Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Psalms Conflict and Convergence

The Psalms have resulted in controversies between Jews and Christians over the centuries and it is only from the mid twentieth century onwards that the two traditions have worked side by side in the academy at least. This is one of the very few volumes on the psalms to incorporate scholarship from both these traditions for nearly a century, and the result is a rich celebration of these extraordinary ancient songs. This innovative essay collection draws together internationally renowned Jewish and Christian scholars of the Psalms, with one tradition responding to the other, in areas as diverse as Qumran studies, Medieval Jewish interpretation, Reception History, Liturgical Psalters and Chagall's Church Windows and more recent Literary Studies of the Psalter as a Book. The range of topics chosen will be of interest not only to those specializing in the Psalms but also to others interested more generally in biblical studies. Several musical and artistic representations of selected psalms are also included and the book includes a colour plate section which illustrates several of the chapters.

Susan Gillingham is Fellow and Tutor in Theology, Worcester College, Oxford; Reader in Old Testament, Oxford University.

Introduction, Susan Gillingham
I: Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Psalms
1. The Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls. Psalms Manuscripts, Editions, and the Oxford Hebrew Bible, Peter Flint
2. Reflections on the Canon and the Text of the Bible in response to Peter Flint, Geza Vermes
3. Medieval Answers to Modern Questions. Medieval Jewish Interpreters of Psalms, Adele Berlin
4. Medieval Psalms Exegesis as a Challenge to Modern Exegesis: A Response to Adele Berlin, Corinna Korting
5. The Reception of Psalm 137 in Jewish and Christian Traditions, Susan Gillingham
6. Psalm 137 - Unlikely Liturgy or Partisan Poem? A Response to Sue Gillingham, Jonathan Magonet
7. The Liturgical Psalter in Medieval Europe, Elizabeth Solopova
8. True Lights: Seeing the Psalms through Chagall's Church Windows, Aaron Rosen
9. How Can We Sing the Lord's Song? Deciphering the Masoretic Cantillation, David C. Mitchell
10. The Psalms in Judaism and Christianity. A Reception History Perspective, John Sawyer
II: Reading the Psalter
11. The Psalter as Theodicy Writ Large, Bill Bellinger, Jr.
12. The Psalter and Theodicy. Perspectives Related to a Rhetorical Approach., Dirk Human
13. The Psalter as a Book, Klaus Seybold
14. The Proto-mt Psalter, the King, and Psalms 1 and 2. A response to Klaus Seybold., David Howard, Jr.
15. On Translating the Poetry of the Psalms, Nancy deClaisse Walford
16. Traduttore Traditore, Beowulf and the Psalms. A Response to Nancy Declaisse Walford., Philip Johnston
III: Past Contexts and Future Perspectives
17. Psalm 104 and Akhenaten's Hymn to the Sun, John Day
18. The Psalms and Sumerian Hymns, Erhard Gerstenberger
19. Problems and Prospects in Psalter Studies, Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Dr. Till Magnus Steiner
20. Postscript, John Barton