Biblica_1_Layout 1 20/01/12 11:44 Pagina 497 497 THE INTERPRETATION OF PS 144,14 Otherwise, it must overcome the less debilitating weaknesses that challenge other purely pastoral readings of v. 14 as well: the disputed sense of wnypwla as “our cattle”; the difficulties posed by ~ylbsm; and the questionable support for bxr within a rural context. V. Unity Preserved: Pastoral-Martial Orientation It is evident then that the last two proposals resolve the tensions produced by the first two, but at the expense of creating uncertainties of their own and multiplying the number of problematic options. For- tunately, a choice between them may, after all, be unnecessary, since an interpretation that combines the merits of both positions — pas- toral and martial — is available and will be explored below. The solution involves maintaining the traditional meaning of wnypwla (“our cattle”) along with the pastoral orientation of the en- tire verse but also recognizing that it may be enhanced through mar- tial imagery. The idea is promising when we consider an important factor that has thus far eluded the discussion: pastoral and military matters often intersected in the course of ANE history, since live- stock tended to be among the more coveted spoils of war, or forms of tribute (Gen 34,28-29; Num 31,9-12.25-47; Deut 2,35; 3,7; 20,14; 28,51; Josh 8,27; 11,14; 1 Sam 14,32; 27,9; 30,20; Jer 5,17; 1 Chr 5,21; 2 Chr 14,13-14) 66. For example, Josh 11,14 reports that “all the spoil of these cities and the cattle, the children of Israel plundered for themselves”. For extra-biblical documentation of this practice it is difficult to surpass Sennacherib’s famous raid on Judah (701 B.C.), recorded in the Taylor Prism: As for Hezekiah, the Judean, I besieged forty-six of his fortified wal- led cities and surrounding smaller towns, which were without number. Using packed-down ramps and applying battering rams, infantry at- tacks by mines, breeches, and siege machines, I conquered (them). I 66 Cfr., R.J. Clifford: “In an agrarian society, political peace and agricul- tural fertility cannot be separated”. R.J. CLIFFORD, Psalms 73-150 (AOTC; Nashville, TN 2003) 299.