The discovery and publication of numerous manuscripts from Qumran and the Judean Desert in recent decades have reignited scholarly interest in the historical development of the Psalter. Debates center on whether the textual traditions represented at Qumran reflect competing, equally authoritative versions or if they derive from a proto-Masoretic tradition. Some scholars argue that the Qumran psalters, which exhibit variations in psalm order and include extrabiblical material, suggest an anthological process of compilation. According to this view, psalters were formed by selecting and arranging psalms from a broader, pre-existing pool of texts. However, this theory remains speculative, as no external evidence confirms the existence of such a pool or the proposed editorial processes.
In contrast, other researchers maintain that the proto-Masoretic tradition served as the foundational text, on which other versions, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) and the Septuagint (LXX), depended during their development. This paper engages with recent scholarship, including contributions from Drew Longacre, David Willgren Davage, William Yarchin, and Alma Brodersen, and wrestles with methodological issues concerning the Psalter’s formation history.
I argue that ultimately, it is neither possible nor necessary to preclude the Psalter from having undergone an integrative and coherent shaping by a single or a small group of final editors at the final stages of the formational process to produce a book of Psalms with a theological and thematic logic.