Interpretation of the Psalter

Psalm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 Title of the book. Number of psalms In the Hebrew Bible this book is called “tehillim” or “sefer tehillim”, which means praise, or book of praise, and in the Greek Bible “ψαλτήριον”. The last name denoted a stringed instrument like our guitar, which in ancient times was used by the Jews for the most part to sing the Psalter. The entire book of Psalms consists of 151 songs, of which the first 150 are canonical, and the last 151 are non-canonical. Each of these songs, with many particular features in its content and external form of presentation, has this in common with all the others, that the subject of their appeal, the source and inspirer of their authors is God and His diverse properties and deeds, manifested in external nature and in the lives of people. Therefore, Heb. the title of the book indicates the basic, internal nature of the content of the psalms, as songs of praise to God, and the Greek. the inscription refers to the external way of performing them to the accompaniment of a string instrument. All psalms have a numerical designation, but, in addition, above many of them there are names of persons, with the Hebrew particle “le” standing in front of them, indicating that this psalm belongs to a given person, for example, “le David”, “le Shelomo”, etc. Such inscriptions mean that these psalms were written - one by David, the other by Solomon, etc. In addition to David and Solomon, in the inscriptions above the psalms there are also the names of Moses, Asaph, Heman, Jedithum and the sons of Korah, with these names usually preceded by the particle “le”. This shows that among the writers of the Psalter there were also the indicated persons. That the writers of the Psalter were many people, this is evidenced by the very content of the psalms and the diversity in them of the external form of expression of thoughts. In the psalms, for example, there are indications of events in the pre-David time (Ps. 89), David (Ps. 2–5 and many others), before the exile (Ps. 90, Ps. 94, etc.), the time of the Babylonian captivity (Ps. 84, Ps. 105, Ps. 104, Ps. 136, etc.) and the post-exilic period ( Ps.117, Ps.119, Ps.122, Ps.124, etc.). Thus, the period of time covered by the content of the psalms is several tens of times longer than the average duration of human life, and one person could not be a witness and depicter of the events indicated by the Psalter. There is a difference between the psalms in the nature of the depiction of similar objects. If we compare, for example, Ps. 4 from Ps.79 or from Ps. 136, then it is impossible not to notice that with similar subjects of content (depictions of enemies and their attitude towards them), they differ in the disclosure of these objects and in the depiction of the attitude of the authors of the psalms towards them. In Ps. 4, the author, persecuted by enemies, believes in God’s help to him and turns to his enemies with a gentle admonition to come to their senses, check the motives of their actions and, before it is too late, repent before God and correct themselves; in Ps. 79 the author depicts his situation as hopeless, and the power of his enemies as insurmountable, and himself as completely abandoned by God; in Ps. 136 enemies evoke in the writer a feeling of hatred and a thirst for their destruction. Such a difference in the depiction of attitudes towards enemies by these psalms, testifying to the heterogeneity of the feelings of their authors, indicates that their writers were different people, and not one person, since it is impossible for the latter to experience different and even opposite feelings under similar circumstances. The great variety in the ways of expressing thoughts and writing techniques (which will be discussed in more detail below) also indicates the origin of the Psalter from several persons, and not from one writer. Moreover, in 2 Chron. 29:30 we have a direct indication that during Hezekiah’s time they glorified God “with the words of David and Asaph the seer.” According to this testimony, Asaph is recognized as having the same authorship and significance in composing the song as David, which indicates that the writers of the Psalter recognize more than one person. There was an opinion in ancient times (St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Ambrose of Milan, Blessed Jerome, St. John Chrysostom, etc.), which was sometimes supported in later times, that the Psalter belongs to David alone. The basis and confirmation of this opinion is that: 1) in some places St. In the Scriptures, when describing the worship performed by the ancient Jews, only the name of David is mentioned as the creator of church songs (for example, 2 Chronicles 7:6; 1 Ezra 3:10); 2) in the New Testament, some psalms that do not have inscriptions in the Hebrew Bible are considered psalms of David (Acts 4:25); 3) among the ancient Jews, as well as in the primary Christian church, it was customary to call the entire Psalter of David, that is, written by David alone. The names of persons other than David that appear in the inscriptions above the psalms, and the content of the psalms, pointing to times after David’s, are tried to be explained in the sense of indicating the executors to whom David originally assigned them, and the gift of prophecy, which he possessed and, thanks to which, he could foresee and describe events even after his time. The opinion opposite to the one just given was not universal in ancient times. Many fathers and teachers of the church held the view of the Psalter that it was the work not of one person, but of several (for example, Origen, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Basil the Great, Blessed Jerome, etc.), and this opinion is prevailing among scientists at the present time. The same sacred places. The scriptures which the defenders of the first opinion put forward to support them have a different meaning. Eg. 2 Par. 7:6, also Heb. 4 do not contain a definition of the origin of the Psalter from David, nor an indication of the name of the author of this book, but express its then common name; The 1st book of Ezra (1 Ezra 3:10) gives only a general indication of the order of worship that was established by David, and which the Jews in captivity could not observe, but now, upon returning from captivity, this charter was restored in all solemnity and completeness. Only the evidence of the book of Acts, where its writer, citing a saying from Psalm 2, calls it the words of “the youth David,” gives an exact indication of the name of the author of this psalm, but not the entire Psalter. The explanation of the inscriptions of persons other than David, in the sense of indicating the first performers of the psalms, is arbitrary; if before these names, like before the name of David, there is a particle “le”, and if the psalms with the name of David in the inscription are considered to be written by David, then according to the sequence, all other psalms should be considered written by those persons whose names appear in the inscriptions above them. The attempt of defenders of the first opinion to explain the content of the psalms pointing to events after David's time, by the gift of David's prophecies, is erroneous: in the content of many songs of the Psalter there are features depicting the external, random position of the characters (Ps. 136), or indicating new geographical locations (Ps. 71:10), what prophecy does not deal with: the scope of prophecy includes only that which has as its subject the revelation of the state of the Kingdom of God on earth, objects from the field of messianic and religious-moral life, to which much of the content of the Psalter has nothing to do. In view of all of the above, the reference to the generally established custom of calling the Psalter of David has a different meaning: since most of the psalms in the Psalter belong to David, and since the latter’s poetic talent was varied and strong, subsequent writers tried to imitate him both in the content of their psalms and in the external form of presentation; Thus, David, both externally and internally, dominates the Psalter. If the latter is called by his name, then this must be understood not in a literal, but in a relative sense, just as the book of Proverbs is called Solomon’s, while he wrote only the largest part of it. The names of the following writers of psalms are known: Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, also known as Jedithum, and the sons of Korah. According to the time and circumstances of origin, as well as the number of psalms written, the latter are distributed among the designated persons as follows: Moses owns one (Ps. 89), written by him at the end of a forty-year wandering in the desert and in view of the promised land, which could now only be entered by a new generation of people born in the desert, and of those who left Egypt only those who did not have 20 years at the exit. The death of all the others was explained by their unfaithfulness and insult to Jehovah during this wandering. The content of the psalm is imbued with a feeling of gratitude to God for giving the Jews a blessed and fertile land, sorrow for a person whose behavior provokes the wrath of God, and a prayer to Him for the condescension and intercession of a person. These three motives: gratitude-mourning-prayer are predominant in all subsequent contents of the Psalter, appearing either in their pure form or in combination with others. According to the inscriptions of the Hebrew and Russian Bibles, 73 psalms belong to David, and according to the Greco-Slavic - 87. This difference in the number of psalms attributed to David is explained by the fact that when determining the origin of psalms not inscribed with the names of writers in the Hebrew Bible, 70 translators were guided by the traditions that reached them from the Jews regarding these psalms, while the tradition attributed them to David. But due to the inconsistency of this tradition with the content of some psalms attributed to David, it cannot always be taken as a guide in determining the writer and the circumstances of their origin (for example, Psalms 90, 92, 93, 94, etc.). All psalms belonging to David as the author are 73. They are as follows: from those inscribed with his name in Hebrew. Bible 73 Psalms: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 85, 100, 102, 107, 108, 109, 121, 123, 130, 132, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, and from those not inscribed in Hebrew. The Bible, but regarding which their origin can be established from David, are the following five: 1, 2, 32, 105, 137. All of David's psalms, in their content, represent a lyrical summary of the events of his life, starting with the first anointing from Samuel and ending with the last years of his reign. There is not a single event of any importance to which David would not respond with his songs, and his life represents a large number and variety of such events, which explains the large number and variety of his psalms. In this case, the psalms of David are rich material that complements the tales of his life in historical books, which deal, for the most part, with the presentation of the external history of his life, and the first contains an image of his thoughts and feelings, representing an abundant source for characterizing the spiritual appearance of this “sweet singer of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1). The external history of David's life is generally known. From the position of a simple shepherd in the family of Jesse from the tribe of Judah, thanks to his talents and exploits, he became a national hero, reached the crown of the Jewish king and gained such popularity and love of his subjects that his name and deeds constituted and constitute the brightest page of Jewish history and a source of national pride. Such a great distance between the two poles of social status (mere citizen and crowned king) and historical fame (shepherd in his family and national hero) was traversed by a number of outstanding exploits and extraordinary hardships, so that few figures can be found in the history of mankind whose lives would present a series of vicissitudes similar to those experienced by David. The first popular fame of David begins with the time of his victorious single combat with Goliath, the hero of the Philistines. When two armies - Jews and Philistines - converged near the valley of Sokaoth, occupying the mountains adjacent to it, neither of them dared to go down into the valley to start a battle, since, due to the conditions of the terrain, this would be one of the chances of defeat. Therefore, both sides stood in inaction. Then Goliath stepped forward and challenged one of the Jews to combat with him; none of the latter dared to enter into battle with him. Goliath mocked the Jews for 40 days, and the latter had to silently endure his caustic ridicule that offended the national feeling. When David, who brought food to his brothers, heard these ridicule, the desire to wash away this shame from the Jews began to speak strongly in him, and he apparently entered into an unequal struggle for himself. It ended in victory. The name of David, who washed away the shame from the Jews, became popular and was placed above Saul; he was sung everywhere in folk songs: “Saul defeated thousands, and David defeated darkness.” From that time on, Saul was filled with envy of David, and as the latter’s fame and popularity grew, based on a number of his brilliant military exploits, Saul’s envy turned into a feeling of hatred and caused in the latter attempts to kill David and a whole series of persecutions. David fled for his life. During his flight, David became well known to the people for his meekness of character, sincere piety, practical resourcefulness, military foresight and courage, which is why, with the death of Saul, he soon became king of first one tribe of Judah, and then all twelve. David's reign was beneficial for the Jews. He expanded the boundaries of his kingdom, secured its borders with victories over neighboring foreign peoples, established greater unity between the disparate tribes that had previously been at war with each other, organized the army more correctly, improved judicial proceedings by eliminating arbitrariness in the decisions of representatives of the tribes by granting the right of appeal to the king, moved the Icon of the Covenant from Cariath-Jearim to Jerusalem, introduced and established a strict order in the performance of worship, giving it an unexpected The character of that time was solemn with the introduction of properly organized choirs and music, and began to prepare material for the construction of a new church. But his reign was overshadowed by some sad events. David’s crime with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah were accompanied by family misfortunes: the rebellion of Absalom, and subsequently of Adonijah, his sons. During the first uprising, he was forced to flee Jerusalem and be ridiculed by his son's followers. His people suffered a pestilence that claimed many victims. These events, as we see, deeply affected David. David represents a nature richly gifted with physical and spiritual powers. Short in stature, tightly built, blond and with blue eyes, he had great muscular strength and agility, which he often showed in his young years in the fight with lions, from whose mouths he could snatch sheep they had stolen. At the same time, he was distinguished by great endurance and mobility. Frequent and prolonged persecution by Saul, numerous military campaigns and subsequently, in adulthood, flight from Absalom, when David had to run from place to place, often without any provisions with him, serve as clear confirmation of this. David’s ability to treat everyone kindly, not to take revenge for personal insults (the story of Saul and Shimei), his impartiality in judicial matters, the love of the priests, Levites and prophets for him, the ability to unite previously scattered tribes into one and subsequent care for the construction of the church and for worship, reveal in him a meek character, deep respect for the personal dignity of a person, administrative insight and tact, and sincere, heartfelt piety. The most outstanding and characteristic features of David are the strong development in him of the area of ​​the heart, the area of ​​feeling, and, it seems, an inexhaustible poetic talent. The first feature apparently explains strange, sometimes impractical actions, and sometimes even outright misdeeds, when David spares his obvious enemy (Saul), or when he enters into a relationship with Bathsheba, surrendering to a feeling of infatuation with her external, physical beauty. But just as sincere and fleeting was a feeling similar to the latter, so deep and lasting was in David the consciousness of his sinfulness before God and repentance before Him. The latter was explained by the loftiness of David’s concepts of God and his corresponding strict attitude towards himself. Violation of the Divine commandments was, according to him, the greatest insult to the All-Holy Being, and therefore aroused in David the consciousness of complete sinfulness before Him, and his fall seemed so deep that he considered it impossible for a person to rise from it. In these cases, David came to the point of completely denying any good deeds, and his only prayerful appeal was: “Have mercy on me, Lord, according to Your greatest condescension towards man.” David's strong poetic talent explains the abundance of his songs, with which he responded to all outstanding events in his personal and public life. His poetry, which belongs to the genus of pure lyricism, is distinguished by its diversity of types. There are elegies here (penitential psalms - 6, 31, 37, 50, etc.), there are laudatory ones, approaching our odes (17, 18, 103, 104, etc.), there are similarities to our songs, only with a religious plot (8, 44, etc.), there are messianic-prophetic ones (2, 15, 21, etc.). It is impossible not to note the peculiarity of the songs that David in all of them remains true to his teleological view of everything that exists in the world, both in the life of people and nature, and in the area of ​​​​the relationship of God to man and man to God. The whole world, according to him, starting with the everyday phenomenon of sunrise and sunset, the order of day and night, seasons, the structure of the inorganic, organic and animal world and, especially, man, is full of enchanting harmony, rationality and beauty. The same rationality and beauty reign in the relationship of God to man and the latter to God. God, showing him mercy and protection in the present, prepares him for the great benefits of the future through the coming of the Messiah: man, nourishing constant and firm faith in God, showing obedience to Him and cultivating in himself “a humble spirit and a contrite heart,” thereby includes himself in the area of ​​His great promises. Thus, David, in his views, was an esthete, able to find, point out and appreciate beauty where a cold mind sees only a series of ordinary phenomena, objects and thoughts. Directing the human spirit to the higher world of comprehension of Divine harmony, David’s songs also had important socio-political significance. They introduced their subjects to the views and desires of their sovereign, and therefore were the king’s manifestos to his people, the program of his reign, where everyone knew what to adhere to and what disagreed with the will of his ruler. The whole series of vicissitudes that David experienced in his life never weakened his spirit, but, on the contrary, provided rich material for his creative genius. He composed a whole series of songs for all the outstanding events of his life. So, for example, the psalms he wrote, according to the events that led to their composition, can be distributed as follows: Psalm 8 was written after the anointing of David by Samuel, 143 - after David’s victory over Goliath, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 21, 26, 30, 33, 34, 35, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58, 59, 68, 69, 70, 107, 108, 141 - regarding persecution from Saul; 5, 10, 25, 40, 54, 57, 63, 139 refer to the time of Absalom's rebellion, before David's flight from Jerusalem; 3, 4, 22, 24, 27, 36, 60, 61, 62, 85, 140 - from the day of the flight from Jerusalem: 1, 2, 9, 19, 20, 67, 109, 123 were written about the wars waged by David; 14, 23, 29, 121, 132, 130, 100 - regarding the transfer of the Icon of the Covenant, with concerns about the construction of the church, and regarding the circumstances related and accompanying this; 6, 31, 32, 37, 38, 50, 142 stand in connection mainly with the crime of David with Bathsheba and indirectly with the rebellion of Absalom; 18, 28, 39, 102, 103, 64, 137, 138, 144 - regarding the promises given to David from God and other events of his life. Solomon owns three psalms: 71, 126 and 131. This king, who represented almost the complete opposite of David in terms of his character and thoughts (the latter is a man of living action, social, a lyricist in the nature of his literary works with a predominance of feeling over other abilities, an esthete in his views, this is an armchair man, a thinker, a philosopher-analyst, a subtle observer with a highly developed formal, logical ability to construct thoughts), at a young age and in the first years of his reign, when feeling takes precedence over the cold rational side of a person, he paid tribute to this latter by creating the aforementioned psalms. Perhaps he was guided in choosing the form of the work by the desire to follow his father, whose songs captivated the entire people and caused many imitations. These psalms were written: 71 - upon the accession to the throne after the Gibeon prayer, 126 - upon completion of the construction of the church, and 131 - on the occasion of the transfer of the Icon of the Covenant from the tabernacle to the church. In these psalms one can notice a rational tone of presentation and, in comparison with David’s songs, artificiality in the construction and development of thoughts. The name of Asaph is found in the inscription above the following 12 psalms: 49, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82. Under the name of Asaph the psalmist, the Levite of the time of David, who came from the tribe of Gershon, the son of Barachiah, is known. Together with his four sons, he commanded 4 lines of David’s singers, and was the main manager of sacred music and singing before the tabernacle in Zion. This contemporary of David also possessed poetic talent and was the creator of some psalms, which, along with the songs of David, entered into church and public use (2 Chronicles 29:30). How original his talent was and was appreciated both by his contemporaries and by subsequent generations of the Jewish people is evident from the fact that his songs were valued in the same way as the songs of David, and his descendants, in reverence for the name and genius of their ancestor, hid their names over the psalms they composed under the name of their ancestor. Asaph was extremely devoted to David and linked his fate with his life; therefore, it is clear that he took the main material for his songs from the history and life of David. The following five psalms belong to Asaph, a contemporary of David: 49, 72, 77, 80 and 81. The remaining seven psalms - 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79 and 82 - belong to the descendants of Asaph (the Asafids). All psalms with the name of Asaph are distinguished by the tone of persistent exhortation addressed to the Jews for their admonition. For this purpose, the author introduces a lot of historical elements into the content of the psalms and loves to portray God as an All-Righteous Judge. By pointing out Divine benefits shown in the past of Jewish history, the writer tries to evoke in the people a feeling of affection and gratitude towards Him, and by depicting God as a Judge, to frighten them in their present bad behavior and encourage them to correct. Psalm 87 belongs to Heman, from the tribe of Kohath; Ethan, otherwise Idithum, from the tribe of Merari - Psalm 88. Both of these persons were contemporaries of David and singers at the tabernacle he had built again. They trace their origins back to the famous Korah, who rebelled under Moses. They were Levites and stood, like Asaph, at the head of the singers of David. In the Hebrew Bible they are called Ezrahitians, that is, descended from the descendants of Zara, the son of the patriarch Judah, not because they were his direct descendants, but because they lived for a long time in the tribe of Judah among the descendants of Zara; in the same way, the Levite Zuph (one of the ancestors of Samuel) is called an Ephraimite based on his place of residence in the designated tribe (1 Sam. 1:1). These persons, as the psalms they composed show, were independent singers and writers like Asaph and David. In addition, they were distinguished by wisdom, so Solomon is compared with them (1 Kings 4:31). Both psalms are very similar in content. You can quite accurately determine the time and reason for their origin. They were written, as can be seen from the content, in the time of David, when the latter received a revelation about the extension of his descendants forever and when he experienced “reproach” from his enemies. Such circumstances coincide with the time of persecution from Absalom. These psalms are distinguished by the strongly expressed individuality of their writers: their content is imbued with a gloomy feeling. Obviously, the circumstances they were experiencing had a depressing effect on them and caused the most gloomy mood. The sons of Korah own the following psalms: 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 83, 84 and 86, i.e. 11 psalms. They were descendants of Korah and retained the name after this ancestor, probably as an edification to themselves. Their responsibility, as Levites, was to monitor the pious behavior of those praying in the church courtyard and the maintenance of the cleanliness of the courtyard. Their family was distinguished by its devotion to David and, together with the latter, shared his flight, which is why in the psalms of this period the main subject of content is a mournful presentation of feelings from the disasters David experienced and, during his flight, his forced removal from the church. The sons of Korah remained servants at the church throughout the history of the Jewish people, and throughout this entire space among them there were richly gifted individuals who left behind poetic works that were included in the Psalter. The remaining 44 psalms (65, 66, 90–99, 101, 104–106, 110–120, 122, 124, 125, 127–129, 133–136, and 145–151) are by unknown writers. All psalms in the Psalter are numbered. In addition to the latter, they have other inscriptions, which can be divided into the following five groups: 1) indicating the type of song or the nature of its content, for example: a) “Prayer” (16, 85, 89 and 101) indicates pleading content; b) “Praise” (94, 144) by its very name shows a laudatory, God-glorifying content; c) “Teaching” (31, 41, 87, etc.), i.e. in these songs the authors express their bewilderments about the events they are experiencing, their reflections; d) “Pillar writing” of Heb. "mictam", Greek. στηλογραφία. This term is not quite clear; it can be understood either in the sense of indicating the value of the content, which deserved to be written on a pillar in memory of posterity, or in the sense of indicating an external, epigrammatic way of writing. 2) Inscriptions indicating the method of execution: a) “Psalm,” the most common inscription in the Psalter, indicates the performance of this song on the “Psalter,” a stringed instrument similar to a guitar; b) "Song" indicates vocal performance. The mixed designation “psalm of song”, or “song of psalm”, or “song of psalm” indicates that in the first case the main instrument of performance should be music, and the vocal should accompany it, in the second - vice versa; c) “On stringed instruments” (4, 53, etc.), i.e. “on musical instruments,” means that this work is intended either for singing (glorified text) or for playing instruments (Russian translation); d) “On an eight-string” (6 and 11) indicates singing with an octave, in a low voice, octavo voce; e) “About grinders” (8; 80, 83) – in Russian. translated as “on a Gathian weapon.” This was probably the name of the zither borrowed by David from the Philistine city of Gath. At the same time, one can think that the first name “about the grindstones” also indicates the time of use of the psalm when harvesting grapes, for squeezing which a hollowed out trough with drilled holes in the bottom is used, the name. sharpener; e) Slav. “about changeable” – in Russian. translation “on the musical instrument Shoshan” (44 Ps.). The Slavic name indicates the variable instruments with which the psalm should be performed, and Russian. – on the instrument itself, similar to a lily (shoshan); g) Slav. “about the secret son,” (9 Ps.), in Russian. "after the death of Laben." The Slavic inscription is incomprehensible, but the Russian one is explained as an indication of the reason for writing, the death of Ahithophel. Some from Hebrew read: “on a musical instrument elamoth,” and the last word is derived from “alma” - maiden, and this term will mean: to sing like a girl, in a thin voice, soprano. They are also understood in the sense of indicating singing according to a well-known aria beginning with this word; h) There are also inscriptions “on Mahalaf”, “do not destroy” (56, 57, 58 and 74), “at the dawn” (21) and “about the dove silent in the distance” (55). These inscriptions are explained as indications of songs beginning with the indicated words, according to the model of which the indicated psalms should be sung. Two terms are often found in the Psalter: (glorified bib.) “to the end” and “sela.” The first name generally means “for completion,” for final execution in the manner indicated by another word in the inscription, for example. “at the end of the psalm”, i.e. for the final execution on the Psalter. "Sela", found in the middle of the psalms, means a pause, after which the performance of the psalm should begin by another part of the choir or on other instruments. This pause and change in the musical and vocal performance was usually indicated by a blow to the tympanum. 3) Indications of the writer or performer of the psalm, for example, “psalm to David”, “Asaph”, “prayer of Moses”, etc., where the name of the person is an indication of the author of the psalm; There is also a direct reference to the performer, for example, “to the head of the choir, Idifum,” i.e., for the final performance by the head of the choir, Idifum. 4) Indications of the reason for writing a psalm, for example, “a psalm to David when he fled from Absalom his son” (Ps. 3:1), “a song when renewing a house” (29), i.e., when choosing a place to build an altar (see also 17, 33, 50, etc.). 5) Inscriptions indicating the liturgical purpose, time and place of performance of the psalms, for example, “song for the Sabbath day” (91), “psalm to David, at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles” (28), i.e. at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, etc. There is a whole section of psalms inscribed “song of degrees,” in Russian. translated as “song of ascent” (119, 135). This name is explained as an indication that the said psalms were sung by the Levites on the steps of the church during the procession of carrying and blessing water from the Spring of Siloam by the high priest, or (from Russian) that the said psalms were sung by the Jews upon their return from captivity, from the Babylonian plain, to their native mountainous Palestine; It is also customary to sing these psalms to all pilgrims at the sight of Jerusalem and when ascending Mount Zion, where they were heading on great holidays. Liturgical use of psalms among the ancient Jews and in the Orthodox Church The beginning of the social and church use of psalms was laid by David during his concerns about a more solemn structure of worship. He built a new tabernacle in Jerusalem, where the Icon of the Covenant was moved. For the first time, David gave his psalm for liturgical performance after the transfer of the Ark to Jerusalem; subsequently, the psalms compiled by him received the same purpose. In addition to David, psalms were composed by other persons, Ethan and the sons of Korah, so that by the end of his life the number of new liturgical songs was very significant and varied in content. The order of using the psalms of the Psalter was established as follows: for each day a special psalm was assigned, and for the days of holidays: Easter, Pentecost, Tabernacles, etc. - special psalms assigned for them. So on the first day of the week Ps 23 was sung, on the second - 47, on the third - 71, on the fourth - 93, on the fifth - 80, on the sixth - 92 and on the seventh - the Sabbath day - 91 and the Prayer of Moses (89 Ps). For the above solemn holidays, the so-called. “Hallelu” or “Hallelujah” psalms (112–117). They were also sung during the new moon. David introduced the use of musical instruments during worship. The purpose of the latter was to replenish the strength of the singers’ voices, so it would be inaccurate to understand their meaning only as an accompaniment. All psalms were sung in the tone of the singers’ voices and the musical part was built in unison with the choirs, and both the singing and the music were distinguished by loudness, “they played before God with all their strength” in order to “loudly proclaim the voice of joy” (1 Chronicles 13:8, 15:16). Musical instruments were quite varied: harps, tympans, Psalms, cymbals and trumpets. They can be divided into three types: A) strings, B) winds and C) percussion. The first include: 1) “Kinkor”, the most commonly used instrument. It is a wooden triangle stretched lengthwise with animal sinews. The number of strings was 6, 10, 24 and 47; The small-stringed ones were played with a bow, and the multi-stringed ones were played with the fingers. 2) "Kinnir", a later instrument, was used on days of mourning, and the first - on days of joy, 3) "Kitros" or "sambucus" in the form of ^ with sharp sounds. This is a small sized kinnoor used by women. 4) “Symphony” – an arc with three strings. 5) “Psalter” (a later instrument that appeared around the time of the Babylonian captivity) - a sonorous box through the opening of which double or triple strings in number 10 were drawn; played with fingers or a bow, 6) “Nevel” differed from the kinnor in that playing the first depended on modifying the sounds of the same strings, and on the kinnor - on the variety of strings. Nevel is the prototype of the Spanish guitar. B) 1) “Keren” - a curved horn trumpet that announced holidays, new moons, and anniversaries. 2) A straight pipe made of copper, silver or wood. This trumpet had a greater purpose than the keren in the church: it was used for the sacrifice of peace and the sending of soldiers to battle. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews used keren, as a cruder and simpler instrument, in memory of their humiliation. Brass music was generally poorly developed among Jews. C) 1) A hand drum in the shape of a vase, covered with leather, which was struck with iron rods. Most of all it was used for dancing and fun. 2) Like our tambourine, there is a board hung with rattles. Used by mourners. 3) “Cymbals” - copper plates struck one against the other. There were also small cymbals used during dancing. All of the listed instruments, each having a separate special purpose, as one might think from the above saying of the book. Steam was part of the orchestra of church instruments and was used during worship. The whole orchestra, as we said, played in unison with the choir; From the content of some psalms (41, 42, 106, etc.) it is clear that the Jews also had antiphonal singing, when one choir began, and the other continued the psalm that had begun or repeated some chorus after it. The people also took part in the singing. In Christian worship, the Psalter enjoys the widest use. The beginning of the latter was laid by Jesus Christ, when, after the Last Supper, He “sang” and went to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30). Christ celebrated Passover according to Jewish custom, which required the fulfillment of a small hallel (Psalms of Praise 112–117). Following the example of Christ, the apostles, when founding churches and organizing divine services there, commanded to use the Psalter as the best means in Christian prayer (Eph. 5:18–19; Col. 3:16; 1 Cor. 14:15, 26). In the first three centuries, as evidenced by the “Apostolic Constitutions” (book 2, chapter 59), the Psalter was an essential part of every divine service. In the fourth century, for ease of use, the Psalter was divided into 20 kathismas (i.e., seats, since at the end of the singing of the prescribed psalms, when the patristic writings and lives of the saints were read, one could sit, while the psalms were listened to while standing), each kathisma into three glory (words: glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit). The actual use of the Psalter in the Orthodox Church is determined by a special statute concerning it. According to this charter, the use of the Psalter throughout the year is divided into four periods. The first period extends from the week of Anti-Easter to September 22 (before the celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). At Vespers on Saturday of Bright Week, kathisma 1 is read (Ps. 1–8), at Matins of St. Thomas Week, kathismas 2 and 3 (Psalms 9–16 and 17–23), and on other Sundays, kathisma 17 (Ps. 118) is also read. Kathisma is not offered at Sunday Vespers throughout the year. For every six days of the week, the remaining kathismas are read: one for Vespers, two for Matins. At midnight on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday throughout the year, Kathisma 17 is read, and on Saturday always Kathisma 9 (Psalms 64-69). The second period extends from September 22 to December 19. During this period, at Matins from Monday to Saturday, three ordinary kathismas are relied upon, and at Vespers, kathisma 18 (psalms 119–133), at Matins on Sunday, the singing of Psalms 134 and 135 is added to two ordinary kathismas (2 and 3). The third period is from December 20 to cheese week. At the beginning of this period, until January 14 (the celebration of the Feast of the Epiphany), the Psalter is used in the same way as in the first period, i.e., two kathismas at Matins and one row at Vespers. From January 15 to the Saturday before the week of the “Prodigal Son,” three kathismas are sung for Matins and Vespers, Kathisma 18. On Sunday of the week of the “Prodigal Son,” Meat and Cheese Week, after the Psalms of Polyeleos (134 and 135), Ps. 136 – “on the rivers of Babylon.” During the Meat and Cheese week there are two kathismas for Matins, and one row for Vespers. The fourth period embraces the Lent. During the six weeks of fasting, the Psalter is read twice every week, mainly at Matins and the Hours. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the fifth week, a special kathisma is assigned to vespers for each day, while on these five days of the remaining weeks of Lent, kathisma is assigned to vespers. 18. During Holy Week, kathismas are read until Thursday at Matins and at the Hours; from Thursday the Psalter is postponed until Saturday of Thomas Week; Only on Holy Saturday at Matins is Kathisma 17 with choruses sung. In addition to kathismas, the following psalms are used at morning and evening services: “pre-initial” 103, at Vespers - 140, 141 and 129, at Compline “penitential” - 50, 69, 142; on the Midnight Daily Psalms 50, 120 and 133; at Matins - 19 and 20, at Six Psalms - 3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142 and praise (148-150). At the first hour - Psalms 5, 69 and 100, which are part of the morning service, at the third - 16, 24 and 59, at the sixth - 53, 54 and 90; the last two hours are read during the proskomedia; at the ninth hour, which is part of the evening service, psalms 83, 64 and 85 are read. In the Christian Church, psalms are read and sung. There are three types of singing: “antiphonal” for two choirs or with a canonarch proclaiming part of the psalm, which the choir repeats after him; “noted”, distinguished by the variety of its harmony and melody, and “simple”, similar to recitative singing. Music is not accepted in Orthodox worship. This is because in Orthodox worship they try to highlight the content of songs that can teach those praying, while instrumental music can interfere with the assimilation of the thoughts contained in the chants; hence the task of the choir is, in addition to the harmonious performance of voice music, distinctness and clarity of pronunciation. In the Catholic Church and Protestants, music has been introduced during divine services as a necessary accessory to church services. The last introduction was aimed not so much at giving a certain content to the thoughts of the worshiper, as with the Orthodox, but at influencing his mood with the harmonious and melodic sounds of music. Collection of psalms in one composition The Psalter could not appear in its present form immediately. The time of origin of the songs included in its composition occupies a space of about 8 centuries, from Moses to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. This suggests that at first the Jews had collections of some psalms, which were later combined together. The existence of collections is also indicated by the actual composition of the Psalter. The whole of it is divided into five parts: a sign of the division is the liturgical ending, which appears in the Psalter 4 times: after Psalm 40, “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! Amen, amen! (Ps. 40:14); after Psalm 71 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who alone works wonders; and blessed is the name of His glory forever, and the whole earth will be filled with His glory; Amen and amen” (Ps. 71:18–19), before Psalm 72 there is a remark: “the prayers of David the son of Jesse are over” (Ps. 71:20). The last words clearly show that there were collections of David's songs that bore the name of their author, probably in contrast to the then existing collections of songs by other authors. After Psalm 105 – “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say: Amen! Hallelujah! (Ps. 105:48). The above four liturgical endings divide the entire Psalter into the following five parts: the first contains psalms 1–40, the second 41–71, the third 72–88, the fourth 89–105 and the fifth 106–150. The time of the appearance and formation of these collections can most likely be determined as follows: the first collection appeared under David. Its composition was prompted by liturgical needs. David composed and gave away the psalms he wrote for church and public use. In this case, he needed to indicate which songs he was assigning and to whom, when and how to perform them, which could only be achieved by collecting such songs in one collection. In the second collection there are psalms belonging to the sons of Korah and written no earlier than the time of King Jehoshaphat and no later than the era of King Hezekiah (for example, Psalms 45, 46 and 47); therefore, the second part of the Psalter could only appear after David. The collection of psalms of this part can be dated back to the time of King Hezekiah, who was distinguished by his love for the collection of sacred works (under him, for example, the book of Proverbs was compiled). When the remaining groups of psalms were compiled and added to the first two parts, it is impossible to say for sure; it is assumed, for example, that the third part of the Psalter also appeared during the time of Hezekiah; The only certainty is that the combination of all parts of the Psalter into one true composition dates back to the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the canon of the generally sacred Old Testament books was concluded. Division of psalms according to content. Prevalence of use of the Psalter The Psalter is the work of many authors and consists of 150 songs, each of which is an integral and complete lyrical work, written on a well-known historical occasion and containing a disclosure of thoughts and feelings evoked and experienced by their creators under given circumstances. Depending on the variety of historical circumstances of the origin of the psalms, the content of the latter is distinguished by such an abundance of thoughts and feelings that a strict and precise division of all psalms by content into certain groups is impossible. The multi-subject content of the Psalter attracted attention even in ancient times. We will give several reviews of the Psalter. St. Athanasius the Great says: “the book of psalms, it seems to me, clearly and in detail depicts the whole of human life, all states of the spirit, all movements of the mind, and there is nothing in a person that it does not contain in itself. Do you want to repent, confess, are you oppressed by sorrow and temptation, are they persecuting you, or are they building feats against you? whether you are overcome by despondency, or anxiety, or something similar, whether you strive to excel in virtue and see that the enemy is hindering you, whether you want to praise, thank and glorify the Lord, you will find instructions regarding this in the divine psalms.” St. Basil the Great writes: “everything that is useful in all the books of Holy Scripture is contained in the book of psalms. She prophesies about the future, brings events to memory, gives laws for life, offers rules for activity. In a word, the Psalter is a common spiritual treasury of good instructions, and everyone will find in it in abundance what is useful for him. She heals old spiritual wounds and gives grief to the recently wounded; she strengthens the weak, protects the healthy and destroys the passions that dominate souls in human life. The psalm brings calm to the soul, produces peace, and tames stormy and rebellious thoughts. He softens an angry soul and brings chastity to a lustful one. The psalm concludes friendship, unites those who are scattered, and reconciles those at war. What doesn’t the Psalter teach you? From here you will know the greatness of courage, the severity of justice, the honesty of chastity, the perfection of prudence, the form of repentance, the measure of patience and every blessing you can name. Here there is perfect theology, there is a prophecy about the coming of Christ in the flesh, there is a threat of God's judgment. Here the hope of resurrection and the fear of torment are instilled. Here glory is promised, secrets are revealed. Everything is in the book of psalms, as in a great and universal treasury” (Works of St. V.V., part 1, p. 177). St. John Chrysostom says: “in the psalms we learn very many useful things. David speaks to you both about the present and about the future, about visible and invisible creatures; he teaches you about the resurrection and about Jesus Christ, and about the future life, and about the peace of the righteous and about the torment of sinners; communicates to you both moral and dogmatic teaching. In short, in the Psalter you will find countless benefits. Have you fallen into temptation? You will find the best consolation in it. Have you fallen into sin? You will find countless cures. Fell into poverty or misfortune? You will see many marinas there. If you are a righteous person, you will receive from there the most reliable reinforcement, if you are a sinner, the most effective consolation. If you are puffed up by your good deeds, there you will learn humility. If your sins plunge you into despair, you will find great encouragement there. If you have a royal crown on your head, or are distinguished by high wisdom, the psalms will teach you to be modest. If you are rich and famous, the psalmist will convince you that there is nothing great on earth. If you are stricken with sorrow, you will hear comfort. Do you see that the righteous suffer disasters just like the sinners, you will receive an explanation for this. If you see that some here enjoy happiness unworthily, you will learn not to envy them. Every word there contains an endless sea of ​​​​thoughts” (Commentary on the last to Rom.). St. Ambrose of Milan, in his interpretation of the first psalm, says: “In all Scripture the grace of God breathes, but in the sweet song of the psalms it breathes predominantly. History instructs, the law teaches, prophesies, foretells, moral teaching convinces, and the book of psalms convinces of all this and is the most complete physician of human salvation.” The songs of the Psalter, as lyrical works in which the authors introduce us to the feelings they experience, are not always distinguished by a strictly logical sequence of presentation and consistency of the tone itself, the nature of the thoughts expressed; Often in the course of thoughts the connection is not noticed, unexpected transitions from one subject to another occur, and in the same psalm the sad nature of the presentation turns into a joyful one, and vice versa (Psalms 2, 4, 8–9, 21 and many others). This lack of connection in the course of thoughts is understandable: the voice of a living, immediate responsiveness of feeling and the rational demands of logical coherence and accuracy in the formulation of thoughts cannot always be in agreement. In addition, the psalms, as written by many people, are distinguished by great diversity in the external methods of constructing and expressing thoughts, in words and in the nature of the depiction of similar objects (general instructions are given above). All of the above suggests that it is impossible to divide the psalms into certain groups, no matter what criterion we take into account - whether the substantive content of the psalms or the external features of the structure; it would result in almost as many parts as there are psalms. In view of this, when dividing the psalms, attention is paid to the “comparatively predominant” nature of their content and in this case the psalms are divided into 1) praise and thanksgiving, 2) prayerful and 3) teaching. In view of the importance of the content, the messianic psalms are also classified into a separate fourth group. The first group includes those psalms that express reverence for God as the Creator and Provider of the universe, thanksgiving for His various gifts sent down to the Jewish people or the psalmist. All psalms with the inscription “song”, “halleluia”, “praise” and “in confession” are considered included here. There are 55 such psalms: 8, 17, 20, 29, 32, 33, 45–47, 64–67, 74, 75, 80, 86, 91, 92, 94–99, 102–107, 110, 112–117, 121, 123, 125, 128, 133–135, 137, 143–150. “Prayer” psalms are those in which their writers turn to God with some kind of request, or with cries for help and intercession, or with an expression of deep sadness about the corruption of the world, or with indignation at the wicked and a plea for their punishment, etc. The external difference is the prayer appeals: Lord have mercy, Lord save, look out, hear, etc. These include: 3–7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24, 27, 30, 34, 37–40, 43, 50, 53–55, 58–60, 63, 68–70, 73, 76, 78, 79, 82–85, 87, 89, 93, 101, 108, 119, 122, 129, 139–142. Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 119, 142, for the feelings of repentant contrition for sins expressed in them, are called “repentant.” “Teaching” psalms are those whose predominant content is reflections on the circumstances of the author’s personal life or the life of the people. All psalms with the inscription “teaching” belong to them. The teaching psalms are as follows: 1, 2, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 31, 35, 36, 41, 42, 48, 49, 51, 52, 57, 61, 67, 81, 100, 111, 118, 120, 124, 126, 127, 130, 131, 132, 136, 138. “Messianic” psalms are those that contain prophecy about the times of the New Testament and, mainly, about Jesus Christ. These psalms do not constitute an independent group: messianic features are found in the psalms of all groups. The following 23 psalms are considered Messianic: 2, 8, 15, 19, 21, 39, 40, 44, 46, 50, 67, 68, 71, 77, 88, 94, 96, 101, 117, 118, 129, 131, 142. Messianic psalms according to According to the method of depicting future times, they are divided into two categories - prophetic and representative. When the psalmist depicts future times in a simple statement of the revelation given to the writer of the psalm about well-known historical events, such psalms are called prophetic, but when future events are presented by the writer in terms of historical, already past facts, they are called representative. Eg. Psalm 109 depicts the future worldwide reign of the Son of God; the reason for such an image was the revelation communicated to David after his brilliant victories; this is a prophetic psalm; when in the historical fact itself, such as, for example, in the glorification of God even by infants after the Jews crossed the Red Sea (Ps. 8), there is an exact reproduction of an event in the future (the same praise of Jesus Christ by young children at His entry into Jerusalem), then such psalms are called educational. In addition to being widely used in worship, the Psalter was widely used in public and domestic life among both ancient Jews and Christians of the first centuries and at the present time. Thus, among the Jews, during ordinary feasts, they sang 22 Psalms, when pilgrims entered the vestibule of the Jerusalem Temple - 29, when approaching Mount Zion - 150, during the lighting of lamps and censing of priests - 69. There is reason to think that Psalm 8 (see inscription) was sung at the end of the grape harvest, and 44 - at wedding feasts. In the Christian society of the first centuries, when everyone strived to build a life in the spirit of the instructions of the church and Christian teaching, the Psalter replaced the folk song. According to the testimony of Blessed Jerome: “With us (Christians) everything is simple, and only by singing psalms is the silence broken. Turn anywhere: the farmer walking behind the plow sings alleluia; the sweat-covered reaper amuses himself with psalms; and the vinedresser, cutting off the grape branches with a crooked knife, sings something from David. These are the people's favorite songs. Psalm - exclamations of the shepherds; psalm - refrains of the farmer" (Letters to Marcella). St. Athanasius says: “in the market places exclamations from the psalms are heard.” In Russian society, the Psalter was a reference book for every literate person, it was used to teach literacy in schools, and it even served as the subject of a superstitious attitude towards it: from the revealed passage from the Psalter, they tried to guess the outcome of a planned matter or find instructions on how to act in the difficulties they encountered. Oh St. In Tikhon of Zadonsk, his cell attendant Chebotarev writes: “At midnight he went out to the front cell, sang the holy psalms quietly and tenderly. It’s remarkable that when he was in dark thoughts, then he sang the psalm: “It is good for me, for you have humbled me.” When in deep thoughts, he sang: “Praise the Lord from heaven” and other comforting psalms, and always with tender tears. He never went anywhere or traveled without the Psalter, but he always carried it with him in his bosom, for it was small, and finally he read it all by heart. On the way, where he was leaving, he always read the Psalter, and sometimes he sang publicly, and showed me, or what text he would explain” (A Guide to Reading the Holy Bible by Priest Solovyov, pp. 190–191). Nowadays, you can also meet many who know the Psalter by heart, and among pious people it is still read more than all other sacred books. To this day, the ancient custom of reading the Psalter over the dead has been preserved either for forty days, or on the 6th, 9th and 40th days after death. We cited above a judgment about the book. Psalter of St. fathers, who pointed out the multi-subject nature of its content and its pacifying and elevating effect on the human soul. This is the main reason for the widespread use of the Psalter. In addition to these features, the following features also contribute to the widespread use of the Psalter: sincerity and simplicity of presentation, the artistry of the form of expression of thoughts, the generality of its content and the sublimity of its subjects. The writers of the psalms expressed only what they themselves felt and experienced, they presented it in an understandable form, and therefore the reader could not help but understand the content of the song; sincerity in the presentation of feelings makes the reader sympathize with the writer and experience what he read, while the artistry of the form of presentation, when a person’s thoughts and feelings are clothed in bright and strong images, maintains attention to the book. In addition, the Psalter could become common property only if those features of temporal dependence on the circumstances of origin and the purely personal views of their authors, which were understandable only to the contemporaries of the psalms or their authors, but not to the reader of another time and other living conditions, were excluded from its content. This temporal dependence, random features, is not present in the Psalter, i.e. its content in the vast majority of psalms is distinguished by a universal human character and, therefore, universal accessibility. The same circumstance that the main subject of the Psalter’s content is an appeal to God separates the reader from the interests of everyday, earthly life and elevates his spirit, satisfying his highest needs. This is the explanation why pious people and all the unfortunate and disadvantaged find peace and joy in the Psalter. You might be interested in: