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Abstract
This paper intends to look at the inter-textuality and cross-textuality of 1 Chronicles 16 and the Psalter in the context of the revolutionary movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1853-1864) in Qing China (1644-1911), when historical tradition was adopted for religious and political foundation of the new "Heavenly Capital" which was set up by Hong Xiuquan. The thesis to be underlined is that the employment of historical recitation from different sources of the past, whether they are in written form or from common liturgical usage or from popular oral circulation, are often reinterpreted in a new context whose function is to illustrate the author's intention to legitimize and inaugurate his/her project at present. The case of the adaptation of Hong's appropriation of both Chinese historical narrative and biblical material will help us read 1 Chronicles 16 as an anchor text for the post-exilic community engaging with the restoration of the cult in Jerusalem. There is no doubt that contextualization involves the conscious effort of re-appropriation and re-interpretation. The insertion of Psalms 105, 96 and 106 into 1 Chronicles 16 does not only represent a work of redaction but a new creation of the Chronicler whose production can be taken as an authorial work embedded with a conscious purpose.
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I. INTRODUCTION
The First Book of Chronicles 16 incorporates in its literary arrangement Psalms 105:1-15; 96:1-13 and 106:1, 47-48. The three Psalms are taken from the "Fourth Book" of the Psalter (90-106). It is of interest to scholars that there are implications for both the canonical formation of the Psalms and the new function of the Psalter for 1 and 2 Chronicles. The latter is our major concern in this paper. While Psalms 105 and 106 are regarded as "historical psalms" and 96 is usually understood as a psalm of praise related to Enthronement Festival (Mowinckel)1 or Zion Festival (Kraus),2 it is intriguing to find their assigned roles in the present context of the inaugural service of bringing the Ark to the tabernacle in Jerusalem and the cultic establishment founded by David (1 Chron. 16:1-7). This paper intends to study the inter-textuality of 1 Chronicles 16 with the Psalter and cross-textuality3 of the two biblical passages in the...