Origène et la structure littéraire du Psautier

Auwers, Jean-Marie [UCL]

This article proposes a thorough examination of Origen’s explicit declarations about the literary form of the Psalter, focusing on two basic questions: does that collection in his eyes constitute a structured whole or a simple amalgam of psalms? Is the interpretation of single psalms he proposes coherent with or somehow affected by his assumptions and his statements on the Psalter’s organization? As a result, it might be safely concluded that the problem of the Psalter’s literary configuration, which so impassions modern scholars, is hardly of any interest for Origen. He does address it in his prologues, yet his interpretation of the psalms is a verse by verse exegesis which remains quite indifferent to the structure of the collection as a whole.