Students of this course will study the Christian Reception of the Psalms from the Psalter as a collection of Israelite religious poetry to the New Testament. Students will be introduced to the centuries-long process of reinterpretation and exegesis of the Psalms. Topics to be examined in the course include the 1) The Composition of the Five Books of David; 2) How the Psalter took its shape; 3) the Settings in Life (Sitz im Leben) of the Psalms; 4) the Psalms in Judaism at the time of Jesus; 5) the use of the Psalms by Jesus as portrayed in the New Testament; 7) the use of the Psalms in Christian worship and Liturgy and as part of the everyday prayer of Christians.