INTRODUCTION
The Purpose of This Article
This article will present a critical review of William P. Brown’s Seeing the Psalms: A Theology of Metaphor. In addressing its subject, this article will provide biographical information about the author and a summary of the book’s text. The article will conclude with a critical analysis of the book’s strengths and weaknesses.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William P. Brown
Dr. William P. Brown earned a Bachelor of Arts from Whitman College, a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Hebrew Bible from Emory University. He was awarded the Tübingen Exchange Fellowship from Princeton and did postgraduate work at Eberhard-Karls-Universität in Tübingen, Germany.
Dr. Brown is a highly respected Old Testament scholar and ordained Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He has served on the pastoral staffs of churches in both Arizona and New Jersey. He is currently the Aubrey Lee Brooks Professor of Biblical Theology at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia, a position he has held since 2002. He began teaching at Union in 1991 when he joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Old Testament Studies. In 1997 he became an associate professor, and in 1999 he became professor of Old Testament Studies at Union.
For the fall semester of 2004, Brown will be leaving Union to become Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia where he and his wife, Gail and their two daughters, Ella and Hannah, have close family ties and where he previously earned his doctorate at Emory.
Academically, Dr. Brown is interested in Old and New Testament theology, especially creation theology, wisdom literature and the prophets. He enjoys writing and has many published works to his credit including the commentaries Obadiah–Malachai in the Westminster Bible Companion series, and Ecclesiastes in the Interpretation commentary series. His current project is the Psalms commentary for the Old Testament Library series. His other books include Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, The Ethos of the Cosmos: The Genesis of Moral Imagination in the Bible, and the lecture series God and the Imagination: A Primer to Reading the Psalms in an Age of Pluralism.
Dr. Brown is editor of Character and Scripture: Moral Formation, Community, and Biblical Interpretation and Union’s Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. He contributes further to his field as a member of the editorial board of the Old Testament Library. And, he was formerly the co-chair of the Character Ethics and Biblical Interpretation Working Group of the Society of Biblical Literature.
A SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Preface & Introduction
Preface
In Brown’s short Preface, he recounts a story about the impact of an event in an adult Sunday school class that prompted him to begin a unique search of the Psalms for imagery and metaphor (page ix). That journey through the Psalms eventually led to the writing of this present volume. Brown notes with candor how one member of that class made a succinct and yet profound remark using a metaphor. The reaction of the class, and Brown’s own reaction, were of “rapt silence” and immediate “reflection” (page ix). The power of that metaphor had left an indelible impression on Brown. Brown then concludes his Preface with a brief outline of his book and a list of various acknowledgements.
Introduction: A Poetics of the Psalmic Imagination
Brown provides an unusually lengthy and somewhat detailed introduction to his book “which lays the hermeneutical groundwork for the study” (page x). He begins with references to Martin Luther’s take on the Psalms (page 1), but moves quickly into his subject matter: the Psalter’s evocative use of language (page 2), especially through literary devices such as poetry, imagery and the use of metaphors and smiles (pages 3-8). Brown expounds on these themes throughout the remainder of his introduction. He concludes it with discussions of the church’s need for in-depth instruction in the biblical use of icons and images in a contemporary, commercial society that has either abased or at least made shallow nearly all its symbols and images (page 13). The final remarks in his introduction regard the “Modus Operandi” he employs in pursuit of his subject. He states that his “line of investigation [of the Psalms]” will identify the “source and target domains in which a metaphor operates,” and that some attention will be given to the metaphor’s context (page 14).
The Central Text: Chapters 1 – 8 and Conclusion
Chapter 1: “In the Shadow of Shaddai”
The Metaphor of Refuge
Chapter 1 begins with a word about the nature and purpose of the Psalms. Setting aside earlier research efforts aimed at structure, statistics and lexicology, Brown seeks to focus on the importance of reading, meditating upon and studying the Psalms with an eye toward “the Psalter’s clear and stated aims [of] reverence and righteousness” (page 15). Brown’s exploration of the Psalms in search of “embedded metaphors” (Ibid.) begins with the “Metaphor of Refuge” (Ibid.). God is the refuge of the Psalmist. Brown sees “Rock” as perhaps the most prolific metaphor of God as refuge in the Psalms (page 19). Another frequently used metaphor for God as refuge is “wings” (page 20).
Chapter 2: “I Shall Walk in Freedom”
The Metaphor of Pathway
In Chapter 2, under the chapter subtitle, “The Metaphor of Pathway,” Brown extends his discussion of God as refuge to Tôrâ, which he notes “serves as the surrogate for YHWH’s refuge” (page 32). This idea is further born out in the Psalmist’s frequent uses of the various forms of the words “path” and “way” to describe how one abides in and obeys Tôrâ. Thus, “path” and “way” are both seen as the place of safety and security insofar as they intend to represent righteous living. While these two words (“path” and “way”) are not exact equivalents of the metaphors for refuge (as are “Rock” and “wings,” for example), they nonetheless connote refuge in the sense implied by the Psalmist. As he works through various Psalms as examples, Brown draws out the marriage of the metaphors of refuge and pathway (pages 46 – 53).
Chapter 3: The Transplanted Tree
Psalm 1 and the Psalter’s Threshold
The purpose of Chapter 3 is “to determine how [the] central metaphor [of the tree of Psalm 1] serves to orient the reader” (page 55). Brown examines the use of the metaphor “tree” in “biblical and extrabiblical [as well as] literary and iconographic” settings (page 58). He discusses the metaphor with positive connotations, as in the context of the Tree of Life (Ibid.) and with negative connotations, as in the cases of Deuteronomy 16:21, Isaiah 1:27-31 and 17:10-11, and Hosea 4:12-13.
Chapter 4: The Sun of Righteousness
Psalm 19 and the Joy of Lex
This chapter is more or less an exegesis of Psalm 19 with special emphasis placed on its solar imagery and the similar imagery used elsewhere in the book of Psalms and in the remainder of the Scriptures. It quickly becomes evident that Tôrâ is what the sun metaphor stands for in Psalm 19 (pages 90 – 94). Brown concludes that “Psalm 19 is a sound-and-light show, a poetic tour de force that brings together image and word” (page 103).
Chapter 5: The Voice of Many Waters
From Chaos to Community
In Chapter 5, Brown deals with the metaphor of “water” (page 105). The imagery of this metaphor is used to evoke a sense of the Psalmist’s fear and desire for deliverance from drowning (page 106), chaos (page 107) and his enemies, which he feel at times includes God (page 113). The Psalmist also uses the “water” metaphor to express emotions such as grief (page 118), and he uses the lack of water as a metaphor for great distress (page 121). Water, as a metaphor, also becomes a positive influence in the life of the Psalmist as the provision and care that flow from God. Examples cited by Brown include love (chesed) and life (page 123), sustenance (page 125), the praise and worship of God (page 128), forgiveness and cleansing (page 129) and the quenching of spiritual thirst (page 133).
Chapter 6: The Song of Leviathan
God’s Theater of Praise
In Chapter 6, Brown continues the smooth and organized flow of ideas from one chapter to the next in his treatment of the animal metaphors of the Psalms. The Psalmist’s use of animal-as-enemy metaphors is far more frequent than “those that bear self-referential status” (page135). Among the former, the lion is most common (page 136); among the latter, the bird (page 144). When used as a metaphor for an enemy, animal imagery produces a dehumanizing affect (Ibid.). But, the most poignant uses of the animal metaphor are as self, such as the “deer” in Psalm 42 and the implied “sheep” in Psalm 23.
Chapter 7:”On You I Was Cast from My Birth”
The Anatomy of a Personal God
Chapter 7 is “a survey of metaphors for God in Psalms” (page 167). This group of metaphors can be easily divided into two broad classifications. The first includes those metaphors that regard the personal attributes of God. These metaphors express the very personal nature of God through “senses, particularly of sight and hearing” (page 169), through “face” (pages 172 – 175), through “hands” (pages 175 – 178), through “mouth and voice” (pages178 – 181), and even through “breath” (pages 181 – 182). For the next five pages, Brown steps momentarily away from the central theme of his book to explore the emotions of God as they are depicted in the Psalms. These range from anger and compassion, through hatred and love, to delight and remembrance. The second classification of the metaphors for God in the Psalms regards the impersonal “roles” of God (page 187). In this category, Brown chooses not to focus on the roles of God as creator, redeemer or healer; instead preferring “king” (Ibid.), “warrior” (page 189), “parent” (page 191), and “teacher” (page 193) for their “iconic content” (page 187).
Chapter 8: “As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem”
Mapping the Divine
In the short 8th chapter of the book, Brown seems to do a bit of housekeeping by rounding up a few difficult to categorize iconic metaphors for God. This collection deals more with the actions and benefits of God than with His attributes. Brown’s intention with this chapter was to demonstrate “that the Psalter proudly showcases a bewildering variety of images, cast as metaphors, for God” (page 206).
Conclusion: In Defense of Iconic Reflection
The Case of Psalm 139
In this the final chapter of the book, Brown presents Psalm 139 in defense of his study of Psalmic imagery. He juxtaposes the rich metaphorical landscape of Psalm 139 against its own stated condemnation of idolatry (page 207). Far from Idolatry, metaphor is a literary device employed by God, Himself, as He inspired men to write the Psalms. Brown’s final remark in his book sums up this defense: “If unobstructed praise is the ultimate aim of theology, then metaphors help clear the way” (page 215).
CONCLUSION
Strengths
The strengths of this book are many. From the standpoint of its structure, the book is very well organized. Each chapter keeps pushing the book’s subject forward, building on the previous chapter. Brown’s command of the Psalms is evident on every page. While he often apologizes for his limited coverage of certain topics, his book is well beyond adequate as a text for this course. His conservative exegesis is of the highest quality, and his prose is thoughtful, and interesting.
Weaknesses
If there are weaknesses in this book, they are more likely seen as such by the writer of this article, who is an undergraduate, because of his own ignorance of the subject and his lack of exposure to biblical studies of this technical depth. Thick with its heavy use of rare and unfamiliar grammatical and literary terms, the book was laboriously difficult to read. The actual text was tedious and wordy. The author’s verbosity became a “dense jungle” through which this writer was forced to hack his way. Passages frequently required rereading to get to the author’s main point. In preparing to write this article, this writer also found the book to be difficult to summarize because themes intertwined and overlapped each other, chapters interacted, and single ideas and thoughts sometimes went on for multiple paragraphs, and even pages, at a time.
Final Thoughts
In summary, William P. Brown’s Seeing the Psalms: A Theology of Metaphor is a very well written book. It accomplishes all it intends and more. It suffices as a useful text for this course, and will compliment this writer’s academic library. It’s drawbacks are few and relative to the individual reader’s purpose.
