Origen1 in the first half of the third century A.D., and to Jerome. Though the word praise occurs frequently in the Psalter, only one Psalm (cxlv) bears the title A Praise, and the name Book of Praises probably originated in the use of the collection as the hymn-book of the Second Temple3. Many indeed of the Psalms cannot be so designated, but no more fitting name could be found for a book, of which praise and thanksgiving are predominant characteristics, and which ends with a diapason of Hallelujahs.

Another title, apparently that of an early collection of Davidic Psalms, was Tephilloth or Prayers (lxxii. 20)4. Only five Psalms, xvii, lxxxvi, xc, cii, cxlii, are so entitled; but again, although some Psalms (e.g. i, ii) contain no direct address to God, the title is a suitable one. Prayer in its widest sense includes all elevation of the mind to God. Hannah's thanksgiving and Habakkuk's ode are both described as prayer (I Sam. ii. 1; Hab. iii. 1).

3. Numbering of the Psalms. The Massoretic Text and the LXX both reckon a total of 150 Psalms. The 151st Psalm, which is added in the LXX, is expressly said to be "outside the number." But this reckoning has not been uniformly

1 In Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 25 (ed. Burton) Σφαρθελλείμ.

In the Preface to his Psalterium iuxta Hebracos (p. 2, ed. Lagarde): "titulus ipse Hebraicus sephar tallim, quod interpretatur volumen hymnorum."

* Cp. Neh. xii. 46.

The LXX rendering ὕμνοι however may point to another reading תהלות, praises. "Lege totum Psalterium...nihil erit nisi ad Deum in cunctis operibus deprecatio." S. Jerome contra Pelag. i. 5.

This Psalm appears to have been translated from a Hebrew original, but the contrast between it and the canonical Psalms is so noteworthy that it seems worth while to append a version of it.

"This Psalm was written by David with his own hand (and it is outside the number) when he fought in single combat with Goliath.

I. I was little among my brethren,

and the youngest in my father's house;

I fed my father's sheep.

2. My hands made a harp,

my fingers contrived a psaltery.

3. And who will declare unto my Lord?

He is the Lord, it is He that heareth.

observed. Some ancient Jewish authorities reckon 149, others 147 Psalms1, the latter number, as the Jerusalem Talmud says, "according to the years of our father Jacob." These totals are obtained by uniting one or all of the pairs i, ii: ix, x: cxiv, cxv: or other Psalms. Although the Hebrew and the LXX agree in the total, they differ in the details of the numeration. The LXX unites ix and x, cxiv and cxv, and divides cxvi and cxlvii. It may be useful to subjoin a comparative table, for while our modern English versions follow the Hebrew reckoning, the Vulgate and the older English Versions (e.g. Wycliffe and Coverdale) and modern Roman Catholic versions based upon it, follow that of the LXX.

Thus for the greater part of the Psalter the numeration of the LXX is one behind that of the Hebrew.

The English reader should also remember that the title of a Psalm, when it consists of more than one or two words, is reckoned as a verse, and sometimes (e.g. in Ps. li) as two verses, in the Hebrew text. Attention to this is necessary in using the

4.

5.

6.

He sent His angel,

and took me from my father's sheep,

and anointed me with the oil of his anointing.

My brethren were comely and tall,

and in them the Lord had no pleasure.

I went forth to meet the Philistine,

and he cursed me by his idols.

7. But I drew the sword from his side, and beheaded him, and took away the reproach from the children of Israel." 1 So in a Ms. described in Ginsburg's Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, p. 777- He mentions other unusual numerations of 159 and 170 Psalms, pp. 536, 725.

references of commentaries which, like that of Delitzsch, follow the numbering of the verses in the original.

4. Divisions of the Psalter. The Psalter has from ancient times been divided into five books:

These divisions are indicated by doxologies of a liturgical character, differing slightly in form, at the close of the first four books (xli. 13, lxxii. 18, 19, 1xxxix. 52, cvi. 48). The first three of these doxologies obviously form no part of the Psalms to which they are appended. The fourth however (see note on Ps. cvi. 48) appears to belong to the Psalm, and not to be merely an editor's addition to mark the end of a book. It came however to be regarded (somewhat inappropriately, for Pss. cvi and cvii are closely connected) as marking the division between Books iv and v. No special doxology is added to Ps. cl. It is in itself an appropriate concluding doxology for the whole

Psalter.

This five-fold division is earlier than the LXX, which contains the doxologies. It is often referred to by Jewish and Christian authorities, and compared to the five books of the Pentateuch.

Thus the Midrash1 on Ps. i. 1: "Moses gave the Israelites the five books of the Law, and to correspond to these David gave them the Book of Psalms containing five books."

Hippolytus [?] (ed. Lagarde, p. 193): "Let it not escape your notice...that the Hebrews divided the Psalter also into five books, that it might be a second Pentateuch."

Jerome, in the Prologus Galeatus: "Tertius ordo Hagiographa possidet. Et primus liber incipit a Job. Secundus a

1 An ancient Jewish commentary, probably however in its present form not earlier than the roth century A.D. But older Jewish authorities recognise the division. See Robertson Smith, Old Test. in Jewish Church, p. 195.

PSALMS

b

David, quem quinque incisionibus (sections) et uno Psalmorum volumine comprehendunt." No doubt he chose this form of expression carefully, for in his preface to the Psalter he somewhat passionately affirms the unity of the Book1.

The division is referred to by most of the Fathers, some of whom, as Ambrose, explain it allegorically; others, as Gregory of Nyssa, find in the several books so many steps rising to moral perfection. As will be shewn presently, the division of the books in part corresponds to older collections out of which the Psalter was formed, in part is purely artificial, and probably had its origin in the wish to compare the Psalter with the Pentateuch.

CHAPTER III.

THE TITLES OF THE PSALMS.

To nearly all the Psalms in the first three Books, and to some of those in the fourth and fifth Books, are prefixed titles, designating either (1) the character of the poem, or (2) matters connected with its musical setting, or (3) its liturgical use, or (4) the author, or perhaps more strictly, the collection from which the Psalm was taken, or (5) the historical occasion for which it was written or which it illustrates. Only 34 Psalms have no title, namely Pss. i, ii, x, xxxiii, xliii, lxxi, xci, xciii-xcvii, xcix, civ-cvii, cxi-cxix, cxxxv-cxxxvii, cxlvi-cl.

Such titles may occur separately or in combination. Many of them are extremely obscure, and their meanings can only be conjectured. All that will be attempted here is to give the most probable explanations. An elaborate discussion of the innumerable interpretations which have been proposed would be mere waste of time. Some special titles which occur but once will be

1 "Scio quosdam putare psalterium in quinque libros esse divisum... nos Hebraeorum auctoritatem secuti et maxime apostolorum, qui semper in novo testamento psalmorum librum nominant, unum volumen addiscussed in the introductions to the Psalms to which they belong.

I. Titles descriptive of the character of the poem. Psalm1. Mizmor, rendered Psalm, is a technical term found only in the titles of the Psalter. It is prefixed to 57 Psalms, and with few exceptions is preceded or followed by the name of the author, generally that of David. The verb from which mizmor is derived occurs frequently in the Psalter (e.g. vii. 17, xlvii. 6, 7, cxlix. 3) but rarely elsewhere (Judg. v. 3; [2 Sam. xxii. 50; 1 Chr. xvi. 9]; Is. xii. 5). It appears originally to have meant to make melody, like the Lat. canere, but came to be applied specially to instrumental music, as distinguished from vocal music. Mizmor then means a piece of music, a song with instrumental accompaniment.

Song3. Shir, rendered song, is the general term for a song or canticle. It occurs 30 times in the titles, generally preceded or followed by mizmōr, and not unfrequently in the text of the Psalms (e.g. xxviii. 7, xl. 3, cxxxvii. 3, 4), and in other books. It is applied to secular as well as sacred songs (Gen. xxxi. 27; Jud. v. 12; 1 Kings iv. 32; Is. xxx. 29; Neh. xii. 27, 36, 46).

Maschil is found as the title of thirteen Psalms, eleven of which are in Books ii and iii. The meaning is obscure. (a) It has been explained to mean a didactic psalm. Comp. the use of the cognate verb in xxxii. 8, 'I will instruct thee. But of the Psalms which bear the title only xxxii and Ixxviii are specifically 'didactic.' (6) Delitzsch supposes it to mean a meditation. (c) Most probable however is Ewald's explanation, psalm. The word is used in Ps. xlvii. 7, 'sing ye understanding' (Heb. maschil), R.V. marg., in a skilful psalm.

• מִזְמוֹר : LXX ψαλμός: Vulg. psalmus.

a

skilful

praises with vrst.

* It occurs in the original Hebrew of Ecclesiasticus xlix. I, in the sense of music or song generally: "as mizmor at a banquet of wine." 3 שיר: LXX in titles usually ᾠδή, in text ᾠδή οι ᾄσμα.

• מַשְׂכִּיל : LXX συνέσεως or εἰς σύνεσιν: Vulg. intellectus or ad intellectum: Jer. eruditio.

5 xxxii, xlii, xliv, xlv, lii, liii, liv, lv, lxxiv, lxxviii, lxxxviii, lxxxix,

cxlii.

ba