What is Man? Holiness and the Holy One in the Psalter: A Case Study of Book I of the Psalter

Abstract

This article addresses the role of anthropological terminology in Book I of the Psalter in designating the identity of God’s covenantal people in relation to holiness. In the Psalter, anthropological designations are made in reference to the human body. Those designations are often depicted in relation to moral life and what it means to be in covenant relationship with God as His creation. Discussion of God’s attribute of love (e.g., ḥesed) clarifies the nature of holiness addressed in Ps 3–41 (Book I). Also, this article grapples with how this divine attribute plays an important role in Book I of the Psalter seen in its structural the micro-syntactical and macro structural level of expression.