PSALMS
536
PSALMS
Ps. Ixxx (Ixxix) seem to refer to the opening of the
same song, "Lihes" or "LiHes of testimony". The
preposition is 'al or 'eL The Septuagint translates the
consonants iir^p twv ' k.Woi.a6-q(Toiiivuv\ Vulg., ~pro lis
qui commutabuntur, "for those who shall be changed ".
'Al Yonath 'elem rthdqim, in Ps. Ivi (Iv) means "set to 'The dove of the distant terebinth' ", or, according to the vowels of Massorah, "set to 'The silent dove of them that are afar' ". The Septuagint renders it vtt^p toO \aov rov dirb twv ayiwv fie^aKpufifi^vov^ Vulg., pro populo qui a Sanctis longe factus est, "for the folk that are afar from the sanctuary". Baethgen (op. cit., p. xli) explains that the Septuagint under- stands Israel to be the dove; reads Slim for 'elem, and interprets the word to mean gods or sanctuary.
'Al Mahalath (Ps. liii), Mahalalh leannoth (Ps. Ixxxviii) is transhterated by the Septuagint MaeX^S; by Vulg., pro Maeleth. Aquila renders firi x°P^^f, "for the dance"; the same idea is conveyed by Sym- machus, Theodotion, Quinta, and St. Jerome {pro choro). The word 'Al is proof that the following words indicate some well-known song to the melody of which Pss. liii and Ixxxviii (lii and lxxx\'ii) were sung.
' Al-Haggittilh, in titles to Pss. viii, lx.\xi, Ixxxiv (vii, Ixxx, lxx.xiii). The Septuagint and Symmachus, iirip Tuv \tjvwv; Vulg., and St. Jerome, pro torcularibus, "for the wine-presses". They read gittoth, pi. of galh. The title may mean that these psalms were to be sung to some vintage-melody. The Massoretic title may mean a Gittite instrument (Targ., "the harp brought by David from Gath"), or a Gittite melody. Aquila and Theodotion follow the reading of Massorah and, in Ps. viii, translate the title uTrep tti^ yfTSinSos; yet this same reading is said by Bellarmine ("Explanatio in Psalmos", Paris, 1889, I, 43) to be meaningles.s.
One title probably means the kind of musical in- strument to be used. Neginolh (n"J';j:;; Septuagint, if yl/aXixoU, in Ps. iv, if ip-vois elsewhere; Vulg., in carminibus; Symmachus, 5id \pa\TTipiuv; St. Jerome, ill psalmis) occurs in Pss. iv, vi, liv, Ixvii, lx.xvi (iv, vi, liii, liv, Ixvi, Ixxv). The root of the word means "to play on stringed instruments" (I Kings, xvi, 16-18, 23). The title probably means that these psalms were to be accompanied in cantilation exclu- sively "with stringed instruments". Ps. l.xi (Ix) has 'Al Negindlh in its title, and was perhaps to be sung with one stringed instrument only.
Two titles seem to refer to pitch. ' Al-'Alam6th (Ps. xlvi), "set to maidens", i. e. to be sung with a soprano or falsetto voice. The Septuagint renders iiirip Twv Kpv(pluv; Vulg., pro occullis, "for the hidden"; Symmachus, vnip tCiv aiuvtiiy, "for the everlasting"; Aquila, ^iri veavioT^/iTwv; St. Jerome, pro juventutibus, "for youth".
' Al-Hassheminith (Pss. vi and xii), "set to the eighth " ; Septuagint, inrip rrjt 6ySl>-n%; Vulg.. pro oclava. It has been conjectured that " the eighth ' means an octave lower, the lower or bass register, in contrast with the upper or soprano register. In I Par., xv, 20-21, Levites are assigned some "with psalteries set to' Alamoth" (the upper register), others "with harps set to Sheminith" (the lower register).
(e) Titles indicating the liturgical use of a psalm: — Hamma'aloth, in title of Pss. cxx-cx.xxiv (cxix- cxxxiii); Septuagint, vS'fi tQv &vaPa6p.S>v, St. Jerome, canticum graduum, "the song of the steps". The word is used in Ex., xx, 26 to denote the steps leading up from the women's to the men's court of the Temple plot. There were fifteen such steps. Some Jewish commentators and Fathers of the Church have taken it that, on each of the fifteen steps, one of these fifteen Gradual Psalms was chanted. Such a theory does not fit in with the content of these psalms; they are not tcmiilc-p.^^ahns. Another theory, pro- posed by Ge.senius, Delitzsch, and others, refers "the steps" to the .stair-like parallelism of the Gradual Psalms. This stair-like parallelism is not
found in all the Gradual Psalms; nor is it distinctive
of any of them. A tliird theory is the most probable.
Aquila and Symmachus read ei5 rds di'a/3dffei5, "for
the goings up"; Theodotion has g-crpu rCi vai>aPa(r4uy.
These are a Pilgrim Psalter, a collection of pilgrim-
songs, of songs of those "going up to Jerusalem for
the festivals" (I Kings, i, 3). Isaias tells us the
pilgrims went up singing (.x-\x, 29). The psalms in
question would be well suited for pilgrim-song.
The phrase "to go up" to Jerusalem {dva^almv)
seems to refer specially to the pilgrim goings-up
(Mark, x, 33; Luke, ii, 42, etc.). This theory is
now commonly received. A less likely explanation
is that the Gradual Psalms were sung by those
"going up" from the Babylonian exile (I Esd.,
vii, 9).
Other liturgical titles are: "For the thank- offering", in Ps. c (xcix); "To bring to remem- brance", in Pss. x.x-xviii and Ixx (xxxvii and Ixix); "To teach", in Ps. xl (x.x.xix); "For the last day or the Feast of Tabernacles", in the Septuagint of Ps. xxix (xxviii), ^|o6(ou (tkiii^s; Vulg., in con- summalione tabernaculi. Psalm xxx (xxix) is en- titled "A Song at the Dedication of the House". The psalm may have been used at the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple, the Enctenia (John, X, 22). This feast was instituted by Judas Macha- beus (I Mach., iv, 59) to commemorate the rededica- tion of the temple after its desecration by Antiochus. Its title shows us that Ps. xcii (xci) was to be sung on the Sabbath. The Septuagint entitles Ps. xxiv (xxiii) TTis /Mas (rapparuv, "for the first day of the week"; Ps xlviii (xlvii) Sivripq. o-o/S/Sotou, "for the second day of the week"; Ps. xciv (xciii), TfrpdSi aa^^droiv, "for the fourth day of the week"; Ps. xciii (xcii) ets ttjv ijfjL^pav rov Trpotra^^drov, "for the day before the Sabbath". The Old Latin entitles Ps. Ixxxi (Ixxx) quinta sabhati, "the fifth day of the week". The Wishna (Tamid, VII, 13) assigns the same psalms for the daily Temple service and tells us that Ps. Ixxxii (Ixxxi) was for the morning sacrifice of the third day (cf. James \Vm. Thirtle, "The Titles of the Psalnis, Their Nature and Mean- ing Ex-plained", New York, 1905).
(2) Value of the Titles: — Many of the critics have branded these titles as spurious and rejected them as not pertaining to Holy Writ; such critics are de Wette, Cheyne, Olshausen, and Vogel. More recent critical Protestant scholars, such as Briggs, Baethgen, Kirkpatrick, and Fullerton, have followed up the lines of Ewald, Delitzsch, Gesenius, and Koster, and have made much of the titles, so asthereby to learn more and more about the authors, collections, occasions, musical settings, and liturgical purposes of the Psalms.
Catholic scholars, while not insisting that the author of the Psalms superscribed the titles thereof, have always considered these titles as an integral part of Holy Writ. St. Thomas (in Ps. \'i) assigns the titles to Esdras: "Sciendum est quod tituli ab Esdra facti sunt partim secundum ea quae tunc agebantur, et partim secundum ea qute contigerunt. " So comprehensive a statement of the case is scarcely to the point; most modern scholars give to the titles a more varied history. Almost all, however, are at one in considering as canonical these at times obscured directions. In this unanimity CathoUcs carry out Jewish tradition. Pre-Massoretic tradi- tion preserved the titles as Scripture, but lost much of the liturgical and musical meaning, very likely because of changes in the liturgical cantilation of the Psalms. Massoretic tradition has kept carefully whatsoever of the titles it received. It makes the titles to be part of Sacred Scripture, preserving their consonants, vowel-points, and accents with the very same care which is given to the rest of the Jewish Canon. The Fathers give to the titles that respect
