Content

In this unit, students will engage with the Book of Psalms, through exegesis of selected texts in English translation and scholarship on its composition, and historical contexts. Themes such as ecology, divine absence, ageing, poverty, justice and wisdom will be examined in light of the pedagogy, poetics and canonical formation of the Psalter.

Unit code: BA9450T

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Old Testament

Delivery Mode: Blended

Proposing College: Trinity College Theological School

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Learning outcomes

1.

Critically exegete a psalm within its form critical and canonical contexts.

2.

Critically analyse scholarship on the composition and historical contexts of the psalms.

3.

Synthesise insights in theology and liturgy of the Psalms from ancient Israelite and Christian traditions

4.

Synthesise theory and praxis in a contemporary context

Unit sequence

Prerequisite: BA8000T Introduction to the Old Testament or equivalent

Pedagogy

Lectures, guided readings, flipped classroom

Indicative Bibliography

  • Brenner, Athalya, and Carole R Fontaine (eds). Wisdom and Psalms. The Feminist Companion to the Bible, 2nd Ser., No. 2. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
  • Brown, W.P. Seeing the Psalms: A Theology of Metaphor. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2002.
  • Brown, W.P. (ed). The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • Brueggemann, W. and W.H. Bellinger. Psalms. NCBC. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy L., R.A. Jacobson and B. Laneel Tanner. The Book of Psalms. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014.
  • Gillingham, Susan (ed). Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Psalms : Conflict and Convergence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
  • Jacobson, Rolf A. (ed.) Soundings in the Theology of Psalms. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011.
  • Johnson, Vivian L. David in Distress: His Portrait Through the Historical Psalms. LHBOTS 505. New York: Bloomsbury, 2009.
  • Wenham, Gordon J. Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Song Ethically. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2012.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay - Thematic essay

Essay (2500 words)

2500 35.0
Report - Tutorial report

An academic report underpinning the tutorial presentation

1000 10.0
Exegesis - Exegetical essay

Exegesis (2500 words)

2500 35.0
Oral Presentation - Tutorial presentation

Presentation of a psalm for a contemporary context (equivalent to 1500 words)

1500 20.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 28 Jul, 2025

Unit record last updated: 2025-07-28 09:27:29 +1000