When was Psalm 51 written?

Answer 1

David was born 1061BC and died 971BC. These dates are known and definite dates because:-

(1). The date of the completion of the Temple by Solomon in 974BC has been positively dated and cross-correlated by scholars because it is also mentioned in the records of contemporary civilizations;

(2). It is known that this was in the fourth year of Solomon's reign ie that he became king in 970BC:-

1Ki 6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

(3). His father David died very soon after Solomon became king (ie 970BC).

(4). According to Josephus, David was 70 when he died, and he ruled from Jerusalem for 33 years, (and also died there) which means he began ruling from Jerusalem in 1003BC.

1Ki 2:11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

(5). David was in Jerusalem when he saw Bathsheba :-

2Sa 11:2-3 KJV And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. [v. 3] And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

(6). David committed adultery with Bathsheba but she became pregnant, so he had her husband (Uriah the Hittite) killed, and Nathan the prophet confronted David:-

2Sa 12:9-10 KJV Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. [v.10] Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

(7). Nathan told him their child (ie not a baby) would die:-

2Sa 12:14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

(v.18) And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

To stress the point, it is said 5 times in two verses that it is a child of at least one year old, and perhaps a toddler but not a baby.

(8). Assuming that this happened just after David began ruling from Jerusalem means the earliest possible date for would be 1001BC .

(9). The latest possible date for this would be one or two years before Solomon was born:-

2Sa 12:22, 24 KJV And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? ... [v.24] And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.

(10). When Solomon became king, David told him to behave "like a man", implying he wasn't (he could have been a teenager):-

1Ki 2:1-2 MKJV And the days of David drew near for him to die. And he charged Solomon his son, saying, [v. 2] I go the way of all the earth. And you be strong and show yourself a man.

(11). Assuming he was 14 and adding a year for his mother's pregnancy would make the latest possible date for his conception 986BC.

(12). This puts the year of David's confession of adultery and repentance somewhere in a range between 1001BC and 986BC, (but with it more likely to be later than earlier.)

(13). It is important to realize that David did not repent until after he was confronted by Nathan(!):-

2Sa 12:13, 18 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

(14). Psalm 51 was written after his repentance:-

Psa 51:1 when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.> Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Although it depends on assumptions being made, it makes the writing of Psalm 51 somewhere between 1001BC and 986BC. However, if you made it 990BC it couldn't be far out, and no-body can prove you wrong!