PSALMS 



amongst the primitive Christians, 

 who developed it in course of time. 

 The Ambrosian Tones, first sys- 

 tematised in the 4th century, may 

 possibly be traced to a Jewish 

 origin; the Gregorian Tones, in the 

 6th century, mark a further develop- 

 ment. There were three methods of 

 singing the psalms and canticles : 

 (a) responsorial, between a soloist 

 and the choir ; (b) antiphonal, be- 

 tween two choirs ; (c) direct, sung 

 full, without alternation. For the 

 music to which the psalms were 

 sung see Anglican Chant and 

 Plainsong. See also Hymn; Psalter. 



Psalms, BOOK OF. Book of the 

 Old Testament. It is a collection 

 of 150 poems. The designation 

 " Psalms " is derived, like the 

 term Psalter, from the Septuagint. 

 The Hebrew title is " Book of 

 Praise-songs " ; and in the Hebrew 

 Bible this book is divided into five 

 smaller books : (1) Pss. 1-41 ; (2) 

 42-72; (3) 73-89; (4) 90-106; 

 and (5) 107-150. According to 

 Jewish tradition the fivefold di- 

 vision was intended to correspond 

 to the fivefold division of the 

 Law, i.e. the Pentateuch. Each 

 of the first four books closes with 

 a doxology, and in the fifth book 

 the last psalm seems to serve as 

 such. In the Septuagint some- 

 times two psalms are united (9 and 

 10; 114 and 115), or one psalm 

 is divided into two (116; 147). 



In the Hebrew Bible and in 

 the Septuagint, all but thirty-four 

 bear titles or superscriptions which 

 make statements about the author- 

 ship or occasion of composition, or 

 give musical directions. These, 

 like other O.T. superscriptions, are 

 later additions, being due probably 

 to post exilic editors. Psalms are 

 here assigned to Moses (90) ; to 

 David (in Bk. I all except 1, 2, 10, 

 and 33 ; in Bk. II 51-65, 68-70 ; 

 in Bk. Ill 86 ; in Bk. IV 101 and 

 103 ; in Bk. V 108-110, 122, 124, 

 131, 133, 138-145) ; to Solomon 

 (72 and 127) ; to Asaph (50, 73- 

 83), Heman the Ezrahite (88) and 

 Ethan the Ezrahite (89), who are 

 reputed to have been founders of 

 the guilds of singers in the Second 

 Temple ; and to the Sons of Korah 

 (42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, and 88), 

 gate-keepers of the Temple (cf. 

 1 Chron. ix, 19 ; xxvi, 1-19). 



Thus, according to the tradition 

 represented by the titles them- 

 selves, the Psalter is a collection of 

 psalms of various authorship. It 

 is also a collection of smaller groups. 

 Other groupings are mentioned, 

 such as the Psalms of Ascents (120- 

 134), that is to say, probably pil- 

 grim songs, sung on the way up 

 to Jerusalem ; and some others 

 may be detected, such as Halle- 

 lujah-psalms (i.e. Praise- Jehovah 



psalms; 111-113 and 146-150), 

 Hallel-psalms (i.e. Praise him 

 psalms; 113-118), treated as a 

 liturgical unit in Jewish literature, 

 and Hodu-psalms (i.e. Give- 

 thanks psalms; 105-107). The 

 words " Of the Precentor " (or 

 choir-master) with the musical 

 directions in the superscriptions of 

 many psalms suggest that, before 

 the final collection was made, a 

 large collection known as the 

 Precentor's or Choir-master's Psal- 

 ter was in use already. We learn 

 further from the superscriptions 

 that some of the psalms were sung 

 to the melodies of old folk-songs 

 such as " The Hind of the Morn- 

 ing " (22), " The Lilies " (45), and 

 " The Dove of the Distant Tere- 

 binths " (56). 



We know from the Second Book 

 of Samuel (i, 17 ff., Hi, 33 f.) that 

 David composed funereal elegies, 

 and from Amos vi, 5 that he was a 

 famous musician. It is quite likely, 

 therefore, that he composed re- 

 ligious songs or hymns. But it is 

 felt by many scholars that many 

 of the psalms ascribed to him by 

 tradition reflect the circumstances 

 and feelings of a much later age, 

 some of them those of the Macca- 

 bean age. Even Theodore of 

 Mopsuestia (b. c. A.D. 350) was 

 driven to assume that seventeen of 

 the Davidic psalms were "pro- 

 phetic " of the Maccabean strug- 

 gles. The expression Davidic 

 Psalter, therefore, would be more 

 correct than Psalter of David. A 

 collection of psalms may have been 

 called Davidic because David was 

 the author of some of them, and 

 was famous as a musician. The 

 poems in the Book of Psalms are 

 not all of equal value. By the side 

 of much that is real poetry there is 

 much that is more commonplace 

 hymnology. But at their best the 

 Psalms are gems of Hebrew religi- 

 ous poetry. See Bible. 



M. A. Canney 



Bibliography. The Psalms in Hu- 

 man Life, R. E. Prothero, 1903 ; The 

 Book of Psalms, C. A. Briggs, vol. i, 

 in International Grit. Comm., 1906 ; 

 Poets of the O.T., A. R. Gordon, 

 1912 ; Intro, to the Literature of 

 the O.T., S. R. Driver, 9th ed. 

 1913; Crit. Intro, to the O.T., 

 G. B. Gray, 1913 ; Literature of the 

 O.T., G. F. Moore, 1914. 



Psalms, PENITENTIAL. Seven of 

 the O.T. Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 

 130, 143), which have been grouped 

 together because they all express 

 the contrition and penitence of the 

 sinner. In the Latin numeration 

 the psalms are 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 

 129, 142. Their recitation in Lent 

 was ordered by Pope Innocent III, 

 and Friday (with a few exceptions, 

 such as Good Friday) was the day 

 ordained by Pius V. In the Angli- 



PSALTERY 



can Book of Common Prayer they 

 are given (with the exception of 51 ) 

 as the proper psalms for Ash 

 Wednesday. Ps. 51 is assigned a 

 separate place in the special Com- 

 mination Service which is to be used 

 on the first day of Lent (Ash 

 Wednesday), but also at other 

 times. See Miserere. 



Psalter. Book containing the 

 Psalms or other hymns, especially 

 metrical paraphrases of the former, 

 either with or without accompany- 

 ing music. The practice of singing 

 these paraphrases is anterior to the 

 Reformation, but that event gave 

 it fresh vigour in Germany, France, 

 Switzerland, and England. 



In England there appeared in 

 1549 a metrical version of the whole 

 Book of Psalms by Robert Crawley, 

 with accompanying music, and also 

 in the same year a small volume 

 containing nineteen versions by 

 Thomas Sternhold. With the assist- 

 ance of John Hopkins and other 

 writers it was gradually enlarged in 

 successive editions until in 1562 it 

 embraced the whole of the Psalms, 

 set to 65 different tunes, the melody 

 alone being given. " Sternhold and 

 Hopkins," as it is known, became 

 the authorised version. Later ver- 

 sions, mostly doggerel, were those 

 by Thomas Este, 1592; Thomas 

 Ravenscroft, 1621 ; N. Tate and 

 N. Brady, 1696. The singing of 

 metrical paraphrases still persists 

 in Scotland, but in England only a 

 few of the finest specimens, such 

 as " All people that on earth do 

 dwell " (Ps. 100), are now used in 

 worship. See Introduction to the 

 HistoricalEdition of HymnsAncient 

 and Modern, W. H. Frere, 1909. 



Psaltery (Gr. psalter ion, a 

 harp). Ancient string instrument 

 of a type used by the Jews, the 

 Greeks, and 

 by medieval 

 Europe. Its 

 form and 

 charactervary 

 in different 

 countries and 

 periods. It 

 might be 

 square, tri- 

 angular, cir- 

 c u 1 a r, and 

 irregular, but 

 it was always 

 played by the 

 fingers, with 

 or without a plectrum. It was so 

 highly esteemed for its tone and 

 purity as to be frequently intro- 

 duced into pictures by medieval 

 artists, from which source alone we 

 gain an idea of its character, no 

 specimen of a psaltery being 

 extant. The word as used in the 

 A.V. of the Bible designates the 

 Egyptian nebel or portable harp. 



Psaltery of medieval 



design. From a 9th 



century MS. 



