Psalm 36:5-10

“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” (Psalm 36:9)

The literary genre of Psalm 36 is a bit elusive. Dahood says it has elements of wisdom in 36:1–4, becomes a hymn in 36:5–10, and then is a lament in 36:11–12. This, of course, is not the only instance when the form-critical method of analyzing the Psalms fails. In Dahood’s words: “The coexistence of three literary types within a poem of thirteen verses [in Hebrew] points up the limitations of the form-critical approach to the Psalter.”[1] Craigie prefers the classification of a wisdom psalm but recognizes that the form does not give much reason for it.[2] Ultimately, we simply have to admit that Psalm 36 represents a multiple-genre composition and remind ourselves that the psalmists were not working by the form-critical method.[3] The method, with much in its favor, is for our benefit, and we need not be surprised when the biblical writers do not meet our expectations.

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