The Writings

Abstract

The Writings OP Stephen D. Ryan, Christopher T. Begg, CSJ Lorenzo A. Tosco, Hemchand Gossai, CFC Alan J. Moss, and Thomas Hieke 653. [Psalms] Nancy L. de Claissé-Walford (ed.), The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship (SBL Ancient Israel and Its Literature 20; Atlanta: SBL, 2014). Pp. xv + 267. Paper $36.95. ISBN 978-1-62837-001-0. This volume contains sixteen essays on the formation of the Psalter. A preface by the editor explains the genesis of the volume and provides an overview of canonical criticism of the Book of Psalms. Most of the essays were presented in the Book of Psalms Consultation group at the annual meeting of the SBL in San Francisco in 2011. That occasion celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of Gerald Wilson's The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter (1985), and this volume is dedicated to Wilson's memory and his seminal work on the Psalter. Essays by scholars from Germany, South Africa, Canada, and England are included in order to provide a broader perspective. The volume concludes with a list of contributors and indexes of ancient sources and modern authors. For abstracts of the essays, see ##392, 393, 395, 396, 397, 400, 402, 403, 404, 406, 411, 415, 418, 419, 420.—S.D.R. 654. [Psalms] Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Psalms: Foundations for Expository Sermons in the Christian Year (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016). Pp. 615. Paper $40. ISBN 978-0-8028-7366-8. In this fifth and final volume of his series on preaching Christ from the OT (previous volumes dealt with the OT in general and with Genesis, Ecclesiastes, and Daniel in particular), G. offers expert guidance to busy pastors on preaching Christ from the Psalms. Beginning with a general introduction on how pastors can interpret and preach from the biblical [End Page 181] psalms—and why they should, G. proceeds to discuss 22 psalms used in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A. In so doing he supplies the necessary building blocks for preaching from Psalms at Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and other major days and seasons of the church year. In addition to laying out basic homiletical-theological approaches suitable for each given psalm, G.'s chapters also provide verse-by-verse exposition, bridges to Christ in the NT and ideas for placing the psalmist's words into a contemporary context. The psalms treated by him are 1, 2, 8, 22, 23, 29, 32, 47, 51, 72, 80, 95, 96, 100, 104, 118, 121, 122, 130, and 146. The volume comes with six appendixes: Ten Steps from Text to Sermon; An Expository Sermon Model; A Meditation on Psalm 23; Sermons on Psalms 72 and 80 by Ryan Faber; A Sermon on Colossians 1:15-20 by Roy Berkenbosch; and A Series of Sermons on Psalms. There is also a bibliography and indexes of subjects and select Scripture references. [Adapted and expanded from published abstract—C.T.B.] 655. [Psalms] Roland Meynet, Les huit psaumes acrostiches alphabétiques (Retorica Biblica e Semitica 6; Rome: Gregorian and Biblical Press, 2015). Pp. 320. Paper €30. ISBN 978-88-7839-315-8. M.'s work consists of a rhetorical analysis of the alphabetical acrostic psalms of the Bible (Psalms 9–10, 25, 34, 37, 111 & 112, 119, and 145). Five of the volume's component studies have appeared previously (those on Pss 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, and 145). In a brief introduction, M. distinguishes his rhetorical analysis from the study of literary genres and form criticism, noting that biblical rhetorical analysis intends to highlight the "composition" or "organization" of the text of each individual psalm rather than to consider it as representative of a genre category. He notes as well that acrostic psalms have generally been considered artificial and mechanical, constrained and as not very coherent. For M., however, the alphabetical acrostic constraint does not prevent the above psalms from being true poetic compositions. Each of the eight psalms is discussed in a chapter of varying length (the treatment of Psalm 119 runs to 133 pages). Following the MT with a literal French translation, M. highlights, with...