Book II of the Psalter · Psalms 42 to 72 · 31 psalms

The Elohistic Psalter

This book gathers the guild collections beside David's own. The sons of Korah open it, Asaph stands in the middle of it, and a second Davidic collection runs to the end, where a note says the prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

Sealed by: Psalm 72:18-19
Where it stands in the argument: The book closes with Solomon's psalm for the king, asking that he judge the poor with righteousness and that all nations be blessed in him. The hope of the throne stands at its highest here, and Book III then tests it.
Who the headings name: The sons of Korah, Asaph, David, and Solomon at the close. Psalms 43, 66, 67 and 71 carry no name.

Every psalm in Book II

31 doors, coloured by the kind of psalm

Penitential 1
Imprecatory 2
Royal 2
Wisdom and Torah 2
Thanksgiving 1
Lament and trust 17
Praise 6

The colour is the psalm's primary kind, following the form-critical categories of Hermann Gunkel (Einleitung in die Psalmen, 1933) as set out in C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of Psalms (2001). A psalm that carries more than one kind is filed under one of them, and every type is explained on the Psalms page.

The collections inside it

4 gathered groups, in the order they stand

The sons of KorahPsalms 42 to 49
The temple singers descended from Korah, beginning with the deer panting for streams of water.
AsaphPsalms 50
One psalm of Asaph stands here; the rest of his psalms open Book III.
The second Davidic collectionPsalms 51 to 71
David again, opening with the confession he made after Nathan came to him.
Of SolomonPsalms 72
The prayer for the king that closes the book, followed by the note that the prayers of David are ended.

The name of God in this book

Elohim, God, is the name used here, where the same psalm printed twice in the Psalter uses the LORD in Book I: compare Psalm 14 with Psalm 53. That substitution is why this book is called the Elohistic Psalter.

What the kinds of psalm come to here

Penitential 1
Imprecatory 2
Royal 2
Wisdom and Torah 2
Thanksgiving 1
Lament and trust 17
Praise 6

The same nine kinds colour every psalm on this page and on the four other books of the Psalter.

The doxology that seals it

Psalm 72:18-19, Berean Standard Bible

18Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
19And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.
Psalm 72:18-19, the closing blessing that marks the seam of the book.

Why the seam is marked

The doxology belongs to the collection rather than to the psalm it closes, which is how the five books can be seen in the text itself. The other four seams stand at Psalms 41:13, 72:18-19, 89:52 and 106:48, and the whole of Psalm 150 closes the Psalter.