And His diverse properties and deeds, manifested in external nature and in the life 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. inscription - on the external way of performing them to the accompaniment of a string instrument. Psalm writers... All psalms are numbered, but, in addition, many of them have the names of persons, with the Hebrew particle "le" standing in front of them, indicating that this psalm belongs to this person, for example, "le David", "le Chelomo", 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 over the psalms there are also the names of Moses, Asaph, Heman, Idithum and the sons of Korah, with most of the part preceding these names " le ". This shows that among the writers of the Psalter there were also these persons. That the writers of the Psalter were many, this is evidenced by the very content of the Psalms and the variety in them of the external form of expression of thoughts. In the psalms, for example, there are indications of events before David's time (), David's time (and many others), doped up (, etc.), the time of the Babylonian captivity (,,, etc.) and the post-captivity period (, , , and etc.). Thus, the period of time embraced by the content of the psalms is several tens of times longer than the average duration of a human life, and one person could not be a witness and a depiction of the events indicated in the Psalms. There is a difference between the psalms and in the nature of the depiction of similar objects. If we compare, for example, with or with, then one cannot fail to notice that with similar objects of content (depicting 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 to them. The author, persecuted by his enemies, believes in God's help to him and appeals to his enemies with a meek admonition to change his mind, check the motives of his actions and, before it is too late, bring repentance before God and reform; the author paints his position as hopeless, and the strength of his enemies invincible, himself completely abandoned by God; but enemies evoke in the writer a feeling of hatred and a thirst for their death. Such a difference in the depiction of these psalms of attitudes towards enemies, testifying to the heterogeneity of the feelings of their authors, indicates that their writers were different faces, and not one person, since it is impossible for the latter to experience different and even opposite feelings under similar circumstances. The wide variety in the ways of expressing thoughts and methods of writing (which will be discussed in more detail below) also indicates the origin of the Psalter from several persons, and not from one writer. In addition, in we have a direct indication that during Hezekiah they praised God "By the words of David and Asaph the seer" ... According to this testimony, Asaph is recognized for authorship and significance in composing songs equal to that of David, which indicates the recognition of more than one person by the writers of the Psalter. There was an opinion in antiquity (St. Gregory of Nyssa, St., Blessed Jerome, St. John Chrysostom and others .), which was sometimes maintained in later times, that the Psalms belonged to David alone. The basis and confirmation of this opinion indicate that 1) in some places St. 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) in the New Testament, some psalms that do not have inscriptions in the Hebrew Bible are considered the psalms of David (); 3) among the ancient Jews, as well as in the preeminent 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 found in the inscriptions over the psalms, and the content of the psalms indicating the times after David's, are trying to be explained in the sense of pointing to the executors whom David originally appointed them, and the gift of prophecy, which he possessed and, thanks to which, could anticipate and describe events after their time. The opposite opinion to the one just quoted was not universal even in antiquity. Many church fathers and teachers adhered to the view of the Psalter that it is the work of not one person, but several (eg Origen, St. Basil the Great, Blessed Jerome, etc.), and this opinion among scientists is prevailing at the present time. The same places of priest. The scriptures, which are put forward by the defenders of the first opinion in their support, have a different meaning. Ex. , equally also contain not a definition of the origin of the Psalms from David, not an indication of the name of the author of this book, but express the then common name of it; The 1st book of Ezra () gives only a general indication of the order of worship, which was established by David, and which the Jews in captivity could not be observed, but now, upon returning from captivity, this charter was restored in all solemnity and fullness ... Only the testimony of the book of Acts, where its writer, citing a saying from Psalm 2, calls it the words of "the youth of David," gives an exact indication of the name of the author of this psalm, but not of the entire Psalm. The explanation of the inscriptions of persons other than David, in the sense of pointing to the first performers of the psalms, is arbitrary; if before these names, as before the name of David, there is a particle "le", and if the psalms with the name of David in the inscription are considered written by David, then according to the sequence, all the other psalms should be considered written by those persons whose names are in the inscriptions above them. The attempt of the defenders of the first opinion to explain the content of the psalms indicating events after David's time by the gift of David's prophecy is erroneous: in the content of many songs of the Psalter there are features depicting the external, random position of the characters (), or an indication of new geographical areas (), which the prophecy does not do : the sphere of prophecy includes only that which as its subject has the disclosure of the state of the Kingdom of God on earth, objects from the field of messianic and religious-moral life, to which much in 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 David's has a different meaning: since most of the psalms in the Psalter belongs to David, and since the latter's poetic talent was diverse and powerful, 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 Psalms. If the latter is called by his name, then this should be understood not literally, but in a relative sense, like the book of Proverbs is called Solomon, while he wrote only most of it. The names of the following psalm writers are known: Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, he is Idithum, and the sons of Koraeva. In terms of time and circumstances of origin, as well as the number of psalms written, the latter are distributed among the aforementioned persons as follows: Moses owns one (), written by him at the end of his forty-year wandering in the wilderness and in view of the promised land, which now only a new generation of people could enter who were born in the wilderness, and from those who left Egypt only those who did not have 20 years when they left. 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 the gift of a blessed and fertile land to the Jews, grief for a person who by his behavior arouses the wrath of God, and a prayer to Him for the mercy and intercession of man. These three motives: thanksgiving-sorrowful-prayer are predominant in all subsequent content of the Psalter, being either in its pure form or in combination with others. According to the inscriptions of the Hebrew and Russian Bibles, 73 psalms belong to David, and 87 according to the Greek-Slavonic. The difference in the number of psalms attributed to David is explained by the fact that when determining the origin of the psalms not inscribed with the names of the writers in the Hebrew Bible, 70 translators were guided by the traditions that came to 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 the psalms belonging to David as the author, 73. They are as follows: from those inscribed with his name in Heb. 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, 53, 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 Heb. Bibles, but relative to which their origin from David can be established, the following five: 1, 2, 32, 105, 137. All of David's psalms in their content represent a lyrical account of the events of his life, from the first anointing from Samuel to 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 such events in his life represent a large number and variety, which explains the large number and variety of his psalms. In this case, the psalms of David are rich material that replenishes the legends about his life of historical books, which are engaged, for the most part, with the presentation of the external history of his life, and in the first there is an image of his thoughts and feelings, which represent an abundant source for characterizing the spiritual image of this "The sweet singer of Israel" (). The external history of David's life is well 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 have made and remain the brightest page of Jewish history and subject national pride. Such a great distance between the two poles of social status (just a citizen and a crowned king) and historical fame (a shepherd in his family and a national hero) was covered by a number of outstanding feats and extraordinary hardships, so that few can be found in the history of mankind such figures whose life would represent a series of vicissitudes similar to those experienced by David. David's first popular fame begins with the time of his victorious single combat with Goliath, the Philistine hero. When two armies - Jews and Philistines - converged near the valley of Sokaoth, occupying the mountains adjacent to it, none of them dared to descend into the valley to start a battle, since, according to the terrain, this would be one of the chances of defeat. Therefore, both sides stood inactive. Then Goliath came forward and challenged one of the Jews to a single combat with him; none of the latter dared to fight him. Goliath mocked the Jews for 40 days, and the latter had to silently endure his caustic and insulting national sense of ridicule. When David, who had brought food to his brothers, heard these ridicule, a desire to wash away this shame from the Jews began to speak strongly in him, and he entered, apparently, 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 conquered thousands, and David overcame darkness." From that time on, envy of David became in Saul, 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 an attempt to kill David and a whole series of persecutions. David fled. During the flight, David became closely known to the people for his meek character, sincere piety, practical resourcefulness, military foresight and courage, which is why, with the death of Saul, he soon became king, first of one tribe of Judah, and then of all twelve. David's reign was beneficial to the Jews. He expanded the limits of his kingdom, secured its borders with victories over neighboring foreign peoples, established greater cohesion between the scattered and previously hostile tribes, organized an army more correctly, improved judicial proceedings, eliminating arbitrariness in the decisions of representatives of the tribes by granting the right of appeal to the king, transferred the Kivot The covenant from Kariat-Jarim to Jerusalem, introduced and established a strict order in the performance of the divine service, giving it an unexpected until that time character of solemnity by introducing correctly organized choirs and music, and began to prepare material for building a new temple. But his reign was darkened by some sad events. ... David's crime with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah were accompanied by family misfortunes: the rebellion of Absalom, and later - Adonijah, his sons. During the first uprising, he was forced to flee Jerusalem and be ridiculed by his son's followers. His people were plagued by a plague that claimed many victims. These events, as we see, deeply affected David. David is a nature richly endowed with physical and spiritual powers. Small in stature, densely built, blond and with blue eyes, he possessed great muscular strength and agility, which he often showed in his young years in the fight against lions, from whose mouths he could snatch the 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, the flight from Absalom, when David had to run from place to place, often without any provisions with him, serve as a vivid confirmation of this. David's ability to deal with everyone affectionately, not to avenge personal grievances (the story of Saul and Semey), his impartiality in court cases, the love of priests, Levites and prophets for him, the ability to rally into one previously scattered tribes and subsequent solicitude for the construction of the temple and worship, they reveal in it a meek character, deep respect for the personal dignity of a person, administrative sagacity and tact, and sincere, heartfelt piety. The most outstanding and characteristic features in 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 explains, apparently, strange, sometimes impractical actions, and sometimes direct misconduct when David spares his notorious enemy (Saul), or when he comes into contact with Bathsheba, surrendering to a feeling of fascination with her external, physical beauty. But how sincere and fleeting was the 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 sublimity of David's concepts of God and the corresponding strict attitude towards himself. Violation of the Divine commandments was, according to him, the greatest insult to the All-Holy Being, and therefore caused in David a consciousness of complete sinfulness before Him, and his fall seemed so deep that he considered it unbearable for man to rise from him. In these cases, David reached the point of completely denying himself any good deeds, and his only prayer appeal was: "Have mercy on me, Lord, according to Your greatest condescension to man." The strong poetic talent of David explains the abundance of his songs, with which he responded to all the outstanding events of his personal and social life. His poetry, which belongs to the genus of pure lyricism, is distinguished by the diversity of its types. There are elegies (penitential psalms - 6, 31, 37, 50, etc.), there are meritorious ones that approach our odes (17, 18, 103, 104, etc.), there is a likeness of our songs, only with a religious plot (8 , 44, etc.), there are messianic-prophetic (2, 15, 21, etc.). It should be noted that the peculiarity of the songs is 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 field 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 the day and night, the seasons, the arrangement 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 attitude of God to man and the latter to God. God, showing him mercy and protection in the present, prepares him for the great blessings of the future through the coming of the Messiah: man, having a constant and firm faith in God, showing Him obedience 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, who knew how to find, indicate and appreciate beauty where a cold mind sees only a number of ordinary phenomena, objects and thoughts. Directing the human spirit to the higher world of comprehending Divine harmony, David's songs also had an important social and political significance. They introduced the subjects to the views and desires of their sovereign, and therefore were the tsar's manifestos to his people, the program of his reign, where everyone knew what to hold on to, and that did not agree with the will of his sovereign. A whole series of vicissitudes, experienced by David in his life, never weakened his spirit, but, on the contrary, gave rich material to his creative genius. A whole series of songs composed by him at all the outstanding events of his life. So, for example, the psalms written by him, according to the events that caused their compilation, 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 - concerning the persecution of Saul; 5, 10, 25, 40, 54, 57, 63, 139 refer to the time of the rebellion of Absalom, before the flight of David 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 are written about the wars waged by David ; 14, 23, 29, 121, 132, 130, 100 - regarding the transfer of the Kivot of the Covenant, with concerns about the construction of the temple, and about the related and concomitant circumstances; 6, 31, 32, 37, 38, 50, 142 are associated mainly with the crime of David with Bathsheba and indirectly with the rebellion of Absalom; 18, 28, 39, 102, 103, 64, 137, 138, 144 - about the promises made to David from God and other events of his life. Solomon owns three psalms: 71, 126 and 131. This king, who was almost the complete opposite of David by the nature of his character and thought (the latter is a man of a living cause, a social one, a lyricist by the nature of his literary works with a predominance of feeling over other abilities, an esthete by 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 early years of his reign, when feeling prevails over the cold, rational side in a person, he paid tribute to this last creation of the aforementioned psalms. the whole people and evoked many imitations. These Psalms were written: 71 - at the accession to the throne after the Gibeon prayer, 126 - at the end of the construction of the temple, and 131 - on the occasion of the transfer of the Kivot of the Covenant from the tabernacle to the temple. In these psalms, a rational tone of presentation is noticeable and more, in comparison with the songs of David, of artificiality in the construction and development of thoughts. The name of Asaph is found in the inscription over the following 12 psalms: 49, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82. Under the name of Asaph the psalmist is known the Levite of the time of David, descended from the tribe of Gershon, the son of Barachiah. Together with his four sons, he ruled over the 4 ranks of the singers of David, was the chief administrator of sacred music and singing before the tabernacle in Zion. This contemporary of David also possessed a poetic talent and was the creator of some psalms, which, along with David's songs, entered church-public use (). 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 awe of the name and genius of their ancestor, hid their names over the compiled them psalms under the name of their ancestor. Asaph was extremely devoted to David and connected his fate with his life; therefore, it is clear that the main material for his songs he took from the history and life of David. Asaph, a contemporary of David, owns the following five psalms: 49, 72, 77, 80 and 81; the remaining seven psalms - 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79 and 82 - belong to the descendants of Asaph (asafids) .All psalms with the name of Asaph differ in the tone of persistent admonition addressed to the Jews for their admonition. To this end, the author introduces a lot of historical elements into the content of the psalms and loves to portray God as the All-Righteous Judge. By pointing out the Divine blessings shown in the past of Jewish history, the writer tries to evoke in the people a feeling of affection and gratitude to Him, and by depicting God as Judge, intimidate in his real bad behavior and induce correction. Eman, from the tribe of Kaafa, belongs to Psalm 87; To Ethan, otherwise Idithum, from the tribe of Merari, - Psalm 88 Both of these persons were contemporaries of David and singers at the newly built tabernacle. They trace their origin from the famous Korea, 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 the Ezrachites, 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 Zuf (one of the ancestors of Samuel) is called an Ephraim according to his place of residence in the designated tribe (). These persons, as the psalms compiled by them show, were as independent singers-writers as Asaph and David. In addition, they were distinguished by wisdom, so Solomon () is compared with them. 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, during the time of David, when the latter received a revelation about the continuation of his offspring forever and when he experienced "reproach" from enemies. Such circumstances coincide with the time of the persecution from Absalom. These psalms are distinguished by a 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 the Koreans own psalms: 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 83, 84 and 86, i.e. 11 psalms. They were descendants of Korea and retained the name of this ancestor, probably for the edification of themselves. Their duty, as Levites, lay - to monitor the piety of the behavior of those praying in the courtyard of the temple and to maintain the purity of the courtyard. Their surname was distinguished by devotion to David and, together with the latter, shared his flight, why in the psalms of this period the main subject of content is the mournful presentation of feelings from the calamities that David experienced and, during the flight, the forcible removal from the temple. The sons of Koreyev remained ministers at the temple throughout the entire history of the Jewish people, and throughout this space there were richly gifted natures among them, who left behind the poetic works that were included in the Psalms. The rest of the 44 psalms (65, 66, 90-99, 101, 104-106, 110-120, 122, 124, 125, 127-129, 133-136 and 145-151) belong to unknown writers.
Inscriptions over the psalms ... All psalms in the Psalter are numbered. In addition to the latter, they also 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 a pleading content; b) "Praise" (94, 144) by its very name shows a laudatory content that glorifies God; his thoughts; d) "Pillar writing" Heb. "Miktam", Greek. στηλογραφία. This term is not clear enough; it can be understood either in the sense of indicating the value of the content that 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 way of execution: a) "Psalm", the most common in the Psalter the inscription indicates the performance of this song on the "Psalter", a string instrument similar to a guitar. b) "Song" indicates a vocal performance. The mixed designation “psalm of a song”, or “song of a psalm”, or “song of a psalm” indicates that in the first case, the main instrument of performance should be music, and the vocal should accompany it, in the second, on the contrary. instruments "(4, 53, etc.), that is," on musical instruments ", means that this work is intended either for singing in general (glorious text) or for playing instruments (Russian translation). d) “On the octave” (6 and 11) indicates singing in an octave, in a low voice, octavo voce.d) “O tochileh” (8; 80, 83) - in Russian. the translation is "on the Gathian instrument." 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 tochilekh" also indicates the time when the psalm was used when harvesting grapes, for the squeezing of which a hollowed-out trough with drilled holes in the bottom is used, the name. grindstone e) Slav. "About the changeable" - in Russian. transl. "On the musical instrument Shoshan" (44 Ps). The Slavic name indicates the variable instruments with which the psalm should be performed, and the Russian. - the instrument itself, which looks like a lily (shoshan). G) Slav. "About secret sons" - (9 Ps), in Russian. "After the death of Laben." The Slavic inscription is incomprehensible, but the Russian is explained as an indication of the reason for the writing, Akhitofel. Some with Heb. read: "on a musical instrument elamoth", and the last word is derived from "alma" - a girl, and this term will mean: sing in a girlish way, in a thin voice, soprano. They also understand it in the sense of indicating singing according to the well-known aria beginning with this word. silent in distance ”(55). These inscriptions are explained as indications of songs beginning with the indicated words, according to the model of which the said psalms are to be sung. In the Psalter, two terms are often found: (Slav. Bib.) “At the end” and “village”. The first name means in general "for the end", for the final execution in the way indicated by another word of the inscription, for example. "At the end of the psalm," that is, for the final performance on the Psalm. "Sela", which occurs in the middle of the psalms, means a pause, after which the performance of the psalm should begin with another part of the choir or on other instruments. This pause and change in musical and vocal performance was usually indicated by striking the tympanum. 3) References to 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 psalm; there is also a direct reference to the performer, for example, “to the head of the choir, Idithum,” that is, for the final performance by the head of the choir, Idithum. his own ”(),“ a song when the house was renewed ”(29), that is, when choosing a place to build an altar (see 17, 33, 50, etc.). 5) Inscriptions indicating the divine service appointment, time and the place of performance of the psalms, for example, “song on the Sabbath day” (91), “a psalm to David at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles” (28), that is, at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, etc. There is a whole section of psalms inscribed with “a song degrees ", in Russian. translated "song of the ascent" (119, 135). This name is explained as an indication that the aforementioned psalms were sung by the Levites on the steps of the temple during the procession of carrying and consecrating water from the source of Siloam by the high priest, or (from Russian) that the aforementioned psalms were sung by the Jews upon their return from captivity, from the Babylonian plain , to his native mountainous Palestine; it is also established by custom to sing these psalms to all the pilgrims at the sight of Jerusalem and at the ascent to Mount Zion, where they went on the great feasts.
Liturgical use of psalms among the ancient Jews and in the Orthodox Church... The beginning of the social and church use of the psalms was laid by David with his concern for a more solemn structure of worship. He built a new tabernacle in Jerusalem, where the Kivot of the Covenant was transferred. The first time David gave his psalm for liturgical performance after the transfer of the Ark to Jerusalem; subsequently, the psalms he composed received the same purpose. In addition to David, the psalms were compiled 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 differed in a variety of 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 the holidays: Easter, Pentecost, Tabernacle, etc. - special psalms assigned for them. So on the first day of the week was sung 23 Ps, 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 Moses (89 Ps). For the above mentioned celebrations, the so-called. psalms "gallel" or "halleluj" (112-117). They were also sung in the new month. David introduced the use of musical instruments during divine services. 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 the psalms were sung to 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, "Played before God with all their might" , to "loudly proclaim the voice of joy" (). Musical instruments were quite diverse: harp, tympanum, Psalter, cymbals and trumpets. They can be divided into three kinds: A) strings, B) winds, and C) drums. The first include: 1) "Kinkor", the most common instrument. It is a wooden triangle stretched in length by the veins of animals. The number of strings was 6, 10, 24 and 47; the small-strings were played with a bow, and the multi-strings were played with the fingers. 2) "Kinnir", the later instrument, was used in the days of crying, and the first - in the days of fun, 3) "Kitros" or "sambuk" in the form ^ with sharp sounds. This is a small size kinnor 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 were drawn in number 10; played with fingers or with a bow, 6) "Nevel" differed from Kinnor in that playing on the first depended on the modification of the sounds of the same strings, and on Kinnor - on the variety of strings. Nevel - the prototype of the Spanish guitar. B) 1) "Keren" - a horny curved trumpet, announcing holidays, new moons, anniversaries. 2) A straight pipe made of copper, silver or wood. This pipe had more than a keren purpose in the temple: it was used to sacrifice peace and send soldiers to battle. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews used the keren in memory of their humiliation, as a coarser and simpler instrument. Brass music was generally poorly developed among the Jews. C) 1) A hand drum in the form of a vase covered with leather, on which was struck with iron rods. Most of all it was used for dancing and fun. 2) Like our tambourine - a board hung with rattles. Used by mourners. 3) "Cymbals" - copper cymbals hitting one another. There were also small cymbals used in dances. All of the listed instruments, each having a special purpose separately, as one might think from the above saying of Prince. Steam, were included in the orchestra of temple instruments and were used in divine services. The whole orchestra, as we said, played in unison with the chorus; from the content of some psalms (41, 42, 106, etc.) it is clear that the Jews also had antiphonic singing, when one choir began, and the other continued the begun psalm or repeated some refrain after it. The people also took part in the singing, and the Psalter is widely used in Christian worship. The beginning of the latter was laid by Jesus Christ, when, after the Last Supper, he "sang" went to the Mount of Olives (). But Christ celebrated the Passover according to the Jewish custom, according to which the fulfillment of a small gallel was required (Psalms 112-117). Following the example of Christ, the apostles, founding churches and arranging services there, commanded to use the Psalter as the best tool in Christian prayer (;;). In the first three centuries, as evidenced by the "Apostolic Statutes" (Book 2, Ch. 59), the Psalter was an essential part of any worship. In the fourth century, for ease of use, the Psalter was divided into 20 kathisma (i.e., seats, since at the end of the singing of the prescribed psalms, when the fatherly scriptures and the 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 charter about her. According to this statute, 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 end of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). On Vespers on Saturday of Bright Week, 1 Kathisma is read (Ps 1–8), at Matins of St. Thomas’s week, Kathisma 2 and 3 (Psalms 9–16 and 17–23), on other Sundays, Kathisma 17 is also read (). At Sunday Vespers, Kathisma is not relied upon throughout the year. For every six days of the week, the rest of the kathisma are read: one at Vespers, two at Matins. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, Kathisma 17 is read throughout the year, and Kathisma 9 is always read on Saturday (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 on, and at Vespers of Kathisma 18 (Psalms 119-133), at Matins on Sunday, two ordinary kathismas (2 and 3) are joined by the singing of Psalms 134 and 135. The third period is from December 20 to Cheese Week. At the beginning of this period, until January 14 (the day of the Epiphany), the Psalter is used in the same way as in the first period, that is, two kathismas at Matins and one ordinary at Vespers. From January 15 to Saturday, before the week of "the prodigal son," three kathismas are relied on at Matins and Vespers of Kathisma 18. On Sunday of the week of the "prodigal son", meat and cheese after the polyeleos psalms (134 and 135), it is sung - "On the rivers of Babylon"... In the week of meat and cheese, there are two kathismas for Matins, and one for Vespers. The fourth period embraces the Forty-day. During the six weeks of fasting, the Psalter is read twice every week, mainly at Matins and Hours. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the fifth week, a special kathisma is relied on for each day at Vespers, while on these five days of the remaining weeks of fasting, kathisma is relied on for Vespers. from Thursday the Psalter is postponed until Saturday of St. Thomas' week; only on Great Saturday at Matins kathisma 17 is sung with choruses. In addition to kathisma, the following psalms are used in morning and evening services: "pre-beginning" 103, at Vespers - 140, 141 and 129, at Compline "penitential" - 50, 69, 142 ; on the midnight night of the everyday psalms 50, 120 and 133; at Matins - 19 and 20, at Six Psalms - 3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142 and praiseworthy (148–150). In the first hour - psalms 5, 69 and 100, which are part of the morning service, in the third - 16, 24 and 59, in 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 kinds of singing: “antiphonic” for two choruses or with a canonarch who proclaims a part of the psalm, which the chorus repeats after it, “musical”, characterized by the diversity 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 worshipers, while instrumental music can hinder the assimilation of the thoughts contained in the chants; hence the task of the choir is, in addition to the harmonious performance of vocal music, distinctness and clarity of pronunciation. In the Catholic Church and among Protestants, music was introduced during divine services, as a necessary accessory for temple worship. The last introduction pursued the goal not so much to give a certain content to the thoughts of the praying person, as in the Orthodox, as to influence the harmonious and melodic sounds of music on his mood.
A collection of psalms in one composition. In its present form, the Psalter could not appear immediately. The time of the origin of the songs that make up it 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 of the psalms, which were later combined together. The existence of collections is also indicated by the present composition of the Psalter. All of it is divided into five parts: a sign of division is the liturgical ending, which occurs in the Psalter 4 times: after Psalm 40 “Blessed is the Lord of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! amen, amen! "(); after psalm 71 “Blessed is the Lord of Israel, one who works wonders; and blessed be the name of His glory forever, and the whole earth will be filled with His glory; Amen and Amen "(), before psalm 72 there is a remark: "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are over"(). The last words clearly show that there were collections of songs of David, which bore the name of their author, probably in contrast to the then collections of songs of other authors. After psalm 105 - “Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And may all the people say: Amen! Alleluia! "(). These 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 be determined with a greater probability as follows: the first collection appeared under David. Its compilation was dictated by divine service needs. David compiled and gave the psalms written by him for church and public use. In this case, he needed to indicate which songs and to whom he assigns, when and how to perform them, which could only be achieved by collecting such songs in one collection. The second collection contains psalms belonging to the sons of Korah and written not earlier than the time of King Jehoshaphat and not later than the era of King Hezekiah (eg, psalms 45, 46 and 47); therefore, the second part of the Psalter could only appear after David. The collection of the psalms of this part can be attributed to the time of King Hezekiah, who was distinguished by his love for the collection of sacred works (during his reign, for example, the book of Proverbs was compiled). When the remaining groups of psalms were compiled and attached to the first two parts, it is impossible to say for sure; suggest, for example, that the third part of the Psalter also appeared during Hezekiah; it is only certain that the combination of all parts of the Psalter into one real composition dates back to the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the canon of the sacred Old Testament books was concluded in general.
Division of psalms by content ... The prevalence of the use of the Psalter. The Psalter is a work of many authors and consists of 150 songs, each of which is a complete and complete lyrical work, written on a well-known historical occasion and containing the disclosure of thoughts and feelings evoked and experienced by their creators under the 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 accurate division of all psalms into specific groups is impossible. The multidisciplinary content of the Psalter attracted attention even in antiquity. We will give a few reviews about the Psalter. St. Athanasius the Great says: “The book of psalms, it seems to me, clearly and in detail depicts all human life, all states of the spirit, all movements of the mind, and a person has nothing that it does not contain in itself. Do you want to repent, confess, do sorrow and temptation oppress you, do they persecute you, or build covens against you; Whether you are despondent, or anxious, or something like that you endure, whether you strive to prosper in virtue and see that the enemy is hindering you, whether you want to praise, thank and praise the Lord, in the divine psalms you will find instruction regarding this. " 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, recalls events, gives laws for life, offers rules for activities. 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. It also heals the old wounds of the soul and gives the sorrow of healing to the recently wounded, it strengthens the weak, protects the healthy and destroys the passions that dominate souls in human life. The psalm brings peace of mind, produces peace, tames violent and rebellious thoughts. He softens an angry soul and consoles a voluptuous one. The psalm concludes friendship, unites the scattered, reconciles those at war. What will the Psalter not teach you? From here you will know the greatness of courage, the severity of justice, the honesty of chastity, the perfection of prudence, the image of repentance, the measure of patience, and every good thing that you don’t name. There is perfect theology here, there is a prophecy about the coming of Christ according to the flesh, there is a threat of God's judgment. Here the hope of the resurrection and the fear of torment are instilled. Glory is promised here, secrets are revealed. Everything is in the book of psalms, as in a great and universal treasury ”(Creator of St. VV, part 1, p. 177). St. John Chrysostom says: “In the psalms we learn many useful things. David tells 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 rest of the righteous and about the torments of sinners; informs you of both moral and dogmatic teaching. In short, in the Psalms you will find countless benefits. Have you fallen into temptation? You will find the best consolation in her. Falling into sins? You will find countless cures. Fall into poverty or misery? You will see many marinas there. If you are a righteous person, you will get the most reliable reinforcement from there; if a sinner, you will receive the most real consolation. If your good deeds mock you, there you will learn humility. If your sins plunge you into despair, there you will find great encouragement for yourself. If you have a royal crown on your head, or are distinguished by high wisdom, the psalms will teach you to be humble. If you are rich and famous, the psalmist will convince you that there is nothing great on earth. If you are overwhelmed with grief, you will hear comfort. If you see that the righteous endure adversity along with the sinners, you will receive an explanation for this. You see that some here unworthily enjoy happiness, you will learn not to envy them. Each word there contains an endless sea of thoughts ”(Explanations on Epistle to Rom.). St. Ambrose of Mediolansky, in his interpretation of the first psalm, says: “The grace of God breathes in all of Scripture, but in the sweet song of the psalms it breathes predominantly. History teaches, the law teaches, prophesies, foreshadows, moralizing convinces, and the book of Psalms convinces of all this and is the most complete physician for human salvation. ” the logical sequence of the presentation and the consistency of the tone itself, the nature of the thoughts expressed; often in the course of thoughts, a connection is not noticed, there are unexpected transitions from one subject to another, 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, etc.) ... This lack of connection in the course of thoughts is understandable: the voice of a lively, immediate responsiveness of feeling and the rational requirements of logical coherence and accuracy in the formulation of thoughts cannot always be in agreement. In addition, psalms, as written by many people, are distinguished by a great variety in the external ways of constructing and expressing thoughts, in the word 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 subject content of the psalms or the external features of the construction - is impossible, there would be almost as many parts as there are psalms. In view of this, when dividing the psalms, attention is paid to the "comparatively prevailing" nature of their content, and in this case they divide the psalms into 1) praise and thanksgiving, 2) prayer and 3) teaching. In view of the importance of content, they also distinguish the Messianic psalms 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", "alleluia", "praise" and "confession" are considered to be 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 any request, or with cries for help and intercession, or with the expression deep sorrow about the corruption of the world, or with indignation at the wicked and a prayer for their punishment, etc. The external difference is the prayer appeals: Lord have mercy, Lord save, see, 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, 62-85, 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." Psalms are those whose predominant content is reflections on the circumstances of the author's personal life or the life of the people. These include all the psalms labeled "doctrine." 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 a prophecy about New Testament times and, mainly, about Jesus Christ. do not make up: 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 the way of depicting future times, are divided into two categories - prophetic and representative. When the psalmist depicts future times in a simple presentation of the revelation given to the writer of the psalm about well-known historical events, such psalms are called prophetic, when the events of the future are presented by the writer in terms of historical, already past facts, are called prototypical. Ex. Psalm 109 depicts the future universal reign of the Son of God; the reason for such an image was the revelation communicated to David after the brilliant victories he had won, this is a prophetic psalm; when in the historical fact itself, as, for example, in the glorification of God even by nursing infants after the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea (), there is an exact reproduction of the event in the future tense (the same praise of Jesus Christ by young children at His entry into Jerusalem), then such the psalms are called representative. In addition to its wide use in worship, the Psalter was widely used in public and domestic life both among the ancient Jews and among Christians of the first centuries and at the present time. So the Jews sang Psalm 22 at ordinary feasts, when pilgrims entered the vestibule of the Jerusalem temple - 29, when approaching Mount Zion - 150, while lighting lamps and censing of the priests - 69. There is reason to think that 8 psalm (see inscription) It was sung at the end of the grape harvest, and 44 - at wedding feasts. In the Christian society of the first centuries, when everyone strove to build life in the spirit of the instructions of the church and Christian teachings, the Psalter replaced the folk song. According to the testimony of blessed. Jerome: “with us (Christians) everything is simplicity, and silence is broken only by singing psalms. Turn anywhere: the farmer following the plow sings Alleluia; a reaper covered with sweat, amuses himself with psalms; and the vinedresser, cutting off the branches with a crooked knife, sings something from David. These are the favorite songs of the people. Psalm - exclamations of the shepherds; psalm - the choruses of the farmer ”(Letters to Marcellus). St. Athanasius says: "exclamations from the psalms are heard in the marketplaces." In Russian society, the Psalter was the reference book of every literate person, it was used to teach literacy in schools, and it even served as the subject of a superstitious attitude towards it: according to the revealed place from the Psalter, they tried to guess the outcome of a planned case or find an indication of what to do in the difficulties encountered. About St. Tikhon Zadonsky, his cell attendant Chebotarev writes: “At midnight he went out to the front cell, sang softly and tenderly the psalms of the saints. Remarkably, when he was in gloomy thoughts, then he sang a psalm: "It is good for me, as you humbled me." When in buzzed thoughts, he sang: "Praise the Lord from heaven" and other comforting psalms, and always with tender tears. He never went anywhere and did not travel 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 left, he always read the Psalter, and sometimes sang openly, and showed me, or what text he would explain ”(Priest Solovyov's Guide to Reading the Holy Bible, 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. Until now, the ancient custom of reading the Psalter over the dead has survived either for forty days, or on days 6, 9 and 40 after death. Psalter of St. the fathers, who pointed to the multidimensional nature of its content and its pacifying and uplifting effect on the human soul. This is the main reason for the prevalence of the use of the Psalter. In addition to these features, the widespread use of the Psalter is also facilitated by its following features: sincerity and simplicity of presentation, artistry of the form of expressing thoughts, the generality of its content and the sublimity of the objects of the latter. The writers of the psalms expounded only what they themselves felt and experienced, they expounded it in an intelligible form, and therefore the reader could not but understand the content of the songs; sincerity in the presentation of feelings makes the reader sympathize with the writer and experience what he has read, while the artistic form of presentation, when a person's thoughts and feelings are clothed in bright and powerful 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 purely personal views of their authors, which are understandable only to contemporaries of the psalms or their authors, but not to the reader of another time and others, were excluded from its content. living conditions. This temporal dependence, accidental features, are not in the Psalter, that is, its content in the vast majority of psalms is characterized by a universal human character and, consequently, general accessibility. The same circumstance that the main subject of the content of the Psalter is an appeal to God, separates the reader from the interests of everyday, earthly life and elevates his spirit, satisfying his highest demands.This explains why pious people and all unfortunate and disadvantaged people find peace in the Psalter and delight.
In no other book of the Old Testament was personal faith in the Lord reflected so vividly and figuratively as in the book of the Psalms. Throughout the ages, believers have resorted to the prayers and praises contained here. The Russian name "Psalter" is of Greek origin: the word "psalmos" is translated from the Hebrew "mitzmor", which meant playing a string instrument. In ancient times, the songs and hymns of the Psalter were performed to the accompaniment of a guitar-like instrument called the Psalter in Russian.
The book of the Psalter can be called a collection of religious lyric poetry - the largest of the monuments of this kind that existed in antiquity. Many psalms are addressed directly to God and express prayer, prayer, and praise in poetic form. The intensity of personal religious feeling is felt in them: the believer's fears, his doubts, pain, triumph, joy, hope - all this is passed through the prism of this feeling.
Often, the authors of the psalms, based on their own experience, reflected on the needs and destinies of people and on God's goodness and mercy. In their moralizing poetic lines, praising "deliverance" from above, believers of subsequent times found consolation and hope in the days of their own difficult trials. The psalmists rejoiced at the Law that God gave to the people, for them it was a guiding thread, a guarantee of victories and prosperity.
Some psalms have absorbed popular wisdom, became an expression of the Hebrew "philosophy of life", and in this sense echoes Proverbs and other examples of the so-called "wisdom literature".
Since the psalms are temple chants, they accompanied the rituals of worship. These were hymns of celebration, glorifying the privilege bestowed on the people - to approach God on His holy mountain. Through the psalms, the Israelites expressed their reverence for God in all its depth. As works of lyric poetry, they are unforgettable.
Figurative language in the book of the Psalter.
The language of association is inherent in the Psalms, expressed through the constant use of figurative turns, symbols, allegories, through the polysemy of images, the nature of which testifies to the agricultural and cattle-breeding orientation of the "economy" in ancient Israel and, accordingly, the Israelis' closeness to nature. But the psalms also testify to the military activity of the people, who fought either wars of conquest to take possession of the promised land, then defensive ones, defending themselves from the devastating raids of neighbors, which were sometimes allowed by the Lord as His "disciplinary measure."
The mentioned "language of associations" in poetic speech allowed the psalmist to express several things in one phrase at the same time. Since thought was conveyed through images, the reader had an understanding of what the poet was thinking and what the poet had in mind when he wrote certain lines. He was worried, however, not only the meaning of the words, but also the emotionality of their sound. For example, the author of the psalm could convey the idea of the vitality of a person pleasing to God in the form of a tree, whose roots are abundantly watered with water. And the thought of fears tormenting the weak-minded is in the form of melting wax. He could liken the evil-tongued of the wicked to a sharp sword and shattering arrows.
The modern reader of the psalms must, of course, be aware that only the inhabitants of ancient Israel could fully experience their poetic charm, having absorbed all the features of its life and culture, of which this "language of associations" was also part.
Types of psalms.
Many psalms have not only a number, but also a special title. There are several of them, and, accordingly, the psalms are divided into several types - depending on the content of each song and the way it is performed (on a particular musical instrument, taking into account one or another character of the vocal accompaniment).
The Hebrew text contains 57 times the heading "mitzmor" (in Russian "psalm"). He emphasized the performance of this song to the accompaniment of the "psalter". The title "shir" (literally "song") occurs 12 times in the Hebrew Bible. (It is easy to see that in the Russian translation the words "psalm" and "song" are found more often.) The heading "mashkil" is rendered as "Teaching". It is sometimes also understood as a "poem of contemplation". In these psalms, the authors set out their bewilderment about certain events, and the thoughts that arise in them in this regard. The title Tepillah (Prayer) speaks for itself.
The ancient Jews offered praise to God accompanied by playing cymbals, flutes, tambourines and all sorts of stringed instruments. Fifty-five of them begin with an “address” to the “choir director” and an indication on which musical “instrument” the accompaniment should follow. Many speculations have been put forward regarding this "chief of the choir", but most of them boil down to the fact that we are talking about the Levite, who is responsible for the performance of all temple music. Psalms that initially had a "reference" to it could for some time be included in a collection of hymns specifically intended for temple service.
The inscription "Doctrine. Sons of Korah", which we find at the beginning of Psalms 41, 43-48, 83, 86-87 (some believe that it applies to all intermediate psalms in this series), testifies that their authors were Levites from the family of Koreev, distinguished by their devotion to David. The descendants of Korea have remained temple ministers throughout Jewish history.
The inscription "Idifum" (Ps. 38, 61, 76) speaks of the performance of the corresponding psalms by the choir, which was led by Idifun (or Idifun, aka Ethan), one of the leading musicians under King David (1 Chronicles 16:41).
The four main types of psalms are:
1. Personal complaints. In general terms, these psalms correspond to prayers for help in trouble, misfortune. They are subdivided into:
a. The introductory part is a cry addressed to God. The psalmist cries out to God, pours out his heart to Him.
b. Complaining itself. It contains a description of the sad situation in which the psalmist finds himself, his difficulties; he tells God what his enemies have done to him, and how hopeless his situation is, he also talks about what God did (or did not do) for him.
v. Confession of Faith. Having “expounded” his complaint, the psalmist proclaims his full trust in the Lord. Some of these "sections", after being supplemented, became independent "psalms of trust".
d. Request. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene in his situation and send him deliverance.
e. Solemn exaltation of praise, or a vow of praise to God for His answer to the prayer of the psalmist. As part of the prayer for deliverance, the praise was to be said in front of the entire community after the prayer was answered. Not doubting, however, that God would answer him, the psalmist began to praise Him already in the process of prayer.
2. People's weeping. They are structured in the same way as "personal lamentations", but this type of psalm is usually shorter. They consist of an introductory message and request, "lamentation," a confession of faith, a "lamentation," and a vow of praise. The theme of each of these psalms is some kind of test, allowed to the people, and their need for God: experiencing difficulties and sorrows, the people "draw close" to God with their "lamentation."
3. Psalms of personal thanksgiving. They are also called "psalms of praise", they differ in form from those mentioned above. We can talk about the presence of five "elements" in them:
a. A promise to praise God. The psalmist usually begins with phrases such as "I will praise" or "I will give praise" - because the psalm was a means for him to tell others what God had done for him.
b. Introductory summary. In it, the singing person often summarized what the Almighty had done for him.
v. Deliverance Message. It contained a detailed account of deliverance. Usually the psalmist said that, behold, he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard and "delivered" him.
d. The Psalmist's ascension of the praise that he promised to offer at the beginning.
e. Doxology or instruction. The psalm ended with praise to God, or it was "extended" by instructing people.
Among the "psalms of thanksgiving" can be named (although any such division is not absolute) - Ps. 20, 29, 31, 33, 39 and 65.
4. Hymns (psalms of praise). The theme of "personal deliverance" is not in the first place in them; the purpose of the hymns was to exalt praise to God. Hence their somewhat different structure. They began with a call to praise. The psalmist invited others to praise the Lord. The following was the reason for the praise. In this part, it was usually formulated briefly and then presented in detail.
Usually the reason was called the greatness of God and His mercy, which were illustrated by references to one or another of His acts. In conclusion, the psalmist again called for praise of the Lord. (Note that this "structure" was not always followed exactly.) Examples of "hymns" include Psalms 32, 35, 104, 110, 112, 116, and 134.
Psalms that differ from these will be discussed in detail in the course of the interpretation. The most notable of these are the Psalms of Wisdom, the Songs of the Ascension, the Royal Psalms and the Psalms on the occasion of the accession to the throne. It is impossible not to notice how clearly the themes of the "psalms of wisdom" overlap with the themes of the Old Testament "literature of wisdom", the example of which is Proverbs.
Ascent songs.
In Western theological literature, Psalms 120-133 are called "the psalms of the pilgrims." They all have the title "Song of the Ascent". Many interpretations of this title have been proposed, but most of them boil down to the fact that these psalms were sung "ascending" to worship God in Jerusalem on the three main annual holidays of the Jews. In other words, they were sung by the pilgrims who climbed Mount Zion for this purpose (Ps. 121: 4; Is. 30:29, and also Ex. 23:17; Ps. 41: 4).
Royal Psalms.
Psalms, in the center of which is the figure of the anointed king, are called royal. Their theme is some important event in the life of the king, such as his enthronement (Ps. 2), his marriage (Ps. 44), preparation for battle (Ps. 19, 143). The story of God's making a covenant with David is told in Ps. 88. Psalm 109 foreshadows the king's return with victory, while Psalm 71 foreshadows the glorious reign of King Solomon. Read about the relationship of these two psalms to the King Messiah in the comments on them.
Psalms (or songs) on the occasion of accession to the throne are characterized by the phrases "The Lord reigns" (Ps. 92; 96; 98), "The Lord ... a great king" (Ps. 46; 94) or "He will judge" (Ps. 97 ). Commentators of the Psalter perceive these expressions differently. Some believe that the "psalms of accession" were associated with a certain annual festival dedicated to the Lord's reign over the earth. However, there is no evidence that such a holiday ever existed. Others refer these phrases to the Lord's reign over Israel.
Psalm 98 "fits" into the framework of this understanding, but it is not justified by the content of others. Maybe we are talking about the reign of God over the universe? This seems to be consistent with Ps. 92, but again: the "psalms of accession" are saturated with a kind of dramatic foreboding that goes beyond the scope of this interpretation.
Apparently, despite the fact that some of the phrases characteristic of these psalms somehow relate to the manifestations of God's reign already now (for example, the gift of salvation to people), they can be best interpreted in relation to the Millennium. The language of the "psalms of accession", and the figurative structure reminiscent of the Epiphany at Sinai, is very consonant with the images of the prophecies about the coming Messiah. With such, for example, a phrase from the prophet Isaiah, as "your God reigns!" (Isa. 52: 7), which refers to the future accession of the Suffering Servant
Psalms of praising the Lord.
To understand the "background" of a number of psalms, it is important to have a good understanding of the religious calendar of ancient Israel ("Calendar in Israel" - in the comments on the 12th chapter of the book of Exodus). In Ex. 23: 14-19 and Lev. 23: 4-44 we find a description of the three most important Jewish annual festivals: Passover and Unleavened bread in the spring, Pentecost (or the feast of the first fruits) at the beginning of summer, and in the fall, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. On these holidays, the people had to go to Jerusalem in order to offer thanksgiving to God in a joyful and solemn atmosphere. Those who gathered at the temple became participants in mass rituals, which were performed to musical accompaniment, where Levite singers performed psalms, praising and glorifying God.
Psalm 5: 7 explicitly speaks of the intention to enter the house of God in order to worship the Lord. (Psalm 67: 24-27 celebrates the procession to the sanctuary, accompanied by playing and singing; compare Ps. 41: 4.) Psalm 121: 1 speaks of the joy of going with others to the temple.
There were many events, cases, reasons for worshiping in the temple in ancient Israel. These are Sabbath days and new moons, and sabbath years, and various kinds of anniversaries. But believers constantly came there on their own motivation. And they offered voluntary sacrifices as a sign of gratitude (the so-called "peace sacrifices"; Lev. 7: 12-18; Ps. 49: 14-15), in particular, for answering prayer (1 Samuel 1: 24-25) ; They were brought for cleansing from "leprosy" and after cleansing from ritual impurity (Lev. 13-15), for the successful resolution of legal conflicts, for cleansing from sin (Ps. 50: 13-17), as well as as a sign of taking a vow. In such cases, the offering of the one who came to the temple was supposed to be shared with those present; he pronounced praise to God in front of them, aloud, perhaps in the form of a psalm of praise.
There is no doubt that the prayer texts of the Psalter were very popular: they were used not only in the process of "official worship", but also to pray for forgiveness, healing, protection, "deliverance", and consolation; and this practice, being inherited by the Christian Church, continues throughout its history.
So, whether individually or publicly, the psalms were sung or recited near the sanctuary. Their contents are instructive for believers today. And that's why. The prayers of the psalmists were characterized by such an intensity of faith in the Lord that gratitude and praise to Him poured out of their lips even before the answer to the prayer was received.
When you carefully study the psalms, you see, wrote Clive Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms, how this faith and sincere joy in God's good deeds spontaneously grew. It was considered a sin to receive anything from God and not praise Him. The praise process ended with the proclamation of the Lord's mercies. And this was also part of the "joy in the Lord", since it is natural for a person to talk about the things that please him the most.
Thus, when the Scriptures called on believers to praise God, it was also a call to them to rejoice in God and His good deeds. According to ancient Israeli practice, the blessing of one by God was made the property of the entire community, so that each of its members could take part in praising the Almighty. This was specifically expressed in the fraternal division of the sacrificial meat and other offerings of those who come to the temple to praise God.
Curses in the psalms.
The psalmists sang about their faithfulness to God and His covenant. It is the zealous desire to defend righteousness that explains the words of curses that are often found in their texts. They prayed that God would "break the arm of the wicked and the wicked" (Ps. 9:15), "break their teeth" (Ps 57; 6) and "pour out His fury on them" (Ps. 67: 22-28) ... Such "requests" were dictated not by personal vengefulness, but by a protest against those who, being deprived of honor and conscience, respond to good with evil and betrayal (Psalm 108: 4-5), and, most importantly, a fervent desire for God to condemn sin and He established His work on earth.
Of course, the prayer life of Christians is different from that of the ancient Jews. But, praying for the fulfillment of God's will or for the imminent coming of Christ, we also pray for the completion of the judgment on the wicked and for the reward of the righteous.
Psalter about death.
In the minds of the psalmists, death meant the end of their service to God and the ascension of praise to Him (the Jews later realized the fallacy of this idea, as evidenced by the books of the Bible written in subsequent centuries). As for the authors of the psalms, for them it was possible to rejoice in God's faithful love and the fruits of their own righteousness only in this life (Psalm 6: 5; 29: 9; 87: 4-5,10-11; 113: 25).
Nowhere in the Psalms is it expressed in any definite way (as, say, in the prophets; Isa. 26:19; Ez. 37: 1-14; Dan. 12: 2) the expectation of the resurrection. And yet, sometimes the hope of continuing communion with the Lord even after death breaks through in the psalms (Ps. 15-16; 48; 72). At the same time, it should be noted that the words and expressions used in these hymns, which seem to indicate such hope, are used in other psalms in relation to transitory earthly circumstances.
So, the Hebrew "Sheol" meant in the mouths of the psalmists both the area of dwelling of the spirits that departed from the earth, and the grave. The hope of deliverance from the underworld ("sheola") and entry into the presence of God is expressed in Ps. 48:15. For the psalmist, this could, however, mean both the hope of attaining "eternal glory" and of some kind of "earthly deliverance," for continuing to serve God here on earth; in Ps. 29: 3 “deliverance from hell” (“sheola”) is understood by David in this sense. And at the same time, the hope expressed in these poetic lines easily passes, as attested in later biblical revelations, into the hope for the future life.
Messianic Psalms.
Incomplete clarity and hidden meaning can be spoken about in relation to the "Messianic psalms." Looking at the Psalms, yes, in fact, and the entire Old Testament, through the prism of the full revelation of Christ that we have, we can see how often they "speak" about the Lord Jesus (Luke 24:27). But to the believers of the Old Testament times, the meaning of the messianic psalms (those lines of them that carried the main idea in themselves) was often not completely clear.
On the one hand, the psalmist described his own sufferings or victories, but, on the other, he could use expressions and images that did not fit into his earthly experience, they had to throw off the veil of mystery later, revealing their meaning in Jesus Christ. Looking back, in this way, we can, following Delitzsch, a famous theologian of the past, say:
"As God the Father sets the direction of the history of Jesus Christ shapes it in accordance with his own will and wisdom, so his Spirit directs him in a direction that is pleasing to Him, shaping the statements of King David about himself in such a way that a prototype of the future King arises in them, in accordance with history, directed by God the Father "
What we encounter in this connection in the pages of the Bible can be called type as a form of prophecy. This form differs from prophecy in its usual sense in that it can be recognized only after its fulfillment. Only on the basis of its execution can, "looking back", understand that the meaning of certain expressions and images was determined not only by the historical specifics of their time. This explains the fact that New Testament writers constantly turned to the psalms, finding in them such revelations about many aspects of the Messiah's personality and His works, which clearly related to Jesus Christ.
In the messianic psalms, He appears before us - the perfect anointed King from the dynasty of David. In the approach to these psalms, researchers must be very careful, however: they must remember that not everything in them relates to Jesus Christ (in other words, that not all of their meaning is transformative), that their primary meaning is determined by their thoughts, experiences, and experiences. authors. Thus, the analysis of the Messianic psalms from the historical, textual and grammatical points of view must precede the analysis of their "application" to Jesus Christ by the New Testament authors.
Many commentators on the Psalter use (to varying degrees) Delitzsch's proposed division of the "messianic psalms" into five types.
1. Purely prophetic psalms. This, in particular, Ps. 109, which speaks of the future King from the "house of David", who is the Lord Jesus. In the New Testament (Matt. 22:44) this King is directly identified with Christ.
2. Eschatological psalms. These are psalms 95-98; while referring to the so-called "psalms of accession", they describe the coming of the Lord and the establishment of his kingdom. And although they do not speak of the King from the house of David, the text contains hints that this will happen at the second coming of Christ.
3. Representative and prophetic psalms. In them, the psalmist describes his experiences, thoughts and feelings, but he does it in such a language, through such images that clearly take what he sings about, beyond the limits of his personal experience; the prophecy contained in such psalms is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. An example of this is Psalm 21.
4. Indirectly messianic psalms. These psalms were dedicated to the real king of his time and his activities. But the final fulfillment of what is proclaimed in them is again in Jesus Christ (Ps. 2; 44; 71).
5. Psalms containing messianic symbolism, or partly messianic. Their messianic character is less obvious. In some way (or to a certain extent) the psalmist reflects in himself what relates to Christ (for example, Ps. 33:21), but by no means all aspects of his text are applicable to the Lord. Subsequently, Jesus and the apostles could simply resort to familiar phrases and images from these psalms as a means of expressing their own experiences (for example, "borrowing" from Psalm 108: 8 in Acts 1:20).
So it is clear that both the faith of believers in God and the basic truths of faith were expressed in the language of the psalms in the most impressive way. Throughout the ages, these psalms have inspired God's people, serving them to express praise to the Lord. In addition, they serve as a means of "individual comfort", a source of hope for the suffering soul in times of difficult trial; Psalms teach prayer and give confidence that prayer will be heard, thereby strengthening a person's trust in the Lord. Note in this regard that the psalms are characterized by a sudden transition from the outpouring of complaint and supplication to joy over the expected answer, as if it had already been received. This demonstrates the conviction of faith.
The authors of the book Psalter.
At the beginning of many psalms there are the names of certain persons, with the Hebrew particle "le" in front of them: "le David", "le Asaph", etc. Traditionally, it is believed that the particle "le" indicates the author of this psalm (song) ... We do know from the Scriptures, however, that David was a remarkable singer and musician and the first organizer of musical "guilds" at the sanctuary (1 Chr. 15: 3-28; 16: 4-43; 23: 1-5; 25; 2- Kings 6: 5; also 1 Chron. 13: 8). In Hebrew legends, he remained as one of the creators of sacred chants.
In addition, although the word following the particle "le" can be transmitted not only in the genitive case ("Psalm of David"), but also in the dative case, as well as in the genitive with the preposition "for", the use of this particle in the inscriptions to Psalms in confirmation of their authorship is fairly well confirmed (when compared, in particular, with inscriptions in other Semitic dialects, for example, in Arabic, as well as when compared with other biblical texts).
The following "checklist" would be helpful in studying the 90 Psalms that have "Names": Psalm 89 is attributed to Moses; King David is considered the author of 73 psalms; psalms 49 and 72-82 were written by Asaph; Heman Ezrachit wrote psalm 87, and Ethan the Ezrachite (1 Kings 4:31) wrote psalm 88; King Solomon is believed to be the author of Psalms 71 and 126. (The mentioned Asaph, Heman and Ethan were Levite musicians; 1 Chr. 15: 17,19 compare with 1 Chr. 6:39; 2-Chr. 5:12).
The time of writing the Psalter.
The time of the writing of the psalms covers the period from Moses to the return of the Jews who were taken away from it to the promised land. The fact that a number of psalms were indeed written in the period after the Babylonian captivity is clearly evidenced by their content.
In addition to the particle "le", which speaks in a number of cases about the authorship of David, in several of these psalms it is also confirmed by short reports from the life of this king. These historical notes are found in the 14th Psalms.
Psalm 58 echoes 1 Sam. 19:11.
Psalm 55 - from 1 Sam. 21: 10-15
Psalm 33 - from 1 Sam. 21:10 - 22: 2
Psalm 51 - from 1 Sam. 22: 9
Psalm 53 - from 1 Sam. 23: 15-23
Psalm 7 can be linked to 1 Sam. 23: 24-29, although this is not completely certain.
Psalm 56 refers to what happened in Adollam (1 Sam. 22: 1-2) or in En-Gaddi (1 Sam. 24). One of these incidents could be reflected in Ps. 141, where David prays in a cave.
Psalm 59 is related to 2 Sam. 8: 8, Vis 1-Par. 18: 9-12.
Psalm 17 is almost identical in content 2 Kings 22
Psalm 50 refers to King David's transgression as described in 2 Sam. 11-12
Psalm 3 reflects David's feelings about the events described in 2 Sam. 15-18.
Psalm 29 is believed to follow the theme of 1 Chr. 21: 1 - 22: 1. David wrote it to be performed "in the renovation of the house"; apparently, it means the construction of an altar on the threshing floor of Orna after the king made a census of his subjects that was not pleasing to God, and the people were punished by an epidemic of a pestilence that mowed him down for three days.
Since the psalms were written over a long period of time, it is clear that their collection took shape gradually. In this connection, attention is drawn to the concluding verse of Psalm 71 (verse 20): "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." Meanwhile, a number of the psalms preceding this are not considered to be the works of David, while the 17 psalms following the 71st were, in all likelihood, written by him. Thus, what was said in 71:20 seems to refer to one of the earliest "collections" of psalms.
And other kings, in addition to David, in the process of their reforms, also reorganized the music ministry at the temple. For example, this was done by Solomon (2-Chron. 5: 11-14; 7: 6; 9:11; Eccl. 2: 8), Jehoshaphat (2-Chron. 20:21) and Jehoiada (2-Chron. 23 :eighteen). The reformer king Hezekiah also introduced certain changes in the ministry of temple musicians (2 Chr. 29: 25-28,30; 30:21; 31: 2). Hezekiah, among other things, commanded the Levites to offer praise to the Lord in the words written by David and Asaph (2 Chron. 29:30). It obviously follows from this that two "collections" of psalms already existed by that time.
Other "congregations" could be composed of "songs of the ascent" (or, as they are also called, "songs of the pilgrims"): Ps. 119-133. Apparently, these smaller collections were later included in the currently existing books. Thus, Book I is composed of Psalms 1-40; Book II - Psalms 41-71; Book III - Ps. 72-88; Book IV - Ps. 89-105 and finally the book V - Ps. 106-150. Each book is concluded with a praise to the Lord, and the entire Psalter with a great doxology (Psalm 150).
The earliest evidence of the division of the Psalter into five parts is found in the Qumran scrolls.
The manuscripts of the Psalter that have come down to our times are attributed to at least three types. The Hebrew Bible, or the so-called Masoretic text, presents manuscripts of the highest quality. They are more readable than others, albeit fraught with difficulties due to the presence of archaisms and omissions. But the degree of their reliability testifies to the reverent attitude of the scribes (scribes) to the sacred texts that fell into their hands.
The Greek Septuagint presents Psalter manuscripts based on a less reliable text than the one that formed the basis of the Masoretic text. The fact is that, faced with especially significant gaps or difficulties in the Hebrew text, 70 translators into Greek quite often "smoothed" the obstacles that arose by free retelling of the text.
The translators of the Russian synodal text proceeded mainly from the Greek translation (Septuagint).
The outline of the book of the Psalter:
I. Book 1 (Psalms 1-40)
II. Book 2 (Psalms 41-71)
III. Book 3 (Psalms 72-88)
IV. Book 4 (Psalms 89-105)
V. Book 5 (Psalms 106-150)
The book of psalms, called the Psalter, belongs to the composition of the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. And therefore, whether to speak about the Psalter in general, or separately about this or that psalm, about this or that saying of the psalmists, it is necessary to speak as a saying and writing sacred and inspired. What is Scripture? - Holy Scripture was given to people from God Himself; and the holy men with whom it was written were led by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we all need to be sure that it is written for very important purposes, namely:
1) in order to admonish and instruct us in what relationship we are and should be to God and His creatures,
2) in order to tell us everything that needs to be known and done in order to glorify God, for possible happiness in Him on earth and eternal bliss in heaven. For this purpose, Holy Scripture tells us about the creation of the world by the almighty Word of God, informs us about the holy, blessed life of the first ancestors in Paradise and their fall from the height of happiness through the transgression of God's commandment. Then,
3) showing what we owe to the Almighty Creator, the Merciful Benefactor and the Righteous Judge, Holy Scripture teaches how we can preserve and strengthen His eternal love for us and prepare ourselves to achieve the glory of the children of God. In particular, the purpose of Scripture is
4) in making us wise in the work of salvation through living faith in Jesus Christ; to present to our eyes the grace of God, given to us in Jesus Christ; to arrange our spirit "in the image and after the likeness of God" (); to plant in our souls the knowledge of truth and faith, love and holiness; and lead to "unceasing cohabitation with the saints" (), "to the attainment of perfection, according to the age of fulfillment of Christ" () and to glorification with Christ in heaven.
2. The importance Psalms in general and in particular - for the home use of Christians.
As for the Holy Scriptures in general, the same should be said about the Psalms in particular; because the Psalter can be called an abbreviation of the entire Holy Scripture, and no, one might say, in the world of the book so many edifying, like the Psalter. Everything that only concerns the spiritual needs of a person, all this is in the Psalter. It is a treasury from which everyone can draw for themselves comfort and strength in all situations of life; it is the fullness of divine wisdom. Some of the psalms express feelings of gratitude and awe; others extol the greatness of God and praise His omnipotence, wisdom and goodness; others appeal to the Creator's mercy and longsuffering and beg for the forgiveness of sins; others, finally, contain prophecies about Christ and His Kingdom. That is why, between all the Old Testament books of Holy Scripture, divinely inspired and useful for teaching (), the book of psalms is the most commonly used among Christians, they are loved more than other books and, one might say positively, necessary for everyone. According to St. , this book is “a garden containing the plantings of all other books, it is a mirror where the sinful human soul sees itself in its present form, with all its passions, sins, iniquities, in all various movements, directions and states; sees all his ailments and finds real cures against his spiritual illnesses in this wonderful book. Yes, the book of psalms is not far from every person, this is not a work of art, alien and foreign to us, this is our book about ourselves. The Psalms of David are the songs of our soul; his prayer voices and cries are the voices and cries of our spirit, suppressed by sin, depressed by sorrows and misfortunes. Besides this, where can we find for ourselves the best examples of prayers, supplications, thanksgiving, praise and praise, if not in the psalms of David? In my opinion, - says Athanasius, - in the book of psalms the whole human life is measured and described by the word, and the emotional dispositions and movements of thoughts, and beyond what is depicted in it, nothing else will be found in a person. Whether repentance and confession is necessary, whether sorrow and temptation have befallen anyone, are we persecuted whether who, or got rid of the evil, became who became sad and embarrassed and endured anything similar to the above, or sees myself prosperous, and the enemy brought into inaction, or intends to praise, thank and bless the Lord - for all this he has instruction in the divine psalms ... Therefore, even now everyone, pronouncing the psalms, may be trustworthy that God will hear those who ask in the psalm word. " That is why, with the words of the psalms, at all times she was ascended to the Throne of God by believers. In the ancient centuries of Christianity, believers were obliged to learn the Psalms by heart. In the morning and in the evening, during meals and studies, the believers strengthened and delighted themselves with the chants of this holy book. And here, in holy Russia, for many centuries and until recently, especially among the common people, literacy began with the Psalter, and it almost always ended all book education with it. That is why this sacred book in many houses of commoners was and is, one might say, the only reference book. The same, in particular, and not only a desk book, but also a prayer book, it is in all Russian monasteries, for all monastics.
3. Relationship to the Psalter Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles.
The Lord Himself in His conversations with the disciples and with the Jewish people, as well as His apostles in their inspired writings, often refer to the book of Psalms. So, St. the apostle Paul, teaching believers the rules and precepts of a holy life in Christ, says. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom that participates and teaches itself to itself, in psalms and songs and spiritual songs, singing in grace in the hearts of your Lord” (). That is why the book of psalms should be dear to us.
4. About the reasons ambiguities and difficulties in understanding the true meaning in the psalms and about their interpretations.
Meanwhile, for many who read the book of psalms, it is not understandable in many of its places - it is not understandable by the originality of the language, images and expressions, by the depth of thoughts, as well as by the darkness of its Slavic translation. In particular, the meaning of many Psalm sayings is dark and incomprehensible for those who have not received sufficient scientific education or do not have one at all. All 150 psalms are known to have been composed and written originally in Hebrew. From this language, in time, they were translated into Greek, and many time later they were translated from Greek into Slavic. Since each language has its own nature, its own characteristics, peculiar to it alone (idiom), then when translating psalms from one language to another, the true meaning of the Psalm sayings in many places, naturally, had to undergo significant changes from the inevitable inaccuracy in expressions. The very Slavic language in which we now read the holy books, as well as the Psalter, is now not clear to everyone and not in everything. All this serves cause blackout meaning of the psalms.
That is why, from the very first centuries of Christianity, attempts and works began to appear to explain the Psalter. It is known that St. Hippolytus the Martyr (II century), the learned Christian writer Origen (III century), and in the IV century we already see several famous interpretations of the psalms, such as: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, St. Ilarius, Blessed Theodoret, Jerome, Augustine and others. These explanations and interpretations, recently collected by Bishop Palladius, Bishop of Sarapul, in his book "Interpretation of the Psalms", as well as in the book of the learned Greek monk Euthymius Zigaben, we will accept in guide to our present brief explanation of the psalms.
5. O properties and the nature of our proposed explanations of the psalms.
Thus, the proposed by us explanation of psalms there will be not some new, but ancient, not our own, but paternal. This is the voice of sacred and venerable antiquity, the voice of the Holy Church, which is obligatory for all believing Orthodox Christians at all times. Since the interpretation of the Psalms undertaken by us cannot represent any scholarly work, but is nothing more than the fulfillment of our sincere desire to understand for ourselves and to help our neighbor, with diligent reading or listening to the Psalms, in the best understanding of the true meaning of what we have read, then, if possible, let us avoid what concerns the mysterious meaning in the psalms, but rather keep in mind their literal and historical meaning; and for this purpose we will more often turn to the biblical sacred history. Nevertheless, it must be said that one cannot completely abandon the spiritual, non-literal meaning of the psalms when explaining them.
6. O in the prototypical and prophetic sense psalms.
If you understand the sayings of the psalms in the literal sense, then they show different circumstances of the writers or compilers of the psalms and the fate of the Jewish people. But in a spiritual sense, the Psalter prophetically portrays the Savior and shows various states and examples in the lives of believers. David the psalmist himself is a clear and many-sided prototype of Jesus Christ, combining in his person the titles of king and prophet of the Hebrew. The Jewish people foreshadowed the New Testament people of God - Christ's; the enemies of the Jews, depicted in many psalms, typified the enemies of the Church of Christ; and the victories of the Jews typified the spiritual victories won by believers in Christ the Savior.
7. Conditions for most successful and useful understanding and assimilate the true meaning of the psalms.
In order to read or listen to the reading of the psalms with the best understanding of their meaning, with all the benefit for the soul and in accordance with the intention of their first author - the Holy Spirit, we must, if possible, a) know and understand other scriptures, especially the story of David, which is narrated in the first two and partly in the Third Books of Kings and in the First Book of Chronicles, b) notice which passages from the Psalms and how they are applied to Jesus Christ and His Church by the New Testament writers, i.e. the apostles and evangelists, and c) preserve the heart revived by the grace of the Holy Spirit, renouncing carnal feelings and thoughts. The more we succeed in the holy Christian life, the more capable we will be of understanding the divine teaching of the Psalter and of perceiving the heavenly consolation that believers read it.
8. O titles: psalm and psalter.
Psalm(Greek - psalmus, from - I sing) means: song of praise. From the collection of many psalms in one book, this book is called "The Book of Psalms", and in the Hebrew Bible - "The Book of Praises" (Sefer Tegilim). Psalms, like chants of praise, were appointed for singing and were sung either simply by one choir of singers, or by a choir in conjunction with music, with playing musical instruments, or instruments - strings and vocal or trumpets - such as in the time of David and after him was not a little (;;; and many others). One of these musical instruments was called psalter; why and most book psalms named after Psalter.
9. O the writers of the psalms.
At the beginning of the psalms, in a specially published Slavic Psalter, the so-called "Study Psalter", as if a general inscription for all psalms, the words are placed: "David the Prophet and the King of Song". Perhaps, on the basis of this inscription, many of the uneducated people consider David to be the compiler of the entire Psalter. But this opinion is not fair. As from the various private inscriptions found in almost all the psalms, at the beginning of them, and from their very content, it is clear that the writers of the psalms were different. According to the inscriptions in the Hebrew Bible, 73 psalms are attributed to David. In addition, in the Greek Bible and the Slavic Bible, those psalms are attributed to him that do not have an inscription in the Hebrew Bible, which are fifteen. Some of these psalms belong to David and the sacred writers of the New Testament, for example, the 2nd psalm - St. writer of the Acts of the Apostles (); psalms 31 and 94 - st. ap. Paul (; ). The very content of the psalms shows that some of them were written before David, others - in the time of David, and others refer to the Babylonian captivity, which was more than 400 years after the death of David, and even to the times that followed. Of all the 150 psalms, 12 Asaphs, 12 sons of Korah, 1 Heman, 1 Solomon, 2 prophets Haggai and Zechariah, 1 Moses and other psalmists. The reason that in ancient times all the psalms were attributed to David by many, St. Athanasius considers David himself. He himself chose the singers, he himself appointed on which musical instrument to teach them the singing of this or that psalm, and therefore, as the founder of choral and musical singing, he was honored that not only the psalms composed by him, but also everything spoken by other singers, was attributed to David ...
10. O signatures at the beginning of the psalms.
As for the various private inscriptions preceding the psalms and consisting for the most part of one or two words, for example, at the end, in songs, about tochiles, etc., it must be admitted that the explanation of these inscriptions presents much more difficulties than the most difficult passages. psalm sayings. According to His Grace. Palladium, the inscriptions were made at different times and by different persons, because some of them are found only in the Hebrew Bible, others - in one Greek or only in the Slavic, which by itself indicates different persons who made the inscriptions at different times. And there is no doubt that most of these inscriptions are very ancient, because they are found in the most ancient editions of the Hebrew and Greek Bible. In any case, in order not to leave the zealous and reverent reader of the Psalter bewildered about the various incomprehensible inscriptions over the psalms, we must provide at least a brief explanation for each of them, borrowing it from the same St. fathers and teachers of the Church. But we will do it in our place, when explaining this or that psalm.
11. The order of the explanation of the psalms and separating them by content.
The very explanation of the Psalms is supposed to be conducted in the form of conversations and in the order in which they follow one after the other in the Psalms. A deviation from this order can be allowed only in those cases when one psalm bears great similarity to another both in content and in the literal expression of thoughts and feelings, such as, for example, psalm 69 from 39 (in vv. 14-18).
Among all 150 psalms, according to their content, there are - 1) psalms prayer, or supplicatory: a) about the forgiveness of sins, which are: 6, 24, 37, 50, 129 (these psalms are called repentant), b) in case when we go to the temple of God: these are 41, 42, 62 and 83, c) when we are in sorrow and misery- psalms 3, 12, 21, 68, 76, 87 and 142; 2) there are psalms thanksgiving: a) for the mercy of God to every person and b) for the mercy to the whole Church, such as 45, 47, 64, 65, 80, etc .; 3) there are psalms historical and there are 4) psalms prophetic, relating in particular to Jesus Christ, which are: 2, 8, 15, 21, 44, 67, etc. The last psalms are also called messianic, because they contain prophecies about the coming Messiah, i.e. about our Savior Lord Jesus Christ.
12. On the arrangement of the psalms in the Psalter itself.
In the order of the psalms, as can be seen from the previous one, there is no systematic sequence that should be and happens in scientific works or in collections of history, i.e. there is no arrangement so that first, for example, prayer psalms, or supplicatory psalms, followed by historical or grateful psalms, then prophetic, and so on. There is no such order in the arrangement of the psalms, but they are located, as the holy interpreters of the psalms (St. Athanasius of Alexandria, Blessed Theodoret, etc.) think, according to the time of their collection, since they were collected at different times, in parts - and in the beginning of the book contains those that were found before others.
Monument to King David in Jerusalem
Introduction
The Book of Psalms is more often than other books of the Holy Scriptures used during divine services and in personal, private prayer. The most common are two main texts of the Psalter: Church Slavonic and Russian, which is included in the synodal edition of the Bible.
The Church Slavonic text of the psalms is a translation from the Greek text of the Old Testament, which arose in the 3rd century. BC NS. This Greek text is called the Septuagint, or translation of the seventy commentators (LXX). It was this Greek translation that formed the basis of the patristic tradition of interpreting Holy Scripture in the first centuries of Christianity in the East and West.
The Russian synodal translation of the Psalter, which is part of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, is made in contrast to the Church Slavonic Psalter according to the Hebrew text of the Bible, therefore, when comparing it with the liturgical Psalter, there are known inconsistencies, and it is not able to fully clarify many difficult passages.
Understanding its meaning, and just the literal content of the psalms, are certain difficulties that can be overcome. The Psalter has always been a source of prayer inspiration for all generations of Christians and thus has a long history of reading and interpreting it.
Two approaches to explaining the psalms can be outlined: an approach based on the tradition of the existence and perception of psalms in the history of the Church, and an approach based on biblical criticism, based on the original text and the historical context of the origin of the Psalms.
Both the Greek text of seventy commentators, and the Church Slavonic text, dating back to the works of Saints Cyril and Methodius, became an independent phenomenon of spiritual culture, and most importantly, a prayer biblical text of the Slavic peoples. And we must understand him, and not only understand, but see and feel the spiritual richness and fullness of this prayerful prophetic sighing, which inspired and rejoiced in our ancestors.
The purpose of biblical criticism is to reconstruct the original text and reveal its true meaning, that is, the one that the author put into it in his historical context. Therefore, for biblical studies, the Hebrew text is more important, from which the Psalter was translated into ancient Greek as part of the Septuagint. However, the key to the Church's understanding of the Psalter lies in the tradition of its existence and reading. In the Roman Empire, Byzantium and Russia, the Psalter existed in the form of a Greek translation of seventy interpreters and a translation from it into the Church Slavonic language. Thus, the original Hebrew text is rather on the periphery of the Orthodox tradition. P. A. Yungerov (1856-1921), a well-known pre-revolutionary researcher and translator of the Old Testament, had a high opinion of the Slavic text of the Psalter and believed that it “makes a copy of the Greek church Psalter, which it was used and is now used in worship, was interpreted in the ancient fatherly period and in recent times. "
Giving priority to the Greek text, Greek and Slavic traditions, one should not at all belittle the significance of the Hebrew text and the achievements of modern biblical studies. The scientific approach to Scripture and elements of biblical criticism are well known to the ancient Church (eg, Origen, Lucian, St. Jerome of Stridon). Therefore, along with other sources of interpretation of the psalms, for their understanding it is also necessary to turn to the tradition of studying the Hebrew text and its translation. The Psalms are a poetic text filled with images and various figures, which is characterized by parallelism, rhythm, repetitions and other features characteristic of the Jewish biblical tradition.
Being both a biblical and a liturgical book, the Word of God and a prayer book, the Psalter, both as an object of interpretation and in terms of the form of the text, is an integral and separate work that existed on its own. The historical path of the Greek Psalter in the LXX translation is unusually difficult due to the multitude of reconciliations, revisions, reviews, etc., and in reality it is difficult to say for certain from which text the Church Slavonic translation was made at one time, which in turn was also subject to changes. Thus, even a scientific, critical edition of the Septuagint will not reflect all forms of expression of the rich and lively text of the Psalter, in the perception of which not only various methods of biblical exegesis can be applied, but the prayer experience of the Church must also be taken into account.
The text of the Psalter used during divine services, that is, the Church Slavonic text for a Christian in Slavic countries, is a text of a living church tradition. Therefore, it is this, more than the original Hebrew text, that can be considered as the first object for explanation. The richness and fullness of meaning and form, no less than in the study of the Hebrew original, is revealed when perceiving the text of a living church tradition, because, as the prophet once composed psalms, responding to the Word of God speaking to him, so in the Church, which answers to the Divine Logos, that same Revelation. It is the existence of the text in the Tradition of the Church that gives us the true richness of the content and meaning of the psalms.
This explanation is a consideration of the Psalter in the context of various forms of Holy Tradition, so that the texts so often heard and read become an expected and joyful event in church and personal prayer. The purpose of this commentary will be an attempt to awaken love and interest in the Book of Psalms, to draw attention to the richness of its content.
The explanation will not be a footnote commentary on each verse, but will relate to both the general nature of each psalm, its meaning and meaning, the biblical-historical context, and its individual verses, either causing special difficulties in understanding, or having special significance.
To understand the psalms, it is necessary, firstly, to consider the lexical meaning of words with the help of dictionaries, various translations, etc., and secondly, to clarify the meaning of the content with the help of interpretations. Now, comprehending the psalms, we turn to the tradition of understanding them at different times and, collecting various approaches to their explanation, for ourselves we have a wide palette of meanings. The Psalter, perceived through the experience of reading it by ancient church authors and Christian thinkers, becomes an amazing expression of deep intuitions and the most important truths of faith.
Sources for explaining the psalms can be their translations, ancient classical interpretations, patristic creations, liturgical use, and in general any Christian context of their quotation and references.
Of course, translation is an important aid in explaining a text. Currently, there are two main translations of the Psalter into Russian. Synodal translation of the 19th century. from the Hebrew text and translation by P. A. Yungerov from the Greek text of the Septuagint. Naturally, the second translation is more consistent with the Church Slavonic Psalter and was at one time undertaken just for a better understanding of it. In addition, the translation of P.A.Yungerov also became a study of the Psalter: his brief notes to individual verses of the psalms are especially valuable, opening up prospects for further research to explain difficult passages. We can also mention the translation from the Church Slavonic language made by E. N. Birukova and I. N. Birukov 1.
There are many known texts devoted to the explanation of the Psalter, which arose in the golden age of patristic writing in the 4th-5th centuries. Here are the most famous and significant ones.
1. Interpretation of the psalms attributed to St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Due to inserts belonging to later authors, modern scholars deny this work authenticity. However, in this explanation, you can undoubtedly hear the voice and read the opinion of the ancient Church in the interpretation of the Psalter. Moreover, it is the Alexandrian tradition with its allegorical approach and Christocentric understanding of the psalms. This is a patristic text that was preserved by the ancient Church and brought to us by the Orthodox tradition, inscribing it with the name of one, perhaps the most significant of its authors.
2. The most significant and well-known interpretation of the Psalter in the Orthodox East was the interpretation of the blessed Theodoret of Cyrus, which combined the Antiochian scholarship and the established tradition of church understanding of the psalms. According to P. A. Yungerov, his "explanation is short, moral and typological." Blzh. Theodorite pays attention to language, images, historical facts, and translations available in his time.
3. Conversations on the psalms of St. Basil the Great does not cover the entire Psalter: conversations on Psalm have come down to us. 1, 7, 14, 28, 29, 32, 33, 44, 45 and 48.
4. In the absence of a Russian translation, the typological explanation of the psalms of St. Cyril of Alexandria, also incompletely preserved.
5. Conversations on the psalms of St. John Chrysostom reflect the "scientific" approach to the interpretation of Scripture characteristic of the Antiochians. Although the creations of this saint are primarily moral in nature, nevertheless the basis for preaching in them is a scientific approach, an understanding of the literal meaning and elements of biblical criticism in the form of using and comparing the available translations of the Bible into Greek. Discussions of 58 psalms are considered authentic (4-12, 43-49, 108-117, 119-150).
Also, such valuable authentic works of the holy fathers as the Epistle to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms by St. Athanasius of Alexandria and "On the Inscription of Psalms" by St. Gregory of Nyssa.
Many texts by other church writers have survived, who were famous in their time, but later criticized because of their non-Orthodox views. These authors include Origen, Didymus the Blind, Apollinaris of Laodicea, Diodorus of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Evagrius of Pontic, Asterius Sophist. However, their works have undoubtedly influenced Orthodox exegesis, so their legacy has its value both in method and in content. For the most part, these are texts that have not been translated into Russian, but are available in the original Greek.
From Western authors there is an interpretation of all 150 psalms of Blessed. Augustine. For the most part, from other authors, either conversations on some of the psalms, or fragments and explanations of individual psalms, have come down to us. It is important to mention Ilarius of Pictavia, St. Ambrose Mediolansky, bl. Jerome of Stridon, Cassiodorus.
The interpretation of Euthymius Zigaben, well known in the Orthodox tradition, refers already to the later Byzantine period and is a reworking of the previous patristic explanations, supplemented by his own understanding.
How ancient church authors read and understood the Psalter remains a mystery to us in many ways. Explanations are often in the nature of a sermon and are notable for their moralizing sound. Also, sometimes the authors develop their own, dear or relevant for their time, thoughts, simply starting from the sacred text, for example, considering the psalms as stages of spiritual ascent (St. Gregory of Nyssa). Like the entire Old Testament as a whole, so, in particular, the Book of Psalms is already presented on the pages of the New Testament as a book predominantly messianic, prophesying about Christ the Savior.
Psalm I
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In Church Slavonic |
In Russian |
In Russian |
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1 Blessed is the man who does not go to the counsel of the unclean, and there are not a hundred sinners in the way, and he is not gray in the saddle of destroyers, 2 but in the law of the Lord his will is, and in his law day and night will be learned. 3 And it will be like a tree planted by the outgoing waters, the hedgehog will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall away, and all the tree that works will be in time. 4 Not like wickedness, not like that, but like dust, it is swept away by the wind from the face of the earth. 5 For this reason, the unclean will not rise up for judgment, below the sinner in the council of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the unclean will perish. |
Blessed is the man who did not go to the meeting of the wicked, and did not stand in the way of sinners, and did not sit in the company of destroyers, But in the law of the Lord - his will and his law he will learn day and night. And he will be like a tree planted by the fountains of waters, which will give its fruit in due time, and its leaf will not fall off. And whatever he does will be successful. Not so wicked, not so: but like dust that the wind sweeps from the face of the earth! Therefore, the wicked will not rise up for judgment, and the sinners will not rise up into the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. |
Blessed is the man who does not go to the council of the wicked and does not stand in the way of sinners and does not sit in the assembly of perverters, but his will is in the law of the Lord, and he meditates on His law day and night! And he will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, which bears its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not fade; and in everything he does, he will be in time. Not so - the wicked; but they - |
At every vespers on the eve of the holidays (except for the Lord's twelve) and at the Sunday all-night vigil, we hear the beginning of the Psalter, for the assimilation and execution of which, according to the story from the Fatherland, one monk lacked a whole life. Spiritual life is depicted as a procession along one of two paths. This theme of choice and the description of the path of good and evil is characteristic of the Bible and early Christian literature. The basis of biblical morality and spirituality is the choice of the path, therefore, at the beginning of the Psalter, which speaks of the many different phenomena of spiritual life, a person is put before a choice between "the law of the Lord" and "the advice of the wicked."
The first psalm differs markedly from the rest, according to the unanimous testimony of the ancient commentators, this is an introduction to the entire Psalter as a whole. According to S. Averintsev, “it is prefaced to all subsequent psalms, as a prayer is prefaced with meditation in silence” 2.
St. Gregory of Nyssa says: “The psalm given to everyone had no need for inscription, because the purpose of the predicate in it is clear to those who read; namely, it serves as an introduction to wisdom, advising to move away from evil, to remain in goodness and, if possible, become like God. "
St. Athanasius the Great, in his epistle to Marcellinus, calls this psalm proclaiming blessedness, indicating how, for what, and who can be called blessed, and the interpretation of the psalms says that this is how David puts the beginning of the prophecy about Christ, and calls those who trust in Him blessed. Since Christ in some places of Scripture is compared with a tree, then according to the interpreter's thought, the Psalmist means that those who believe in Christ will be His body. St. Athanasius in this passage formulates his most important principle of interpretation: in the Scriptures "everywhere you can find the preached Christ." Following the Alexandrian tradition of Bible interpretation, St. Athanasius gives a characteristic Christ-centered passage and a vivid example of the symbolic interpretation of the words of the Psalm: And there will be like a tree planted by the outgoing waters, the hedgehog will give its fruit in its own time, and its leaf will not fall off: “Christ is the tree of life; The apostles are branches; blood and water from the rib of Christ is fruit, and blood into the image of suffering, and water into the image of baptism; words are leaves. " Thus, the general moral character of the psalm acquires a deeper symbolic meaning.
The perception of the first psalm in the conversation of St. Basil the Great. It is characterized by a deepening into the world of human thoughts, the innermost movements of the human heart. He understands the first psalm ascetically, referring to the inner world of the soul. So, to go to the council of the wicked means to doubt God's Providence, the fulfillment of God's promises, and spiritual life in general. To stand in the way of sinners means not to feel the constant fluidity and change in life, which "has neither permanent pleasures nor long-lasting sorrows." It deprives a person of bliss when a person stops on the path of life, when the mind submits to carnal passions. Sitting "on the seat of destroyers" means stagnation in sin, a prolonged stay in evil, a habit of sin, which "produces a certain incorrigible skill in souls" and passes into nature, and "he is blessed who is not carried away into destruction by the enticements of pleasure, but with patience waiting for the hope of salvation. " Explaining the name of the destroyers of St. Vasily emphasizes the property of sin to easily and quickly multiply and spread to others: “So, the spirit of fornication is not limited to dishonoring one, but comrades immediately join: feasts, drunkenness, shameful stories and an indecent woman who drinks together, smiles at one seduces and inflames everyone to the same sin. "
Finally, Blessed Theodorite gives a more practical and scientific interpretation. For him, this psalm has not only a moral significance, but also a dogmatic dimension. He distinguishes between the concepts of the wicked and the sinful. The former are those who have a wrong idea of God, the latter are those who lead a lawless life. The categories named in the first verse - the way, standing and graying - found their refraction in the presentation of the foundations of ascetic doing: "the thought, whether it be bad or good, first starts to move, and then it is established, and after that it takes on some unshakable constancy." The image of a tree with water sources is also correlated with real life, in which, thanks to the hope, one can be comforted by the expectation of future fruits: “although the fruits of labor are harvested in the future life, yet here, as if some leaves, constantly carrying good hope, turn green and rejoice and in the delight of the spirit they endure the burden of labor. "
Several difficult passages of the first psalm must now be clarified.
Verse 1: Blessed is the husband. The very concept of bliss goes back to God. In a proper sense, God is blessed, possessing all perfections. According to St. Gregory of Nyssa, "this is the definition of human bliss: it is an assimilation to the Divine." Interpreters note that, of course, we are talking not only about men, but about a person in general, as is characteristic of the biblical language: the part means the whole. The psalmist “with the unity of nature, considered it sufficient to indicate the whole to indicate the predominant in the genus” (St. Basil the Great).
The first verse from blzh. Augustine has a direct Christological interpretation: “This should be understood about our Lord Jesus Christ, the Man of the Lord ... You should also pay attention to the order of the words: ida, hundred, sede. Man departed when he departed from God; became, having delighted in sin; sat down when pride crushed him. He would not have been able to return back if he had not been released by the One who did not go to the council of the wicked, did not stand in the way of sinners and did not sit on the seat of destruction ”3.
Verse 5: For this reason, the wickedness will not be resurrected for judgment, below the sinner in the council of the righteous causes difficulties in understanding both in lexical meaning and in theological comprehension. The expression of the psalm: the wicked will not be resurrected for judgment is used not in the sense of denying the resurrection of sinners, but as an indication that the uprising of the wicked will not be for the examination of their affairs, but for the passing of judgment on them, since they have already been condemned: they are “immediately after the resurrection they will be punished, and they will not be brought to trial, but they will hear the sentence to execution ”(Blessed Theodoret of Kirsky). Council can be understood as a meeting. In this case, sinners will be removed from the assembly of the righteous.
If judgment and counsel are viewed as synonymous concepts (as well as the wicked and sinners) 4, then this passage can be understood so that sinners will not be justified before the righteous (they will not stand before their judgment or in their presence) or so that the wicked do not have nothing to do with the righteous. In any case, they will not participate in the court.
As the Lord's message is the path of the righteous ... The concept of knowledge in the Bible is rich and varied, but it always presupposes not only information about the subject of knowledge, but also deep personal relationships. So, in the interpretation of St. Athanasius this knowledge is understood as a preference and endowment of mercy and grace.
From Western interpreters, let us give an understanding of the last verse of Bl. Augustine: “And the way of the wicked will perish, mean the same as the words: the Lord does not know the way of the wicked. But it is said in a simpler way - in the sense that being unknown to the Lord means death, and being led by Him means life. For the knowledge of God is being, and His ignorance is non-being. "
Priest Dimitry Rumyantsev,
master of theology
- Educational Psalter. Moscow: The Rule of Faith, 2011.
- Averintsev S. S. Listening to the word: three actions in the opening verse of the first psalm - three degrees of evil. // Selected Psalms. / Per. and comments. S. S. Averintseva. M .: St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute, 2005. S. 126-136.
- Augustine blzh. Interpretation on the first psalm. / Per. from Latin diac. Augustine Sokolovski. http://www.bogoslov.ru/text/375834.html.
- “Usually the Psalmist repeats in this way in a simpler form what was said before: that is, the word“ sinners ”means the wicked, and what is said about“ judgment ”is here called“ the council of the righteous ”” (Blessed Augustine. Interpretation on first psalm).
Bibliography:
- Athanasius of Alexandria, St. The Epistle to Markellin on the Interpretation of the Psalms. // Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Creations: In 4 volumes. Vol. IV. Moscow, 1994.S. 3-35.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Psalm advance notice. // Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Creations: In 4 volumes. Vol. IV. M., 1994 .-- S. 36-39.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Interpretation of the psalms. // Athanasius of Alexandria, St. Creations: In 4 volumes. Vol. IV. Moscow, 1994.S. 40-422.
- Basil the Great, St. Conversations on psalms. // Basil the Great, St. Creations: In 2 volumes.Vol. 1.M .: Siberian Blagozvonnitsa, 2008. S. 461-610.
- Gregory of Nyssa, St. On the inscription of psalms. M .: Publishing house im. St. Ignatius Stavropolsky, 1998.
- Efimiy Zigaben. The Explanatory Psalter of Efimius Zigaben (Greek philosopher and monk). Explained according to patristic interpretations. Per. from Greek Repr. [B. m., b. G.].
- John Chrysostom, St. Conversations on psalms. M .: Spasskoe brotherhood, 2013.
- Theodorite of Kirsky, blzh. Psalter explaining the meaning of each verse. M., 1997.
- Books of the Old Testament translated by P. A. Yungerov: Teaching Books / Ed. A.G. Dunaeva. M .: Publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2012. (Bibliography).
- Complete Church Slavonic Dictionary. /
- Compiled by priest Grigory Dyachenko. M .: Father's house, 2001.
- Psalter: In Russian translation from the Greek text LXX / with an introduction and notes by P. Jungerov. - Repr. - Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1997.
- Razumovsky G., prot. Explanation of the Holy Book of Psalms. - M .: PSTGU, 2013.
- Psalms 1-50 / edited by Craig A. Blaising and Carmen S. Hardin. - (Ancient Christian commentary on Scripture. Old Testament VII). - 2008.
(IS 11-104-0352)
Reprinted by edition:
St. Athanasius the Great. Creations in 4 volumes. T.4. - Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 1902-1903
About psalms
The Hebrew Book of Psalms differs from our Psalms in some ways. In it, the psalms are written without adding numbers, and some of them are combined into one, while others are separated. So, according to the Hebrew text, the first and second psalms are combined into one psalm, and vice versa, the ninth, which is one psalm in our country, is divided into two psalms in the Hebrew text. The entire Book of Psalms is divided into five parts.
It should also be noted that the chronological order of the psalms is broken, and, as the book of Kings shows, there are many such deviations. As idolatry increased among the Jewish people, the Book of the Law of Moses, like the rest of the scriptures, was consigned to oblivion. A similar fate touched upon paternal piety. In particular, this was manifested in the murder of the prophets, who denounced the atrocities of the people, which then led to the Assyrian captivity. However, after some time, a prophet appeared who showed a lot of zeal in matters of faith and, together with other books, collected the Book of Psalms. But it was not immediately possible to compose it, which was reflected in the order of the psalms: at the beginning are those that were found earlier than others. That is why we meet now the psalms of the sons of Kore and Asaph, Solomon and Moses, the Israelite Efam, Eman, then again David's. The principle of placing parts as they are found is inherent in the Book of the Prophets.
Psalms following the first and twelfth are not attributed. The Jews explain the reason for this as follows. They believe that the psalms belong to the one whose name appears in the psalms preceding the unwritten ones.
The author of the first and second, which make up one psalm, is the prophet David. This is evidenced by the fact that in the first part all the psalms that follow them belong to him, and everything from the third to the fortieth one is designated by his name. Therefore, we can conclude that the first and second psalms are David's. This opinion is justified by the Book of Apostolic Acts, which says: Lord Thou art God, who created heaven and earth and the sea and all, even in them: like in the Holy Spirit the lips of our father David, Thy youth, rec:(Acts 4: 24-25). This clearly confirms that the second psalm belongs to David. It is possible that his name is not indicated for the reason that the psalm contains an explicit prophecy about the Lord in the words: on the Lord and on His Christ(Ps. 2: 2), after which, on behalf of Christ himself, is added: (Ps. 2: 7).
All psalms are one hundred and fifty. And although they are all known as David's and many believe that all the psalms belong to him, there is no indication of this. We find different names in the inscriptions, and this is due to the fact that this prophet elected four chiefs of the singers and two hundred and eighty-eight to serve them (1 Chron. 25: 7). The names of these chiefs are reflected in the inscriptions. Therefore, the subtitles: "Psalm by the son of Koreov, Efam, Asaph and Eman" - should be understood as the fact that the sons of Kore, Efam, Asaph and Eman are the performers of the psalms. The inscription "psalm of Asaph" means what Asaph himself sings. The designation "psalm of Idithums" indicates to us that the singer of the psalm is Idithum. The phrase “psalm of David” indicates that the speaker was David himself. When it is said: a psalm to David, it means that someone is talking about David. So, all the psalms are one hundred and fifty. Of these, seventy-two are David's, nine to David, twelve Asaphs, twelve to the sons of Korah, one to Idithum, one to Epham, one to Eman, one to Solomon, two to Haggai and Zechariah, one to Moses and thirty-nine unwritten ones.
Therefore, it is necessary to understand the mysterious reason why all the psalms are attributed to David, despite the presence of other singers. And we will not pass it by in silence. The reason for this inscription was David himself. He chose singers, therefore, as a founder, he had the honor of attributing to him what was said by others.
Since David was a prophet, his inner eyes were open and he knew that wicked spirits rejoice in the fall of a person and, conversely, grieve when people overcome them. Therefore, no doubt, mentally arming himself against them, he prayed for the correction of people, applying to the evil spirits what was said about the visible enemies. Because if we misunderstand the intentions of the prophets, then not only from what they have said we will not receive any edification for acquiring meekness, but even we will acquire some kind of harsh and contrary to the Gospel teaching. At the same time, we will often pray for the crushing of enemies and not love them, since David says a thousand times: "Let all my enemies be ashamed and ashamed, and let me not be ashamed." What has been said about the visible enemies, we must refer to the mental enemies. Because only such an understanding deserves a careful researcher. Moreover, the ascetic should try to understand the meaning of everything said.
1
Psalm
David lays the foundation for the prophecy of Christ. Who had to be born of him. Therefore, first of all, He pleases those who trust in Him. He calls those blessed who did not go to the counsel of the wicked, did not stand on the path of sinners and did not sit on the seats of the destroyers. For among the Jews, three kinds of people rebelled against the Savior: scribes, Pharisees and legalists - and they are justly called wicked, sinners and destroyers. And life is called the path, because it brings those who are born to the end.
(1). Blessed is the husband, who does not go to the advice of the wicked. By the Council the same the wicked can be called a meeting and gathering of evil people. And since it is harmful to enter into relations with the gatherings of the wicked, the psalmist pleases the one who does not agree with them in anything. Such was Joseph of Arimathea, who gave the body of the Lord and God to burial; for it is said about him that didn’t stick to the advice betrayed Jesus (Luke 23, 51). And not gray on the saddle of destroyers. By the seat means teaching, as said: on Moise's seat(Matt. 23: 2). Therefore, the seat of destroyers is the teaching of the wicked.
(2). But in the law of the Lord his will is, and in his law day and night will learn. In the law, of course - angelic. Expresses unrelenting jealousy; because one should not learn the law of the Lord with negligence, and not so as to sometimes learn, and sometimes not, but always and incessantly one should be attached to the words of God. For it expresses by saying: day and night. The reward for a good deed is also wonderful. For whoever exercises himself in the study of God's law will be made drunk with its streams. And Christ called His teaching water, saying: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink(John 7:37). The one who teaches in the law is likened to a tree by the waters, always blossoming and always abounding with timely fruits. For the ascetics of virtue, although they will bear the fruits of their labors in the future, nevertheless, here, as it were, some leaves are overshadowed by a good hope and the heaviness of their labors is covered with spiritual delight. Such everything will be in time. For he will not do anything contrary to God's laws, who will conform his will to the will of the law. And the psalmist, first forbidding all kinds of vice and showing the perfection of divine laws, then added: everything, even if it does.
(3). And it will be like a tree planted at the outflow of waters. Christ in the Divinely inspired Scripture is portrayed by the Tree of Knowledge, as said: the tree of the belly is for everyone who holds it(Proverbs 3:18). Therefore, the psalmist says that those who believe in Christ will be His body. For will transform the body of our humility, as if to this being I will conform to the body of His glory(Phil. 3:21). Outcrops the same waters names the Divine Scriptures in which the preached Christ can be found everywhere. Christ is the Tree of Life, the apostles are branches, blood and water from the rib of Christ is fruit, and blood is in the image of suffering, and water is in the image of baptism, words are leaves. The hedgehog will give his fruit in his season. Under the fruit of the tree of understanding, understand right faith, under its leaves is the fulfillment of the commandments. The fruit is the saved, the root is baptism, the farmer is the Father. And its leaf will not fall off, and everything, if it does, will have time - because a deed done according to God cannot be useless. Time to give depends on the recipient.
(5). For this reason, the wicked will not be resurrected for judgment, because they have no root, but are like the dust of the earth, swept away by the wind. Under the wind, understand God's formidable broadcast: go from me curse to eternal fire(Matthew 25, 41). Those who hear this voice will not stand, but will fall, because they are not established in Christ, who is the support and foundation of believers. For it is said: to the court, not for interrogation. And the psalmist adds: to the council of the righteous - because he separates the righteous from sinners.
(6). As the Lord's message is the path of the righteous. Said: message - instead of "honors", as God says to Moses: we are the worst(Ex. 33, 12) - instead of "I prefer you, and you have found grace with Me."
2
Psalm to David, unwritten among the Jews
In the first psalm, having proclaimed the rulers of the Jewish people to be wicked, sinners and destroyers, in this psalm he also gives their deeds such names as they have become worthy. And having finished the first psalm with a mention of the wicked, he also begins the second psalm with the same, teaching by this that the aforementioned end of the wicked will be received by those who are hardened against the Savior.
(1). How are the tongues wandering, and have people learned to be in vain? He calls unreasonable pride “vacillation”. Word "Vskuyu" refers to all speech, that is, for what and people learn to be in vain? And really, was not their venture in vain - not to accept the Savior to his kind? What is the reason for such hatred that pagans and people are going together? The one that they shatashasya, and this means: they were so proud that they rebelled and became agitated with exaltation and with a kind of high elevation. This similarity is taken from the unreasonable striving of horses, unrestrained by nothing. This was the case with the Jews who rebelled against Christ. For what reason are they gathered? together heathens and people? Or the Israelites are meant by the words: tongues and people; or word "Tongues" used about Herod and Pilate as about pagans, and the word "People" about the Jews.
(2). Presented to the king of the zemstvo - that is, Herod and Pontius Pilate determined themselves for this. This is how the holy apostles interpreted it in Acts (Acts 4: 26-27). And the princes gathered together - the scribes, Pharisees and legalists mentioned above. On the Lord and on His Christ. For an evil intent against Christ is an evil intent against the Father Himself. And if the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, then by this mischief is not the same offense inflicted on Him?
(3). Let us break their bonds. The word "speaking" is missing here , so that the following meaning would come out: they gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ, saying: break the bond. For they did not want to be in the sacred abyss, about which it is written: like there is the Kingdom of Heaven to the seine(Matthew 13:47). And let us reject Their yoke from us - that is, the burden of the law, about which the Lord said: My yoke is good, and my burden is easy to eat(Matthew 11:30).
(4). Living in heaven will laugh at them - as deliberate on the pointless business. For he who is nailed and put to death by them, who is in heaven and contains everything, makes their designs vain and vain. His Father and the Lord common to all will reward them with due punishment. And the Lord will scold them - he will despise, hate them, and abhor them. Laugh it is said instead of "will hate and turn away." He who is above these plots, says the psalmist, will laugh or make ridiculous their designs, since they are undertaking unreasonable. For laughter is breath, released through the nostrils, in the humiliation of those who are highly intelligent about themselves. And this is said with particular insistence, in order to more strongly express the justice of ridicule. And not only will they experience this, but they will also be subject to anger.
(5). Then he will speak to them with his anger. What does it mean - then? Isn't it the same time they said: shall we break their bonds? And what was spoken to them in anger? Is it not cie? Woe to you, scribes and Pharisee(Matt. 23, 13), and: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you(Matthew 21, 43), and also: and woe to you, legalist(Luke 11, 52), because they were subdued by the Roman army. Rage and anger differ from each other in that rage is anger that is kindling and still flaming; and anger is a desire to repay sorrow for sorrow. Therefore, rage is an unfulfilled anger, and anger is fullness itself. And the very end of events teaches such an explanation of these words. For the Roman army in its invasion ravaged the city, burned down the temple and put most of the Jews to death, and subdued and enslaved those who escaped the sword. The faithful should know that two persons are mentioned one after the other; first, the Lord Christ, for it is said: on the Lord and on His Christ, and then - Alive in heaven and the Lord: He who lives in heaven will laugh at them and the Lord will scoff at them. The psalmist kept the same way of speech in the following.
(6). And I am made king by Him over Zion. It proclaims to them the faith that the Gentiles will have after the rejection of the people of Israel. Zion the same means the Church.
(7). The Lord speaks to Me: My Son ecu You and so on. - that is, the nature of the Father confirms that I am the Son. This was not done by command, but the very essence shows that I - image of the hypostasis Father (Heb. 1, 3). Appropriately added "Ecu" in the meaning of the pre-eternal birth; because the Son has always been. But also added: this day the relatives of thee - to show also the birth according to the flesh; because the word "Today" indicates time and is used to mean temporary birth. Consequently, the following words also speak of human birth: relatives Tya. You see how the Father appropriates for Himself the birth of the Only Begotten Christ.
(8). And your obsession is the ends of the earth.
(9). Save me with an iron rod - that is, a cross; for in it, although the substance of the tree, but the strength of iron. Some, however, mean by the rod the Roman rule.
(10). And now the king understand - that is, meditate and turn to repentance. Punish yourself in the judge of the earth. In a word "Punish yourself" expresses passion, and in words: npiumume punishment - perfection.
(12). Accept the punishment - that is, the teaching of the Gospel. And perish from the path of the righteous - The path that said about Himself: I am the way(John 14: 6).
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(1). Psalm to David, always running away from his son Absalom
This is the inscription given to the psalm. For the psalm says that the face of the prophets is persecuted by the Jewish people. David interpreted as "longed for", and such is the face of the prophets. And therefore, as Absalom planned a rebellion against his father, that is, David, so the Jews rebelled against the fathers of their prophets, not accepting God's commands, but resisting them.
(2). Lord, what do you multiply with those who are cold? The word “what” is used instead of “very”.
(3). There is no salvation for him in his Bose - that is, God will not save him. For they looked only at the sin he had committed, not knowing his repentance. And this clearly shows that the psalm speaks of David. For the expression: people rise up against me - characterizes those who were formerly a citizen, and then went to war.
(4). You, Lord, are my protector ecu. Words decent to the faith of the prophet, who unshakably endures so many misfortunes and hopes that he will not be forsaken, on the contrary, will find help for himself, ascend and accept the kingdom. For this, according to the interpretation of some, means: lift up the head. Therefore the glory of the righteous is God, in whom he trusted; and to whom the glory is God, he will exalt the head.
(5). With my voice I have cried out to the Lord. This dictum teaches that in difficult circumstances one must resort to none other than God. First he put a prayer, then, after the diapsalma, thanksgiving for receiving what was asked. Now he turns his face to us, tells how he prayed and was heard and says: I cried out to the Lord with my voice. Under voice must understand the mental petition of the mind to all kinds of God. For he speaks not of crying, but of prayer uttered by the mind. But the words: hearing me from the mountain - said in accordance with the generally accepted way of representation. For they thought that God dwelt in the tabernacle, because from there were given prophetic answers to the Jews. Or: from the holy mountain - means: from the sky, what is the meaning of the expressions: up your holy mountain(Psalm 14: 1) and: approach the eternal mountains(Micah. 2, 9). The holy mountain of God can mean that mountain from which God, the Only Begotten of God, hears those praying, and about which it is said: the mountain of the Lord will be revealed in the last days(Isa. 2, 2); because by this utterance is signified the appearance of the Lord at His coming at the end of the ages. Or: from the holy mountain - from heaven. And the holy mountain of God is the supernatural knowledge of God.
Diapsalmo is called or a change in musical fret, or turnover in thought and the power of the word.
(6). I'm drowsy and spah. He speaks of the sleep of the mind, from which he fell into sin. And what was said: Vostakh - means: having been vouchsafed to be rewarded by God, I became better because of the evils that befell me.
(8). Yako You hit the ecu with all the warring ones in vain. Hit, crush or destroy. He prays to God for an early rebellion or revenge on enemies. In vain he has enemies who does not give cause for hatred. But the teeth of sinners are called either the strength of those who sin against him, or their backbiting and blasphemy. Or the teeth of sinners are unreasonable thoughts that appear unnaturally in us, because using their thoughts like using teeth, opponents often approach us in order to eat our bodies, that is, those generated by the flesh. For the fleshly essence of the matter is revealed, says the divine apostle (Gal. 5:19). The psalmist speaks about teeth in a figurative sense, taking the image of animals, whose strength is mostly in the teeth, so that after crushing the teeth they become harmless. For both murderers and bloodsuckers are worse than the most bloodthirsty beasts, or are likened to them.
(9). The Lord is salvation. Save me Lord, says David. But I implore that this be extended to all the people. It should be known that the entire psalm can also be attributed to the human race, who sinned and for this most loyal to mental enemies, but who called out in sorrow and heard by God and saved by His resurrection from the dead and the defeat of the demons at war with us. For He is member lions the one who crushed the Lord (Ps. 57: 7); He, or from Him is salvation. I do not pin my hopes on a person, says David, but from You we expect salvation, both I and Your people, together with me, fought by enemies.
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(1). At the end, in song, a psalm to David
This psalm is dedicated by David to the victor after the victory over the enemies. Instead of words "In the end" Akila and Veodotun translated: to the winner, and Symmachus: victory song.
(1). Always call on me when the God of my truth hears me. Like said: and she also verb, says: behold(Isa. 58: 9). In sorrow he spread me ecu. Not only, he says, he wore me out of tight circumstances, but also helped me to become at a great latitude. Ziba and Barzelli presented David with a lot of food and fabrics, when, fleeing from Absalom, he stayed in the deserts and mountains, like three youths in a cave and Daniel among the lions. When we know the causes of sorrows and temptations, then we are especially widespread. But the word "latitude" can be explained in another way. Spill me up and hear my prayer. Since he said that he was heard for his righteousness, he resorts to the bounties of God.
(3). Sons of mankind, how long is hard heart? This is said to those who thought to capture the righteous with a multitude of troops. But this hope, he says, was vain and false.
(4). And take away, as if the Lord astonished His reverend - that is, you who trusted in the multitude, find out how many miraculous the Lord revealed to the one who trusted in him. The Lord will hear me, always cry to Him. Here one time is taken instead of another, and instead of: heard - said: will hear.
(5). Be angry, and do not sin, you speak in your hearts even more, be moved on your couches. He says this to his family, and at the same time to all people. If you allow anger in yourself, then bring it into inaction by tenderness of the heart in silence, for this means the words: be touched on your couches.
(6). Eat the sacrifice of righteousness and trust in the Lord. Teaches us how to overcome our enemies. How exactly can we overcome them? - doing the truth and sacrificing it to God.
(7). Mnozi verb: who will show us the good? These are the words of people who do not pay attention to God's orders.
The light of Thy face is signified on us, O Lord. The light of the world is Christ; He taught us to know the true blessings from which we acquire mental joy of mind and heart.
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(1). Inheritance, psalm to David
Inherited there is a God-loving soul or Church. What does she inherit? - The same eye is not in sight, and the ear is not hearing, and the heart of a person is not ascended(1 Cor. 2: 9). She prays - and, in order to be heard by her, she presents her innocence and exposes the cunning of her opponents.
(2). My verbs are inspired.
(3). I will pray to you. In delight in the light of my mind, I will pray to You; therefore hope, that you will hear me.
(4). In the morning I will appear to Ty. Great praise for diligence is to present to God from the very bed and to anticipate the sun with thanksgiving. For thus, he says, I will behold Thy divine and holy mysteries, which Thou hast prepared for those who love Thee.
(5). Like God, not even lawlessness, You ecu. I hope that I will be heard by You, because I have not done anything that You hate. And you hate iniquity, deceit, injustice, lies, envy, deceit.
(6). Hated ecu all doing lawlessness.
(7). Destroy all verb lies. Those who do iniquity have called those who sin in their way of life; and they are hateful to God. And he called those who fell away from the truth and those who think differently as speaking lies, and God will destroy them. Notice the difference in phrases: hated ecu and ruin - firstly, that in the speech "Destroy" expressed worse than in speech "Hated the ecu", and secondly, in the fact that one verb is placed in the past, and the other in the future tense. By those who speak lies, he also means those who call idols and the demons themselves gods, and who utter false and obscure answers and divinations in idols. The Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and flattering. For God hates and loathes such.
(8). And with the abundance of Thy mercy I will enter Thy house - to heavenly Jerusalem and the mother of the firstborn. I will bow to Thy holy temple in Thy passion. The temple of God is a valiant and holy state of mind, which those who have reached with boldness say: Christ as the Son rests in his house, his house we are(Heb. 3, 6). Enjoying Thy love for mankind, says the holy and pure soul, and Thy right hand guarded, I bring You unceasing worship in the sacred temple of Thy glory; because, always storing in myself Thy fear, I will not dare to reject it in any way, because I rely on Thy philanthropy.
(9). Enemy for my sake i.e. spiritual enemies, correct my way before you.
(10). Their heart is vain - that is, the heart of the wise of this age or heretics, for they do not know the word of truth. The coffin is open their larynx, their tongues flatter. They soften their tongue and vomit deadly teachings.
(11). Let them fall away from their thoughts. For all these intentions turned against me, resisting my perfection for God. Because of the multitude of their wickedness, I have borne them out, making them godly. For those who persecute a soul that does what is pleasing to God grieve God, becoming obvious fighters against God.
(12). And dwell in them. For He Himself and His Father will come and will make their abode with him (John 14:23).
And they will boast of you who love your name,(13) as you bless the righteous, Lord. Since Thou hast blessed Thy servants with Thy blessing and providence, then those who have dedicated themselves to be lovers of Thy name, under Thy benevolence, will be exalted in spirit, imparting Thy power. Blessed Paul also says so: boast, oh Lord, let boast(2 Cor. 10:17).
Ecu crowned us with a weapon of benevolence - that is, at the end, for our labors, you give us a crown, protecting us with it, like some kind of weapon.
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