Introduction to Psalms: The Genres of the Religious Lyric of Israel

Hermann Gunkel’s commentary on Psalms (Die Psalmen, HKAT) – by many considered to be his magnum opus – was published in 1926. But he was unable to complete his final work on the Psalms. The severe suffering of his final months of life forced him to hand over his incomplete manuscript, at Christmastime 1931-1932, to his pupil Joachim Begrich. Gunkel died on 11 March 1932. Begrich put the final touches on the organization of Gunkel’s last work on Psalms, and it was published in 1933 as Einleitung in die Psalmen: die Gattungen der religiosen Lyrik Israels.