Psalms

by John W. Hilber

Musicians and Dancers from the 15th c. B.C. tomb of Zeserkaresonb

Z. Radovan/www.BibleLandPictures.com

Introduction

Ancient Hymnody

Texts containing praise and prayer to gods and goddesses are nearly as old as writing itself. In the late-third millennium B.C., a high priestess of the Akkadian empire compiled a cycle of hymns to deities and all the major temples of ancient Mesopotamia.1 These hymns were placed in related groupings, and a scribal note indicates that at least one later hymn (No. 9) was inserted into the original collection.

Bilingual hymn to Ishtar as Venus

Musée du Louvre, Autorisation de photographer et de filmer; © Dr. James C. Martin

Although this type of collection is somewhat exceptional, there is evidence that forerunners once existed.2 Egypt produced short anthologies of songs organized for a deity or on a specific theme.3 From Mesopotamia and Egypt, individual texts representing a diverse range of types have been found, counterpart to various kinds of biblical psalms: hymns to deities and their temples, laments and prayers for kings and other individuals, as well as magical incantations, for which there is no biblical parallel.4 There are many similarities in formal structure, imagery, and thought between these texts from the ancient Near East and the hymns and prayers of the Old Testament.

At the same time, the book of Psalms is unique as an anthology of songs. Composed and organized in stages over the course of Israel’s history, it preserves a sample of inspired music used by individuals and the community for worship in God’s temple.5 No other collection from the ancient Near East offers the variety in types of songs or exhibits the degree of internal organization that is increasingly recognized in Psalms.6 More important, the Psalter’s theological content consistently extols Yahweh, the God of Israel, to the exclusion of all other deities, calling for the worship of Yahweh alone even among Israel’s neighbors. This is a crucial point to keep in mind when considering the many common elements shared among the songs of worship across the ancient Near East.7

Psalm Titles

Some of the earliest examples of sacred music, such as from Sumer (third millennium B.C.), are recorded with notations for musical accompaniment.8 Some songs contain instructions concerning the ritual actions that accompany the performance. Similarly, the text of a song with musical notation from the site of Ugarit (ca. 1300 B.C.) contains a colophon (scribal conclusion) naming the type of song and the scribe’s name.9 It is no surprise, then, that titles accompany biblical psalms.

Old Babylonian tablet with musical notation of two ascending consecutive heptatonic scales on a four-stringed lute tuned in ascending fifths.

The Schøyen Collection MS 5105, Oslo and London

Unfortunately, many of the terms in the psalm titles are no longer understood.10 The custom of attaching a title to songs in Israel is illustrated in 2 Samuel 22:1; Isaiah 38:9; and Habakkuk 3:1, 19. This last example is particularly interesting in that it shows an introductory title as well as conclusion. In the Psalter, all information was eventually placed at the beginning. Regardless of our ability to discern the meaning of the technical terms in the titles, they complement the indications of authorship for grouping the psalms together in the final form of the Psalter.11

Poetics

The hallmark of rhetoric in ancient Near Eastern literature is repetition; in poetry this takes the form of what scholars call parallelism. Frequently the first line of a verse is echoed in some way by the second line. The second line might repeat the substance of the first line with slightly different emphasis, or perhaps the second line amplifies the first in some fashion, such as drawing a logical conclusion, illustrating its content, or intensifying the thought. At times the point is reinforced by a contrast in the second line. Occasionally, more than two lines are parallel. Each of these features, frequently observed in biblical psalms, is represented in songs from Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Ugarit, samples of which are interspersed throughout the commentary.12 Unlike traditional English poetry, which often depends on rhyme for its effect, these ancient cultures attained impact on listeners and readers with creative repetition.