OLD TESTAMENT WRITINGS #1 The Psalms

 WHAT ARE THE PSALMS? 

The Book of Psalms is a book in the Hebrew and Christian bibles that contains a collection of song lyrics with religious themes. Scholars believe a variety of authors wrote the psalms over a large span of time, with many individual psalms attributed to King David.  

 

Scholars debate whether King David actually wrote the psalms attributed to him, but they do agree that many of the hymns date back to the time of his reign or before (circa 1000 B.C.). Other psalms date to the period after the Babylonian exile, which ended in 538 B.C. 

According to the Biblical account, the authors of Psalms include David, Moses, Asaph, Solomon, descendants of Korah, and Heman and Ethan the Ezrahites. King David is most commonly associated with the book because he is said to have written 73 of the psalms, more than any of the other authors.  

Alaph is crediting with writing 12 psalms, the descendants of Korah with writing 10, Solomon with writing one or two, Moses with writing one and the Ezrahites with writing two. Several of the psalms do not indicate an author. 

In Hebrew the book of Psalms is titled "Tehillim," meaning "praise songs." The title "Psalms" comes from the Greek, but it also means "songs of praise." Psalms is one of only two composite books in the Old Testament. The other composite book is Proverbs. 

Different religious traditions number the psalms differently, though most Jewish, Protestant and Catholic versions of the book each include 150 individual works. The Eastern Orthodox Church's Septuagint Bible includes a 151st psalm, while some versions of the Bible used by Middle Eastern Syriac churches have 155 psalms.