The Message of the Psalter

The idea of a messianic meta-narrative in the Book of Psalms is now widely accepted. But this is the book which, in 1997, established the hermeneutical rationale for such a view. It proposes that the Psalter has been redacted to reflect a programme of eschatological events like that of Zechariah 9-14. These events include the ingathering of exiled Israel by a bridegroom-king; his establishment of a kingdom, followed by his violent death; the scattering of Israel in the wilderness, and their subsequent regathering and further imperilment; their rescue by a king from the heavens, who establishes his kingdom from Zion, brings peace and prosperity to the earth and receives the homage of the nations. There is an appendix of apocalyptic midrashim, some translated into English for the first time.