While, therefore, the headings are of genuine importance in a study of the growth of the psalm literature.'we are thrown back upon in ternal evidence and the careful study of the style and of the religious views reflected as a final means of determining the date of composi tion of any particular hymn; and if these methods fail, the problem must be, frankly de clared insoluble. In this investigation it is fur ther necessary to distinguish in the case of many of the psalms between older portions mid modifi cations as well as additions introduced at a subsequent period in the process of editing, or to adapt them to the religious aspirations of a later age. The limitations of such an investiga tion must, however, be recognized. In many of the psalms the references to political or social conditions are of so general or vague a character that agreement among scholars as to the period to which a particular psalm belongs is hardly to he expected; nor is the style in all eases so pronounced as to be of service in settling the date of composition. As a consequence, a candid criticism will confess in many cases its inability to solve the problem and rest content with par tial results.
Accepting the general order in the growth of the Psalter as above outlined, the most important question involved in a more detailed considera tion of the composition of individual poems is whether any belong to the preexilic period. While some critics. are disposed to limit the preexilie psalms to a very small number. others deny the preexilic origin of all. To the former it scenic quite improbable that after the Exile psalm composition should have assumed such tremendous importance with out any impulse from an earlier age. The example of Babylonia and Egypt, where hymns and psalms formed part of the ritual from a remote period. would have been sufficient to lead to the production of such com positions among the Hebrews after they had once established a large sanctuary in Jerusalem. and the religious views embodied in sonic, if not in many, of the psalms are sufficiently restricted to make them fit in with the concep tions held of Yahweh before the destruction of Jerusalem. 'Whether, however, one may go hack as far as the days of David for the beginning of psalm composition is another question. While Delitzsch accepted 44 psalms as Davidic, Ewald reduced the number to 17 and Baethgen admits only 3. namely, the first, third, and fourth. and of these he feels certain only about the first. The number of psalms ascribed to the preexilic period by this critic is above thirty. On the other hand, Olshausen. Cheyne, and Dulun deny that there are any Davidic or preexilic psalms. Coming to the post-exilic period and including" among these older psalms that have been worked over, the bulk is by some critics placed before the advent of Greek rule in Palestine. The psalms of the Persian period voice the hopes, struggles. and fears of the religious community in Jerusalem. and the frequent use of the first person in those psalms is perhaps not to be interpreted as repre senting the sentiments of the individual, but rather the community, and in some eases the people of Israel as a whole. The number of psalms that belong to the Greek period or the AlaccalKean age cannot lie determined with certainty. Olshausen placed the bulk of the
Psalter in the Maecakean age. and the most recent e(nninentator, Dulun. assigns most of the psalms to the ilaecabman and Hasmonean periods. Clieyne places 23 psalms in this later period. But others think that only six can be ascribed with certainty to the Maccabiean period.
Finally, of the three large collections already indicated, it may be supposed that the first was made in the days of Ezra, the second toward the close of the Persian period, and the third in the Greek period; it should again he emphasized that these approximate dates for the collection do not directly affect the date of composition of the psalms included in each collection. H there are any preexilic psalms, they are likely to be found in the first collection.
In connection with the Psalms it seems appro priate to consider briefly the general subject of Hebrew poetry, of Nrhieh the Psalms represent the most notable product. Of the three classes of poetic composition usually distinguished, the lyric, the epic. and the dramatic, only the first is, strictly speaking, represented in the Old Tes tament; it shoulil, however, be borne in mind that the lyric poetry of the Hebrews embraces several subdivisions, among which gnomic poetry stands out so prominently that it may almost be desig nated as a special variety, and certain scholars think that the rudiments of dramatic composi tion are found, as in Canticles (q.v.), the Book of Job, and elsewhere. Before the period of conscious poetic composition as an art and a profession is reached we find among the Hebrews, as among other nations, what may he called folk poetry. If the view be correct which regards Canticles as a collection of popular wedding songs. these represent one type of this poetry. Of laments for the dead. which constitute among all peoples the second most notable division of folk-poetry, the only specimens preserved in the Old Testament belong to the more advanced period, such as David's dirge over Saul and .Jonathan (11. Sam. i. 17-27), which is a type of Hebrew poetry in its most polished form. But such songs as the "Song of the Well" (Numbers xxi. 17-15), the "Song of Lamech" (Gen. iv. 23 241, and the "Song of Deborah" (Judges v.) are illustrations of old folk-poetry which show at the same time its wide range. No doubt the Hebrews had numerous harvest and drinking songs, tribal war chants, and songs celebrating the exploits of tribal heroes, which are, it is to be feared, irretrievably lost. but the persistent tradition regarding the titles of at least two of such collections, one the "Book of the Wars of Yahweh." the other the "Book of the Upright," or, as the Septuagint has it, the "Book of SO/12S" JASHER, BOOK OF ) , is a proof of the popu larity which these compositions continued to enjoy. Passing into the domain of artistic poetry. we have, besides the Psalms, the Book of Lamentathms, a series of dirges over the destruc tion of Jerusalem, composed in the manner of the popular laments over the dead (see JERE M IA II . OF ) . and the three great specimens of gnomie poetry. Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes (qq.v.). in the Old Testament proper. to which the Book of Siraeh or Eeele siasticus (q.v.) is to lie added.