E. Zenger (ed.), The Composition of the Book of Psalms

Edited by Erich Zenger (1939-2010), The Composition of the Book of Psalms is a collection of papers which were presented during at the Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense (LVII), hosted by the University of Leuven, August 5-7, 2008. Before directly considering the major papers in this collection, it is appropriate to place the Colloquium, and the subsequent book, within the wider context of contemporary research into the Psalms. This research, which since the 1920s and the influence of Herman Gunkel (1862-1932), has focused on individual psalms as isolated units. However, and as this book posits, since the 1970s a more comprehensive and inclusive view of the Psalms has become the norm. The Psalter is now studied as a composition in its own right: from Psalmenexegese to Psalterexegese. Thus, as Zenger notes in his introduction, The Composition of the Book of Psalms creates a space in which to take stock of the state of current research amongst the many debates on the psalms. He, himself, sees this book as carrying particular meaning, presenting the diversity of current research into the Psalms. With the help of Frank-Lothar Hossfeld, he has produced a seminal commentary on the Psalms and their methodological research. Sadly, having written the introduction and in the final stages of editing the proceedings of the Colloquium, Zenger died on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010. This book is a fitting tribute to his memory. The forty-four contributions of this tome are spread over some 826 pages and divided into three major sections. The first section consists of the ten major papers of the Colloquium; the second section consists of four seminar papers; the third section is comprised of thirty shorter papers. Not only are each of the major papers worthy of their own review but the minor papers also give both good examples of the application of Psalterexegese methodology in all its complexity and diversity. In terms of method, the book, from its major works to the shorter articles struggles for a consistent methodological narrative; this inconsistency is most notable in the third section where the authors of the minor papers offer a rich diversity of opinions and interpretations. This review will focus on the nine of the ten major papers of the first section of the book: excluding Yair Zakovitsh, “The Interpretative Significance of the Sequence of Psalms 111-112. 113-118. 119”. Zenger’s contribution is the first of these and concentrates on methodology whilst the following three papers treat of the structure and theology of the Psalter in its entirety. These are followed by three papers which focus on the major blocks of the Psalter and then two papers which focus on the block of Psalms from 3 to 41. Finally, the last paper uses the metaphor of the Temple to explicate the oneness of the Psalter.