Psalms examines the nature of the Psalms as a text in English, dealing specifically with the problem of translation and various aspects of the 'techniques' on reading, with relation to traditional approaches within Biblical studies and contemporary literary theory. Alastair Hunter also outlines a programmatic approach to reading and applies it to a selection of individual Psalms.

Psalms examines the nature of the Psalms as a text in English, dealing specifically with the problem of translation and various aspects of the 'techniques' on reading, with relation to traditional approaches within Biblical studies and contemporary literary theory. Alastair Hunter also outlines a programmatic approach to reading and applies it to a selection of individual Psalms.

This study is designed as a commentary with a difference, where the reading of the prophet’s travails is explored in the context of two wider themes: (1) the overt and highly sophisticated intertwining of Jonah’s story with an impressively wide range of other biblical texts, often deployed in surprising ways; and (2) the clearly contrarian relationship between God and Jonah which has both vexed and intrigued scholars and lay readers alike for millennia. Underpinning this reading is a twofold thesis: firstly, an argument that many of the puzzles inherent in the book of Jonah can be illuminated in the light of the idea that Nineveh was from the beginning a cipher for the Jerusalem of the author’s time; and secondly, that this would have been evident to Jonah’s first readers: the class of elite literati amongst the ruling cadre of late Persian or early Hellenistic Judaea.

This study is designed as a commentary with a difference, where the reading of the prophet's travails is explored in the context of two wider themes: (1) the overt and highly sophisticated intertwining of Jonah's story with an impressively wide range of other biblical texts, often deployed in surprising ways; and (2) the clearly contrarian relationship between God and Jonah which has both vexed and intrigued scholars and lay readers alike for millennia. Underpinning this reading is a twofold thesis: firstly, an argument that many of the puzzles inherent in the book of Jonah can be illuminated in the light of the idea that Nineveh was from the beginning a cipher for the Jerusalem of the author's time; and secondly, that this would have been evident to Jonah's first readers: the class of elite literati amongst the ruling cadre of late Persian or early Hellenistic Judaea.

This accessible introduction to the Psalms introduces readers to some of the key issues arising from different approaches to the biblical text. Alastair G. Hunter examines how current methods of interpretation - historical/cultural, literary, liturgical and theological - differ and complement each other. Hunter provides an overview of contemporary scholarship (including the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls Psalms) and examines some of the key texts and commentaries in use today. The book offers a way in to more detailed and more advanced Psalms study, and includes particular emphasis on literary and liturgical matters, which are often left out of traditional commentaries. Hunter seeks to do two things: to understand the psalms in themselves as deliberately arranged poetical and liturgical compositions; and to explore their literary and theological significance for contemporary readers. He considers the increasing body of work relating to groups of psalms, and reviews the results to date of that approach, which helps the reader to see the psalms as a more coherent collection of texts, and has implications for their exegesis and interpretation.