What Is the Background of the Book of Psalms?

As originally written, and in the oldest manuscripts, the psalms were not numbered, nor were there verse divisions (as is true for the whole Bible). The helpful divisions were added much later. When reading or comparing different versions of the Bible, there may be a slight discrepancy in the numbering (though not the content) of the psalms. The Septuagint—an early Greek translation of the Bible produced in the intertestamental period by and for Hellenistic Jewry—has a verse division slightly different from the Hebrew. The early church adopted the Septuagint divisions in the OT and this has been followed by Roman Catholic tradition. Later, during the Reformation, there was a return to the Hebrew enumeration of the Psalms (Geneva Bible, Luther’s German Bible, KJV), and this is the common division in Protestant Bibles.

In addition, the Christian English versions do not number the heading/superscriptions as the first verse, whereas the English translations of the Hebrew/Jewish Bible do, thus resulting in a one-verse difference in the psalms (e.g., in Ps 3 the Hebrew Bible has nine verses, whereas Christian Bibles have eight).

By recognizing Psalms as a coherent collection of writing, organized in the postexilic period, the message of the entire book becomes clearer. Certainly the later organization did not alter the original meaning of the individual psalms, but it deepened and clarified the focus to be on the coming messianic King of Israel. At the time of the final redaction, there was no Davidic king on the throne of Israel, so the psalms, especially those which speak of a King (with a capital K), are all looking forward to the future messianic King. Based on the postexilic compilation of Psalms, David C. Mitchell concludes, “the messianic theme is central to the purpose of the collection” (David C. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter: An Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms [Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997], 87). This would explain the way the NT writers frequently see Jesus the Messiah as the fulfillment of the psalms. They understood that He was the eschatological Davidic King anticipated in the book of Psalms.