Psalter (text book)

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Psalter in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and Chaldean (Aramaic) languages ​​with commentary in Latin, Genoa 1516
Plowing farmer, miniature in the Stuttgart Psalter, approx. 820–830

A psalter (Greek ψαλτήριον , Psalterion , Latin Psalterium ) is a liturgical book in the Orthodox and Catholic Churches that contains the biblical psalms , sometimes with additional texts. In the Jewish liturgy, the book of Psalms is referred to as (Sefer) Tehilim (סֵפֶר תְּהִלִּים).

Some illustrated psalter manuscripts have survived from the Middle Ages.

Different shapes

There are different forms of psalteries

  • The psalms in the biblical order. This is the shape of most historical psalteries. In the Catholic tradition this is called Psalterium non feriatum .
  • The psalms are divided according to the liturgical division of the Liturgy of the Hours . Referred to as Psalterium feriatum in the Catholic Church .
  • In some psalters there are additional texts inserted ( antiphons , hymns )

Most psalms also contain a calendar with the feasts of the saints and prefaces to the psalms.

history

Hebrew version

The oldest surviving manuscript with a collection of biblical psalms in Hebrew is the Great Psalms Scroll (11Q5 / 11QPs a ) from Qumran from around the 1st century BC. The psalms are arranged in a different order and supplemented with further texts.

The first complete collection of the 150 psalms in Hebrew is contained in the Codex Leningradensis from 1008, the first complete Hebrew Bible manuscript at all.

Greek version

The first complete collection of the Psalms in Greek (Septuagint) is contained in the Codex Vaticanus from the 4th century. Separate psalteries have been preserved since the 6th century ( Verona Psalter ). These usually contain a collection of 14 odes from other books in the Bible. All Greek psalteries also contain a psalm 151 .

Syrian version

The Syrian psalm collections also contain Psalm 151 and four other Psalms .

Latin versions

The old Latin psalm translations are divided into three text versions:

  • Psalterium Gallicanum ("Gallic Psalter"): Old Latin Vetus Latina translation based on the Greek text of the Septuagint, initially in the liturgy of the Merovingian Empire (Gaul), then generally used.
  • Psalterium Romanum ("Roman Psalter"): Old Latin translation based on the Greek Septuagint, in liturgical use in Rome and Italy.
  • Psalterium Hebraicum ("Hebrew Psalter"): Vulgate translation from the Hebrew text by Hieronymus , used for scholarly purposes, not in the liturgy.

Latin psalm translations of the 20th century are:

  • Psalterium Pianum , commissioned by Pope Pius XII. Translated from the original text into Latin by the Pontifical Biblical Institute , published in 1945 and then included in the liturgical books.
  • Psaltery of the Nova Vulgate , 1969/71 at the instigation of Pope Paul VI. Revised new version of the original texts, published in 1979 and incorporated into the Latin liturgical books.

Persian version

In the 6./7. Century from the Syrian text in China.

Church Slavonic version

Translated from the Greek text in the 9th century in Moravia, probably by Kyrill, Method and his students. Oldest manuscripts from the 11th / 12th centuries Century.

meaning

In the Middle Ages, the psalter was of great importance in everyday religious life, as a devotional exercise with daily recitation of psalms outside of the service was common, both among the clergy and among the laity.

Many psalteries were not only made for clergymen, but also as magnificently illuminated manuscripts for nobles. From the later 13th century the psalter was gradually replaced by the book of hours .

Major psalter

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In French, for example, psautier does not primarily refer to the biblical book of psalms, but to the monks' book for the prayer of the hours .