(1) David. According to the inscriptions we have the following list of authors:— 1. David, 'the sweet Psalmist of Israel' (2 Sam. xxiii:1). To him are ascribed seventy-three Psalms in the Hebrew text ; and at least eleven others in the Sept., namely, xxxiii, xliii, xci, xciv-xcix, civ, cxxxvii; to which may be added Ps. x, as it forms part of Ps. ix in that version. From what has been advanced above respecting the authority of the titles, it is obviously in judicious to maintain that David composed all that have his name prefixed in the He brew. We cannot suppose that Ps. cxxxix is Da vid's for its Aramaisms (verses 2, 8, 16, 17) be tray a later age ; and Ps. cxxii can scarcely be his, for its style resembles the later Hebrew, and its description of Jerusalem can hardly apply to David's time. Besides, it is worthy of notice that the Sept. gives this and the other Songs of De grees without specifying the author. The rela tion of David to the Psalter is one of the moot questions of criticism. The earlier tendency was to attribute the entire collection to him. Many modern scholars go to the opposite extreme and with Olshausen, Leugerke, NV. R. Smith, Cheyne, Wellhausen, Reuss, etc., decline to date any of our Psalms earlier than the Exile, not, however, deny ing to David the composition of certain songs or elegies (comp. 2 Sam. etc.). Even these scholars find it difficult to deny the early date of Ps. xviii, and therefore its possible Davidic char acter. Hitzig and Ewald would assign to David some dozen Psalms, Delitzsch about thirty, and others, like Binney, Maclaren, etc., nearly all claimed by tradition.
Driver (hired. p. 378) remarks, "All that we learn from the pre-exilic literature respecting Da vid's musical and poetical talents is that he was a skillful player on the harp (I Sam. xvi :18) and probably on other instruments as well (Amos vi: 5); that he composed a beautiful elegy on Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i:to, ff.), and a shorter one on Abner (ib. iii:33, ff.); that he "danced and leaped" before the ark, when it was brought up to Zion (ib. vi :14, 16) and that in the appendix to 2 Sam. two sacred poems (ch. xxii, xxiii :1-7) areattributed tohim." It is not strange that around a name thus identified with sacred poetry, and revered as was his, there should gather composi tions of a similar sort. Several other names are preserved in the titles.
(2) Asaph is named in connection with twelve Psalms, viz., 1, lxxiii-lxxxiii. He was one of David's chief musicians. All the poems bearing his name cannot be his; for in Ps. lxxiv, lxxix, and lxxx there are manifest allusions to very late events in the history of Israel. Either, then, the titles of these three Psalms must be wholly re jected, or the name must be here taken for the 'sons of Asaph;' which is not improbable, as the family continued for many generations in the choral service of the Temple.
(3) Sons of Korah. The sons of Koran were another family of choristers, to whom eleven of the most beautiful Psalms are ascribed.
(4) Heman was another of David's chief singers (i Chron. xv :19) : he is called the Ezrah ite, as being descended from some Ezrah, who ap pears to have been a descendant of Korah ; at least Heman is reckoned a Kohathite (1 Chron. vi :33-38). and was therefore probably a Korahite; for the Kohathites were continued and counted in the line of Korah (see t Chron. vim, 37, 38). Thus Heman was both an Ezrahite and of the sons of Korah. His name is connected with Ps. lxxxix.
(5) Ethan is reputed the author of Ps. lxxxix. He also is called the Ezrahite, but this is either a mistake, or he as well as Heman had an ancestor named Ezrah, of whom nothing is known. The Ethan intended in the title is doubtless the Levite of Merari's family whom David made chief mu sician along with Asaph and Heman (I Chron. vi :44; xxv 6). The Psalm could not, however, be composed by him, for it plainly alludes (verses 38-44) to the downfall of the kingdom. These names are therefore doubtless to be understood as relating to the composition or possession of these Psalms to the guilds of Levitical singers in the seccnd temple.
(6) Solomon is given as the author of Ps. lxxii, and cxxvii, and there is no decided internal evi dence to the contrary. Most scholars, however, consider him to be the subject, and not the author, of Ps. lxxii. The name of Moses is traditionally associated with Ps. xc.
4. Dates, Etc. The dates of the Psalms, as must be obvious from what has been stated re specting the authors, are quite various, extending down to a period as late as tile Maccabman days (165 B. C.), as is shown by the presence of psalms of this age (c. g. lxxiv, lxxix).
We should naturally have expected the names of great religious teachers like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc., to be associated with some of the Psalms, and the fact that such is not the case tends to show that these hymns were either com posed by members of the guilds of temple singers for the worship in the second temple, or that they were gathered by these priestly musicians after coming to expression here and there among the people.
5. DiVision and Enumeration. The Septua gint and Vulgate differ from the Hebrew in the divi sion and enumeration of the Psalms. They unite Ps. ix and x of the Hebrew into one, as Ps. ix ; hence the numbering of the Septuagint and Vulgate, from Ps. ix onward, is one behind the Hebrew. In like manner they unite Ps. cxiv and cxv into one, as Ps. cxiii; but also divide Ps. cxvi into two, as Ps. cxiv and cxv. Again they divide Ps. cxlvii into two, as Ps. cxlvi and cxlvii; so that from Ps. cxlviii inclusive, their enumera tion is the same with that of the Hebrew. The English, and most other modern versions follow the Hebrew; and indeed some editions of the Septuagint, as that of Mill, have also been ac commodated to the Hebrew. The above difference should be borne in mind in examining references to the Psalm's, made by Catholic writers.