Friday 28 January 2011

Abstract for my SBL (London) paper

I just received the good news that the abstract for one of my papers has been accepted for SBL London. It'll be in the 'Writings' section. Here it is:
Psalm 24 as Prophecy: A New Poetic Reading
Psalm 24 is often seen to be a “baffling” psalm due to the juxtaposition of what seems to be thematically disparate material (creation, vv. 1-2; torah and sanctuary vv. 3-6; divine warrior and sanctuary, vv. 7-10). Most unusual, however, is the juxtaposition of the final two stanzas, for they seem to cancel each other out. In vv. 3-6, human beings desire access to God within the sanctuary, whereas in vv. 7-10 God himself is presented as standing outside the same location and desiring access. Multiple clues indicate that these two entrance scenes have been intentionally brought into parallelism with each other, yet no satisfactory answer has been presented as to the meaning of this poetic manoeuvre. In this paper, a poetic analysis is proposed that goes beyond those proffered thus far by looking at the way it represents time and space. The conclusion is that the Psalm belongs in the genre of prophecy.

10 comments:

Christopher Hays said...

Glad to hear it, bro; I'll see you there.

Phil Sumpter said...

Hi Chris, I'm delighted you'll be there too! It'll be good to catch up again.

John Hobbins said...

Sounds very interesting.

I trust you are aware of and will interact with the relevant essays in "The way of the Lord: essays in Old Testament theology" by Patrick D. Miller.

Phil Sumpter said...

Hi John, to be honest, I wasn't. I do interact with Miller, who's written on Pss 15, 24 and 15-24, but have looked up anything in that book yet. The chapter on anthropology looks particularly releveant. Thanks for the tip!

Ron said...

Hi Phil, my name is Ron and really enjoy your blog. Incidentally, I will be at the London SBL too, giving a paper with connections between Childs and the Book of Daniel. Would you want to get a coffee and talk?
Here's my email: zrhaydon@tiu.edu

cjbatch said...

hi Phil,
I'm really sorry that you (seem to) have stopped blogging! This was one of my favourite blogs! Hope all is well... Caroline

Phil Sumpter said...

Thanks for your kind remarks, Caroline. You comments have inspired me to finally post something on my silence (here. http://narrativeandontology.blogspot.com/2011/03/this-blog-isnt-dead-its-just.html). I do want to get back to blogging, but I need time to consolidate other areas of work at the moment.

cjbatch said...

Have you ever considered translating Berhard Duhm's 'Das Buch Jesaia' (which I'm painfully making my way through relevant parts of at the moment). Its a standard text for all postgrad students of Isaiah and I find it hard too belive that there isn't a translation yet. I know I'd pay well for one...
shalom, Caroline

Phil Sumpter said...

Now there's an idea ... I really enjoy translating (I'm translating Berges' little book on Isaiah right now). If you can find a publisher willing to pay me I'd do it.

Jessica Waterfield said...

From what paper did the abstract came from? Well, if it was a thesis abstract, then there is no doubt that it should be accepted at SBL. Thesis abstract is important part of any paper because it is where you should put all the important data without letting all the information be seen.