Who wrote Psalm 16?

Answer 1

It is clear from Acts 2:25-28 that the author of Acts of the Apostles assumed that Psalm 16 was written by the legendary King David, as do many Christians and Jews in modern times. However, some scholars say that the psalms were a literary genre that did not exist at the time of David.

Due to similarities with Isaiah 57:5, 62:4 and 65:3-7, some say the Psalm was written shortly after the return from the Babylonian Exile, but there is no reason not to place Psalm 16 even later, either during the Persian period or even the early Hellenistic period. Either way, the Psalm was written anonymously and we can not now establish who actually wrote it.

Answer 2

King David wrote it, as stated explicitly (Psalms 16:1).

More information:

According to tradition, King David gave us the Book of Psalms. Seventy-three of the 150 bear his name, and tradition states that the unattributed ones are also from him (Talmud, Berakhot 9b).

Concerning those Psalms that have the names of other authors, tradition teaches that we may thank David for them too (Talmud, Bava Bathra 14b). This is because it was he who recorded them in their permanent form and in a single book. If not for King David, those Psalms would have gone lost.

See also:

About King David

Psalm 23

The purpose of the Psalms

Answer 3

Psalm 16 is entitled 'A Michtam [meditation] of David', so the author may be known, unlike a few Psalms which are regarded as anonymous.

Answer 4

The author is reputed to have been King David who is supposed to have lived between c. 1040 - 970 BCE.