A vital source for anyone interested in the enduring question of the authorship of the Psalms, Neubauer’s study focuses on the early Jewish authorities and their answers to this question. The related issue of the titles of the individual psalms, as reflected in the Rabbinic material, also plays into this question. Starting with the question of the musical setting of the worship life of the Israelites, Neubauer undertakes a monumental survey of the early Jewish sources, followed by a sampling of psalms to illustrate the results of his study.

Adolf Neubauer (1831-1907) knew the Rabbinic material from his upbringing. He was hired by the Bodleian Library to catalogue its Hebrew manuscripts, a task at which he excelled. He was appointed to the first readership in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University.