An Introduction To The Psalms

Providing an introduction to the Psalms, this book introduces readers to some of the key issues arising from different approaches to the biblical text. It examines how the methods of interpretation - historical/cultural, literary, liturgical and theological - differ and complement each other. This accessible introduction to the Psalms introduces readers to some of the key issues arising from different approaches to the biblical text. Alastair G. Hunter examines how current methods of interpretation - historical/cultural, literary, liturgical and theological - differ and complement each other. Hunter provides an overview of contemporary scholarship (including the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls Psalms) and examines some of the key texts and commentaries in use today. The book offers a way in to more detailed and more advanced Psalms study, and includes particular emphasis on literary and liturgical matters, which are often left out of traditional commentaries. Hunter seeks to do two things: to understand the psalms in themselves as deliberately arranged poetical and liturgical compositions; and to explore their literary and theological significance for contemporary readers. He considers the increasing body of work relating to groups of psalms, and reviews the results to date of that approach, which helps the reader to see the psalms as a more coherent collection of texts, and has implications for their exegesis and interpretation.

Hermann Gunkel's commentary on Psalms (Die Psalmen, HKAT) -- considered by many to be his magnum opus -- was published in 1926. But he was unable to complete his final work on the Psalms. The severe suffering of the final months of his life forced him to hand over his incomplete manuscript, at Christmastime 1931, to his pupil Joachim Begrich. Gunkel died on 11 March 1932. Begrich put the final touches on the organization of Gunkel's last work on Psalms, and it was published in 1933 as Einleitung in die Psalmen: die Gattungen der religiosen Lyrik Israels.As with much of Gunkel's other work, the influence over these 65 years of Einleitung in die Psalmen on the study of the Pslams, Hebrew poetry, and, indeed, the whole realm of Old Testament literature, lyric, and cult, as already noted, "can scarcely be overestimated". Yet this genuinely seminal work has remained untranslated until now.So, coincident with its 65th year, Einleitung in die Psalmen is embarking upon a new and vital career of influence in this English-language edition. A worthy addition to the shelves of the Mercer Library of Biblical Studies, it will be welcomed by every serious student of the Psalms and of the life and worship of ancient Israel and her progeny.