Overview

Good poetry is like a good painting: the more you linger over it, the more it reveals. It is a deep well that never runs dry. And that is why the Psalter, like a good painting, keeps giving. In the last four decades, Psalms scholarship has found remarkable fruitfulness in reading the Psalter as a book--that is, in reading the Psalms as a unified composition with a metanarrative across its 150 poems. Pivotal questions associated with this approach really boil down to two questions--how and why? How are individual psalms sequenced, if at all, and what is the design logic behind that macrostructure? This volume seeks to answer those questions. In essence, the Psalter unfurls the story of the Davidic covenant. While interest in the editing of the Psalter remains high in recent Psalms scholarship, this interest has not led to clear consensus. The specific and timely contribution of this volume is twofold. First, it consolidates the results of studies on groups of psalms. Second, it integrates poetic and thematic approaches that are typically separated in Psalms scholarship. Readers will find results of this study surprising and their implications sobering.

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9781532654435

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Reviews

"""Peter Ho has made an important and durable contribution to our understanding of the shape and structure of the Psalter. . . . He shows how messianic and eschatological accents are compelling in Christian interpretation. I anticipate that Ho's book will be an important reference point for future work."" --Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary ""Since the late 1980s, the canonical approach to the Psalter has, arguably, reinvigorated Psalms studies in the academy. This method looks at the links between psalms which result in contextual groupings within the broader anthology. . . . To be honest, it is high time that someone wrote this book, and Ho's careful, thorough, and creative study provides a great service to both church and academy."" --Jamie A. Grant, Vice-Principal (Academic), Highland Theological College UHI ""With this work, Peter Ho has made an important contribution to studies of the editorial shaping and message of the Psalter. After a thorough review and evaluation of the recent literature on the subject, he then analyzes different ways of coming at the issue, creatively employing several (not just one) in his own quest. This is a convincing argument for the primacy of the Davidic covenant in the Psalter's message."" --David Howard, Professor Emeritus, Bethel University"

Peter Ho has made an important and durable contribution to our understanding of the shape and structure of the Psalter. . . . He shows how messianic and eschatological accents are compelling in Christian interpretation. I anticipate that Ho's book will be an important reference point for future work. --Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary Since the late 1980s, the canonical approach to the Psalter has, arguably, reinvigorated Psalms studies in the academy. This method looks at the links between psalms which result in contextual groupings within the broader anthology. . . . To be honest, it is high time that someone wrote this book, and Ho's careful, thorough, and creative study provides a great service to both church and academy. --Jamie A. Grant, Vice-Principal (Academic), Highland Theological College UHI With this work, Peter Ho has made an important contribution to studies of the editorial shaping and message of the Psalter. After a thorough review and evaluation of the recent literature on the subject, he then analyzes different ways of coming at the issue, creatively employing several (not just one) in his own quest. This is a convincing argument for the primacy of the Davidic covenant in the Psalter's message. --David Howard, Professor Emeritus, Bethel University

Author Information

Peter C. W. Ho is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Singapore Bible College. His research interests include Hebrew poetry and stylistic studies. His work has appeared in Vetus Testamentum and the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament.

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