Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 66:3 (Sep 2023)
Article: Viewing The Psalms Through The Lens Of Poetry: Recent Trends In Psalms Study
Author: Ethan C. Jones

JETS 66:3 (September 2023) p. 439

Viewing The Psalms Through The Lens Of Poetry: Recent Trends In Psalms Study

Ethan C. Jones*

^* Ethan C. Jones is Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. An earlier version of this article was given to the Hebrew Poetry and Psalms Sections at the 2022 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Denver. Thanks go to the other panelists, David M. Howard Jr., Kyle C. Dunham, and J. Clinton McCann Jr., as well as Daniel Estes for the invitation, and, of course, to all who participated in the insightful discussion. In addition to the articles in the present journal, interested readers should consult David M. Howard Jr. and Michael K. Snearly, “Reading the Psalter as a Unified Book: Recent Trends,” in Reading the Psalms Theologically, ed. D. M. Howard Jr. and A. J. Schmutzer, Studies in Scripture and Biblical Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2023), 1–35.

Abstract: This article takes stock of the movements and contributions in studying the poetry of Psalms over the past two decades. It begins by highlighting the interest in the aesthetics of biblical poetry writ large. Frequently, an apologia is made on behalf of the complex, beautiful, paradoxical, life-giving nature of poetry. From there the article surveys how the field of study has treated the topics of sound, sign, and rhythm. In sum, this article makes evident that the biblical psalms are indeed poetry and should be read as such.

Key words: poetry, Psalms, Psalter, poets, aesthetics

Viewing the Psalms through the lens of poetry would seem at first blush to be banal, pedestrian, or even facile. On the other hand, perhaps one could assume that so much has been written on the poetry of Psalms that the present article would be an impossible task. Yet neither is true. The poetry of Psalms remains an un-barren land; the trees, nevertheless, need tending. The problem at present is that, though the psalms are poetry, their form often remains relegated to a minor, if not inconsequential, role. The trends of canonical readings and theological reflection, for instance, remain stalwart, especially among evangelical scholars.1

Therefore, lest my topic be moved to the side or deemed antiquated (even trite), allow me to set the table with a quotation from the American poet Alicia Ostriker: “If the Psalms aren’t poetry, they’re useless.”2 To further the point, literary critic Terry Eagleton takes inventory of language, countering much of culture by professing that “to attend to the feel and form of words is to refuse to treat them in a p...