Psalms

Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Because of its original meaning as a song or chant, the word psalm can be used to mean any religious chant or poem of praise. This article, however, deals specifically with the Psalms (with upper-case P) as the book of Scripture.

Composition of the Book of Psalms

The Book of Psalms is divided into 150 Psalms, each of which constitutes a religious song or chant, though one or two are long and may constitute a set of related chants. It is incorrect to speak of these as chapters, since their individuality antedates by at least 1500 years the division of the other books of the Bible into chapters.

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The organization and numbering of the Psalms differs slightly between the (Masoretic) Hebrew and the (Septuagint) Greek manuscripts:

Related Topics:
Masoretic - Septuagint

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• Psalms 9 and 10 in the Hebrew are together as Psalm 9 in the Greek
• Psalms 114 and 115 in the Hebrew are Psalm 113 in the Greek
• Psalms 114 and 115 in the Greek appear as Psalm 116 in the Hebrew
• Psalms 146 and 147 in the Greek form Psalm 147 in the Hebrew

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Christian traditions vary:

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• Protestant translations are based on the Hebrew numbering;
• Eastern Orthodox translations are based on the Greek numbering;
• Roman Catholic official liturgical texts follow the Greek numbering, but modern Catholic translations often use the Hebrew numbering, sometimes adding, in parenthesis, the Greek numbering as well.

Most manuscripts of the Septuagint also include a Psalm 151, present in Eastern Orthodox translations; a Hebrew version of this poem was found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Related Topics:
Psalm 151 - Dead Sea Scrolls

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For the remainder of this article, the Hebrew Psalm numbers will be used unless otherwise noted.

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