Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches [Paperback]

Philip S. Johnston (Editor), David G. Firth (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2006

The book of Psalms has been precious to countless people in many languages and countries over many centuries. It has expressed their hopes and fears, inspired their faith, and renewed their trust in God. Through the Psalms, the spiritual insight and religious heritage of ancient Israel have had a profound and lasting impact on the human race. The book of Psalms is also of great interest to biblical scholars, and scholarly study of the Psalms is in the midst of a sea change. A generation ago, the dominant tendency was to study individual psalms in relation to their literary forms and cultural functions. However, in recent years, studies have increasingly emphasized Hebrew poetry, the structure of the entire Psalter, and its development from earlier collections to a unified canonical book. In exploring these and other facets, this volume aims to bridge the gap between general introductions to the study of the Psalms and specialized literature. Written by members and guests of the Tyndale Fellowship Old Testament Study Group, it offers the insights of internationally recognized Old Testament scholars into the world of the Psalms.This volume will be a treasure to both students and scholars alike.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Features & Benefits

* Explores the changes and issues surrounding contemporary study of the Psalms

* Written for students and teachers

* Guides you through current approaches to study

* Introduces cultural, linguistic and literary dimensions of the Psalms

* Offers insights from leading evangelical Old Testament scholars

* Features a wealth of scholarly research on the Psalms

* Gives you a deeper appreciation of Psalms

About the Author

About the Author

Philip S. Johnston is Old Testament tutor and director of studies at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He has also taught at Belfast and St. Andrews. He has published studies of Israelite afterlife beliefs, and he is a review editor for Themelios. Johnston has lived and worked in the divided societies of Belgium and Northern Ireland, and he has an interest in Israel past and present--along with a commitment to reconciliation. His other books include Les Psaumes, Interpreting the Psalms (coeditor with David Firth), Shades of Sheol and The Land of Promise (coeditor with Peter Walker). About the Author

David Firth is Old Testament tutor at Cliff College in the United Kingdom.

Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (January 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830828338
• ISBN-13: 978-0830828333
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #154,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Synopsis of Current Psalms Scholarship!!!, July 21, 2007

By 

scourge39 "scourge39" (Archbald PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches (Paperback)

This outstanding edited volume published by IVP Academic summarizes and interacts with the most recent advancements in scholarly study of the Hebrew Psalter, setting a trajectory for future avenues of exploration. Each chapter is written by a different Evangelical OT scholar and addresses one of the broader topics addressed by the Psalter. These topics include, the relationship of the Psalter to its broader Ancient Near Eastern context, recurring themes in the Psalter, and various interpretative approaches. This book addresses structural, linguistic and textual matters that presuppose a working knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, a feature that may hinder laypeople from gleaning its benefits. Nevertheless, it is that same feature that also makes this volume an excellent choice as the primary textbook for a graduate exegesis course on the Psalms. Copious footnotes are given in each chapter to facilitate further study as well. This is neither light reading, nor is it meant to serve devotional purposes. It is, however, a profitable read for those wishing to study the Psalms on a more academic and scholarly level. It will certainly motivate those who read it to study the Psalms in greater depth as well as to interpret them more correctly. Highly recommended for academically-trained pastors and scholars!!!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the publisher's website, February 17, 2006

By 

D. Wilson (Covina, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches (Paperback)

About the Book
The book of Psalms has been precious to countless people in many languages and countries over many centuries. It has expressed their hopes and fears, inspired their faith, and renewed their trust in God. Through the Psalms, the spiritual insight and religious heritage of ancient Israel have had a profound and lasting impact on the human race.

The book of Psalms is also of great interest to biblical scholars, and scholarly study of the Psalms is in the midst of a sea change. A generation ago, the dominant tendency was to study individual psalms in relation to their literary forms and cultural functions. However, in recent years, studies have increasingly emphasized Hebrew poetry, the structure of the entire Psalter, and its development from earlier collections to a unified canonical book.

In exploring these and other facets, this volume aims to bridge the gap between general introductions to the study of the Psalms and specialized literature. Written by members and guests of the Tyndale Fellowship Old Testament Study Group, it offers the insights of internationally recognized Old Testament scholars into the world of the Psalms.This volume will be a treasure to both students and scholars alike.


Table of Contents
Contributors
Abbreviations

Introduction
A. Psalms Interpretation in Context
1. The Psalms and Current Study
2. The Psalms and Ancient Near Eastern Prayer Genres

B. The Psalms and Key Themes
3. The Psalms and Distress
4. The Psalms and Praise
5. The Psalms and the King
6. The Psalms and the Cult
7. The Psalms and Cult Symbolism: The Case of the Cherubim-Ark

C. The Psalms and Interpretation Issues
8. The Teaching of the Psalms
9. The Ethics of the Psalms
10. Body Idioms and the Psalms
11, Torah-Meditation and the Psalms: The Invitation of Psalm 1

D. The Psalms and Interpretative Traditions
12. The Structure of the Psalter
13. Qumran and the Psalms
14. The Evangelists and the Psalms
15. The Targum of Psalms

Appendices
1. Index of Form-Critical Categorizations
2. Index of Selective Psalm Commentaries
Bibliography

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deals with most important current and immediate future issues in Psalms studies, February 19, 2011

By 

t.howe - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Interpreting the Psalms: Issues and Approaches (Paperback)

This book is a collection of the most important issues regarding the study of Psalms in recent years and proposes trends for near future study. Most of the authors seem to favor a final-form (or canonical) approach of the Psalms, but they take seriously implications of genre classification studies and LXX and Qumran psalms studies. The calibre of authors is amazing and the cumulative work befits them. Below is a more specific breakdown of several chapters read so far.

Howard (ch. 1) surveys recent trends in Psalms studies concentrating on five categories: (1) literary aspects of the texts, both macrostructural and microstructural approaches, (2) the broadening of the study of Hebrew poetry to include linguistics (i.e. parallelism) and literary studies, (3) an expanded range of hermeneutic methodologies, (4) canonical issues, and (5) reconsidered form-criticism. It provides a solid overview of major works and important scholars in the field indicating important advancements and significant contradictions. It presents a charge for future scholars to participate in the avenues that continue to open up while illustrating the endless vibrancy of this beautiful book.

Longman (ch. 2) examines Ancient Near Eastern prayer genres and puts the Psalms in their context. Identification of ANE royal hymns and laments contributes to better understanding of Hebrew context. Petition of Sumerian gods in an effort to affect actions provides good commentary on possible early Hebrew worship mentality. Recognition of shared poetic quality between Psalms and ANE hymns marks great formal similarity between the prayers of different cultures. He has shown well that the Psalms are not unique, at least in form. He is logically able to assert in the conclusion that uniqueness is in the nature of the deity address.

Johnston (ch. 3) considers distress as a theme in Psalms indicating how it transcends all genres, absent only in "hymns." He covers the various uses of distress to express concern with personal and communal suffering, oppressive enemies, and nature and death, while also covering the perceived causes of distress - God, enemies, self. He points out the important element in Psalms of the ability to move on from distress through petition, negative or positive conclusions, or thanks and praise. He has effectively demonstrated widespread presence of distress in Psalms and thus should elevate it as an important field of future study.

Hutchinson (ch. 4) succeeds in demonstrating through ten propositions a close correlation of theology and doxology in the Psalms. These propositions fit into a wide range of fields - vocabulary and grammar usage, poetic emotion, categorization of genre, and use of canon criticism. All of his propositions are worthy of consideration, but he errs beyond self-admitted reductionism when he tries to make the private world of worship the domain of praise because corporate worship is the heart of the Psalter. The preposition that deserves the most future attention concerns displaying the Psalms as an ancient statement of faith, which is brilliant.

Grant (ch. 5) surveys the genre of "royal psalms," the anonymous "I" passages, canonical placement of kingship psalms in the "seams", reinterpretation of kingship Psalms that remain in the Psalter, the positive nature of the Psalms towards the king, and current relevance of kingship psalms in order to show that the kingship background of Psalms is important to understanding the theology of the Psalter. He deduces that democratization and reinterpretation are keys to the continuing kingship in the Psalter by pointing to the reader to the ultimate Davidic king. His evidence supports retention of an importance of the king in the Psalter.

Firth (ch. 8) depicts how the instructional role of the Psalms has come to the forefront in recent scholarship through expressing intentional editing of the shape of canonical Psalms and indicating didactic intentionality of Psalms does not contradict primary teaching of individual psalms. His point that a high percentage of remaining didactic psalms suggests editorial engagement is good. He adeptly locates key teaching strategies in the Psalms as testimony, admonition and observation. His conclusion that all Psalms teach within in the structure and context of the canonical book requires proper attention.

Wenham's (ch. 9) exploration of ethics as taught in the Psalms starts well in reminding the reader of worship as an expression of central beliefs and then connects specific psalms with each commandment of the Decalogue. Wenham does not produce any conclusive proofs for any claims but he has opened an important area of study. He has made worship-as-an-entrance-into-ethics a relevant consideration.

LeFebvre (ch. 11) signifies how Psalm 1 has taken a lead role in the study of Psalms as the "shape" of the Psalter has become at least as important as the genre of individual psalms. He labels it a "torah-meditation psalm" and then redefines "meditation" to a in more traditional OT sense. His essay is excellent and sparks thought that Psalm 119 could be the oral law-song of Deuteronomy 31. This would be a very interesting idea to pursue.

Wilson (ch. 12) fittingly overviews how "shaping" of Psalms gives it purpose. He indicates the structure of the Psalter through a five-book division, two stages, importance of Psalm 1 as introduction and Psalms 146-150 as conclusion, and the strategic placement and subtle distribution of specific Psalms for final form hermeneutics. He finishes his essay comparing the Hebrew Psalter with the LXX and Qumran Psalters, through which the Hebrew Psalter shines, teaching that even though we live in a world of pain, praise is the last word because Yahweh is still king and there is strength within a community of faith.

Swanson (ch. 13) deals with various issues that have arisen from the discovery of the Qumran Psalms - the already established Davidic books, difference in order, separate existence of the ascent Psalms, appearance of non-canonical Psalms, and the absence of much of the last two books. Swanson successful shows that there is a strong likelihood that the Psalter was not fixed at the beginning of the 1st century C.E., but that the first three books were.