Vindicating Vengeance and Violence? : Exegetical Approaches to Imprecatory Psalms and their Relevance for Liturgy
Doktorsavhandling i Gamla testamentets exegetik. I avhandlingen kartläggs vilka tolkningsstrategier som är tongivande i modern kommentarlitteratur av Psaltarens s.k. 'förbannelsepsalmer,' dvs. bibeltexter som vanligen utelämnas i modernt gudstjänstliv av innehållsliga skäl då de uttrycker den bedjandes önskan om hämnd och/eller våld gentemot fiender. En översikt av den exegetiska diskursen, så somDue to their calls for vengeance and violence the so called imprecatory psalms are generally considered ethically difficult and subsequently omitted from liturgy. This becomes particularly evident in breviaries, such as the Roman Catholic Church’s Liturgy of the Hours, where both entire psalms and individual verses have been omitted. The widespread omission of lament psalms (including imprecatory