Psalms

PSALMS. The Book of the Psalms, is call’d, in the Hebrew, a Sepher Tehillim, The Book of Hymns. In the Gospel it is named, sometimes, The Book of Psalms; and sometimes only, The Prophet, or David, from the Name of its principal Author. This Book is justly esteem’d as a kind of Abridgment of the whole Scripture: It contains, in short, whatever is found in the other sacred Books. Psalmorum liber quæcumque utilia sunt ex omnibus continet, says St. Austin. ‘Tis a general Library, wherein we may meet with whatever is requisite for our Salvation, says Cassiodor. Præf. in Psalm.Cassiodorus; In hoc libro spiritualis Bibliotheca instructa est. The sacred History instructs Ambros. Præf. in Psalm.us, says St. Ambrose, the Prophecies declare what is to come, the Reproofs restrain the Wicked, the Morality persuades them; but the Psalms produce all these Effects. Agreeableness and Usefulness are there so happily mix’d, that it is not easy to decide which is most prevalent. Certat in Psalmo doctrina cum gratia simul. Hence proceeds that great Veneration that has always been given to the Psalms. ‘Twas almost become a general Rule, That the Bishops, the Priests, and all religious Persons, were to have the Psalter by heart: The Church has made it a principal Part of her Service, and has obliged her Ministers to rehearse some Portions of it every Day.

The Hebrews commonly divide the Psalter into five Books; and several of the Fathers¹ admit of this Division, and think it very ancient. Eusebius says, It may be observ’d in the Hebrew Original, and in the best Editions of the Septuagint. St. Ambrose expressly refutes those who rejected this Division, and who thought it contrary to the New Testament, which quotes the Psalter only as a single Book. This last Reason was satisfactory to St. Hilarius², St. Jerom³, and St. Austin⁴, so as to cause them to give up this Division of the Psalter into five Books, as being contrary to Scripture. Modern Commentators are not more unanimous than the Antients upon this Point: Some think the Psalter was distributed into five Books by the same Authors that collected the Psalms; but Others will have this to be much more modern, and even since the Times of the Apostles. In Reality, this Dispute is of no great Consequence.

But what persuades us that this Distribution is very antient, and even from the Time of the first Authors that collected the Psalms into a Body, is, that at the End of each Book we read the same Conclusion, which seems to have been put there by Esdras, or by those that had the Care of collecting the sacred Vid. Muis ad Psal. xl. The English Version follows the Distribution of the Hebrew.Books after the Captivity of Babylon. This is certain, that neither the Jews nor Christians have ever reckon’d the Collection of Psalms but as one Book, in the Enumeration of the Books of Holy Scripture. The first Book of the Psalter, according to the Hebrews, ends at our fortieth Psalm. The second at the seventy-first. The third at the eighty-eighth. The fourth at the hundred and fifth. The fifth at the hundred and fifti-eth. The four first Books conclude with these Words, Amen, Amen, in the Hebrew, and with fiat, fiat, in the Latin. The fifth with Hallelujah both in the Hebrew and the Latin. The Number of Canonical Psalms has always been fix’d among the Jews, as also among the Christians, at one hundred and fifty; for the hundred and fifty-first, to be found in the Greek, has never been received as Canonical. But tho’ the Number of the Whole has been agreed on, yet there is a Variety in their Distribution. The Jews make two of the ninth, and begin their tenth at these Words of Psalm ix. 22. Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? so that from this Place to Psalm cxiii. their Citations and Numbers are different from ours, and from those of the Greeks. They are always a Psalm before us, and that which is our nineteenth is their twentieth, and so of the rest. The Protestant Churches, following this Division of the Hebrews, quote the Psalms in like manner; which is necessary to be observed in reading their Books.

At Psalm cxiii. When Israel went out of Egypt, they recede still farther from us, for they divide this Psalm into two, and begin the cxiv. at these Words, Not unto us, O Lord. So that Psalm cxiv. according to the Greeks and Latins, is their cxvi. But afterwards they come nearer us again, by uniting Psalms cxiv. and cxv. together, so that they differ from us but by one as far as the cxlvi. And then uniteing again Psalms cxlvi. and cxlvii. they coincide with us, and continue to reckon with the Vulgate to the End of the Psalter.

There is also some Difference among the antient Greek and Latin Copies, about the Division of the first and second Psalm; some making but one of both, and others dividing them into two, as we do at this Day. ‘Tis true in general, that the Division of the Psalter is not of that Antiquity that might be imagin’d, and that sometimes one is obliged, in order to pursue the Sense of some of the Psalms, to connect one to another, or to separate them, as the Matter requires. St. Hilarius affirms,⁵ that in his Time the Distribution of the Psalms was not yet settled among the Hebrews, and that some divided them in one manner, and some in another. Origen makes the same Observation.⁶ He says, that in the Hebrew the Psalms are mark’d by 1, 2, 3, &c. and in the Time of Kimchi, that is, in the twelfth Age, the Matter was yet undetermined.⁷ In our Preface upon the Psalms, Art. II. and in the Commentary, it may be seen, that often several Psalms have been made of what ought to have been but one, by the Intention of the Author that composed them.

It is a Tradition among the Hebrews and Christians, that Esdras is, if not the only, yet the principal Author of the Collection of the Book of Psalms. Eusebius, St. Hilary, Theodoret, the Author of the Synopsis printed under the Name of St. Athanasius, venerable Bede, and several others impute this Honour to him. Philaster says, that Philastr. hæres. 77.wise Men of the Jewish Nation having collected them together, ranged them in the same Order that they had received from their Ancestors, who had preserved them from the Hands of their Enemies. Even before the Captivity there was a Collection of the Psalms of David, since Hezekiah, when 2 Chron. xxix. 25, 26, &c.he restor’d the Worship of the Lord in the Temple, caus’d the Psalms of David to be sung there. In the Library that Nehemiah erected at Jerusalem, he caused the Psalms 2 Mac. ii. 13.of David to be deposited.

Speculative Men have exercis’d themselves very much, upon the Order and Disposition that the Psalms ought to observe among themselves. They have discovered Mystery and Design, some in one manner and some in another. Some⁸ have thought they could observe a Succession of the Events of the Life of David. Others have pretended, that Regard was had to the Order of the Solemnities that were celebrated in the Temple. St. Chrysostom observes, that generally speaking the first Psalms are upon Subjects of Sorrow, and the latter upon more joyful and comfortable Subjects. St. Austin acknowledges, that he could not yet discover the Mystery of the Disposition of the Psalms, but that it seems to him, that every fiftieth hath a Relation to the Vocation, the Justification, and the Glorification of the Saints; since the fiftieth relates to Repentance, the hundredth to Mercy, and the hundred and fiftieth to the Praise of God in his Saints. But St. Jerome observes, that it is impertinent to expect in the Psalter a chronological Series of Canticles, which have relation to certain Events of History, since it is not the Custom of the Authors of Lyricks to observe any such Order in their Compositions; and indeed, a very little Examination of the Text and Spirit of the Psalms may convince us, that those that undertook this Collection had no other Design, than to give us all these holy Canticles as they found them, with a religious and exact Scrupulosity, without putting themselves to the Trouble either of retrenching what had been already repeated, or of supplying what might seem deficient, or of connecting what had been separated, or of separating what had been improperly join’d together. They have left the Care of making these Observations to those that were to study the Letter of the Psalms. See our Preface to the Psalms, Art. III.

The Authority and Canonicalness of the Book of Psalms have always been acknowledg’d by both Jews and Christians. Philastius says, that the Nicolaites, the Gnosticks, and the Manichees deny’d that David was a Prophet, or that his Works were the Effect of the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Also some Anabaptists have deny’d the Inspiration of the Book of Psalms. But the general Sentiment of the Christian Church has always been, that all the hundred and fifty Psalms contain’d in the Psalter were the Work of the Holy Ghost. One thing only creates a Difficulty with some Persons of Piety, that in the Psalms we sometimes find a kind of Imprecation against the Wicked, and the Enemies of the Prophet. But the Fathers and Interpreters commonly explain these Passages, as if they were Predictions of those Calamities mities that were to befall them, or Wishes for their Conversion. As if it were said, that they should certainly perish, if they continued in their disorderly Courses; or, let them perish if they were not converted. St. Chrysost. in Psal. cxxxvi.11.Chrysostom says, that in these Passages the Psalmist does not so much deliver his own Sentiments, as those of others. St. AthanasiusAthan. Argumento in Ps. lxxii. maintains, that he makes these Curses and Imprecations, not against Men his visible Enemies, but against the Devils which are his invisible Enemies. The Reader may see M. Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, in his Preface to the Psalms, and our Commentary upon Psalm xxxiv. p. 373, 374.

Nothing can be a greater Argument of the Obscurity of the Book of Psalms, than the great Number of Commentaries that have been made upon them, and which are still made every Day, in order to explain Bocchius in Psalm. p. 806. Draud. Bibliot. Class. p. 522, &c.them. Bocchius and Draudius have reckon’d up above five hundred. Father Le Long of the Oratory, in the second Tome of his Bibliotheca Sacra, has enumerated as far as six hundred and thirty, without reckoning those which have wrote upon the Scripture in general, or those that have commented upon a Part of the Psalms only; so that if we would comprehend all these, it may be affirm’d, that above a thousand Writers have undertook to illustrate the Psalms. The Difficulty of succeeding in the Explication of these divine Canticles proceeds from several Sources. The first is, the Obscurity of the Hebrew Text. The second is, the Nature of the Style, which is very sublime, and at the same time very different from our manner. The third is, the Abstruseness of the Matter. The Hebrew Text of the Psalms is more obscure than that of the other Books of Scripture, as in general the Style of Poetry is more difficult than that of Prose. Besides, the Copyers having understood it less, and having oftner transcrib’d this Book, have occasion’d many Faults therein. We need but compare the several Manners in which the Seventy, the Syriack, and St. Jerome have translated this Text, with what we read at this Day, to perceive this Difference.

Men are agreed about the Authority of the Book of Psalms, and acknowledge the Authors to have been divinely inspired; but they are not agreed whether they are owing to one Author or to many, or who he was, or they were, who composed them. Some assert they all belong to David, which others again deny. St. Chrysostom, a St. Ambrose,⁹ St. Austin,¹⁰ Theodoret,¹¹ Cassiodorus,¹² Euthymius,¹³ Philastrius,¹⁴ and many of the Moderns, maintain, that David alone was the Author of them all. St. Hilary,¹⁵ the Author of the Synopsis ascribed to Athanasius, and several others, pretend the contrary. The Reasons of each Opinion are to be discuss’d. Those that think David to have written the whole Psalter, rely upon these: 1. That in Scripture this holy King is marked out by his 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2.Character of Psalmist of Israel. The sweet Psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, &c. 2. In all the Ceremonies wherein mention is made of Singers, or of Psalms, generally the Psalms of David are intended. Thus at the Dedication of the Temple of Solomon, the Levites rehearsed the Canticles that David had 1 Chron. xxiii. 5.composed. When Hezekiah was about to restore the Worship of the Lord in the 2 Chron. xxix. 30.Temple, he commanded the Levites to praise the Lord with the Words of David and of Asaph the Seer. Asaph was principal Ezra iii. 10. Nehem. xii. 35, 39. 2 Macc. ii. 13.Musician in David’s time, to whom this Prince sent his Canticles, in order to be set to Musick by him, and to be sung by the Choir over which he presided. At the Dedication of the second Temple, after the Return from the Captivity, they sung the Praises of the Lord in the Canticles that David had composed. Nehemiah sets up the Psalms of David in the Library he had founded at Jerusalem. Jesus the Son of Sirach commends the Zeal of David, for having composed Hymns to be sung before the Lord. In the New Testament our Saviour Ecclus. xlvii. 10.and his Apostles always quote the Psalms by the Name of David’s;¹⁶ and make use of ‘em as such, in the Presence of the Jews, who never contradicted them in this, though in every thing else they were ready enough to oppose them, and very glad to find Room for an Objection. Nor do they only quote under his Name such as bear the Title of David, but they cite others also under his Name, which have no particular Title; as the second Psalm quoted by St. Peter, Acts iv. 25.

But, 3. The antient, uniform, and constant Use of the Church, which gives to the Psalter the Name of the Psalms of David, is another Proof of the Persuasion propagated from the very Beginning, that this holy King and Prophet was the Author of these divine Canticles. Usus Ecclesiæ catholicæ spiritus sancti inspiratione, generaliter & immobiliter tenet, ut quicumque eorum Psalmorum cantandus fuerit, Lector aliud prædicare non audeat, nisi Psalmos David, says Cassiodorus. Philastrius has carry’d this Matter so far, that Cassiod. Præf. in Psalmos. Philastr. hæres. 79.he places those among Hereticks, who deny’d that David was the Author of all the Psalms. Perez¹⁷ in his Commentary upon the Psalms asserts, that Josephus the Historian, Jonathan the Paraphrast, and all the antient Jews were persuaded, that David composed the whole Psalter; but that the Rabbins relinquish’d this Opinion, when they found themselves press’d hard by Origen, who assaulted them by Passages quoted from this very Book. But what could the Rabbins gain by denying David to have been the Author of the Psalms, since they acknowledg’d them all to have been inspired, and to have been the Work of some of the Prophets? In what remains to us of Origen, we cannot distinctly see what was his Opinion upon this Question; but Genebrard assures us, that the Talmudists and Rabbins commonly teach, that all the Psalms are not to be ascribed to David as their Author.

This is what has been advanced to prove, that David was the Author of the whole Psalter. But the contrary Opinion has been supported with good Arguments, and the Number of those that contend, that David has had Partners with him in this Honour, is not inferior to those of the Opinion now proposed. St. Hilary¹⁸ says expressly, that the Psalms have for their Authors the Persons whose Names they bear in their Titles. Absurdum est Psalmos David dicere vel nominare, cum ibi Auctores eorum ipsis inscriptionum titulis commendantur. St. Jerome in his Letter to Sophronius, which is a Preface to the Psalter, says the same thing as St. Hilary; and in another Place he looks upon it as an Error to affirm, that all the Psalms are of David. Sciamus errare eos, qui omnes Hieron. Ep. ad Cyprian. 139.Psalmos David arbitrantur, & non eorum quorum nominibus inscripti sunt. We read in a Note upon the Title of the first Psalm, in the Commentary of St. Austin upon the Psalter, that all the Psalms are not David’s. Non enim omnes Psalmi à David editi sunt. But the Learned think, that this Annotation does not belong to him, and that his true Sentiments are to be found in l. 17. c. 14. of The City of God, where he evidently declares himself on the Side of David, saying; Mihi credibilius videntur existimare, qui omnes illos centum & quinquaginta Psalmos ejus operi tribuunt.

The Greek Fathers are not less inclined to that Opinion, that several Authors were concerned in composing the Psalms, than the Latin Fathers were. St. Athanasius¹⁹ disapproves the contrary Opinion. He reckons up but seventy-two Psalms that belong to David, and thinks that those without Titles are to be ascribed to the same Author as the Psalm aforegoing. In his Synopsis, if it be his Work, he says there are Psalms of Jeduthum, of Asaph, of the Sons of Korah, of Haggai, of Zechariah, and of Heman: That there are some which belong to all these Authors together, as those that have in the Title Hallelujah. He adds, that the Name of the Psalms of David was given to the Psalter, because he was the first Author of this kind of Works, he regulated the Order, the Seasons, and the Functions of some other Writers, whose Names are at the Head of some of the Psalms. Eusebius of Cæsarea ascribes to David only seventy-two of the Psalms.²⁰ He thinks the others belong to those whose Names they bear. The Sons of Korah composed eleven, Asaph twelve, Solomon two, Moses one, Ethan the Ezrahite one. He represents David to us in the Midst of a Band of inspired Musicians, singing alternately as the Holy Ghost inspired them, while all the rest, and even David himself, continued in Silence, contenting themselves to answer in the Chorus Hallelujah.

To these Authorities of the Fathers may be added the Suffrage of an infinite Number of modern Authors, as the Rabbins, and many Christian Commentators of all Communions, the greatest part of which acknowledge, that in the Psalter there are many Canticles that were written since David’s time, and which carry in themselves the Marks of their Novelty; for Example, when they speak of the Captivity of Babylon, which happen’d long after the time of David. True it is, that the Titles of the Psalms are very antient; but there are many of them that have other Names besides that of David. We may conclude from thence, that at least at that time they were thought not to belong to David. And this Argument will have still more Weight with them, who contend, that the very Titles of the Psalms are owing to Inspiration, as we shall now see.

The Titles of the Psalms, are a Matter about which Interpreters have much exercis’d their Sagacity, and in which we have very little Light or Certainty. Some of ‘em have a profound Respect for these Titles, and look upon them as making a Part of these divine Canticles. Others think they were added afterwards, and that they are of small Consideration. Some imagine these Titles to be, as it were, a Key to the Psalm, and that whoever could understand them well, might easily enter into the Sense of the Author. Others believe them of little Importance for the understanding of the Text, as having been added in After-times, and that very often at random. It is said again by others, that even allowing these Inscriptions might have been useful for the right understanding of the Psalms, yet we can have but little Use from them, the greatest Part of ‘em being now so obscure, that the most learned Interpreters dare not flatter themselves that they understand them, and own they contribute nothing to illustrate the Psalm. Parum est damni in hujus vocis (haggittith) ignoratione, cum illa, ut & aliæ similes, quæ passim occurrunt in titulis Psalmorum, ad argumentum & materiam carminis, In Psalm viii. 1.nihil prorsus pertineant, says De Muis, one of the most learned Commentators that we have upon the Psalms.

The Fathers are generally agreed as to the Obscurity of these Titles, but they have a far different Opinion of their Usefulness. Origen Origen. edit. Huet. t. 1. p. 39.delivers a Notion that he had learn’d from a Jew, about the Obscurity of the Scriptures in general, which will be very apposite to the Book of Psalms. The Scripture, said he, is like a vast and magnificent Building, wherein are many Apartments and Chambers, every one of which has its proper Key: But the Key that is found at every Door is not that which belongs to it. Often it is misplaced, and the Business is to find it out, and to distinguish it from many others. St. Austin says, that the Title declares the Subject of Aug. in Psal. 139. p. 1552.the Psalm. Tanquam præco Psalmi est titulus Psalmi. The Title of the Psalm and the Psalm itself, are two things that ought not to be separated, says St. Hilary, they mutually Hilar. in Psal. cxix. Prolog. p. 367. n. 1.support and assist each other. Cum sibi invicem auctoritatem præstent Psalmus & titulus, debilis erit sermo, si de aliquo eorum sine altero disseratur. The Title is the Key of the Psalm, says the Author of the Commentary upon the Psalms, printed under the Name of St. Jerome. As one cannot enter into the Hieronym. Prol. in Psal.House without the Key, so the Canticle cannot be understood except the Title be explain’d. Quid est titulus nisi clavis? In domum non ingreditur, nisi per clavem; ita & unius cujusque Psalmi intellectus per clavem, id est, per titulum intelligitur.

St. Austin gos still farther, for he looks Aug. in Psal.lxiv. Angl. li.upon these Titles as inspired, as well as the rest of the Psalm. Upon Psalm lxiv. whose Title is A Song of Jeremiah and of Ezekiel, &c. he says, We are here to acknowledge the Voice of holy Inspiration, by the Title of this Psalm. And elsewhere, speaking of the Title of the Fiftieth Psalm, which is, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the Prophet came unto him, after he had gone in unto Bath-sheba, he says, This is not to be found in the Body of the Psalm, but is read at length in the Books of the Kings: But both of these are divine Scripture. Utraque autem Scriptura canonica est. Theodoret²¹ is still more express, for he says that these Titles were added by Esdras, who was inspir’d by the Holy Ghost; and Bosuet in Psalmos. Dissert. de Psalm’s. c. 6. p. 68.that they were read and preserved by the Seventy Interpreters, who themselves had received Inspiration from Heaven, and who would not be forward to mingle the Notions of Men with the Words of the Holy Ghost. The Jews in their Synagogues chant the Titles of the Psalms, as well as the rest of Scripture, and the Rabbins expound them in their Commentaries. The Septuagint and St. Jerome have preserved them in their Translations, and in the sacred Texts. The greatest Part of both the Antients and Moderns have consider’d them as a Key to the Psalms. Without them how should we distinguish the Authors of each Psalm? M. Bosuet Bishop of Meaux, says positively, that they were put at the Head of the Psalms by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost, to point out to us the Author and Subject of every one of these divine Canticles; and that we ought not to separate the Inscriptions of the Psalms from the Body of the Scriptures, since they are read in a continued Order, and without Distinction, not only in the Hebrew Text, but in all the Versions. For the same Opinion, the Reader may consult M. Du Pin, in his Preface to the Psalms, Article the Third.

But I think this is carrying the Matter too far, to maintain that all the Titles of the Psalms in general are Canonical and from Inspiration. Many Catholick Divines²² have positively asserted, that the greatest Part of them are of no Use for the Explanation of the Psalm. The Fathers, and among others, St. Austin, Hilary, Theodoret, Cassiodorus, have acknowleged, that often these Titles have no relation to the Body of the Psalm, and that in the Place they were put they contributed nothing to the Sense. The Catholick Church has never made any Injunction that they should be sung in her Office, nor has ever determin’d them to be Canonical. For it is agreed, that the Council of Trent, by declaring the Text of the Latin Vulgate to be Canonical and Authentick, has never pretended to receive into the Canon all the Titles of the Holy Books. The Septuagint, and the other later Greek Translators, have added Titles to some of the Psalms which have none in the Hebrew. If the Titles of the Psalms had been look’d upon as Canonical, would any body have been permitted to meddle with them, to alter them, to suppress them, to add to them? Which of the Commentators is there, whether Jew, Catholick, or Protestant, who thinks it incumbent upon him to follow the Title of the Psalm in his Commentary? And yet both Jews and Christians receive the Psalms as holy Writ.

And therefore in this Question we should observe a due Medium. 1. To treat the Titles of the Psalms with great Respect, because there are,doubtless, a great Number of them that are authentick. 2. To acknowledge such as are derived from the first Authors, from the antient Prophets, or, lastly, from Esdras, to be canonical and inspired. 3. That those which have been added, either before or after Esdras, by Jews not inspired, or by the Greeks; also those that are apparently against History, or contrary to the Spirit of the Psalm, deserve no particular Consideration on their own Account. 4. Lastly, that the Fathers themselves, who seem to have thought them to be canonical and inspired, are to be understood to speak of those that were in the original Text, and written by the Hand of Esdras, or of the antient Prophets; for as to the rest, they make no Difficulty to give them up, as may be seen in Theodoret upon several Occasions. The Reader may see our Dissertation upon the Titles of the Psalms, Pag. xxix. xxx. wherein we examine this Question at length. See also Father Alexander, Hist. v. Test. Dissert. 24. Quæst. 1. Art. 1.

According to the Titles of the Psalms, as they are found in our Bibles, there are seventy-two that bear the Name of David; fifty that are without the Name of their Author; but the Rabbins hold, that they are to be referr’d to that Author, whose Name is immediately before: And this Tradition of the Jews is related and received by Origen, by St. Jerom, by Eusebius, by Hilary, and Athanasius. a

Psalms ascribed to the Sons of Korah, are xli, xliii, xliv, xlv, xlvi, xlvii, xlviii; as also lxxxiii, lxxxiv, lxxxvi, lxxxvii.

Ascrib’d to Solomon, the lxxi. Deus judicium tuum Regi da. And cxxvi. Nisi Dominus ædicaverit domum.

Imputed to Ethan, the lxxxviii. Misericordias Domini in æternum cantabo.

To Jeduthun, the lxxvi. Voce meâ ad Dominum clamavi.

To Moses, the lxxxix. Domine, refugium factus es nobis.

To Asaph, the xlix. Deus Deorum Dominus locutus est.

The lxxii. Quàm bonus Israel Deus. The lxxiii. Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem.

The lxiv. Confitebimur tibi Deus. Also the lxxv, lxxvi, lxxvii, lxxviii, lxxix, lxxx, lxxxi, lxxxii, lxxxiii.

Ascribed to Adam, the xci. Bonum est confiteri Domino.

To Melchisedech, the cix. Dixit Dominus Domino meo, Sede à dextris meis.

To Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the lxiv. Te decet hymnus.

To Jeremiah, the cxxxvi. Super flumina Babylonis. Which is also ascribed to David.

To Haggai and Zechariah, the cxi. Beatus vir qui timet Dominum. And the cxlv. Lauda, anima mea, Dominum.

Besides the hundred and fifty Psalms now mention’d, and which are receiv’d as Canonical, there is one more which is not in the Canon, and which is to be found neither in the Hebrew, nor in the Chaldee, nor in the Vulgate; but it is read in the Syriac, in most of the Greek Copies, in the Arabick, in the Anglo-Saxon Version, in the Books of the Prayers of the Greeks. St. Athanasius²³, Euthymius²⁴, Vigilius of Thapsus²⁵, the Author that interpolated the Epistles of St. Ignatius²⁶, make mention of it, and quote it. St. Chrysostom alludes to it, in his seventeenth Homily to the People of Antioch. Its Title is, A Psalm of Thanksgiving of David, when he had overcome Goliah. It begins thus; I was the least of my Brethren, and the youngest of the House of my Father, and I fed my Father’s Sheep, &c. We have given it in Latin and French, with an Explication, at the End of our Commentary upon the Psalms.

Joseph. Christian. in Hypomnest. M.S. l. 2. c. 120. Mich. Glycas Annal. par. 2. p. 182.The Author of the Synopsis attributed to St. Athanasius, says, That David had composed three thousand Psalms, out of which Number King Hezekiah selected one hundred and fifty, and suppress’d all the rest. He quotes this, as taken out of the Chronicles, where we read nothing like it. A Greek Author call’d Josephus Christianus, says the same thing, and quotes it as in the Chronicles. Michael Glycas cites Psellus, who says the same thing, and he seems to believe it himself: He adds, That after the Captivity, Esdras selected the hundred and fifty Psalms which we find in our Bibles, out of three hundred, or more, which he had before him. The Author of the Syriac Version says, That some add twelve Psalms to the End of the Psalter; but he rejects them as useless, and without Authority.

Psalms of Solomon; or, The Psalter of Solomon. See the Title SOLOMON.

Psalms of Degrees. This Name is given to fifteen Psalms of the Psalter, which are the cxix. and all that follow to the cxxxiv. inclusive. The Hebrew Text calls them,²⁷ A Song of Ascents: The Chaldee, A Song that was sung upon the Steps of the Abyss. This Explication is taken from the Tradition of the Hebrews, which relates, That when they were laying the Foundations of²⁸ the Temple, at the Return from Babylonish Captivity, there came out of the Earth such a prodigious Quantity of Water, that it rose to the Height of fifteen Cubits; and that it would have drowned the whole World, if Achitophel, the famous Achitophel who hang’d himself in the Time of David, about five-hundred Years before, had not stopt its Progress, by writing the ineffable Name of Jehovah upon the fifteen Steps of the Temple. To the same Event they refer Psalm cxxix. De profundis clamavi, &c. which is one of the Psalms of Degrees. This is what the Jews say about them. Junius and Tremellius translate the Hebrew by, A Song of Excellencies; or, An excellent Song: Which Translation is not disapprov’d by De Muis, and by other skilful Interpreters. But the common Translation, or Psalms of Degrees, has more generally obtain’d.

But whence have they this Denomination? The Interpreters think, ‘twas because they were sung upon the fifteen Steps of the Temple. They are not agreed about the Place where these Steps were. Some think them to be without this holy Place; Others, at its Entry. Others think them to be the fifteen Steps mention’d by Josephus, to ascend from the Inclosure of the Women in the great Court. Lastly; Others will have them to be the Steps by which they ascended from the Court of the Priests, to the Porch which was before the holy Place. But it cannot be proved, neither from Josephus, nor from Scripture, that the Steps of the Porch, or of the Gates of the Temple, or those without the Temple, were just fifteen Ezek. xl. 22,26,31, 37,49.in Number. We see, by Ezekiel, that one had eight, and the other had seven Steps. Besides, we do not find, by any Passage of Scripture, that the Levites sung upon the Steps of the Temple; their Place was round about the Altar of Burnt-Offerings, in the Court of the Priests.

Some have thought, that these were call’d Psalms of Degrees, because they were sung in a Gallery, which was in the Court of IsraelEzra ix. 4., where, sometimes, the Levites read the Law. But we do not find, by any Passage of Scripture, that Singers were placed in this Gallery, or that they sang these Psalms in particular. The Author of the Commentary upon the Psalms, printed under the Name Pseudo-Hieron Exposit. 2. in Psal. cxix.of St. Jerom, says, that in the Temple there were several Degrees of Dignity among the Priests and the Levites. This is true: But it is not any-where said, that these Degrees were fifteen. There were assuredly four and twenty sacerdotal Families, and as many of Saadias, Hammond, Gataker, Vatab. Du Pin, Ainsworththe Levites. But what does all this make for the fifteen Psalms of Degrees? Some Rabbins, and a good Number of Commentators, translate the Hebrew by Psalms of Elevation; because (they say) they were sung with an exalted Voice, or because at every Psalm the Voice was raised.

But, no longer to multiply Conjectures in this Matter, I shall now produce my own Hypothesis. I translate the Hebrew by A Song of Ascent, or, of the Coming up of Israel from the Captivity of Babylon. The Scripture commonly applies the Phrase, to ascend, to express this Return. Cyrus, in his Proclamation in Favour of the Jews, says, Ezra i. 3, 5. & ii. 2. & vii. 5, 6.Who is there among you, of all his People? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem. And a good Number of Persons presented themselves to go up, says Ezra. Ezra i. 11. & ii. 1.And Shesh-bazzar brought up with them of the Captivity, that were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. Now these are the Children of the Province, that went up out Ezra vii. 6, 7, 9.of the Captivity. This Ezra went up from Babylon. And there went up some of the Children of Israel. For upon the first Day of the first Month was the beginning of the going up from Babylon. In Psalm cxxi. which is one of the Psalms of Degrees, it is said, whither the Tribes go up (to Jerusalem.) Lastly; Jeremiah, foretelling the Return Jer. xxvii. 22.from the Captivity, says, Then will I bring them up, and restore them to this Place. Ezekiel xxxix. 2.Ezekiel expresses himself in the same manner.Joseph. de Bello, l. 1. c. 14. in Græco, p. 917.

All these Expressions sufficiently shew, that the Hebrews commonly made use of the Term to go up, when they spoke of their journeying from Babylon to Jerusalem; because Babylon was situated in a Plain, and Jerusalem in a mountainous Country. Therefore, it is very natural to call those Psalms of Ascent, which were composed on the Occasion of the Deliverance from the Captivity of Babylon, whether it were to implore this Deliverance from God, or to return Thanks for it after it had happen’d; and this is what is really observed in those Psalms. They have all some Relation to this great Event. They make mention of it in several Places; and the greatest Part of ‘em cannot be otherwise explain’d. This alone wou’d suffice to determine us to explain in this Sense the Term Psalm of Degrees, or, of Ascent. We need not exhibit here a great Number of Passages taken out of these Psalms, to prove the Truth of what we advance; to open the Psalter only, is enough to convince any one. See our Dissertation, which serves as a Preface to the Psalms of Degrees.

Acrostick Psalms. These are Psalms, that, in the Hebrew, begin every Verse, or half Verse, with a Letter of the Alphabet, ranged according to the Order of the Alphabet. These Psalms are,

Psalm xxv. Ad te, Domine, levavi animam meam.

The xxxiv. Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore.

The xxxvii. Noli æmulari in malignantibus.

The cxi. Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo.

The cxii. Beatus vir qui timet Dominum.

The cxix. Beati immaculati in via. The cxlv. Exaltabo te, Deus meus Rex.

Read this article in its place on the printed pages