PSALMS, BOOK OF.
The Process of Collection (§ 2). The Date (§ 3). IV. The Ego of the Psalms. Varied Explanations (§1). Solution Independent of Age and Purpose (§ 2). V. Authorship and Date. The Titles (§1). Modern Phase of the Problem
(§2).. Are there Pre-exilic Psalms? (§ 3).
Indications of Davidic Authorship (§4).
Explanations of Title " of David " (§5).
Recognition of Late Psalms (J fi).
Comparison with Psalms of Solomon (§ 7). VI. Theology.
Doctrine of God and of Righteousness (§ 1).
Ideas of Sin and Eschatology (J 2).
I. Introduction: In the present arrangement of the Hebrew Bible the book of Psalms stands at the head of the third division, the Hagiographa or Kethubhim. But this order is not invariable, .since sometimes that division is headed by Chronicles or
by Ruth. According to the Hebrew, the title is Tehillim, from the word meaning " to praise," thus designating the psalms as songs of praise. But this designation expresses not so much the content as the external employment. At the end of Ps. Ixxii-
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Psalmody Psalms
occurs the term Tephillim, " prayers," and this better fits the contents as expressing a larger portion
of the subject-matter of the book, i. Names. This term is, however, not altogether
appropriate, since it does not include psalms of didactic purpose within its proper meaning. The Greek calls the collection the " book of psalms," " psalms," or Psalterion — the latter term the name of a stringed instrument used by metonymy for the songs which the instrument accompanied. A word used by the collector of the book in the sense of the Greek ■psalmos and the English " psalm " is the Hebrew mizmor, used in the titles of fifty-seven psalms. The word comes from a verb which has the double meaning, " to trim vines " and " to sing or play," with perhaps an original sense, " to pluck." The Septuagint translates it by psalmos, Aquila by melodema, Symmachus by ode, and Jerome by canticum; within the Old Testament the word is used only of religious poems.
The Hebrew Psalter consists of 150 psalms divided into five books, each of which ends with a doxology except the fifth, in which the last psalm
is a doxology in itself. The Septua- 2. Classi- gint has 151 psalms, the last one being fication. a composite from I Sam. xvi. 1-14 and
xvii.; the Hebrew psalms ix. and x. it counts as one psalm, also cxiv. and cxv., while it divides into two both Ps. cxvi. and cxlvii. The consequence is a disagreement in the numbering of the Hebrew and the Greek psalms. Classification of the psalms is difficult because not a few of them partake of more than one characteristic. Thus many psalms begin with lament or prayer and shange into thanksgiving and praise (e.g., Ps. xxii.). Hengstenberg divided the psalms into those in which the dominant note is praise, those in which it is lamentation because of private or national sorrow, and those in which the religious-ethical is most emphasized. From the material standpoint a division might take into account such psalms as are properly hymns, being songs of praise from personal points of view, and those which make some petition. A characteristic variety here is the poem of prayer, especially the lament which naturally issues in a prayer for deliverance. Hymns of thanksgiving may be included here, inasmuch as the principal note is thought of some special good. Of course this class is subject to many subdivisions. Thus there may be taken into account the degree of subjectivity or objectivity, reference to the individual or the nation; also the idea of God expressed— whether he is regarded as Lord and Creator, or as savior, whether as guide of the nation or of the soul, as the giver of his word and his law. Alongside of these classes may be placed the didactic psalms, such as xxxi., Ixxiii.; these may be purely theological, or legalistic. So psalms may be considered as hymns, prayers of various sorts, liturgical pieces, dithyrambic poems, epic poems, moralistic pieces, or religious-philosophic poems.
II. Purpose: Little direct information has come down respecting the aim of the psalms and their relation to worship. It might be claimed that the connection with Hebrew worship is so loose that the psalms are a sort of private collection, an an-
thology of religious poetry. The titles in the Hebrew indicate for Ps. xxx. that its use was at the dedication of the temple, and that Ps. xcii. was
for the Sabbath; the Septuagint titles i. Relation of Pss. xxiv., xlviii., xciv., and xciii. to Worship, indicate that these psalms were for use
on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, later translations add lxxxii. for Thursday, and the Septuagint assigns xxix. for the Feast of Tabernacles; the Talmud prescribes lxxxii. for Tuesday. Besides these, the Talmud knows of assignments of five psalms and the Hallel collection (see Hallel) for certain feasts, while the prayerbook of the synagogue makes a few additions to these definite assignments of psalms for use in public worship. It appears, therefore, that until quite late only a very small proportion of the psalms bear the marks of definite relation to public worship. The more welcome then is indirect proof of such use. The first place is taken in this direction by the fact that certain of the psalms are liturgical in character. Such appear in the first book, and the farther one goes in the Psalter, the more frequent do liturgical psalms become. Thus in this class belong the Hallelujah psalms (cf. I Chron. xvi. 36; Ps. cvi. 48); where the response of the people is given. The frequent mention of the chorus in Chronicles is further evidence of this sort, as well as Ps. cvi. 6; cf. Dan. ix. 5; Neh. ix. 16. Ps. cvi. is a psalm of public confession. When it is seen that some psalms by their titles, others by their inclusion in the Korahitic and Asaphic collections, and others by later titles are designated for public worship, the conclusion is clear that if not by first intent yet through their assembling in the present collection the psalms were intended for use by the community, which thus was enabled to take part in public worship.
If one looks for the original purpose of the writer, in some cases public use appears to have been intended; though in many others such a purpose is excluded by the character of the composition, as
when the psalm has a didactic or his-
2. Original torical or epic character rather than a
and lyrical. A striking case of this is Ps.
Adapted cxix. Possibly such psalms were
Purpose, rather for free recitation, others seem
to be purely literary in character, and the use of these in service may have come much later. The strongly individual character of many of these compositions is against the idea that they were written for public use; their suitability to express the feelings of others accounts for their adoption ; or their expressions were generalized. On the other hand, many of these same psalms may have been individualized by recension. Two opposite directions may have been taken in the process of working over, in which the half-conscious tendency of the poet was elaborated in revision. Such results are suggested in the messianizing of many poems. Of special suggestiveness are those psalms which deal with the temple and with ritual, particularly those which deal with sacrifice. The question arises whether in these cases the reference is real or only illustrative or constructive. Jakob and Matthes (see bibliography) maintain that there was not merely adaptation "but initiative and crea-
Psalms