The Psalms of the Return: Book V, Psalms 107–150, JSOTS 258

Written by Michael D. Goulder Reviewed By Ernest Lucas

This is the fourth of Goulder’s ‘Studies in the Psalter’, and once again he is not beholden to any existing consensus but strikes off in original directions. However, these are not arbitrary. He has read widely in Psalms scholarship, and often follows up clues others noticed without pursuing.

The book begins with the ‘Songs of Ascent’ (Pss 120–134). Goulder develops earlier arguments that the ‘ascent’ is the return from exile, and builds on Kirkpatrick’s recognition that many phrases and details in these psalms correspond with the book of Nehemiah. By expounding each psalm alongside the ‘I’ passages in Nehemiah he develops his ‘ambitious’ theory that these passages ‘were Nehemiah’s testimonies at the Tabernacles celebration in 445 BCE, in the weeks after the wall had been completed. They were delivered in short units, and the Songs were responses to them, chanted by a leading Levite who was a loyal follower of the Governor, sometimes addressing him, often identifying himself with his plans and policies’ (30). This reader is only partly convinced. Goulder shows a close connection between some psalms and the ‘I’ passages. In others the relationship seems tenuous, e.g. Psalms 125 and 126. The varying ‘standpoint’ of the hypothetical Levite is a weakness in the detailed case. So is the need to remove Nehemiah 13:6 and 7 as a gloss and, with it, Nehemiah’s second term as Governor. Perhaps a less ambitious theory could explain the link between these psalms and the events of Nehemiah’s governorship that many of them seem to reflect.

Secondly, Goulder argues that Psalms 107–119 were written for the festival of Passover/Unleaven Bread kept after the rebuilding of the temple by the returned exiles under Zerubbabel and Joshua (Ezra 6:16–22). He also argues that Psalms 105–118 form an alternating sequence of evening/morning psalms for use in the festal week. Psalm 119 ‘marks the climax and close of the fifty-day Pentecost which begins with Passover. It is a long psalm because it was designed to be used for a Pentecostal vigil’ (209). The general argument, that these psalms form a group sharing certain common characteristics and are suited to the setting of an early post-exilic Passover/Unleavened Bread festival in the rebuilt temple, has considerable plausibility. The details, such as the explanation of why Psalms 105 and 106 now are part of Book IV of the Psalter and the attempt to find an evening/morning alternation, are less convincing.

The third part of the book is the least convincing. Goulder’s attempt to link Psalms 135–150 with the Feast of Tabernacles held to mark the success of Ezra’s mission to Jerusalem (Neh. 8:13–18) requires an imaginative reconstruction of that mission, including the execution of some of Ezra’s supporters (an Appendix deals with this). Within this argument he makes a plausible case for these psalms being a post-exilic group with common compositional characteristics and themes.

Goulder’s ‘ambitious theories’ apart, there is much to be gained from his exegeses of the individual psalms. The suggested cross-links with events recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah, and the recognition of the way the psalmists draw on earlier psalms and other passages of Scripture, is illuminating. The text of the psalms (Ps. 119 excepted) is printed in the Revised Version margin (1881) translation, because it is the most literal translation of the Hebrew. However, a knowledge of Hebrew would be helpful in following the detail of Goulder’s discussion. The detail is printed in paragraphs of smaller type that can be skipped at a first reading to grasp the overall thrust of his argument.


Ernest Lucas

Bristol Baptist College