MIZMOR. DIRECTOR. ELOHIST. HALLEL.

Selections from B, K, A, and M+

Selections from D, K, and M, with all of A+ T

71.

tions, was made; also was edited as a prayer-book for use in the synagogues, and soon after K, more ornate in character. The conquest of Alexander introduced the Greek period, which in its early part was advantageous to the Jews. At the beginning of this period the great royal advent Ps. was composed, 93, 96-100, and soon after eight other Pss.: 66" 67, 73, 86, 91, 95, 108, 145. The Psalter of A was prepared in Babylonia; and later in Palestine the Psalter of the Mizmorim, the first of the major Psalters, as a hymn-book for use in the synagogues. Toward the close of this period was made, using all the earlier Psalters, as a prayerbook for the synagogues, and directions were given for musical rendering. The later Greek period was troublous in Palestine, owing to the constant strife between the kings of Egypt and Syria, and to internal dissensions resulting therefrom. But in the East the Jews were less troubled. There in the early part of this period E was prepared for synagogue use. To this period we may ascribe eleven Pss. 1, 19" 24" 71, 77" 89° 92, 94, 103, 139" 144", and the elaborate praise of the Law, 119. In addition fourteen Pilgrim Pss., 120-128, 130-134, were composed, and the Pilgrim Psalter collected in this period. Also sixteen of the Hallels, 104-107, 111-117, 135-136, 146, 148, 150, were composed and edited in a collection. The Maccabean period began with the persecution of Antiochus and the rise of the Maccabees at the head of the patriotic party. They gradually triumphed, and organised the Maccabean dynasty and kingdom. To this period we may ascribe Pss. 33, 102' 109" 118, 139°; also 129 of the Pilgrim Psalter, and 147, 149 of the Hallels. After the rededication of the temple the present Psalter was prepared, combining Pss. appropriate for use in the synagogue and in the temple, and using all the previous Psalters, especially D, DR, E, the Hallels, and the Pilgrim Pss. The collection was divided into three books. Toward the close of the second century the final editor divided it into five books and 150 Pss., in accordance with the same divisions of the Law, allowing for variations in usage.

C. CANONICITY OF THE PSALTER.

§ 44. The Psalter was the first of the Writings to win canonical recognition, and it has maintained this recognition in the unanimous consent of Jew and Christian until the present day. The testimony of representative Jews and Christians in all ages is that the Psalter is a holy Book, divinely authoritative, the norm and guide of worship and religious experience.

The Pss. were collected for the purpose of public worship in the synagogues and in the temple, some being appropriate for the latter, but the most of them evidently more suitable for the former. There were several minor Psalters, and then later several major Psalters, long before the present Psalter was edited. These collections were all made for use in public worship, and it is altogether probable that each one, as it was adopted, gained recognition as canonical. This gave the Pss. their first place in the Canon of the Writings, though they did not receive their final form until a long time after others of the Writings had been composed and had also been received into the Canon. The division of the Psalter into five Books is doubtless based on the same division of the Pentateuch, and it is probable that the numbering of the Pss. had a similar motive to the arrangement of the Pentateuch for a three years' course of Sabbath readings. These liturgical motives are strong indirect evidences of canonical recognition.

The Psalter was used in the synagogues in the time of Jesus and his apostles alongside of the Law and the Prophets, and is quoted by him and his apostles as prophetic and authoritative (Lk. 2012 244 Acts 120), and used by them in worship (Mt. 2630 Acts 1625 James 513 1 Cor. 1426 Eph. 519 Col. 316). The Jews have always used the Pss. in the worship of the synagogue and still continue its use (Schiller Szinessy, in Prayer Book Interleaved, p. 255). The Christian Church in all its branches has used the Pss. as the basis of its ritual and the common expression of divine worship. It is a tradition of the Church of Antioch that Ignatius introduced antiphonal singing of the Pss. (Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 68). At all events it is certain that the use of the Pss. in the synagogues passed over into the Christian churches in all parts of the world (Tert. Apol. c. 39; Jerome, Ep. Marcella, xlvi.), and has continued in unbroken succession to the present time. In the celebration of the Eucharist, the most sacred institution of the Christian religion, the use of appropriate Pss. has continued as an essential part of the liturgy from the most primitive times,

doubtless based on their use at the Jewish feasts, especially the Passover. Chrysostom thus describes the use of the Pss. in his day: "If we keep vigil in the church, David comes first, last, and midst. If early in the morning, we seek for the melody of hymns, first, last, and midst is David again. If we are occupied with the funeral solemnities of the departed, if virgins sit at home and spin, David is first, last, and midst. . . . In monasteries, amongst those holy choirs of angelic armies, David is first, midst, and last. In the convents of virgins, where are bands of them that imitate Mary; in the deserts, where are men crucified to this world and having their conversations with God, first, midst, and last is he" (Neale and Littledale, Com. on the Psalms, p. 1). In the Ambrosian rite, still used in Milan, the Psalter is recited at the hours of prayer, once a fortnight; in the Roman or Gregorian rite once a week: Pss. 1-109 at Matins, 110–150 at Vespers; and fixed Pss. are assigned for use at Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, Nones, and Complines. So also the Benedictine rite prescribes a weekly recitation of the Pss., and this usage has been followed by monastic, mendicant, and other religious orders in the Roman Church, In the Greek Church the Psalter is recited once a week, except in Lent, when it is recited twice. Similar uses are in the Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Abyssinian, and other Churches. Proper Pss., or parts of Pss., are also assigned for the Mass in all rites; some fixed, others varying with the kind of Mass or the feasts and fasts of the ecclesiastical year. The Church of England, when it condensed the hours of prayer into two, matins and vespers, arranged the Pss. for recitation once a month, besides assigning proper Pss. for use daily, or for the varying sacred days of the ecclesiastical year at Holy Communion. The Lutheran and Reformed Churches also make the Psalter an essential part of their Liturgies. In the Reformed Churches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and, in some of them even in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Psalter was the only hymn-book apart from a few paraphrases of Holy Scripture. The multiplication of Christian hymns in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries brought about a gradual disuse of the Psalter in Great Britain and America in several religious denominations, but toward the close of the century a reaction began in the form of responsive readings of the Psalter, for which purpose many arrangements have been prepared.

§ 45. The canonicity of the Psalter is attested by its contents. Its religious, doctrinal, and ethical materials give evidence to its holy character as coming from God and leading to God.

The Psalter contains, in the usual numbering, 150 Psalms, of great variety of form and content; but all within the limits of a hymn-book and prayer-book, composed for religious worship, public in the synagogue and temple, and private in the household and in the closet. It is therefore by its very nature essentially religious, and indeed in the lyric form. (4) Its religion is at