Digital Logos Edition
This work by Nancy deClaissé-Walford, Rolf Jacobson, and Beth Tanner is the most complete and detailed one–volume commentary available on the Psalms. Significantly, the volume reflects the combined insights of three superior (younger) biblical scholars.
DeClaissé-Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner offer a succinct introduction to the Psalter, a new translation of each psalm that takes special account of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and individual entries on each psalm unit. Throughout the book they draw on state–of–the–art research on the canonical shape and shaping of the Psalter and evidence a nuanced attention to the poetic nature of Psalms.
“The point of the metaphor is that the destination that one reaches after being led along the paths of righteousness, the destination one reaches at the end of the days of my life, the destination toward which one is shepherded and indeed toward which one is harried by God’s pursuing goodness and hesed is none other than God’s very self. God is the psalmist’s destination.” (Page 245)
“Here, the threatening presence of the darkest valley is named. But the fear-evoking danger of that presence is more than balanced by the courage-providing, fear-removing presence of the Lord. This is the true setting of the psalm: the existential space of being in the presence of something that is terrifying, a space in which every reflective human being finds himself or herself at some point, and a space in which, according to the witness of the poem, the Lord can also be found.” (Pages 238–239)
“The bank vault of human worth, according to this psalm, is not located in our own existence, but rather in the twin sources of the God who created us and the creation over which that God has directed us to exercise responsibility: We are valuable because God values us and because God has commanded us to value creation!” (Page 120)
“The way of the righteous, by theological and grammatical contrast, is the object of God’s care. The righteous are distinguished not by any action of their own, but by an action of the Lord’s: God watches over them. The message of this verse, and indeed of the entire psalm, is that it is far better to give up spurious claims to subjective autonomy and become the object of the Lord’s care. This is the true path to happiness and life.” (Page 63)
Their new translation of the psalms and the attached notes as well as attention to recent scholarship provide a treasure trove of insights.
—W.H. Bellinger Jr., chair, Department of Religion, Baylor University
From careful text-critical and philological analysis to thoughtful theological and pastoral reflections, the authors have created a most useful commentary on the Psalms. While valuable to scholars, these interpretations will be especially helpful to pastors in their teaching and preaching ministry.
—Patrick D. Miller, professor of Old Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary
How excellent that these three scholars have written this commentary! How admirable that they have managed to cover so much ground and deal with so many detailed points concerning text and language, all within the confines of one volume!
—John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary
Nancy DeClaissé-Walford is Carolyn Ward Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages at McAfee School of Theology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Rolf A. Jacobson is associate professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an ordained pastor. He is the author of Many Are Saying: The Function of Direct Discourse in the Hebrew Psalter and coauthor of Invitation to the Psalms: A Reader’s Guide to Discovery and Engagement.
Beth LaNeel Tanner is the Kansfield Professor of Old Testament Studies at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Jersey.
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