02_Booij_351_351_374 30/10/15 13:01 Pagina 352 352 THIJS BOOIJ 352 vidual with his personal piety and creativity came more strongly to the fore. Secondly, there was the activity of the prophets inducing the psalm poets to “disparage outward religion”. Under the influence of prophetic teaching, the art of composing psalms, which had emanated from the cult, “turned its back on it”, and now the in- dividual’s soul, “released from the bonds of the cult, comes into the presence of its God” 5. In prayers of the individual, the transition from the cultic to the non-cultic manifests itself in increasing literary freedom. From certain motifs occurring in these texts, sub-genres were formed. In addition, materials and forms from other psalm types were admitted. New elements were added as well: questions, quotations, admonitions, prayers for forgiveness and guidance 6. The distinction between cultic and non-cultic psalms, as proposed by Gunkel, is based mainly on two arguments. The first is that, in view of their content, some psalms must have been used in the sanctuary, while others were composed and sung, or spoken, outside it 7. Secondly, in some psalms a dislike or rejection of sacrifices is expressed 8. Neither of these arguments is convincing. With respect to the first of them, it is significant that a speaker’s remoteness from the sanctuary may be indicated by expressions of strong attachment to the house of God (see Pss 42,5; 43,3; 61,5; also Jonah 2,5) 9. Consequently, saying a prayer outside the holy place is not in itself a token of “disparaging outward religion”. As for the rejection of sacrifices, a text expressing it may, nevertheless, announce the cultic ritual of thanksgiving (Ps 40,7.10-11) or recommend it (Ps 50,8-13.14-15). Therefore a poet’s disparaging of sacrifices does not prove him to have “turned his back on the cult”. Nor can it be maintained that, in individual prayers, literary freedom is a sign of alienation from the cult. The speaker of a prayer that contains questions (Pss 22,2; 42,3.10; 43,2) or quo- tations (Pss 22,9; 42,4) may, in fact, be announcing a cultic act (Ps 5 GUNKEL, Einleitung, 28, 29-30, 278. Cf. RGG2 IV, 1621. 6 GUNKEL, Einleitung, 223-224, 257-258, 262, 263-264. 7 For the latter see GUNKEL, Einleitung, 180, 182, 262. 8 See Pss 40,7; 50,8-13; 51,18; 69,32. GUNKEL, Einleitung, 181, 278; RGG2 IV, 1621. 9 Gunkel’s comment in RGG2 IV, 1625: “hier zeigt sich also, daß auch diese so persönliche Frömmigkeit der sichtbaren Sinnbilder nicht ganz entbehren kann”.