Foreword: Functions of Psalms and Prayers in the Second Temple Period—A Nordic Perspective

Abstract

The present theme issue of the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament on the functions of psalms and prayers in the Second Temple period emanates from a two-part international conference on the same topic held in Copenhagen in May 2015 and in Helsinki in September 2015. The conferences gathered almost thirty scholars from Europe and North America working on psalms and prayers. The conferences were generously supported by the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS), the Emil Aaltonen Foundation, and the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence: Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions (CSTT). The papers presented at the conferences were edited by Mika S. Pajunen and Jeremy Penner and published in 2017 (de Gruyter, BZAW, 486). Research on psalms and prayers in ancient Jewish literature is in a stage of transition in these years. In light of the wealth of firsthand evidence on the uses and functions of psalms and prayers in late Second Temple Judaism provided by the Qumran manuscripts, a view of the Masoretic Book of Psalms now in the Hebrew Bible simply as a hymnbook of Second Temple Judaism is no longer sustainable. The uses and functions of psalms and prayers now appear to have been significantly more varied and multivalent than what was previously assumed, and new models concerning the composition, categorization and functional classification of psalms and psalm collections are needed in order to advance scholarly understanding of these texts and their social and historical contexts. The main aim of the two conferences was to facilitate a discussion about fresh trajectories that research on psalms and prayers should take in the coming years. A second objective was to strengthen Nordic research collaboration in this area of Biblical Studies. Scandinavian biblical scholarship has a strong tradition in Psalm research, which over the years has been complemented by a significant expertise in Qumran studies, and we wanted to sustain and develop this particular Nordic focus and momentum.