The Book of Psalms (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

This is a great book when you want to study the Psalms. I keep it by my bed at night. There is a lot of information packed into each page on the footnotes and commentary.

Looking at the new The Book of Psalms edition, I am reminded of how well Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch integrate scholarly, theological, and historical notes into each volume. For most pages, commentary covers close to half the page on average. The notes are filled with additional biblical cross-references, as well references to the Catechism, the Church Fathers, and other ecclesial documents. The introduction fills four pages, giving the usual information about authorship, dating, and structure of the Psalms. Most helpful is the section on “Themes and Characteristics” which provide an overview of four key unifying leitmotifs as you read and prayer through the Psalter. One of them, The Gift of the Law, reminds the reader that: “The Psalms celebrate all of God’s gifts to his people, but none is praised more than the Law of the Lord. Far from being an onerous burden that weighs heavy on the conscience, observance of the Torah is viewed as a spiritual delight (16).” There can be a tendency from a Christian perspective to over-play the “burden” of the Law, but Hahn and Mitch remind us of its beauty and importance.As with each of the previous volumes, there are “word studies” (4) included throughout as well as “topical essays” (2). All of them are worth your time and study, but in particular the essay on the Imprecatory Psalms was quite good. It asks (and answers) this most important question: “How do psalms that wish ill on our foes impart lessons that are worthy of the God who reveals himself in the Bible? (113)” That is an essential question when reading those psalms.The volume concludes with over thirty pages of study questions, authored by Dennis Walters. Simply put, these are fantastic. There are sets of understanding and application questions for all 150 psalms, which make this useful for both devotional reading and study. While these questions will not be included in the eventual one-volume ICSB, they are absolutely worth having.

My husband said this book helps him understand the Bible easier.

Great book, just know it's not hardcover as described in the listing (which I guess makes sense given the price).

Ignatius never disappoints...great book...thanks

Gave to someone else to read.

Do not be fooled, the RSV is a Protestant translation of the bible. The RSV misses one of the most important Trinitarian passages,1 Jn 5:7. The RSV distorts Mary’s angelic salutation (Lk 1:28), it puts the period in the wrong place in Daniels prophecy of the 70 weeks making the dating of the Messiah confusing (Dan 9:25-26), it is completely missing the passage of Daniel slaying the dragon (Dan 14), it calls priests elders rather than priests (Tit 1:5). This RSV has a foot note saying that the Catholic understanding of Mary crushing the head of Satan is based on a mistranslation (this is false). The RSV misses one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost in Isaiah 11:2-3, 1 Cor 9:5 says wife instead of sister to promote married priesthood, the prayer of Tobias with Sarah is butchered to confuse the primary end of marriage in chapter 8. The RSV says the incarnation did not happen in a marriage (Lk 1:34), false teaching. The only authoritative Bible in the Church is the St Jerome’s Vulgate, promulgated at the Council of Trent. Presently the best English translation of this and the only one worth getting is the Douay Rheims revised by the Servant of God Bishop Challoner whose cause for beatification has been opened.

I follow Church Militant morning and evening prayer which consists of various psalms. Sometimes you just want more information. Also, great series of books.

Really useful to go deeper in scripture. I love the questions at the end of each chapter.

I guess I am superficial, but despite the profound content, this book is really hard for me to pick up; it's oversized (school binder), yet thin and poor quality paper and binding. I was hoping to be bringing it along to Eucharistic adoration, it just does not work.

I buy so many books and never get round to reading them. Hopefully I will get on to this soon. Have enjoyed others from the series. Can be pithy. And useful