From Gen 12 onwards, "land" becomes a place of desire and promise, first for Abram and then for the patriarchs: לך־לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל־הארץ אשׁר אראך׃ ("Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you," Gen 12:1) ויאמר לזרעך אתן את־הארץ ("And he said: 'To your offspring I will give this land,'" Gen 12:7) ונתתי לך ולזרעך אחריך את ארץמגריך ("And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you the land in which you are foreigners," Gen 17:8). Regarding the Torah, it is obvious why "land" has a prominent role: It is "created" by Yhwh and has cosmological implications in Gen 1-11: בראשׁית ברא אלהים את השׁמים ואת הארץ׃ ("In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," Gen 1:1) ביום עשׂות יהוה אלהים ארץ ושׁמים ("When Yhwh God made the earth and the heavens," Gen 2:4) אמחה את־האדם אשׁר־בראתי מעל פני האדמה ("I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth," Gen 6:7) יפץיהוה אתם משׁם על־פני כל־הארץ ויחדלו לבנת העיר׃ ("So Yhwh scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city," Gen 11:8).
7Įven though there are multiple attestations of "land" in the Book of Psalms, e.g., ארץ : 190 attestations, 8 אדמה : 6 attestations, 9 גבול : 5 attestations, 10and נחלה : 23 attestations, 11 "land" is not identified as a "theology marker" in the Psalter, but rather as a topic in Penta- or Hexateuch studies. 6According to a synchronic view (first step) in a diachronic reflection (second step) these themes offer constructive contributions to the theology of the Psalter as a whole. Scholars have identified various themes running through the Book of Psalms and its parts, e.g., a movement from lament to praise, 1 reflections on Israel's history, 2 the "theology of the poor," 3 the theme of God's presence in space and time, 4 David as authority of the Psalter, 5 and the Psalter's canonical importance. Keywords: Land, Psalms, Psalter, memorization of history, universal-cosmologic understandings, particular understandings, Zion theology, theology of poor and poverty, metaphorization. This thesis of "land as reward" suggests a "metaphorical" application of the concept further it is accompanied with notions of Zion theology and the theology of poor and poverty. These psalms witness to a conception of "land as reward" in tight connection to a God-fearing life.
Whereas a universal-cosmologic understanding is prevailing, few psalms refer to a particular understanding (i.e., Pss 25 37 61 69). The essay distinguishes between a universal-cosmologic and a particular conception of "land". As he was able to fulfil his promise of land in former times, he is now able to rescue from distress and to grant land for the psalmist's and subsequent generations. This essay focuses on land conceptions in the Psalter, dealing with Psalms reflecting on Israel's history regard land as an integral part of remembrance and YHWH as a powerful and mighty saviour.