PSALMS 62

Psalms 62

Psalms 62

Introduction

The Psalms are a collection of Hebrew religious poetry composed over several centuries, from the early monarchy (tenth century b.c.) to the postexilic period (fifth or fourth century b.c.). The largest numbers are attributed to David, but many are assigned to other authors, and many are anonymous. The canonical collection of 150 Psalms was compiled from earlier collections and was split into five different books: which includes: Psalms 1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106 & 107-150

The headings that accompany many of the Psalms do not appear in most cases to have been original, and their value varies. These headings offer some historical information, such as the names of authors or circumstances of writing, but especially musical directions, such as the type of Psalm, the occasion for use, and instructions about performance. Patristic commentators drew upon them for their interpretation of the Psalms (e.g., Gregory of Nyssa, Inscrip. Psal)

Hebrew poetry achieved rhythm by stress on important words, not by the number of syllables. Its most distinguishing feature is the use of parallelism, a balancing of thought in consecutive lines. The principal types of parallelism are synonymous (the same thought repeated in similar words), antithetic (the thought in one line contrasted with the next), synthetic or climactic (a second or even third line built on and advancing the thought of the first), and chiastic (a parallelism of first and fourth lines and second and third lines).

The many types of Psalms—hymns of praise, songs of thanksgiving, lament both individual and communal, royal Psalms, wisdom Psalms—reflect a wide variety of emotions as well as occasions in personal and community life. It has been common since the patristic commentaries to see the Psalms as reflecting all human moods and containing words suitable for all religious needs.

The Jews continued to produce religious poetry of the same type. A 151st Psalm has long been known from the Septuagint. In more recent years, the Dead Sea Scrolls have yielded manuscripts of the Psalms containing other noncanonical Hebrew Psalms; the Qumran Psalter indicates either a stage in the transmission of the Psalms before the final determination of the canon or the continued writing of Psalm-type pieces (cf. the Thanksgiving Hymns also from Qumran). Although the word "Psalms" referred especially to the biblical collection, it could also be used for hymns of the same type, as in the pseudepigraphical Psalms of Solomon from the first century b.c.

Jewish usage as reflected in the headings of the Psalms in the Septuagint and in the Psalms of Solomon does not permit a clear differentiation among "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs [odes]" (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). The later church fathers gave etymological distinctions among these terms as a basis for allegorical interpretation. Since the Greek psalmos originally referred to the sound made by plucking on the strings of an instrument and so could be understood as referring to physical activity, the church fathers gave a higher evaluation to odes and hymns as representing an intellectual or spiritual activity (Didymus, ...