Literary Analytical Approach

History of Interpretation of Psalms
Reformation Approach ← Literary Analytical Approach → Form Criticism

Method

1. Disregard superscriptions.
2. Employ philological and theological criteria to date psalms (Israel’s religion progressed from outward to inward, personal).
3. Conclusion: Psalms are post-exilic and many of them reflect the political and ecclesiastical struggles of the Maccabean era.

Scholars

Briggs, Cheyne, Duhm, Olshausen, Wellhausen (most commentators between 1880-1920 — Kirkpatrick, 1902— a notable exception)