Tradition History and the Psalms of Asaph (review)

Hebrew Studies 33 (1992) 148 Reviews explaining to the reader the complexities of the Brennerian style and structure. His deftness in sensing the textual topography is shown clearly in his remarks concerning the four-chapter ending of In Winter. [T)hese chapters [offer] examples of the kind of writing in which Brennerchose not to compose In Winter. The chapters describe two extreme and opposing dispositions of the narrative consciousness, the one sardonic and moribund and the other abandoned and exultant Rather than disclosing the ultimate meaning of Feuennan's ordeal, they offer insights into what the novel cannot be about and remain a novel. (p. 200) Mintz has chosen a most significant genre and period of Hebrew writing and has produced a superbly adroit and insightful study of the major works. Although the issue of the loss of religious faith is for the most part a dormant topic in modem Hebrew literature, parallel issues of alienation and ideological apostasy, so to speak, are still featured. In this sense the political works of several Israeli writers-Yizhar, Megged, Oz, Yehoshua, Amichai, Kaniuk, Kenan, and Grossman, to name a few-have replaced the autobiography as the medium for a number of contemporary torments. Warren Bargad University ofFlorida Gainesville, FL 32611 TRADITION HISTORY AND THE PSALMS OF ASAPH. By Harry P. Nasuti. SBL Dissertation Series 88. Pp. vii + 204. Atlanta: Scholars, 1988. Cloth/Paper. Dissertations generally provide helpful discussions on methodology and bibliography. Those who read the SBL Dissertation Series for such data will not be disappointed with this volume. Nasuti spends two chapters discussing scholars and methodologies of tradition-history. He examines the field in general and the Tradilionsgeschichle methodological considerations of Steck, Huber, and Illman in particular. He compares their approaches and conclusions to those of Martin Buss (JBL 82 [1963): 382-392}. His concluding bibliography is excellent. He has performed well those tasks which make dissertations useful. On the other hand, Nasuti goes beyond the normal boundaries of dissertations . His work demonstrates how the sociological and historical methods Hebrew Studies 33 (1992) 149 Reviews of his supervisor, Robert R. Wilson, can assist psalmic studies. He not only analyzes the poems, but also places the psalms of Asaph within a "discernible traditio group responsible in some way for the Asaphite psalms" (p. 193). He works on two levels to accomplish this task. The first presents a coherent picture of the Asaphite traditio in its social and theological context in the history of Israel. The second level strives to assess the implications of the material for understanding tradition-history, especially as he suggests its "subdiscipline," Traditionsgeschichte. Nasuti's method seeks to restore certain controls of verifiability to doing tradition-history. His inner controls are based on the units of traditum themselves. The external controls are set by evidence from outside that traditum. He is trying to move beyond modem critical speculation about the conceptual integrity of the psalms of Asaph. The work supplements assumptions about the psalms' transmission process with information from similar processes in ancient Near Eastern cultures. The work generally succeeds in accomplishing these two goals. After analyzing earlier approaches to tradition-history and the psalms of Asaph, Nasuti draws some conclusions from a linguistic analysis of Psalms 50 and 73-83. He then analyzes the psalms form-critically. The sections are packed with exegetical information and interesting excursuses, such as the one on the phrase, "I am the Lord your God" (p. 136). Finally, he compares internal evidence to what external passages say about Asaph and the Asaphites. Within the book of Psalms, Nasuti assumes the importance of psalmic superscriptions, attributing twelve poems to Asaphites. He notes Ephraimite language and associations with prophetic circles and national laments. For evidence outside of the book of Psalms, the author generally stays within the biblical framework and related data to compare streams of tradition. He notes that the Chronicler associates Asaphic Levites with the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah. Within divergent sources, Asaphites appear with the ark, holy war, and cultic prophecy. The work concludes that Chronicles does not represent a divergent tradition but a later stage of the same stream. Chronicles points out that a group primarily responsible for communal laments...