Gathering tliis hasty survey to a close, it may be said in a word that the highly elaborated poetical composition entitled ' The Lamentations,' though not by Jeremiah, and perhaps not of single author- ship, may — allowing for the slightly varying dates of its dillerent parts — be with some confidence placed soon after the Exile, in the course of the tith cent. B.C. The finished acrostic arrangement, no less than the language and stylo, points to an advanced stage of jioetical composition. See, further, art. POETRY (IlKlillKW).
If these results are only approximately correct, they furnish valuable data for further investiga- tion. We cannot obtain as much information
150
PSALMS, BOOK OF
PSALMS, BOOK OF
concerning the history of music and song in con- nexion with temple-worship. The notes of the Chronicler, written long after the event, though in many cases drawn from original sources, liardly enahle us to determine how far the services which were inaugurated by David had developed in the earlier period of the monarchy. Some of the descriptions seem to give a picture of the full organization known to the Chronicler, of which David established merely the rudiments. Delitzsch laid it down that there were three chief epochs of psalmody in Israel — the time of David, of Jehosha- pli.it, and of Hezekiah ; but in our records it is dittioult to distinguish the stages of growth in the music and worship of the sanctuarj'. It seems clear, however, that the position discernible after the ExUe (Ezr 2" and Neh T") implies considerable previous development, at least under the later monarchy, though its exact degree is doubtful. On the other hand, the outburst of song in the time of the Maccabees, of which many recent critics have much to say, while probable enough, is hypothetical only. The theory is likely enough a priori, and possesses some slight indirect con- firmation from history (cf. 2 Mac 2'''), but its historical basis is not strong enough to bear any solid superstructure. The evidence of Jer 33" is by no means unimportant where external evidence is so scanty ; pointing, as it does, to a measure of liturgical development and the use of formula in worship during the Chaldtean period, which may form a fixed point in dealing with the psalms.
Let us next examine the titles so far as these bear on authorship. The facts are these. One psalm is attributed to Moses, 73 to Da\-id (in the live books respectively, 37. 18. 1. 2. 15), 2 to Solomon, 12 to Asaph, 11 to the sons of Korah, 1 to Heman, and 1 to Ethan. In fourteen cases the historical circumstances of composition are alluded to (cf. Ps 3. 7, etc.). These cease in the later books. Those that have come down to us are sometimes taken from the historical books, and sometimes present difficulties, as in the mention of ' Cush,' Ps 7. The LXX contains some additional titles. The following psalms, anonymous in the Heb., are in it ascribed to David, 33. 43. 67. 91. 93-99. 104 ; Ps 138 and 139 are inscribed in cod. A r^i Aai/fiS Zaxopiou, whUe 146. 147, and 148 have the title A77a/ou icai Zaxopiou. The historical refer- ences peculiar to this version are often curious or obscure, e.g. Ps 27 irpd toO xp^'^^vvai, Ps 29 f'foSiou ffKijvijs, Ps 66 dvatrriaeui, whilst Ps 76 and 80 are entitled Tpii riv 'A<rarpiov and inrip tou 'A<r(Tvplov, and Ps 144 jrp6s riv FoXtdS. This version contains also, it may be said in passing, notices of the days on which certain psalms were recited in public, as Ps 92 in the Heb. is spoken of as a Sabbath-psalm. Ps 24 was sung on the first day of the week, 48 on the second, 94 on the fourth, and 93 on the day before the Sabbath.
The anonymous psalms, called 'orphans' in later days, were by the later Jews provided with parents by being attributed to the author named in the nearest previous psalm (see Jerome, Episl. 139 ad Cyprianum). In all probability it is on this principle that so many psalms in the first book came to be attributed to David, and in later times Moses was credited with all tlie psalms 91-100, extending, that is, from tlie ' Mosaic ' llUth psalm to the lOl-st, which bears David's name. The usage by which the whole Psalter came to be attributed to David, so that the popular name ' David ' was applied to the whole collection in He 4' is easily intelligible, and has been fre- quently paralleled since in the names of 'Wesley's' and other popular hymn-books.
The time when these titles were added cannot be exactly determined. Some would be prefixed at
the time of the earlier compilations, others when the collections of collections were made. Several of the titles in the LXX show, what one or two psalms in the Heb. exhibit, a combination of in- consistent traditions, both as regards author and occasion. As a whole, the titles represent an early, but far from contemporary tradition, and are for the most part uncritical in character, as may be shown by the following considerations.
1. Some of the psalms assigned to David cannot by any possibilitv be his. Compare, • g., the Aramaisms of 103." 122. 139 and 144 ; but etpecially those of 139, a psalm which must be amongst the latest in the Psalter. Other exjilanations have been given of these Aramaisms which cannot be considered satisfactory ; but if they are supposed to originate in the Northern Kingdom, Davidio authorship is equally set aside.