Version, in Bishop Walton's Polyglott, denominates it the Book of Psalms of David, the King and Prophet; and the Arabic Version commences with the first Book of Psalms of David the Prophet, King of the Sons of Israel. II. Augusti, De Wette, and some other German critics, have termed the Book of Psalms the Hebrew Anthology, that is, a collection of the lyric, moral, historical, and elegiac poetry of the Hebrews. This book presents every possible variety of Hebrew poetry. All the Psalms, indeed, may be termed poems of the lyric kind, that is, adapted to music, but with great variety in the style of composition. Thus some are simply odes. "An ode is a dignified sort of song, narrative of the facts, either of public history, or of private life, in a highly adorned and figured style. But the figure in the Psalms is that, which is peculiar to the Hebrew language, in which the figure gives its meaning with as much perspicuity as the plainest speech." Others, again, are ethic or didactic, "delivering grave maxims of life, or the precepts of religion, in solemn, but for the most part simple, strains." To this class we may refer the hundred and nineteenth, and the other alphabetical psalms, which are so called because the initial letters of each line or stanza follow the order of the alphabet.2 Nearly one-seventh part of the Psalms is composed of elegiac, or pathetic compositions on mournful subjects. Some are enigmatic, delivering the doctrines of religion in enigmata, sentences contrived to strike the imagination forcibly, and yet easy to be understood; while a few may be referred to the class of idyls, or short pastoral poems. But the greater part, according to Bishop Horsley, is a sort of dramatic ode, consisting of dialogues between certain persons sustaining certain characters. "In these dialogue-psalms the persons are frequently the psalmist himself, or the chorus of priests and Levites, or the leader of the Levitical band, opening the ode with a proem declarative of the subject, and very often closing the whole with a solemn admonition drawn from what the other persons say. The other persons are, Jehovah, sometimes as one, sometimes as another of the three persons; Christ in his incarnate state, sometimes before, sometimes after his resurrection; the human soul of Christ, as distinguished from the divine essence. Christ, in his incarnate state, is personated sometimes as a priest, sometimes as a king, sometimes as a conqueror; and in those psalms in which he is introduced as a conqueror, the resemblance is very remarkable between this conqueror in the book of Psalms, and the warrior on the white horse in the book of Revelations, who goes forth with a crown on his head and a bow in his hand, conquering and to conquer. And the conquest in the Psalms is followed, like the conquest in the Revelations, by the marriage of the conqueror. These are circumstances of similitude, which, to any one versed in the prophetic style, prove beyond a doubt that the mystical conqueror is the same personage in both."3 III. The right of the book of Psalms to a place in the sacred canon has never been disputed: they are frequently alluded to in the Old Testament, and are often cited by our Lord and his apostles as the work of the Holy Spirit. They are generally termed the Psalms of David, that Hebrew monarch being their chief author. Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Ambrose, Euthymius, and others of the ancient fathers, indeed, were of opinion that he was their sole author: but they were opposed by Hilary and Athanasius (or the author of the synopsis attributed to him), Jerome, Eusebius, and other fathers of equal eminence. And indeed this notion is manifestly erroneous; for an attentive examination of the Psalms will immediately prove them to be the compositions of various authors, in various ages, some much more ancient than the time of David, some of a much later age; and others were evidently composed during the Babylonish captivity. Some modern commentators have even referred a few to the time of the Maccabees: but for this opinion, as we shall show in a subsequent page, there does not appear to 1 Bishop Horsley's translation of the Psalms, vol. i. p. xv. The alphabetical psalins are xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. cxii. cxix. and cxlv. On the peculiar structure of the Hebrew alphabetical poems, see Vol. I. Part II. Chap. II. § VI. 7. supra. Bishop Horsley's Psalms, vol. i. p. xvi. 4 Chrysostom in Psal. i. Ambros. Præfat. in Psal. i. Augustin de Civitate Dei, lib. xvii. c. 14. Theodoret, Præf. in Psal. Cassiodorus, Proleg. in Psal. Euthymius, Præf. in Psal. Philastrius, Hæres. 129. Huet. Dem. Ev. tom. i. prop. iv. p. 330. be any foundation. Altogether they embrace a period of about nine hundred years. The earliest composer of sacred hymns unquestionably was Moses (Exod. xv.); the next who are mentioned in the Scriptures, are Deborah (Judg. v.) and Hannah (1 Sam. ii.): but it was David himself, an admirable composer and performer in music (1 Sam. xvi. 18. Amos vi. 5.), who gave a regular and noble form to the musical part of the Jewish service, and carried divine poetry and psalmody to perfection; and therefore he is called the sweet psalmist of Israel. (2 Sam. xxiii. 1.) He, doubtless by divine authority, appointed the singing of psalms by a select company of skilful persons, in the solemn worship of the tabernacle (1 Chron. vi. 31. xvi. 4-8.); which Solomon continued in the first temple (2 Chron. v. 12, 13.), and it was re-established by Ezra, as soon as the foundation of the second temple was laid. (Ezra iii. 10, 11.) Hence the Jews became well acquainted with these songs of Sion; and, having committed them to memory, were celebrated for their melodious singing among the neighbouring countries. (Psal. cxxxvii. 3.) The continuance of this branch of divine worship is confirmed by the practice of our Lord, and the instructions of St. Paul (Matt. xxvi. 30. Mark xiv. 26. Eph. v. 19. Col. iii. 16. compared with Rev. v. 9. xiv. 1, 2, 3.); and the practice of divine psalmody has subsisted through every succeeding age to our own time, not more to the delight than to the edification of the church of Christ. "There are, indeed, at this time" (to use the words of a sensible writer), "very few professing Christians who do not adopt these sacred hymns in their public and private devotions, either by reading them, composing them as anthems, or singing poetical translations, and imitations of them. In this particular there ever has existed, and there still exists, a wonderful communion of saints. The language, in which Moses, and David, and Solomon, Heman, Asaph, and Jeduthun, worshipped God, is applicable to Christian believers. They worship the same God, through the same adorable Redeemer; they give thanks for similar mercies, and mourn under similar trials; they are looking for the same blessed hope of their calling, even everlasting life and salvation, through the prevailing intercession of the Messiah. The ancient believers, indeed, worshipped him as about to appear; we adore him as having actually appeared, and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. They saw, as through a glass, darkly: but we face to face." IV. The Jewish writers ascribe the book of Psalms to ten different authors, viz. Adam, to whom they ascribe the ninety-second psalm; Melchizedec; Abraham, whom they call Ethan, and give to him the eighty-ninth psalm; Moses, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and the three sons of Korah: and they make David to be merely the collector of them into one volume or book. But this opinion is evidently fabulous: for, 1. The ninety-second psalm, which is ascribed to Adam, appears from its internal structure and style to be of a later date, though no author is mentioned in its title or inscription: besides, if Adam had left any sacred odes, it is more than probable that some notice would have been taken of them in the book of Genesis, which, however, is totally silent concerning any such compositions. 2. That the hundred and tenth psalm, which is attributed to Melchizedec, was certainly written by David, is evident, not only from the title, which claims him for its author, but also from its style and manner, which correspond with the acknowledged productions of the royal prophet; and especially from the testimony of Jesus Christ and his apostle Peter. (Matt. xxii. 43 -45. Mark xii. 36. Luke xx. 42. Acts ii. 34.) And, 3. It is most certain that David was the author of very many psalms, not merely of those which have his name in their respective titles, but likewise of several others, to which his name is not prefixed, especially of psalms ii. and xcv., as we are assured by the inspired apostles. (Acts iv. 25, 26. Heb. iv. 7.) To make David, therefore, merely the collector and editor of those divine compositions, is alike contradictory to the clearest evidence, derived from the book of Psalms itself, and from the testimony of the inspired writers of the New Testament, as well as contrary to the whole current of antiquity. A careful investigation of these divine odes will enable On the subject of Jewish psalmody, there is much curious information Hilarii Proleg. in Psal. et comment. in Psal. cxxxi. Athanasii collected in "The Temple Music; or, an Essay concerning the Method Synopsis. Hieronymi Epist. ad Sophronium. Eusebii Cæsariensis Præf. of singing the Psalms of David in the Temple, before the Babylonish in Psalmos, pp. 7, 8. et in Inscrip. Psal. p. 2. et in Psal. xli. lx. lxii. Cal- Captivity. By Arthur Bedford. London, 1706." 8vo. met, Præf. Générale sur les Pseaumes. (Com. tom. iv. pp. v. vi.) Huet, ut supra. See p. 240. infra. The editor of the 4to. Bible of 1810, with the notes of several of the venerable reformers. Francisci Junii Proleg. ad Librum Psalmorum, $2. us to form a better opinion concerning their respective authors, whom the modern Jews, and all modern commentators, understand to be Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, Jeduthun, and the three sons of Korah. Other authors have been conjectured by some eminent critics, whose hypotheses will presently be noticed. songs of triumph and thanksgiving for his victory over sin, and death, and hell. In a word, there is not a page in this book of Psalms, in which the pious reader will not find his Saviour, if he reads with a view of finding him."3 From the variety of circumstances and situations in which David was placed at different times, and the various affec1. To MOSES the Talmudical writers ascribe ten psalms, tions which consequently were called into exercise, we may viz. from xc. to xcix. inclusive. The nineteenth psalm, in readily conceive that his style is exceedingly various. The the Hebrew manuscripts, is inscribed with his name; and remark, indeed, is applicable to the entire book of Psalms, from its general coincidence in style and manner with his but eminently so to the odes of David. Hence it is that sacred hymns in Exod. xv. and Deut. xxxii. it is generally those, which are expressive of the natural character and state considered as the composition of the great lawgiver of the of man, and of sin, seem to bear marks of difficulty, and, as Jews. But Dr. Kennicott and other critics think that it was it were, disgust in their composition. "The sentences are written in a later age, and consequently cannot be of that laboured and move heavily, and cannot be perused with that date which the title imports: because in the time of Moses lively pleasure, which, on the contrary, is received from those most of the persons mentioned in Scripture lived to an age themes of the psalmist which place before us the glorious far exceeding the standard of threescore years and ten or four-attributes of God, and express either His love to man, or the score, which in the ninetieth psalm is assigned as the limit believer's love to Him. These strains flow with vigorous of human life. But this " opinion seems founded on the ex- and well adapted expressions, as if the subject was felt to be ceptions from the general rule, rather than on the rule itself. most delightful, entered on with alacrity, and pursued with The life of Aaron, Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, unquestionably holy joy." Some of David's psalms possess great subliexceeded the age of fourscore considerably, and ran on from mity, as the twenty-fourth; but softness, tenderness, and a hundred and ten to a hundred and twenty; but all these pathos, are their prevailing characteristics. were probably instances of special favour. The decree 3. With the name of ASAPH, a very celebrated Levite, and which abbreviated the life of man, as a general rule, to chief of the choirs of Israel in the time of David (1 Chron. seventy or eighty years, was given as a chastisement upon xvi. 4, 5.), twelve psalms are inscribed, viz. 1. lxxiii.the whole race of Israelites in the wilderness; and, with Ixxxiii. But the seventy-fourth and seventy-ninth psalms these few exceptions, none of them at the date of this psalm evidently cannot be his, because they deplore the overthrow could have reached more than seventy, and few of them so of Jerusalem and the conflagration of the temple, and in high a number. But it does not appear that the term of life point of style approach nearest to the Lamentations of Jerewas lengthened afterwards. Samuel died about seventy miah. Either, therefore, they are erroneously ascribed to years old, David under seventy-one, and Solomon under him, or were composed by another Asaph, who lived during sixty; and the history of the world shows us that the ab- the captivity. The subjects of Asaph's psalms are doctrinal breviation of life in other countries was nearly in the same or preceptive: their style, though less sweet than that of proportion." The other nine psalms, xci. to xcix., are attri- David, is much more vehement, and little inferior to the buted to Moses by the Jews, by virtue of a canon of criticism grandest parts of the prophecies of Isaiah and Habakkuk. which they have established, namely, that all anonymous The fiftieth psalm, in particular, is characterized by such a psalms are to be referred to that author whose name occurred deep vein of thought and lofty tone of sentiment as place in the title last preceding them.2 But for this rule no foun-him in the number of poets of the highest order. In Asaph dation whatever exists: it is certain that the ninety-ninth the poet and the philosopher were combined. psalm could not have been written by Moses, for in the sixth says Eichhorn, "one of those ancient wise men, who felt verse mention is made of the prophet Samuel, who was not the insufficiency of external religious usages, and urged the born till two hundred and ninety-five or six years after the necessity of cultivating virtue and purity of mind." It may be well said of him, as of the scribe in the New Testament, that he was not far from the kingdom of God. death of Moses. "He was, 2. The name of DAVID is prefixed to seventy-one psalms in the Hebrew copies, to which the Septuagint version adds 4. Ten psalms, viz. xlii.-xlvii. lxxxiv. lxxxv. lxxxvii, eleven others but it is evident, from the style and subject- and lxxxviii. are inscribed, "For the sons of KORAH:" but matter of the latter, that many of them cannot be the compo- who these persons were is not altogether certain; and such sition of David, particularly the hundred and second, which is the uncertainty of the prepositional prefix, that the most is in no respect whatever applicable to him, but from its subject-eminent critics have not been able to decide whether these matter must be referred to some pious Jew who composed it after the return from the Babylonish captivity, while the temple was in ruins, and the country in a state of desolation. The hundred and thirty-eighth psalm, also, though attributed in the Septuagint to David, could not have been written by him, for reference is made in it to the temple, which was not erected till after his death by Solomon. On the contrary, some of the psalms thus ascribed to David in the Septuagint version are unquestionably his, as well as some which are anonymous: of the former class is the ninety-fifth, and of the latter the second psalm, both of which are cited as David's psalms by the inspired writers of the New Testament. Compare Acts iv. 25-28. xiii. 33. Heb. iii. 7-11. iv. 7-13. Many of the psalms, which bear the royal prophet's name, were composed on occasion of remarkable circumstances in his life, his dangers, his afflictions, his deliverances. "But of those which relate to the public history of the natural Israel, there are few in which the fortunes of the mystical Israel are not adumbrated; and of those which allude to the life of David, there are none in which the Son of David is not the principal and immediate subject. David's complaints against his enemies are Messiah's complaints, first of the unbelieving Jews, then of the heathen persecutors, and of the apostate faction in later ages. David's afflictions are Messiah's sufferings. David's penitential supplications are Messiah's, under the burden of the imputed guilt of man. David's songs of triumph and thanksgiving are Messiah's 1 Extract from Dr. Good's (unpublished) Version of the Book of Psalms, in Professor Gregory's Memoirs of his Life, p. 316. 2 This opinion is very ancient: it was adopted by Origen (Select. in Psalinos, Opp. tom. ii. p. 574. edit. Benedict.), and by Jerome (Epist. cxxxix. ad Cyprianum, p. 358. edit. Plantin.), who says it was derived from a tra dition recorded by fullus, patriarch of the Jews. Advers. Ruffin. lib. i. sap. 3. p. 235. Rosenmüller, Scholia in Psalmos, tom. i. p. xii. psalms were written by them, or were composed for them, and to be performed by them with music in the temple. Professor Stuart thinks it probable that they were the descendants of Korah, who perished in the rebellion. (Num. xvi.) It is certain that all his children did not perish with him (Num. xvi. 11.): it is certain also that some of their descendants were among those who presided over the tabernacle music. (1 Chron. vi. 22. 37.) In 1 Chron. ix. 19. we find Shallum a descendant of Korah, mentioned as one of the overseers of the tabernacle, and it appears that he belonged to a family called Korahites. These last are mentioned also in 1 Chron. xxvi. 1. and 2 Chron. xx. 19. as being among those engaged in sacred music. Hence it would appear, that there were men of eminence among the Korahites in the time of David and Solomon; and the probability is, that the psalms above enumerated, which bear their names, belong to them as authors. In style they differ very sensibly from the compositions of David; and they are some of the most exquisite of all the lyric compositions which the Book of Psalms contains. The title was, probably, affixed by some editor of a later age, who knew only the general report that the psalms in question belonged to the sons of Korah, and could obtain nothing certain as to the individuals who were their respective authors. 5. By whom psalms xxxix. lxii. and lxxvii. were comBishop Horsley's Psalms, vol. i. p. x. 4 Memorial Sketches of the late Rev. David Brown, p. 93.-a very instructive piece of clerical biography. Mr. B., to whom we are indebted for the above remark, was most accurately intimate with the psalins in their original Hebrew. "He accustomed himself to them,' says his biographer, "in the original, as the medium of his most private and earnest devotions, whether of contrition, supplication, or praise. In all affliction, and in all rejoicing, he alike called upon God in the language of David." Ibid. Noyes's translation of the Psalms, p. xiii. • Stuart's Hebrew Christomathy, p. 206. posed, is not now known: their titles are inscribed to JEDUTHUN, who was one of the three directors of music in the national worship, mentioned in 1 Chron. xxv. 1. 6. To HEMAN the Ezrahite is ascribed the eighty-eighth psalm; and to ETHAN the Ezrahite the following psalm. They were both probably descendants from Zerah, who is mentioned in 1 Chron. ii. 6.; but at what time they lived is uncertain. They are, however, supposed to have flourished during the Babylonish captivity. 7. It is highly probable that many of the psalms were composed during the reign of SOLOMON, who, we learn from 1 Kings iv. 32. "wrote a thousand and five songs," or poems. There are only two psalms, however, which bear his name, viz. the seventy-second and the hundred and twentyseventh psalms. The title of the former may be translated for as well as of Solomon; and, indeed, it is evident, from considering its style and subject-matter, that it could not have been composed by him. But, as he was inaugurated just before David's death, it was in all probability, one of David's latest odes. The hundred and twenty-seventh psalm is most likely Solomon's, composed at the time of his nuptials: it strongly and beautifully expresses a sense of dependence upon Jehovah for every blessing, especially a numerous offspring, which we know was an object of the most ardent desire to the Israelites. 8. Besides the preceding, there are upwards of thirty psalms which in the Hebrew Bibles are altogether ANONYMOUS, although the Septuagint version gives names to some of them, chiefly, it should seem, upon conjecture, for which there is little or no foundation. Thus the Alexandrian Greek translators ascribe the hundred and thirty-seventh psalm to Jeremiah, who could not have written it, for he died before the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, which joyous event is most pleasingly commemorated in that ode. In like manner, the hundred and forty-sixth and hundred and forty-seventh psalms are attributed by them to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, for no other reason, it should seem, than because psalm cxlvi. 7—10. treats of the deliverance of the captives and those who were oppressed, and exlvii. of the restoration of the Jewish church. Psalms ii. and xcv. however, as we have already remarked,' though anonymous, are ascribed by the inspired apostles to David. Some modern critics have imagined, that there are a few of the untitled psalms which were composed so lately as the time of the Maccabees. Thus Rudinger assigns to that period psalms i. xliv. xlvi. xlix. and cviii.; Herman Vonder Hardt, psalm cxix.; and Venema, psalms lxxxv. xciii. and cviii. This late date, however, is impossible, the canon of the Old Testament Scriptures being closed by Ezra, nearly three centuries before the time of the Maccabees. But whether David, or any other prophet, was employed as the instrument of communicating to the church such or such a particular psalm is a question, which, if it cannot always be satisfactorily answered, needs not disquiet our minds. When we discern, in an epistle, the well-known hand of a friend, we are not solicitous about the pen with which it was written."3 V. The following CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT of the Psalms, after a careful and judicious examination, has been adopted by Calmet, who has further specified the probable occasions on which they were composed : 1. Psalms of which the Date is uncertain. These are eight in number; viz. Psal. i. This is a preface to the whole book, and is by some ascribed to David, by others to Ezra, who is supposed to have collected the psalms into a volume. Psal. iv. The expressions of a devout person amid the corrupt manners of the age. An evening prayer. Psal. viii. The prerogatives of man: and the glory of Jesus Psal. xix. A beautiful eulogy on the law of God. A psalm 1 See p. 239. supra. Rosenmüller, Scholia in Psalmos, Prolegom. c. 2. pp. xi.xix. He adopts the untenable hypothesis of Rudinger. Bishop Horne's Commentary on the Psalms, vol. i. Pref. p. v. 4 Commentaire Littéral, tom. iv. pp. lxii.-lxvi. As some of the Psalms in the Vulgate Latin version, which was used by Calmet, are divided and numbered in a different manner from that in which they appear in our Bibles, we have adapted the references to the psalms to the authorized English version. Psal. lxxxi. This psalm, which is attributed to Asaph, was sung in the temple, at the feast of trumpets, held in the beginning of the civil year of the Jews, and also at the feast of tabernacles. Psal. xci. This moral psalm, though assigned to Moses, was in all probability composed during or after the captivity. It treats on the happiness of those who place their whole con fidence in God. Psal. cx. The advent, kingdom, and generation of the Mes siah; composed by David. Psal. cxxxix. A psalm of praise to God for his all-seeing providence and infinite wisdom. 2. Psalms composed by David during the Persecution of Saul. These are seventeen; namely, Psal. xi. David, being entreated by his friends to withdraw from the court of Saul, professes his confidence in God. Psal. xxxi. David, proscribed by Saul, is forced to withdraw from his court. Psal. xxxiv. Composed by David, when, at the court of Achish king of Gath, he counterfeited madness, and was permitted to depart. Psal. Ivi. Composed in the cave of Adullam, after David's escape from Achish. Psal. xvi. David persecuted by Saul, and obliged to take refuge among the Moabites and Philistines. Psal. liv. David pursued by Saul in the desert of Ziph, whence Saul was obliged to withdraw and repel the Philistines. David's thanksgiving for his deliverance. Psal. lii. Composed by David after Saul had sacked the city of Nob, and put the priests and all their families to the sword. Psal. cix. Composed during Saul's unjust persecution of David. The person, against whom this psalm was directed, was most probably Doeg. Bishop Horsley considers it as a prophetic malediction against the Jewish nation. Psal. xvii. A prayer of David during Saul's bitterest persecution of him. Psal. xxii. David, persecuted by Saul, personates the Messiah, persecuted and put to death by the Jews. Psal. xxxv. Composed about the same time, and under the same persecution. Psal. lvii. David, in the cave of En-gedi, implores divine protection, in sure prospect of which he breaks forth into grateful praise. (1 Sam. xxiv. 1.) Psal. Iviii. A continuation of the same subject. Complaints against Saul's wicked counsellors. Psal. cxlii. David in the cave of En-gedi. Psal. cxl. cxli. David, under severe persecution, implores help of God. Psal. vii. David violently persecuted by Saul. 3. Psalms composed by David at the beginning of his Reign, and after the Death of Saul. Of this class there are sixteen; viz. Psal. ii. Written by David, after he had fixed the seat of his government at Jerusalem, notwithstanding the malignant opposition of his enemies. It is a most noble prediction of the kingdom of the Messiah. Psal. lxviii. Composed on occasion of conducting the ark from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. Psal ix. and xxiv. Sung by David on the removal of the ark from the house of Obededom to Mount Sion. Psal. ci. David describes the manner in which he guided his people in justice and equity. Psal. xxix. A solemn thanksgiving for the rain that fell after David had avenged the Gibeonites on the house of Saul, by whom they had been unjustly persecuted. 2 Sam. xxi. et seq. David's Psal. xx. Composed by David when he was on the point of marching against the Ammonites and Syrians who had leagued together against him. 2 Sam. x. Psal. xxi. A continuation of the preceding subject. thanksgiving for his victory over the Ammonites. Psal. vi. xxxviii. and xxxix. Composed by David during sickness; although no notice is taken of this sickness in the history of David, yet it is the opinion of almost every commentator that these psalms refer to some dangerous illness from which his recovery was long doubtful. Psal. xl. A psalm of thanksgiving for his recovery from sick ness. Psal. li. xxxii. and xxxiii. were all composed by David after Nathan had convinced him of his sin with Bathsheba.' 4. Psalms during the Rebellion of Absalom. This class comprises eight Psalms. Psal. iii. iv. lv. Composed when David was driven from Jerusalem by Absalom. Psal. lxii. David professes his trust in God during the unnatural persecution of his son. Psal. lxx. lxxi. A prayer of David when pursued by Absalom. 5. The Psalms written between the Death of Absalom and the Captivity are ten in number; viz. Psal. xviii. David's solemn thanksgiving for all the blessings he had received from God. Compare 2 Sam. xxii. Psal. xxx. Composed on occasion of dedicating the altar on the threshing-floor of Araunah. 2 Sam. xxiv. 25. Psal. xlv. Composed on the marriage of Solomon with a king's daughter. It is throughout prophetical of the victo rious Messiah. Psal. lxxviii. Composed on occasion of Asa's victory over the forces of the king of Israel. See 2 Chron. xvi. 4. 6. Psal. lxxxii. Instructions given to the judges, during the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. See 2 Chron. xix. 5, 6. Psal. lxxxiii. A triumphal ode, composed on occasion of Jehoshaphat's victory over the Ammonites, Moabites, and other enemies. See 2 Chron. xx. 1. et seq. Psal. Ixxvi. Composed after the destruction of Sennacherib's army. See 2 Chron. xxxii. Psal. Ixxiv. and lxxix. A lamentation for the desolation of the temple of Jerusalem: it was most probably composed at the beginning of the captivity. 6. Psalms composed during the Captivity; the authors of which are unknown. Calmet ascribes them chiefly to the descendants of Asaph and Korah. Their subjects are wholly of a mournful nature, lamenting the captivity, imploring deliverance, and complaining of the oppression of the Babylonians. These psalms, forty in number, are as follow:-x. xii. xiv. xv. xxv. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii. xxxvi. xxxvii. xlii. xliii. xliv. xlix. l. liii. lx. lxiv. lxvii. lxix. lxxiii. lxxv. lxxvii. lxxx. lxxxiv. lxxxvi. lxxxviii. lxxxix. xc. xcii. xciii. xciv. xcv. xcix. cxx. cxxi. cxxiii. cxxx. cxxxi. cxxxii. 7. Psalms composed after Cyrus issued his Edict, allowing the Jews to return from their Captivity. This class consists of thanksgiving odes for their release, and also on occasion of dedicating the walls of the city, as well as of the second temple. They abound with the most lively expressions of devotion and gratitude, and amount to fifty-one; viz. cxxii. lxi. lxiii. cxxiv. xxiii. lxxxvii. lxxxv. xlvi. xlvii. xlviii. xcvi. to exvii. inclusive, cxxvi. cxxxiii. to cxxxvii. inclusive, cxlix cl. cxlvi. cxlvii. cxlviii. lix. lxv. Ixvi. lxvii. cxviii. cxxv. cxxvii. cxxviii. cxxix. cxxxviii. According to this distribution of Calmet, only forty-five of these psalms were composed by David. VI. At what time and by whom the book of Psalms was collected into one volume, we have no certain information. Many are of opinion that David collected such as were extant in his time into a book for the use of the national worship: this is not unlikely; but it is manifest that such a collection could not include all the psalms, because many of David's odes are scattered throughout the entire series. Some have ascribed the general collection to the friends or servants of Hezekiah before the captivity; but this could only apply to the psalms then extant, for we read that Hezekiah caused the words or psalms of David to be sung in the temple when he restored the worship of Jehovah there (2 Chron. xxix. 25 -30.): the collection by the men of Hezekiah could not comprise any that were composed either under or subsequent to the captivity. That the psalms were collected together at different times and by different persons is very evident from an examination of their contents. Accordingly, in the Masoretic copies (and also in the Syriac version) they are divided into five books; viz. 1. The FIRST BOOK is entitled 8 7 (SеPHER ACHαD): it comprises psalms i. to xli. and concludes thus:-Blessed be 1 Dr. Hales refers to this period psalm ciii. which is a psalm of thanks. giving. He considers it as David's eucharistical ode, after God had pardoned his great sin. Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. pp. 376, 377. VOL. II. 2 H the LORD God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. (xli. 13.) It is worthy of remark, that the titles of all these psalms (excepting i. ii.2 x. xxxiii.) ascribe them to David hence it has been supposed that this first book of psalms was collected by the Hebrew monarch. 2. The SECOND BOOK is termed DD (SеPHER SHENI): it LORD God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And includes psalms xlii. to lxxii. and ends with-Blessed be the blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. (lxxii. 18-20.) From this termination of the second book of Psalms, some have conjectured that David also collected it, as nineteen out of the thirty-one bear his name: but it is more likely that the concluding sentence of psalm lxxii. simply means the psalms of David in that book, because several of his compositions are to be found in the following books or collections.3 it Amen and Amen. comprehends psalms lxxiii. to lxxxix. which is thus con3. The THIRD BOOK is called woo (sePHER SHELISHI): cluded: Blessed be the LORD for evermore. (xxxix. 52.) Of the seventeen psalms included in this book, one only is ascribed to David; one to Heman; and one to Ethan: three of the others are directed to the sons of Korah, without specifying the author's name; and eleven collector of this book. bear the name of Asaph, who has been supposed to be the 4. The FOURTH BOOK is inscribed yao (SEPHER REBINGI), and also contains seventeen psalms, viz. from xc. to cvi. This book concludes with the following doxology: Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD. (cvi. 48.) One of these psalms is ascribed to Moses, and two have the name of David in their title. The rest have no authors' names, or titles prefixed to them. The collector of this book is unknown. 5. The FIFTH and last вOOK is called on ED (SEPHER CHAMISHI), and consists of forty-four psalms, viz. from psalm cvii. to the end of cl. It terminates the whole book of Psalms thus:-Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (cl. 6.) Of these forty-four psalms, fifteen are ascribed to David: the rest have for the most part no titles at all, and are anonymous. This book is supposed to have been collected in the time of Judas Maccabæus, but by whom it is impossible to conjecture.4 This division of the PSALMS into five books is of great antiquity, because it was in existence before the Septuagint Greek version was executed; and as there are many Chaldee words in those composed during or after the Babylonish captivity, the most probable opinion is, that the different collections then extant were formed into one volume by Ezra, when the Jewish canon of Scripture was completed. But whatever subordinate divisions may have existed, it is certain that the Psalms composed but one book in that canon: for they are cited by our Lord collectively as the "Psalms" (Luke xxiv. 44.), and also as "the Book of Psalms" (Luke XX. 42.), by which last title they are cited by St. Peter in Acts i. 20.; and they are reckoned only as one book in all subsequent enumerations of the Scriptures, both by Jews and Christians. The number of the canonical psalms is one hundred and fifty: but in the Septuagint version, as well as in the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic translation, there is extant another which is numbered CLI. Its subject is the combat of David with Goliath (related in 1 Sam. xvii.) but it is evidently 2 The second psalm, however, is expressly declared to be David's in Acts iv. 25, 26. Bishop Horsley, however, is of opinion that this is the close of the particular psalm in question, and not a division of the book, as if these first seventy-two psalms were all of David's composition. "The sense is, that David the son of Jesse had nothing to pray for, or to wish, beyond the great things described in this psalm. Nothing can be more animated than this conclusion. Having described the blessings of Messiah's reign, he closes the whole with this magnificent doxology:"Blessed be Jehovah God, God of Israel alone performing wonders; Finished are the prayers of David, the son of Jesse." Bishop Horsley's Psalms, vol. ii. p. 195. Psalmorum Collectione, Partitione, et Numero; Roberts's Clavis Biblio • Rosenmüller, Scholia in Psalmos, Proleg. pp. xx-xxv. c. 3. de rum, p 166. Eusebius and Theodoret, in their respective Prefaces to the book of Psalms, consider this book as ranking next in priority to the Pentateuch; on which account it was divided into five parts or books, like the writings of Moses. drinus. spurious, for, besides that it possesses not a particle of David's genius and style, it never was extant in the Hebrew, and has been uniformly rejected by the fathers, and by every council that has been held in the Christian church. It is certainly very ancient, as it is found in the Codex AlexanAlthough the number of the psalms has thus been ascertained and fixed, yet, between the Hebrew originals and the Greek and Vulgate Latin versions, there is considerable diversity in the arrangement and distribution. In the latter, for instance, what is numbered as the ninth psalm forms two distinct psalms, namely ix. and x. in the Hebrew; the tenth psalm commencing at verse 22. of the Greek and Latin translations; so that, from this place to the hundred and thirteenth psalm inclusive, the quotations and numbers of the Hebrew are different from these versions. Again, psalms exiv. and exv. of the Hebrew form but one psalm in the Greek and Latin, in which the hundred and sixteenth psalm is divided into two. In the Greek and Latin copies also, the hundred and forty-seventh psalm is divided into two, thus completing the number of one hundred and fifty. The Protestant churches, and our authorized English version, adhere to the Hebrew notation, which has been invariably followed in the present work. The following table exhibits at one view the different numerations in the Hebrew and in the Septuagint version: Psal. i.-viii. in LXX. Psal. x.-cxii. in LXX. Psal. cxlvi. cxlvii. in LXX. VII. To most of the psalms2 are prefixed INSCRIPTIONS or TITLES, concerning the import of which expositors and interpreters are by no means agreed. Some hold them in the profoundest reverence, considering them as an original part of these divine odes, and absolutely necessary to the right understanding of them, while others regard the titles as subsequent additions, and of no importance whatever. In one thing only are they all unanimous, namely, in the obscurity of these titles. are of very questionable authority, as not being extant in Hebrew manuscripts, and some of them are undoubtedly not of equal antiquity with the text, being, in all probability, conjectural additions, made by the collectors of the psalms, at different periods, who undertook to supply the deficiency of titles from their own judgment or fancy, without a due regard to manuscripts, yet we have no reason to suppose that very many of them are not canonical parts of the psalms; because they are perfectly in unison with the oriental manner of giving titles to books and poems. It is well known that the seven poems, composed in Arabic by as many of the most excellent Arabian bards (and which, from being originally suspended around the caaba or temple at Mecca, were called Moallakat, or suspended), were called, al Modhadhebat, or the golden verses, because they were written in characters of gold on Egyptian papyrus. Might not the six psalms, which bear the title of Michtam, or golden, be so called on account of their having been on some occasion or other written in letters of gold, and hung up in the sanctuary? D'Herbelot, to whom we are indebted for the preceding fact, also relates that Sherfeddin al Baussiri, an Arabian poet, called one of his poems, in praise of Mohammed (who he affirmed, had cured him of a paralytic disorder in his sleep), The Habit of a Derveesh; and, because he is there celebrated for having (as it is pretended) given sight to a blind person, this poem is also entitled by its author The Bright Star. D'Herbelot further tells us that a collection of moral essays was named The Garden of Anemonies. The ancient Jewish taste, Mr. Harmer remarks, may reasonably be supposed to have been of the same kind: and Psal. cxvi.―cxlv. in LXX. agreeable to this is the explanation given by some learned men of David's commanding the bow to be taught the children of Israel (2 Sam. i. 18.); which, they apprehend, did not relate to the use of that weapon in war, but to the hymn which he composed on occasion of the death of Saul and Jonathan; and from which they think that he entitled this elegy the Bow. The twenty-second psalm might in like manner be called The Hind of the Morning (Aijeleth Shahar); the fifty-sixth, The Dumb in distant Places (Jonethelemrechokim); the sixtieth, The Lily of the Testimony (Shoshan-eduth); the eightieth, The Lilies of the Testimony (Shoshannin-eduth), in the plural number; and the forty-fifth, simply The Lilies (Shoshannim). That these appellations do not denote musical instruments, Mr. Harmer is of opinion, is evident from the names of trumpet, timbrel, harp, psaltery, and other instruments with which psalms were sung, being absent from those titles. If they signified tunes (as he is disposed to think), they must signify the tunes to which such songs or hymns were sung as were distinguished by these names; and so the inquiry will terminate in this point, whether the psalms to which these titles are affixed were called by these names, or whether they were some other psalms or songs, to the tune of which these were to be sung. Now, as we do not find the bow referred to, nor the same name twice made use of, so far as our information goes, it seems most probable that these are the names of the very psalms to which they are prefixed. The forty-second psalm, it may be thought, might very well have been entitled the Hind of the Morning; because, as that panted after the water-brooks, so panted the soul of the psalmist after God; but the twenty-second psalm, it is certain, might equally well be distinguished by this title,-Dogs have encompassed me, That all the inscriptions of the psalms are canonical and inspired, we have no authority to affirm. Augustine, Hilary, Theodoret, Cassiodorus, and many other ancient fathers, admit that they have no relation to the body of the psalm, and that they contribute nothing to the sense. The Septuagint and other Greek versions have added titles to some of the psalms, which have none in the Hebrew: the Protestant and Romish churches have determined nothing concerning them. If the titles of the psalms had been esteemed canonical, would it have been permitted to alter them, to suppress them, or to add to them? Which of the commentators, Jewish or Christian, Catholic or Protestant, thinks it incumbent upon him to follow the title of the psalm in his commentary? And yet both Jews and Christians receive the book of Psalms as an integral part of Holy Writ. Although, therefore, many of the titles prefixed to the psalms The following is a translation of this pretended psalm, from the Septuagint, made as complete as possible by Dr. A. Clarke, from the different versions. See his Commentary on Psalm cli. "A psalm in the hand writing of David, beyond the number of the pealms, composed by David, when he fought in single combat with Goliath." "1. I was the least among my brethren, and the youngest in my father's house; and I kept also my father's sheep. 2. My hands inade the organ, and my fingers jointed the psaltery. 3. And who told it to my Lord? [Arab. And who is he who taught me 1] The LORD himself,-He is my master, and the hearer of all that call upon him. 4. He sent his angel, and took me away from my father's sheep: and anointed me with the oil of his anointing." [Others have the oil of his mercy.] 5. "My brethren were taller and more beautiful than I nevertheless, the LORD delighted not in them. 6. I went out to meet the Philistine, and he cursed nie by his idols. 7. [In the strength of the Lord I cast three stones at him. I smote him in the forehead, and felled him to the earth. Arab.] 8. And I drew out his own sword from its sheath, and cut off his head, and took away the reproach from the children of Israel."-How vapid! How unlike the songs of Sion, composed by the sweet psalmist of Israel! The number of psalms without titles in the Hebrew Scriptures is twenty-six, viz. 1. ii. x. xxiv. xxxiii. xliii. lxxi. xci, xciii. to xeix. inclusive, civ. cv. evii. cxiv. to cxix. inclusive, cxxxvi. and cxxxvii.; by the Talmudical writers they are termed orphan psalms. The untitled psalms in our English version amount to thirty-seven; but many of these are Hallelujah psalms, which have lost their inscriptions, because the venerable translators have rendered the Hebrew word Hallelujah by the expression "Praise the Lord," which they have made a part of tlie psalm, though in the Septuagint version i stands as a distinct title. Psalms vi. lvi. lvii. lviii. lix. lx. D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, vol i. pp. 383. 415. D'Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, vol. ii. p. 624. It were easy to multiply examples of this kind from the works of oriental writers; a few must suffice:-Among the works of modern Hebrew poets, enumerated by Sarchi, in his Essay on Hebrew Poetry (pp. 116–125.), A Treatise on Morals, by Rabbi Clonimous ben Clonimous, is termed A Tried Stone; a collection of Festival Odes and Hymns for the Jewish year, by R. Joseph Salom, is designated Speeches of Beauty; a collection of Songs by R. Levi Bar Abraham Bar Chaim, on various scientific topics, is called The Tablets and Earrings; a Collection of Prayers is the Gate of Penitence; and another of Songs and Hymns on moral Topics, has the high-sounding appellation of The Book of the Giant.-In Casiri's list of works written by the cele brated Spanish Arab statesman Ibn-u-1-Khatib, this author's History of Granada is entitled A Specimen of the Full Moon; his Chronology of the Kings of Africa and Spuin has the lofty appellation of the Silken. Vest embroidered with the Needle; his Lives of eminent Spunish Arabs, who were distinguished for their learning and virtue, are termed Fragrant Plants; a tract on Constancy of Mind is Approved Butter; and, to then. tion no more, a treatise on the Choice of Sentences is designated Pure Gold. These works are still extant among the Arabic manuscripts preserved in the library of the Escurial. (Casiri, Bibliotheca Arabico-Escurialensis, tom. ii. p. 72) The Gulis tan, Bed of Roses, or Flower Garden of the Persian poet Sady, has been translated into English by Mr. Gladwin; and the Bahar Danush, or Garden of Knowledge, of the Persian bard Einaut-Oollah, by Mr. Scott. Dr. A. Clarke has collected some additional instances in his Commentary on the Bible. See Psalm lx. Title. |