Reading, Interpreting, and Preaching the Psalms – Step 2

Please see this post for the origin and purpose of the process I’m continuing today. Breaking the 10-fold procedure into bite-size chunks, I will be explaining what I mean by step #2:

1. Read the Hebrew Text

Please refer to this post for my thoughts on this step.

2. Evaluate the Variants

If the first step of reading the Hebrew text is taken seriously, this second step of textual criticism will naturally arise as difficulties in translation are observed or the critical apparatus becomes significant. As variants in Hebrew manuscripts and ancient translations are considered, exegetical commentaries (e.g., the Word Biblical Commentary volumes) or other reference works (e.g., Emanuel Tov’s Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible) will be helpful in this process.

The casual reading of various English texts will also demonstrate that not all translations are alike. Not only do they have various translations of Hebrew forms and tenses, but they also reveal completely different readings. For the preacher/teacher, the practical advantage of being diligent in this step is coming to understand why modern translations differ. As such, evaluating variants will prepare the preacher to speak intelligently and honestly about the nature of the text. Decisions will have to be made, and those decisions will need to be carefully integrated into interpretation and wisely presented to the congregation.

For example, evaluating the variants of the text will elucidate why English translations of Ps 100:3 vary. The NASB says, “It is He who made us, and not we ourselves” (cf. also [N]KJV), while the ESV reads, “It is he who made us, and we are his” (cf. also NIV, NRSV). Faithful expository preaching will probably have to address such an issue, so the preacher/teacher must be prepared.

Another example would be Psalm 72:5. In his work, The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic, Michael Rydelnik has a helpful chapter regarding “Text-Criticial Perspectives on Messianic Prophecy.” Although the whole chapter (and book) is well worth reading, I refer to it in this discussion because he shows how a textual variant is important in reading 72:5, where the MT (יִירָאוּךָ) and LXX (και συμπαραμενει) differ, with quite distinct meanings. As such, English versions vary: “May they fear you” (ESV, see also NASB, NKJV) or “He will endure” (NIV, see also NRSV). Since there are possible messianic implications involved here, the reader must take these alternative readings into account.

This is not an easy step and can be done at various stages of this whole process. But the reader of the Psalter must come to an understanding of the textual criticism and how these differences are to be handled within a responsible view of composition and inspiration.

3. DIAGRAM THE TEXT

4. ANALYZE THE PARALLELISM

5. EXAMINE THE PSALM’S COHERENCE

6. COMPARE THE PSALM TO ITS CONTEXT

7. READ THE TEXT CANONICALLY

8. FOLLOW THE TEXT INTO THE NEW TESTAMENT

9. APPLY THE PSALM RESPONSIBLY

10. PRAY THE PSALM

Reading, Interpreting, and Preaching the Psalms – Introduction

In preparation for an exegetical course I recently taught on the Psalter, I decided to present specifically the process I generally follow when approaching a psalm. As it happened, my thoughts ultimately developed into the following 10-step process.

But before presenting these suggestions, I have a couple qualifiers. On the one hand, this procedure assumes that the student has a working knowledge of Hebrew, with the skills to determine forms, to look up words in a standard lexicon, and to employ standard grammars.[1] On the other hand, the basis of this procedure is a text-centered approach that depends less on genre identification and more on the textual clues the author has left for the reader intent on discovering the significance of the psalm.

Today’s post will simply list the steps; later posts will flesh out some of the details with examples.

1. Read the Hebrew Text

2. Evaluate the Variants

3. Diagram the Text

4. Analyze the Parallelism

5. Examine the Psalm’s Coherence

6. Compare the Psalm to Its Context

7. Read the Text Canonically

8. Follow the Text into the New Testament

9. Apply the Psalm Responsibly

10. Pray the Psalm

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[1] Many of these specifics are not necessarily covered in these steps, but rather assumed to be the outworking of a basic reading of Hebrew. That is, I don’t add a separate step to analyze the basic grammar (such as parsing of verbs), because I’m assuming that happens as one reads the text. These observations are vital, but I wanted to go beyond a simple rehashing of a basic Hebrew grammar class.

Propositional Preaching?

I’ve been doing some reading on canon this morning in preparation for a lecture of text and canon for my OT class. Working through Stephen B. Chapman’s article “Reclaiming Inspiration for the Bible” in Canon and Biblical Interpretation, I found interesting his discussion of an evangelical tendency toward “propositional revelation” as an answer to the question of the autographs of the text and later manuscripts in relationship to the canon. That is, concepts and doctrines remain intact, even through the text may suffer at the hands of later transmitters. In contrast, he argues that the Bible does more than convey concepts and doctrines; rather, the text also (1) “gives its hearers and readers a narrative world to live in” and (2) gives “phrases and rhythms” that “linger in the mind” and stories that “often provoke questions more than they provide answers” (p. 178). His point is that “[t]he literary features of the Bible cannot simply be peeled away in the search for propositional formulations” (p. 179). It’s at this point that he footnotes the following observation:

Sadly, the isolation and extraction of ‘principles’ from the biblical text is precisely what passes for theological interpretation in much current evangelical teaching and preaching.

I find this interesting and worthy of more thought, for if you are like me, that’s the primary way you were taught to approach the text when developing a sermon. The questions I have at first response:

1. How do I adequately convey the literary features of the text in my preaching?
2. Are preaching propositionally and preaching toward the significance of the text one and the same thing? [I already tend away from thinking about the text's meaning and then turning to things about application. I think significance handles this turn toward the appropriation of the text to the modern audience better.]
3. How does his statement square with the various types of literature within the text? That is, does propositional preaching excel in the epistles of the NT but flounder in OT narrative texts?