The Function of Story in the Hebrew Psalter

Providing balance to the general scholarly trend to focus on the non-narrative aspect of Hebrew poetry, this book argues that the Hebrew Psalter does contain stories, and their inclusion in ancient Israel’s worship texts contributes to the rhetorical power of the psalms in ways distinct from other poetic devices. Rebecca W. Poe Hays builds on literary theory and biblical studies of narrative to establish a clear definition of “story” and to identify where story appears in the book of Psalms. The