Psalms (Tehillim)

Psalms (Tehillim)
Name	Psalms
Other names	Tehillim
Language	Hebrew
Scripture of	Judaism, Christianity
Number of psalms	150
Genre	Hymns, Laments, Praise

Psalms (Tehillim) is a canonical collection of 150 religious poems and songs central to Judaism and Christianity, preserved in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. Its texts have been transmitted through manuscripts such as the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and have influenced liturgy in the Temple tradition, the Synagogue, and Christian rites like the Mass and the Divine Office. The Psalms have been set to music by composers associated with institutions such as the Notre-Dame de Paris, the Sistine Chapel Choir, and the Royal Court of England, and have been commented on by figures including Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, Augustine of Hippo, and Martin Luther.

Introduction

The collection known as the Psalter appears in the Tanakh (as the third division, Ketuvim) and in the Christian Old Testament where it occupies a central liturgical role, cited frequently in works by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the New Testament writers Paul the Apostle, Matthew, and John. Manuscript witnesses range from the Dead Sea Scrolls community texts at Qumran to medieval codices such as the Codex Leningradensis and the Codex Vaticanus, reflecting transmission histories studied by scholars like Julius Wellhausen and William F. Albright. The Psalms have been categorized into books and types—hymns, laments, thanksgiving psalms—used in ritual contexts from the Second Temple period through services at places like the Western Wall and the Canterbury Cathedral.

Text and Structure

The Psalter comprises 150 individual psalms divided into five books, a structure paralleled in the Torah by five books and noted by commentators such as Rashi and Maimonides. Textual traditions include the Masoretic Text (defended in medieval scholarship by figures like Saadia Gaon), the Greek Septuagint (used in the LXX manuscript tradition and by Origen), and variant readings preserved in the Samaritan and Syriac traditions, including the Peshitta. Psalms contain superscriptions mentioning places and persons such as David, Asaph, the Sons of Korah, and liturgical directions like "Maskil" and "Miktam," terms analyzed by philologists in relation to Hebrew poetic devices and parallels in Ugaritic poetry.

Authorship and Dating

Traditional attribution assigns many psalms to King David, a claim found in the Talmud and in medieval commentaries by Ibn Ezra, but modern critical scholarship attributes psalms to multiple authors and editorial stages spanning from the United Monarchy era through the post‑exilic period under influences such as the Babylonian Exile and the Persian Empire. Scholars like Hermann Gunkel, Martin Noth, and Gerald Wilson have used form criticism and redaction criticism to propose compositions tied to settings including the Temple of Solomon, the Second Temple restoration under leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah, and communal worship practices in Jerusalem. The dating debate invokes archaeological and epigraphic data from sites such as Lachish and Megiddo and comparative studies with texts from Assyria and Babylon.

Themes and Theology

Major theological themes include divine kingship and covenant as in psalms invoking the Ark of the Covenant and the Davidic promise echoed in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, theodicy and lament found in the voice of sufferers comparable to passages in Job and Isaiah, and eschatological hopes resonating with later Second Temple Judaism and Christian eschatology traditions. The Psalter engages cultic language tied to the Temple rites, priestly offices like the Levites, and festivals such as Passover and Sukkot, while ethical injunctions and wisdom motifs recall links to Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Interpretive traditions range from allegorical readings by Philo to typological readings by Origen and patrimonial exegesis in the Church Fathers.

Liturgical Use and Musical Settings

Psalms have shaped liturgy across institutions: they structure daily prayer in the Siddur of rabbinic Judaism and the canonical hours of Catholicism and Orthodox Church practice, and they underpin Protestant hymnody in traditions led by John Calvin and Charles Wesley. Medieval chant traditions include the Gregorian chant repertory and the Byzantine chant tradition; Renaissance and Baroque composers such as Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach, and George Frideric Handel produced extensive psalm settings. In modern times, psalm texts appear in Gershwin-era adaptations, Leonard Bernstein works, and contemporary worship music within communities like Hillsong Church and academic ensembles at institutions such as Oxford University and Harvard University.

Reception and Influence

The Psalms have been central to devotional literature by Aquinas, Bonhoeffer, Thomas Merton, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and have influenced political rhetoric in documents like the Magna Carta era homiletics and revolutionary-era references in the American Revolution and the writings of figures like John Adams. Artistic portrayals include illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, iconography in Byzantine mosaics, and modern visual art inspired by psalmic imagery found in galleries like the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Psalter also informed legal and ethical frameworks through citations in decisions by courts influenced by jurists from England and Scotland and in moral philosophy texts by John Locke and Immanuel Kant.

Translations and Editions

Major translations and editions include the Septuagint (ancient Greek), the Vulgate by Jerome, the King James Version, the Revised Standard Version, and Jewish editions like the Jewish Publication Society translation; scholarly critical editions include the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Dead Sea Scrolls publications. Modern annotated translations and commentaries have been produced by scholars such as Robert Alter, James L. Mays, Artur Weiser, and Christopher R. Seitz, and digital editions and manuscript facsimiles are housed in collections like the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Category:Hebrew Bible books