Divine Council, Ethics, and Resistance in Psalm 82
Foreword by David G. Firth
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
222 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 x 0.44 in
- Paperback
- 9781666753110
- Published: March 2023
$31.00 / £27.00 / AU$48.00
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- 9781666753134
- Published: March 2023
$31.00 / £26.99 / AU$45.99
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Psalm 82 is a mythopoeic psalm that is often overlooked as simplistic, confusing, or just out of place. Across more than a century of scholarship, academics have argued for various interpretations of the first verse, proving only that it is easy to get caught up in the mythical mysteries of the ancient concept of divine council. Approaching Psalm 82 as ethical liturgy, however, reveals a deeply sophisticated, prophetic summons to actively embrace justice for the poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised in one's community. This book explores the origins of Psalm 82, its use as liturgy in early Israelite cultic practice, and its reception as resistance literature in the Second Temple period.
Erica Mongé-Greer holds a PhD in divinity and specializes in biblical ethics and ancient Near Eastern religious texts. Mongé-Greer is a Hebrew Bible/Old Testament adjunct professor whose research explores the relationship between mythology and culture. Follow her at ScholarlyWanderlust.com.
“You may have been puzzled by Psalm 82. It’s an extraordinary psalm! But Erica Mongé-Greer has also written an extraordinary study of it, in which she looks at the psalm from all sorts of interesting and thought-provoking angles. Her study might even push you into doing something about the powerless rather than being the kind of person that the psalm confronts.”
—John Goldingay, professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary
“In Erica Mongé-Greer’s splendid new book, she carefully yet creatively reveals how Psalm 82’s ambiguities and complexities have a polysemous ethical function. The psalm plays richly and fruitfully in the imagination of the individual and community as it is liturgically employed. In the end, with the elohim of verse 1, all those who use the psalm are called to account for injustice. This is a must-read for scholars of the psalms and all who seek justice in the name of the God who governs the divine assembly.”
—Helen Paynter, director, Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, Bristol Baptist College
“A monograph that brings together profound scholarship and a deep desire to demonstrate that Scripture speaks into current conversations outside the academy about the ethical use of power. Erica Mongé-Greer convincingly reinstates Psalm 82 as an important text whose profound concern for justice exemplifies the wider Psalter’s blending of deep piety and heartfelt praise with a yearning for YHWH to redress the injustices inflicted upon the powerless by the powerful.”
—Peter Hatton, coordinator of theological education, Bristol Baptist College
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