The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 4

2) A SHORT HISTORY OF EXEGESIS ON THE PSALMS

Exegesis of the Psalms in the early centuries of Christianity was dominated by the allegorical method.
Philo of Alexandria (25 B.C.) was the famous Jewish writer in the diaspora who had made use of the
platonic method of the Stoics to develop his own allegorical method for interpreting scripture. The Stoics
had used the platonic method primarily to offer reasonable explanations of the popular myths. They
attempted to distil from the myth its very soul. A presupposition for the Stoics was that the actual content of
the text is something other than what the text superficially seems to be saying. Interpretation is necessary to
bring out the true meaning of the text. It is not difficult to see immediately platonic influence in the nature of
the relationship between reality and appearance. In Plato's famous analogy of the cave with the shadows, the
shadows reflect only the appearance of the real object. The mind has the task to go from the appearance to
the reality behind the shadow. This task was readily applicable to a literary text. The surface meaning of the
text is like the shadows. The task of the mind is to reach back to the inner or deeper significance of the text
itself.

Philo developed this method in his commentaries on OT texts in order to make available in a
reasonable way the writings of the Jewish people to the Greek world. A position that Philo seems to have
fostered and promoted was that Moses taught nothing different from the Greek philosophers. The Torah
corresponds to the natural law, it is eminently reasonable.

An example of Philo's allegorical method can be gleaned from his commentary on Genesis. The
method of correspondences was often employed for moral teaching. The images of Adam and Eve and the
beasts symbolize other realities: reason, the senses and emotions. The use of allegorical method was quite
often deliberate and conscious throughout his works and especially when scriptural quotations were used.
Three books were dedicated to allegorical interpretation itself (Legum Allegoriae I-III).

But the likeness of the sun he only indicates by symbols. And it is easy otherwise by means of argument
to perceive this, since God is the first light, "For the Lord is my light and my Saviour," (Ps 26:1) is the
language of the Psalms; and not only the light, but he is also the archetypal pattern of every other light,
or rather he is more ancient and more sublime than even the archetypal model, though he is spoken of
as the model; for the real model was his own most perfect word, the light, and he himself is like to no
created thing (Legum Allegoriae I.74-75).

Even Paul in his letters employed such an allegorical method that had been developed by the Stoics. For
instance in commenting on Deut. 25:4 "You shall not muzzle the ox that grinds the grain." Paul writes in
1Cor 9:9-10, "This is not uttered for the sake of the animals who are to receive nourishment but for us.
Support the person in the community who serves the Gospel." Similarly in Gal 4:21-31 Paul employs an
allegorical method when commenting on the images of Hagar and Sarah and their two sons by saying that
the story should be interpreted allegorically in that one character represents freedom and the other slavery.

The great exponent of this particular method in Christian circles was Origen who worked from
Alexandria and from Caesarea. In this method, a prime goal was to locate correspondences of the various
images and situations presented in the psalms to the realities of Christian faith. This method allowed for a
context of great piety and spiritual insights that fostered individual and communal prayer.

Many of the early exegetes were influenced by the writings of Origen even if and when they preferred a
more literal interpretation of the psalms.
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 5

Take, for instance, St. Augustine who is known for his literal preference in interpreting scripture. In his
commentary on the psalms which appears to be a series of homilies, Augustine makes the following remarks
on the opening psalm of the psalter:

1. "Blessed is the man that hath not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly" (ver. 1). This is to be
understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Man. "Blessed is the man that hath not gone away in the
counsel of the ungodly," as "the man of earth did," who consented to his wife deceived by the serpent, to the
transgressing the commandment of God. "Nor stood in the way of sinners." For He came indeed in the way
of sinners, by being born as sinners are; but He "stood" not therein, for that the enticements of the world
held Him not. And hath not sat in the seat of pestilence." He willed not an earthly kingdom, with pride,
which is well taken for "the seat of pestilence;" for that there is hardly any one who is free from the love of
rule, and craves not human glory. For a "pestilence" is disease widely spread, and involving all or nearly
all. Yet "the seat of pestilence" may be more appropriately understood of hurtful doctrine; "whose word
spreadeth as a canker." The order too of the words must be considered: "went away, stood, sat." For he
"went away," when he drew back from God. He "stood," when he took pleasure in sin. He "sat," when,
confirmed in his pride, he could not go back, unless set free by Him, who neither "hath gone away in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of pestilence.

2. "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law will he meditate by day and by night (ver. 2). The
law is not made for a righteous man," 4 says the Apostle. But it is one thing to be in the law, another under
the law. Whoso is in the law, acteth according to the law; whoso is under the law, is acted upon according
to the law: the one therefore is free, the other a slave. Again, the law, which is written and imposed upon the
servant, is one thing; the law, which is mentally discerned by him who needeth not its "letter," is another
thing. "He will meditate by day and by night," is to be understood either as without ceasing; or "by day" in
joy," by night" in tribulations. For it is said, "Abraham saw my day, and was glad:" and of tribulation it is
said, "my reins also have instructed me, even unto the night." (LF 24§).

As exemplified in this text from Augustine, in this allegorical approach the task at hand is to search for
various correspondences to the images used in the text. Often other scriptural passages are used from both
Old and New Testaments to make the correspondences, or elements of Christian faith are suggested to be
the topic discussed in an anticipated form. This form of exegesis dominated through the centuries and left
behind a rich tradition of allegorical interpretation, full of insights into the spiritual life and into prayer.

The allegorical method underwent a series of refinements through the ensuing centuries. At the outset
the free-wheeling spirit of allegory was dampened with a more literal approach in interpreting the scriptural
passages. Antioch favoured such a limitation on interpreting Scripture.

Even within the rabbinic schools a similar tendency existed in these two approaches to scripture. At
first in the Talmud the rabbis make free use of the allegorical method in order to explain and exhort the laws
in the haggadah and the halakhah. By the 8th century there was a reaction to such free use of interpretation
and a method arose that concentrated on the text. Philology became an important feature of this method of
whom Rashi in Spain was the major proponent. Again in the 12th century allegory- experienced a revival in
the Kabbala movement whose gnostic mysticism stressed allegory. In the Zohar, the various levels of
interpretation are presented. It is not known for sure who the author of the Zohar was. For a long time it was
considered that R. Simeon ben Yohai (R. Simeon) was the author, but this work of the Kabbalah was more
than likely composed in the second half of the thirteenth century by Moshe ben Sem Tob de Leon in Spain.
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 6

The division of Jewish history into periods:

Moses: written Torah -

oral Torah -

Tannaim 1st century BCE -- early 3rd century CE

Rabbinic period begins with Hillel and Shammai at the time of Christ (or according to Abraham Ibn Daud
1160 from BCE 300). These first teachers are called Tannaim (Aramaic tanna from Hebrew shanah, 'to
repeat, to learn'). Abraham Ibn Daud is responsible for dividing the Tannaim into five generations, the
Amoraim into seven generations.
Amoraim (Hebrew, amar, 'to say, to comment) are the commentators of Tannaitic teachings up to 500 CE.
Saboraim (Hebrew, sabar, 'to think': the editors of the Babylonian Talmud) moved from 6th CE into the
period of the
Geonim (Hebrew, ga'ôn, 'eminent': the tile of the heads of the Babylonian academies), until the eleventh
century.

Mishna (also from Hebrew shanah to repeat, in its technical sense means to study). It comprises the three
branches of rabbinic tradition, the midrashim, the halakhot and the haggadot. It is organized into six sections
(sedarim or arakhim, the abbreviation for the Talmud as Shas stands for shishah sedarim, the six orders).

1) Zeraim = seeds 11 tractates;

2) Mo'ed = festival days 12 tractates;
3) Nashim = women 7 tractates;
4) Neziqin = damages 10 tractates;
5) Qodashim = holy things 11 tractates;
6) Toharot = purities 12 tractates.

The Tosefta (Aramaic, supplement) consists of halakhic additions to the Mishna. The Talmud which is the
commentary on the Mishnah is ambiguous on the authority of the Tosefta. Sometimes the Amoraim seem to
refer to it. At other times they seem to be unaware of it.

Gemara (Aramaic, to complete, to learn) refers to the oral teachings regarding the Mishna and is
understood to be in continuity with the oral Torah. With the Mishnah this commentary constitutes the
Talmud.

The Talmud (Hebrew, lamad to learn or limmad to teach). The Palestinian Talmud (PT) is the commentary
on the Mishna by the Palestinian Amoraim (but only for the first four orders, only 39 of the 63 Mishnaic
tractates). Sometimes additional material to the Mishnah is commented on. The Babylonian Talmud (BT) is
the Babylonian commentary on the Mishnah (only 36 1/2 tractates of the 63 are commented upon here,
practically none for Zeraim accept for Berakhot = blessings).

ZOHAR

Peshat - literal
Remez (to hint) - philosophical
Derash - moral
Sod - mystical
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 7

Such a perspective is quite similar to Christian methodologies as that of Hugh of St. Victor.

literal-historical
allegorical
tropological
anagogical

The literal sense of scripture attempts to teach attitudes. The allegorical sense defines what Christians
believe. The tropological sense exhorts how one must act. And finally the anagogical sense presents the
aspirations and hopes of Christians.

At the turn of the last century arose the historical critical method, which based itself on many of the
values of the romantic period and on many of the procedures of scientific research. It focused on the
historical development of scripture. Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) continued the work of J.G. Eichorn in
making the historical-critical method more precise. Most of his work concentrated on establishing the
redaction of the Pentateuch. However, he then did apply his method to a short study of the psalms. His main
guiding principle was that the psalms reflect the time of their composition. In itself this was a very
undifferentiated principle and it lead to the conclusion that practically all the psalms are post-exilic, mostly
from the Maccabbean period.

There was considerable reaction to this new method. Some scholars such as Franz Delitzsch
(1813-1890) opposed this new system, but in the course of his studies he came to accept many of its
conclusions. He accepted the Deutero-Isaiah authorship as well as the later dating of the priestly writings.

Buttenwieser (1862-1939) accepted the method of Wellhausen but changed some of the conclusions
with respect to the psalter. Buttenwieser observed that the psalter had to be prior to the Maccabbean period
because at that time Aramaic had become the popular language of Palestine. He concluded that 4/5 of the
psalter stemmed from the Persian period, that of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Scientific scholarship reached an impasse in its concentration of determining the date of authorship.
The problem seemed to be how to continue with the newly developed tools of exegesis, but to bring out of
the texts their powerfully aesthetic and spiritual qualities.

In this regard Hermann Gunkel (1862-1932) made a break-through by developing a method that would
encompass a wider set of literary, spiritual and theological categories. Gunkel felt that the unique religious
experiences that are the basis for the written units of scripture can best be apprehended through their literary
expressions. A particular experience that calls forth a composition conditions the literary form that gives
shape to the particular composition.

Three basic elements can be discerned in a literary composition: content, form and experience. All of
these inter-react in the formulation of a given text. Gunkel then proceeded to analyze the psalms in light of
their literary form, discerning the underlying experiences, and probable settings. Using cultic aspects as a
basis, he classified the psalms according to their general subject matter: lament, praise and thanksgiving.

Then after studying the common characteristics of the psalms of a given category, he arrived at a series
of conventional literary forms into which much of the religious poetry of the bible can be fitted. Since the
forms gave evidence of a long period of development, Gunkel concluded that many psalms originated at an
early date, even though they did not reach their final form until shortly before the Exile.
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 8

The method of Gunkel was not without its difficulties, and it did lead to conclusions that have been
seriously challenged. To begin with, Gunkel presumed to be able to reach the unique, unrepeatable
experience of the original poet through the analysis of literary forms that are essentially repetitive, cyclical
and typical. Gunkel attempted to resolve this difficulty by distinguishing between literary styles of the
ancients and the moderns. If the moderns express their experiences in more free and immediate styles, the
ancients remained tied in their expressions to the literary conventions of their epoch. Gunkel defined a
literary genre by its particular theme, by its peculiar structure and by its stylistic characteristics. To this he
added a study of an extra-textual reference to a typical social context - the sitz im leben. Precisely because
the task at hand was to uncover the repeatable, cyclical and typical literary form in its social context, the
uniqueness and peculiarity of each psalm tied to the uniqueness of human experience was not readily
attainable. But Gunkel's approach opened the doors to two areas of research: literary genres and the cultic
bases of the psalms.

Sigmund Mowinckel (1884-1965) advanced the Scandinavian school which has become known also as
the Myth and Ritual School. The sitz im leben for the vast majority of the psalms was the national temple of
Solomon. He argued that the psalms reflect a cultic setting of a New Year Festival similar to the Akitu
festival of Babylon. Each year the king of Babylon celebrated an enthronement of the god Marduk in the
person of the king. 'Marduk is King' in the Babylonian psalms became 'The LORD is King' in the Hebrew
psalms. He conceived the authors of the psalms as the temple singers who composed the songs for various
cultic situations and for particular individuals, notably the king. The title of the majority of psalms ledawid,
was considered not as a proper name, but rather as a title of the king, much like Caesar was a title
originating from the proper name Julius Caesar.

Mowinckel finally advanced the concept of the democratization of the psalms which refers to the
tendency that psalms which originally were composed for priests, prophets and kings were then prayed by
the average Israelite. The criticism of Mowinckel's position centers around the exaggerated emphasis of the
New Year Festival as a key to the interpretation of the psalms. Really there are only a handful of psalms that
adequately fall under the purview of such a hypothesis.

Other possible contexts were proposed as key cultural settings from which to explain the majority of
the psalms. Artur Weiser (1893) from Tubingen proposed the annual feast of covenant renewal: The
theophany was a category of crucial importance in such a presentation of the psalms. The starting point was
the theophany of Exodus. The LORD is enthroned in this festival. Phrases such as 'glory to his name, glory
to his face', originating from the theophany of The LORD to Moses in Exodus characterize the covenant
ritual.

The hymns describing the theophany, which are incorporated in psalms of diverse types, have retained
the archaic and mythological colors of the first theophany at Sinai, and are to be understood as reflection of
the cultic theophany of The LORD which took place above the cherubim of the sacred Ark, representing the
cloud which was the chariot of the Deity. (The Psalms, pp. 38-39)

Hans-Joachim Kraus (1918) proposes a Royal Zion Festival as a further key for interpreting the psalms.
The basis for this cultic setting would be 2 Sam 6 and lK 8 in which the choice is commemorated of the
Davidic Dynasty and the city of Jerusalem as the Lord's dwelling. The procession with the Ark as in 2 Sam
6 would have been a principle ritual in the Festival, but in distinction from Mowinckel there was not an
enthronement of The LORD. The related psalms that do speak of enthronement would have originated
according to Kraus during the exile under the deuteronomistic and Second Isaiah theologies in which The
LORD is seen as the one who leads his people to Jerusalem where he is enthroned.
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 9

The strength of these analyses of cultic settings is that they provide a context for interpreting some of
the psalms. Unfortunately, the methods for discovering the social context of the psalms tend to be
alarmingly accumulative, and this leads to a categorizing of psalms according to a cultic setting on very
meagre evidence. The propositions of cultural settings and the cultic rituals that were a basis for the singing
and reciting of psalms can only go so far in-providing a backdrop with which to understand and to study the
psalms. The interest in the cultic background of the psalms did have an important influence on psalm studies
and that is the return to the theological and spiritual impact that the psalms obviously contain.

The categorization of psalms into literary types and genres continued to be clarified, simplified, or in
some cases even obscured by various scholars. The categories that Gunkel had provided for the psalms
continued to be used, and for the most part, even today when an introduction to the psalms is given these
categories are used. Gunkel's categories are the following:

1) Hymns, which are psalms of praise

2) Laments of the People, which presume a communal context for their setting
3) Laments of the Individual, which by far make up the major part of the psalter
4) Songs of Thanksgiving
5) Spiritual poems, which Gunkel referred to as the real treasure of the psalter

Although this classification meets the requirements for organizing the vast majority of the psalms,
Westermann (1909) felt that such a classification as that of Gunkel did not correspond to the inner dynamic
of prayer that gave shape and form to the psalms. For instance he observed that Gunkel's category of hymns
was determined by form whereas the prayers of thanksgiving were determined by their content. The
important distinction in the psalms of praise for Westermann is not between form and content, but rather in
the different manners of praising God and praying to God. There exists in the psalms that praise God a clear
distinction in the motives for praise. On the one hand, God is praised in all his glory and wonder, as creator
and Lord of history, and on the other hand, God is praised for specific acts of salvation. The former tends to
be descriptive and imperative, the latter tends to be declarative and narrative.

Furthermore, Westermann continued the distinction that Gunkel had made between individual and
communal petition right into the psalms of praise. His classification then builds on Gunkel's classification:

1) Lament of the People

2) Lament of the Individual
3) Declarative Praise of the People
4) Declarative Praise of the Individual
5) Descriptive Psalms of Praise
6) Eschatological Song of Praise

For the most part, Westermann's classification has not been popularly received. The classification
which at first had been efficiently simplified into psalms of praise and psalms of lament as the two basic
modes of prayer in the psalter became subdivided into types that are less readily recognizable.

However, Westermann's classification explains the inner dynamic of prayer in the psalter in a way that
provides valuable insights into prayer and the various forms that a particular prayer takes. Many scholars
have felt in the last ten years that we have reached a plateau in psalm classification, and that the various
classifications have exhausted the insights and fruits that can be gained by form-criticism applied to the
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 10

psalms. We can always of course be open to surprises. On occasion, we can notice how the essential
structures and relations that underlie Westermann's categories are recoined to express contemporary
understanding. W. Brueggemann has employed the psychological categories of orientation, disorientation
and new orientation with great success in exploring the manner in which the psalms engage a hermeneutic
for transforming our world. Many other terms that we ordinarily employ to name the processes of growth
that have been an outgrowth from psychology are helpful to appreciate the dynamics of lament, praise and
thanksgiving (integration, disintegration, reintegration; notice even William Blake's categories of innocence,
experience, organized innocence).

Structuralism (and its cousin Semiotics) is a method for analyzing literary works either in narrative
form or in poetic form. It is characterized by uncovering structural relationships in the dynamics of action
(narrative form), or in the dynamics of speech (dialogical form). These structures then are applied to literary
works for the sake of understanding and uncovering their inner and outer constructions. This method has
been generously applied to various biblical works (e.g. the Joseph story, Luke-Acts and the Psalms). The
hermeneutical basis for a work of art is often expressed through the establishment of relationships of the
work to its various points of contact.

Universe (mimetic function)

Work (objective function)

 

Artist (expressive function) - - - - - - Audience (pragmatic function)

(M.H. Abrams, The Mirror and the Lamp, New York: Oxford University Press, 1953).
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 11

Employing the categories presented by R. Jakobson, J.-N. Aletti and Trublet have proposed a
classification of psalms based on the categories of linguistic discourse:

referential function

context

code

speaker message destinee

expressive communication conative

function function
contact

phatic function

Accordingly, the psalms of lament can be classified by the four functions of speech: the expressive
function, the conative function, the phatic function and the referential function. The psalms of praise
however are categorized by the quality of action of the psalm's speaker.

Factitive praise -- calls others to praise God because of the blessings the speaker has received.

Performative praise -- reveals the speaker caught up in the dynamic of praising God for all the marvelous
blessings of God in the world.

Mixed praise -- combines the first two forms of praise and is the most frequently found type in the psalter.

Community performative praise -- is like the second farm in that the speaker is caught up in the dynamic of
praising God, but this form of praise is realized only in the context of the community, usually under the
form of a ritual action.

Finally there is -- inverted factitive praise -- in which the speaker calls others to praise God, but not for
the blessings the speaker has received but for the marvelous blessings that everyone or others have received.

examples:

1) Bless the Lord all you peoples, for the Lord has done marvelous things to me.
(Exodus events) time: past

2) I will bless the lord at all times, for he has done great things.
(Creation) time: present

3) The Lord has done great things, his glory is forever in his city, His love is established forever.
(Enthronement) time: future

4) In recognition, I offer you a sacrifice of praise, I do what I promised. To the Lord is salvation.
time: present
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 12

5) Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, he has not refused his blessings and faithfulness
from my lord.
time: past

The often tortuous terminology of structural analysis is the first hurdle to overcome in order to
appreciate the insights that this method of reading may provide. A criticism often leveled at structuralistic
methods is that at the end of the research, one has gone through circles and circles of relationships without
having penetrated in a particularly significant manner the meaning of the text. However, such a criticism can
be leveled at any methodology that ultimately stops short of presenting the theological meaning and
relevance of a religious text.

Research on the psalms has been dominated by the form-critical method that has concentrated as we
have seen on the sitz-im-leben, the social, religious contexts that gave rise to literary forms, and on the
classification of the forms. The method for classifying the psalms included the use of many poetic devices
such as parallelism, repetitions etc., but one major poetic device has been conspicuously missing in the
form-critical method - the study of symbolic language which is so crucial to the poetic language of the
psalms.

There have been recent studies that concentrate on uncovering the symbolic imagery used in the
psalter. Such books as Beauchamp's, Psaume nuit et jour and Monloubou's, L'imaginaire des Psalmistes,
explore the world of symbolism in the psalter. Othmar Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, provides
iconographic background of images from reliefs arising from Mesopotamia, Canaan and Egypt. Moreover
there have been recent attempts to include the results of form-criticism while at the same time expanding the
work of the commentaries towards literary criticism and a methodical treatment of the psalm as a symbol or
metaphor whose uniqueness and meaning is best uncovered and grasped by a thorough understanding of the
psalm's unity.

In this regard, Louis Jacquet's three volume work on the psalms is one of the most complete
commentaries on the psalms. The outline of the method applied to each psalm underscores the breadth of
the method. Each psalm begins with a translation, a textual criticism, a presentation of the psalm's
context, exegetical notes in which both structures and imagery are explored, a Christian perspective,
liturgical use and finally a short prayer composed by Jacquet in the spirit and tone of the psalm.
Unfortunately, Jacquet took considerable liberty in reorganizing verses of certain difficult psalms that few
exegetes have found convincing. This is one flaw in an otherwise excellent treasury of information on any
psalm.

The exegetical section in Jacquet's work is quite extensive and provides many helpful insights.
Where it is lacking in a rigorous methodology for analyzing the unity of the psalm, Alonso Schökel offers in
his original work on the psalms, Treinta Salmos: Poesia y Oracion. In his introduction, Alonso Schökel
summarizes the main contribution of Gunkel's form-criticism while showing its inadequacies of
understanding and appreciating the meaning of the psalm. A psalm's meaning goes beyond the form it has
taken, it goes beyond cultural or religious settings that gave rise to the psalm. A psalm's meaning is
grasped in its particular and unique literary unity. "I intend to come to an understanding of the poetic
work in its unity, uniqueness and validity as a fusion of content and form, as an expression in poetic
words of a human experience. In the form the meaning is realized, by studying the form I will try to
penetrate and delve into the meaning." (p. 20) The strongest aspects of Alonso's method, and perhaps the
most fruitful results of insights revolve around his analysis of imagery within the context of the psalm's
 The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 13

organization. By exploring the meaning of the psalms through form and symbolism, he makes the psalms
come alive. They speak a meaning and a sense for contemporary contexts.

Walter Brueggemann has written extensively on the Psalms, applying contemporary social
contexts to the structures of prayer put forward by Gunkel and Westermann. The Psalms of Lament and
Praise are translated as Psalms of orientation, disorientation and new orientation. The significance of the
types of Praise can be seen as a check against and a critique of ideological hegemony. His reflections on
the Psalms and contemporary situations and challenges point to a spirituality of the Psalms that is both
critical and constructive.
The Psalms – A Short History of Exegesis – 14