Other proper names appear in the titles of the psalms with the Hebrew preposition le. These are Solomon in 72 and 127; Moses, 90; Ethan, 89; and Heman, 88. It is probable that no one of these marks a collection, and hence that the titles were designed to indicate author ship. But none of them were written by the respective authors indicated. It is probable, therefore, that these psalms should be regarded as pseudonyms, later compositions considered to be in the spirit of these men.
Davidic Psalms.— The number of psalms to be ascribed to David is a much-disputed ques tion. The opinion was held earlier that nearly all the psalms were written by David. It is still believed by some that as many as 40 psalms were written by him. On the other hand, his authorship of any psalms is often denied at the present time. The character of David and the general level of the thought of his time are not favorable to the opinion that he was the author of many psalms. Nevertheless, compo sitions similar to the psalms are earlier than David, and he is by tradition closely connected with the psalms, while his general musical abil ity is several times noted. The Davidic author ship seems probable for Psalms iii, vii, xiii, xviii and xxiv, 7-10. These are simple in thought and style and have a pronounced war like element.
Thirteen psalms contain in their titles refer ences to specific events in the life of David which are said to have called them forth. The notice might be correct in the case of Psalm 18, but in every other case the notice is definitely out of harmony with the contents of the psalm, 10 of the psalms being quite certainly not of Davidic authorship. These notices are prob ably later traditions of no historical value, or else illustrative additions made by a later compiler.
Maccabean Psalms.— Some have thought that many psalms were written during the Mac cabean period beginning in 168 B.C. The reli gious devotion and patriotism of the early Mac cabean period might naturally have prompted such expression, and some are in a measure ap propriate to that time. In the Maccabean period, however, Hebrew, it seems evident, had been replaced as a spoken language by Aramaic (con sult Buttenweiser, (Are There any Maccabean Psalms,' Journal of Biblical Literature, XXXVI, 1917, pp. Hence Hebrew, if used, would have been employed in an arti ficial and inexact manner such as does not ap pear in the psalms. The Maccabean origin of
any psalms is therefore improbable.
Musical and Liturgical Titles.— Besides the elements in the titles already discussed, musical and liturgical instructions are also found. Examples of the liturgical statements arc: uFor the Sabbath day') in the title of Psalm xcii; "A song at the dedication of the house" in the title of Psalm xxx, etc. The liturgical titles are much later than the psalms themselves, and are added only in a few cases, in no systematic way; they evidently represent the usage of the Jews at the time of their addi tion. The Septuagint has several additional liturgical assignments.
Musical directions form part of the title in thirtypsalms. It is probable that they were first added in the Elohistic Psalter, 20 of them being found there. These titles are of three kinds: references to musical instruments; ref erences probably to voices although possibly to the effects of musical instruments; and refer ences to the melodies in accordance with which the psalms are to be sung, a melody being usu ally designated by one or more of the opening words of a well-known song with which it is associated.
Community In Psalm cxxiv it is explicitly said that the speaker is Israel. In a considerable number of psalms which are ex pressed in the first person the obvious view is that the speaker is the community or the nation, or at any rate some considerable portion of the people. The question has been much discussed in recent years whether this is not the correct understanding of many or most of the psalms written in the first person singular, instead of the individual interpretation. The question is one to be settled in each case by the evidence at hand, with no definite presumption in favor of either view. The indications of an individ ual interpretation are strongly marked individ ual traits. The indications of a community interpretation are the absence of such strongly marked individual traits, and also the presence of elements of experience which are difficult to reconcile with an individual interpretation, or more strongly suggest some community ex perience. The result is that many of these psalms seem to , be individual, and many to belong to the community. Doubtless in some cases an original individual psalm has been re vised to make it more appropriate for commun ity use, but this is a process difficult to trace.