Identifying Earlier Collections : Intertitles in the Book of Psalms?

In this paper, then, I focus on the (inter)titles. The guiding question being whether the titles were added or used either with the individual psalm in view, or with some larger collection, I first provide an overview of the terminology of Genette, where e.g. the difference between a title and an intertitle is discussed. In part 2, I present an analysis of the (inter)titles in the Book of Psalms in three major sections: 1–89; 90–119; and 120–150. These sections are motivated by features in the titles, and the analysis of these elements then constitutes a good material to a subsequent discussion around four topics. First, I discuss the actual task of identifying earlier collections. Second, I give some attention to the possible implications of the variation between MT, DSS, and LXX, as they indicate a continuing addition of titles, and third, I discuss the interesting relation between the (inter)titles and canonization, departing from the notion that intertitles in some way govern the interpretation of a text. Fourth, and last, I focus on the observation that the (inter)titles of the Book of Psalms apparently lack the only function described by Genette as required of a title – the identifying function, and suggest some possible ways forward.