Charting the Course of Psalms Research: Essays on the Psalms, Volume I

by Erhard S Gerstenberger, K C Hanson

Overview

Erhard Gerstenberger (1932-2023) has been a highly influential exegete of the Psalms for several decades. He demonstrated how the Psalms were able to modulate the deepest feelings of individuals and communities, encompassing a wide variety of existential experiences relating to God and the world. Gerstenberger believed that psalmic poetry grew out of diverse and real-life situations. The first two essays in Charting the Course of Psalms Research deftly review the secondary literature. The first covers the 'lyrical literature' of the Old Testament, and the second considers the history of interpretation of the Psalms. The remaining essays explore the social settings of the Psalms and their connection to theology and communication theory, and include two chapter translated into English for the first time and edited by K.C. Hanson. Student and researcher alike will be enriched by the insights Gerstenberger provides.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780227180013
Publisher:	James Clarke & Co
Publication date:	07/25/2024
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 12.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Erhard S. Gerstenberger (1932-2023) was Professor Emeritus at the University of Marburg, where he taught Old Testament from 1985-1997, and served as Dean of the Department of Protestant Theology from 1993-1994. His numerous works have been translated into many languages, and he remains an influential biblical scholar. K.C. Hanson is Editor in Chief of Wipf and Stock publishers, and has numerous theological publications. Hanson worked closely with Gerstenberger on the translations for this book.

Table of Contents

Editor's Foreword by K.C. Hanson Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations 1. The Lyrical Literature 2. The Psalms in Form-Critical Perspective 3. The Psalms: Genres, Life-Situations, and Theologies - Towards a Hermeneutics of Social Stratification 4. Theologies in the Book of Psalms 5. Modes of Communication with the Divine in the Hebrew Psalter 6. The Psalms and Ritual Praxis 7. Non-Temple Psalms: Their Cultic Setting Revisited 8. The Psalter as Book and as Collection Bibliography Author Index Scripture Index

Editorial Reviews

"Erhard Gerstenberger has been a decisive figure in Psalms study in the past generation. This book provides a summary of scholarly research on the Psalms in his generation. Beyond that, this book gives full expression to Gerstenberger's singular contribution to Psalms study, namely, the articulation of a fourfold taxonomy of Psalm settings: family, village, monarchy, and the post-exile community. Through this valuable summation of his work, Gerstenberger continues to be our generative teacher.Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary Erhard Gerstenberger's lifelong pursuit to understand the rich theological traditions of ancient Israel's religious poetry can be grasped on each page of this collection of essays. With the help of Hanson's elegant translation, he takes his English-speaking readers on a tour de force of intimate prayers, ritual settings, and varied theologies of the Psalter, uncovering hidden treasures, social contexts, and expressions of faith of texts that still impact us today.Anselm C. Hagedorn, Universitat Osnabruck This invaluable collection of essays is the fruit of Erhard Gerstenberger's long and distinguished career. Gerstenberger is a formidable scholar and perhaps the most ferocious advocate for a pure form-critical approach to the Psalms. His towering intellect illuminates the Psalms in their historic, ritual, and cultic settings.Rolf A. Jacobson, Luther Seminary"

From the Publisher