PSALMS, BOOK OF. This collection of sacred. poetry received its name, •ka)44,31, in consequence of the lyrical character of the pieces of which it consists, as intended to be sung to stringed and other instruments of music. The word (from ijniVico, to touch or strike a chord) is thus aptly de-, fined by Gregory of Nyssa (Tract. iL in Psalmos, cap. 3) : tfraXp.6r km it Sat voil timaYou Tel fwvatKotl aeXceSia. Another name, Psalter, was given to this book from the Greek tka/vriiptop, stringed instrument to which its contents were originally sung. The Hebrew title nimn (Rab • • binic form, with the n elided, D'1911 or psi-i) signi fies hymns or praises, and was probably adopted on account of the use made of the collection in divine service, though only a part can be strictly called songs of praise, not a few being lamentations and prayers. There is evidently no proper correspond ence between the titles in the two languages, though each is suitable. The word answering to D4rin is 11,aimt, and not IfraXaot, which rather corresponds to ?iiinyp, lyrical odes—a name which, though so plainly appropriate, does not appear to have been generally given to the book, at least so tar as the Hebrew usage can now be ascertained. This is the more singular, inasmuch as no fewer than sixty-five of the songs distinctly bear the title of 4-Inin, while only one (Ps. cxlv. i) is styled ;15rrn, That the name wilnrn did, however, obtain in ancient times, rather than the present title may be presumed from the use of OalvLai in the Septuagint and the N. T., and of 1 01.S0 in the Peshito.
In Ps. lxxii. 20 we find all the preceding corn- I positions (Ps. i.-lxxii.) styled Prayers of David, because many of them are strictly prayers, and most, if not all, are pervaded by the spirit and tone of supplication or devotion.
All the best judges—as Lowth, Herder, De Wette, Ewald, Tholuck, Delitzsch, and others— pronounce the poetry of the Psalms to be of the lyric order. They are,' says De Wette (Einleit ung in die Psalmen,* p. 2), 'lyric in the proper sense ; for among the Hebrews, as among the ancients generally, poetry, singing, and music were united, and the inscriptions to most of the Psalms determine their connection with music, though in a way not always intelligible to us. Also as works Of taste these compositions deserve to be called lyric. The essence of lyric poetry is the immediate expression of feeling ; and feeling is the sphere in which most of the Psalms move. Pain, grief, fear,
hope, joy, trust, gratitude, submission to God, everything that moves and elevates the heart, is expressed in these songs. Most of them are the lively effusions of the excited susceptible heart, the fresh offspring of inspiration and elevation of thought ; while only a few are spiritless imitations and compilations, or unpoetic forms of prayer, temple hymns, and collections of proverbs.' For fuller information on this subject, see POETRY.
TITLES.-All the Psalms, except thirty-four, bear superscriptions. According to some there are only twenty-five exceptions, since they reckon il4r1 as a title in all the Psalms which commence with it. To each composition that has no title, the Talmud (Babyl. Cod. Avoda Sarah, fol. 24, col. 2) gives the name Nnlin? t.rimn, Orphan Psalm.
The authority of the titles is a matter of doubt. By most of the ancient critics they were considered genuine, and of equal authority with the Psalms themselves, while most of the moderns reject them wholly or in part. They were wholly rejected at the close of the 4th century by Theodore of Mopsuestia, one of the ablest and most judicious of ancient interpreters (Rosenmiiller, Hist. Inter "'relatio's Librorum Sacrorwu, P. iii. p. 256). On the other hand it deserves to be noticed that they are substantially received by Tholuck, Hengstenburg, and Delitzsch in their works on the Psalms. Of the antiquity of the inscriptions there can be no question, for they are found in the Sept. They are supposed to be even much older than this version, since they were no longer intelligible to the translator, who often makes no sense of them. Their obscurity might, however, have been owing not so much to their antiquity as to the translator's residence in Egypt, and consequent ignorance of the psalmody of the temple-service in Jerusalem. At any rate the appearance of the titles in the Sept. can only prove them to be about as ancient as the days of Ezra. Then it is argued by many that they must be as old as the Psalms themselves, since it is customary for Oriental poets to prefix titles to their songs. Instances are found in Arabic poems, but these are very unlike the Hebrew inscriptions. Much more important traces of the custom appear in Is. xxxviii. 9, in Hab. ut.