myBibleHistory

Journey of a Passage

Psalm 102:23

"He weakened my strength" or "he answered him"

Hebrew: "He weakened ('innah) my strength in the way; he shortened my days." The Greek read 'anah, "he answered": "He answered him in the way of his strength: declare to me the fewness of my days" (Vulgate "Respondit ei in via virtutis suae"). The Greek turns the lament into a dialogue, and Hebrews 1:10–12 then reads vv. 25–27 as God addressing the Son as "Lord."

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
  • Uncertain connection
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
  1. Greek New Testament (library: Statistical Restoration text)1st century AD; edition 2010sUncertain relationship to the psalm (which wording it followed is the question)

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. 1st century AD; edition 2010s

    Greek New Testament (library: Statistical Restoration text)

    ✓ Contains this passageUncertain relationship to the psalm (which wording it followed is the question)

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: the Greek New Testament editions in the library (Textus Receptus, Byzantine Textform, Statistical Restoration).

    Καί, “Σὺ κατʼ ἀρχάς, ˚Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σού εἰσιν οἱ οὐρανοί.

    And, You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands.

    Hebrews 1:10, quoting Psalm 102:25 in Greek. KJV: "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:"

  3. 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).

    Respondit ei in via virtutis suæ: Paucitatem dierum meorum nuntia mihi:

    Latin numbering: Psalm 101:24. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew.

  4. 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.

    עִנָּ֖ה בַדֶּ֥רֶךְ כחו כֹּחִ֗י קִצַּ֥ר יָמָֽי׃

    He afflicted ('innah) my strength in the way; he shortened my days

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 102:24. Hebrew 102:24; the heading takes verse 1. Ketiv kchw, qere kohi.

  5. 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).

    He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

  6. 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.

    Le peuple dans la voie de sa force lui a dit: Annoncez-moi la brièveté de mes jours.

    Greek numbering: Psalm 101:24. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check). Giguet's printed Greek has "the people… said to him," another rendering.

What changed, and why

The consonants 'nh can be vowelled 'innah ("afflicted") or 'anah ("answered"). In the Greek, God answers the speaker, and the following lines ("Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth") can be heard as God speaking to someone. Hebrews 1:10 adds the address "Lord" (kyrie) and applies the words to Christ. The Hebrew text has no such dialogue; it is the afflicted speaker addressing God.

The Hebrew written form has kchw ("his strength") with the reading kohi ("my strength"), a ketiv/qere also printed in the library's Hebrew. Hebrews is shown from the library's Greek New Testament (D check).

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe Greek reads "he answered" in 102:23.
  • Independently documentedHebrews 1:10–12 quotes the Greek of 102:25–27.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 102: A Prayer of the Afflicted →"A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD." "My days are consumed like smoke… I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert… I am as a sparrow alone upon the house top." Then: "But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever… Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion." "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth… They shall perish, but thou shalt endure… But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end."