Psalm 119 and The Wisdom of Repetition

Ps 119 has been often been viewed as a prime example of how NOT to write, as the very opposite of literary creativity. Thus, Renan: “Un pieux Israélite écrivit ce psaume: énorme rabâchage en vingt-deux octaves de versets, répondant aux vingt-deux lettres de l`alphabet.” By contrast, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has declared that “Psalm 119 is my favorite Psalm and the climax of my theological life.” For me, on grounds both philosophical and literary, this text captures a sense of the primeval fullness of being, and it does so from start to finish through the stylistic tic of repetition, which, rather than mere style, is in fact a re-enactment of its essential wisdom ideology.

I begin with a synopsis of the wisdom parallels between Pss 19 and 119. (I recently published an entire book on Psalm 19.) My thesis is that the two psalms are closely bound, as many have noted, and that Ps 119 cannot release its central message without constant reference to the former. I then theorize, following Bruno Latour, that repetition can sponsor a search for the newness of origins, and this occurs through hope in the infinite future, when – and only then -- will we know the past for the first time. Quoting Latour,

Whatever is natural reproduces itself;

whatever is uninteresting passes away and does not remain;

whatever is false is wearisome drivel;

whatever is essential is worth repeating.