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Psalter
(1,186 words)

1. Definition

Psalter (from Greek psaltḗrion, “stringed instument”) is the caption some codices give the Book of Psalms (Greek psalmoí, “songs accompanied by a stringed instrument,” e.g. Luke 20:42), the collection of 150 (or 151) poems (hymns, prayers) of the OT (Hebrew sefer tehillim, “Book of Praises”), already thought in the pre-Christian period to have been written by King David. In the Hebrew Bible, it belongs to the third divison of t…

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Matthias, Markus, “Psalter”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 03 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_026043>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210107



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