Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 2: History of Psalms StudiesSince the mid 1980s, many other corpi have been the focus of specialisedstudies. Howard (1997:11) alludes to the work of Auffret (1982) as “series ofcollected structural studies on individual psalms, including three studies oncollections in the Psalter (Psalms 15-24, 120-134, and 135-38).” Nasuti (1988)published a tradition-historical study on the Psalms of Asaph, which was areworked version of his 1983 doctoral dissertation at Yale University. Miller(1994, “Kingship, Torah Obedience and Prayer: The Theology of Psalms 15-24”) analysed Psalms 15-24. He believed that the two temple entranceliturgies, Psalms 15 and 24, demarcate a mini-corpus. He argued thatkingship, torah obedience and trusting prayer form a thematic thread thatbinds them together. Barker (1995), in laying the foundation for an exegeticalstudy of Psalm 121, makes several insightful observations about thearrangement of the Songs of Ascents (Pss 120-134). According to Halligan’s(1999) review, 13 Zenger (1998, “The Composition and Theology of the FifthBook of the Psalter”) considered Book V as a collection of “psalms with astrong liturgical character” that have been assigned a new post-cultic setting.Noting that Book V “is interspersed with motifs and concepts which aretheologically connected with Zion and the Temple”, yet lacks “concrete13 I was unable to obtain a copy of this article.55