Most of the Psalms were traditionally linked to King David, but the book of Psalms is actually a collection written by multiple authors over a long period of time.

Who wrote the Psalms?

From the viewpoint of traditional Jewish and Christian teaching, as well as what the psalm headings say, the main contributors are:

  • King David – traditionally credited as the primary psalmist; about 73 psalms are directly attributed to him in the Hebrew titles.
  • Asaph – a Levitical musician; 12 psalms carry his name (for example, Psalms 73–83 in many Bibles).
  • Sons of Korah – a family of temple singers; around 10 psalms are attributed to them.
  • Moses – traditionally seen as the author of Psalm 90, and in some Jewish traditions is listed among early psalm composers.
  • Solomon – credited with one or two psalms (commonly Psalm 72 and 127 in many headings).
  • Heman and Ethan (Jeduthun) – named in the titles of a small number of psalms as wise men and musicians.

Jewish tradition goes even further and says that figures like Adam, Melchizedek, and Abraham also composed some of the texts later included in Psalms.

Many psalms have no named author at all, so their writers remain unknown. Scholars today generally agree the book is a composite work, compiled and edited over centuries, probably finalized after Israel’s exile, rather than written start‑to‑finish by a single person.

Simple way to remember it

If you just want a quick takeaway for “who wrote the psalms in the Bible”:

Mostly David, plus Asaph, the sons of Korah, Moses, Solomon, a few others, and many anonymous writers, all collected into one book over a long time.

TL;DR: King David wrote many psalms, but not all. Psalms is a multi‑author songbook including David, Asaph, the sons of Korah, Moses, Solomon, and others, with many psalms’ authors unknown.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.