0

The gemora in Bava Basra 14b lists 10 people that co-authored Tehillim with David

דוד כתב ספר תהלים ע"י עשרה זקנים ע"י אדם הראשון על ידי מלכי צדק ועל ידי אברהם וע"י משה ועל ידי הימן וע"י ידותון ועל ידי אסף ועל ידי שלשה בני קרח

Yet in Psalm 132 it seems the psalmist is Solomon, talking about an event that occurred after David had passed:

תהילים קל״ב:י׳ בַּֽ֭עֲבוּר דָּוִ֣ד עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ אַל־תָּ֝שֵׁ֗ב פְּנֵ֣י מְשִׁיחֶֽךָ

Which Rashi explains is Solomon praying that in the merit of his father David, the Solomon Temple should not be rejected:

אל תשב פני משיחך. שלמה בבואו להכניס שם את הארון:

Inevitably someone will say that David wrote this prophetically, but that seems like quite a stretch given he would be talking about himself in the third person.

5
  • 1
    I'm not sure why Solomon is the psalmist. Rashi's commentary only points out that meshichecha refers to Solomon. If David can't be the psalmist because of the 'third person', then this logic should also apply to Solomon who would be writing in the third person here.
    – RonP
    Commented Oct 21, 2022 at 10:56
  • 2
    I find it strange that you reject the idea that people sometomes wrote about themselves in the third person. You'd have to then reject that Solomon wrote Song of Songs because he refers to himself there in the third person a couple of times.
    – Harel13
    Commented Oct 21, 2022 at 11:46
  • 2
    "Yet in Psalm 132 it seems the psalmist is Solomon, talking about an event that occurred after David had passed..." David already knew, before he passed, that Solomon (or some descendant of his) would build the temple, because God told him so (through Nathan the prophet; II Samuel 7:12-13).
    – Tamir Evan
    Commented Oct 21, 2022 at 12:08
  • @Harel13 those are a little different. In shir hashirim he is writing a song document and so third person is fine, it's like signing one's name on a document, not strange at all. Referring to oneself by a title also not strange in every context. E.g. if a police officer said "it's not wise to punch a police officer." But referring to oneself in third person by name is always strange.
    – torahmike
    Commented Oct 27, 2022 at 7:28
  • @torahmike and psalms aren't songs or poems?
    – Harel13
    Commented Oct 27, 2022 at 8:22

0

You must log in to answer this question.