What is the Psalter?

The Psalter is the name of one of the manybooks of the Bible. To explain what the Psalter is, you need to understand what word it is from. The title of the Psalter is associated with the name of the stringed instrument, which was used for singing psalms, this instrument is called a psalter. The second title of the Psalter is Psalm, and the word "psalm" means a song of praise that praises God and is used to worship him.

Content

This book, found in the Hebrew Scripturesor the Old Testament, consists of 150 chapters or songs. At the time of the writing of the Psalter, all the songs that were there were meant to be performed to music in a temple in Jerusalem, where the Israelites worshiped God Jehovah (Yahweh).

In addition to laudatory songs in the book of the Psalterincludes prayers in which the feelings of the authors of these songs are conveyed, they express the requests to God for help and mercy, as well as feelings of hope and confidence.

Structure

Some psalms have headings in whichThe name of the author composing this song is indicated. Most often you can find the name of David - the king in Israel. The Psalter is divided into five separate books. For example, the first book includes chapters 1 to 41, and the second book - chapters 42 through 72, etc.

Nine psalms are written in a special style,called acrostic. It involves the alphabetic writing of the text. In this case, the first verse of the chapter or the first verses in the stanza begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next verse or second stanza begins with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And this continues until the end of the alphabet.

Numbering

The numbering of the psalms is different. For example, there are two types of numbering: Greek and Masoretic. Some translations, such as the Synodal translation of the Bible, use the Greek numeration. In other translations of the Bibles, the Masoretic type is used for the numbering of the Psalter.

On the correct reading of the Psalter you can learn from the article How to read the Psalter correctly.