Review in: Irish Theological
Quarterly 2003 68: 176
Review door: Michael MaherGevonden op: http://itq.sagepub.com/content/68/2/176.full.pdf+html
Psalms 1-72
(Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries).
By Richard J.
Clifford, SJ. Nashville: Abingdon, 2002. Pp. 288. Price £21.99. ISBN 0-687-02711-X.
Down through the
centuries, the psalms have provided Jews and Christians with a reservoir of
inspiring hymns and prayers, and they have enabled countless believers to bring
a theological dimension to the art of responding to the ups and downs of life.
However, believers in different ages have understood the psalms in different ways,
and scholars have brought different approaches to the task of interpreting
them. Our modem understanding of the psalms has been strongly influenced by the
creative insights of the German scholar Hermann Gunkel, who, in the early decades
of the twentieth century, classified the psalms according to their ’types’
(hymns, laments, etc) and their literary features. Since Gunkel’s days, the
psalms have been the subject of detailed literary scrutiny, with the result
that we have come to appreciate the poetic beauty and the theological richness
of these ancient poems in a manner that is essentially different from the way
in which they were understood in earlier centuries.
On reading the
book under review, one soon becomes aware that its author is thoroughly
familiar with modern scholarship relating to the psalms. Furthermore, Dr
Clifford does an excellent job of communicating the results of that scholarship
to the reader who is interested in placing the psalms in their cultural
setting, in understanding their poetic structure, and in discovering their
message for us today.
Clifford begins
his work with a compact but clear introduction to the Psalter in general (pp.
15-35). In these pages, he deals with such topics as ’The Psalter as a Reflection
of the Temple and its Worship’, ’The Genres and Rhetoric of the Psalms’,
’Poetic and Rhetorical Features’, ’The Psalms as Prayer for Modem People’.
Clifford expresses the currently accepted views on these and other topics in a
concise readable fashion.
The author
continues with a study of each of the seventy-two psalms that form the subject
of his work. He discusses each psalm under three rubrics: ’Literary Analysis’,
’Exegetical Analysis’, ’Theological and Ethical Analysis’. Under the heading
’Literary Analysis’, he discusses the literary genre of the psalm, its poetic
features, and its structure. So, for example, we are told that Ps 4 is an
individual lament that has elements of a song of trust. It addresses a
complaint to God in spirited language, but it also makes the case for loyalty
to God. One can distinguish three subunits within the psalm: vv. 1-3 formulate
a petition and a statement of hope; vv. 4-6 are an exhortation to others; vv.
7-8 are a statement of hope. The ’Exegetical Analysis’ offers, as one might
expect, an exegesis of the psalm and of its individual parts. In Ps. 51, for
example, Clifford distinguishes three distinct blocks of text. The theme of the
first block (vv. 1-8) can be expressed in the words ’Forgive me, 0 God, because
of your mercy, I acknowledge my sin’. The theme of the second block (vv. 9-17)
can be summed up as follows: ’Renew me, restore me to the community, and let me
proclaim your praises.’ The third and final little block (vv. 18-19) is
regarded as an addition designed to reassure worshippers that when Jerusalem is
rebuilt animal sacrifice will be restored. The ’Theological and Ethical
Analysis’ brings out the religious and moral values that may be discovered in a
particular psalm. Although this analysis does not focus on contemporary issues,
it can stimulate the reader to reflect on these issues. We are told, for
example that Ps. 72 ’is at once a praise of an ideal kingship and an admonition
to the king’, and that a king can only succeed if he rules with justice (pp.
334). The reader of the psalm is left to ponder on what this might mean for
those who hold power and influence in our modem world.
The editors of
the series in which Clifford’s book appears have written: ’These volumes are
designed and written to provide compact and critical commentaries for the use
of theological students and pastors. It is hoped that they may be of service to
upperlevel or university students and to those responsible for teaching in
congregational settings’ (p. 9). Clifford’s work is eminently suited to the
kind of audience described in these lines, and it can be recommended without
reservation.
MICHAEL MAHER, MSC
Milltown Park
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