The Arrival of the King: The Shape and Story of Psalms 15-24

by Carissa Quinn

Overview

The suffering and vindicated king

The Psalter evinces meaningful arrangement. When psalms are read with attentiveness to their textual context, striking connections emerge. In The Arrival of the King: The Shape and Story of Psalms 15-24, Carissa Quinn approaches these psalms as a compositional unity. When read as a unit, Psalms 15-24 tell the story of God's kingdom, established through the suffering and deliverance of his Davidic king.

Quinn interprets Psalms 15-24 as a sequence and a chiasm, revealing provocative links in adjacent and parallel psalms. These psalms have a sense of progress, beginning with the question of who may ascend the holy hill and culminating in the divine king's own ascent. They also display recursion, as themes in one psalm are developed in its chiastic parallel. At the peak of the chiasm is Psalm 19, where the king praises God's creation and Torah and prays for righteousness.

The Arrival of the King establishes and explores the rewards of approaching the Psalms as a carefully arranged literary work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683597148
Publisher:	Lexham Academic
Publication date:	12/13/2023
Series:	Studies in Scripture and Biblical Theology
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	827,265
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Carissa Quinn (PhD, Gateway Seminary) is director of scholarship at BibleProject, an EdTech organization and animation studio in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

"Scholars have long noted the chiastic grouping of Psalms 15-24, but Carissa Quinn here provides a deeper dive into the structure and message of this grouping, placing it on a more empirical footing. Her attention not only to the structures of the grouping but also to its narrative story-line advances our understanding of the Psalter's overall message: the duality of Yahweh's eternal kingship and that of his faithful human king/messiah. Highly recommended."

—David M. Howard, Jr., professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Bethel Seminary

"Carissa Quinn has ventured into exciting new territory in studying the compositional design of the Psalms. She has sharpened a number of methodological tools and then put them to fruitful use in analyzing Psalms 15-24. This book is packed with insight and represents an important step forward in Psalms studies."

—Tim Mackie, co-founder of the BibleProject

"Considering the importance of Psalms 16 and 22 for the apostolic witness concerning Jesus, the pride of place that Psalm 19 occupies in discussions about revelation, and the widespread familiarity of Psalm 23 throughout the world, Dr. Quinn's book comes as a breath of fresh air filled with invaluable insights about the need to interpret these beloved psalms within their carefully and strategically designed literary context. For anyone who wants to better understand the book of Psalms, Dr. Quinn's book is a must."

—Seth D. Postell, academic dean, Israel College of the Bible

"The arrival of this book is a fitting way to herald the arrival of the King. Carissa has provided a compelling and stimulating look at this subsection of the Psalms, which provides not only insight into these important psalms, but also maps a way for reading the entire Psalter. This book is a difference-maker for all who cherish the Psalms!"

—Ray Lubeck, professor of Bible and theology, Multnomah University

"The value of Quinn's volume is her method of measuring the strength/rarity of correspondences between texts, which has often been subjected to criticisms of arbitrariness. In my view, Quinn has successfully demonstrated that the correspondences within Psalms 15-24 are quantifiable. With the rapid rise and use of Artificial Intelligence that employs Large Language Processing Models, Quinn's contribution is incredibly timely and will inspire new possibilities of biblical scholarship with machine learning."

—Peter C. W. Ho, associate professor of Old Testament, Singapore Bible College

From the Publisher