Psalms 1-50 (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament)

This volume follows the general pattern of the series, opening with a discussion of content, of authorship, and of the way the collection came to be put together, followed by a psalm-by-psalm presentation of the NEB text with commentary. Dr Rogerson and Dr McKay stress the richness and variety of the material in the Psalms, and provide an analytical table of the predominant themes. They discuss the literary characteristics of Hebrew poetry with special reference to devices such as the acrostic, and examine the problems faced by the NEB translators. Over the years many different approaches have been made to the interoperation of the Psalms. The authors characterize these as the spiritual, the historical, the form-critical and the cultic approach, and their own commentary strikes an effective balance between them. One of their primary purposes is to bring out the religious teaching of permanent value within the Psalms.