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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 100:3

"Not we ourselves" or "we are his"

A ketiv/qere: the written Hebrew has ve-lo' anahnu, "and not we [ourselves]," and the reading tradition has ve-lo anahnu, "and we are his." The words sound the same. The library's Hebrew prints both. The Greek, Latin and KJV follow the written form; most modern translations follow the read form.

Manuscript variant: witnesses differ in wording

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains it · ✕ does not · ❝ quotes part of it · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The psalm as first composedPsalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Psalter
Latin
  1. Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)c. AD 386–392, revised from the GreekTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew
New Testament quotation

    Every witness, in order

    1. Psalms composed over centuries (c. 10th–4th century BC; debated)

      The psalm as first composed

      – No copy survives

      No original survives. About forty Psalms manuscripts from Qumran, Masada and Nahal Hever (c. 2nd century BC – 1st century AD) are the oldest copies.

    2. c. AD 386–392, revised from the Greek

      Jerome's Gallican Psalter (Clementine Vulgate)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

      Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus; ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos: populus ejus, et oves pascuæ ejus.

      Latin numbering: Psalm 99:3. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew.

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The psalm as first composed

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

      דְּע֗וּ כִּֽי־יְהוָה֮ ה֤וּא אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים הֽוּא־עָ֭שָׂנוּ ולא וְל֣וֹ אֲנַ֑חְנוּ עַ֝מּ֗וֹ וְצֹ֣אן מַרְעִיתֽוֹ׃

      Know that the LORD is God; he made us, and not we (written: lo') / and we are his (read: lo), his people and the sheep of his pasture

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 100:3. The written form (ולא) and the read form (וְל֣וֹ) stand side by side.

    4. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

    5. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

      Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Psalter

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Sachez que le Seigneur, c’est Dieu même; c’est lui qui nous a faits, ce n’est pas nous; nous sommes son peuple et les brebis de son pâturage.

      Greek numbering: Psalm 99:2. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check). Giguet's 99:2.

    What changed, and why

    Lo' (with aleph, "not") and lo (with vav, "to him") are pronounced alike. The Masoretes preserved the written consonants and indicated the reading in the margin. "He made us, and we are his" fits the next line, "we are his people"; "he made us, and not we ourselves" makes a sharper theological point. Both readings are ancient: the Greek (and so the Vulgate, "et non ipsi nos") follows the written form; the Targum is reported to follow the read form (C check).

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe library's Hebrew prints both the ketiv and the qere in 100:3.
    • Independently documentedThe Greek and Latin follow the ketiv.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 100: Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving →"A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise… For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations."