{"id":79959,"date":"2020-09-14T06:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T03:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79959"},"modified":"2020-09-14T06:11:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T03:11:00","slug":"how-many-psalms-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-many-psalms-again\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Psalms Again?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"79959","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"569","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"While today we have 150 psalms, the number in the past has varied from 147 through 170 - depending on how you divide them up","content":"

An argument can be made for combining the comments on chapters 1 and 2, based on the Talmudic observation that some of the Sages considered them one psalm (Berakhot 9b-10a, cited by Radak on 2:1) due to their opinion that every psalm that was dear to David opens and closes with the word \u2018<\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/i>. The first verse in Chapter 1 starts that way, as does the last phrase of the final verse in Chapter 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, that raises a numerological challenge: If chapters 1-2 were combined, the total number of psalms would fall from 150 to 149. (It would also lower the total number of chapters in Tanakh from 929 to 928!) There is even evidence that other chapters were joined, including 9-10, 42-43, 70-71, 96-97, and 114-115. Various codices (manuscript books of Tanakh) have chapter 117 combined with either 116 or 118, as well as standing independently. In fact, there is a rabbinic tradition that places the total number of psalms at 147, equivalent to the lifespan of the Patriarch Jacob (PT Shabbat 16:1).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Greek Septuagint differs from the Masoretic division in four places: 9-10 are combined (as in Tosafot Megillah 17b, s.v. <\/span>ve-David<\/span><\/i>), as are 114-115. On the other hand, 116 and 147 are each divided in two, yielding the same total of 150. The commentary of Menachem HaMe\u2019iri (Provence, 1249-1310) also combines 114-115, 117 joins with 116, and divides 118 in three, totaling 151. The Aleppo Codex combines 114-115 totaling 149 psalms, but it also inserts spaces between each of the alphabetic octets in Psalm 119, raising the number of psalm units past 170, possibly meant to correspond to the number of weekly Torah portions in the triennial cycle typical of the Land of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for chapter 2, we have already cited Ibn Ezra\u2019s assignment of this psalm to King David\u2019s coronation (see our Introduction); this contrasts with the alternative that assigns it to the King Messiah. Radak sided with Ibn Ezra, more or less, as he assigned it to \u201cDavid at the beginning of his rule when the [surrounding] nations gathered against him, as stated: \u201cWhen the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over Israel, they gathered against him\u201d (2 Samuel 5:17).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79960,"id":79960,"title":"ps2-books","filename":"ps2-books.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-many-psalms-again\/ps2-books\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps2-books","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79959,"date":"2020-09-14 03:10:47","modified":"2020-09-14 03:10:58","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":570,"height":760,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books.jpg","medium_large-width":570,"medium_large-height":760,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books.jpg","large-width":570,"large-height":760,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books.jpg","1536x1536-width":570,"1536x1536-height":760,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books.jpg","2048x2048-width":570,"2048x2048-height":760,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books.jpg","post_full_size-width":570,"post_full_size-height":760,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps2-books-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"How Many Psalms Again?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"While today we have 150 psalms, the number in the past has varied from 147 through 170 - 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