This week’s Book Review is on The Book of Psalms (NICOT), by Nancy L. DeClaissé-Walford, Rolf A. Jacobson and Beth LaNeel Tanner (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014).
This new one-volume, multi-author commentary on the psalms focuses on the shape and shaping of the Psalter. Brevard Childs first introduced the concept in his Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture in his chapter on the psalms. His initial exploration was fleshed out in his student Gerald Wilson’s dissertation, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. This “canonical” reading of the Psalter looks for the editorial purpose in the arrangement of the psalms, looking especially at pre-existing collections (e.g., the Psalms of Asaph, Enthronement Psalms, Elohistic Psalter, etc.) as well as editorial indicators (either explicit or implicit). Most in this field agree that the Psalter tells the story of Israel from the reign of David (Books 1-2) to the return from exile (Book 5).
Wilson laid out a good deal of evidence for viewing editorial work in ancient Near Eastern collections of hymns and poetry, and then showed some solid evidence for similar editorial work in the Psalter. A JSOTSS monograph, The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter, appeared eight years after Wilson’s monograph with some critiques but also with quite favorable reception to this new way of studying and understanding the Psalter. Since then, the field has taken off and has become quite specialized, even with dissertations on the canonical interpretation of single psalms.
The introduction to this commentary lays out the authors’ agreed-upon narrative as beginning with David (Book 1), moving to Solomon at the end of Book 2, continuing to the divided kingdom and its destruction in Book 3, recounting the struggles of the Babylonian exiles in Book 4, and concluding with a celebration of the return to Jerusalem in Book 5 with a focus on God as sovereign (29).
Each Book of the Psalter earns its own introduction, which generally do well to explain the shape and shaping of that Book and how it fits into the Psalter as a whole. Once the era of Israel’s history for each Book is determined (e.g., united kingdom, exile, etc.), the individual psalms are briefly touched on to explain how they can be read in light of that era, although sometimes the authors apply the psalms more generally to “all of the time that the people stood in a difficult place and questioned God’s actions or inaction in the world” (p. 685, speaking of Book 5).
The commentary is quite helpful for expositing the psalms. Each exposition explains the literary structure, follows the flow of thought, and explains the meaning of each verse in a readable fashion. Not much attention is given to background or form-critical research, so the text stands prominent. But one way in which the volume could be improved is to consistently interpret each psalm in light of its contribution to the narrative proposed in the introduction of the commentary. E.g., the psalms in Book 1 and 2 are mostly explained as “the psalmist” lamenting, and applied generally to the people of God who lament. But according to the canonical reading, and to the commentary’s view of the Psalter’s narrative, Books 1 and 2 contain David’s voice, his laments, and his enemies. Each psalm should then be interpreted as either David or, if authorship is not attributed to him, to someone living in the time of David’s reign. The same holds true for the other Books of the Psalter and their individuals psalms as well. Only once each psalm is read in light of its position in the narrative of the Psalter has a canonical commentary really been accomplished.
Nevertheless, the canonical reading is not necessarily the best or the most hermeneutically fulfilling way to read the psalms. For that reason, the failure to integrate the canonical interpretation into the exposition of each individual psalm is not that problematic. I would heartily recommend this commentary to anyone interested in the psalms, but especially to those who preach or teach the psalms, since the commentary focuses so clearly on the language of the psalms and their meaning.
Each psalm contains some sort of devotional application as well to the Church today, which lends itself well to preachers and teachers. Scholars will also benefit from this volume by finding bits of insight on the canonical reading of the Psalter. It probably has not broken much new ground in the field, but assuredly that is not the authors’ purpose. They did accomplish their purpose well, which is to provide the Church with a commentary that clearly explains the meaning of each psalm and takes into account the best of recent research. For that reason, this work would fit well on your shelf as a great reference work.
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