During an all-day prayer service on January 17, 2025, in Duke Divinity School’s Goodson Chapel, ministers and musicians from Duke Chapel joined students, faculty, and staff in chanting all 150 of the Bible’s Psalms. The service was notable not only for its length and monastic quality but also for the Psalm texts being used. All of them were original translations by Dr. Ellen Davis, the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at the Divinity School. She was joined in the project by Chapel Music Director Zebulon Highben and a former student, Dr. Allison Hamm, to prepare the translations for musical settings by adding “pointing” marks to the texts.
In this episode, Dr. Davis and Dr. Hamm discuss their significant scholarly and artistic achievement of translating and then pointing the entire biblical Psalter.
MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE (In order of appearance)
Psalm 27—Tone from Evangelical Lutheran Worship’s psalter, © 2006 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and published by Augsburg Fortress.
Psalm 15—Setting by Chad Fothergill, Duke Chapel organist.
Psalm 36— Setting by Chad Fothergill, Duke Chapel organist.
