James Melton if You Think All Bibles Are the Same Perhaps You Should Think Again

I grew up assuming two things virtually the book of Psalms, and they both turned out to exist incorrect:

1. Psalms is the longest book of the Bible (run into what the longest book actually is).
2. Psalms was written by David.

David didn't write the book of Psalms. In fact, David just wrote virtually half of the Psalms—73 out of all 150, to exist precise (though the Latin Vulgate and Septuagint credit a few more than to him).

He wasn't even the 1 who put the whole collection together: some were written hundreds of years subsequently he died!

So that leaves us with a few questions:

• How do we know who wrote the Psalms?
• How many people too David contributed to Psalms?
• Which psalms were written by David?
• Which psalms were written by the others?

The adept news is that nosotros tin can find the answers using the psalm titles, some cantankerous-references, and a lilliputian math. Allow's tackle these questions one past one.

How do nosotros know who wrote the Psalms?

Onetime Testament authorship tin be tricky, but Psalms makes it pretty easy for us in nearly cases. While nigh of the Onetime Testament books don't explicitly land their authors—nosotros're looking at you, Task!—whoever put the book of Psalms together labeled the Psalms by writer.

When await up a Psalm in your Bible, you'll usually see something like this:

While the italic headings in this example were added long afterward Psalms was written, the line, "A Psalm of David" was actually written in the Hebrew manuscripts. It's kind of like the hymnals you find in churches—they give you the song's title and the proper name of the guy or lady who wrote information technology.

So for most of these Psalms, you tin tell whom they recognized every bit author mode back when.

If you're one of those practice-it-yourself Bible-study people (or, as I call them, Home Depot Christians*), you can quit reading this post correct now. But go look upwards all 150 psalms, record who wrote which ones, and so practice the math on your ain. But if you lot don't accept that kind of time on your hands, practiced news! I did all that dirty work for yous . . . with a footling help from Logos Bible Software. =)

*This is a lame joke. I know. Simply I promise I made it up right as I was typing that sentence. Information technology'southward funny via spontaneity—trust me on this.**

** Iv years later: I don't like this joke and I don't think information technology was funny. But I'm leaving information technology upwardly equally a monument to my own fallible sense of sense of humour.

How many people (likewise David) wrote the Psalms?

When you become through all the Psalms and annotation each heading, you go a long list of Psalmists. In fact,Psalms names more than contributors than any other book of the Bible.

The Psalms name more than than seven authors, including five individuals and two families (who wrote psalms over the centuries). Here'southward the spread:

• David: the God-anointed king of State of israel. I'm certain yous've heard of this guy—he killed Goliath. You tin can read his story in the books of First and Second Samuel.
• Asaph (the family): Asaph and his sons were ordained by David to lead the people in worship, and were recommissioned when Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem (1 Ch 25:1; Neh 7:44; 12:46–47).
• The sons of Korah (some other family): back in the book of Numbers, a man named Korah rebelled against Moses and Aaron—and God caused the earth to swallow him up. His sons survived, though (Nu 26:11), and connected to serve in the business firm of the Lord. They share ane psalm (Ps 88) with the wise homo Heman.
• Heman: not to be confused with He-Human being. He was a wise man who co-authored the eighty-eighth psalm with the sons of Korah. His brother Ethan (one Ch two:6) wrote a psalm, too.
• Solomon: this king is meliorate known for his work in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. He'south David'southward son, and inherits his begetter's throne.
• Moses: he wrote more than words in your Bible than any other human. Most of those words are in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses besides wrote a psalm.
• Ethan the Ezrahite: we don't know much virtually Ethan, except that he was a famous wise man. So famously wise, in fact, that the Bible makes a betoken to tell u.s. Solomon was even wiser (1 Ki four:31). Sorry, Ethan—only hey, somebody needs to get the silvery medals.

The remaining 50 "orphan psalms" aren't credited to any one author. 1 nameless nobody could take written all 50, merely at that place's a better adventure that they were written past many people over many years.

Which psalms did David write?

So we know David wrote the about of the psalms—73 that nosotros're certain of. These ones are his, specifically:

• Psalms 3–9
• Psalms xi–41
• Psalms 51–65
• Psalms 68–70
• Psalm 86
• Psalm 101
• Psalm 103
• Psalms 108–110
• Psalm 122
• Psalm 124
• Psalm 131
• Psalm 133
• Psalms 138–145

To be fair, the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Attestation) and the Latin Vulgate ascribe a few more psalms to David, which brings the count as high as 85.

Which psalms were non written by David?

The rest, of grade! =)

I'm only being difficult. Here's the breakdown of all the psalms written past people other than David.

The family of Asaph wrote 12 psalms:

• Psalm fifty
• Psalms 73–83

The sons of Korah wrote 11 psalms:

• Psalm 42
• Psalms 44–49
• Psalms 84–85
• Psalms 87-88
  

Heman the Ezrahite coauthored Psalm 88 with the sons of Korah.

Solomon wrote ii psalms:

• Psalm 72
• Psalm 127

Moses wrote Psalm 90.

Ethan the Ezrahite wrote Psalm 89.

Did you lot know that the Psalms isn't the only place where songs bear witness up in the Bible? There are dozens of other songs scattered throughout Scripture. Here's where you tin learn about all of them.

Exercise yous wish y'all knew the Bible better?

I wrote The Beginner'due south Guide to the Bible to give people an overview of what the Bible is, what it's for, and what it'due south all about. I explore how each of the Bible's 66 books fit into the big picture, and yous'll walk abroad with enough cognition to have a thoughtful chat nigh the Bible with a pastor, an atheist, or anyone else.

David had a lot of help

Just past looking at these numbers, we see that David wrote more than psalms than anyone else, only God used a wide range of talented musicians over hundreds of years to write these pieces back to Him.

Nosotros can't neatly attribute Psalms to David, only I recollect that makes the book of Psalms a lot more interesting.

Don't y'all?

Oh, and one more matter: the Jews worshiped with songs written over a period of 700 years—and here we call 200-year-old hymns "old-fashioned."

Related pages:

• See a summary of the book of Psalms.
• Larn more than virtually all the authors who wrote the Bible.
• Cheque out a vocal based on the text of Psalm i.
• Encounter songs for each of the Psalms.

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Source: https://overviewbible.com/who-wrote-psalms-besides-david/

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