Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 18:1 (NA 1967)
Article: Psalm Research Since 1955: I. The Psalms And The Cult
Author: D. J. A. Clines

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TynBul 18:1 (1967) p. 103

Psalm Research Since 1955: I. The Psalms And The Cult

D. J. A. Clines

*The author’s irregular footnote numbering has been retained at the beginning of each footnote to acknowledge how it appeared in print.

The present article surveys the literature devoted to one major aspect of Psalm study in the period 1955-1965;1 it is hoped to publish further articles dealing with other aspects, extending the period surveyed in each successive article. The choice of 1955 as a starting date does not imply any conception of it as a turning-point in Psalm study, but is simply determined by the fact that Psalm research in the period 1930-1954 has already been reviewed in an admirable survey by J. J. Stamm.2

Although Mowinckel’s introduction to the Psalms appeared before 1955,3 I have thought it right to refer to it here since it has become generally known and accessible only in its English translation.4 Weiser’s commentary on the Psalms also does not, strictly speaking, fall within our period,5 but it has seemed reasonable to notice his views on certain matters, since together

TynBul 18:1 (1967) p. 104

with the works of Mowinckel and Kraus his commentary is undoubtedly one of the most important recent contributions to the understanding of the Psalms, and it too has received an English translation only in 1962.6 The last few years have also seen the completed publication of a massive commentary on the Psalms by Kraus;7 his basic position, at least as it concerns the present question of the Psalms and the cult, was already known from his studies on the kingship of God in the Old Testament8 and on the festival of Tabernacles.9

The views of these three scholars, Mowinckel, Weiser, and Kraus, have tended to dominate the field of Psalm criticism in our period; it is not surprising therefore that discussion of the Psalms has largely revolved about the quite substantial differences between them, with the result that certain fundamental similarities of approach have been obscured, similarities that are most in evidence on the subjects of the role of the autumn festival in Israel’s worship and of the cultic interpretation of the Psalms. Of Psalm study in general sin...

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