Corrected for a new edition, March 1st, 1829.-A. C.

INTRODUCTION

TO THE

BOOK OF PSA L M S.

SECTION 1.-ON THE NAMES GIVEN TO THIS BOOK.

THIS 'HIS book is termed in Hebrew Sepher Tehillim, which some learned m derive from hal or halal, to move briskly, irradiate, shine; and translate, T Book of the Shinings forth, Irradiations, Manifestations, or Displays, namely, of divine wisd and love exhibited in God's dealing with his chosen people, or with particular persons, figures, for the time being, of what should be accomplished either in the person of Christ, in his mystical body the church. But as halal signifies also to praise, and praise aris from a sense of gratitude, is the expression of inward joy, and was often exhibited by bri notes, sprightly music, &c., it may be well denominated The Book of Praises, as the ma part of the psalms have for their subject the praises of the Lord.

That the Psalms were sung in the Jewish service, and frequently accompanied by musi instruments, there is no doubt, for the fact is repeatedly mentioned; and hence the m ancient translation we have of the Psalms, viz., the Septuagint, as it stands in what is cal the Codex Alexandrinus, is called Yaλrnpiov, The Psaltery, which is a species of musi instrument resembling the harp, according to the accounts given of it by some of the ancier From this term came the Psalterium of the Vulgate, and our word Psalter, all of which deduced from the verb aλw, to sing, as the voice no doubt always accompanied this strument, and by it the key was preserved and the voice sustained.

A Psalm is called in Hebrew 'n mizmor, from zamar, to cut off, because in sing each word was separated into its component syllables, each syllable answering to a note the music.

SECTION II.-GENERAL DIVISION OF THE BOOK.

The Hebrews divide the Psalms into five books, and this division is noticed by several the primitive Fathers. The origin of this division is not easily ascertained; but as it 1 considered a book of great excellence, and compared for its importance to the Pentate itself, it was probably divided into five books, as the law was contained in so many volun But where the divisions should take place the ancients are not agreed; and some of th divide into three fifties rather than into five parts; and for all these divisions they ass certain allegorical reasons which merit little attention.

The division of the Hebrews is as follows:

Book I. From Psalm i. to Psalm xli. inclusive.

Book II. From Psalm xlii. to Psalm lxxii. inclusive.

Book III. From Psalm lxxiii. to Psalm lxxxix. inclusive.

Book IV. From Psalm xc. to Psalm cvi. inclusive.

Book V. From Psalm cvii. to Psalm cl. inclusive.

The First, Second, and Third Books end with Amen and Amen; the Fourth with A: and Hallelujah; the Fifth, with Hallelujah.

But the Psalms themselves are differently divided in all the VERSIONS, and in many M This is often very embarrassing to the reader, not only in consulting the Polyglots, but a in referring to theological works, whether of the Greek or Latin church, where Psalms are quoted; the Greek ecclesiastical writers, following the Septuagint; and thos the Latin church, the Vulgate. I shall lay a proper Table of these variations before reader, remarking first, that though they differ so much in the division of the Psalms, t all agree in the number one hundred and fifty.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

A Table of the Differences in dividing the Psalms between the Hebrew text and the ancient VERSIONS, Syriac, Septuagint, Chaldee, Arabic, Æthiopic, and Vulgate.

In the above Versions Psalms ix. and x. make only Psalm ix. Hence there is one Psalm less in the reckoning as you proceed to

Psalm cxiv., cxv., which make Psalm cxiii. in all those Versions. Hence two Psalms are lost in the reckoning.

Psalm cxvi. is divided at verse 9, the Versions beginning Psalm cxv. at verse 10. Hence one Psalm is gained on the above reckoning.

Psalm cxix. makes Psalm cxviii. in all the Versions.

Psalm cxlvii. they divide at verse 11, and begin Psalm cxlvii. with verse 12. Here then the reckoning becomes equal, and all end alike with Psalm cl.

In the Syriac, Septuagint, Æthiopic, and Arabic, there is what they call an extra-numeral Psalm, said to have been composed by David after his victory over Goliath. A translation of this will be found at the close of these notes.

The Hebrew MSS. agree often with the Versions in uniting Psalms which the common Hebrew text has separated, and thus often support the ancient Versions. These things shall be considered in the course of the notes.

SECTION III.-ON THE COMPILATION OF THE BOOK, AND THE AUTHORS TO WHOM THE PSALMS HAVE BEEN ATTributed.

After having said so much on the name and ancient divisions of this important book, it may be necessary to say something in answer to the question, "Who was the author of the Book of Psalms ?" If we were to follow the popular opinion, we should rather be surprised at the question, and immediately answer, DAVID, king of Israel! That many of them were composed by him, there is no doubt; that several were written long after his time, there is internal evidence to prove; and that many of them were written even by his contemporaries, there is much reason to believe.

That the collection, as it now stands, was made long after David's death is a general opinion among learned men; and that Ezra was the collector and compiler is commonly beLeved. Indeed all antiquity is nearly unanimous in giving Ezra the honour of collecting the different writings of Moses and the prophets, and reducing them into that form in which they e now found in the Holy Bible, and consequently the Psalms among the rest. See this subject treated at large in the preface to Ezra, &c.

In making this collection it does not appear that the compiler paid any attention to chrogical arrangement. As he was an inspired man, he could judge of the pieces which came by divine inspiration, and were proper for the general edification of the church of God.

The writer of the SYNOPSIS, attributed to St. Athanasius, says that the friends of king Hezekiah chose one hundred and fifty psalms out of the number of three thousand which David had composed, and that they suppressed the rest: he says further, that this is written in the Chronicles; but it is not found in the Chronicles which we now have, though it might have been in other Chronicles which that author had seen.

That some scriptural collections were made under the influence and by the order of Hezekiah, we learn from Prov. xxv. 1: "These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out." But whether these were employed on the writings of the father, as they were on those of the son, we cannot tell. The above authority is too Lender to support any building of magnitude.

The only method we have of judging is from the internal evidence afforded by several of the Psalms themselves, and from the inscriptions which many of them bear. As far as time and facts are concerned, many of them can be traced to the days of David, and the transactions which then occurred, and in which he bore so eminent a part. But there are others in which we find no note of time, and no reference to the transactions of David's reign. As to the inscriptions, they are of slender authority; several of them do not agree with the subject of the Psalm to which they are prefixed, and not a few of them appear to be out of their places.

In one of the prologues attributed to St. Jerome, but probably of Eusebius, at the end of Vol. II. of St. Jerome's Works by Martinay, we find a Table in which the whole Book of Psalms is dissected, showing those which have inscriptions, those which have none, and those to which the name of a particular person, as author, is prefixed. I shall give these in gross,

1911

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

and then in detail: Psalms without any name prefixed, 17; Psalms with an inscription, 133; in all 150.

These are afterwards divided into those which bear different kinds of titles, without names; and those which have names prefixed. I shall give these from the Quincuplex Psalterium, fol. Paris, 1513, as being more correct than in the edition of Jerome, by Martinay. Psalms which have no inscription of any kind: Ps. i., ii., xxxii., xlii., lxx., xc., xcii., xciii., xciv., xcv., xcvi., xcvii., xcviii., xcix., ciii., cxv., cxxxvi., cxlvii.

Psalms to which David's name is prefixed: Ps. iii., iv., v., vi., vii., viii., ix., x., xi., xii., xiii., xiv., xv., xvi., xvii., xviii., xix., xx., xxi., xxii., xxiii., xxiv., XXV., xxvi., xxvii., xxviii., xxix., xxx., xxxi., xxxiii., xxxiv., xxxv., xxxvi., xxxvii. xxxviii., xxxix., xl., 1., li., lii., liii., liv., lv., lvi., lvii., lviii., lix., lx., lxi., lxii., lxiii., lxiv., lxvii., lxviii., lxix., lxxxv., c., cii., cvii., cviii., cix., cxxxiii., cxxxvii., cxxxviii., cxxxix., cxl., exli., cxlii., cxliii., exliv.

18

70

Psalms attributed to Solomon: Ps. lxxi., cxxvi.

Psalms attributed to the Sons of Korah: Ps. xli., xliii., xliv., xlv., xlvi., xlvii., xlviii., lxxxiii., lxxxiv., lxxxvi.

10

Psalms with the name of Asaph prefixed: Ps. xlix., lxxii., lxxiii., lxxiv., lxxv., lxxvi., lxxvii., lxxviii., lxxix., Ixxx., lxxxi., lxxxii.

12

A Psalm to which the name of Heman is prefixed: Ps. lxxxvii.

1

A Psalm to which the name of Ethan is prefixed: Ps. lxxxviii.

1

A Psalm to which the name of Moses is prefixed: Ps. lxxxix.

1

Psalms with titles without any name specified: A Song or Psalm, lxv. A Song or Psalm, lxvi. A Psalm or Song, xci. A Prayer of the Afflicted, ci. Hallelujah Psalms: Ps. civ., cv., cvi., cx., cxi., cxii., cxiii., cxiv., cxvi., cxvii., cxviii., cxxxiv., cxxxv., cxlv., cxlvi., cxlviii., cxlix., cl.

4

18

Psalms or Songs of Degrees: Ps. cxix., cxx., cxxi., cxxii., cxxiii., cxxiv., cxxv., cxxvii., cxxviii., cxxix., cxxx., cxxxi., cxxxii.

13

Sum total of all kinds: Psalms having no inscription, 18. David's, 70. Solomon's, 2. Sons of Korah, 10. Asaph, 12. Heman, 1. Ethan, 1. Moses, 1. Psalms and Songs, 3. Prayer, 1. Hallelujah, 18. Psalms of Degrees, 13.

Grand total

150

Supposing that the persons already mentioned are the authors of those Psalms to which their names are prefixed, there are still fifty-three, which, as bearing no proper name, must be attributed to uncertain authors, though it is very probable that several of them were made by David.

The reader will observe that as the preceding enumeration is taken from the Vulgate, consequently it is not exactly the same with ours: but the rules already given at page 1911, will enable him to accommodate this division to that in our common Bibles, which is the same with that in the Hebrew text.

In order to make the preceding table as correct as possible, I have carefully collated that in the Benedictine edition of St. Jerome's WORKS, with professedly the same table in the Quincuplex Psalter, in both of which there are several errors. In the Works, though all the numbers are given at large, as primus, decimus, centesimus, &c., yet the sum total, under each head, rarely agrees with the items above it. This was so notoriously the case in the table in Jerome's Works, that I thought best to follow that in the Psalter above mentioned which had been carefully corrected by Henry Stephens.

After all, this table gives but small satisfaction, when we come to collate it with the psalms in the Hebrew text, or as they stand in our common English Bibles. That nothing migh be wanting, I have made an analysis of the whole from our present text, collating this with the Hebrew where I was in doubt; and by this the reader will see how greatly these table differ from each other; and that many psalms must now come under a different arrangement because of their different titles, from that which they had in St. Jerome's time. For instance in St. Jerome's time there were seventy, or, as in some copies, seventy-two psalms that ha the name of David in the inscriptions: at present there are seventy-three thus inscribed i the Hebrew text.

SECTION IV.-CLASSIFICATION OF THE PSALMS AS THEY STAND IN OUR COMMON VERSION Jerome gave two editions of the Latin Psalter, one from the Hebrew, and the other con

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

rected from the Septuagint. Both of these may be found in his WORKS, and in the Quincuplex Psalter mentioned above. I shall now add a table, on a similar plan with the above,

taken from our present authorized text.

A Classified Table of the Psalms taken from the Text in common use. Psalms which have no inscription of any kind: Ps. i., ii., x., xxxiii., xliii., lxxi., xci., xciii., xciv., xcv., xcvi., xcvii., xcix., civ., cv., cvii., cxiv., cxv., cxvi., cxvii., cxviii., cxix., cxxxvi., cxxxvii.

Psalms to which David's name is prefixed: Ps. iii., iv., v., vi., vii., viii., ix., xi., xii., xiii., xiv., xv., xvi., xvii., xviii., xix., xx., xxi., xxii., xxiii., xxiv., xxv., xxvi., xxvii., xxviii., xxix., xxx., xxxi., xxxii., xxxiv., xxxv., xxxvi., xxxvii., xxxviii., xxxix., xl., xli., li., lii., liii., liv., lv., lvi., lvii., lviii., lix., lx., Ixi., lxii., lxiii., lxiv., lxv., lxviii., lxix., lxx., lxxxvi., ci., ciii., cviii., cix., cx., cxxii., cxxiv., cxxxi., cxxxiii., cxxxviii., cxxxix., cxl., cxli., exlii., cxliii., cxliv., cxlv..

24

73

Psalms attributed to Solomon: Ps. lxxii., cxxvii.

2

Psalms attributed to the Sons of Korah: Ps. xlii., xliv., xlv., xlvi., xlvii., xlviii., xlix., lxxxiv., lxxxv., lxxxvii.

10

Psalms with the name of Asaph prefixed: Ps. 1., lxxiii., lxxiv., lxxv., lxxvi., lxxvii., lxxviii., lxxix., lxxx., lxxxi., Íxxxii., lxxxiii.

12

1

1

A Psalm to which the name of Heman is prefixed: Ps. lxxxviii.

A Psalm to which the name of Ethan is prefixed: Ps. lxxxix.

A Psalm to which the name of Moses is prefixed: Ps. xc.

Psalms with titles without any name specified: A Song or Psalm, lxvi. A Psalm

or Song, lxvii. A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath-day, xcii. A Psalm or Song, xcviii. A Psalm or Song, c. A Prayer of the Afflicted, cii.

Hallelujah Psalms: Ps. cvi., cxi., cxii., cxiii., cxxxv., cxlvi., cxlvii., cxlviii. cxlix., cl.

6

10

10

Psalms or Songs of Degrees: Ps. cxx., cxxi., cxxiii., cxxv., cxxvi., cxxviii., cxxix.,
CXXX., cxxxii., cxxxiv.

Sum total of all kinds: Psalms having no inscription, 24. Psalms having David's
name prefixed, 73. Psalms having Solomon's name, 2. Ditto, Sons of Korah, 10.
Ditto, Asaph, 12. Ditto Heman, 1. Ditto, Ethan, 1. Psalms and Songs, 6. Hal-
lelujah Psalms, 10. Psalms of Degrees, 10.

Grand total 150

After all that has been done to assign each Psalm to its author, there are few of which we can say positively, These were composed by David.

Most commentators, as well as historians of the life and reign of David, have taken great pains to throw some light upon this subject, particularly Calmet, Delaney, Chandler, and Venema. The former has made seven divisions of them, to ascertain the order of time in which they were written. I shall adopt this plan, and accommodate it to the Psalms as they stand in our present authorized Version, after simply remarking that there are several Psalms which appear to be ill-divided, some making two or three, which in all probability made originally but one; and others, which formerly made two or more, now improperly connected. This has been already noticed in comparing the differences of the numeration between the Versions and the Hebrew text. See p. 1911; see also at the end of the following table.

SECTION V.-CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

I. PSALMS which contain no Note or Indication of the Time when written.

Psalm i. "Blessed is the man," &c. This is generally considered as a Preface to the whole book; supposed by some to have been written by David: but others attribute it to Ezra, who collected the Book of Psalms.

Psalm iv. "Hear me when I call." The evening prayer of a pious man.

Psalm viii. "O Lord our Lord." The privileges and dignity of man.

Palm xix. “The heavens declare the glory of God." God's glory in the creation. The excellence, perfection, and use of the Divine law.

Psalm lxxxi. "Sing aloud unto God." Supposed to be a Psalm usually sung at the Feast of Trumpets, or the beginning of the year; and at the Feast of Tabernacles.

Psalm xci. "He that dwelleth in the secret place." The happiness of those who trust in the Lord. This Psalm might be placed during or after the Captivity.