A New Song

The fresh riches of biblical poetry for communities of faith

A New Song includes nine essays on the hidden intricacies of poetry in the Hebrew Bible, ten poems in dialogue with biblical poetry, and three reflective responses.

• On Reading Genesis 49: How Hebrew Poetry Communicates Then and Now (John Goldingay)
• Shirat Ha-Yam (the Song of the Sea) in Jewish and Christian Liturgical Tradition (C.T.R. Hayward)
• Hannah’s Prayer (1 Samuel 2:1–10): On the Interface of Poetics and Ethics in an Embedded Poem (David G. Firth)
• Bending the Silence: Reading Psalms through the Arts (Ellen F. Davis)
• Psalms “Translated” for Life in the 21st Century – A South African perspective (June F. Dickie)
• Prosody and Preaching: Poetic Form and Religious Function in Biblical Verse (Benjamin D. Sommer)
• “With Fists Flailing at the Gates of Heaven”: Wrestling with Psalm 88, A Psalm for Chronic Illness (Shai Held)
• Truth and Hidden Things: Reading Isaiah 45:9–25 as Scripture (Katie M. Heffelfinger)
• The Dynamic Relationship between God and Man in the Book of Hosea: A Dynamic – Synchronic Reading (Yisca Zimran)
• Poems by Maria Apichella, Kilby Austin, Edward Clarke, Jacqueline Osherow, Micheal O’Siadhail, Richard G. Rohlfing Jr., and Jock Stein.

Edited by Stephen D. Campbell, Richard G. Rohlfing Jr., and Richard S. Briggs, A New Song brings together a diverse roster of Jewish and Christian scholars to explore biblical Hebrew poetic texts within the context—and for the benefit—of communities of faith. These thoughtful essays and poems encourage readers to join in the singing of the old songs anew.

Stephen D. Campbell (PhD, Durham University) is academic director of Aquila Initiative in Cologne, Germany, and pastor of the International Baptist Church of Bonn, Germany.

Richard G. Rohlfing Jr. (PhD, Durham University) is lead pastor at Faith Legacy Church in Sacramento, California, and adjunct professor of biblical Hebrew at Western Seminary.

Richard S. Briggs (PhD, University of Nottingham) is prior of the Community of St Cuthbert, St Nic's Church, Durham, and visiting research fellow in Old Testament at Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham University.