second, thirty-one; the third and fourth, seventeen respectively ; and the fifth, forty-four. The first and second books are mainly Davidical; the third is Asaphian; the fourth, chiefly anonymous; the fifth, about three-fifths anonymous and two-fifths Davidical. It is difficult to assign to the several books any special characteristics. The psalms of the first and second books are on the whole more mournful, and those of the fifth more jubilant, than the remainder. The historical element is especially pronounced in the third and fourth books. Books I., IV., and V. are strongly Jehovistic; Books II. and III. are, on the contrary, predominantly Elohistic. 1 It is generally allowed that the collection was formed gradually A strong note of division-" The prayers of D<1vid, the son of Jesse, are ended "-separates the firt1t two books from the others, and seems to have been intended to mark the completion either of the original edition or of a recension. A recension is perhaps the more probable, since the note of division at the close of Ps. xli., and the sudden transition from Davidical to Korahite psalms, raises the suspicion that at this point a new hand has intervened. Probably the "first book" wa.s, speaking generally, collectecl together soon after the death of David, perhaps ( as Bishop Perowne thinks') by Solomon, his son. Then, not very long afterwards, the Korahite Levites attached Book II., consisting of a collection of their own (Pss. xlii.-xlix. ), a single psalm of Asaph (Ps. l.), and a group of psalms (Pss. li.-lxxii.) whicb. they believed to have been composed by David, though omitted from Book I. At the same time, they may have prefixed Pss. i. and ii. to Book fas an introduction, and appended the last verse of Ps. lxxii. to Book II. as an epilogue. The third book-the Asaphian collection - is thought, with some reason, to have been added in a recension made by the oruer of Hezekiah,8 to which there is an allusion in 2 Chron. xxix. 30. It is a. reasonable conjecture that the last two books were collected and added to the pre~iously existing Psalter by Ezra and Nehemiah,' who made tha division at the close of Ps. cvi. on grounds of convenience and harmony.
§ 3. AUTHORS. That the principal contributor to the collection, the main author of the Book of Psalms, is David, though denied by some moderns,3 is the general conclusion in which criticism has rested, and is likely to rest. The historical books of the Old Testament assign to DaviJ more than one of the psalms contained in the collection (2 Sam. xxii. 2-51; 1 Chron. xvi. 8-36). Seventy-three of them are assigned to him by their titles. The psalmo<ly of the temple generally is said to be his (1 Chron. :xxv. 1-6; 2 Chron. xxiii. 18 ). The Book of Psalms was known in l\faccabean times as " tho 1 Jn the First Book (Pss. i.-xli.) Jehovah occurs 272 times, Elohim only 15. In the second, Elohim greatly prepondemtce. In the fourth and filth, J,hovah occurs 330 tiwes, Elo11im (of the true God) once only. • 'The Book of Psalms,' vol. l p. 78. 1 Ibid. ~ U,id., p. 79. • As Olshausen, Kucncn, Von Lengerke, aml Ilitzig. iv INTRODUCTION '1'0
Book of David ( -r?t -rov t!.af3{S)" (2 Mace. ii. 13). David is cited as the author of the sixteenth and the hundred and tenth psalms by the writer of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts ii. 25, 34). Internal evidence points to him strongly a.s the writer of several others. The extravagant opinion that he wrote the whole book 1 could never have been broached if he had not written a considerable portion of it. With respect to what psalms are to be regarded as his, there is naturally considerable doubt. Whatever value may be assigned to the "titles," they oannot be regarded as absolutely settling the question.• Still, where their authority is backed up by internal evidence, it seems well worthy of acceptance. On this ground, the sober and moderate school of critics, including such writers as Ewald, Delitzsch, Perowne, and even Cheyne, agree in admitting a considerable portion of the Psalter to be Davidic. The psalms claiming to be Davidical are found chiefly in the first, second, and fifth books - thirty-seven in the first, eighteen in the second, and fifteen in the fifth. In the third and fourth books there are only three psalms (Pss. lxxxviii., ci., and ciii.) which claim to be his. The next most important contributor would seem to be Asaph. Asaph was one of the heads of David's choir at Jerusalem (1 Chron. vi. 39; :xv. 17, 19; xvi. 5), and is coupled in one place with David (2 Chron. :xxix. 30) as having furnished the words which were sung in the temple service in Hezekiah's time. Twelve psalms are assigned to him by their titles-one in Book II. (Ps. l.), and eleven in Book III. (Pss. lx:xiii.-lxxxiii.). It is doubted, however, whether the real personal Asaph can have been the author of all these, and suggested that in some instances the sept or family of A.saph is intended. A considerable number of psalms-no fewer than eleven-are distinctly ascribed to the sept or family of Korahite Levites (Pss. xlii., xliv.-xlix., lxxxiv., lxxxv., lxxxvii., and lxxxviii.); and one other (Ps. xliii.) may be probably assigned to them. These psalms vary in character, and mani- festly belong to different dates; but all seem to have been written in the times preceding the Captivity. Some are of great beauty, especially Pss. xlii., :x.liii., and lx:x.:x.vii. The Korahite Levites held a position of high honour under David (1 Chron. ix. 19; xii. 6), and continued among the chief of the temple servants, at any rate to the time of Hezekiah (2 Chron. :x.:x.. 19; xx:x.i. 14). Heman, the son of Joel, one of David's principal singers, was a Korahite (1 Chron. vi. 33, 37), and the probable author of f ri. lxxxviii. In the Septuagint Version, Pss. cxxxviii., cxlvi., c:x.lvii., and oxlviii. are ascribed to Haggai and Zachariah. In the Hebrew, Pa. cxxxviii._is entitled "a Psalm of David," while the remaining three are anonymous. It would appear, from internal evidence, that the tradition respecting these three, embodied in the Septuagint, deserves acceptance. Two psalms (Pss. lxxii. and cxxvii.) are in the Hebrew assigned to 1 'Speaker's Commentary,' vol. iv. p. 150. ' See below, § 4. THE DOOK OF PSALMS. V