Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Psalms: Conflict and Convergence

309 Pages·2013·4.656 MB·English

by  Susan Gillingham, Aaron Rosen

JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN APPROACHES
TO THE PSALMS
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Jewish and Christian
Approaches to the Psalms
fl
Con ict and Convergence
Edited by
SUSAN GILLINGHAM
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP,
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First published in 2013
Impression: 1
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ISBN 978–0–19–969954–4
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper by
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This volume is respectfully dedicated to the memory of
Professor Erich Zenger (1939–2010)
and
Professor Klaus Seybold (1936–2011)
Ps. 116.15
Preface
This volume comprises twenty papers which were originally given at a con-
ference, in association with the Theology Faculty at the University of Oxford,
underwritten by the John Fell Fund of Oxford University Press, and hosted at
Worcester College, Oxford in September 2010. All these essays have been
revised and adapted for publication. An outline of their contents and an
explanation of their particular order is given in the Introduction.
The conference was marred by the sudden death in April 2010 of Erich
Zenger, who was due to give the final plenary paper at the conference.
Frank-Lothar Hossfeld kindly agreed to present the plenary paper instead,
and Klaus Seybold graciously accepted an invitation to speak on the theme
originally allotted to Frank-Lothar. It was a double shock, therefore, to
learn of Klaus Seybold’s untimely death in May 2011, just one month after
submitting his own paper revised for publication. It is fitting that this volume
should be dedicated to the memory of these two great international Psalms
scholars, for each has contributed so much to our understanding and
appreciation of individual psalms and the Psalter as a whole.
I am most grateful for the warmth, goodwill, and support of all the con-
tributors. Many travelled a long way to speak at the conference and all have
produced very high-standard papers within the time constraints. A special
note of thanks is due to three people not otherwise named in this book:
to Esther Gillingham, the conference administrator, who at the time chose to
be anonymous, for her efficiency in keeping the conference afloat; to Joanna
Vitale, one of my doctoral students, for her help and enthusiasm in the final
stages of the preparation of the manuscript; and above all, to Holly Morse,
another of my doctoral students and long-time research assistant. Holly has
seen this publication through from the early conference stage to the time of
handing it on to Oxford University Press. Her consistent attention to detail
has been exemplary: whatever errors remain are my responsibility alone.
Finally, it is particularly appropriate to thank John Barton for all his
support in enabling this Oxford-based conference to find a final home
with the Press. And so I am also most grateful to all the staff at OUP who
have been involved with the publication; Tom Perridge, the Commissioning
Editor in Religion and Theology, and Elizabeth Robottom, Senior Assistant
Commissioning Editor, deserve especial thanks for their good humour,
encouragement, and advice.
S.E.G.
Contents
List of Contributors x
List of Plates xvi
Abbreviations xvii
Journal and Book Series Abbreviations in Bibliographies xviii
Susan Gillingham
Introduction 1
Part I
Jewish and Christian Responses to the Psalms
1. Peter W. Flint
The Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls: Psalms Manuscripts, Editions, and
theOxford Hebrew Bible 11
2. Geza Vermes
Reflections on the Canon and the Text of the Bible in Response
toPeter Flint 35
3. Adele Berlin
Medieval Answers to Modern Questions: Medieval Jewish
Interpreters of Psalms 38
4. Corinna Körting
Medieval Psalms Exegesis as a Challenge to Modern Exegesis:
AResponse to Adele Berlin 56
5. Susan Gillingham
The Reception of Psalm 137 in Jewish and Christian Traditions 64
6. Jonathan Magonet
Psalm 137: Unlikely Liturgy or Partisan Poem?
A Response to Sue Gillingham 83
7. Elizabeth Solopova
The Liturgical Psalter in Medieval Europe 89
8. Aaron Rosen
True Lights: Seeing the Psalms through Chagall’s Church Windows 105
viii Contents
9. David C. Mitchell
How Can We Sing the Lord’s Song?
Deciphering the Masoretic Cantillation 119
10. John F. A. Sawyer
The Psalms in Judaism and Christianity: A Reception History
Perspective 134
Part II
Reading the Psalter
11. W. H. Bellinger, Jr.
The Psalter as Theodicy Writ Large 147
12. Dirk Human
The Psalter and Theodicy: Perspectives Related to a Rhetorical
Approach 161
13. † Klaus Seybold
The Psalter as a Book 168
14. David M. Howard, Jr.
The Proto-MT Psalter, the King, and Psalms 1 and 2: A Response
toKlaus Seybold 182
15. Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford
On Translating the Poetry of the Psalms 190
16. Philip S. Johnston
‘Traduttore traditore’,Beowulf and the Psalms: A Response to
NancydeClaissé-Walford 204
Part III
Past Contexts and Future Perspectives
17. John Day
Psalm 104 and Akhenaten’s Hymn to the Sun 211
18. Erhard Gerstenberger
The Psalms and Sumerian Hymns 229
19. Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Till Magnus Steiner
Problems and Prospects in Psalter Studies 240
Contents ix
20. John Barton
Postscript 259
Index of Names 263
Subject Index 266
Index of Psalms 270