THE BOOK OF PSALMS AS THE BOOK OF CHRIST:
A CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH TO
THE BOOK OF PSALMS
by
Jerry Eugene Shepherd
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of
WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
1995
Faculty Advisor: Tremper Longman III
Second Faculty Reader: Peter E. Enns
Chairman of the Field Committee: Vern S. Poythress
Librarian: D. G. Hart
To my loving wife Cheryl,
and my three wonderful children,
Jennifer, Joel, and Timothy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
CHAPTER
PART ONE
THE HISTORY OF MESSIANIC PSALM INTERPRETATION
AND CANONICAL INTERPRETATION . . . . . . 1
1. A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF MESSIANIC OR CHRISTOLOGICAL
INTERPRETATION OF THE PSALMS . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Apostolic Fathers to ca. AD 200
The Alexandrian and Antiochene Schools
to ca. 500
The Alexandrian School
The Antiochene School
Middle Ages to ca. 1500
The Reformation to ca. 1600
Martin Luther John Calvin
Other Reformers
From the Reformation to the Present
"Conservative" Exegesis to the Twentieth
Century
"Liberal" Exegesis to the Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century Developments
The Early History of Religions School
Form Criticism
The Myth and Ritual School
Sensus Plenior
Neo-orthodoxy and the Biblical Theology
Movement
2. THE CANONICAL APPROACH OF BREVARD CHILDS . . . . . 63
A Description of Childs's Approach
Objections to Childs's Approach
1. The Question of Methodology
2. The Question of Definition
3. The Question of Focus
4. The Question of Intentionality
5. The Question of Canonical Plurality
6. The Question of Emphasis
7. The Question of Tradition
8. The Question of the Whole Canon
9. The Question of Confessionalism
10. The Question of Theology
Conclusion
3. THE CANONICAL CRITICISM OF JAMES SANDERS . . . . . . 126
A Description of Sanders's Approach
The Need for Canonical Criticism
The Agenda and Assumptions of Canonical Criticism
Reconstruction of the Canonical Process
Differences with Childs
The Gains of Canonical Criticism
Evaluation of Sanders's Approach
Evaluation of Sanders's Reconstruction
Evaluation of the Assumptions and Gains of
Canonical Criticism
iii
Conclusion
PART TWO
THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH . . . . . . 182
4. THE CANONICAL PROCESS APPROACH OF BRUCE
WALTKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Assessment of Prior Interpretation
A New Proposal
Dependence on, and Distance from, Childs
Similarity to, but Distinction from, Sensus Plenior
Four Convictions
Four Stages
Issues to Be Raised in Regard to Waltke's Canonical
Process Approach
Conclusion
5. THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH TO THE OLD
TESTAMENT: CHRIST IS THE CANON ABOVE THE CANON . . . 204
Thesis Number One:
Christ Is Criterion of Canon
Thesis Number Two:
Christ Asserts Himself as Canon by His Spirit
Thesis Number Three:
Christ is Lord over the Whole Canon
Thesis Number Four:
Christ Asserts His Authority in Covenantal Canon
Thesis Number Five:
Christ Has Incarnated Himself in Biblical Canon
Thesis Number Six:
Christ is Lord over Canonical Meaning
Thesis Number Seven:
Christ is Lord over the Canonical Meaning of the Old Testament
iv
Conclusion
6. THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH TO THE OLD
TESTAMENT: CHRIST IS LORD OVER THE INTERPRETER . . . 277
Thesis Number Eight:
Christ is Lord over Hermeneutical Methodology
Thesis Number Nine:
Christ is Lord over the Disclosure of Meaning
Thesis Number Ten:
Christ's Canon Is Canonical over All
Scholarly Reconstruction
Thesis Number Eleven:
Christ's Canon Is for Christ's Church
Thesis Number Twelve:
Christ's Canon is Paradigmatically Authoritative
Thesis Number Thirteen:
Christ's Canon Is to Be Interpreted in
the Light of Its Canonical Unity
Thesis Number Fourteen:
Christ's Canon Is a "Fuller Sense"
Conclusion
PART THREE
THE APPLICATION OF THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL
APPROACH TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS. . . . . . 386
7. THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH TO THE SHAPE OF
THE BOOK OF PSALMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
The Psalms Superscriptions
The Authorship Ascriptions
The Historical Titles
Earlier Psalter Collections
Earlier Forms of the Psalter
The Elohistic and Yahwistic Psalters
The Five Books
v
Competing Canonical Psalters?
The Final Shape of the Psalter:
Theological? Canonical? Christological?
Is there a Theological Rationale?
Is the Psalter's Shape Canonical?
Does the Psalter Have a Christological Structure?
8. THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH TO THE PSALMS
IN THE CONTEXT OF THE WHOLE CANON . . . . . . . . . . 453
Three Lines of Evidence
Royal Interpretation of the Psalms
Canonical Process
The Intertestamental Period
The Use of the Psalms in the Old Testament
The "Flash Point":
The Use of the Psalms in the New Testament
The Use of Psalm 22 in Hebrews 2:11-13
Suggested Explanations
Septuagint Influence
Philonic Influence
Qumran Influence
Rabbinic Midrash
The "Testimony Book" Hypothesis
Sensus Plenior
The "Redeemer" Myth
Hierophany
Towards a Solution
The Use of Psalm 22 in the New Testament
vi
The Context of Psalm 22:23
New Testament Use of the Context of Isa 8:17-18
Linked Contexts
Other Passages in Which Christ is the Psalmist
Matthew 13:35 (Psalm 78:2)
Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34 (Psalm 22:2)
Luke 23:46 (Psalm 31:6)
John 2:17 (Psalm 69:10)
John 13:18 (Psalm 41:10)
John 15:25 (Psalm 35:19; 69:5)
John 19:24 (Psalm 22:19)
Acts 2:25-28 (Psalm 16:8-11)
Romans 15:3 (Psalm 69:10)
Romans 15:9 (Psalm 18:50 [2 Samuel 22:50])
Romans 15:11 (Psalm 117:1)
Hebrews 10:5-7 (Psalm 40:7-9)
Conclusions
9. THREE MESSIANIC PSALMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Psalm 8
Matthew 21:16
Hebrews 2:6-9
Psalm 41
Psalm 41 in the Context of the Book of Psalms
and the Old Testament
vii
bĕliyya al
Intra-Psalter Connections
The Use of Psalm 41 in John 13
Psalm 129
Psalm 129 in its Old Testament Context
Psalm 129 in its New Testament Context
Conclusion
10. IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHRISTO-CANONICAL APPROACH </