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