Book V of the Psalter (Psalms 107-150) divides into three, with the Songs of the Ascents (120-134) as the central section, and the first and third units following parallel structures (historical, Davidic, alphabetical, Hallel psalms). The units are all compositions of the Return period: 107-119 for the reconstruction of the Temple, 120-134 for Nehemiah's wall-building, 135-150 for Ezra's mission. Psalms 120-134 follow the episodes of Nehemiah's 'memoir', in order. All three groups show evidence of evening-morning alternation, and were intended for festal use: 107-118 at the Passover of...

The Asaph psalms (50, 73-83) are a unity. They often call God 'Elohim' and 'El', and the people 'Joseph', as Amos does; they appeal to Israelite history, the exodus and the covenant; they are written in the face of military catastrophe. In this suggestive and brilliant work, Goulder argues that they were composed in Bethel in the 720s for use as the psalmody for the autumn festival. This gives us vital new evidence for the history of the Pentateuch: there was at Bethel a historical tradition from at least the time of the oppression in Egypt to the Solomonic Empire; the Asaphites took this...