Matthew Montgomery, "An Intercessor Like Moses: A Key Component of the Psalter's Message" (European Hebrew Journal, 2026)

September 22, 2026

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5 min read

In a recent conversation on the New Books in Jewish Studies podcast, scholar Matthew Montgomery discusses his article published in the inaugural issue of the European Hebrew Journal, which argues that the Psalter’s later books (Books Three, Four, and Five of the Masoretic Psalter) deliberately present Moses and Aaron as idealized intercessors. This literary strategy, Montgomery contends, is a response to the trauma of the Babylonian exile: the community needed a figure who could stand between a covenant-breaking people and a just God, appealing for mercy in the way Moses did after the golden calf incident.

How the Psalter Introduces Moses and Aaron

Montgomery’s argument begins with a careful observation about the Psalter’s structure. Moses and Aaron are first mentioned in the entire collection at the climactic end of Psalm 77, a poem that otherwise wrestles with despair and theodicy. After that introduction, the names appear in a concentrated cluster: Moses in Psalms 90, 99, 103, 105, and 106 (Book Four), and Aaron in Psalms 99, 105, 106, 115, 118, 133, and 135 (moving into Book Five). This is not a random distribution. Montgomery sees it as a deliberate editorial choice to elevate these figures precisely when the Psalter is grappling most intensely with exile and the failure of human institutions.

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What you'll learn

1 (02:35) **Guest Introduction & Background** - Host introduces Matthew Montgomery, Trinity College Bristol/University of Aberdeen, and his article "An Intercessor Like Moses" in the European Hebrew Journal (2026). Montgomery describes his academic journey from a master's thesis on inheritance through a PhD on inheritance in the Asaph Psalms under David Firth, noting the article grew from dissertation research set aside and later revived.
2 (06:14) **From Dissertation to the Article's Argument** - Montgomery explains how his PhD work on inheritance terminology in the Asaph Psalms (e.g., Psalm 50, 73, 74, 78, 79) revealed a push-pull between idealized theological hopes and the harsh reality of exile, with Psalm 77 introducing Moses and Aaron for the first time in the Psalter.
3 (11:20) **Main Argument of the Article** - Montgomery lays out the core claim: the Psalter's later books (4-5) cluster references to Moses, Aaron, and the "grace formula" from Exodus 34:6-7 to express hope for an intercessor like Moses after the Babylonian exile.
4 (16:32) **Idealized Presentation of Aaron Despite Torah Failures** - Montgomery explains why the Psalter idealizes Aaron, a figure often criticized in the Torah, especially for the golden calf incident, noting this contrast amplifies the rhetorical power of the priestly hope.
5 (25:21) **Simple Question: Meaning of Moses' Name** - Host asks about the meaning of "Moshe" (Moses) in Biblical Hebrew; Montgomery declines to speculate on etymology, focusing instead on Moses' role as an archetypal leader whose Exodus legacy reverberates through later biblical literature.
6 (27:19) **Invitation to Speak to Hebrew Students** - Host invites Montgomery to give an online lecture for his beginning Biblical Hebrew students; Montgomery agrees and explains why to learn Biblical Hebrew: to access the text's original language, see beneath translations, and appreciate the beauty, artistry, and interconnected themes often lost in English.
7 (31:00) **Current and Future Research Plans** - Montgomery outlines ongoing projects, all with an inner-biblical allusion component, often revolving around Exodus 34's dense network of connections.

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Show Notes

In this episode of the New Books Network, Željko Stanojević speaks with Matthew Montgomery about his article “An Intercessor Like Moses: A Key Component of the Psalter’s Message”, published in the European Hebrew Journal.

Montgomery’s study asks how the final form of the Masoretic Psalter communicates hope after the collapse of Judah and the Babylonian exile. Building on the widely recognized observation that Book III of the Psalter engages the downfall of the Southern Kingdom while Book IV places unusual emphasis on Moses, he traces textual signals connecting these sections with Exodus 32–34. Particular attention is given to the introduction of Moses and Aaron, the clustering of references to them in Books IV and V, and repeated allusions to Moses’ intercession after Israel’s covenant-breaking at Sinai.

The central argument is that these features are not isolated reminiscences. Read together, they help shape the Psalter’s theological and literary message. Moses appears as the paradigmatic representative who can stand between God and a disobedient people, plead on their behalf, and turn away divine anger. Montgomery argues that, in the post-exilic horizon of the Psalter, this Mosaic pattern contributes to an emerging hope for an intercessory figure capable of mediating between God and a covenant-breaking community. The interview explores what this proposal contributes to final-form readings of the Psalter and why the arrangement of psalms can itself become a vehicle of meaning.

Matthew Montgomery is a scholar of the Hebrew Bible whose research includes Psalms, scriptural reuse, rhetoric, literary coherence, and the shaping of biblical collections. His article was published on 18 June 2026 after double-blind peer review, with Prof. em. Dr. Dr. h.c. Eckart Otto serving as Academic Editor. The article is freely available through its permanent DOI.

Montgomery will also speak at the EHJ International Scholarly Online Conference 2026, “New Discoveries and New Directions in Biblical, Hebrew, and Theological Studies”. On