Psalms of the Way and the Kingdom: A Conference with the Commentators

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 1999 by Ortlund, Raymond C Jr

Psalms of the Way and the Kingdom: A Conference with the Commentators. By John Eaton. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1995,144 pp., $33.50.

Every now and then one encounters a genuinely interesting book. Something original and engaging passes under one's gaze, and one is both charmed and instructed. For me, Eaton's Psalms of the Way and the Kingdom is such a book.

Eaton leads us into "a conference with the commentators" on psalms of the way (1, 19 and 119) and the kingdom (93, 97 and 99). The session having been convened by the author, the participants take their places in historical order. Gathering around the conference table with their diligently prepared work before them, eager to discuss the cruces of the selected psalms, are such giants as Delitzsch, Duhm, Briggs, Gunkel, Mowinckel, Kraus and others. After each one offers his proposals, Eaton exercises executive privilege by drawing the discussion to a close, adjudicating the salient questions of interpretation and criticism for each psalm. The reader has the delight of listening in as the proverbial fly on the wall.

While Eaton is scrupulously fair to his learned guests, he does not put them up on a pedestal. Some climb down by themselves, venturing inane opinions even in the midst of their genuine brilliance (e.g. Duhm on Psalm 119) with an endearing lack of self-awareness. Interestingly, Delitzsch, "the earliest and so often the best" (p. 116), wears well even after a century of scholarship breaking new ground on a number of fronts.

The author's own observations on the piety and spirituality of the various psalms supplements what is too often lacking in the commentaries under review.

Eaton's book would be useful in a course on the exegesis of the Psalms as an introduction to modern scholarly discussion of the Psalter. Indeed, it would be perfect for a course on the history of the interpretation of the Psalms, setting before the student the highlights of Psalms research for the past century plus.

Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL