The Five Books of Psalms

The Book of Psalms is divided into five books. Book 1 is Psalms 1 to 41, Book 2 is Psalms 42 to 72, Book 3 is Psalms 73 to 89, Book 4 is Psalms 90 to 106, and Book 5 is Psalms 107 to 150. The World English Bible prints the markers BOOK 1 to BOOK 5 in the text itself. The first four books close with a blessing of the LORD: 41:13, 72:19, 89:52 and 106:48. Book 2 then ends at 72:20. The fifth ends with Psalm 150, a whole psalm of praise.

Book 5 is the largest, with 44 psalms and 701 verses. Books 3 and 4 are the smallest, with 17 psalms each. Psalms is still one book of the Bible. The five books are divisions inside it, and each has its own mix of headings and themes.

The clearest sign of the divisions is the verse that closes each book. Psalm 41:13 blesses "the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting" and ends "Amen and amen." Psalm 72 closes with another "Amen and amen" in verse 19, then adds in verse 20, "This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse." Psalm 89:52 reads "Blessed be the LORD forever more. Amen, and Amen." Psalm 106:48 echoes the blessing of Psalm 41:13 and says "Let all the people say, 'Amen.'" Book 5 has no single closing verse of this kind. Its last psalm is itself one long call to praise. The Wikipedia article on the Psalms says the divisions were probably introduced by the final editors to imitate the five-fold division of the Torah.

Book 1 holds Psalms 1 to 41, a total of 616 verses. It is the book most tied to David by its headings: 37 of its 41 psalms carry a heading that names him. The other four, Psalms 1, 2, 10 and 33, have no heading at all. The book opens with Psalm 1, which sets the way of the righteous beside the way of the wicked, and Psalm 2, which is about the LORD's anointed king. It also holds Psalm 22, Psalm 23, and three of the seven penitential psalms: 6, 32 and 38. Book 1 closes with Psalm 41, which ends in the first of the four closing blessings.

Book 2 holds 31 psalms. It opens with psalms headed by the sons of Korah, Psalm 42 and Psalms 44 to 49. Psalm 50 is headed by Asaph. Eighteen of its headings name David, all of them between Psalm 51 and Psalm 70, and Psalm 72 is headed by Solomon. Verse 20 of Psalm 72 closes the book with "This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse." Headings in the later books still name David 18 more times, so the line marks the end of a collection rather than of every psalm linked with him. Book 3 holds 17 psalms. Eleven of them, Psalms 73 to 83, are headed by Asaph. Four are headed by the sons of Korah. Psalm 86 names David, Psalm 88 also names Heman, and Psalm 89 names Ethan.

Book 4 holds 17 psalms and opens with Psalm 90, the only psalm headed "A Prayer by Moses". Only two of its headings name David, and ten of its psalms have no heading at all. The Wikipedia article on the Psalms notes that several psalms, especially Psalms 93 to 99, concern the kingship of God. Book 4 ends at Psalm 106:48. Book 5 is the longest, with 44 psalms and 701 verses. It holds Psalm 119, the longest psalm at 176 verses, and the fifteen Songs of Ascents, Psalms 120 to 134. Fifteen of its headings name David and 18 psalms have no heading. It closes with the five Hallelujah psalms, 146 to 150, each opening and ending with "Praise ye the LORD" in the King James Version.

No one is named as the author of any of the five books. Authorship comes only from the headings of single psalms, and headings are not proof of who wrote them. Across all five books, 73 headings name David. They are spread unevenly: 37 in Book 1, 18 in Book 2, 1 in Book 3, 2 in Book 4 and 15 in Book 5. Other headings name Asaph 12 times, the sons of Korah 11 times, Solomon twice and Moses once. Many psalms, especially in Books 4 and 5, name no author at all. So the question of how many books of Psalms David wrote has no answer in the text, only a count of headings.