L'ordine dei Salmi

The problem of an order in the Psalter has been posed since antiquity, without a satisfying solution. This paper presents us with some major results of canonical exegesis on the Psalms and allows us to reach the conclusion that such an order does in fact exist. First, the Psalter is a book with a beginning and an end (beatitudes and doxologies). Secondly, the poems collected in this book have a connection with one another, as already shown by Delitzsch, and possibly a concentric structure, as it seems to result from the threefold division of the book proposed by Beckwith. Moreover, the davidic or royal background of the Psalms gives us a theological unity to the Psalter, so providing another key for its order.