Traditional &
modern views of the Book of Psalms, and the role of Psalms in Jewish liturgy
By Louis Jacobs
Excerpted with
permission fromThe
Jewish Religion: A Companion, Oxford University Press
Some Very Ancient Liturgy
The Book of Psalms, Hebrew Tehillim, ("Praises"), is the first book of the third
section of the Bible, the Ketuvim or
Sacred Writings, and comprises 150 psalms. Many of the psalms have superscriptions,
describing their contents, their author, and, it is generally assumed, in some
cases, the melodies to which they were sung in the Temple. In the Jewish
tradition, but not in the King James Version, these superscriptions are counted
as separate verses. (The New English Bible translation omits the
superscriptions altogether: an extremely odd procedure, since, even if the
superscriptions are later additions, they became part of the book at a very
early period, and one would have thought that the aim of any translation should
be to convey the book as it has come down though the ages.)
Many of the psalms are obviously liturgical compositions.
The Levites [in the Temple] sang a psalm for each day of the week and on the
Sabbaths and festivals, accompanying the song with instrumental music.
Are They All King David's?
It has long been
noted that the first Psalm appears to be an introduction to the book as a
whole, as Psalm 150 appears to be an epilogue. There is a concluding note at
the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, and106,
which suggests that the book is in five separate sections. The rabbinic midrash
[rabbinic interpretation from the period of the rabbis of the Mishnah and the
Talmud] to Psalms states that David composed his Psalms in five books, just as
Moses wrote the five books of the Pentateuch.
In this Midrash, and very frequently in the Rabbinic literature, David
is assumed to be the author of the book of Psalms.
But in the
famous Talmudic passage (Bava Batra 14b)
on the authorship of the biblical books, it is said that David included in his
book psalms written by some who preceded him. The superscription to Psalm 90,
for instance, is: "A prayer of Moses, the man of God." In fact, while
seventy-two of the psalms are attributed to David, this one is attributed to
Moses, and some to other authors. Some
of the psalms are attributed to no particular author and are known, in the
tradition, as 'orphan psalms'. Itis
incorrect, therefore, to say that in the traditional view David is the author
of all the psalms in the book. Nevertheless, the tradition still sees David as
the final author of the book, although he is said to have included the works of
others in his final composition. In 2
Samuel 23:1 David is described as 'the
sweet singer in Israel'.
An Anthology With Davidic (or Older) Roots
This view of
Davidic authorship was not left unquestioned in the Middle Ages and is rejected
by all modern biblical scholars as anachronistic. Psalm 137, for instance, speaks of the period, hundreds of years
after David's death, when the Temple had been destroyed and the Jews were in
exile in Babylon. The book of Psalms is now seen rather as a collection or
anthology of psalms compiled at different periods, though there is no real
reason to deny that some of them may go back to David himself, with psalms or
groups of psalms added later to the collection.
There is no
agreement on the dating of the various psalms.
The older view that the whole book dates from as late as the period of
the Maccabees is nowrejected by the
majority of scholars, some holding, on the analogy of ancient Near Eastern
texts unearthed fairly recently, that psalm-making, even with the employment
of the same terms and language-patterns, was a feature of the surrounding
culture long before Israel came on to the scene. Needless to say, the question
of dating and authorship is totally irrelevant to the value of the book of
Psalms as religious outpourings of the highest order, recognized as such by the
millions of worshippers, Jews, Christians, and others, who have used the Psalms
to express the deepest emotions of their ownreligious heart.
Special Psalms for Special Days
It is interesting that in the
Talmudic period no Psalms were recited as part of the service except for the
Hallel psalms (a special grouping of psalms of praise) on the festival[s]. As the post-Talmudic liturgy developed, a
large number of further psalms were incorporated into the Prayer Book, not all
at once but gradually over the centuries.
To the daily morning service were added: Psalms 100, 145 and 150. To the
Sabbath and festival services were added Psalms 19, 34, 90, 91, 135, 136, 33,
92,93 in this order, since on these
days people, not having to go out to work, did not have to hurry from the
synagogue.
At the end of the morning
service, a special psalm for each day is recited, prefaced with the words:"This
is the first [second, third, and so on] day of the week, on which the Levites
in the Temple used to say . . ." Psalm 24 is recited when the Sefer Torah is returned to the Ark after
the reading on weekdays, and Psalm 29 on the Sabbath.
The penitential Psalm 27 is
recited at the end of the morning and evening service during the penitential
season from the beginning of the month of Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah [the final
day of Sukkot]. Before the evening service at the termination of the Sabbath
Psalms 144 and 67 are read. Psalm 104
is read during the morning service on Rosh Hodesh, the New Moon, and during the
afternoon service on winter Sabbaths.
As part of their ritual for welcoming the Sabbath, the Safed Kabbalists
[mystics who lived and wrote in Safed in the Land of Israel) in the sixteenth
century introduced the recital of Psalms 95-99 and 29, corresponding to the
six days of creation, on the eve of the Sabbath, andthis is now the universal custom at the Friday night service.
Verses from Psalms are scattered through other parts of the Prayer Book.
A Storehouse for Individual Use
In addition to their recital as
part of the standard service, the Psalms have been recited by individuals
whenever the mood took them. Some pious Jews would recite the whole book of
Psalms each week, some even each day. "Saying Psalms" (Zoggen Tillim, in Yiddish), as it is
called, is often practiced as a prayer for a sick person or when other
calamities threaten. In some
communities there is a custom to recite on a Yahrzeit [the anniversary of a
relative's death] verses of the eightfold alphabetical acrostic, Psalm 119,the initial letters of which are those
of the letters of the nameof the
deceased.
There are various chants in
which the Psalms are recited, and the Hebrew Bible even has notes for
cantillation [traditional chanting] of the Psalms but the musical system these
represent is no longer known. The Lithuanian tradition has a particularly
yearning and plaintive melody for "saying Psalms."
Louis Jacobs, a
British rabbi and theologian, is the rabbi emeritus of the New London
Synagogue. Rabbi Jacobs lectures at
University College in London and at Lancaster University. He is the author of numerous books,
including Jewish Values, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, and Hasidic Prayer.
Excerpted from The Jewish Religion: A
Companion, Oxford University
Press. © Louis Jacobs, 1995. Published
by Oxford University Press. All rights
reserved. No part of this material may
be stored, transmitted, retransmitted, lent, or reproduced in any form or
medium without the permission of Oxford University Press.
