The Glory of Kings

A Festschrift in Honor of James B. Jordan

Leithart, Barach

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9781630879440
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Over the past several decades, Reformed theologian and biblical scholar James B. Jordan has produced a unique body of work. His electrifying commentaries and essays on Scripture, along with his penetrating writings on Trinitarian theology, liturgics, music, and culture have inspired a growing number of pastors and theologians. In this Festschrift, Jordan's friends and associates celebrate his contributions by applying his methods and insights to a range of biblical, theological, liturgical, and cultural questions. The Glory of Kings aims to bring Jordan's work to the attention of a wider audience and to introduce the work of a scholar that R. R. Reno has called one of the most important Christian intellectuals of our day.

Part 1

Biblical Studies

1

The Glory of the Son of Man

An Exposition of Psalm 8

John Barach

Psalm 8 is surely one of the most familiar and best loved psalms. The New Testament cites it more than once. Theologians draw on it for evidence of both man’s lowliness and his exaltation. Add that the psalm is joyful and short enough to be memorized and that it seems relatively simple and straightforward, and its popularity is not surprising.

Its simplicity, however, is only apparent, as a look at the New Testament use of this psalm reveals. In its few lines, Psalm 8 brings together themes that stretch from man’s creation in the beginning to the incarnation and glorification of Jesus, shedding light on the transition from the Old Creation to the New Creation, from mankind created under the angels to mankind exalted over them to rule the world.1

The Structure of Psalm 8

aFor the director.

bOn the gittith.

cA Psalm.

dBy David.

A 1Yahweh, our Lord, how supreme is Your name in all the earth,

2Who have set Your splendor upon the heavens!

B 3From the mouth of children and infants

You established strength,

because of Your oppressors,

4To silence enemy and avenger.

C 5When I consider Your heavens, the works of Your fingers,

6Moon and stars, which You have set firm,

7What is needy-man (enosh) that You remember him,

8And the son of Adam that you visit him?

9And You made him lower a little while than the gods,

10And with glory and honor You will crown him.

11You will make him ruler over the works of your hands.

B’ 12All things You have put under his feet:

13Sheep and oxen—all of them,

14And also beasts of the field,

15Bird of heaven and fish of the sea,

16Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

A’ 17Yahweh, our Lord, how supreme is Your name in all the earth!2

The psalm begins and ends with an identical line (A–A’), an obvious inclusio. There are two “x and y” phrases in B (“children and infants,” “enemy and avenger”) and in B’ (“sheep and oxen,” “bird and fish”), and that structural parallel invites us to consider the thematic parallel between Yahweh’s use of children to silence the enemy and avenger (B) and Yahweh’s placing all things under man’s feet (B’). At the center of the chiasm is David’s consideration of Yahweh’s intention to exalt needy man over all His works.3

It may also be possible, however, to view Psalm 8 as a heptamerous chiasm, tracking with the seven days of creation.4 The seven days in Genesis 1 themselves form a chiasm:

Day 1: creation of heavens and earth; light (from Spirit) on earth (Gen 1:1–5).

Day 2: firmament-heavens between earth and heaven (Gen 1:6–8).

Day 3: dry land (“earth”) and seas; plants and trees (Gen 1:9–13).

Day 4: firmament lights to rule (Gen 1:14–19).

Day 5: sea creatures swarm; birds multiply on earth (Gen 1:20–23).

Day 6: land animals; man, promised dominion over creatures (Gen 1:24–31).

Day 7: Sabbath and rest (enthronement) (Gen 2:1–3).

This is not the place to discuss this chiasm in detail, let alone defend it,5 but a few features call for comment. The parallel between Day 3 and Day 5 is perhaps the clearest: both deal with the seas and the earth. The parallel between Day 1 and Day 7 is not obvious until we notice that the parallel is by way of Day 4: Light (Day 1) is delegated to the firmament lights (Day 4); those lights rule, and rule links up with God’s rest (Day 7), since rest in the Bible is associated with enthronement.6 God rests enthroned over His creation.

The chiastic outline also suggests that man’s exaltation over the creatures (Day 6) is parallel in some way to the firmament heavens that mediate between heaven and earth (Day 2). Again, that parallel seems to be by way of Day 4: the firmament-heavens (Day 2) are where the lights are placed to rule (Day 4), and rule over the earth is what is delegated to man on Day 6.7

Psalm 8 appears to follow this seven-day pattern, although it switches the fifth and sixth sections:

Day 1: 1Yahweh, our Lord, how supreme is your name in all the earth.

Day 2: 2Who have set your splendor upon the heavens.

Day 3: 3From the mouth of children and infants

you established strength,

because of your oppressors,

4To silence enemy and avenger.

Day 4: 5When I consider your heavens, the works of your fingers,

6Moon and stars, which you have set firm,

7What is needy-man that you remember him,

8And the son of Adam that you visit him?

9And you made him lower a little while than the gods,

10And with glory and honor you will crown him.

11You will make him ruler over the works of your hands.

Day 6: 12All things you have put under his feet:

13Sheep and oxen—all of them,

14And also beasts of the field,

Day 5: 15Bird of heaven and fish of the sea,

16Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

Day 7: 17Yahweh, our Lord, how supreme is your name in all the earth!

Table 1

Genesis 1:1—2:3	Psalm 8
1. Creation of earth; light	Yahweh’s name supreme in earth (1)
2. Firmament called “heavens”	Yahweh’s splendor set on heavens (2)
3. Dry land and seas	Children and enemy (3–4)
4. Heavenly lights to rule	Heavenly lights and rule (5–11)
5. Sea creatures and birds	Birds and sea creatures (15–16)
6. Land animals and man’s dominion	Man’s dominion over land animals (12–14)
7. God enthroned in Sabbath rest	Yahweh’s name supreme on earth (17)

Table 1 shows the parallels. As God created the earth and caused light to shine on it (Day 1), so here Yahweh’s name is supreme in all the earth (line 1). As God completed His work and rested from it, enjoying it in Sabbath enthronement (Day 7), so here Yahweh’s name is supreme in all the earth (line 17), this time specifically as a result of the narrative of the psalm. The “six days” development of the psalm leads to a “seventh day” enthronement-rest in supreme majesty.

On Day 2, God created the firmament and called it “heavens,” and so too in Psalm 8 we hear about the “heavens” (line 2). On Day 6, God created land animals and man, giving man dominion over the animals. In Psalm 8—though the order of Day 6 and Day 5 is reversed, perhaps for reasons discussed below—we hear about man’s dominion over the land animals (lines 12–14). The parallel with Day 2 in Psalm 8 is seen most clearly in connection with the hinge section in the middle of the chiasm: the splendor of the heavens (Day 2, line 2) is related to the moon and stars in the heavens (Day 4, lines 5–6). The heavenly...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Editors’ Acknowledgments
• James B. Jordan’s Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One: Biblical Studies
• Chapter 1: The Glory of the Son of Man
• Chapter 2: Judah’s Life from the Dead
• Chapter 3: The Knotted Thread of Time
• Chapter 4: Holy War Fulfilled and Transformed
• Chapter 5: The Royal Priesthood in Exodus 19:6
• Chapter 6: Father Storm
• Part Two: Liturgical Theology
• Chapter 7: On Earth as It Is in Heaven
• Chapter 8: Why Don’t We Sing the Songs Jesus Sang?
• Chapter 9: Psalm 46
• Part Three: Theology
• Chapter 10: A Pedagogical Paradigm for Understanding Reformed Eschatology
• Chapter 11: Light and Shadow
• Part Four: Culture
• Chapter 12: James Jordan, Rosenstock-Huessy, and Beyond
• Chapter 13: Theology of Beauty in Evdokimov
• Chapter 14: Empire, Sports, and War
• Afterword
• The Writings of James B. Jordan, 1975–2010