Catherine Petrany analyzes the role of wisdom in the Book of Psalms. She argues that wise human teaching in the psalms does not simply echo the didactic aims of the biblical wisdom books. Rather, human wisdom in the psalms asks its hearers to become speakers and enter into conversation with the divine.

The presence of didactic, wisdom-like passages in the Book of Psalms presents a puzzle because it suggests a non-liturgical origin and pedagogical aim distinct from the more dominant psalmic language of lament and praise. Catherine Petrany argues for a literary and theological approach to the question of wisdom's role in the psalms that accounts for its meaningful integration with these other kinds of discourse. The unique contextualization of wisdom motifs in the psalms creates a pedagogical platform unique to the book, one related to but distinct from the pedagogies of the biblical wisdom corpus. Human wisdom speech in the psalms points beyond the classroom to the congregation and asks its hearers to become speakers, that is, to enter into conversation with the divine.

Autorentext
Born 1981; MA in Systematic Theology and PhD in Biblical Studies at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York; currently Assistant Professor of Theology at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.