One of the most important contributions to our understanding of the psalms, "The Psalms in Israel's Worship" by Sigmund Mowinckel has largely provided the framework and suppositions of modern Psalms study. Fully revised from the original Norwegian edition and now featuring a substantial new foreword by James Crenshaw, this classic work (two volumes in one) argues that the psalms originated in actual temple worship and were used regularly to add drama to Israelbs adoration of Yahweh. Throughout this fascinating work, Mowinckel carefully explores the relationship of the various psalm types to the congregationbs devotional life, including hymns of praise from Israel's national festivals, psalms of lamentation and penitence, and personal or private psalms of thanksgiving. Other topics include the psalms' relationship to prophecy and wisdom, their composition and collection, their style and performance, and the technical terminology involved in Psalms study. Praise for "The Psalms in Israel's Worship" bWe must be very grateful to Mowinckel and all who have helped him to make available this standard work in psalms research to a larger audience.b -- "Journal of Biblical Literature" bA mere review must fail to do justice to this bookbs awesome learning and insight.b -- "Catholic Biblical Quarterly" bBeyond any doubt whatever, this book represents thorough scholarship and has to be taken into consideration by any teacher of the Old Testament.b -- "Princeton Seminary Bulletin"

Hermann Gunkel's commentary on Psalms (Die Psalmen, HKAT)—considered by many to be his magnum opus—was published in 1926. But he was unable to complete his final work on the Psalms. The severe suffering of the final months of his life forced him to hand over his incomplete manuscript, at Christmastime 1931, to his pupil Joachim Begrich. Gunkel died on 11 March 1932. Begrich put the final touches on the organization of Gunkel's last work on Psalms, and it was published in 1933 as Einleitung in die Psalmen: die Gattungen der religiosen Lyrik Israels. As with much of Gunkel's other work, the influence of Einleitung in die Psalmen on the study of the Pslams, Hebrew poetry, and, indeed, the whole realm of Old Testament literature, lyric, and cult, as already noted, "can scarcely be overestimated.”

Christian scholars write to inspire renewed interest in actively praying, reciting, and singing the Psalms in personal and corporate times of worship, citing its biblical basis and historical emphasis.

This volume brings together some of Mowinckel's most important and interesting work on the prophets. He begins by introducing the reader to the method of tradition history and how it is related to form criticism and literary criticism. From this groundwork, he goes on to explore how this method is essential for analyzing the prophetic literature in the Hebrew Bible. In order to make it more helpful for students, each essay has been supplemented with additional notes and bibliography to show where the discussion has continued since Mowinckel. A bibliography of Mowinckel's works in English and a bibliography of essays evaluating Mowinckel's contributions are also included. This will provide an excellent supplementary textbook for courses on the prophets. Key Features: provides an introduction in Old Testament tradition history an editor's foreword highlights the importance of Mowinckel's work includes updated notes and bibliographies includes chapters not previously published in the U.S. indexes of ancient sources and authors

Does your knowledge of the Old Testament feel like a grab bag of people, books, events and ideas? Sandra Richter gives an overview of the Old Testament, organizing our disorderly knowledge of the Old Testament people, facts and stories into a memorable and manageable story of redemption that climaxes in the New Testament.

Introduction to the Psalms: A Song from Ancient Israel seeks to provide the reader with a solid introduction to the Hebrew Psalter, one that is informed by an interest in its shape and shaping. The author, Nancy deClaiss�-Walford, provides an up-to-date study on the poetic style of the psalms in the Psalter, their Gatt�ngen or genres, the broad shape of the book, and the history of its shaping. She introduces each of the five books of the Psalter, providing a detailed examination of those individual psalms that are either key to the shaping of the Psalter or interesting studies in poetic style. In the final chapter, deClaiss�-Walford draws conclusions about the shape of the Psalter and about its story and message. She proposes a way to read the Psalms as a unified whole and in relationship to one another rather than as individual pieces, giving an inclusive, all-encompassing shape to the Psalter. Included are two appendices that provide a listing of the superscriptions and Gatt�ngen of the psalms in the Hebrew Psalter and an explanation of many of the technical terms found in their superscriptions.