Constructing and Deconstructing Power in Psalms 107–150: 19 (Ancient Israel and Its Literature)

Essential research on the relationship between the Persian empire and the the formation of the book of Psalms In this latest entry in the Ancient Israel and Its Literature series, W. Dennis Tucker, Jr. examines the role of Persian imperial ideology in the creation of psalms in Book 5 of the Psalter and in the shaping of the book of Psalms as a whole. Although much research has been conducted on the relationship between the Persian empire and the creation of biblical texts, the book of Psalms has been largely absent from this discussion. Tucker seeks to rectify this omission by illustrating that Book 5 constructed a subtle anti-imperial ideology in response to the threats imposed from all empires both past and present. Features: Close study of the psalms portrayal of human power to that of Yahweh Comparison of Achaemenid propaganda to the ideology found in the psalms Evidence drawn from Persian iconography and inscriptions