Teaching through Song in Antiquity

Didactic Hymnody among Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians

by Matthew E. Gordley

Book cover: Teaching through Song in Antiquity

Extent: 445 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Biblical Studies

Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.Reihe

Series volume number: 302

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2011)

ISBN: 9783161507229

Price: $143.00

In stock

While scholars of antiquity have long spoken of didactic hymns, no single volume has defined or explored this phenomenon across cultural boundaries in antiquity. In this monograph Matthew E. Gordley provides a broad definition of didactic hymnody and examines how didactic hymns functioned at the intersection of historical circumstances and the needs of a given community to perceive itself and its place in the cosmos and to respond accordingly. Comparing the use of didactic hymnody in a variety of traditions, this study illuminates the multifaceted ways that ancient hymns and psalms contributed to processes of communal formation among the human audiences that participated in the praise either as hearers or active participants. The author finds that in Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Christian contexts, many hymns and prayers served a didactic role fostering the ongoing development of a sense of identity within particular communities.

  • By (author) Matthew E Gordley

"...Gordley is to be congratulated for placing between one set of a single book his findings of the instructional nature of an extensive range of ancient texts." --Steven Thompson, Avondale College of Higher Education (Australia), Review of Biblical Literature 12.22.16
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