'Let all the people say, Amen!' Traces of redaction in the Book of Psalms

The study of the composition of the Book of Psalms has gained much scholarly attention since the groundbreaking dissertation by Gerald H Wilson in 1985. One of the clearest signs of redaction was the addition, or use, of four doxologies in Pss 41, 72, 89 and 106. They all share a number of features, but not two are identical. As they are considered to belong to the very latest stages of redactional activity, dividing the Book of Psalms in five parts, often interpreted as an intended allusion to the Torah (thus, the collection being, in some sense “David’s Torah”) they are important for any understanding of the intention behind the final collection of the Book of Psalms. One aspect that has not yet been thouroughly studied, though, is the presence of the double Amen-sayings in all but one doxology (Ps 106:48). As double Amen-sayings are very rare in the Hebrew Bible (only three attestations outside the Book of Psalms), but common in the DSS material, as in the Gospel of John, this paper will focus on the function of the Amen-sayings in those texts in order to shed light on the possible rationale behind the redactor’s use of the double Amen in the final shaping of the Book of Psalms.