The Early History of the Psalter

Abstract

The Psalms are full of references to music, Jerusalem and the sanctuary. Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah say they were being performed there by the Levites, and the titles (which have a marked community of ideas and language with those books, though without dependence) endorse this. The division into five books pre-dates the LXX version, but there are many indications, in the text and titles, of a still earlier division into three. The meaning of the musical directions and other technical terms in the titles had been forgotten, in Semitic circles as well as Hellenistic, before the LXX version was made. Since, after the Exile, the Psalms were being performed continuously, this suggests that the titles are even pre-exilic. The final component of the titles has its own history. The eccentric Psalms MSS from Qumran are probably liturgical adaptations.The article is followed by a tabular analysis of the psalm-titles.