“Can You Hear Me Now?…Good!”: A Deaf Adder and the Inversion of Disability Imagery in Psalm 58:5–6

Abstract

This article explores the use of deaf imagery in Psalm 58 through a cultural model of disability and a historicist approach to highlight the unique rhetorical function of disability imagery within the psalm. In the Hebrew Bible, deafness is typically an affliction to be avoided, and deaf groups typically need Yahweh’s protection along with other disabled groups. In Psalm 58, however, an adder which represents wicked people who oppose the psalmist’s community voluntarily disables itself to better withstand the efforts of those who would try to neutralize its threat. For the adder, disability is a source of strength, not weakness. For the psalmist’s community, however, disability is still a problem which necessitates crying out to Yahweh for relief. The use of deaf imagery within this text highlights the contrast between Yahweh, who is righteous and fully-abled, and the wicked/their foreign deities, who judge unfairly and who are depicted as disabled.