Calvin and the Messianic Interpretation of the Psalms

S. H. Russell

doi:10.1017/S0036930600000314

Calvin and the Messianic Interpretation of the Psalms

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009

S. H. Russell

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S. H. Russell: Affiliation:
Alice, Cape Province

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The purpose of this study is firstly to examine the principles behind Calvin's exegesis of the messianic elements in the Psalms, and then to consider briefly how far in the light of recent studies in Israelite sacral kingship we can apply them to our own understanding today. At the outset, however, it is necessary to defend the adjective ‘messianic’ in regard to Calvin's exegesis of the Psalms. It has been objected, particularly by Mowinckel at the beginning of his He that Cometh, that the term ‘Messiah’ can only rightly be used for a royal eschatological figure in the literature of later Judaism. As, according to Mowinckel, the royal figure in the Psalms is in no strict sense an eschatological one, the adjective ‘messianic’ cannot be strictly applied to it. It is not our intention here to combat this judgment of Mowinckel on exegetical grounds, but to point out that his criticism is not valid for what Calvin was seeking to do in his commentary.

Type: Research Article
Information: Scottish Journal of Theology , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , March 1968 , pp. 37 - 47

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0036930600000314 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1968

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^{page 37 note 1} Epistle to the reader, 1539 edition.

^{page 38 note 1} For similar discussions see introduction in his commentary on Pss. 44, 48, 76, 129.1.

^{page 38 note 2} Introduction to Ps. 72.

^{page 38 note 3} Com. Ps. 123.1.

^{page 39 note 1} Int. to Ps. 110; cf. Mark, 12.36.

^{page 39 note 2} Com. Ps. 2.1f (Acts 4.24); Com. Ps. 16.10 (Acts 2.30, 13.33); Com. Ps. 109.8 (Acts 1.20).

^{page 39 note 3} Com. Ps. 89.3; cf. Com. Ps. 72.7, 17; 89.28.

^{page 39 note 4} Com. Ps. 2.8.

^{page 40 note 1} See for this Wallace, R. S., Calvin's Doctrine of Word and Sacrament, pp. 42–60.Google Scholar

^{page 40 note 2} Com. Ps. 18.8.

^{page 40 note 3} Com. Ps. 69.35.

^{page 40 note 4} Com. Ps. 78.69.

^{page 40 note 5} Com. Ps. 47.5.

^{page 41 note 1} Com. Ps. 19.4.

^{page 41 note 2} Com. Ps. 73.16.

^{page 41 note 3} Com. Ps. 72 (Introduction).

^{page 41 note 4} Com. Ps. 20.9.

^{page 41 note 5} Com. Ps. 63.11.

^{page 41 note 6} Com. Ps. 69.34.

^{page 41 note 7} See also Com. Ps. 61.6, 68.18.

^{page 41 note 8} Com. Ps. 22.1, vv. 17, 18.

^{page 41 note 9} Com. Ps. 69.21.

^{page 41 note 10} Com. Ps. 41.9.

^{page 42 note 1} Com. Ps. 109.3.

^{page 42 note 2} Com. Ps. 18.43; cf. Com. Ps. 118.4.

^{page 42 note 3} See Com. Ps. 45 and Intro. to Ps. 72.

^{page 42 note 4} Com. Ps. 45.10.

^{page 42 note 5} Com. Ps. 45.8.

^{page 42 note 6} Com. Ps. 45.10, 12.

^{page 42 note 7} Com. Ps. 45.16.

^{page 43 note 1} Com. Ps. 84.9.

^{page 43 note 2} Com. Ps. 85.10.

^{page 44 note 1} The Psalms in Israel's Worship, Vol. 1, p. 44.

^{page 44 note 2} He that Cometh, p. 89.

^{page 46 note 1} He that Cometh, p. 125.

^{page 46 note 2} ibid., p. 143.

^{page 46 note 3} See a good discussion of this matter in von Rad, G., Old Testament Theology, Vol. 2, pp. 112ff.Google Scholar

^{page 46 note 4} Can we say that the phraseology of such early passages as Deut. 33 and the Balaam poems are only glorified accounts of the present with no further future expectation?

^{page 47 note 1} Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel, p. 54, n. 1.

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