He Will Save You from the Deadly Pestilence

With a gentle and lucid style, offering just enough data to demonstrate the substantial scholarship that underlies this study, Jenkins succeeds in reintroducing Psalm 91 to readers through many fresh lenses. * Robert C. Fennell, Robert C. Fennell teaches at the Atlantic School of Theology., The Christian Century * Early Christians 'thought in psalms', writes Philip Jenkins. Few psalms were as important for them and their Jewish contemporaries as Psalm 91, and it has remained central to both Jews and Christians. This study of the psalm's use down to the present day is a model of how to present the reception history of biblical texts. * John Barton, Emeritus Oriel & Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford, and Senior Research Fellow of Campion Hall, Oxford * This remarkably informative 'biography' of Psalm 91 describes the many communities of Jews and Christians who have found solace, encouragement, challenge, inspiration, and more from this one biblical text. Jenkins moves rapidly from the psalm's use before the Common Era to the help believers have found in it during catastrophes of the twenty-first century, but always with insightful attention to the circumstances in which it has been read (and prayed). It is a book of unusual encouragement. * Mark Noll, author of America's Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911 * Is Psalm 91 an encouragement for peace or military action? Are its words a comfort during a pandemic or incantations against an enemy? Is it a central part of monastic prayer or designed for occult practice? Philip Jenkins helps us to see this psalm as a many-sided jewel, skilfully highlighting its multiple refractions as a 'prayer of protection'. * The Revd. Canon Susan Gillingham, Emeritus Professor of the Hebrew Bible, University of Oxford *