- Name.
The names "Psalms" and "Psalter" come from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament, sometimes abbreviated LXX), where they originally referred to stringed instruments (such as the harp depicted in the picture, tyre, and lute), then to songs sunge with their accompaniment. The traditional Hebrew title is "tehillim" (meaning "praises", i.e. Psalm 145 title), even though many of the psalms are "tephilot" (meaning "prayers"). In fact, one of the first collections included in the book was titled "the prayers of David son of Jesse" (72:20).
- Collection.
The Psalter is a collection of collections and represents the final stage in a process that spanned centuries. It was put into its final form by postexlic temple personnel, who completed it probably in the third century B.C. As such, it served as the prayer book (book of prayer, praise, and religious instruction) for the second (Zerubbabel's and Herod's) temple and for use in the synagogues. By the first century A.D. it was referred it was referred to as the "Book of Psalms" (Luke 20:42; Acts 1:20). At that time also Psalms was used as a title for the entire section of the Hebrew Old Testament canon known as the "Writings" (Luke 24:44)
- Arrangement.
The Psalter was divided into five Books (scrolls), and each was provided with an appropriate concluding doxology. The first two of these Books, as already noted, were probably preezilic. The division of the remaining psalms into three Books, thus attaining the number five, was possibly in imitation of the five books of Moses (Law, Mosaic Law). At least one of these divisions (between Psalms 106 and 107) seems arbitrary. In spite of this five-book division, the Psalter was clearly thought of as a whole, with an introduction (Psalm 1 and 2) and a conclusion (Psalm 146-150). Notes throughout the Psalms give additional indications of the conscious arrangement.
- Authorship and Titles (or Superscriptions).
Of the 150 psalms, only 34 lack superscriptions of any kind (only 17 in the Septuagint). These so called "prphan" psalms are found mainly in Books III and V, where they tend to occur in clusters.
- Occasion and Purpose
Psalms
- Psalm Types
- FORM
The Psalms intro is not done.
- STYLE
Psalms need to be read and meditated upon in order to begin to see the beauty of them. Closing the world around and indulging in the writers world with full awareness of the Lord God opens the world of the Psalter.
- Literary Features
The Psalter is from first to last poetry, even though it contains many prayers and not all Old Testament prayers were poetic in the modern sense (they lack rhyme and regular meter) - nor was all praise poetic in the modern sense, for that matter. The Psalms are impassioned, vivid, and concrete; they are rich in images, in simile and metaphor. Assonance, alliteration and wordplays abound in the Hebrew text. Effective use of repetition and the piling up of synonyms and complements to fill out the picture are characteristic.
Hebrew poetry lacks rhyme and regular meter. Its most distinctive and pervasive feature is parallelism. Most poetic lines are composed of two (sometimes three) balanced segments (the balance is often loose, with the second segment commonly somewhat shorter than the first).
