Psalm 151 is a short psalm concerning the story of David and Goliath found in most copies of the Septuagint (LXX), but not in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. The title given to the psalm in the Septuagint indicates that it is , as no number is affixed to it. The psalm is ascribed to David.
The title of the psalm states that it was written by David after his battle with Goliath. The psalm assumes familiarity with other Biblical passages, from which it draws phraseology.
It is preserved in the Latin, Hebrew (DSS), Greek (LXX), and some manuscripts of the Syriac Peshitta.
For many years scholars believed that Psalm 151 was originally composed in Greek, based on the view that "there is no evidence that Psalm 151 ever existed in Hebrew."
However, Psalm 151 appears in much greater length as two separate short compositions in Hebrew which scholars now agree served as the basis for Psalm 151. These compositions along with several canonical and non-canonical psalms appear in the scroll known as "The Great Psalms Scroll" or "11Q5". This scroll, dating from the 1st century, was discovered in 1956. The editio princeps of this manuscript was first published in 1963 by James A. Sanders.
âÂÂPsalm 151aâ from this scroll provides the source material for verses 1âÂÂ5 of the Greek Psalm 151, while the remaining verses are derived from another composition known as âÂÂPsalm 151bâÂÂ, which is only partially preserved. The composer of the Greek Psalm apparently brought the two Hebrew psalms together in a manner that significantly changes their meaning and structure, but the influence of the Hebrew originals is still readily apparent. Where parts of the Greek version sometimes seem to make little sense or are ambiguous, the Hebrew text sheds light on the intended message or meaning. In comparison to the Hebrew text, Sanders regards the Greek text of this psalm to be in places âÂÂdesiccated,â âÂÂmeaningless,â âÂÂtruncated,â âÂÂabsurd,â âÂÂjumbled,â and âÂÂdisappointingly different,â all as a result of its having been âÂÂmade from a truncated amalgamation of the two Hebrew psalms.â On details of translation, structure, and meaning of this psalm, see also the works of Skehan, Brownlee, Carmignac, John Strugnell, Rabinowitz, Dupont-Sommer, and Flint.
Athanasius of Alexandria mentions this psalm as being "especially the Psalm of David" and as being suited to occasions in which "weak as you are, you people are chosen for some position of authority among the brethren."
The Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Syrian Orthodox churches accept Psalm 151 as canonical. Protestants and most forms of Judaism consider it apocryphal. However, it is found in some Catholic Bibles in editions of the Vulgate (though the Catholic Church considers it noncanonical) as well as in some ecumenical translations (e.g., the Revised Standard Version).
In the Latin Church, Psalm 151 has a liturgical presence as the Matins responsory âÂÂDeus omnium exauditor estâ in the BreviaryâÂÂs Historia Regum. The responsory quotes lines from Psalm 151 and pairs them with the verse from 1 Samuel 17:37, catalogued in the Corpus Antiphonalium Officii as CAO 6430 (verse 6430a). Manuscript evidence from Roman-use sources places it at different Sundays after Pentecost (e.g., II, IV, V), indicating its circulation within the Western family of books.
In the medieval English Sarum Use, the responsory âÂÂDeus omnium exauditor estâ (CAO 006430), which draws on Psalm 151 and pairs it with the verse âÂÂDominus, qui eripuit me de ore leonisâ¦â (1 Sam. 17:37), stands as the first Matins responsory of the Historia Regum; by its incipit, Sarum books even nickname the First Sunday after Trinity âÂÂDeus omnium,â marking the start of the Kings lections and their proper responsories.
Psalm 151 is still cited once in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Breviary as a responsory of the series from the books of Kings, the second in the Roman Breviary, together with (Greek 1âÂÂ2 Kings is linked to the traditional 1âÂÂ2 Samuel, and Greek 3âÂÂ4 Kings to the traditional 1âÂÂ2 Kings) in a text slightly different from that of the Vulgate.
In the early medieval Latin West, Psalm 151 was known and transmitted. It was included in Old Latin versions of the Bible and incorporated into manuscripts of the Vulgate. In Anglo-Saxon England, the psalm appears in numerous psalter manuscriptsâÂÂapproximately half of the surviving examplesâÂÂwhere it is typically placed after Psalm 150 among the canticles and marked as "outside the number". Major manuscripts such as the Vespasian Psalter, the Eadwine Psalter, and Codex Amiatinus include the text, demonstrating its circulation within learned and liturgical contexts. Its inclusion in liturgical psalters indicates that it was copied, read, and used within the devotional and liturgical culture of the Western Church.
In the Armenian Church, Psalm 151 is recited as part of the Matins sequence of biblical poetic material, which includes canticles from the Old and New Testaments, Psalms 51, 148âÂÂ150, and 113 (numbering according to the Septuagint). The Armenian version of Psalm 151 is close to the Septuagint, with some variation. Where verse 2 in Greek reads ñἱ ÃÂÃ栨ÂÃÂÃÂàüÿàá¼ÂÃÂÿï÷ÃÂñý á½ÂÃÂóñýÿý ÿἱ ôìúÃÂàûÿï üÿàἤÃÂÿÃÂñý ÃÂñûÃÂîÃÂùÿý "My hands made an instrument, my fingers fashioned the lyre," the Armenian has, ÃÂÃÂ¥ÃÂàëô áÃÂáÃÂëö æýáòôøýáÃÂáöý Ã¥àôáÿøÃÂöàëô ïáæôÃÂ¥ÃÂëö æãøÃÂîë áÃÂÃÂðöøÃÂéÃ¥áö "My hands made the lyres (Armenian æýáòôøýáÃÂáöý can then means also 'Psalm-books' 'psalters') and my fingers fashioned the instrument of blessing."
In the Coptic Church, Psalm 151 is recited at the start of the Bright Saturday Vigil, also known as the Apocalypse Vigil. The words of the psalm are interpreted as a Messianic prophecy concerning Christ's defeat of Satan.
Psalm 151 is typically included in liturgical Psalters; however, it is not part of the weekly Kathisma cycle of readings, nor is it appointed to be read at any service.
Verse 4 ("He sent out his angel," etc.) is chanted among the verses of the Polyeleos sung at Matins on November 8, the feast of the Archangels.
There are a number of English translations now in the public domain. The first English translation was William Whiston in his A collection of authentick records belonging to the Old and New Testament. published in 1727. This was followed by Thomson's Translation by Charles Thomson in 1808, followed by The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English translated by Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton in 1854. It was also translated by Adam Clarke in his 1831 commentary on the Bible.
It is also available in Orthodox or ecumenical editions of modern translations since 1977 (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Orthodox Study Bible, Contemporary English Version, and the Common English Bible).
It is included in Sabine Baring-Gould's Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets, William Digby Seymour's Hebrew Psalter, and William Ralph Churton's Uncanonical and Apocryphal Scriptures. William Wright published a translation of the Syriac version in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, June 1887, and A. A. Brockway published a translation from the Coptic in the January 27, 1898 New York Times.
At the beginning of his first address to his Council of State, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia recited this psalm in full.
The term "Psalm 151" has been used in other contexts, including modern popular culture. In these instances, the term does not refer to the supernumerary psalm included in the Orthodox canon, but instead as a metaphor (such as to the abstract concept of a new and "sacred" work of poetry or song).
The following table shows the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint and the English translation from the New Revised Standard Version.
The following table shows the Hebrew text of Psalms 151a and 151b, as found in the Great Psalms Scroll, alongside an English translation by Tyler F. Williams.