St. Augustine's writing in Book 2 of "On Christian Teachings" can be quite helpful in interpreting and understanding the psalms. Augustine often talks about the difference between being knowledgeable and well-read in theological writings and truly understanding what the writers were trying to say. An easy step is to eliminate any ignorance on cultural aspects they may have been writing on. Certainly when I was reading the Psalms, I didn't know what a Hyssop was, but understanding what it meant to the people during the time it was written is important. Its also necessary to understand and recognize the difference between literal and metaphorical language in religious texts like the Psalms.
Augustine also explores the dangers of translations and the confusion it makes just as Alter discussed in his footnotes. The differences between Latin and Greek can be particularly disastrous.
St. Augustine provides context and possible pitfalls in reading the psalms that could be very helpful in interpretation of them and all theological texts.
These ideas are very similar to what I wrote about as well. It seems like he specifies really understanding the text on the deeper level. There is always something that is being said in the Psalms that isn't clearly written. I think this is extremely important when trying to interpret it, because you have to find out what the Psalm is really trying/wanting to say, not what is it literally saying.
ReplyDeleteI also particularly like his addressing of the literal and metaphorical and how there is a line between them (a calf does not have roots, but an ox can be a man). The translation definitely plays a part in how the psalms are understood, I wonder though, whether Augustine is really right in assuming that a calf cannot have roots. Perhaps this was meant to be a metaphore that has simply died out in our days.
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