Psalm Xxix in the Hebrew Poetic Tradition

TLDR: In recent years, the interpretation of the Canaanite elements in the psalm has become the focus of considerable scholarly attention as mentioned in this paper, which has led to a growing body of opinion that the Psalm is old.

Abstract: In recent years, Psalm xxix has become the focus of considerable scholarly attention. Although several scholars have continued to press the post-exilic affinities of the language of the psalm, there has been a growing body of opinion that the psalm is old, in its original form at least 1). It is not simply the antiquity of the psalm, however, which has created such interest. Rather, the point of importance lies in the interpretation of the Canaanite elements in the psalm. Since H. L. GINSBERG first presented the hypothesis in 1935 that the psalm may originally have been Phoenician 2), more and more evidence was gathered, so that F. M. CROSS could say in 1950: "Psalm xxix fills a real gap in the extant Canaanite literature" 3). With the apparent confirmation of the earlier hypothesis, scholarly attention then began to turn more to the way in which the adaptation could be interpreted in terms of Israelite religion and theology. FENSHAM, for example, suggested that the psalm may have been an attempt by zealous Israelites to reach the Canaanite population (and also apostate Israeli-