This thesis aims to uncover music’s important role in shaping and defining the selfidentity of ancient Israel. Functional music was integrated into Israel’s daily life, accompanying activities as diverse as manual labor and royal processionals. At key junctures and in core institutions, musical tones were used to formulate and deliver messages, convey and heighten emotions, assert and strengthen communal bonds, and establish and intensify human-divine contact. The intricate and multi-faceted nature of this music will be demonstrated through a detailed look into four main episodes and genres: the Song of the Sea (Exod. 15), King Saul and David’s harp (1 Sam. 16), the use of music in prophecy, and the Book of Psalms. Specifically, it will be argued that Israel’s birth as a free nation was marked by the Song of the Sea, its monarchic system was defined by the archetypical musician-king David, it depended on God’s word delivered through the often musical messages of prophecy, and its appointed institution for mediating worship was designed and officiated by a class of priestly musicians. Moreover, three of these four areas involve the main leadership categories of Old Testament society—king, prophet and priest—giving added support to the view that music held a prominent place and played a defining role within that civilization. The conception of music as a central element of biblical society will be developed using an interdisciplinary approach, wherein pertinent information from an array of specializations and sources is put into conversation and Old Testament passages are analyzed through a modern-scientific lens. Rather than relying on a single methodology, this study is rooted in the premise that by applying a variety of contemporary theoretical tools to selected Old Testament passages, essential functions of music in biblical life can be illuminated. Such an endeavour requires tools from a number of fields, including but not limited to theology, sociology, anthropology, musicology, cognitive science and music therapy, as well as the classification of musical references into four primary functions: cohesive, therapeutic, emotive/spiritual and didactic. The result is a thesis that identifies reasons for—and not just the existence of—music in biblical life, and, most centrally, shows significant ways music informed Israel’s understanding of itself. / Thesis (PhD (Old Testament))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This study comprises two distinct sections. The first part is a study in the origins and methodology of Saint Jerome's Excerpta de Psalterio; and the second part a first translation into English of the Latin text, which is printed in the Corpus Christianorum Series Latina. In the first part, (the dissertation), I have arranged my research into three chapters. The first tackles the history of the Excerpta text, its title(s), and the question of Jerome's authorship. In this chapter I was particularly interested to research the links between this work and another by Origen, whom many scholars have suggested is the true author of the Excerpta. The second chapter takes a look at the educational background and situation of Jerome in the history of Biblical interpretation. Then it moves on to a more particular examination of Jerome's interpretative technique in the Excerpta. One of the aims of this chapter was to try to see Jerome's technique both as heavily indebted to, and yet innovatively building upon the work of other previous and contemporary Biblical interpreters. The third chapter examines in detail some of the characteristic uses of Hebrew words in Jerome's works, with an aim to assessing Saint Jerome's level of understanding of the Hebrew language. This is done with a view to reviewing the Excerpta in a new light, which takes into account all the linguistic work done by Jerome and not by Origen. This goes some way to clarifying dispute over the authorship of the work in question. This is followed by the Translation, the first (known) into English from the Latin of the CCSL, including footnotes and biblical references.

The period of tumultuous religious reformation during which George Herbert lived demanded of people a strict adherence to the paradigmatic structures that prescribed the ways in which public displays of religious conviction were to be manifested. The freedom, indeed the necessity, to doubt is taken for granted by the modern reader, but for Herbert it was a matter of spiritual life and death. As country parson, he diligently labored to guide his parishioners, administer the sacraments, and exemplify the “right path.” This persona—reinforced by necessarily performative, faith-demonstrating actions—is continually destabilized by the experience of doubt, which leads Herbert to address his own persistent despair at the absence of God through poetry. His masterful use of the structural and thematic patterns of the Psalms in many of the poems of The Temple draws on the rich tradition of lament in contrast to the prescriptive, ideological agendas of the Book of Common Prayer and the Common Lectionary which privilege faith. The poems demonstrate an extensive knowledge of the epistemological foundations and history of both official Church doctrine and of medieval mystical thought and become a tool for exploring the paradoxes of human existence. His philosophical and rhetorical engagement with the Christological and ecclesiastical theology specific to Dionysian mysticism demonstrates the intensity of Herbert’s preoccupation with Divine absence and his near obsessive search for the ideal apophatic presence, that silent, knowing-unknowing that defines oneness with God. Nowhere are Herbert’s existential dilemmas more evident than in Memoriae Matris Sacrum, a sequence of poems written immediately following the death of his beloved mother, which reveals an inner life of the poet that his more controlled poetic voice of The Temple often conceals. These elegiac poems, written in Latin and Greek, show the poet as a “mourning child” and lay bare his most intimate fears about the constancy of his own faith and the uncertain terms of Christian death and resurrection embodied in the sacred ritual of the Eucharist. The poetic closure often ascribed to Herbert’s poems in fact disguises the nature of spiritual and psychological dilemmas which remain for Herbert persistent and unresolved.

Essa pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a tradução dos salmos na NTLH (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), a qual segue o princípio da equivalência dinâmica ou funcional de Eugene Nida, em que o sentido prevalece sobre a forma. Investigamos como essa tradução lida com textos poéticos, abundantes em figuras de linguagem e onde aspectos formais geram sentido. Para isso, descrevemos a teoria de Nida e as críticas pertinentes da teoria de tradução, aspectos da Poesia Hebraica e finalizamos com o estudo da tradução de alguns salmos feita pela NTLH. / This research aims at analyzing the translation of the Psalms in NTLH (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), which adopts Eugene Nidas principles of Dynamic Equivalence or Functional Equivalence, in which sense prevails over form. We investigate how this translation deals with poetic texts that abound with figures of speech and in which formal aspects generate sense. Therefore, we describe Nidas theory and some of its pertinent criticism; aspects of Hebrew Poetry; and, finally, we analyze some of the Psalms translations in NTLH.

ABSTRACT SUFFERING, SOUL CARE, AND COMMUNITY: THE PLACE OF CORPORATE LAMENT IN EVANGELICAL WORSHIP Ann Marie Ahrens, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2017 Chair: Dr. Esther R. Crookshank This dissertation examines the biblical foundations of corporate lament practices beginning with the worship of ancient Israel as found in the Psalms, and their continued use by Jesus in his prayers, the gospel writers, and in the epistles of Paul, Peter, and John in the Revelation. It concludes with case studies and recommendations for the inclusion of lament practices in modern corporate worship. Chapter 1 is a chronological literature review beginning ca. 1980, which demonstrates the increase in worship resources, particularly in the last decade, that focus on corporate lament practices. Resources are categorized as follows: (1) biblical and theological studies; (2) practical theology; (3) psychology and soul care; (4) liturgical resources for lament; and (5) corporate worship and the use of the arts. Scholarly and non-scholarly sources are included. Chapter 2 examines the language and theology of lament in the Old Testament, with specific focus on the Psalms. J. L. Austin’s “Speech Act Theory” is also discussed and applied the lament Psalms in order to broaden the understanding of the rich dialogical nature of Israel’s corporate worship practices. Chapter 3 examines the prayers of Jesus and how his use of the lament Psalms serves as a model for modern believers. Chapter 4 applies Rebekah Eklund’s typology of “echoes and extensions” of the lament Psalms in the writings of Paul, Peter, and John in the Revelation. The goal is to demonstrate that use of the lament Psalms continued after the coming of Christ. Chapter 5 contains a summary of conclusions and undergirding premises for the use of lament Psalms in modern corporate worship. The chapter concludes with foundational considerations for implementing these premises into corporate worship practices. Chapter 6 includes four contemporary case studies in which the Psalms of lament are used to pray through and process times of tragedy and suffering. These case studies include personal, corporate, devotional, and pastoral care examples. The chapter concludes with a brief examination of parallel studies and suggested areas for further study.

Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS. 278 is an early-fourteenth-century trilingual manuscript of the Psalms from Norwich Cathedral Priory, an urban cathedral church staffed by Benedictine monks. This manuscript is notable because it contains one of six Middle English Metrical Psalters, the earliest Middle English translation of the Psalms, as well as a full Anglo-Norman Oxford Psalter, the most popular French translation of the Psalms in late medieval England. While the Middle English Metrical Psalter is a remarkable and understudied text in and of itself, the Metrical Psalter of CCC 278 is even more interesting because of its monastic provenance and innovative layout. This thesis explores the questions of why a monastic institution would produce a manuscript of two complete, prominently displayed, vernacular Psalters with only highly abbreviated Latin textual references; what sociolinguistic and political forces drove the production of this innovative manuscript; and how the Middle English Metrical Psalter in particular was read, and by whom. Because there are no annotations, colophon, prologue or external documentation to provide clues to either the intended or actual use of the manuscript by the Priory monks, this thesis undertakes a detailed historicization and contextualization of the book in its urban, religious, linguistic and social settings. In addition, the lenses of community, mediation, and authority are applied, leading to the conclusion that CCC 278 and its Middle English Metrical Psalter were likely used by the monks to reach out to Norwich’s élite laity in order to form a mixed reading community around the book—a reading community controlled by the Priory.

John Donne was indisputably the foremost English preacher of his day. Many studies have focussed on his instructional methods; fewer have concentrated on how he tries to move his hearers. Donne especially liked preaching on the psalms. Since Christian antiquity, the seven psalms known as the penitential psalms have enjoyed a privileged place in church worship. They are central to the sacrament of penance. By Donne's time, changes in the Church of England's sacramental theology had all but eliminated the practice of penance. Nevertheless, Donne considers penance or, as it had become known, repentance, to be a crucial part of believers' lives. With his sermons on the penitential psalms Donne contributes to the vast body of literature surrounding the sacrament of penance, but his contribution is unique. He thinks that since the second person of the Trinity is identified with the Word of God, the institution of preaching God's Word is incarnational. In the sacraments, the priest ushers in the Body of Christ; in the sermon, Donne believes, the preacher's role is similar. For Donne, sermonizing is sacramental in effect. In his sermons he attempts to bring the real presence of God to his listeners. Moreover, his sermons display a "sacramental mimesis": they enact their subject matter by their very words and try to effect change in the listeners as the words are uttered. Further, Donne thinks that since God established all the ordinances of the church, none of them should be ignored. Therefore, Donne's twenty-one sermons on the penitential psalms reveal a preacher who is on the one hand a conservative churchman and on the other a startlingly innovative preacher. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

D.Litt. et Phil. / Pentecostals tend to have a negative view of the Old Testament. Although no official distinction between the Old - and New Testament exists, in practice the Old Testament is regarded as less authoritative than the New Testament. This influences the way worship in the Old Testament is regarded. Pentecostals generally view the New Testament as prescriptive for the worship experience of the Church. This study wants to show that the Old - and New Testament are on equal footing regarding it's authority as the inspired Word of God, also concerning it's teaching on worship. A second problem addressed, is the place of the lament in worship. Pentecostals tend to think that Christians should always be positive and that God should be praised, regardless of the situation. This leads to a denial of the fact that Pentecostals experience pain and negativity and feelings of rage and anger in their lives. They try to hide those feelings from God, which leads to dishonesty in their relationship with Him. Lamenting is regarded as an act of un-faith. On the contrary, this study wants to show that lamenting is an act of bold faith. The psalms teach that we should be completely honest in our relationship with God. We may express all our feelings of negativity and pain and anger and fear and vengeance to God. By doing this, we place it in the hand of a God who cares and understands, a God who transforms us and our situations by the power of his love and grace. Different situations in life call for different types of psalms to be used in worship. Depending on our experience, we can praise or lament or use any of the other types of psalms we find in the book of Psalms. This study focuses on a selection of different types of psalms to ascertain how they can be used in the Pentecostal tradition. The following Gattungen are • discussed: Wisdom psalms, royal psalms, liturgical psalms, psalms of trust, psalms of lament and psalms of praise. The results of the study have shown that the use of the psalms in Pentecostal worship falls within the parameters of the characteristics of Pentecostal hermeneutics. The fact that they are not being used, is contrary to Pentecostal hermeneutics. They can be used in different ways, e.g: in the liturgy of the Church, in the prayer-life of the believer, during pastoral counselling, prophetically and homiletically.

Up to now there has been no attempt by Biblical scholars to compare the book of Psalms in the Old Testament with Pedi psalm-like songs. This study aims to fill that gap in the research and so contribute to the development of the African cultural heritage – especially that of the Pedi culture, by using indigenous knowledge systems. The research commences with a descriptive analysis of the various genres within the Book of Psalms. A variety of psalms types are discussed, including: Hymns of praise; Thanksgiving songs (communal and individual); Laments (communal and individual); Royal psalms; Hymns of Zion; Psalms of Yahweh’s kingship; Wisdom psalms; Liturgical psalms; Entrance liturgies; Judgement liturgies; Psalms of trust; Imprecatory psalms; Creation psalms; Torah (Law)-psalms; and Festival psalms. Each of these genres is described with reference to structural elements, characteristics and function(s). Then follows a descriptive assessment of numerous types and specific examples of Pedi Psalm-like songs via the provisioning of text, translation and a detailed commentary pertaining to contents and function. These include: Songs of Praise (e.g. Kgoparara); Thanksgiving songs (e.g. Mogale wa marumo - thanksgiving birth poem); Lament songs (e.g. Madi a manaba - a funeral song); Royal songs (e.g. Kgoshi - an inauguration song) Liberation songs (Ga e boe Afrika - a liberation song); Wisdom songs (Mokgoronyane - initiation song for boys and Kgogedi - initiation song for girls); Prayers of trust (e.g. Salane - a song of trust); Imprecatory songs (e.g. Leepo - song with irony); Law songs (e.g. Bana ba Modimo, thaetsang melao ya Modimo ka badimo - instruction song); Feasts (e.g. Ngwana malome nnyale - a lobola song and Hela Mmatswale, tlogela dipotwana - a wedding song). Finally the thesis provides a critical comparision between biblical psalms and Pedi psalm-like songs. The research demonstrates that, on the one hand, there are numerous interesting similarities between the two cultures’ songs with regard to a variety of aspects. On the other hand, the assessment also reveals substantial differences between the two musical traditions pertaining to an equally great number of issues. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Biblical and Religious Studies / unrestricted

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