PsALM 73 As rInG COMPOsITIOn 21 Brueggemann notes that because v. 1 is the premise that arises from the psalm’s conclusion, it is able to shed any naïveté that would have characterised the statement had it not arisen from that conclusion 16. Aside from the fact that, as an anticipated conclusion, v. 1 seems to show a formal and logical connection with the psalm’s end, many have also noted the presence of an inclusio involving bwj (“good”) in v. 1 and v. 28 17. In light of the fact that in v. 1 the psalmist merely proclaims God’s goodness to the pure in heart without further specifying the nature or substance of that goodness, a case can be made that the repe- tition of bwj in v. 28a actually functions as a clarification of that initial proclamation, so that the goodness spoken of in v. 1 is finally revealed to be nothing other than the nearness of God 18. This is especially so if the oft-mentioned textual emendation in v. 1 is adopted to read la rvyl bwj $a (“surely God is good to the upright”) 19. For if the psalmist, by his subsequent disclosure that he had purified his heart and washed his hands in innocence (v. 13), has proven himself worthy to be among “the upright”, then God’s nearness, which is good for him (v. 28a), may be precisely how God shows himself good to the upright. But if God’s goodness proclaimed at the psalm’s beginning awaits clarification at the psalm’s end, then the psalm’s final declaration may also have found a certain fulfilment at the psalm’s beginning. For although in v. 28b the psalm ends with a vow to recount “all your (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms; Grand rapids, MI 2007) 400. 16 BrueGGeMAnn, Message of the Psalms, 116. 17 see KrAšOveC, Antithetic Structure, 43; MCCAnn, “Psalm 73”, 250; J.L. MAYs, Psalms (Interpretation; Louisville, KY 1994) 241; K. sChAeFer, Psalms (Berit Olam; Collegeville, Mn 2001) 177; BOADT, “Panels”, 539, among others. 18 see also KArTJe, Wisdom, 105. 19 This emendation was first proposed by h. GrAeTZ, Kritischer Commentar zu den Psalmen nebst Text und Uebersetzung (Breslau 1883) 437, on the basis of better parallelism with the second half of v. 1. It has since been adopted by B. DuhM, Die Psalmen (Leipzig 1899) 189; J. KrAus, Psalms 60–150 (Continental Commentary; Minneapolis, Mn 1989) 83; L. ALOnsO sChöKeL – C. CArnITI (eds.), Salmos II (salmos 73–150). Traducción, introducciones y comentario (estella 1993) 966; rsv, among others. It should be noted that although support from manuscripts and versions for this reading is non-existent, the absence of spacing between words and the lack of differentiation between v and f in the earliest stages of textual transmission may easily have caused the string larXy to be erroneously understood as the name of the Jewish nation, as that name appears almost 2500 times within the Old Testament.