Most of the psalms in our Bibles have what we call superscriptions or titles. 116 Psalms contain superscriptions, 13 of these have historical references (e.g. Ps 3), twelve of which are contained in book 1 and 2.1 Unfortunately, in English Bibles, these psalm titles are written as superscript to the text, and the versification begins after the titles. Just have a look at your Bible.
For example, before Psalm 59:1 we read:
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
The (intended or not) effect of this layout and versification in English Bibles is to imply to the English reader that the Psalm titles are not part of God’s inspired Word. Rather it indicates that the psalm titles are on the same level as the editorial headings inserted into English Bibles by a translation committee.
An example of such an editorial heading can be found in the ESV after Philippians 1:1–2 and before Philippians 1:3–11, where the ESV Bible inserts the title “Thanksgiving and Prayer.” These editorial titles are not part of the versification of Scripture and are often written in a different font, indicating rightly they are not part of the inspired Word of God.
However, the Psalm titles—such as “To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt” occurring before Psalm 60:1—are part of the inspired Word of God.
Evidence from Manuscripts and the Versions
Not all believe the Psalm titles are part of God’s Word. For example, Osborne states, without supporting evidence, that the psalm titles “are not part of the canonical Scriptures” and calls them “Masoretic traditions.”2
However, the psalm titles are found in Qumran manuscripts and thus are not late a Masoretic tradition. For example, 4QPss includes the title of Psalm 6, 11QPsc includes the title of Psalm 18, 4QPsq includes the title of Psalm 33 etc. This at least indicates that the psalm titles are proto-Masoretic traditions.
Furthermore, Qumran pesherim (commentaries) interpreted the psalm titles, thus indicating the antiquity of the psalm titles (for them to be available at Qumran) and the Qumran community’s belief that the psalm titles were part of God’s Word and thus worthy to be interpreted and commented upon within their pesharim.3
Moreover, the Psalm titles are included in the ancient translations of the Hebrew (Septuagint, Vulgate, Peshitta, Targum) further indicating the antiquity and ubiquity of the Psalm titles. No version rejected them.
Noteworthy is that these ancient versions often confuse the meaning of the titles. This would indicate that, just as we do not know what a Miktam is (ESV footnote says “probably a liturgical term”), what the function of Selah was, precisely what the titular phrase למנצח means (the ESV translates with “for the choirmaster” the LXX translates all occurrences with εἰς τὸ τέλος resulting in an eschatological interpretation of the psalms), or what “according to the Lilies” means, so also the ancient translators did not know what they meant either. This would indicate that at the time of the translations, say of the Septuagint around 250BC–150AD, the words were considered archaic even then and so prone to being misunderstood. If this is true, then the psalm titles are extremely old for the musical terms have been forgotten by the time of ancient translations. Beckwith argues that the most natural time for when the Levites would forget their music was the Babylonian exile, when they “hung up our lyres” (Ps 137:2).4 And so the psalm titles would thus have been written pre-exile and forgotten during the exile, and mistranslated after the exile.
Scriptural Evidence
The ancient evidence is quite compelling alone to understand the Psalm titles are part of God’s Word. And the evidence is quite simple to understand—all manuscripts and versions we have contain the titles. The only reason they have been left out of the versification in English Bibles and doubt has been cast on their veracity is because modern scholarship believes that the superscriptions (especially the historical, not just the liturgical) are inaccurate. However, where else do we cut out of our Bible something that modern scholars believe to be historically inaccurate? If we did, we wouldn’t have much left.
But the most compelling argument for me, the nail in the coffin so to speak, is that Jesus appealed to the text of a Psalm title to make a Christological argument. In Matthew 22:45 where Jesus is debating with the Pharisees, he uses Psalm 110 to discern who the Messiah is. The Pharisees claim that the Messiah is the son of David, to which Jesus retorts, “then why does David call him Lord?” And he then cites Psalm 110:1: “The LORD says to my Lord…” However, nowhere in the Psalm does it mention that David said this except the so-called psalm “title” which reads “A Psalm of David.” Thus, Jesus’s Christological argument from Scripture that the Messiah is David’s Lord hinges upon the Psalm title. And notice, the Pharisees do not say: “David did not write that Psalm” or “You can’t use Psalm titles in debates about Scripture.” They did not; and so clearly they accepted the authenticity, Scriptural status, and divine nature of the text which reads “A Psalm of David.”
We should not be so modern assuming those ancients were fools. Rather, the ancient evidence and the evidence of Jesus points to the fact that the Psalm titles were also part of God’s inspired Word. And we should receive them as such. So when reading a Psalm, read the title, read out loud the Selah. And when exegeting a Psalm, exegete all of the psalm which includes the title.
Art by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, 17th century.
James Hamilton, Psalms: Volume 1: Psalms 1–72, EBTC, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021), 7. Mitchell counts 126 with titles, understanding the הללו־יה of Pss 106, 111, 112, 113, 135, 146–150 as titles. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter: Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms, JSOTSup 252 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 18n7.
Grand Osborne, Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006), 240.
Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter: Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms, JSOTSup 252 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), 24.
Roger Beckwith, “The Early History of the Psalter,” Tynbul 46 (1995): 16–17.