A History Lesson: From Ephraim to Judah, from the Exodus to Zion

Like most psalms, Psalm 78 is explicitly meant for public performance (“O my people, hear,” and “things we have heard . . . we will tell,” vv. 1–4), but unlike most, which are either prayers (Hb. tepillâ) or praises (Hb. tehillâ), this one is explicitly teaching (Hb. tôrâ; only here in the Pss. does this term not denote God’s “teaching/law”). Like Psalm 49 (v. 4, cf. Prov. 1:6), it designates itself as a parable (or “comparison,” Hb. māšāl) and as “riddles” (rendered “things hidden” in the NIV). Thus, we should expect to find in Psalm 78 explicit teaching and lessons but also something of a puzzle and mystery (as in 49:5–6, 15). The lessons are clear in virtually every verse (esp. in light of vv. 5–8), but the mysteries become…