of ancient poetic editorial techniques underlying the composition of the Hebrew Psalter. In poetry, the content of the message communicated is closely related to its form.

The books of Habakkuk and Zephaniah are God’s word to his people Israel at the lowest point in their history – the time of the Babylonian captivity. In the horizon, the looming national disaster is not simply contrasted with the prophetic hope of deliverance; rather the brightest light that shines is the display of God’s unchanging faithfulness, power, and holiness – the foundations for divine action for the well-being of the remnant of Judah. They show us the faith of the righteous among the rebels and the ruins. These two powerful books demonstrate that faith without faithfulness is an infantile fantasy. Written in accessible language to guide readers into the world of Hebrew poetry, this volume speaks to all those who continue to desire God in life’s dark places and dark times, revealing Scripture’s beauty and power as we persist in seeking to understand its intricacies.

The Asia Bible Commentary Series empowers Christian believers in Asia to read the Bible from within their respective contexts. Holistic in its approach to the text, each exposition of the biblical books combines exegesis and application. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the Body of Christ in Asia by providing a pastoral and contextual exposition of every book of the Bible.

Good poetry is like a good painting: the more you linger over it, the more it reveals. It is a deep well that never runs dry. And that is why the Psalter, like a good painting, keeps giving. In the last four decades, Psalms scholarship has found remarkable fruitfulness in reading the Psalter as a book that is, in reading the Psalms as a unified composition with a metanarrative across its 150 poems. Pivotal questions associated with this approach really boil down to two questions-how and why? How are individual psalms sequenced, if at all, and what is the design logic behind that macrostructure? This volume seeks to answer those questions. In essence, the Psalter unfurls the story of the Davidic covenant. While interest in the editing of the Psalter remains high in recent Psalms scholarship, this interest has not led to clear consensus. The specific and timely contribution of this volume is twofold. First, it consolidates the results of studies on groups of psalms. Second, it integrates poetic and thematic approaches that are typically separated in Psalms scholarship. Readers will find the results of this study surprising and their implications sobering.

PETER C. W. HO is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Singapore Bible College. His research interests include Hebrew poetry and stylistic studies. His work has appeared in Vetus Testamentum and the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament.

By J. Clinton McCann Jr.

This volume represents a slight revision of Peter C. W. Ho’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Gloucestershire, supervised by Gordon McConville, who provides a brief Foreword to the volume. Ho’s work is the most comprehensive attempt to date to explore the shape and shaping of the Book of Psalms. This scholarly enterprise began in earnest with the publication of Gerald H. Wilson’s The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter in 1985; and while the form-critical and rhetorical critical approaches to the Psalms continue, attention to the shape and shaping of the Psalter has dominated Psalms scholarship for the past thirty years or so. The practitioners of this approach (including myself) have paid attention to individual psalms and/or collections that seem to have strategic importance, and they have generally concluded that it is not possible to explain the placement of every psalm. But perhaps we have been setting our sights too low; in any case, Ho attempts in this volume to explain the location of every psalm in the MT 150. It is an ambitious and impressive endeavor!

The seminal question at the forefront of Masoretic (MT)-150 Psalter research is a question of the literary arrangement of the 150 psalms. An overarching compositional logic of the MT-150, if any, is in the sequence design of the psalms. Unfortunately, macrostructural studies of the entire Psalter are few, with no major consensus to understanding its structuring techniques, shape and logic. From my consolidation of at least 30 different tacit and formal macrostructuring techniques that can be detected in the MT-150, important macrostructuring techniques include the use of superscriptions; the programmatic nature of Pss 1–2; placement of acrostic/alphabetical compositions; numerical devices and the five Davidic Collections. A previously unknown scribal technique that places certain lexemes sequentially and exhaustively across the Psalter to express a message is also uncovered. Based on these organizational principles, the Psalter can be read palindromically, linearly, intertextually and even numerically. The MT-150 is structured into three major Sections (Books I, II–III, IV–V), each further divided into four Groups, and characterized by four recurring Central Motifs: (a) YHWH’s kingship; (b) Davidic kingship; (c) Zion-temple and (d) Supplication of a Davidic figure. The logic of the MT-150 is a reception of the Davidic covenant. Book I traces the establishments of both the Davidic kingship and Zion. Books II–III, however, depict their fall and brokenness. Books IV–V highlight the reestablishments of an ideal Davidic kingship and ideal Zion. As a whole, the MT-150 has a messianic thrust with an exhortation for its readers to persevere in prayer and hope in view of YHWH’s covenantal promises. Striking correspondences between techniques, form, content and logic help to validate the proposed design of the MT-150. This thesis will contribute significantly to the understanding of the arrangement of the Hebrew Psalter.

The COVID-19 situation has raised the profile of Psalm 91. This short article that was originally written as a resource for local churches in Singapore, but it is now clear that it may be helpful for the wider community. Feel free to pass this on. Other articles written in response to COVID-19  by the faculty of Singapore Bible College can be found here:
https://www.sbc.edu.sg/resources-for-responding-to-the-covid-19-situation/3/

At the crux of the problem in the scholarship of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the past thirty years is whether these twelve books should be read as distinct texts or as a unified book. This edited volume, guided by two experienced Old Testament scholars, is one of the most recent forays into the research on the Book of the Twelve. Notwithstanding this crux in the Twelve, this book delves into a surprisingly rich and diverse range of topics. It is striking to find discussions of insects alongside theodicy and of Martin Luther alongside technology within this volume.

Jenkins's book offers a full-blown monographic treatment of an inconvenient topic that few scholars would take on. His conclusion on how to read imprecatory psalms (where curses are called down upon the poet's enemies) has moved the current understanding of the topic forward. Jenkins's examination of imprecations via a macrostructural approach to the Psalms is also novel. He argues that previous methods have sought to understand imprecatory psalms “by reference to something outside of the Psalter: whether the Abrahamic covenant, ANE background, assumptions about the NT or theology general” (p. 24). But Jenkins seeks to understand these psalms within the context of the Psalter itself—an endeavour that has now shown to be fruitful in understanding these inconvenient psalms.

The value of this book, in my view, is its foregrounding of a current debate in Psalms scholarship arising from objections to the canonical approach in light of manuscript variants. Challengers to canonical readings like Erhard Gerstenberger and Norman Whybray are making way for the likes of David Willgren, William Yarchin, and Alma  Brodensen. This is a must-read, especially for those who are working on the assumption that the Psalter is a unified and coherent book.

Thomas Renz's tome, a refreshed volume in the NICOT series, is the culmination of more than twenty years of work and is worthy of being considered the creme de la creme in evangelical scholarship today. Written for scholars and pastors alike, this technical commentary is extremely well-researched. It addresses almost all major textual, exegetical, theological, and red-herring issues that have been raised concerning these biblical texts in recent years. With this volume, Renz has contributed
immensely to both the academy and the church. If we were to situate Renz's volume within academia, it exudes the quality of the evangelical historical-grammatical tradition, only modernized and turbocharged!

Could Jesus have used the famous Old Testament prayer book—the Psalms—as his basis for teaching the Lord’s Prayer? In this short volume, Bredenhof surmises that the Lord’s Prayer “wasn’t a new-fangled invention of Jesus, but each petition echoes the ancient prayers recorded in the Psalms” (p. 19). Bredenhof divides the Lord’s Prayer into nine thematic sections, one for each chapter in the book, and views them through one or more psalms. In each chapter, he identifies a theme of the Prayer and uses it as the point of departure to one (or more) select psalm(s). Once that connection has been established, Bredenhof spends substantial space discussing the theme and helping his readers relate it to their lives. This book is easy to read and suitable for a wide range of
readers. Its message is highly relevant and will be especially helpful to those who want to deepen their prayer life.

The Seed of Promise is a treasure trove of gold nuggets for all diggers of biblical theology to mine. The volume consists of a series of essays written in celebration of T. D. Alexander’s 65th birthday and in recognition of his contribution to the scholarship of biblical theology. Included are seventeen essays by world-class scholars, many of whom were students of Alexander. These articles hone in on the specific theme of “the seed promise in Genesis 3:15” (the Protoevangelium) and “the suffering and glory of the Messiah” (p. xv).

Adam Hensley, a lecturer in Old Testament at Australian Lutheran College, has picked up a less travelled but crucial issue in Psalms scholarship. In this volume, he first surveys proposals on how biblical covenants function in the shaping of the Psalms. Then by studying references and allusions to covenantal themes across the Psalter, he builds a case showing how the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants are royalized in the Psalms, and argues for a Davidic figure who ultimately mediates and renews the unified covenant. The value of this volume lies in its thorough investigation of covenantal themes and their relationships in the Psalter.

This book is a tribute by twenty-eight of the world’s finest scholars to the memory of Peter W. Flint, who passed away unexpectedly in late 2016. Edited by colleagues of Flint, this book captures cutting-edge research on the various forms of Scripture in antiquity and their recontextualization in early Jewish and Christian writings. The volume begins with a commemorative essay, “The Story of a Scholar: The Life and Academic Legacy of Peter W. Flint,” capturing Flint’s biography, career, and scholarly contribution, and several poignant eulogies by close associates of Flint. As a whole, the essays are equally distributed under two major headings: “Hebrew Scriptures in Ancient Traditions and
Modern Editions” (thirteen essays) and “Recontextualizing Scripture in Early Jewish and Christian Writings” (fourteen essays).

My goal for this review is to understand the package that will best suit a seminary student’s needs and beyond. Primarily, I am thinking of first-year masters students who study at least one biblical language. While this review is not targeted at specialists or scholars, those who are currently using BibleWorks and considering transitioning to either one of these packages may find this helpful.

William H. Bellinger Jr. is a Psalms scholar through and through. He has worked on the Psalms for four decades, written more than a dozen books (mostly on the Psalms), and several of his students have become leading Psalms scholars. While this volume is a consolidation of years of scholarship on the Psalms, it incorporates the offerings of Psalms scholarship in recent times, namely, interests in the shape and shaping of the Hebrew Psalter. Bellinger’s goal in this short volume is “to help students and clergy interpret the Psalms with deep meaning and to appropriate deeply these profound poetic texts” (p. x). This book is divided into five chapters. The first provides an overview of the reception and approaches to the Psalms in history. The second and third chapters focus on two kinds of psalms, lament, and praise, respectively. In the fourth and fifth chapters, Bellinger analyzes the shape of the five books of the Psalter synchronically and then offers a reflection of the last two books of the Psalms.

It is surprising that three decades after Gerald Wilson’s Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, there has been no commentary on the Psalter that makes its structural shape the basis of interpretation. To be sure, several multivolume commentary series come close: Hermeneia (Hossfeld-Zenger), Lectio Divina (Jean-Luc Vesco), and New International Version Application Commentary (Wilson-Tucker-Grant) are good examples. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that these commentaries, while having important structural concerns on the Psalter, still lean toward the traditional methods of textual, grammatical, and historical exegesis.

Here is where Meynet’s work differs—perhaps of the shape of things to come. Meynet has written voluminously on biblical and Semitic rhetoric (e.g., Traité de rhétorique biblique, 2007; translated in 2012 as Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric). In the last few years, he has applied his methodology to the Psalms in a systematic and sustained way and has published prodigiously (Les psaumes des montees, 2017; Le Psautier: Premier Livre (Ps 1–41); Le Psautier: Troisième livre (Ps 73–89), forthcoming).

Once in a while we come across a familiar title and wonder if anything new could have been said-but we pick it up to read it anyway and find ourselves surprised by how good it is. This book is one such gem. As a young publisher, Lexham has embarked on a number of more technical works to anchor its academic edge, and this book in the Lexham Methods Series is proving the quality of its scholarship. The editors, Douglas Mangum (academic editor at Lexham Press) and Douglas Estes (a pastor-scholar who specializes in the New Testament gospels) have put together not just an excellent team but also a well-written volume that will prove useful to students and teachers alike. By well-written, I mean that this book is informed and balanced and provides the most important information of each method in a clear and concise manner. Written with the reader in mind, this volume is a much-needed update on literary approaches to both the Old and New Testaments. The book captures the most important literary methods and their historical development in the last two centuries. The methods include: canonical criticism (Ron Haydon and David Schreiner), Old Testament rhetorical narrative criticism (Suzanna Smith), inner-biblical interpretation and intertextuality (Jeffery Leonard), narrative criticism of the New Testament (David Brendsel), rhetorical criticism of the New Testament (Douglas Estes), structural criticism (Gretchen Ellis), and poststructural criticism (John Delhousaye).

I think three groups of people will gravitate toward this book: those who love the books of Isaiah, those who love the Psalms, and those familiar with the name Joseph Blenkinsopp. This volume is a historical-critical and intertextuality scholarship of Isaiah and Psalms at its best. Blenkinsopp works through these books intertextually, identifying a plethora of common traditions and themes between them. He argues that a guild of temple singers composed and perpetuated these traditions over a long period of time, leaving vestiges of liturgical and prophetic elements in the pages of these books.

The NIV Application Commentary series is unique. Any student of the Psalms using this work will quickly find its accessibility a welcoming appetizer before being presented with the main course of world-class Psalms scholarship. This commentary is intentionally designed to be two-way—readers are not only guided backwards to what the text meant in its original contexts, but its meaning and implications are brought forward to bear on the readers’ present context. In this volume, Grant covers Psalms 73–106, while Tucker covers Psalms 107–150. Individually, they have worked on the Psalms for many years. Besides bringing to the table up-to-date scholarship from both sides of the Atlantic, the combination of their strengths makes this second installation a formidable one. Tucker’s earlier work, Constructing and Deconstructing Power in Psalms 107–150 (Atlanta: SBL, 2014), supplied the historical basis for his interpretation of these psalms. Likewise, Grant’s published dissertation, The King as Exemplar: The Function of Deuteronomy’s Kingship Law in the Shaping of the Book of Psalms (Atlanta: SBL, 2004), supplied the literary and theological frameworks for his interpretation of the exilic and Mosaic psalms in books three and four of the Psalter. In other words, they are suitably qualified for this mammoth task. Those familiar with the first volume by Gerald Wilson will be happy to know that Tucker and Grant, who represent a younger generation of Psalms scholarship, have continued the tradition. Even more so, they have now supplied in their introduction what was left unsaid by Wilson (pp. 19–37): two important hermeneutical perspectives—the editorial shape, and the theology of the Psalter. The discussions on the
editorial shape of the Psalter have gone somewhat beyond what Wilson had accomplished. For instance, Grant has linked the loss of Jerusalem depicted in Psalm 74 all the way through Psalm 79 and beyond by highlighting certain motifs like “remembrance” (pp. 80, 97, 110, 140, 168, 182). Clearly, the commentary has benefited also from the slew of studies on the canonical shaping of the Psalter since the 1990s.

This book is a tour de force of poetic discourse analysis. Those familiar with Wendland’s contributions will quickly locate him among the ranks of Louth, Kugel, Alter, and Berlin. In this detailed and well-researched work, Wendland systematizes a method for higher-level (entire poem) poetic discourse analysis and formulates techniques to improve the translation of Hebrew poetry into different languages. These two valuable contributions combine some of the latest advancements of linguistic studies in Psalms research and contextualization methodologies in Bible translation.

It is highly unlikely to encounter something on the First Testament that G. has not already written on. This book is his combined reading of the First (his preferred term) and the New Testaments, an endeavour that has increased in intensity in the last few years. Eight chapters in this book follow a trajectory and are titled progressively as ‘God’s Person’, ‘Insight’, ‘Creation’, ‘Reign’, ‘Anointed’, ‘Children’, ‘Expectations’, and ‘Triumph’. The trajectory first traces the nature of God, his two acts of creation and election of a people; then two definitive chapters on Jesus and the children of God ensue; and the final chapters highlight the present commitments of God’s people and envision the future age of God’s New World. Methodologically, the book avoids the forms of traditional Biblical or Systematic Theology. G. prefers to allow the text, rather than postbiblical theological issues or syntheses, to lead his discussion (thus, for instance, the chapter on creation sidesteps modern/scientific debates). He presupposes the two Testaments as a single ‘album’ and typically begins a discussion from the New before moving back and forth between the Testaments. G.’s specialization in the First Testament is a boon to this work, as his heightened sensitivity to most critical issues shows. He seems to write with a ‘long leash’, so readers must hold his many thoughts over some lengths to appreciate the coherence. If his goal is to foster a  doxological response to God, then it has been achieved in me, and I heartily recommend this outstanding book.

The tabernacle (Heb. mishkan; Exod 25:9; 26:30), in the account of YHWH's instructions to Moses on Sinai for Israel's service of God in Exodus 25-31, and in the account of the fulfilment of the instructions in Exodus 35-40, is the portable temple at the heart of the sanctuary complex, enclosed within a court. It is also referred to as the tent of meeting (Heb. ohel mo'ed, Exod 29:30, etc.). These two names refer to the same thing in these passages, although 'tent of meeting' refers to a different structure in Exod 33:7-11. Sometimes, the Bible refers to the complex as the "sanctuary" (Heb. miqdash; Exod 25:8). Comparable in size to an Olympic swimming pool, the entire complex is approximately 46 meters long (100 cubits) and 23 meters wide (50 cubits). In this complex the Israelites worship and offer sacrifices to God as they travel from Sinai to the land of Canaan. Meaning of the names But the meaning and implications of the two names 'tabernacle' and 'tent of meeting' are different, as are the religious traditions that they reflect. Mishkan, 'tabernacle', literally means 'dwelling' or 'lodging place', and implies that this is where God takes up his abode in the midst of his people, where he is served by the priests. 'Tent of meeting' comes originally from a prophetic rather than priestly tradition (see Exod 33:7-11) and means the place where God meets with the people's prophetic representative, Moses, to give him commands and instructions (Exod 25:22; also Exod 29:42-46, where both conceptions are expressed). Structure and furniture God gives Moses detailed instructions for constructing the tabernacle (Exodus 25–31), and the people of Israel are to contribute the manpower and material for its construction (25:1-9), as they do in 35-39. When complete, the tabernacle complex is fenced by a series of joined hanging curtains enclosing an area, called the court (27:9-19), with a single entrance facing east. Moving westward from the entrance, one first meets the altar (27:1-8), followed by the basin (30:17-21, probably a late addition to the text) before arriving at the doorway to the tabernacle or tent of meeting. This is made of wooden frames and covered with woollen curtains dyed in blue, purple and crimson, with goats' hair curtains over them, and then a cover of rams' skins and an outer covering of dolphins' skins (possibly—the Hebrew word in 26:14 is of uncertain meaning) (Exodus 26). The doorway opens into the holy place with the lampstand (25:31-39), the table of the bread of the presence (25:23-30), and the altar of incense (30:1-10, an obvious addition). Moving further westward, a curtain separates the holy place from the most holy place (26:33), where the ark, also called the ark of the testimony or covenant (25:16; 26:34; Heb. 'edut — this is not the usual word for 'covenant') is kept, and over it the golden 'mercy seat' (Heb. kapporet). The construction of these objects, the very heart of the sanctuary, symbolising the presence of YHWH, is mandated in 25:10-22.

The account in Kings tells of two sides to Solomon's reign. It begins well: he is said to have been faithful to YHWH like David (1 Kgs 3:3), and when YHWH appears to him in a dream, he asks and receives the gift of wisdom (1 Kgs 3:4-15). We read of his marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh (3:1-2), the detail of his administration (4:1-19), the magnificence of his court and the strength of his army (4:22, 26-28), the prosperity and peace of Israel under his rule (4:20, 25), his domination of the surrounding kingdoms (4:21, 24), and the fame of his wisdom (4:29-34; see also 10:1-10). His principal achievement, the page 1 / 3