Book Description

The Psalms are a complex collection of hymns and prayers likely composed over many centuries, and by various authors. The earliest psalms are attributed to King David or are written for King David, including the first 40, which are likely the original group of psalms. Many other psalms are attributed to, or written for Asaph, Solomon, Ethan, Moses, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zachariah, the sons of Korah, or the sons of Jehonadab. Some of the psalms have internal historical references that indicate the likely time-frame they were written in. King David is generally believed to have lived around 1000 BC by those who accept him as a historical figure, and Asaph, Solomon, and Ethan all lived around the same time, so those who accept the psalms as having been written by authors that they are attributed to, would generally place the origin of most of the texts to around 1000 BC. The life of Moses has been dated to anywhere between the 16ᵗʰ and 13ᵗʰ centuries BC, and the original sons of Korah lived at the same time, however, the sons of Korah were also the priests in Solomon's Temple before they were replaced by the Levites. Jehonadab lived during the reign of the Israelite King Jehu, who lived circa 800 BC, while Jeremiah's life is dated to circa 600 BC, and the lives of Haggai and Zachariah are dated to circa 500 BC. The earliest references to the Septuagint's Lord in the Psalms, treat the Lord as the Sun or refer to the Lord as living in the Sun. In the later psalms, the sun was a completely separate object from the Lord, which is consistent with the changing religion of the region recorded in both the Israelite and Judahite books of the Kingdoms and the archaeological record. 4ᵗʰ Kingdoms (Masoretic Kings) describes King Josiah's reforms in circa 625 BC. Shemesh was the Canaanite god of the sun, who was essentially the same as the Greek Helios before Josiah's reforms. Like Helios, Shemesh rode on a chariot pulled by four flying horses. The four horses are a reference to what are commonly called sundogs today, the refracted light that appears 22° to the left and right of the Sun, and in rare cases again at 44° when there are ice crystals in the atmosphere. The Psalms include many references to the Lord shining down from the sky, and the name of the Lord enduring as long as the sun. Psalms 18 claims that the Lord lives in the sun, suggesting he was something other than the sun, even in the early Psalms.