Thought Atlasof Human Culture through Chronology
Israel

Psalms

Tehillim

Anonymous / tradition (attributed in part to David) · composed and compiled c. 1000-300 BC · Jerusalem (Israel) · poetry

Israel prays in every register at once, lament beside praise in the same anthology, because worship must hold complaint and gratitude together rather than choosing between them.

A collection of 150 poems gathered over centuries into five books, each closing with a short doxology, and spanning royal enthronement hymns, communal laments over national disaster, personal thanksgiving and petition, and wisdom reflection on the righteous and wicked life. Traditionally associated with King David, whose name appears in roughly half the superscriptions, the collection's own internal headings credit other named groups and individuals as well, and its varied styles and historical settings point to compilation across both the First and Second Temple periods rather than composition by any single figure. It is unified less by author than by function, as the working songbook and prayer book of Israelite worship, holding lament and praise, complaint and gratitude, in the same anthology rather than resolving them into a single settled mood.

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Descends from

Fed into

  • Septuagint · translated c. 280-100 BC; the Pentateuch first, traditionally dated c. 250 BC, with the remaining books following over the 2nd-1st century BC
  • Hodayot · c. 100-50 BC
  • Psalms of Solomon · c. 63-30 BC, written in reaction to Pompey's conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BC and his death in 48 BC
  • Hebrews · c. AD 60-90; precise date and place of composition are disputed
  • 1 Peter · c. AD 60-100
  • Gospel of Mark · c. AD 65-80, most plausibly around the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70
  • Confessions · c. AD 397-400

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