Psalm 72 - A Frozen Colophon?

The placement of verse 20 in Psalm 72 has long puzzled scholars and has raised a number of questions: Why is תפלה used? Why does it state that the prayers of David are ended? Where does this leave Solomon (v. 1)? Why is it placed after the doxology of vv. 18–19? And why is it found in the middle of the Elohistic Psalter? To solve these problems, a number of suggestions have been presented, none of which are entirely convincing. In this paper, I suggest that a neat solution is provided if the problem is approached with insights gained from research on scribal habits and material culture. Departing from scholars such as Gamble, Johnson and Tov, I suggest that Ps 72:20 is likely to be understood not as the conclusion of a collection, but as a frozen scribal colophon, originally intended to “close” a scroll. A possible analogy to such a fixation of a colophon is found in the Sumerian Temple Hymns.