Bellarmine's Preface : Part 3 (Authorship)

Authorship of the Psalms

There remains the question of the Author of the Psalms. There are two opinions among the ancient Fathers; for St. Athanasius in his Synopsis, St. Hilary in his Prologue to the Psalms, and St. Jerome in his Letter To Sophronius, and in his Letter To Cyprian on the explication of Psalm LXXXIX, think there were various authors of the Psalms, to wit, all those who are named in the titles, namely, David, Moses, Solomon, Asaph, Idithun and others. On the other hand, St. John Chrysostom, Theodoret, Euthymius and Cassiodorus in the Preface to his Commentaries on the Psalms, and St. Augustine in book XVII, chapter xiv of The City of God, recognise David as the sole author of the Psalms. To us, three things are certain. Firstly, the primary author of all the Psalms is the Holy Spirit : those who testify to this include the apostle Peter in Acts I and the apostle Paul in Hebrews iii; while David himself in II Kings XXIII says: “The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue;”[1] and in Psalm XLIV : “My tongue is the pen[2] of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.”[3] Whether David, or Moses, or some other person authored the Psalms, they themselves were like a reed-pen; but it was the Holy Spirit who wrote, through them : indeed, what need is there to labour the question of penmanship when the actual authorship is settled?  Secondly, it seems certain to me that the greater number of the Psalms are by David; for at

the end of Psalm LXXI we read : “The praises of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.” Again, in chapter XXIII of II Kings, it says : “David ...the excellent psalmist of Israel;”[4] finally, in chapter v of II Paralip., it says : “Singers had been appointed to sing the Psalms which David made.” Thirdly, it seems clear to me that those Psalms which have no title, as well as those that have David in the title, whether in the form Of David or For David, were composed by David; for Psalm II lacks a title but in Acts IV[5] it is stated that this Psalm was composed by David; and Psalm XCIV lacks a title in the Hebrew version yet the Apostle in Hebrews IV[6] attributes it to David.  Then again, the Psalms which in Hebrew are missing a title are ascribed in the Greek text to David; hence it is possible that these titles in the Hebrew text were removed when the Septuagint translators rendered the Hebrew text into Greek. Finally, the Hebrew rules, which state that a Psalm lacking a title is to be ascribed to the author of the preceding Psalm, have proven to be false; for according to this rule, Psalms I and II are by nobody, since they are both lacking a title. Moreover, Psalm LXXXIX is ascribed to Moses, and the ten following Psalms, which are lacking a title, should be ascribed to Moses too. But this cannot be so, because in Psalm XCVIII there is mention of Samuel, who was born a sufficiently long time after Moses died. See more about this in the explication of the title of Psalm LXXXIX. That not only

those psalms are by David which have in their title Of David, but also those which have : For David, is is proved by St. Augustine from Psalm CIX, which has the words : τὡ Δαυἱδ, Of David; and the Lord says in Matth. xxiv : “How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord?”[7] And so these things regarding the authorship of the Psalms seem to me to be certain. Concerning the remaining Psalms, which have in their title Moses, or Solomon, or Asaph, or Idithun, or Ethan, or the sons of Core, I think the opinion of Sts. Athanasius, Hilary and Jerome is possible, but the opinion of those who followed them, Chrysostom, Augustine, Theodoret and others, is more probable. Why prefer the later opinion to the earlier? The reason is that it is more commonly held and was even more common a thousand years ago. This is testified by St. Augustine in chapter XIV of book XVII in his City of God, and by St. Theodoret in his Preface to the Psalms. Similarly, because it is sufficiently established that Asaph, Idithun, Ethan and the sons of Core were Singers rather than Prophets, and that the Psalms were attributed to them in the title  because they were given to them to sing, not because they had composed them; from this it may be understood  because in the same title appear the names of David and Idithun, or some other name, as can be seen in the titles of Psalms XXXVIII, LXI, LXIV, CXXXVI, CXXXVII and CXXXVIII. Lastly, it may be added that in Luke XX the Lord says : “David dicit in libro Psalmorum,”[8] He is seen to attribute the whole book of psalms to David.

[1] The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue. Spiritus Domini locutus est per me, et sermo ejus per linguam meam. [II Kings xxiii 2]

[2] calamus : from, κάλᾰμος: apart from reed pen, the meanings include: reed-pipe, flute, fishing-rod, limed twig used by fowlers, shaft of an arrow, measuring-rod, Medic., tube for insufflation. Each of these suggests analogies concerning the action of the Holy Spirit.

[3] My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king; My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly. Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum; dico ego opera mea regi. Lingua mea calamus scribae velociter scribentis. [Psalm XLIV 2]

[4] Now these are David's last words. David the son of Isai said: The man to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel said: Haec autem sunt verba David novissima. Dixit David filius Isai : Dixit vir, cui constitutum est de christo Dei Jacob, egregius psaltes Israel : [II Kings XXIII 1]

[5] Acts IV 25.

[6] Hebrews IV 7.

[7] He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Ait illis : Quomodo ergo David in spiritu vocat eum Dominum, dicens : Dixit Dominus Domino meo : Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum? Si ergo David vocat eum Dominum, quomodo filius ejus est? [Matth. Xxii 43]

[8] And David himself saith in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand; et ipse David dicit in libro Psalmorum : Dixit Dominus Domino meo : sede a dextris meis. [Luke XX 42]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.