La composition littéraire du Psautier. Un état de la question

Auwers, Jean-Marie [UCL]

A. offers a panorama of the state of research on the literary composition of the Book of Psalms, including diachronic hypotheses about its origin and formation and synchronic hypotheses about its literary make-up and theological program. From this survey he concludes that a study of the Book of Psalms as a whole must accompany and provide a context for the study of the individual psalms. In fact, some psalms (such as Psalms 1, 70-71, 144 and maybe Psalms 72, 86, 117, and 135) may have been composed in view of the constitution of the entire Psalter, which is seen as a real 'book,' not simply a 'compilation' or 'collection of collections.' Moreover, the original setting (cultic, royal, etc.) of older psalms has been superseded by their new setting within the book and its literary-theological program, this including the hermeneutical influence of neighboring psalms.The canonical configuration imposed upon the Psalms, with its Davidic and Torah-centered perspectives, does not preclude other legitimate contextualizations such as that of the Liturgy of the Hours and its celebration of the Christian mystery. The book includes an extended bibliography and several indexes. [Abstracted by Lorenzo A. Tosco in Old testament Abstracts; Abstract Number: OTA24-2001-OCT-2237]