Description
Book SynopsisThis volume of the Jewish Publication Society’s highly acclaimed Bible Commentary series provides the Hebrew text of Psalms 120–150 along with the JPS English translation and a line-by-line commentary.
Trade Review"Throughout her career, Adele Berlin's scholarship has been marked by a methodological precision that yields a rich reading of the biblical text, one that results in an even deeper appreciation of the same. . . . This is no less true of her latest commentary in the JPS Bible Commentary series. . . . Berlin remains fully engaged with contemporary scholarship yet is fully attentive to and engaged with Jewish medieval exegesis. . . . There are simply too many examples to list here where her keen attention to the literary features of the text yields a rich reading."—
Review of Biblical Literature (Society for Biblical Literature review)
"Clear, accessible. . . . Recommended for Judaic and academic libraries."—
Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews“In this exemplary work Adele Berlin combines her exceptional insight and creative interpretative gift for understanding poetry with her scholarly expertise in ancient Jewish history and Hebrew language in a remarkably clear and accessible way. Berlin leaves no stone unturned with respect to the current innovations in scholarship on the psalms. Both nonspecialists and specialists will benefit from this invaluable commentary.”—Hindy Najman, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Oriel College, University of Oxford
“Writing with unsurpassed lucidity, Adele Berlin, one of the leading authorities on biblical Hebrew poetry, guides us through the literary and religious nature of the psalms, explaining what each passage likely meant to its author and his contemporaries and to later readers experiencing the psalms in the context of their own times.”—Jeffrey Tigay, A. M. Ellis Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages and Literatures Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction to the Commentary: Psalms 120–150
What are psalms? What is the Book of Psalms? What do the psalms mean? How does a psalm construct its meaning? Speakers and authors Scenarios and settings Dating Psalms 120–150 Textual traditions and ancient interpretations The role of traditional Jewish interpretation in a modern commentary Scholarship on the Psalms Notes to the Introduction Commentary to Psalms 120–150
Notes to the Commentary Excursus: Songs of Ascents
Notes to the Excursus Bibliography
