The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary

The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
Author: Robert Alter
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 561
Release: 2009-09-22
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 0393337049

In his brilliant new translation of one of the Bibles most cherished and powerful books, Alter captures the simplicity, physicality, and coiled rhythmic power of the Hebrew, restoring the remarkable eloquence of these ancient poems.

Psalms Book 2: An Earth Bible Commentary

Psalms Book 2: An Earth Bible Commentary
Author: Arthur Walker-Jones
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2019-10-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567676293

Arthur Walker-Jones presents an Earth-focused reading of the second book of Psalms, focusing upon the many nonhuman animals that appear repeatedly within the text. In the first commentary to explore the implications of the natural and cultural history of animals for the interpretation of Psalms, Walker-Jones moves beyond the standard treatment of animals as mere metaphors for human concerns, or background to human stories. Instead, Walker-Jones draws upon the interdisciplinary field of animal studies, incorporating this into ecocritical analysis and arguing for the similarity between the two approaches, including recognizing that the oppression and liberation of humans is interrelated with the oppression and liberation of Earth and all its creatures. Walker-Jones looks at foxes, sheep, goats, cattle, doves, snakes, lions, snails, dogs, and deer, which all appear in Psalms 42–72, taking into account that many of these animals co-evolved with humans and created the particular ecological niche of the highlands east of the Mediterranean. Perceiving Earth in various ways-as refuge, as enemy, as Rock, and as fertile and joyous-this volume brings an entirely new ecological perspective to the Psalms.