Charting the Course of Psalms Research

Erhard S. Gerstenberger (1932-2023) was Professor Emeritus at the University of Marburg, where he taught Old Testament from 1985-1997, and served as Dean of the Department of Protestant Theology from 1993-1994. His numerous works have been translated into many languages, and he remains an influential biblical scholar.K.C. Hanson is Editor in Chief of Wipf and Stock publishers, and has numerous theological publications. Hanson worked closely with Gerstenberger on the translations for this book.

Erhard Gerstenberger has been a decisive figure in Psalms study in the past generation. This book provides a summary of scholarly research on the Psalms in his generation. Beyond that, this book gives full expression to Gerstenberger's singular contribution to Psalms study, namely, the articulation of a fourfold taxonomy of Psalm settings: family, village, monarchy, and the post-exile community. Through this valuable summation of his work, Gerstenberger continues to be our generative teacher.Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological SeminaryErhard Gerstenberger's lifelong pursuit to understand the rich theological traditions of ancient Israel's religious poetry can be grasped on each page of this collection of essays. With the help of Hanson's elegant translation, he takes his English-speaking readers on a tour de force of intimate prayers, ritual settings, and varied theologies of the Psalter, uncovering hidden treasures, social contexts, and expressions of faith of texts that still impact us today.Anselm C. Hagedorn, Universität OsnabrückThis invaluable collection of essays is the fruit of Erhard Gerstenberger's long and distinguished career. Gerstenberger is a formidable scholar and perhaps the most ferocious advocate for a pure form-critical approach to the Psalms. His towering intellect illuminates the Psalms in their historic, ritual, and cultic settings.Rolf A. Jacobson, Luther Seminary

• Editor's Foreword by K.C. HansonPrefaceAcknowledgementsList of Abbreviations1. The Lyrical Literature2. The Psalms in Form-Critical Perspective3. The Psalms: Genres, Life-Situations, and Theologies - Towards a Hermeneutics of Social Stratification4. Theologies in the Book of Psalms5. Modes of Communication with the Divine in the Hebrew Psalter6. The Psalms and Ritual Praxis7. Non-Temple Psalms: Their Cultic Setting Revisited8. The Psalter as Book and as CollectionBibliographyAuthor IndexScripture Index