Seeing the Psalms: a Theology of Methaphor - Book Review

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter, 2003 by John F. Craghan

By William P. Brown. Louisville, KY/London, UK: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. Pp. xiii 274. Paper, $24.95.

The author begins this provocative study by encouraging readers of the Psalms to move beyond formula theology and form criticism and reclaim the poetic roots of the entire theological enterprise. Formula theology unfortunately limits itself to a form of reductionism, i.e., a quest for concepts and notions stripped of their literary expression. Form criticism, while certainly necessary to understand the Psalms, focuses on life setting and literary type. In W. P. Brown's view scholars have overlooked the imagery of the Psalter at great theological loss. Instead of rejecting the form-critical approach, Brown asserts: "Driving this study is the conviction that familiarity with both the ancient setting and contemporary poetics is essential to understanding the Psalter's theological landscape" (p. x).

In his introduction the author presents a poetics of the psalmic imagination. He observes that metaphor has the ability to establish structures in our understanding of life and can broaden its own lexical focus and fill lexical gaps. In biblical poetry metaphor serves to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar. Concerned with the poetry of the Psalms, he states: "Rife with the language of analogy and anomaly, the Psalter is the schoolhouse of incarnational imagination" (p. 13). He proposes, therefore, to choose certain central metaphors because of their organizing power within particular psalms and throughout the Psalter as a whole. Since iconic metaphors conjure up an image saturated with background, Brown places great emphasis on ancient Near Eastern iconography and literature. To this end he supplies twenty-one illustrations in his book.

Taking a cue from Psalm 2:12, "How fortunate are all who take refuge in him," he develops in his first chapter the metaphor of refuge. He sees this metaphor as a filter through which the whole Book of Psalms can be viewed theologically. Indeed refuge is a metaphorical domain "populated by a number of concrete images, whose target domain is the protective God" (p. 19). Brown then examines the following images included in this metaphor: rock, wings, sanctuary presence, the cosmic king, and pit/Sheol as the counter metaphor of refuge. He undersands refuge as a reciprocal relationship in that it is embodied through the community's trust in God and through God's protective care. He concludes that refuge is clearly a foundational metaphor in the Psalter.

In his second chapter Brown investigates the metaphor of pathway. In Psalm 119 he views the righteous as those who are on the move by walking and seeking. He finds that in the metaphor of pathway conduct and destiny constitute an inseparable unity. At the same time pathway also illuminates the struggle that the person at prayer faces, seeking a way through as well as out of life's chaotic forces. Owing to God's salvific guidance the psalmist's pathway is broadened into a refuge (see Psalms 4:1; 18:36; 31:8). Brown sharpens this observation by concluding: "'Pathway' and 'refuge' are the tectonic plates that give coherent shape to the Psalter's rugged landscape ... " (p. 53).

In the six remaining chapters the author studies the transplanted tree (Psalm 1 and the Psalter's threshold), the sun of righteousness (Psalm 19 and the joy of tora), the metaphor of water both constructive and destructive, animals as metaphors, personal metaphors for God, and finally inanimate metaphors for God. He concludes with a brief study of Psalm 139 and a defense of the iconic reflection.

For this reviewer Brown succeeds admirably in his avowed purpose: viz., to reveal the iconic dimension of the Psalms and restate the case for theology to recapture its poetic underpinnings. His use of ancient Near Eastern iconography and literature contributes to the success of his work. While this treatment of metaphors in the Psalms is hardly exhaustive, it does serve as a compelling point of departure for pursuing other avenues of metaphor usage. Well researched and clearly written, this work is a very significant contribution to the ongoing poetic appreciation of the Psalter. A worthy ancitipation of this form of inquiry that is not mentioned by Brown is L. Alonso Schokel's (not simply Schokel!) TREINTA SALMOS: POESIA Y ORACION (see CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY 45 [1983], 446-48). In the final analysis Brown has put us very much in his debt.

John E Craghan

Darboy, WI 54915