Songs of Degrees

 Song of degrees

“Song of Degrees” is the title or superscription of fifteen Psalms, 120 through 134. In English the titles are “A Song of degrees” (10), A Song of degrees of David” (4), and “A song of degrees for Solomon” (1). Each of these start with the following Hebrew superscriptions (transliterated): “Shir HaMa'aloth” (120, 123, 125-126, 128-130, 132, 134. Hebrew: שיר המעלות), “Shir LaMa'aloth” (121. Hebrew: שיר למעלות), “Shir HaMa'aloth Dovid” (122, 124, 131, 133. Hebrew: שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְדָוִד), “Shir HaMa'aloth Shlomo” (127. Hebrew: שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לִשְׁלֹמֹה). 

The Song of degrees for Solomon stands in the middle of these 15 songs, with 7 songs before it and 7 songs after it. Lord (Jehovah) is found 3 times in the 127th Psalm, and 25 times in the 7 songs on each side of it.[i] Two “of David” come before the Song of degrees for Solomon, and two come after it.

 

Differences of opinion exist, but a main traditional speculation is that “It seems most probable they were designed for the use of the people when going up (cf. 1 Kings 12:27-28) to Jerusalem on the festival occasions (Deuteronomy 16:16), three times a year” (Jamieson-Faucett-Brown). John Gill mentions “...the common opinion of the Jews, and which is embraced by many Christians, and is mentioned by Jarchi, Saadiah Gaon, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, is, that these are the songs sung by the Levites, on the fifteen steps, by which they went up from the court of the women to the court of the Israelites, or came down them; and on each step sung one of these psalms.”

The use of Lord (Jehovah)

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[i] According to Palmer Robertson, there are 24 on each side (The Flow of the Psalms, O. Palmer Robertson, P&R Publishing, 2015, pp. 232–233).