PSALMS, Book of. Title.— The Old Tes tament gives no title to the book as a whole. The ordinary Hebrew designation for the book is Sepher Tehillim, meaning Book of Praises. The common title in the Setptuagint is Psalmoi, Psalms, a designation taken from one of the minor collections of the book. This Septuagint title has been followed in most of the versions, including the English.
Authorship, Date and Compilation.— The titles of the individual psalms contain many statements which have usually been considered to be ascriptions of authorship to various per sons. These statements consist of proper names preceded by the Hebrew preposition le, which may denote authorship, but may also mean be longing to in more general sigmfications. Most prominent of these statements is the title in which the Hebrew preposition precedes the name David, the combination being usually ren dered of David. This is found with 74 psalms, the actual authorship of David being impossible in a large majority of these, as shown by the circumstances, language and thought. If this title was intended to indicate authorship, there fore, it was in most cases erroneous. The 12 psalms with the title of Asaph, also, could not have been written by Asaph, who was a con temporary of David, the psalms being of much later origin. The title of the sons of Korah, in 11 psalms, can hardly have been intended to indicate authorship by a group. The sons of Korah, according to 2 Chron. xx, 19 and else where, were a guild of temple singers after the exile. In the light of these facts it is now often and preferably held that these titles were not intended, in most cases, to indicate author ship, but to show that the individual psalm had belonged to a minor collection of psalms designated by the name in question, sons of Korah designating a collection used especially by the guild of the sons of Korah, and Asaph indicating a collection used by the Asaphite guild, which was also prominent after the exile. Several other minor collections are also indi cated by the titles, the Hebrew names of these collections being Shir, Miktam, Maskil, etc. Most of the psalms were in more than one of these minor collections, some in one only, a few in none. The evidence indicates that when a compiler used a psalm from an earlier collec tion he put the name of the collection, or a term derived from the name, as a title at the head of the psalm; when used again a second title was added, etc. It is probable that at least 10 of these minor collections which preceded the present psalter can be traced, the earliest hav ing been made soon after the exile, and the latest in the early Greek period or somewhat later. The Elohistic Psalter, one of these minor
collections, needs special consideration for some of its peculiarities. This embraces Psalms xlii-lxxxiii, and is characterized by a great pre ponderance of the use of the divine name Elo him, in the present text not to the entire exclu sion of the term Yahweh, but perhaps originally so. This was probably partly a matter of orig inal composition, but was certainly in some mea sure due to editorial change. Such editorial change appears clearly from the fact that Psalm liii is an Elohistic recension of Psalm xiv, and Psalm lxx, of Psalm xl, 13-17, and also from a few other details. The reason for the use of the divine name Elohim, both orig inally and editorially, is very uncertain. It cotibtless represents the usage of some circle or region. The documents of the Hexateuch, it is well known, present similar phenomena, but as those were written much earlier there may be no direct connection. It seems hardly probable that the usage is due to the supersti tious avoidance of the divine name Yahweh, which was common later. Psalms cxx-cxxxiv constitute a collection usually called °Songs of Ascents? and supposed to be pilgrim songs sung by those who were going up to the great feasts at Jerusalem. The title should probably be rendered "Exalted Songs? describing the collection as distinguished by special elevation of thought and feeling, which is in harmony with their character. They have also unusual regularity of form. There are also indications of other small collections not as definitely marked as those which have been described. Thus Psalm cxxxv, 21 has the appearance of being a doxology originally closing a small col lection. There are indications, also, that the closing doxology of book four was originally the doxology closing a small collection. Psalms xciii, xcv-c are marked by many simi larities to one another, and probably formed originally a small theocratic collection. The complete Book of Psalms as it now exists, or practically so, was probably compiled about 200 u.c., allusions in the book of Ecclesiasticus, written about 180 a.c., making it probable that it was practically complete at that time. It is now generally held that only a small part of the psalms are of pre-exilic composition. The division into five books doubtless (lid not take place during the compilation, but later after the compilation was complete, following the analogy of the divisions of the law.