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of the tongue, and singing them melodiously with rhythm and various instruments and dances and songs. For he himself was holding a lyre; and he had various choirs of lesser prophets under him—for thus they called those who stayed with the prophets, and often they also named them sons of prophets—having various instruments, one having cymbals, another flutes, another drums, another trumpets, another a psaltery and a lyre, another singers called vocalists. 5.117 And each choir had a leader, one was called Asaph, another Jeduthun, others the sons of Korah, another Ethan the Israelite, another Moses the man of God. Therefore, whenever he was moved by the Holy Spirit to foretell something about the captivity of the people, or about their return, or about didactic morals, or about providence, or about the Lord Christ, he composed each psalm metrically, tending toward a single theme; for this reason there are both long and short psalms; and he would deliver it to one choir, to which he judged or it was fitting for it to be delivered, and he would sing it first in that choir. But if again in the middle of the psalm he decided to hand over the rest of the psalm to another choir, then this succession of the rhythm was called a diapsalm; so that also when he wished to hand over from the middle of a psalm to the so-called vocalists, that is singers, then it was called a song of a diapsalm, since the singers took up the rest of the psalm to sing in succession. 5.118 And it is possible for one who wishes to learn about this from what is written in the Chronicles of the kingdoms thus: "And he sang this song by the hand of Asaph the prophet." And after thus first delivering the psalm, then each choir, both by itself and with one accord, with delight and rhythm, some with these instruments, others with those, sang the psalm antiphonally with dancing for the glory of God. And it is possible again to learn about this, how David himself, having brought up the ark from the foreigners, danced before it, and being reproached by his own wife Michal, he said: "I will play and rejoice before the Lord"; for not only did he not cease, but he even promised to intensify such things. 5.119 But some, not having paid attention to this order and exactness, nor wishing to be taught by those who know, have turned to allegories, declaring that not all the psalms are by David, but have said that they are by those who received them from David, manifestly from them; a thing which neither an Apostle nor the Lord ever mentioned of another regarding a psalm, except of David. Sidenote 5.120 This great David, the prophet, was deemed worthy to be an ancestor according to the flesh of the Lord Christ, in whom all the great and true and eternal salvation of God is fulfilled, being from the root of Abraham through Isaac and Judah, who also composed a book of one hundred and fifty psalms, through himself and the prophets under him, moved by the Holy Spirit, singing praises, in which you will find as in a paradise all spiritual food of the entire economy of God, which was preached and announced through the prophets. Glory to God who at all times orders the affairs of the human race. 5.121 We therefore depict David himself seated and the choirs before him on the right and on the left, so that one may know also the sight of this order, after this saying also which psalms he was deemed worthy to foretell concerning the economy of the Lord Christ, varying them in composition and changing them differently in form, having spoken in all of them concerning the passion and resurrection of his humanity, likewise also concerning his divinity as being eternal and creator of all things and renewer of the universe, toward whom the entire scope of the divinely inspired Scripture looks. DAVID 5.122 This great David, the king and prophet, who was according to the Lord’s heart, to whom God, as in the case of Abraham, fittingly made the promises again, promising that his seed would remain forever and his throne of the kingdom without successor

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γλώττης, καὶ ἐμμελῶς μετὰ ῥυθμοῦ καὶ ὀργάνων διαφόρων καὶ ὀρχήσεων καὶ ᾠδῶν αὐτοὺς ᾄδων. Ἦν γὰρ αὐτὸς κατέχων κιθάραν· εἶχε δὲ καὶ χοροὺς ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν διαφόρους μικρῶν προφητῶν οὕτως γὰρ ἐκάλουν τοὺς παραμένοντας τοῖς προφήταις, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ υἱοὺς προφητῶν αὐτοὺς ὠνόμαζονἐχόντων διάφορα ὄργανα, τοῦ μὲν κύμβαλα, τοῦ δὲ αὐλούς, τοῦ δὲ τύμπανα, τοῦ δὲ σάλπιγγας, τοῦ δὲ ψαλτήριον καὶ κιθάραν, τοῦ δὲ ᾠδοὺς τοὺς λεγομένους βοκαλίους. 5.117 Ἕκαστος δὲ χορὸς ἔξαρχον εἶχεν, ὁ μὲν ἐλέγετο Ἀσάφ, ἄλλος Ἰδιθούμ, ἕτεροι υἱοὶ Κορέ, ἄλλος Αἰθὰμ Ἰσραηλίτης, ἕτερος Μωϋσῆς ἄνθρωπος τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡνίκα τοίνυν ἐκινεῖτο ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου προειπεῖν τι περὶ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας τοῦ λαοῦ, ἢ περὶ τῆς ἐπανόδου αὐτῶν, ἢ περὶ ἠθῶν διδασκαλικῶν, ἢ περὶ προνοίας, ἢ περὶ τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ, συνετίθει ἐμμέτρως τὸν ψαλμὸν ἕκαστον εἰς μίαν ὑπόθεσιν συντείνοντα· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ μεγάλοι καὶ μικροὶ ψαλμοί· καὶ παρεδίδου ἑνὶ χορῷ, ᾧ ἐδοκίμαζεν ἢ ἥρμοζε παραδίδοσθαι, καὶ ᾖδεν αὐτὸν ἐν ἐκείνῳ πρῶτον τῷ χορῷ. Εἰ δὲ πάλιν ἐδοκίμασε κατὰ μέσον τοῦ ψαλμοῦ καὶ ἄλλῳ χορῷ παραδοῦναι τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, τότε αὐτὴ ἡ διαδοχὴ τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ ἐκαλεῖτο διάψαλμα· ὥστε καὶ ὅταν τοῖς λεγομένοις βοκαλίοις, ἤτοι ᾠδοῖς, καταμεσόθεν ψαλμοῦ ἤθελε παραδοῦναι, τότε ἐκαλεῖτο ᾠδὴ διαψάλματος, ἐπειδήπερ οἱ ᾠδοὶ ἐκ διαδοχῆς παρελάμβανον τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ᾄδειν. 5.118 Μαθεῖν δὲ ἔνεστι τῷ βουλομένῳ περὶ τούτου ἐκ τοῦ γεγράφθαι ἐν ταῖς Παραλειπομέναις τῶν βασιλειῶν οὕτως· "Καὶ ᾖσε τὴν ᾠδὴν ταύτην ἐν χειρὶ Ἀσὰφ τοῦ προφήτου". Μετὰ τὸ παραδοῦναι δὲ οὕτως πρῶτον τὸν ψαλμόν, λοιπὸν ἕκαστος χορὸς καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν καὶ ὁμοθυμαδὸν μετὰ τέρψεων καὶ ῥυθμοῦ, τῶν μὲν ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ὀργάνοις, τῶν δὲ ἐν ἐκείνοις, ἀντιφώνως ᾖδον τὸν ψαλμὸν μετὰ ὀρχήσεως εἰς δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἔνεστι δὲ πάλιν καὶ περὶ τούτου μαθεῖν, ὡς αὐτὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἀναλαβὼν ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων τὴν κιβωτὸν ὠρχήσατο ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῆς, καὶ ὀνειδισθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας γυναικὸς Μέλχολ ἔφη· "Παίξομαι καὶ γελάσομαι ἐναντίον Κυρίου"· οὐ μόνον γὰρ οὐκ ἐπαύσατο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπιτείνειν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπηγγείλατο. 5.119 Τινὲς δὲ μὴ προσεσχηκότες τῇ τάξει καὶ τῇ ἀκριβείᾳ ταύτῃ, μήτε θελήσαντες ἐκ τῶν εἰδότων διδαχθῆναι, εἰς ἀλληγορίας ἐτράπησαν, μηδὲ πάντας εἶναι τοῦ ∆αυῒδ τοὺς ψαλμοὺς ἀποφηνάμενοι, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ παραλαμβανόντων φανεροὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰρηκότες· ὅπερ ποτὲ Ἀπόστολος ἢ ὁ Κύριός τινος ἄλλου ἐπὶ ψαλμοῦ οὐκ ἐμνημόνευσαν, εἰ μὴ τοῦ ∆αυΐδ. Παραγραφή 5.120 Ὁ μέγας οὗτος ∆αυΐδ, ὁ προφήτης, προπάτωρ ἠξιώθη εἶναι κατὰ σάρκα τοῦ ∆εσπότου Χριστοῦ, πρὸς ὃν πᾶσα ἡ μεγάλη καὶ ἀληθινὴ καὶ αἰώνιος σωτηρία τοῦ Θεοῦ πληροῦται, ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ διὰ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ τοῦ Ἰούδαὑπάρχων, ὃς καὶ βίβλον συνέθηκε ψαλμῶν ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα, δι' ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν προφήτων τῶν ὑπ' αὐτόν, ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ κινούμενος, ἀναμέλπων, ἐν ᾗ εὑρήσεις ὡς ἐν παραδείσῳ πᾶσαν τροφὴν πνευματικὴν πάσης τῆς οἰκονομίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, τῆς διὰ τῶν προφήτων κηρυχθείσης καὶ καταγγελθείσης. ∆όξα τῷ ἑκάστοτε οἰκονομοῦντι Θεῷ τὰ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος. 5.121 ∆ιαγράφομεν οὖν αὐτὸν τὸν ∆αυῒδ καθεζόμενον καὶ τοὺς χοροὺς ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ δεξιᾷ καὶ ἀριστερᾷ, ὅπως γνῷ τις καὶ τὴν θέαν αὐτῆς τῆς τάξεως, μετὰ ταῦτα λέγοντες καὶ οὓς αὐτὸς ἠξιώθη προειπεῖν ψαλμοὺς περὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν ∆εσπότην Χριστὸν οἰκονομίας, ποικίλας αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ συνθέσει καὶ διαφόρως ἐναλλάξας τῷ σχηματισμῷ, περὶ πάθους καὶ ἀναστάσεως τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος αὐτοῦ εἰρηκὼς ἐν πᾶσιν, ὁμοίως καὶ περὶ τῆς θεότητος ὡς ἀΐδιος καὶ δημιουργός ἐστι τῶν ἁπάντων καὶ ἀνακαινιστὴς τοῦ παντός, πρὸς ὃν ἀφορᾷ πᾶς ὁ σκοπὸς τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς. ∆ΑΥΙ∆ 5.122 Οὗτος ὁ μέγας ∆αυΐδ, ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ προφήτης, ὁ κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ Κυρίου γεγονώς, πρὸς ὃν ὁ Θεός, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, καταλλήλως τὰς ἐπαγγελίας πάλιν ἐποιήσατο, τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα μένειν ἐπαγγειλάμενος καὶ τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ ἀδιάδοχον τῆς βασιλείας