Notes on Psalms 2015 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable Introduction TITLE The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible is Tehillim, which means "praise songs." The title adopted by the Septuagint translators for their Greek version was Psalmoi meaning "songs to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument." This Greek word translates the Hebrew word mizmor that occurs in the titles of 57 of the psalms. In time the Greek word psalmoi came to mean "songs of praise" without reference to stringed accompaniment. The English translators transliterated the Greek title resulting in the title "Psalms" in English Bibles. WRITERS The texts of the individual psalms do not usually indicate who wrote them. Psalm 72:20 seems to be an exception, but this verse was probably an early editorial addition, referring to the preceding collection of Davidic psalms, of which Psalm 72 was the last.1 However, some of the titles of the individual psalms do contain information about the writers. The titles occur in English versions after the heading (e.g., "Psalm 1") and before the first verse. They were usually the first verse in the Hebrew Bible. Consequently the numbering of the verses in the Hebrew and English Bibles is often different, the first verse in the Septuagint and English texts usually being the second verse in the Hebrew text, when the psalm has a title. ". there is considerable circumstantial evidence that the psalm titles were later additions."2 However, one should not understand this statement to mean that they are not inspired. As with some of the added and updated material in the historical books, the Holy Spirit evidently led editors to add material that the original writer did not include. Two examples are the city name "Dan" in Genesis, and the city name "Rameses" in Exodus. Some critics of the Psalms have concluded that the titles are not reliable. Conservative scholars have adequately refuted these views3 This is the only really reliable information that we have as to who composed these psalms, though the commentators have their theories. Only Psalms and Proverbs in the Old Testament claim composite authorship for themselves. 1See Gleason L. Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 439. 2Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 241. 3E.g., Archer, pp. 440-45. Copyright © 2015 by Thomas L. Constable Published by Sonic Light: http://www.soniclight.com/ 2 Dr. Constable's Notes on Psalms 2015 Edition "The best solution is to regard the titles as early reliable tradition concerning the authorship and setting of the psalms. The titles, however, should not be taken as original or canonical."4 Not all the titles contain information about authorship. Students of the psalms sometimes refer to those without writer information in their titles as anonymous or "orphan" psalms. The ones that do contain this information refer to the following writers. Moses wrote Psalm 90. David composed at least 73 psalms, mostly in the first two books of the Psalter (i.e., Pss. 1—72). Asaph wrote 12 (Pss. 50, 73—83). Korah's descendants were responsible for 10 (Pss. 42, 44—49, 84, 87—88). Solomon wrote one or two (127 and perhaps 72). Heman the Ezrahite wrote one (Ps. 88), and Ethan the Ezrahite composed one (Ps. 89). There is some difference in the numbering of the psalms among versions. This is because some translations, such as the Protestant English versions, come from the Masoretic (Hebrew) text. Others, such as the Roman Catholic English versions, followed the Latin Vulgate translation, which was based on the Septuagint (Greek) text. HEBREW NUMBERING GREEK NUMBERING 1—8 1—8 9—10 9 11—113 10—112 114—115 113 116:1-9 114 116:10-19 115 117—146 116—145 147:1-11 146 147:12-20 147 148—150 148—150 DATES AND ORGANIZATION Of these psalms, the earliest would have been the one Moses wrote (Ps. 90), and it probably dates from about 1405 B.C. Those David composed would have originated between about 1020 and 975 B.C. Asaph was a contemporary of David, so we can date his in approximately the same period. Solomon's psalm(s) seem to have been produced about 950 B.C. Korah's descendants, as well as Heman and Ethan, probably lived after Solomon, but exactly when we cannot identify. Since Heman and Ethan are connected with Ezra as Ezrahites, they probably lived and wrote after the Babylonian exile. 4Longman and Dillard, p. 242. 2015 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Psalms 3 We can date some of the psalms that do not contain information about their writers in the title, if they have a title, by their subject matter. For example, David seems to have written Psalms 2 and 33 even though his name does not occur in the superscriptions (cf. Acts 4:25). Likewise Psalms 126 and 137 must have been late compositions dating from the time the Jews returned from Babylonian exile or shortly after that. "An analogy between the Psalter and a contemporary hymnbook is instructive. Many modern hymns arose as a result of a specific event in the life of a hymn writer, but the event remains hidden (at least without historical research) from the person who sings the song today. The hymn was written in such a way that it allows all who sing it to identify with it."5 Most of the Psalms, then, were written between 1000 and 450 B.C. Eugene Merrill narrowed these dates to 970 and 550 B.C.6 The one by Moses was composed considerably earlier and a few may have been written later, but probably not much later, than 450 B.C. There is some internal evidence in the Book of Psalms that the Jews collected the individual psalms and compiled them into groups in various stages and that this process took many years.7 We would expect this because some psalms date hundreds of years after others. Psalm 72:20, for example, seems to mark the end of a collection of David's psalms that antedated the Psalter we now have, but which editors incorporated into the larger work. Psalm 1 appears intended to introduce this collection and, probably later, the entire Psalter. The writer of most of the first 72 psalms (Books 1 and 2 of our modern editions) was David. Editors may have added those by Asaph and Korah's descendants (Pss. 42—50) to this collection later. Seventeen psalms after Psalm 72 claim that David wrote them. Solomon (2 Chron. 5:11-14; 7:6; 9:11; Eccles. 2:8), Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:21-22), and Jehoiada (2 Chron. 23:18) all organized temple singing and may have had a hand in compiling some of the psalms. Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.; 2 Kings 18—20; 2 Chron. 29—32), one of Judah's best kings and one who led his people in returning to Scripture, may have added to and organized part of the Psalter (cf. 2 Chron. 29:25-28, 30; 30:21; 31:2; Prov. 25:1). So may Josiah, another reforming king of Judah (640-609 B.C.; 2 Kings 22:1—23:30; 2 Chron. 34—35; cf. 2 Chron. 35:15, 25). The last two books (sections) of Psalms (chs. 90—106 and 107—150) contain more miscellaneous psalms dating from Moses to the return from exile. It seems likely that Ezra, the great renovator of postexilic Judaism, may have been responsible for adding these and perhaps putting the whole collection in its final form.8 The oldest record we have of the fivefold division of the Psalter comes from a Dead Sea scroll that dates to the first century A.D.: the time of Christ. As is true of modern hymnals, there are smaller collections of Psalms within the larger collections. These smaller collections include songs of ascent (Pss. 120—134), the 5Ibid., pp. 244-45. 6Eugene H. Merrill, "Psalms: Human Response to Divine Presence," in The Old Testament Explorer, p. 404. 7See Duane L. Christensen, "The Book of Psalms within the Canonical Process in Ancient Israel," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39:3 (September 1996):421-32. 8The Nelson Study Bible, p. 873. 4 Dr. Constable's Notes on Psalms 2015 Edition writings of Asaph (Pss. 73—83), the psalms of Korah's descendants (Pss. 42—49), and the hallelujah psalms (Ps. 113—118, 146—150). "The picture that emerges is a mixture of order and informality of arrangement, which invites but also defeats the attempt to account for every detail of its final form. There is some chronological progression, with David most in evidence in the first half, and a clear allusion to the captivity towards the close of Book V (Ps. 137). But David reappears in the next psalm (138), and by contrast, the fall of Jerusalem had been lamented as far back as Psalm 74."9 Each of the five books or major sections of the Psalter ends with a doxology, and Psalm 150 is a grand doxology for the whole collection. The earliest evidence of the fivefold division of the Book of Psalms comes from the Qumran scrolls, which scribes copied early in the first century A.D. At least 30 partial or complete manuscripts of the Book of Psalms were found, the largest manuscript collection of any Bible book found there. Undoubtedly the Psalter was in its final form by the close of the Old Testament canon, namely, by 400 B.C. The fivefold division may have been an intentional attempt to replicate the fivefold division of the Torah (Law, Pentateuch), which was the foundation of Israelite life and faith.10 SCOPE Historically the psalms cover a period of about 1000 years, from the time of Moses (ca.