02_VanWieringen_179_197 15/07/14 12:15 Pagina 182 182 A.L.H.M. VAN WIERINGEN In the first main unit, verses 2-9, a movement of zooming in (verses 2-5) is made, followed by a movement of zooming out (verses 6-9). In the second main unit, verses 10-14, the consequences of the first main unit for the fertility of #ra are described. Verse 10 re-uses images which occur in verses 8-9. Firstly, the water image is re-used. The ‘water’ words “sea” appear in verses 6d and 8a and “wave” in verse 8b, just as the “water” words “to ir- rigate”, “canal”, and “water” do in verse 10. Just as the seas are calmed down, so is the water made suitable for irrigating the land. Furthermore, just as the world is fixed, so does the wheat appear to be fixed. This expression in Psalm 65 is unique in the Bible. The activity of fixing is normally used for the pillars of the earth. The psalmist, however, wishes to indicate that the wheat will grow into an abundant harvest in the land, just as the mainland is firmly fixed on the pillars of the earth. Even more so, because the earth is fixed by God himself, the wheat is guaranteed by God for the land. To empha- size this, the psalmist uses the expression !ykt “you fix” twice in verse 10. The barley-harvest is the first harvest of the season, the wheat- harvest the last. Exactly by mentioning the last harvest, the psalmist accentuates the importance of God’s lasting activity of fixing 6. Verse 11 combines these two images. God continues to be both the one addressed as well as the acting character. The actions end with the climactic activity of blessing. The concluding verses 12-14 continue the fertility theme. Agri- culture (“pasture” in verse 14) and cattle farming (“grazing land” in verse 13 and “cattle” in verse 14) are both mentioned. The ac- tivity of God’s blessing is continued as well implying a “crowned year”, the abundance of which is expressed by using the word “to drip” in verses 12 and 13 twice, just like the verb “to fix”. The finale is all festivity: “to exult” and “to sing” (v. 14c). In this way, the second main unit ends just like the first main unit, which concludes with joy in verse 9b. Moreover, the psalmist com- 6Very often, the repetition of the word !wk in Psalm 65 is not noticed; see, e.g. E.K. HOLT, “‘... ad fontes aquarum’: God as Water in the Psalms?”, Metaphors in the Psalms (eds. P. VAN HECKE – A. LABAHN) (BETL 231; Leu- ven 2010) 78. If the repetition of the word is noticed, two meanings of this verb are normally supposed: “to fix” for verse 7 and “to prepare” for verse 10; pace, among others, F. SEDLMEIER, Jerusalem – Jahwes Bau. Untersuchungen zu Komposition und Theologie von Psalm 147 (FzB 79; Würzburg 1996) 267.