THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE PSALM TITLES
by
James H. Fraser
Submitted in partial
fulfillment of requirements
for the degree of Master of Theology in
Grace
Theological Seminary
May 1984
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt,
Title: THE
AUTHENTICITY OF THE PSALM TITLES
Author: James H. Fraser
Degree: Master of Theology
Date: May
1984
Advisers:
Dr. Wayne Knife and Dr. Donald
Fowler
Introductory notes or psalm titles
are found in the
text
of many of the Biblical Psalms. These notes have been
maligned
and given a place of secondary importance by
critics
and translators alike in recent generations. The
majority
of critical scholars consider them to be late addi-
tions
to the text which in many cases are based upon ques-
tionable
exegesis or just plain conjecture. Such criticisms
are
unfounded in light of the Biblical and extra--Biblical
evidences
which point to their antiquity and credibility.
It is uncertain whether or not the
titles were
attached
to the psalms at the time of composition. However,
there
is ample evidence to show that they have long been a
part
of the Psalter text. Both the manuscript evidence and
Biblical
evidence outside the Psalter support the view that
they
have always been a part of the canonical text of the
Psalter.
Some of the terms used in the titles had lost
their
meaning by the time the LXX translation was made indi-
cating
that the liturgical instructions of the titles had
been
in disuse for years. Also, several examples of this
literary
pattern may be gleaned from the Bible and extra-
Biblical
literature. They show that it was a well-known
practice
to attach either a title or colophon to poetic com-
positions
long before the post-exilic period.
The titles are valuable guides to
the interpretation
of
the Psalter. They give accurate and reliable information
concerning
the authors, historical settings and liturgical
use
of the psalms in question. When l; is used with a
proper
name authorship is implied, although in the case of
Asaph
and the "sons of Korah" it is a generic designation.
The
support of other Scripture together with the internal
agreement
of the contents of the psalms with the titles
shows
that there is no justifiable reason for doubting the
authenticity
of the psalm titles.
Accepted by the Faculty of
Grace Theological Seminary
in partial fulfillment of
requirements for the degree
Master of Theology
D. Wayne
Knife
Donald Fowler
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
ACCEPTANCE PAGE iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION 1
General Character and Content of the Titles 3
Divergent Views on the Value of the Titles 4
The Inspired Scripture View 4
The Authentic-Tradition View 5
The Critical-Tradition View 6
The Psalter-Compilation View 7
The Midrashic-Exegesis View 7
The Cultic-Setting View 8
The Higher-Critical View 9
The Scope and Purpose of the Thesis 11
II. THE ANTIQUITY OF THE PSALM
TITLES 12
Textual Evidence for Their Antiquity 12
Hebrew Manuscripts 13
The MT 13
The
Manuscripts from Other Areas 21
v
vi
Ancient Versions 22
LXX 22
The
Aramaic Targum 24
The Syriac Peshitto 25
Linguistical Evidence for Their Antiquity 26
Literary Evidence for Their Antiquity 29
Biblical Examples 30
A Hebrew Inscription 31
Ancient Near Eastern Parallels 32
III. THE CREDIBILITY OF THE TITLES 37
The Designation of Authorship in the Titles 38
Problems Relating to Interpretation 38
The Usage of l; 38
Possession 39
Dative 39
Subject or Serial 41
Genetive of
Authorship 42
The Usage of Proper Names 45
David 45
Davidic
King 45
Commander
46
Davidic
Collection 46
King
David 47
The Levitical
Musicians 49
Asaph 51
Ethan and
Heman 54
The Sons
of Korah 57
vii
Moses 60
Solomon 61
David as
Author 63
Historical Views of David the Psalmist 63
Objections
to Davidic Authorship 67
Historical Notices in
the Titles 72
General
Character of the Historical Notes 72
Objections
to the Credibility of the
Historical
Notes 74
Positive
Arguments for the Credibility of
the
Historical Notes 80
Summary Statement on
the Credibility of the
Psalm
Titles 82
IV. THE ORIGIN OF THE PSALM TITLES 83
V. CONCLUSION 87
. . . . . . . . . . . .
APPENDIX A: A COMPARISON OF THE
MT TITLES AND THE DSS
TITLES 89
APPENDIX B: POSSIBLE MEANINGS
OF l; COMBINED WITH A
PROPER
NAME 92
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED 93
LIST OF
ABBREVIATIONS
AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languages and
Literature
ANET James Pritchard,
ed., Ancient Near Eastern
Texts
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of
Oriental Research
Bib Biblica
BDB Francis Brown,
S. R. Driver, C. A. Briggs,
Hebrew and English
Lexicon of the Old Testament
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
ExpTim Expository Times
ICC International
Critical Commentary
IEJ
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JSS Journal of Semitic Studies
OTS Oudtestamentische
Studien
RB Revue
Biblique
VT Vetus Testamentum
VTSup Vetus Testamentum, Supplements
ZAW Zeitschrift für die
Altestamentliche Wissenschaft
viii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In recent years there have been no works of major
significance dealing with the
psalm titles. Thirtle's book,
The
Titles of the Psalms, published in 1904 and considered by
some to be the standard work on
the subject is no longer of
much help in dealing with the
real issues. As has been
pointed out by Nestle,
Thirtle's theory that the musical por-
tions of the superscriptions
should really be subscriptions
to the preceeding psalms is of
little consequence.1 In
addition to his theory of
subscriptions, Thirtle also dis-
cusses and applies the meaning
of the terms found in the
titles but is of little help in
responding to the critics who
question their authenticity.
It is largely due to the influence of these critics
who have minimized the value of
the psalm titles that there
has not been more written on
the subject. For the most part
the critical scholars have
dismissed the titles as secondary
additions, which contain no
reliable information that may be
1E. B. Nestle, "The
Titles of the Psalms," Exp Tim
23
(May 1912):383. For a more complete evaluation of
Thirtle's
work see Roderick V. Smith, "The Titles in the
Psalms"
(M. Div. thesis, Grace Theological Seminary, 1974),
pp. 45-51.
1
2
used to determine the
authorship or background of the various
psalms.1 While this
may be the general trend among the crit-
ical scholars it has been
pointed out by such reputable
scholars as K. A. Kitchen that
"this attitude rests on no
particle of respectable
evidence and has much against it."2
On the contrary side there is much evidence to verify
the traditional view that the
psalm titles are authentic.
From the standpoint of textual
criticism it can be shown that
they do belong to the canonical
text of the Psalter. Then as
they are examined
linguistically, it becomes apparent that
many of them must have been
written long before the exile,
making the probability of their
authenticity more likely.
The possibility that they may
have been a part of the orig-
inal composition or at least
added soon after is seen by the
fact that compositions from the
ancient Near East as far back
as the time of Abraham have
been found with similar patterns
of superscriptions or
subscriptions.
These evidences along with the Biblical materials
which support the testimony of
the titles concerning such
matters as authorship and
historical backgrounds weigh in
favor of the authenticity of
the titles.
1Brevard S. Childs,
"Psalm Titles and Midrashic
Exegesis,"
JSS 16 (Autumn 1971):137.
2Kenneth A. Kitchen,
"The Old Testament in Its Con-
text:
3 From Joshua to Solomon," Theological
Students'
Fellowship
Bulletin 61 (Autumn 1971):11.
3
General Character and Content of
the Titles
The value of this study of the authenticity of the
superscriptions may be seen in
reviewing the general charac-
ter and content of the titles.
Of the 150 Biblical psalms
there are 116 which have some
type of title.1 These titles
have often been ignored by
English readers of the psalms
because most English versions
relegate them to a position of
secondary importance by placing
them at the head of the psalm
in small print or leaving them
out altogether. The Hebrew
Bible, on the other hand,
incorporates them into the text of
the psalm so that when the
verses were numbered in the six-
teenth century they were
counted as the first verse or part
of the first verse.2
Thus, indicating that in the Massoretic
tradition of the Hebrew Bible
they were regarded as an
integral part of the text.
Following Bullock's outline, the information con-
tained in the titles may be
divided up into five categories:
(1) authorship, (2) historical
origin, (3) literary features,
1That means that there
are 34 psalms which in the
Talmud
are referred to as "orphan Psalms." This number may
be
reduced even further if the opening h.yA Ull;ha of the
Hallel
psalms is considered as a title rather than a part of
the
composition. Delbert R. Hillers' "A study of Psalm 148,"
CBQ 40 (July 1978):325
favors the view that they are edito-
rial,
thus fitting into the category of a title. However,
for
the purpose of this paper they will be considered as a
part
of the actual psalm composition. This is the view
favored
by Kemper Fullerton, "Studies in the Psalter," The
Biblical World 36 (1910):326-27.
2Cristoph Barth, Introduction to the Psalms (New
4
(4) liturgical use, and (5)
musical notations.1 The primary
concern of this paper is with
the first two categories of
authorship and historical
origin. Not only are they the
crucial areas of controversy,
but they also provide vital
information which should serve
as foundational guidelines
for any study of the psalms.
The other three areas will be
discussed primarily from the
standpoint of their antiquity
and therefore their
contribution in helping to establish the
trustworthiness of the material
pertaining to the first two
categories.
Divergent Views On the Value of
the Titles
Most scholars would agree that there is at least some
value in the titles, though a
few reject them as altogether
worthless. Since no one knows
for sure how or when the ti-
tles came to be a part of the
psalms, speculations on their
origin have abounded. This then
has paved the way for a wide
diversity of views concerning
their value. The following
seven views are representative
of some of the attitudes of
scholars toward the psalm
titles either as a whole or toward
certain parts of them.
The Inspired Scripture
View
The belief that the titles should be considered as a
part of the inspired text of
Scripture was the general
1C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the Old
Testament
Poetic Books (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), p. 124.
5
concensus among those whom
Callan refers to as "the older
Catholic authorities."1
Included among these older Catholic
authorities are such notable
early church writers as Augus-
tine and Theodoret.2
This view is not widely held or at
least not expressed among
scholars today even though it can
be defended from the standpoint
of tradition and canonicity.3
Based upon the available
textual evidence today, they have
always been a part of the
Scriptural text.
The Authentic-Tradition
View
In general those who hold to this view believe that
the titles are reliable and
accurate traditions, though not
necessarily a part of the
original text. Examples of adher-
ents to this view include Wilson,
Leupold, Green and Unger.
Wilson, who has made one of the
most significant contribu-
tions to the subject by his
two-part series in the 1926
issue of The Princeton Theological Review, concludes on the
bases of objective evidence
that "the headings of the psalms
are presumptively
correct."4 Leupold
suggests that they
1Charles J. Callan, The Psalms (
Wagner,
Inc., 1944), p. 7.
2C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 3 vols.
reprint
ed. (
1966),
1:25.
3The popular radio
preacher Charles Swindoll, WBCL,
"Insight
for Living," 2 August 1983, has referred to the
psalm
titles as being inspired.
4R. D.
395.
6
were added by trustworthy
leaders in
wanted to preserve a
"valuable and well-authenticated tradi-
tion."1 Green2
and Unger3 both conclude that as ancient
traditions the titles should be
accepted as true except in
individual cases where there is
adequate proof to the con-
trary. The implication of both
writers' conclusions is that
such proof may not exist.
The Critical-Tradition
View
The proponents of this view, such as Kirkpatrick4
and Perowne5 of the
nineteenth century and Sabourin6 more
recently, accept the titles as
ancient traditions which may
or may not be trustworthy.
Therefore, their value must be
weighed and tested by the usual
critical processes. This
critical process may in some
cases simply result in a
1H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms (Grand Rap-
ids:
Baker Book House, 1959), p. 6.
2Henry W. Green,
"The Titles of the Psalms,"
Methodist Review 72 (July 1890):506.
3Merril F. Unger, Unger's Commentary on the Old
Testament, 2 vols. (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1981), 1:740.
4A. F. Kirkpatrick, The Book of Psalms, Book I, The
University
Press, 1897), pp. xxix-xxx.
5J. J. Stewart Perowne, The Book of Psalms, 2 vols.
in
1, 4th ed. (
reprint
ed.,
pp.
97, 101-103.
6Leopold Sabourin, The Psalms: Their Origin and
Meaning (Staten Island, New
York: Alba House, 1974),
pp. 16-17.
7
different interpretation of
what has traditionally been held
to be the authors of the psalms
(dvidAl; etc.), rather than a
complete rejection of the
title.
The Psalter-Compilation View
This view completely rejects the psalm titles as
reliable traditions which
indicate the author, date, or
character of the original
psalms. However, they are consid-
ered of some value in
determining how the psalms were used
and how they were collected
together into their present
form.1 According to
this view the various parts of the ti-
tles indicate smaller
collections of psalms which the indi-
vidual psalms were a part of at
one time. Each time then
that a psalm was taken from one
collection and put in another
the name of the previous
collection would be prefixed to it.2
With this view the titles would
be of no value in interpret-
ing the text of the psalms
themselves.
The Midrashic-Exegesis
View
The midrashic-exegesis view is concerned primarily
with the historical data in the
titles and in some cases with
the area of authorship. Proponents
of this view include
1Charles Augustus Briggs
and Emilie Grace Briggs, A
Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the Book of Psalms,
vol.
1, ICC (
p.
lviii. See also J. W. Rogerson and J. W. McKay, Psalms
1-50, The
University
Press, 1977), p. 3.
2George R.
33 (1914): 199.
8
Childs, Slomovic, and Bruce.
Childs1 and Bruce2 deal only
with the historical portions.
They propose that these are
derived from the text of the
psalm reflecting the work of an
early Jewish exegete rather
than an independent historical
tradition. Slomovic carries the
theory even further to in-
clude the identity of the
authors as being derived from a
form of rabbinic midrash.3
The principle value of the psalm
titles according to this view
is found in the area of herme-
neutics. They represent early
attempts to interpret the
Biblical psalms.
The Cultic-Setting
View
The form-function approach to the study of the psalms
as advocated by Gunkel and
Mowinckel led to the proposal by
Mowinckel that the titles have
a cultic meaning. Though the
historical notes are considered
later additions by editors
who misunderstood the meaning
of dvidAl; the rest of the
material including dvidAl; are really technical terms associa-
ted with the use of the psalm
in the cult." Weiser, who
1Childs, "Psalm
Titles," p. 143.
2F. F. Bruce, "'The
Earliest Old Testament Interpreta-
tion,"
in The Witness of Tradition, OTS 17 (
Brill,
1962), p. 52.
3Elieser Slomovic,
"Toward an Understanding of the
Formation
of Historical.Titles in the Book of Psalms," ZAW
91
(1979) :380.
4Sigmund Mowinckel, The Psalms in
2
vols. in 1, trans. D. R. Ap-Thomas (
1962) , 2:99, 210-17.
9
pretty much follows Mowinckel's
view of the titles, explains
that dvidAl; means "for the Davidic ruler"
who exercises cer-
tain functions in the cult.1
The chief value of the titles
for the adherents of this view
is to support their theory
that the psalms were actually
composed for and used in the
cultic services of the temple
rather than derived from real
historical experiences.
The Higher-Critical View
The early opinion of the higher critics was that the
psalms were composed much later
than the time of David.
This led to the belief that the
titles must be spurious ad-
ditions of the text based on
groundless and erroneous con-
jecture. The end result being
that they were rejected as
untrustworthy. Toy, writing in
1886 said: "The statements
of the titles are worthless;
that is though they may in some
cases be right, they may always
be wrong, and are therefore
of no use as critical
guides."2 This was the view of Driver3
and Cheyne4 as well
as many others at that time.
1Arthus Weiser, The Psalms, trans. Herbert Hartwell,
The
Old Testament Library (
Press,
1962), pp 96-97.
2C. H. Toy, "On the
Asaph-Psalms," Journal of the
Exegetical Society 6 (1886):73.
3S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of
the Old Testament (1897; reprint ed.,
Publishing
Co., 1956), p. 378.
4Thomas Kelly Cheyne, The Origin and Religious Con-
tents of Psalter (
10
Interestingly enough this was
the view of Calvin who regard-
ed them as marginal glosses
which were of little value in
interpreting Scripture.1
This extremely low view of the psalm titles has
seemingly fallen right along
with the higher critical theory
which placed most of the psalms
in the post-exilic period.
The discoveries of Ras Shamra,
along with literary research
in
hymnody in vogue before and
during David's time, with some
amazing parallels to the
Biblical psalms.2 These finds,
together with the evidence from
ics to push the date of the
origin of the psalms back into
the pre-exilic period and
reconsider the testimony of the
headings.
These many views along with minor variations which
will be interacted with further
at appropriate places in the
thesis, point out the present
state of confusion concerning
the real purpose and value of
the psalm titles.
1John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, vol.
2
trans. James Anderson (
Publishing
Co., 1949), p. 27.
2R. Laird Harris,
"Psalms," in vol. 2 of The
Bibli-
cal Expositor (Philadelphia: A. J.
Holman Company, 1960),
pp.
35-36. See also Zondervan Pictorial
Encyclopedia of the
Bible, s.v. "Psalms,
Book of," by J. B. Payne; and William
Foxwell
Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of
(Baltimore:
The John Hopkins Press, 1942), pp. 125-29.
11
The Scope and Purpose of
the Thesis
The purpose of this paper is to provide objective
evidence to support the thesis
that the psalm titles are
authentic. They are trustworthy
witnesses concerning the
authorship, age, purpose and
occasion of the various psalms
concerning which they give such
information either implicit-
ly or explicitly.
The format of the paper will be first of all to pre-
sent evidence arguing for the
antiquity of the titles as
they are found in the MT. Then
to examine the credibility
of the titles in matters
relating to authorship and histori-
cal data. Having then presented
the evidence certain deduc-
tions and conclusions will be
drawn concerning the origin of
the psalm titles and their
benefit to the present day
scholar.
CHAPTER II
THE ANTIQUITY OF THE PSALM TITLES
There is considerable evidence that the psalm titles
have always been a part of the
canonical text of the Old
Testament Scriptures. This in
itself would argue in favor
of the authenticity of the
titles because of the very nature
of Scripture as God's inspired
Word. Further evidence seems
to indicate that they can be
dated back much earlier even
than the time when the OT canon
was completed around 400
B.C.1 Thus, not only
placing their authenticity on sound
footing textually and
theologically but also historically as
well.
Textual Evidence for their
Antiquity
In their effort to discredit the validity of the
psalm titles some critics have
pointed to the lack of agree-
ment among the ancient
manuscripts when it comes to the
1Although many critical
scholars would disagree with
this
early date for the completion of the canon, it does
harmonize
with the well-established tradition that the
spirit
of prophecy departed from
Ezra.
For a full discussion of the canonization of the OT
see
R. Laird Harris, Inspiration and
Canonicity of the Bible
(Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1957), pp. 154-
79.
12
psalm titles.1 These
discrepancies are cited as evidence
that the titles at least in
part are late additions. While
this may be true concerning
some of the titles found in the
LXX and the Syriac Peshitta,
the majority of the titles as
they are found in the MT find
substantial support for their
antiquity in nearly all of the
ancient Hebrew manuscripts
and the ancient primary
versions which are available to us
today.
Hebrew
Manuscripts
The
MT
Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in
1947, virtually all of the
known Hebrew manuscripts were
based upon the work of the
Masoretes, who sought to stan-
dardize and preserve the text
of the OT. The oldest of
these manuscripts still
available today come from the tenth
and eleventh centuries.2
Besides these early editions of
the Psalter numerous other
editions based on earlier manu-
scripts are available for
comparison. In examining these
many manuscripts, there is near
unanimous agreement on the
1Frederick Carl Eiselen, The Psalms and Other Sacred
Writings (New York: The
Methodist Book Concern, 1918), p. 43
Otto
Eissfeldt, The Old Testament an
Introduction, trans.
Peter
R. Ackroyd (New York: Harper and Row, 1965), p. 451.
2The oldest ones being
the Alleppo Codex from the
first
half of the tenth century and the Codex Leningradensis
(L),
which is dated around A.D. 1008. Ernst Würthwein, The
Text of the Old
Testament,
trans. Errol F. Rhodes (
SCM Press Ltd., 1979) pp.
34-35.
14
text of the headings. R. D.
Wilson concludes from his study
of these manuscripts that
"the text of the headings of the
Psalms in the Textus Receptus
is almost perfect so far as
the evidence of the Hebrew MSS.
and printed editions of
Kennicot and DeRossi is
concerned."1 From this, it is evi-
dent that the headings of the
psalms were part of the stan-
dard text which the Masoretes
so meticulously sought to
preserve in the second half of
the first millennium, A.D.
The standard text, however, appears to have been
established already by the end
of the first century A.D.
with the result that all other
variant lines of tradition in
Judaism were destroyed.2
This in the past has made the work
of OT textual criticism much
less conclusive since there
were no Hebrew texts available
which were not derived from
the MT tradition which was
standardized around A.D. 100.
With the discovery of the Dead
Sea Scrolls beginning in 1947,
numerous ancient manuscripts
were made available which had
not been subjected to the
standardization process which lies
behind the MT. This is evident
in that all three text types
are represented at
1R. D.
2Bruce K. Waltke,
"The Textual Criticism of the Old
Testament,"
in vol. 1 of The Expositors Bible
Commentary,
ed.
Frank E. Gaebelein (
House,
1979), pp. 216-17. A date in the early second cen-
tury
A.D. under the leadership of Rabbi Akiba is suggested
in
William Sanford Lasor, David Allan Hubbard, and Frederic
Wm.
Bush, Old Testament Survey (
Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1982), pp. 32-33.
15
the Textus Receptus, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the LXX.1
Thus, the Dead Sea Scrolls have
become crucial in the study
of the OT text and in
determining the validity of the psalm
titles as they are found in the
MT.
The
Numerous fragments and in some cases substantial
portions of manuscripts
containing the Biblical psalms have
been found in the
years. Perhaps the most
significant of these finds was the
Psalms Scroll (11QPsa) from
cave 11 at
been dated by Sanders in the
Herodian period between A.D. 30
and 50.2 In addition
to the Psalms Scroll several other
text portions containing psalm
titles have been found in
Qumran Caves 4 and 11, in the
Nahal Hever region, and on
Masada.3 As these
texts are examined they are found to be
in essential agreement with the
MT in the assignment of ti-
tles to the various psalms they
contain except for a few
minor variations.4
1Waltke, "Textual
Criticism," p. 214.
2J. A. Sanders, The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll (
3For a catalog of all the
pre-Masoretic Psalms manu-
scripts
known before 1965 see J. A. Sanders, "Pre-Masoretic
Psalter
Texts," CBQ 27 (April 1965), pp.
114-17.
4For a comparison of the
Dead Sea Scrolls psalm
titles with the MT titles see
Appendix A.
16
One of the more interesting texts from
contains part of a commentary
on Psalm 45 (4QpPs45). It is
significant to the present
study because it contains the
psalm title along with an
explanatory note before the con-
tents of the psalm with its
commentary are given. Allegro's
translation of the title and
explanatory note is as follows:
"To the choirmaster:
according to the (Lil)lies. (A maskil
of the Sons of Korah, a song of
lots). They are the seven
divisions of the penitents of
Is(rael). . . ."1 This is then
followed by the text of the
first verse of the psalm itself.
The inclusion of the title in the commentary would
seem to indicate that the
writer considered it an essential
part of the psalm text. As
Smith has pointed out, "the ma-
terial he wanted to deal with
was in the text of the psalm,
but he could not quote the text
without giving its proper
title."2
The explanatory note on the title may be a further
indication tat the writer
considered the title a part of
the sacred text and therefore
worthy of comment.
Two other texts from
lished lished which contain one
psalm title each. The first,
4QPsb, contains part
at least of Psalms 91-118 with Psalms
1John M. Allegro,
ies
in the
1968),
p. 45.
2Smith, "The Titles in the Psalms,"
p. 36.
17
95 and 104-111 omitted. The
only title or part of a title
that is preserved from these
psalms is d[vdl] from Psalm
103, which agrees with the MT.1
The parts of the manuscript
which should contain the other
titles have deteriorated.
The second of these published texts from cave 4 is
4QPsq. It contains
Psalm 33 (which immediately follows the
last verse of Psalm 31) and
Psalm 35:4-20. In it, Psalm 33
which does not have a title in
the MT is given the title
rvmzm
ryw dvdl.2
Though different than the MT, this
does agree with the LXX in
attributing the psalm to David.
The rest of the relevant texts from cave 4 have been
assigned to Monsignor P. W.
Skehan, but have not yet been
published.3 The
longest of these, 4QPsa, has, however, been
dated by Skehan in the
Hasmonean period, placing it in the
latter half of the second
century B.C." This date is con-
firmed by Cross.5
Skehan has also let it be known that 4QPsa
"arranges
the Psalms and their titles as
they still appear in the
1Patrick W. Skehan,
"A Psalm Manuscript from
(4QPsb)," CBQ
26 (July 1964): 318.
2J.
T. Milik, "Deux documents inedits du desert de
Juda,"
Bib 38 (1957): 245-68.
3Sanders,
"Pre-Masoretic Psalter Texts," pp. 114-17.
4P. W. Skehan, "The
Criticism,"
Volume du congres in VTSup 4 (
Brill,
1957), p. 154.
5Frank
Qumran and Modern
Biblical Studies
(
Doubleday and Company, Inc.,
1958), p. 122.
18
Masora," adding further
that "there is no special separa-
tion between title and
text."1 From this arrangement Cross
concludes that the collection
of canonical psalms was al-
ready fixed by Maccabean times.2
It may be further conclud-
ed that the psalm titles were
an integral part of that text
back in Maccabean times.
Two of the manuscripts from cave 11 have been pub-
lished so far. They are the
well-known Psalm Scroll
(11QPsa) and 11QPsb.
Like the Psalm Scroll, 11QPsb has also been
dated in
the Herodian period in the
first half of the first century
A.D.3 It contains
one psalm title which is in agreement
with the MT and is included as
a part of the text (the first
verse of the psalm itself
continues on the same line).
Thus, the second line of script
taken from Psalm 133 reads:
. . . bv]F
hm hnh dyvdl tv[lfmh
ryw.4
The Psalm Scroll from cave 11 has yielded by far the
most material for comparison
with the MT. In addition to
the forty-one Biblical psalms
given in part or in whole, the
scroll contains eight
apocryphal compositions including
1Skehan, "The
2Cross, The Ancient Library, p. 122.
3J. Van Der Ploeg, "Fragments dun manuscrit de
psaumes de Qumran (11QPsb)," RB 74 (1967):408.
4Ibid.,
p. 411.
19
seven non-Biblical psalms and
one prose piece about David.1
The scroll is unique not only
by the inclusion of the apoc-
ryphal compositions but also by
the arrangement of the
psalms which differs from the
traditional order. This has
led Sanders to conclude,
contrary to Cross (see above), that
the Psalter was still
open-ended in the first century, and
that the Psalms Scroll
represented a "local Palestinian text
with its own internal problems
of limited fluidity."2 He
does allow however, on the
basis of the materials from cave
4, that Books I and II of the
Psalter may have been fixed
much earlier.3
Sanders theory of an open-ended Psalter in the first
century A.D. however, has not
been accepted by textual crit-
ics as a whole.
Goshen-Gottstein gives some convincing evi-
dence that the scroll was never
intended to be more than a
"liturgical
collection."4 A view which is adopted by
Würthwein.5 Likewise
Skehan makes several observations con-
cerning the scroll which seem
to indicate that 11QPsa is
dependent upon "the
complete collection of Psalms as we
1Sanders, The
2Ibid., pp. 157-58.
3Ibid., pp. 13-14
4M. H. Goshen-Gottstein,
"The Psalms Scroll
(11QPsa);
A Problem of Canon and Text," in vol. 5 of Textus
(
1966),
pp. 29-33.
5Würthwein, The Text of the OT, pp. 32-33.
20
know it."1
If indeed, the Psalms Scroll is simply a liturgical
collection, the presence of the
psalm titles in thirteen of
the Biblical psalms used is
even more significant. It would
indicate that the compiler
considered the titles an integral
part of the text which should
not be left out, even though
they did not apply specifically
to the liturgical purpose of
the collection.
Unfortunately, many of the psalms contained in
11PQsa are
"orphan psalms" or are missing the first verse
and therefore, are irrelevant
to the present study. However
there are fourteen of the
psalms which can be compared to
the MT (see Appendix A). Eleven
of these have essentially
the same titles as the MT (Pss.
121, 122, 126, 127, 129,
130, 133, 138, 140, 143, and
145).2 The only substantial
differences are found in Psalm
144 where dvdl is
omitted
from 11QPsa and in
Psalms 104 and 123 where dvdl is
added.
It should also be noted that two of the apocryphal
psalms contain headings. Psalm
151A is designated: hyvllh
ywy
Nb dyvdl,
"A Hallelujah of David the Son of Jesse;"
and Psalm 151B begins: xybn vHwmwm dy []l hr[]bg
tlHt
Myhvlx,
"At the beginning of David's power after
1Patrick W. Skehan,
"The Biblical Scrolls from
ran
and the Text: of the Old Testament" BA
23 (September
1965):100.
2Two minor differences
involving one letter are
found in Psalms 121 and 145.
21
of God had anointed him."1
Neither one of these titles
can be described as
characteristic of the Biblical titles.
This may be an indication that
they were written much later
than the Biblical psalms which
may be why they were never
included in the MT though they
are found in the LXX.
Manuscripts from Other Areas
There have been two other texts or fragments of a
text discovered in the
which dates to the latter half
of the first century A.D.
was found in the Nahal Hever
region and contains the end of
Psalm 15 and the title of Psalm
16 as it appears in the MT.2
The second is a much larger manuscript portion from
with the same titles as the MT.3
Yadin has given a first
century A.D. date for this
manuscript as well.4
These manuscripts along with the Psalter texts from
part of the canonical psalms in
the first century A.D. and
even as far back as the second
century B.C. The essential
agreement of these texts with
the MT as far as the titles
1Sanders, The
2Y. Yadin,
"Expedition D," IEJ 11
(1961):40.
3Y. Yadin, "The
Excavation of
Preliminary
Report," IEJ 15 (1965):104.
4Ibid., p. 103.
22
are concerned tends to confirm
the great antiquity of the
titles as a part of the
established OT text.
Ancient
Versions
LXX
The Greek translation of the Psalter has for some
proven a valuable source of
evidence in favor of the authen-
ticity of the psalm titles,
while for others it has been
used as evidence against their
authenticity. The problem
for the latter group is in the
fact that the LXX while basi-
cally presenting a literal
translation of the psalms them-
selves has taken the liberty to
make changes in the psalm
titles. This has been
interpreted to mean that the trans-
lators did not have the same
respect for the titles as they
did for the psalms themselves.1
However, as the critical
text of the LXX is examined it
is discovered that these dif-
ferences have been greatly exaggerated.
In Rahlfs' edition of the Greek Psalter one finds
an essential agreement with the
traditional Hebrew text ex-
cept that there are several
additions.2 These additions
involve: adding David as the
author of thirteen anonymous
psalms (33, 43, 71, 91, 93-99,
104, and 137), adding Haggai
and Zachariah to Psalms
146-148, plus several additions of
1Eiselen, The Psalms, p. 44.
2Alfred :Rahlfs, ed., Septuaginta, 9th ed., 2 vols.
(Stuttgart: Würtembergische
Bibelanstalt, 1935).
23
liturgical or historical notes.1
R. D. Wilson who has done extensive research into
the different Greek manuscripts
and secondary versions of
the LXX Psalter summarizes his
work as follows:
The Greek Septuagint omits one
author mentioned in
the Hebrew, and one Greek manuscript
or another adds
the author's name in about 20 cases.
Most of this
testimony of the variations of the
manuscripts of the
Septuagint from the Hebrew is
rendered doubtful by
the fact that one or more of the
ancient versions
from the Septuagint are found in
almost every case
to differ from the Greek original as
preserved in B
and A and to agree with the Hebrew original.2
This seems to suggest as Pietersma has shown that
there are many inner-Greek
additions to the titles of
Rahlfs editions of the LXX
which almost certainly do not
rest on a Hebrew Vorlage.3 The fact that in
some cases there
is near unanimous manuscript
witness for these extra--MT
titles "may mean no more
than that the ever expanding Davidic
tradition totally eclipsed all
other witnesses."4
Kooij, meanwhile, attributes at least some of the
extra-MT titles to the influence
of a Palestinian origin of
the LXX Psalter. Thus, he seems
to imply that the additions
were original with the
translators themselves or taken from
liturgical notations which had
been added to the Hebrew
1For a complete listing
of all the variations in the
various
LXX manuscripts and secondary versions see
"The
Headings of the Psalms," pp. 380-89.
2Ibid., p. 391.
3Albert Pietersma,
"David in the Greek Psalms," VT
30
(April 1980): 225-26.
4Ibid., p. 219.
24
manuscripts.1
Having responded briefly to the problems raised by
the LXX psalm titles a word
needs to be said concerning
their value. As DeWette has
pointed out in response to
those who argue against the
genuineness of the titles on the
basis of the LXX, the titles
were translated by the LXX
translators.2 That
means then that their existence goes
back well before the second
century B.C. when the Psalter
was translated into Greek.
Furthermore, in looking at some
of the nonsensical translations
of some titles, it appears
that the translators respected
the titles enough as part of
the various psalms that rather
than omitting them it was
better to at least attempt to
translate them.
The
Aramaic Targum
ious editions of the Targums.
He concludes that the Hebrew
text they used for their
translation of the headings must
have been the same one that is
available today.3 He also
notes that the translators must
have had a great reverence
for the text of the titles
because of the "ludicrous"
1Arie Van Der Kooij,
"On the Place of origin of the
Old
Greek of Psalms," VT 33 (January
1983):73-74.
2DeWette,
"Introduction to the Psalms," trans. J.
Torrey,
The Biblical Repository 3 (July
1833):468-69.
3Wilson, "The
Headings of the Psalms," p. 373.
25
results of their efforts to be
accurate in the translation.1
The
Syriac Peshitto
It is in the Syriac Peshitto that a significant
variation of the psalm titles
occurs. Bloemendaal points
out that in the manuscripts and
printed editions of the
Peshitto the psalms are
"either without titles or have ti-
tles which differ completely
from those in the Hebrew and
Greek texts."2
It appears that the original translators may
have left them out and that
they were subsequently replaced
by others. No one knows for
sure why they were left out
originally.
of the
suestia and Theodoret that the
Peshitto departed from the
Hebrew text in the case of the
psalm titles.3 He then goes
on to cite several passages
from the writings of both of
these men to show that the
titles were present in both the
Hebrew and Greek texts of their
day and should not be ig-
nored.4
were omitted for liturgical,
dogmatic, or utilitarian
1Ibid.
2William Bloemendaal, The Headings of the Psalms in
the
3Wilson, "The
Headings of the Psalms," p. 377;
Bloemendall,
The Headings of the Psalms, p. 12,
agrees with
this
view.
4Wilson, "The Headings of the
Psalms," pp. 377-79.
26
reasons and replaced by other
headings considered to be more
edifying.1
It is thus, unfair to use the Syriac Peshitto as an
argument against the antiquity
of the titles. Nor is there
any real proof that the Hebrew
text from which the transla-
tion was made did not contain
the titles.
In addition to the above versions,
uated the Greek versions of
from the second century, and
Jerome's Latin translation
from the late fourth century.2
He has found that they al-
ways agree with the Hebrew in
the titles except in one case
in Symmachus and Theodotian.3
The predominate agreement of the ancient Hebrew manu-
scripts and ancient versions of
the Psalter with regards to
the titles is a strong argument
in favor of the antiquity
and genuineness of the titles.
From the second century B.C.
on, all the evidence shows a
genuine respect for the titles
as an integral part of the
Psalter text.
Linguistic
Evidence for their Antiquity
Another convincing argument for attributing an early
date to the psalm
titles--perhaps even pre-exilic times--is
the difficulty which the early
translators had in translating
1Ibid., pp. 379-80.
2Ibid., pp. 373-75.
3Ibid., pp. 390-91.
27
some of the terms. It appears
that by the time the LXX was
translated in the second or
third century B.C. the meaning
of some of the terms had
already become obscure, indicating
a lengthy period of disuse in
order for them to be forgotten.
A prime example of this phenomena is found in the
early translations of the term Hacenam;la which occurs fifty-
five times in the titles. Today
it is generally understood
to mean "for the director
of music" (NIV), based upon the
usage of the root HcAnA in the Chronicler.1 However, in the
LXX version of the titles it is
translated ei]j to> te<loj,
"unto the end" or
"forever," as if it were Hcan,lA. Mean-
while in Habakkuk 3:19 the LXX
translates Hacenam;la as tou?
nikh?sai.
A quick look at some of the other ancient versions
shows that the confusion over
the meaning of Hacenam;la was
not
just a local problem to the
translators in
Targums give the translation xHbwl, "to praise." Aquilla
Symmachus, Theodotian and
Jerome read t&? nikopoi&?,
"to
the conquest-maker;" e]pini<kioj, "of victory;" ei]j to<
ni?koj,
"for the victory;" and victory, "victor" respec-
tively.2 In each
case the translators attempted to render
1Mowinckel would disagree
with this interpretation.
In
The Psalms in Israel's Worship,
2:212, he takes it to
mean
"for the merciful disposition (of Yahweh)" or "to dis-
pose
(Yahweh) to mercy" as if the psalm was designed to
propitiate
Yahweh.
2B. D. Eerdmans, The Hebrew Book of Psalms, OTS
4 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1947),
p. 54.
28
as near as possible a literal
translation of the title; but
because the word had gone into
disuse years before, the
meaning had been lost.
Besides the term Hacenam;la there
are several other
liturgical and literary
features given in the titles whose
meanings have been lost. In
some cases their meaning is
still a matter of conjecture
even as they were in the time
of the early translations.
As to when or how the meanings were lost it is
impossible to say for sure.
Eerdmans has suggested that
following the exile (during
which the temple singers could
not practice, Ps. 137:4) when
the musicians returned to Jeru-
a brief revival of the temple
music under Ezra it did not
last. Thus, the liturgical use
of the psalms as it was prac-
ticed in the first temple never
really took hold and the
meanings of several technical
terms were lost.1
The antiquity of the titles is also supported by the
fact that the language of the
titles reflects the early
Hebrew writings rather than
late. It would be expected that
if the titles were late
additions they might use words bor-
rowed from Aramaic or Greek
such as the terms for musical
instruments in Daniel 3.2
Yet in the titles a large pro-
portion of the words are not
found in later Hebrew or in any
1Ibid., pp. 46-48.
2John F. A. Sawyer,
"An Analysis of the Context and
Meaning
of the Psalm-Headings," Transactions
of the Glasglow
University
Oriental Society 22 (1967-1968):26.
29
Aramaic dialect.1
According to
roots of many of these words
have closer analogies in Baby-
lonian than in any other language.”2
The linguistical evidence would thus seem to suggest
that the origin of these titles
must go back at least to the
time of Ezra and very possibly
much earlier. If this is the
case it is very probable that
they were a part of the pro-
phetic tradition and therefore
have rightfully been preserv-
ed in the Biblical text.
Literary Evidence for Their
Antiquity
It is well-known by Biblical scholars that the Old
Testament was not written in a
vacuum. While it is true
that the theology of the
Hebrews was unique, their writing
style and expressions were
often analogous to that of their
ancient Near Eastern neighbors.
Such an analogy can be seen
in the case of the psalm
titles. Thirtle mentions that tab-
lets and cylinders have been found
from
ing hymns and prayers with both
superscriptions and subscrip-
tions: the superscriptions
giving the author and the sub-
script lines intimating that
the document was a temple copy
of a state original.3
1R. D.
Testament, revised by Edward J.
Young (
1959),
p. 154.
2Ibid.
3James William Thirtle, Old Testament Problems
(London: Henry Frowde, 1907),
p. 83.
30
In addition to these pieces of comparative litera-
ture from without, there are
also both Biblical and non-Bib-
lical compositions from within
that the practice of attaching
either a heading or a colo-
phon to a piece of literature
was in vogue in pre-exilic
times at the time the various
psalms were composed or earlier.
Biblical
Examples
The best-known Biblical example (if such a title out-
side the Psalter comes from 2
Samuel 22:1. Here the narra-
tive introduces the following
psalm attributing it to David
at the time when Yahweh
delivered him from the hand of all
his enemies and from the hand
of Saul. This is significant
because the psalm which follows
is also recorded as Psalm 18
in the Psalter with essentially
the same title. The only
difference is that in Psalm 18
the style is characteristi-
cally "title style"
(. . . dvidAl; hvAhy; db,f,l; HacEnam;la),
whereas
in 2 Samuel 22 it is narrative
style (dveDA rBeday;va. . . hOAhyla).
The Samuel Text then confirms
the validity of the Psalm 18
title as well as sets a
precedent for identifying the
author and occasion of such
writings as being pre-exilic.
From the Pentateuch written in the fifteenth century
B.C. comes the example of
Moses' song in Exodus 15:1 and
Miriam's song in Exodus 15:21.
In both instances the author
or singers are identified.
Further examples from the books
of Samuel include Hannah's
prayer (1 Sam. 2:1) which is set
in poetic form, and David's
lament from 2 Samuel 1.
There are also two key examples from the seventh and
31
eighth century prophets
Habakkuk and Isaiah. In Isaiah 38:9,
Isaiah introduces the psalm of
Hezekiah with these words
which are in characteristic
"title style," –jl,m,
UhyA.qiz;hil; bTAk;mi
Oyl;HAme
yHiy;v OtloHEBa hdAUhy;. Then in Habakkuk 3 both a superscrip-
tion and a colophon are given
to Habakkuk's prayer. The
superscription reads: tOnyog;wi lfa xybinA.ha qUq.baHEla hl.ApT;; and
the
colophon: ytAOnygin;Bi HacE.nam;la.
After studying the above
examples in relation to the
psalm titles, Tur-Sinai came to
the conclusion that the
psalms were originally part of
an historical narrative.
Consequently, the psalm titles
merely represent a portion of
that narrative. This would imply
then to him that there is
an element of truth in the
psalm titles, though in some
cases the psalms attributed to
David may just be poetical
enlargements of David's
sayings.1 Such a theory is very un-
likely to be proven true, but
the psalms set in the narra-
tives of Scripture with
appropriate titles or introductions
do establish the fact that
other Biblical psalms from pre-
exilic times had comparable
titles.
A Hebrew
Inscription
In addition to the Biblical examples of superscrip-
tions outside the Psalter there
has recently been discovered
at Khirbet el Qom an
inscription in one of the tombs which
contains both a superscription
and a colophon to what is
1N. H. Tur-Sinai,
"The Literary Character of the
Book of Psalms," OTS 8 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1950), p.
265.
32
believed to be a prayer either
by or for the man buried
there.1 According to
Miller this inscription comes from "the
same social, historical, and
geographical setting out of which
came many of the Psalms, i.e.,
Judah during the time of the
Divided Monarchy and the
Exile."2 The transliteration and
translation of the text given
by Miller is as follows:
1. (1) 'ryhw h‘sr ktbh
2. brk ’ryhw lyhwh
3. wmsryh 1’ srth / hws‘ / lh
4. 1’ nyhw
5. wl’
srth
6. r h
1. (for) Uriyahu the rich: his
inscription. (Or:
has written it)
2. Blessed is Uriyahu by Yahweh;
3. Yea from his adversaries by his
asherah he has
saved him.
4. (Written) by Oniyahu
5. (. . . ?)
and by his asherah.3
The title or first line of the inscription gives
presumably the owner or author
of the inscription who is
identified as "Uriyahu the
rich." The colophon at the end
then identifies Oniyahu as the
one who cut the inscription
and possibly composed it. The
parallels with the psalm ti-
tles are self-evident.
Ancient Near Eastern
Parallels
Several of the Sumerian psalms from the time of
Hammurabi have been found which
contain subscriptions.
1Patrick D. Miller,
"Psalms and Inscriptions,"
Congress Volume VTSup 32 (Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1957),
pp.
315-19.
2Ibid., pp. 311-12.
3Ibid., p. 317.
33
These subscriptions give at
times the author, purpose, god
addressed, tune, musical instruments,
and other notes simi-
lar to those found in the
Psalter.1 There are even techni-
cal classifications of psalms
in these colophons such as
balbale,
adab, tigi, and sagarru
whose meanings are unknown
today.2 These
classifications are comparable to the Hebrew
Miktam, Maskil and Shiggion.
In the liturgical hymn to Sin the colophon gives
some liturgical instructions
identifying the melody and in-
strument by which it was to be
accompanied. Langdon gives
the following translation: “It is a sagar
melody. Sung on
the flute to Sin.”3
In a liturgy to Enlil the colophon
reads: "A prayer for the
brick walls of Ekur, that it re-
turn to its place. A Song of
Supplication."4 Here the
purpose of the hymn is given.
An example of one which iden-
tifies the author is the
colophon from another hymn to Enlil
which reads in part: "Copy
from Barsippa, according to its
original, written and collated.
Tablet of Beliksur son of
Belishkunni son of
Iddin-Papsukkal worshipper of Nebo."5
1Wilson, A Scientific Investigation, p. 141.
2Kitchen, "The OT in
Its Context," p. 12.
3Stephen Langdon, Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms
(Philadelphia:
Published by The University Museum, 1919),
p.
279.
4Ibid., p. 308.
5Ibid., p. 329. For
further examples of colophons
in
Sumerian literature see James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient
Near Eastern Texts
Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed.
with
supplement (
Press, 1969), pp. 496, 637-45,
579-82.
34
While the latter may be a
librarian's note, it nevertheless
shows the desire of the
ancients to preserve such informa-
tion in the form of notes
either at the beginning or end of
the psalm.
Several of the Egyptian hymns and prayers from the
second millennium B.C. also
contain such information as
author, god addressed and
occasion.1 This information is
usually contained in an
introductory statement which in some
cases is rather lengthy. They
are not really comparable to
the psalm titles except for the
fact that these Egyptian
hymns do sometimes have the
author identified and/or the
occasion.
The analogy has also been drawn by Sawyer between
the psalm titles and the
Akkadian ritual texts dating from
the third century B.C. He notes
that these ritual text:
contain a combination of some
or all of the following
elements:
the cultic occasion when the
composition is to be
uttered;
the official appointed to utter it;
the type of composition (prayer, incantation,
lamen-
tation);
the title of the composition;
the instrument(s) to accompany it;
the mode of utterance (singing, reciting).2
While all of these elements
(except for the last) are found
in the psalm titles, it may be
significant that there is no
indication of author or
historical background in the
1Ibid., pp. 365-81.
2Sawyer, "An
Analysis of the Psalm-Headings," pp.
28-29.
35
Akkadian texts. Sawyer suggests
that this might be because
these two elements belong to a
non-cultic background.1
It should also be noted with regard to this analogy
that some of these texts were
copied from older Babylonian
texts.2
Consequently, the analogy should not be taken to
imply a late date for the psalm
titles.
In addition to the presence of titles and colophons
in the psalms of other ancient
Near Eastern peoples as far
back as the third millennium
B.C. there is also ample evi-
dence for the need of such notes.
Sarna points out that as
early as the third millennium
B.C. professional singers and
musicians were a part of the
temple personnel in both
show the possibility that the
psalm titles could come from
the period of David.
It appears from the evidence thus far presented that
the psalm titles are indeed
very old. There is no evidence
from the standpoint of textual
criticism which goes back to
the second or third century
B.C. that there was ever a time
when they were not considered a
part of the text of Scrip-
ture. The nonsensical
translations of certain words in the
1Ibid., p. 29.
2Pritchard, ANET, p. 334. For the full text of
these
see pp. 331-45.
3N. M. Sarna, "The
Psalm Superscriptions and the
Guilds,"
in Studies in Jewish Religions and
Intellectual
History, ed. Siegfried Stein
and Raphael Loewe (
36
titles of the LXX would
indicate that at the time of trans-
lation they were already
"hoary with age." Furthermore, the
analogy from other writings
both Biblical and non-Biblical
shows that the use of titles or
colophons to give the type
of information contained in the
titles was certainly not un-
known in the time when the
psalms were written.
While age alone does not guarantee that the titles
are authentic, it, certainly
increases the possibility. A
careful study of the titles
themselves in the context of the
Biblical revelation will
determine whether or not they are
credible witnesses of all that
they claim.
CHAPTER III
THE CREDIBILITY OF THE TITLES
The principle reason for rejecting the psalm titles
among the critics of the old
critical school was that the
titles attributed many psalms
to David. According to their
theory of the development of
religion, David was a man of
his age--primitive both
ethically and morally--and therefore,
unable to write the kind of
material found in the Davidic
Psalms.1 As Driver
writes concerning these psalms "they
express an intensity of
religious devotion, a depth of spir-
itual insight, and a maturity
of theological reflection, be-
yond what we should expect from
David or David's age."2
However, with the discovery of both the
Scrolls and a fully developed
hymnody with similar vocabu-
lary and form which was in
vogue in David's time, this atti-
tude toward the psalm titles
has changed. The trend in many
cases has been to retain the
titles as they are but to re-
interpret them, at least in the
matter of authorship. Thus,
it will be necessary in
discussing the credibility of the
titles to establish first of
all the meaning of the terms
1Smith, The Psalms Translated, pp. 243-45.
2Driver, An Introduction to the Old Testament, p.
377.
37
38
which have traditionally been
interpreted as designations of
authors. Once it has been
established that these terms are
designations of authorship, a
defense of their credibility
and that of the accompanying
historical notices will be
given.
The Designation of Authorship in the
Titles
In the Massoretic Psalter there are a total of one
hundred psalms which are
ascribed to authors by prefixing
the authors' names with the
preposition l;.
Seventy-three
of these are attributed to
David, twelve to Asaph, eleven to
the Sons of Korah (including
Psalm 88, which is also ascrib-
ed to Heman the Ezrahite), two
to Solomon, and one each to
Moses and Ethan the Ezrahite.
Problems Relating to
Interpretation
One of the major problems in understanding the psalm
titles is the ambiguity of the
terms which are used espe-
cially as it relates to the
designation of authorship.
First of all there is the
problem of how the l; which
pre-
fixes a personal name is to be
understood. Then, closely
associated with that is the
question concerning the meaning
attached to the proper names.
The
Usage of l;
Since there are several different usages of the
preposition l;, its meaning must ultimately be determined by
context. Unfortunately with
many of the psalm titles there
39
is not sufficient context to
determine the meaning. The re-
sult is that many different
views have arisen concerning its
meaning in the psalm titles.
Possession
In some instances the preposition l; prefixed to a
personal name denotes
possession and can be translated,
"belonging to."1
This usage is not only found in Scripture,
but is also quite common in
seal inscriptions. Several of
these seals have been found in
exilic period.2 For
the most part they contain the owner's
inscribed design with his name
prefixed by l
indicating that
he is the owner of the seal.
Thus, in some cases at least,
when the construction l; prefixed to a personal name stood
alone it denoted possession.
Dative
The dative usage of l;
translated "to" or "for" is
the most common in Biblical
Hebrew.3 This is the usage
which the cult-functional
school of interpretation applied
to the psalm titles. Mowinckel
the leading scholar in that
1BDB, p. 513.
2Examples of these seal
inscriptions can be found in
Graesser
Jr., "'The Seal of Elijah," BASOR
220 (December
1975):63-66;
Herbert G. May, "Seal of Elamar," AJSL
52
(1936):197;
and M. Heltzer, "Some North-west Semitic
Epigraphic
Gleanings from the XI-VI Centuries b.C.,"
Institute Universitario
Orientale 31
(1971):183-92.
3BDB, pp. 510-11.
40
regard says that dvidAl; means "for David" indicating
that
the psalm was composed and
designed for the Davidic king to
use in the festival cult as he
represented the people.1
The preposition l; is used
this way in the titles in
some instances (Hace.nam;la ) but not with the personal names.
In fact its usage in this way
with Hac.enam;la
occurring in the
same titles as dvedAl;, JsAxAl; or Hraqo-yneb;l; helps to rule
out the possibility of the
dative sense for l; with a
proper
name in the titles.
In a slightly different mode of thought Terrien
opting for the dative usage of l; suggests that dvidAl;
should be taken to mean
"Psalm dedicated to David," or
"Psalm written in the name
of David."2 This view has re-
ceived little attention and
finds no support in the psalms
themselves.
The dative sense of l; is
also used in the LXX which
consistently translates dvidAl;, t&?
Dauid
in the Psalm
titles. However, Pietersma has
pointed out that in the pro-
cess of textual transmission t&? Dauid was frequently
changed to tou? Dauid with the apparent purpose of clar-
ifying Davidic authorship.3
The usage of the dative in the
LXX is probably best explained
by the efforts of the
1Mowinckel, The Psalms in
2Samuel Terrien, The Psalms and Their Meaning for
Today (Indianapolis: The
Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1952), p. 32.
3Pietersma, "David in the Greek
Psalms," p. 225.
41
translators to give a literal
translation.
Subject or Serial.
A third possible usage of l; in the
titles finds
support from the notes which
appear at the top of the clay
tablets from
epic poems have the name of the
hero prefixed by the
ic preposition which is
equivalent to l;
(1-Aqht, 1-Krt and
1-B’l). In some cases the hero
is a god (Baal) so it cannot
be an indication of authorship.
Most likely it is designed
to identify the subject and
should be translated "concerning
Aqhat," or “pertaining to
Aqhat.”1 Another possibility sug-
gested by Sabourin is that
these headings indicate the
"cycle" or literary
serial to which the compositions are
attributed.2
The possibility that the l; may
denote the subject
of the psalm may be ruled out
in that it does not fit many
of the psalms in which the only
subject is Yahweh. There is
the possibility, however, that
the l; could indicate the
literary serial or collection
from which the psalm was taken.
If this is the case, however,
the basis for the psalm being
in that collection is easier
explained in terms of author-
ship rather than subject or
function as would be the case at
1Kitchen, "The OT in
Its Context," p. 13.
2Sabourin, The
Psalms, p. 14.
42
Genitive of Authorship
The most widely held view of the usage of l; in the
Psalm titles down through the
years has been that it is a
lamed
auctoris. Gesenius supports this meaning in the psalm
titles by noting that in other
semitic dialects, especially
Arabic, this is a customary
idiom.1
That this is a possible meaning for l; can also be
seen from the use of l; in Ugaritic where both B; and l; can
mean "from" or
"by."2 Normally, in Hebrew, one would expect
to find the preposition -Nmi when the sense of "by" or
"from"
is intended. However, in
Ugaritic (a predecessor of the
Hebrew language) the
preposition -Nmi was
unknown. Either
B; or l; was used instead. Thus, even after -Nmi was intro-
duced into Biblical Hebrew the
prepositions B; and l; con-
tinued in many cases to retain
the meaning "from."3
The genitive use of l; in the
psalm titles is well-
attested among scholars but
many are reluctant to call it a
genitive of authorship.
refers to it as a genitive of
relationship similar to its
usage in I Kings 5:15 (Heb.)
where Hiram is called a friend
1William Gesenius, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, ed. and
enlarged
by
28th
German ed. by A. E. Cowley (
Press,
1910), par. 129.
2Cyrus H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook in Analecta
Orientalia
38 (Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1965),
p.
42.
3Sabourin, The
Psalms, p. 14.
43
of David (dvidAl; MrAyhi hyAhA bhexo).1 Various
interpretations
have consequently arisen
concerning the meaning of such ex-
pressions as dvidAl; and JsAxAl; based
upon different inter-
pretations of the proper name.
While it is true that each independent usage of l;
with a personal name in the
titles cannot be proven to be a
reference to authorship, it can
be shown that at least some
of them do. It is only logical
then to assume that with the
consistency with which l; is used with personal names in the
titles that the same meaning
should be attached in each case
unless there is sufficient
proof to the contrary.
The usage of the
lamed auctoris is found in two in-
stances outside the Book of
Psalms which are not questioned.
In Isaiah 38 the psalm of
Hezekiah is introduced as bTAk;mi
Uhy.Aqiz;hil;,
"the writing of Hezekiah." In this case the context
clearly indicates that Hezekiah
was the author. Likewise
Habbakuk 3:1 introduces a
prayer which is authored by Habba-
kuk with the words xybinAha qUq.BahEla hlApiT;, "a prayer of
Habbakuk
the prophet."
Assuming that each part of a psalm title was written
at the same time, the
historical occasions connected with
thirteen Davidic psalms show
that the l; was
intended to
indicate authorship. In fact
two of these historical notes
claim that David sang or spoke
the words of the psalm on a
1William L.
Lexicon of the Old
Testament
(
Publishing Co., 1971), p. 169.
44
given occasion (Psalms 7 and
18). The clear implication is
that whoever wrote these
historical notices understood dvidAl;
to indicate authorship.
Additional proof for this meaning is supplied by the
colophon at the end of Book II
(Ps. 72:20). Here it is
stated that the prayers of
David the son of Jesse are ended.
This colophon follows the
benediction of Psalm 72:18-19 which
concludes Book II of the
Psalter. Thus, the colophon has
been understood to refer to all
of the psalms in Books I
and II. This raises some additional
problems especially
since the last psalm in Book
II--Psalm 72 is given the title
hmolow;li. There
are also some psalms in this part of the
Psalter attributed to the sons
of Korah and Asaph. The ma-
jority of them however, are
designated dvidAl; and
would fit
the general description of
"the prayers of David son of
Jesse."
One other example in which l; refers
to the author
may be found in the inscription
from Khirbet el Qom (see
above p. 32). The fourth line,
according to Miller, is part
of a colophon referring to the
scribe or author of the in-
scription using the phrase
l'nyhw, "by Oniyahu."1 There is
also the possibility that a l stood before the initial name
Uriyahu and that he may have
been the author since it is
identified as his inscription.2
Certainly there is ample
1Miller, "Psalms and
Inscriptions," p. 315.
2Ibid.
45
evidence to show that the lamed auctoris is a valid possibil-
ity in the psalms and that the l; with a personal name was
intended at least in some
instances to identify the author.
The
Usage of Proper Names
Along with the multiplicity of meanings attributed
to the l; have come several different interpretations of
the
names contained in the titles.
For instance dvidAl; has
been
interpreted as David the son of
Jesse, the Davidic king, or
the Davidic collection.
Likewise, the names Asaph and the
sons of Korah have been
understood as the names of musical
guilds rather than the
individuals. The rest of the names
(Moses, Solomon, Heman and
Ethan) have for the most part
been accepted at face value.
David
Davidic King.
One of the views concerning dviDA as
it occurs in the titles is that
it refers to the Davidic
king--not necessarily David
himself but any king from the
house of David.1
This understanding of David is based in
part upon some of the prophetic
references in Hosea,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel2
in which the prophets anticipate the
time when the people of
1Weiser, The Psalms, p. 96; Mowinckel, The Psalms
in
2Hos. 3:5; Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:23; 37:24.
46
their God and David their
king."1 However, the prophetic
passages refer specifically to
the Messiah not just any
Davidic king.
Commander. A
somewhat similar view of the meaning
of dvidA based upon the Mari texts is to translate it as
"commander."2
In the Mari texts the word dawidum at
first
was interpreted as
"general" or "commander," but as Kitchen
points out it was later
discovered that dawidum was actually
linked to the Babylonian word dabdum meaning "defeat."3
Needless to say the view is no
longer held by any reputable
scholars.
Davidic Collection.
A view that is generally ac-
capted by modern scholars is
that dvidAl; refers to the col-
lection of psalms from which
these psalms were taken. It is
presumed that the collection
may have had dvidA or dvidAl; as
the title for the entire
collection. Such a theory does not
rule out the possibility that
some or all of the seventy-
three Davidic psalms may have
been authored by David, but in
many cases this view is adopted
as an alternative to author-
ship for some psalms.4
1A. A.
Century
Bible (
Co.
Inc., 1972), p. 44.
2Ibid.
3K. A. Kitchen, Ancient orient and Old Testament
(Downers
Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1966), pp. 84-
85.
4This is evident in
Oesterley's discussion of dvidAl;.
W.
0. E. Oesterley, The Psalms (London:
S. P. C. K., 1953),
p. 10.
47
The fact that this theory cannot be completely re-
jected is apparent from the
corresponding use of Hraqo-yneb;li.
It is unrealistic to assume
that each of the psalms so des-
ignated were collectively
authored by Korah's sons. The
title is better taken to mean
that these psalms originated
among the sons of Korah and
belonged to a collection by that
name.1 Even if dvidAl; is
taken to be a reference to the
collection by that title it
must ultimately indicate that
David authored the psalms in
that collection.
King David. The
view that King David was the author
of these psalms finds ample
support in the rest of Scrip-
ture. In the historical books
David is pictured as a man
with great musical ability.
Second Samuel 23:1 labels him
as the "sweet psalmist of
his harp before King Saul
because of his expertise in that
area (1 Sam. 16:16-23). Some of
his compositions are even
recorded in the historical
narrative of 2 Samuel and 1 Chron-
icles (2 Sam. 1:17-27; 3:33-34;
22:1-51; 23:1-7; 1 Chr. 16:7-
36; 29:10-13). In fact the
psalln attributed to David in
1 Samuel 22 is the same one
attributed to him in Psalm 18.
It is also ironic that Psalm 95
and parts of Psalms 105 and
106 are contained in the
composition attributed to David in
1 Chronicles 16, yet, none of
them have titles identifying
them as Davidic. Certainly if
the titles were the work of
later editors they would not
have missed the obvious.
1Bullock, An
Introduction to Poetic Books, p. 125.
48
David also indicates in 2 Samuel 23:1-2 that he had
received a special annointing
from God to sing and proclaim
God's Word in song. This fact
is confirmed by the NT words
of Jesus and the apostles. The
following list shows the
number of places in the NT
where parts of a psalm are quoted
and in the context David is
identified as the author.
Psalm 2--Acts 4:25-26
Psalm 16--Acts 2:25-28
Psalm 32--Romans 4:6.8
Psalm 69--Acts 1:16-20; Romans 11:9-10
Psalm 95--Hebrews 4:7
Psalm 109--Acts 1:20
Psalm 110---Matthew 22:44; Mark
12:36-37; Luke 20:42-44;
Acts 2:34
In all but two instances
(Psalms 2 and 95) the titles of
those psalms contain dvidAl;, indicating that Christ and the
apostles understood it to be an
indication of David's author-
ship and affirmed that
assertion to be true.
The other two psalms which the NT attributes to
David are anonymous in the
Hebrew Bible.1 Some have taken
this to be an indication that
the NT writers were simply
following the view of their
contemporaries that David was
the author of the entire
Psalter.2 In response to this
1It should be noted that
the LXX, which the writer
of
Hebrews uses, does attribute Psalm 95 to David and in
some
manuscripts of the LXX Psalm 2 is also attributed to
him.
The inspired witness of the NT writers would indicate
that
at least some of the additional titles found in the LXX
are
based upon an authentic tradition.
2Briggs, Commentary on Psalms, pp. lv-lvi;
Josephus
considered
David the author of the entire Psalter--Flavius
Josephus,
The Works Flavius Josephus, trans.
William
Whiston,
vol. 2: Antiquities of the Jews I-VII (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House,
1974), pp. 465-66.
49
Payne has pointed out that no
psalm which claims other
authorship, or contains later
historical allusions (e.g. Ps.
137) is ever attributed in
Scripture to King David.1 This
is noteworthy in light of the
fact that there are over sixty
psalms quoted or alluded to in
the NT.
Whether the intent of the writer who placed the ti-
tles at the head of the psalms
was to indicate author or
collection the ultimate
conclusion, based on the rest of the
Biblical evidence is that the
psalms so designated were
authored by King David.
The Levitical Musicians
While David is the most prominent author listed in
the psalm titles, the Levitical
musicians also made a sig-
nificant contribution to the
Psalter. According to the ti-
tles; twelve psalms are
assigned to Asaph, eleven to the
sons of Korah, and one each to
Heman and Ethan. As was the
case with dvidAl; there is considerable disagreement over
whom or what the names are
intended to designate.
The individuals named in these titles are generally
understood to be contemporaries
of King David. According to
the Chronicler; Asaph, Heman
and Ethan were assigned by
David as the leaders of music
in the house of the Lord
(1 Chr. 6:31-46; 15:16-19;
16:31-42; 25:1-8), and the sons
of Korah were assigned to be
gatekeepers (1 Chr. 9:17-19;
1Payne, "Psalms, Book of," p. 927.
50
26:1-19). While it is true that
in some cases the psalms
fit well the time and character
of David's contemporaries,
it is also true that there are
some glaring anachronisms
which have caused some like
Perowne to discount the possi-
bility of all the titles being
trustworthy.1
These anachronisms have led other scholars to the
conclusion that these names do
not refer to individuals but
rather to musical guilds named
after the prominent leaders
from David's day. These guilds
which were a common feature
of both secular and religious
society in the ancient Near
East often followed a familial
pattern of organization.
Sarna points out that it was
not uncommon for certain skills
to stay in the same family
generation after generation.2
Evidence for such family guilds is found in the
Chronicler and the books of
Ezra and Nehemiah. According to
1 Chronicles 25, David together
with the commanders of the
army set apart some of the sons
of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun
for the ministry of
prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres
and cymbals. The sons who were
appointed were under the
supervision of their respective
fathers. In the case of
Asaph's descendants at least,
this skill and responsibility
remained in the family clear up
until the time of Ezra (Ezra
2:41; 3:10; Neh. 11:17, 22;
12:35, 46).
However, there are some problems with simply
1Perowne, The Book of Psalms, 1:96-97.
2Sarna, "The Psalms
Superscriptions," p. 287.
51
interpreting JsAxAl; as a reference to the guild named after
Asaph. Other suggestions have
been given as to the inter-
pretation of JsAxAl; as well as the other titles in this
group.
Asaph. It is in
these Asaphite psalms that the
anachronisms are most evident
if David's contemporary Asaph
is taken to be the author. For
example, both Psalms 74 and
79 are psalms of lament over
the complete destruction of
place until the destruction of
586 B.C. Likewise, Payne has
suggested that Psalm 83 is more
suitable to the ministry of
the Asaphite Jahaziel in 825
B.C. than to David's contempo-
rary (cf. Ps. 83:5-7 and 2
Chro. 20:1, 2, 14).1
If it is maintained that Asaph is the author of
these psalms, then they must be
understood to be prophetic
psalms intended for use in the
troublesome times that Asaph
foresaw by the Spirit of God.
Spurgeon mentions this possi-
bility and sees no difficulty
with it.2 In fact Asaph was
known as a seer (hz,Ho) who had recorded words suitable for
praise in the temple worship (2
Chr. 29:30). However, the
form is quite uncharacteristic
of predictive prophecy else-
where in Scripture. The lament
in both Psalms 74 and 79 is
from one who has personally
experienced the disaster and not
just seen it from a distance.
1Payne, "Psalms,
Book of," p. 928.
2Spurgeon,
The Treasury of David, 2:272.
52
Another possibility is that they were composed by
another Asaph at a much later
date either during or after
the exile. Delitzsch points out
that in Barhebraeus’
commentary on Job and in his Chronikon several traditions
are referred to "Asaph the
Hebrew priest, the brother of
Ezra the writer of the
Scriptures."1
Support for such a
tradition is still wanting.
The view which is the most tenable, though not with-
out its problems, is that JsAxAl; indicates the family or
guild from which the psalm
originated.2
Perowne rejects
this view because it makes the
sons of Asaph guilty of lit-
erary imposture since JsAxAl; in a title would customarily
designate authorship.3 It may be further questioned in that
the post-exilic writers refer
to the members of the Asaphite
family or guild as the JsAxA-yneB; (2 Chr. 35:15; Ezra 2:41;
3:10; Neh. 11:22). The question
that is raised is this:
if the Korahite psalms are
designated Hraqo-yneb;li in the
titles, why are not the
Asaphite guild psalms designated in
a similar manner?
The discrepancies between the titles and the post-
exilic writers in this regard
may not be that significant,
1F. Delitzsch, Psalms, vol. 1, trans. Francis Bolton
in
Commentary on the old Testament,
reprint ed. (Grand.
Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975), p,. 12.
2R. K.
(Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969),
p.
979.
3Perowne,
The Book of Psalms, 1:96-97.
53
for the Chronicler also differs
from the psalm titles by
referring to the sons of Korah
as Korahites rather than
Hraq-yneBi. In
reality this is just another evidence that
neither the superscriptions or
the Chronicler are dependent
upon each other. Sarna has
carried this analysis one step
further to show that they both
in turn contrast strongly with
the realities of the
restoration period as recorded in Ezra
and Nehemiah. His conclusion is
that "Psalms and Chronicles
must both represent genuine
preexilic, if irreconcilable
traditions."1
Another version of this view which associates the
Asaph psalms with the musical
guild is that JsAxAl;
designates
the Asaphite collection or
repertoire of hymns from which the
psalm was taken. This
collection may have been compiled and
named after Asaph with more psalms
added by his descendants
in later years.2
A similar view suggested by Briggs is that the Asaph
psalms were originally
collected by an editor, not on the
basis of authorship or guild
origin, but on the basis of
content and purpose.3 Indeed, the psalms do resemble each
other in character. Drijvers
has characterized Asaph's
collection as "more
didactic and historical with a strongly
1Sarna, "The Psalm
Superscriptions," pp. 285•-86.
2A. Cohen, The Psalms in Soncino Books of the Bible
(London:
The Soncino Press, 1969), p. 156.
3Briggs,
Commentary on Psalms, p. lxvi.
54
prophetic flavour."1 However, this could easily be
accounted for by unity of
authorship or guild tradition.
Delitzsch attributes some but
not all of these twelve psalms
to David's contemporary who
according to Psalm 78:69 must
have lived until the early part
of Solomon's reign. The
rest, he says, whether they
were composed by Asaph's descen-
dants or someone else were
added to Asaph's collection
because they are modeled after
Asaph's psalms.2
For the most part these are "educated guesses"
based
upon the slightest amount of
evidence. It must be admitted
that there are some real
problems in simply interpreting
JsAxAl; as a
single author from the time of David. The prob-
lem is best resolved by
recognizing the solidarity of the
guild family in retaining the
name of Asaph their founding
father.3
Ethan and Heman.
The identification of Heman and
Ethan whose names are given in
the titles of Psalms 88 and
89 with the added designation
"the Ezrahite" attached to
each poses some different
problems. First of all there is
the problem of which Heman and
Ethan is intended. Then
there is the added confusion
caused by the double title of
Psalm 88. There both Hraqo-yneb;li and yHirAz;x,ha NmAyhel; appear in
1Pius Drijvers, The Psalms, Their Structure and
Meaning (New York: Herder and
Herder, 1965), p. 18.
2Delitzsch, Psalms, 3:24.
3This argument could also
be used against actual
Davidic
authorship except for the fact that there is no
evidence for a Davidic guild of
musicians.
55
the title.
If Hraqo-yneb;li appeared
in the title with just NmAyhel;
there would be no problem since
the Levite musician Heman
was a descendant of Korah (1
Chr. 6:33-37--Heb. vv. 18-22).
However, the added designation yHirAz;x,hA seems to link Heman
and Ethan to the great men of
wisdom with whom Solomon was
compared in 1 Kings 4:31 (Heb.
5:11). The 1 Kings passage
lists these great men of wisdom
as Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman,
Calcol and Darda, the sons of
Mahol. The same four names
appear again in 1 Chronicles
2:6 as four of the five sons of
Zerah of the tribe of
this information is that the
title of Psalm 88 contains two
different statements concerning
the origin of the Psalm
which are irreconcilable.1
In response to Delitzsch's conclusion it may first
of all be observed that the
sons of Zerah (1 Chr. 2:6) of
the tribe of
not be the same men mentioned
in 1 Kings. In fact the impli-
cation of the 1 Kings passage
is that these wise men were
contemporaries of King Solomon.
Secondly, the designation
"sons of Mahol" in 1
Kings 4:31 (Heb. 5:11) may actually
indicate membership in a
musical guild. Albright interprets
it to mean "members of the
orchestral guild" based on its
derivation from the root lUH. The meaning of lUH is
much
like that of Greek o]rxe<omai, "to dance," from
which the
1Delitzsch,
Psalms, 3:24.
56
English word
"orchestra" comes.1
thought suggests that it is
"an appellative expression mean-
ing 'sons of the dance '"2 Thus, the possibility remains
open that the Heman and Ethan
found in the titles and 1 Kings
may also be the musicians
mentioned in the Chronicler.
If this is true, the problem with the designation
"the Ezrahite" must
be explained. Kidner assumes that it is
an equivalent of Zerahite, a
clan of
that the clan adopted the
Levites Heman and Ethan into their
membership.3 Albright rejects this identification with
Zerah and instead interprets it
to mean "members of a pre-
Israelite family."4 This interpretation is derived from the
noun form hrAz;x, which means “a native,”5 and in Numbers 9:14
is distinguished from both the
Israelite and the stranger.
This meaning would suggest that both Heman and Ethan
were Canaanite proselytes who
were adopted into the Levite
tribe so as to be able to use
their musical abilities in the
worship of Yahweh.
Scriptural reason against using
Canaanite proselytes in the
musical guilds so long as they
accepted the worship of the
1Albright, Archaeology and
2The New Bible Dictionary, s.v. "Mahol," by J. G. G.
3Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72 in The Tyndale Old Testa-
ment
Commentaries (
Press,
1973), p. 35.
4Albright, Archaeology and
5BDB, p.
280.
57
true God, Jehovah.1
Thus, it is best to understand the names Heman and
Ethan in the titles as David's
musicians who were noted for
their wisdom in addition to
their musical skills as leaders
of their respective guilds. The
added ascription of
Hraqo-yneb;li
in
Psalm 88 may be an indication that Heman's
guild was named after Korah
rather than himself.
The designation NtAyxel; in
Psalm 89 must be treated
in the same was as JsAxAl; (see above), since verses 28-51
describe conditions in
The other suggestion given by
Kidner is that the psalm
originally ended with verse 37
and was composed by David's
contemporary Ethan.3
The Sons of Korah.
There are eleven psalms, includ-
ing Psalm 88 which are
designated Hraqo-yneb;li by
their
1Clifford
Part
II--David and the Critics." Bible
and Spade 1 (Spring
1972):
53-54.
2In the book of 1
Chronicles the name Jeduthun
replaces
Ethan after chapter 16, but both names evidently
belong
to the same person (cf. 1 Chr. 6:31ff.; 15:17, 19
with
16:37-42; 25:lff.). The name Jeduthun also occurs in
the
titles--twice with the preposition –lf (Pss. 62, 77) and
once
as NUdyodyli in a Davidic Psalm (Ps. 3§). Herbert
Gordon
May, "’ ‘
Psalms,"
AJSL 58 (January-October 1941): 83,
suggests that it
may
refer to the name of a melody rather than a person in
the
titles. Nahum Sarna in Encyclopaedia
Judaica, s.v.
"Psalms,
Book of" suggests that it may be a musical instru-
ment.
3Derek Kidner, Psalms 73-150 in The Tyndale Old
Testament
Commentaries (
Press,
1973), p. 320.
58
titles. These include a
personal lament (Ps. 88), two com-
munal laments (Pss. 44, 85),
four songs of
84, 87), two secular-type
wisdom psalms (Pss. 45, 49), an
enthronement of Yahweh psalm
(Ps. 47), and personal psalms
relating to the Sanctuary (Pss.
42/43, 84).1 In the psalms
of the last category the author
expresses his own personal
longing for or attachment to
the temple. In fact,
Psalm 84:10 indicates that the
author was a doorkeeper in
the house of the Lord.
This then provides a vital clue to the identification
of the "sons of
Korah." For in 1 Chronicles 26:1-19 some of
the Korahites (descendants of
Korah) are appointed to be the
gatekeepers of the house of the
Lord. This responsibility
remained with the family even
after the return from the
Babylonian exile (1 Chr.
9:17-19; cf. Ezra 2:42; Neh. 7:45)
giving evidence of a
distinctive group (guild) which per-
sisted for many generations. A
part of their group may have
been involved in the musical
aspect of worship as well, for
in 2 Chronicles 20:19 the
Korahites are among the Levites
who stood up to praise the Lord
in the days of Jehoshaphat.
Furthermore, it has; already
been noted that the musical
guild leader Heman was also a
descendant of Korah. This
may be an indication that the Hraqo-yneB; had double duty in the
priestly responsibilities of
the temple, making them well
1Martin J. Buss,
"The Psalms of Asaph and Korah,"
JBL 82
(December 1963): 382-83.
59
qualified to compose the
quality and type of psalms in this
group.
Another theory concerning the "sons of Korah"
pro-
posed by Miller is that they
were cultic leaders who lived in
the area of
occasional pilgrimages there
during the period of the
Divided Kingdoms.1 The theory centers around the discovery
of an ostracon with the
inscription Hrq ynb from
Tel Arad.
This ostracon which was once
part of a large bowl with the
names of several families or
groups listed on it was found
in a royal, Yahwistic sanctuary
in the ancient royal fortress
dating back to the period of
the Divided Kingdom.2
While it is possible that some Levite descendants of
Korah were assigned to the
outpost of
written these psalms from
there, there is no reason for
assuming as Miller does that
the Korahites did not reside in
valid reason for assuming that the
Edomite (Gen. 36:16),
Calebite (1 Chr. 2:42-43),
Benjaminite (1 Chr. 3.2:1-6), and
Levitical Korahites all
represented “the same tribal group
which entered southern
and settled among the Calebites
in the vicinity of
1J. Maxwell Miller,
"The Korahites of
CBQ 32 (January 1970): 59,
66-67.
2Ibid., p. 64.
3Ibid.,
p. 67.
60
Such an assumption destroys the
credibility of the geneo-
logical records of the
Chronicler.
The references within the Korahite psalms which
speak of the writers
asspociation with the temple and in
particular the gatekeepers of
the temple imply that the
"sons of Korah" were
more than just the collectors of these
hymns. Rather these psalms were
actually composed by one of
the descendants of the
notorious Levite who rebelled against
Moses and Aaron.
Moses
The meaning of hw,mol; has
not been a major problem
in the area of interpretation
since nearly all scholars
whether they agree with the
title or not take it to be
attributing the authorship of
Psalm 90 to Moses. For many
critics this is impossible and
this psalm then is given as
a prime illustration of the
unreliability of the titles.1
that "this and similar
ancient guesses imply that the head-
ings of the Psalms must not
always be taken at their face
value."2
Mowinckel's chief argument against Mosaic authorship
of Psalm 90 is that it does not
reflect the primitive,
collective outlook of those
ancient times when
1Oesterley, The Psalms, p. 18.
2Anderson,
The Book of Psalms, p. 46.
61
ambitiously intent on conquest.
To him the psalm is too
individualistic--concerned with
the personal interests of a
community that knows it is
under the wrath of God--rather
than looking forward to the
fulfillment of God's promises to
the nation.1 However, the psalm is not written simply
from
whole standing before God.
From the positive side, there are
many similarities
between the language of the psalm
and that of the Pentateuch
written by Moses. Green, who
gives an exhaustive list of
these, points out that in many
cases these coincidences are
too subtle to be the work of an
imitator, but rather reflect
the operation of the same mind.2
Solomon
The identity of hmolow; in the
titles of Psalm 72 and
127 is
certainly understood to be King Solomon. The princi-
ple area of controversy is
whether the hmolow;li in
Psalm 72
should be translated "by
Solomon" in the sense of authorship
or "for Solomon" in
that Solomon seems to be the subject of
the prayer.
That Solomon was well-qualified to
write both of
these Psalms there is little doubt.
First Kings 4:29-34
1Mowinckel, The Psalms in
102.
2Green, "The Titles
of the Psalms," pp. 491-93; For
the
answer to some other objections to Mosaic authorship see
Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms, pp. 641-43.
62
describes his great wisdom and
says that he wrote as many as
a thousand and five songs.
Psalm 127 especially befits
Solomon
as a man of wisdom being written in the form of
wisdom literature like many of
his other writings recorded
in the book of Proverbs.1 Psalm 72 on the other hand
reflects some of the
experiences of Solomon's life--a pros-
perous reign, sovereignty over
many nations, and receiving
gold from
Some have argued that Psalm 72 was
not written by
Solomon but by someone else
like David about Solomon. One
reason for this is that the
prayer seems to have Solomon as
the subject, and it would be
inappropriate for Solomon to
expect the people to use such a
prayer prepared by himself
on behalf of himself.2 In response to this Leupold has
shown that the prayer could be
Solomon's prayer for his son
or a prayer designed to
instruct the people how to pray for
"the
realization of the divinely appointed destiny of his
father's house."3 It may be compared to Solomon's prayer
in 1 Kings 3:6-9.
Another reason for assigning this
psalm to David
instead of Solomon is due to a
misunderstanding of verse 20
which reads: "This
concludes the prayers of David son of
1Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms, pp. 890-91.
2Ibid., p. 515.
3Ibid.
63
Jesse."
This statement was not a part of the original
psalm. Instead, it is a
colophon which appears after the
doxology of Book II and
summarizes the contents of Books I
and II of the Psalter. It was
evidently added by the com-
piler or an editor. The note
was designed to recognize
David
as the chief author of these books; not the only
author, since there are also
psalms by the sons of Korah and
one by Asaph besides this one
by Solomon.1
David as
Author
One of the most serious charges leveled against the
psalm titles is that they lack
credibility in attributing 73
of the 150 psalms to David. As
character of Christ and the Apostles
is at stake" if David
was not the author of at least
the psalms attributed to him
in the New Testament (see above
p. 48).2 In
surveying the
views of scholars down through
history David has always been
held in high esteem as a writer
of psalms. It is only in
relatively recent history that
Davidic authorship has been
questioned.
Historical Views of David the Psalmist
The earliest extra-Biblical references to David as
an author are found in the
Apocryphal books of Ecclesiasticus
1Ridner, Psalms 1-72, p. 254.
2John J.
Test"
(Class Syllabus, Grace Theological Seminary, 1977),
p. 23.
64
and 2 Maccabees from the second
century B.C. In Ecclesias-
ticus 47:7-11 David is
described as a man of song and praise
who organized the musicians for
temple worship.1 Second
Maccabees
refers to "the works of David" as being among the
writings collected by Nehemiah
when he founded a library
(2
Macc. 2:13).2
The next reference is found in the prose insert in
column XXVII of the Psalms
Scroll from Qumran Cave 4. The
pertinent lines of this insert
are translated by Sanders as
follows:
And
david, the Son of Jesse, was wise, and a light
like the light of the sun, and
literate, and dis-
cerning and perfect in all his ways
before God and
men. And the Lord gave him a
discerning and enlight-
ened spirit. And he wrote 3,600
psalms; and songs to
sing before the altar over the
whole-burnt perpetual
offering every day, for all the days
of the year, 364;
and for the offering of the
Sabbaths, 52 songs; and
for the offering of the New Moons
and for all the
Solemn
Assemblies and for the day of Atonement, 30
songs. And all the songs that he
composed were 446,
and songs for making music over the
stricken, 4. And
prophecy which was given him from
before the Most
High.3
Whether or not this composition is based on a valid
tradition handed down from
David's time or originated in the
show that the
1The Apocrypha, An American Translation, trans.
Edgar
J. Goodspeed (New York: Random House, Inc., 1959),
pp.
317-18.
2Ibid., p. 448.
3Sanders,
The
65
of David as the musical
composer and author of many psalms.
The Rabbinic writers for the most
part assigned the
work of the Psalter to David
though not necessarily the
authorship of every psalm. The
second century A.D. Talmud
tract Baba Bathra (14b) states,
"David wrote the Book of
Psalms
with the aid of the ten ancients, with the aid of
Adam the first, Melchizedek,
Abraham, Moses, Heman, Jeduthun,
Asaph,
and the three sons of Korah,"1
Apparently David was
considered the author of some
psalms, but the editor of the
entire Psalter.
Very similar is the statement of the
Midrash on the
Psalms from a latter date. On
Psalm 1:2 is included the
statement that "as Moses
gave five books of laws to
so David gave five books of
Psalms to
little later ten men are listed
as authors of the Book of
Psalms; namely Adam,
Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, David,
Solomon,
Asaph, and the three sons of Korah.3
The opinions of several Jewish commentators between
the tenth and thirteenth
centuries concerning the authorship
of the Psalms have been
summarized by Neubauer and in each
case David is held to be the
principle author of the
1Briggs, Commentary on Psalms, p. liv.
2William G. Braude,
trans., The Midrash on Psalms,
2 vols., in Yale Judaica Series 13, ed. Leon
Nemoy (New
Haven:
3Ibid.,
1:10.
66
Psalms.1 R. Saadyah Gaon (died 940) considered
David the
author of all the Psalms and
takes the other names as persons
responsible for singing them.2 Salmon ben Yeroham, Yepheth
ben Eli, Abraham ibn Ezra and
David Qamhi (or Kimhi) all
accept multiple authorship
according to the designations in
the titles.3
It was also the view of some of the
early Church
Fathers that David was the author
of the whole Psalter.
Augustine
for example considered the other names found in
the titles to be the
individuals whom David, in composing
the Psalms, prophetically
represented.4
It was in the seventeenth century
when Benedict
Spinoza began to expound the
Psalter
that respect for Davidic authorship began to be
undermined. The final abandonment
of Davidic authorship by
the higher critics came in the
nineteenth century with the
rise of the critical-historical
approach. At that time the
1Ad Neubauer, "The
Authorship and the Titles
According to Early Jewish Authorities," in
vol. 2 of
Studia Biblica et
Ecclesiastica,
ed. S. R. Driver, et al.
(Oxford:
at the Clarendon Press, 1890), pp. 10-28.
2Ibid., pp. 1C-13.
3Ibid., pp. 1P, 20-21,
25-27, 28; cf. David Kimhi,
The Commentary of Rabbi
David Kimhi on Psalms CXX-CL,
ed.
and trans. Joshua Baker and Ernest W. Nicholson
(Cambridge:
at the University Press, 1973), p. 11.
4Dewette,
"Introduction to the Psalms," pp. 456-
57.
67
Davidic
authorship was almost completely abandoned.1 Since
then with the aid of some key
archaeological discoveries and
the rise of the form-critical school
it has been shown that
there is good reason for at
least viewing many of the psalms
as pre-exilic and thus
answering the key objection to
Davidic authorship.2
Objections to Davidic Authorship
Five reasons are given by Driver as to why the
majority, at least, of the
seventy-three psalms ascribed to
David
cannot be his.3 His
first objection is that many of
these psalms are reminiscent of
earlier psalms and lack the
freshness and originality
expected from the originator of
Hebrew
hymnody. Such an objection arbitrarily limits David's
poetic genius and fails to take
into account the extenuating
circumstances out of which
these psalms often arose.
The second objection, involving the
presence of
pronounced Aramaisms is much
more objective. These Arama-
isms may be explained in part
by transmission. Weiser says
concerning these late
linguistic forms, they are "conclusive
only for the final form of the
psalms in question, not for
1Nahum M. Sarna,
Prolegomenon to The Psalms, Chrono-
logically Treated with a
New Translation,
by Moses Butten-
weiser,
in the Library of Biblical Studies, ed. Harry M.
Orlinsky
(New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1969),
p.
xv.
2Charles Lee Feinberg,
"The Date of the Psalms,"
BSac 104 (October-December
1947):439-40.
3Driver, Introduction to the OT, pp. 374-77.
68
the date at which they came
into existence."1
Oesterley
applies the same argument not
just to word forms but even to
some of the later thoughts.2
each of these Aramaisms and
comes to the following conclu-
sions: (1) There are only
fifteen genuine Aramaisms in the
Psalms, and of these only nine
occur in Davidic psalms;
(2)
these Aramaisms may actually have originated from other
ancient Semitic languages; and
(3) there is no reason why
David
could not have used Aramaisms since he ruled over all
of the Aramaeans as far as the
Euphrates.3 The
most recent
blow to Driver's argument comes
from the discovery of
Aramaic
elements in the fifteenth-century Ugaritic texts
which in terms of language,
poetic form and syntax are very
similar to Hebrew Poetry.4
Driver's third objection is that
some of these psalms
have stylistic affinities with
psalms which are much later
than David's time. Such
affinities, however, can not prove
any thing concerning the date
of a psalm. Like the first
objection it tends to be very
arbitrary and simplistic.
The last two objections which are quite similar are
1Weiser, The Psalms, p. 92.
2W. 0. E. Oesterley, A Fresh Approach to the Psalms
(London:
Ivor Nicolson and Watson, 1937), pp. 62-63.
3Wilson, "The
Headings of the Psalms," pp. 28-32.
4Harrison,
Introduction to the OT, pp. 983-84.
69
legitimate objections which
must be answered. Here Driver
cites several instances of
psalms which are unadapted to
David's
situation or character and psalms which presuppose
the circumstances and character
of a later age. A prime
example of this phenomena is
the implication that the temple
has already been built (Ps. 5:7
(8); 27:4; 68:29 (30);
138:2).
But the usage of lkAyhe in
these passages need not
refer to Solomon's temple as
may be seen from its usage in
1 Samuel 1:9 and 3:3.
Furthermore, as Archer points out,
there is proof in Psalm 27
which uses lkAyhe that
the psalm
could not have been written
after Solomon's temple was built
because the sanctuary is also
referred to as hKosu,
"booth"
and OlAh;xA, "His tent."'
There are also a number of psalms in
which the
writer identifies himself with
the poor and needy during
evil times when the wicked are
established and the godly are
oppressed (Pss. 12, 25, 37, 38,
etc.). Once again Driver
claims that these do not fit
into the historical accounts of
David's
life. Yet as Green has pointed out what better time
could be found for such
compositions than the time when
David
was being jealously pursued by Saul. At that time
David was God's anointed and
Saul had been rejected by the
Lord.
On one occasion Saul even massacred the priests sus-
pected of aiding David and
Abiathar had to flee for his
1Gleason L. Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Intro-
duction
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p. 441.
70
life.1 Here is fertile ground out of which such a
psalm
could have arisen.
Psalm 51:18-19, where a reference is
made to building
up the walls of
later reference to the hope of
restoration. Here it is a
matter of interpretation. The
expression "building the
walls" can mean "to
strengthen, enlarge, and fortify them"
(1 Kgs.
11:27; 12:25; 15:17, 22); or it can be used figura-
tively to mean "give
prosperity" (Ps. 28:5; 89:4).2 The
latter meaning would maintain
the synonymous parallelism of
the verse.
The references to the king in the
third person
rather than the first person
may also seem strange coming
from David, however, it is a
common phenomenon in ancient
literature. In fact many times
in the OT Yahweh is quoted
and speaks of Himself in the
third person.3 Thus,
it may be
observed in these few examples
that in most cases where the
critics object to Davidic
authorship of a psalm it is
because not all of the possible
interpretations that would
relate it to David's time have
been exhausted.
The argument of Sarna that the David
of Samuel and
Kings was a man of his age who
was ethically and morally
primitive and therefore unable
to write with the depth of
1Green, "The Titles
of the Psalms," p. 505.
2Ibid., p. 496.
3Archer,
A Survey of OT Introduction, p. 440.
71
spiritual insight and religious
devotion reflected in the
Psalms
is based on an evolutionary bias.1
gious and ethical concepts did
not develop over a period of
years, but were given to them
by God at
before David's time. The psalms
of David then reflect a
thorough knowledge of God's
law. As to the argument that
David
was not exposed to the succession of trials and afflic-
tions of the kind represented in
the Psalms, it can not be
substantiated. On the contrary,
Delitzsch summarizes David's
psalms as follows:
They
are the fruit not only of his high gifts and
the inspiration of the Spirit of God
(2 Sam. 23:2),
but also of his own experience and
of the experience
of his people interwoven with his
own. David's path
from his anointing onwards, lay
through affliction
to glory. . . . His life was marked
by vicissitudes
which at one time prompted him to
elegiac strains,
at another to praise and thanksgiving;
at the same
time he was the founder of the
kingship of promise,
a prophecy of the future Christ, and
his life, thus
typically moulded, could not express
itself other-
wise than in typical or even
consciously prophetic
language.2
Space does not allow for all of the
objections to
Davidic authorship in the
individual psalms to be answered.
These,
however, are treated in the commentaries on the Psalms
by such writers as Delitzsch,
Kirkpatrick and Perowne.3
1Sarna, "The Psalms
Superscriptions," p. 287.
2Delitzsch, Psalms, 1:9.
3For an exhaustive
treatment of positive evidence
for
Davidic authorship see International
Standard Bible
Encyclopaedia, s.v. "Psalms,
Book of," by John Richard
Sampey.
72
The Historical Notices in the Titles
If there is one item from the psalm titles that is
especially helpful in
interpretation it is the historical
notices, for they give the
historical occasion which
prompted the psalmist--in each
case, David--to write. Yet,
this is the one area in the
headings which has received the
most criticism. Some of this
criticism is based upon the
general character of these
notices and some on specific
problems found in the psalms.
General Character of the
Historical Notes
A total of thirteen psalms contain
these historical
notices in their titles.1 Everyone of them are identified
as Davidic psalms (dvidAl;) and refer to events in David's
life. Most, but not all, of
these events are recorded in
the books of Samuel. The
following is a list of these thir-
teen psalms with the
corresponding passage from the histor-
ical books of the OT as it was
compiled by Driver.2
Psalm
3--2 Samuel 15, etc.
Psalm
7--allusion obscure
Psalm
18--2 Samuel 22
Psalm
34--l Samuel 21:13
Psalm
51--2 Samuel 12
Psalm
52--l Samuel 22:9
Psalm
54--l Samuel 23:19
Psalm 56--1 Samuel 21:11
(or 27:2f., 7-12)
Psalm 57--1 Samuel 22:1; 24:3ff.
Psalm 59--1 Samuel 19:11
1This number may be
increased to 14 if Psalm 30 is
included.
The title there reads "A psalm, A song. For the
dedication
of the temple. Of David." (NIV).
2Driver,
An Introduction to the OT, p. 370.
73
Psalm
60--2 Samuel 8:13 (cf. v. 3 Zobah); 1 Chronicles
18:12
Psalm 63--l Samuel 23:14ff.; 24:1;
26:2
Psalm 142--1 Samuel 22:1; 24:3ff.
In summary; Psalms 7, 34, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, and
142 refer to the period of
David's persecution by Saul;
Psalm
18 to the climax of his reign; Psalm 51 to his con-
fession of sin with Bathsheba;
Psalm 60 to the Syro-Ammonite
war; and Psalms 3 and 63 to his
flight from Absalom.
In all but two instances these historical
references
follow a set pattern of syntax.
There is a noun clause
introduced by the temporal
conjunction B; with
the infini-
tive construct. Then the finite
verb is used in the follow-
ing coordinate or subordinate
clause.1 The
two exceptions
to this stereotyped form are
found in Psalm 7 and 18. In
each of these titles the
particle rw,xE
introduces a rela-
tive clause. The relative
clause of Psalm 7 describes the
psalm as "that which he
(David) sang to Yahweh concerning
the words of Cush, a Benjamite."2 With Psalm 18 the obvi-
ously different form is
probably due to its adaptation from
2
Samuel 22:1. Similar to Psalm 7 the relative clause uses
the finite verb with the
non-technical reference to "this
song." In all but Psalm 7
either the syntactical construc-
tion or a prepositional phrase
indicates the time or
1Childs, "Psalm
Titles," p. 138.
2Childs views this title
as belonging to a litur-
gical
setting since -lf in every other occurrence in the
titles
refers to the manner in which the psalm is to be
rendered; Ibid., p. 138.
74
occasion with which the psalm
is to be associated.
An intriguing parallel to this
stereotyped form of
historical note is found in the
introduction to Hezekiah's
psalm in Isaiah 38. Like the
historical notes in the psalm
titles it is introduced with
the infinitive construct joined
to the preposition B;. The similarity is seen in the tech-
nical psalm classification and
designation of authorship as
well. From this it may be
concluded that by Hezekiah's time
a fixed form of psalm title was
being used.
Objections to the Credibility
of
The Historical
Notes
The stereotyped form of these
historical references
has been used by Childs as
evidence that they were part of
an exegetical process by
ancient rabbis who desired to
supply a setting for these
independent compositions.1 This
view is echoed by Bruce,
although he is willing to admit
that some at least of the
"historical" titles probably find
their origin in the time of the
monarchy. He cites the
example of Psalm 18.2
Another view with less respect is cited by Oesterley.
He sees
them as the work of a redactor who wanted to draw
attention to certain words or
episodes which came to his
mind from the historical books
as he studied these psalms.3
1Ibid., pp. 142-43.
2Bruce, "The
Earliest OT Interpretation," p. 46.
3Oesterley,
A Fresh Approach to the Psalms, p.
86.
75
Weiser is even more critical in
calling them
additions designed to establish
Davidic authorship and thus
David’s
authority for the cultic practices of the Second
Glueck says that these notices have
nothing to do
with the historical setting of
the psalm. Instead, they
were added as a kind of
mnemotechnic used by the director of
music to remind the people of
this or that psalm.2 All of
these explanations seriously
undermine the credibility of
these historical notes placing
them in the category of con-
jecture or downright
deceitfulness. Much of modern scholar-
ship has abandoned the view
that these notes represent
ancient traditions for a
variety of reasons.
A common complaint is that the
contents of the psalms
are inconsistent with their
historical contentions.3 How-
ever, as they are individually
examined it is found that
these objections are based upon
a superficial understanding
of both the historical texts
and the psalm texts. For
example, Eerdmans assumes that
in the title of Psalm 7 is the
Cushite who reports to David
the death of Absalom, and then
notes the difference of mood
1Weiser, The Psalms, p. 38; cf. Edward R.
Dalgish,
Psalm Fifty-One (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1962), p. 245.
2J. J. Glueck, "Some
Remarks on the Introductory
Notes of the Psalms," in Studies on the Psalms, in Die Ou
Testamentiese
Werkgemeenskap in Suid-Africa (Potchefstroom,
3Eerdmans,
The Hebrew Book of Psalms, p. 37.
76
between the psalm and 2 Samuel
19:1.1 Such
an assumption
cannot be substantiated, in
fact, Eerdman is one of the few
who makes that assumption.
Bruce conjectures that
be a "kinsman and emissary
of Saul otherwise unknown," or
another name for Shimei.2 No definite identification can
be made from the Biblical
information which raises the
question of where an
"exegete" would have gotten his infor-
mation.
Many of these apparent
inconsistencies may be ex-
plained by the fact that the
psalms express the thoughts and
emotions of David in various
crisis and not simply the
historical facts. For example
Eerdmans rejects the authen-
ticity of the title of Psalm
142 because in the psalm David
is pictured as a lonely man
forsaken by all his friends.3
The
title, meanwhile, identifies it as a psalm of David in
the cave; where, according to 1
Samuel 22, he was joined by
his family and about 400 men.
David, in Psalm 142 was not
giving an indication of who was
or was not with him in per-
son, but rather an expression
of his inward feelings on that
occasion.
It is also possible that David may have recorded the
words of some of these psalms
sometime after the experiences
as he reflected back upon them.
Kidner suggests this
1Ibid.,
2Bruce, "The
Earliest OT Interpretation," p. 48.
3Eerdmans,
The Hebrew Book of Psalms, p. 399.
77
possibility in response to the
objection that the polished
work of art represented by the
acrostic of Psalm 34 could
not have been written in the
life or death situation
described in the title.1
This could also account for the
strong statement of faith which
some commentators find to be
inconsistent with the fear
which led David to feign madness
before the king of
sistencies may also be answered
by pointing to David's
persevering faith and
proficient poetic ability as he was
guided by the Holy Spirit.
The lack of specific references within the psalms to
the events described in the
titles should not be used as
evidence against their
authenticity. On the contrary,
Harris sees a divine purpose in
such titles which he express-
es with regard to Psalm 56.
It
expresses trust in time of trouble; but the
Philistines, or
explicitly mentioned. The psalm very
likely was
written years after the event as
David thought upon
those desperate days. He did not
write just for the
pleasure of writing about his
experiences. By the
Spirit
of God, he was moved to write a general psalm
that would also be helpful to us
when we are cap-
tured by our Philistines in the twentieth century.2
It is the above mentioned lack of specific ref-
erences within the psalms to
the events described in the
titles which has led to
Slomovic's view concerning the ori-
gin of these titles. He
suggests that the rabbis used all
1Kidner, Psalms 1-72, p. 44.
2Harris,
"Psalms," p. 38.
78
the midrashic-hermeneutical
methods to determine the set-
tings for these psalms.1 For instance, he sees a linguistic
connection between Psalm 56 and
the narration of 1 Samuel
21:11-16.
The word llahA
appears three times in the Psalm
and once in the Samuel
narrative. Also, the expression of
fear, xrAyxi (Ps,. 56:4) is connected with the only mention
of
fear on David's part in the
Historical narratives (1 Sam.
21:13).2 Certainly if this was the explanation for
the ti-
tles there would be good reason
to question their authen-
ticity.
Another reason for discrediting
these notes is that
in some cases they differ from
the information given in the
historical narratives. For
example, in Psalm 34:1 the king
of
called Achish. Another very
conspicuous difference is found
in the title of Psalm 60. There
it is said that David
fought the Aramaeans and Joab
returned and struck down
12,000
Edomites in the
2 Samuel 8 mentions David's
defeat of the Aramaeans and
identifies David as the one
returning from striking down
18,000
Edomites in the
icles 18:12 it is Abishai who
struck down 18,000 Edomites in
1Slomovic,
"Formation of Historical Titles," p. 352.
2Ibid., p. 372; Patrick
W. Skehan, "A Note on
Ps.
34,1," CBQ 14 (July 1952):226,
also sees the use of the
root
llahA
as the connecting link between Psalm 34:3 and
1 Sam. 21:14.
79
the
These differences, however, need not
be construed
as irreconcilable accounts of
the same event. In the case
of Achish and Abimelech they
both refer to the same person.
Achish
is the king's personal name and Abimelech is his
title, similar to the Pharaoh
of Egypt (cf. Gen. 20 & 26).1
As for
Psalm 60:2, Green has shown how that the last part of
the title may simply refer to a
separate part of David's
overall campaign against
Joash.2 The obvious differences in the case of
Psalm 60:2
from the historical narratives
has led some like Butten-
wieser to consider this as a
genuine heading.3 In
fact this
is the only heading
Buttenwieser considers to be genuine.
Perowne questions the authenticity of these histori-
cal notices on the basis that
they only occur in Davidic
psalms. He argues that the
history of David is much better
known than of the other
psalmists so it was easier to fit
his psalms into a particular occasion
in David's life. This
is then confirmed by the fact
that most of them are taken
almost word for word from the
historical books.4 This
argu-
ment does not stand for it is
just as easy to attribute
1Green, "The Titles
of the Psalms," p. 499.
2Ibid., pp. 499-500.
3Moses Buttenwieser, The Psalms, Chronologically
Treated, with a New
Translation,
Prolegomenon by Nahum M.
Sarna,
in the Library of Biblical Studies, ed. Harry M.
Orlinsky
(New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1969), p.
70.
4Perowne,
The Book of Psalms, 1:101.
80
these titles to someone like
the author of the historical
books who was himself familiar
with the events of David's
life.
Positive Arguments for the
Credibility
of the Historical
Notes
Some of the reasons for rejecting the authenticity
of the historical notes may
just as easily be used to sup-
port their authenticity. The variations
and additional bio-
graphical details may be cited
as evidence for the use of a
different tradition behind at
least some of the titles from
what is given in the historical
books.
These different traditions do not
necessarily mean
that the titles are authentic,
but it does argue for their
antiquity. For example in the
case of Psalm 7, there would
be no reason for introducing
the unknown "
in the title unless it was a
detail that had been passed
down with the psalm itself.1 The same could be said con-
cerning some of the details
introduced in the title of
Psalm
60. They must have been valid traditions for as
Archer says, "A later
editor would never have ventured to
manufacture new details not
contained in Samuel and Chron-
icles."2
It may also be noted that the want of a clear
1Kidner, Psalms 1-72, p. 46.
2Archer,
A Survey of OT Introduction, p. 443.
81
connection between the contents
of a psalm and the psalm
title is best explained by a
tradition connected with the
psalm from the time it was
written. Meanwhile, some of the
other psalms in the Psalter
which contain obvious historical
allusions have no such titles.
If these historical refer-
ences are the work of a
rabbinic exegete it seems strange
that he would pass over the
obvious and make up an histori-
cal setting based upon such
meager evidence in some cases.
In summary, these notes which in
thirteen instances
give the historical setting out
of which the psalm arose
deserve serious attention. They
give important clues con-
cerning the origin of many
other psalms beside their own.
They
show that many of the psalms arose out of the experi-
ences of the life of a man who
walked with God. Therefore,
unless it could be proven that
there is a conflict between
the claim of the title and the
contents of the psalm they
should be accepted as
trustworthy.1 As far
as their origin
is concerned it must be
admitted that there is no way of
knowing how they originally
became a part of the text.
Kidner's remarks on this are
especially appropriate.
It
should perhaps be left an open question whether
some are the product of comparing
scripture with
scripture, and others the product of
historical
records. What matters is their
truth, which there
is no valid reason to doubt, and which finds
1Many of the claims by
critics that such conflicts
do
exist have been shown to be unsubstantiated by Green,
"The Titles of the Psalms," pp.
494-504; and by Leupold in
his commentary, Exposition of the Psalms.
82
incidental
confirmation in the light which they throw
on the psalms they introduce.1
Summary Statement on the
Credibility of
the Psalm
Titles
From the internal and external
evidences examined
with regard to the credibility
of the psalm titles it may be
concluded that they represent
authentic traditions. As such,
they are to be taken at face
value and may be used as accu-
rate and reliable sources of
information concerning the
author, historical setting, and
liturgical use of the psalms
where such information is
given. The musical and liturgical
notes would apply to their
usage in the
it is likely that some of them
were still functionable in
the
1Kidner,
Psalms 1-72, p. 46.
CHAPTER IV
THE ORIGIN OF THE PSALM TITLES
It is impossible to discern with any
certainty when
or how the titles came to be a
part of the various psalms.
Several
theories have been proposed, many of which have
already been discussed and
shown to be faulty on one account
or another. The most acceptable
view in light of the pre-
ceding material is that they
are pre-exilic in origin and
very likely date back to the
time of composition.
The first line of argument comes
from a comparison
of the psalm titles with the
Chronicler. First Chronicles
16:7-36
gives a composite psalm consisting of Psalms 105:1-
15; 96:1-13; the closing prayer
of Psalm 106:47; and the
doxological colophon of Book
Four of the Psalms. This com-
posite psalm was committed to
Asaph by David to be sung by
the Levitical singers on the
day that the ark of God was
brought up to
ent form of the Psalter
including the titles must have been
established before the
Chronicler wrote.
This fixed form is indicated first
of all by the
inclusion of the doxology which
has been shown to belong to
the final redaction of the
Psalter, serving a literary and
83
84
not a liturgical function.1 As far as the titles are con-
cerned it may be assumed that
they were already established
at this time since Psalms 96,
105 and 106 remained anonymous
even though the Chronicler
identified them as Davidic.
One additional passage from
Chronicles which
form before the Chronicler
wrote is 2 Chronicles 29:30.2
According
to it the Levites were ordered by Hezekiah to sing
praises to Yahweh with the
words of David and Asaph. This
indicates that there were
psalms recognized as belonging to
David
and Asaph not only in the Chronicler's day, but also
in Hezekiah's day. It is not
certain whether they were
recognized by their titles or a
distinct collection, but
apparently David's and Asaph's
psalms were distinguishable
a little over 200 years after
they were written.3
Further evidence for an early origin of the titles
comes from the arrangement of
the Psalter. The Psalter is
divided into five books with
the majority of the titles
being found in the first three.
The fourth and fifth books
contain only four psalms which
have any kind of musical
directions and these psalms are
Davidic.
as an indication of a
1Fullerton, "Studies
in the Psalter," p. 192.
2Ibid., p. 190.
3By this time
This
is confirmed by the Annals of Senacharib in which he
reports
that male and female musicians were included in the
tribute paid by Hezekiah. See
Pritchard, ANET, p. 288.
85
titles.1 In response to those who claim that these
titles
are associated with the worship
in the
asks, "why do we not find
the most choice notes with the
later psalms?"2
The Chronicler of course supports
this arrangement
in that it was under David's
leadership that the more elab-
orate service of song in the
former
Thus,
it should come as no surprise that in the first three
books of Psalms sixty-five of
the eighty-nine psalms have
musical
directions. These are almost without exception
identified as being composed by
David or his contemporaries.
It may
also be noted here that the two Asaph psalms which
by their context must be
considered exilic psalms (Pss. 74
and 79) have no musical
directions.
It is suggested then that all of the
information
contained in the psalm titles
finds its origin in the period
of the composition of the
psalms. This does not necessarily
mean that the titles were
affixed to the psalms by the
author, though that was
undoubtedly true in some cases.
Most
likely they were placed at the head of the psalms by
the editor or compiler as the
Psalter was being formed.
There has been much speculation
concerning how the title:
came into the text of the
psalms. Nevertheless, the fact
remains that they are a part of
the text of Scripture that
God has
seen fit to preserve. All the evidence that has
1Bernard C. Taylor,
"The Psalms with Their Super-
scriptions,"
Hebraica 1 (April 1884):30.
2Ibid.
86
been presented suggests that
their origin lies squarely
within the prophetic tradition
of the OT Scriptures which
makes their authenticity a
foregone conclusion.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
The ultimate conclusion from the
evidence that has
been presented is that the
psalm titles are authentic. They
may not have been written by
the authors of the various
psalms but they do represent
ancient and reliable traditions.
This is
shown in part by the antiquity of the titles. From
the standpoint of textual
studies, there is no evidence to
show that there was ever a time
when they were not a part of
the text. By comparing the
titles with other portions of
Scripture
it seems very probable that they were fixed well
before the exile. Even if some
were added as late as Ezra's
time that would still place
them within the "prophetic tra-
dition."
As a product of the "prophetic
tradition" they
deserve then to be respected,
recognized and understood as
an integral part of the various
canonical psalms to which
they belong. To omit these
titles from the text, as The
New English Bible does
in its translation, is a great
disservice to the reader.1
1Driver gives the reasons
why they were omitted as
follows. "Some are historical notices,
obviously deduced
from
the text and often unsuitable; all are of doubtful
value. . . ." Concerning
the musical notations he says
87
88
The information contained in the
titles has been
shown to be accurate in the
areas of authorship and histor-
ical backgrounds. When the
preposition l; is
used in the
titles with a personal name the
author of the psalm is indi-
cated either personally, as is
the case with David, or
generically, as with Asaph and
the sons of Korah. When an
historical background is given
for a psalm, it does not rep-
resent the speculation of some
Jewish rabbi but the actual
historical context from which
the psalm originated. The
other notes, which were not
specifically discussed, repre-
sent actual instructions and
factual information which were
important for the usage of the
psalm in
Thus,
these latter notes provide important clues concerning
the role of psalmody in conveying
God's Word to
their public worship.
In summary, the psalm titles are trustworthy witness-
es concerning the authorship,
age, purpose and occasion of
the various psalms concerning
which they give such informa-
tion either implicitly or explicitly.
"they
are now for the most part unintelligible." He goes
on
to note the totally different notes found in the Syriac
version
and concludes that "as such the headings are almost
certainly
not original." See Godfrey R. Driver, Introduc-
tion
to The New English Bible, The Old
Testament (n.p.:
APPENDIX A
A Comparison of the MT Titles
and the DSS Titles
Psalm MT1 Col. Line 11QPsa2
121 tvlfml ryw III
1 tvlfmh ryw
122 tvlfmh
ryw III 7 same as MT
dvdl
123 tvlfmh ryw III 15 tvlfml dyvd[ ]
126 tvlfmh ryw IV
9 same
as MT
127 tvlfmh
ryw IV 16 hmvlwl [ ]
hmlwl
129 tvlfmh ryw V
4 [ ]w
130 tvlfmh ryw V 10 same
as MT
133 tvlfmh
ryw XXIII 7 same as MT
dvdl
138 dvdl XXI 1 same as MT
140
rvmzm
Hcnml XXIII 12 same
as MT
dvdl
143 dvdl rvmzm XXV 6 same as MT
144 dvdl XXIII 12 no
Title
145 dvdl hlht XVI 7 dyvdl hlpt
1Taken from K. Elliger
and W. Rudolf, eds., Biblia
Hebraica Stuttgartensia (
1967/1977).
2Taken from J. A.
Sanders, The Psalms Scroll of
of
89
90
Psalm MT Col.
Line 11QPsa
104 no Title Fragment
El1 dvdl
133 dvdl tvlfmh
ryw dvdl
tv
[ ]
4QPsb 3
103 dvdl d[ ]
4QPsq4
33 no Title rvmzm
ryw dyvdl
4QpPs455
45 Mynww
lf Hcnml ]
My [ ] lf Hcnml
lykWm
Hrq-ynbl
tdydy ryw
Nahal Hever frg.6
16 dvdl Mtcm ] vdl Mt [ ]
1J. A. Sanders, The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll (
2J. Van Der Ploeg , "Fragments
d'un manuscrit de
psaumes de Qumran (11gPsb)," RB 74 (1967):411.
3Patrick W. Skehan
"A Psalm Manuscript from
(4QPsb)," CBQ
26 (July 1964): 318.
4J. T. Milik, "Deux
documents inedits du Desert de
Juda,"
Bib 38 (19.57):246.
5John M. Allegro,
ies
in the
1968),
p. 45.
6Y.
Yadin, "Expedition D." IEJ
11 (1961):40.
91
82 Jsxl rvmzm "A Psalm of Asaph"
83 Jsxl rvmzm ryw "A Song, A Psalm of Asaph"
84 tytgh
lf Hcnml "To the Chief Musician
rmzm
Hrq ynbl (upon Gittith, A Psalm
for
the
Sons of Korah) "
85 Hrq-ynbl
Hcnml "To
the Chief Musician, A
rvmzm Psalm
for the Sons of
Korah"
1Y. Yadin, "The
Excavation of Masada--l963/1934,
Preliminary
Report," IEJ 15 (1965):104. Only
the English
translations of the titles are
given by Yadin.
APPENDIX B
Possible
Meanings of l;
Combined with a
Proper Name1
1. "On (or: about)
N.N."
2. "For N.N.;"
"composed for N.N. (by someone else)"
3.
Something is intended to be used "on behalf (for benefit)
of N.N. "
4.
"Belonging to N.N.," that is to say, to the property or
the inheritance of N.N. or to what
tradition has
preserved concerning him
5.
"At the disposal of N.N." The source and original
intention of the matter in question are not given
6. Lamed auctoris, "(a work) of N.N."
7.
"In the manner (style) of," and characterizes the work
as "composed in the manner of N.N."
1Taken from L. A. F.
LeMat, Textual Criticism and
Exegesis of Psalm XXXVI (
1957), p. 34.
92
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED
Albright,
William Foxwell. Archaeology and the
Religion of
Allegro,
the
Press, 1968.
Anderson,
A. A. The Book of Psalms, vol. 1. In
New Century
Bible. Edited by Ronald E. Clements, 1972.
The Apocrypha, an
American Translation.
Translated by Edgar
J. Goodspeed.
Archer,
Gleason L. A Survey of Old Testament
Introduction.
Avigad,
N. "The Priest of Dor."
25 (1975):101-105.
Barth,
Christoph. Introduction to the Psalms.
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1966.
Biblical Literature 33
(1914): 198-200.
Bloemendaal,
William. The Headings of the Psalms in
the
Braude,
William G., trans. The Midrash on Psalms,
2 vols.
In Yale Judaica Series 13. Edited by
Leon Nemoy.
Briggs,
Charles Augustus, and Briggs, Emilie Grace. A
Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of
Psalms, vol. 1. ICC. Edited by C. A. Briggs, et al.
Brown,
Francis; Driver, S. R.; and Briggs, C. A.; editors.
A
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament
Bruce,
F. F. "The Earliest Old Testament Interpretation."
in The Witness of Tradition. In vol. 17 of
Oudtestamentische
Studien.
1962:41-52.
93
94
Bullock,
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Please report any errors to Ted
Hildebrandt: ted.hildebrandt@gordon.edu