255 PSALMS 120–136 : SONGS GREAT FESTIVAL FOR A exilic times the commemoration of YHWH’s deeds for Israel was essential in religious festivals. So songs of thanksgiving suited these festivals pre-eminently. That a hymn is followed by a thanksgiving song reminiscent of the hymn, partly almost identical with it, seems not quite natural in the context of cultic performance. From a liturgical viewpoint, Psalm 136 was preferable to its predecessor in that it was a simpler and more regular text, which moreover by its refrain offered the congregation an opportunity to join in the singers’ praise of God (cf. Ps 118,2-4). I therefore suspect that Psalm 135, although included in the psalter, was replaced by Psalm 136 in the temple liturgy. Psalm 136, liturgically presented, must have been a high point in the celebrations. In the profusely lighted temple court 62 the massive song with the steadily repeated refrain, accompanied by the music of “cymbals, harps and lyres” 63 and, now and then, the piercing blast of the horns, must have made an impressive experience. Lomanstraat 32-B Th. BOOIJ 1075 RC Amsterdam The Netherlands SUMMARY Psalms 120–134, the “Songs of Ascents”, are a functional unity. In early rabbinical tradition concerning the Great Hallel, they seem to be linked with Psalms 135 and 136 ; in the texts themselves this connection is quite clear. The Songs, as a collection, and the two psalms of praise apparently stem from the later post-exilic period, when they were used during the festival of Sukkoth. The Songs were recited in processions to the sanctuary; the psalms of praise were part of the liturgy proper. Cf. Mishnah Sukkah 5,3. For the phrase hbawçh tyb in that text see 62 BORNHÄUSER, Sukka, 139-140. Cf. Ezra 3,10-11; 2 Chr 5,12-13; 7,6. 63