Studies of the Psalms: Retrospect and Prospect

The paper highlights the enduring influence of Gunkel and Mowinckel throughout the twentieth century, but its main focus is from the 1980s when there was a notable change of emphasis from historically orientated works to studies of a more literary nature (noting here the roles of Wilson, Westermann and Brueggemann). Edited works from SBL in America (1993) and in Germany (1994) are seen as landmark publications. The paper also notes more collaborative works involving Jews and Christians — in the poetry of the psalms, in Qumran studies, and in the reception history of psalmody. The paper concludes by assessing the prospects of psalm studies in these relatively new areas.