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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 16:10

"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell"

Hebrew: "you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, you will not let your faithful one see shahat" (the pit). The Greek translated shahat as "corruption" (decay); Peter and Paul quote that Greek in Acts 2:27 and 13:35 of the resurrection.

Same letters, different readings: the consonants agree, but ancient readers vocalized or interpreted them differently

The family tree

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✓ 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

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).

    Quoniam non derelinques animam meam in inferno, nec dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem. Notas mihi fecisti vias vitæ; adimplebis me lætitia cum vultu tuo: delectationes in dextera tua usque in finem.

    Latin numbering: Psalm 15:10. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew. Its 15:10 includes English 16:11; its 15:11 is empty.

  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.

    כִּ֤י ׀ לֹא־תַעֲזֹ֣ב נַפְשִׁ֣י לִשְׁא֑וֹל לֹֽא־תִתֵּ֥ן חֲ֝סִידְךָ֗ לִרְא֥וֹת שָֽׁחַת׃

    For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol; you will not let your faithful one see the pit (shahat)

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 16:10.

  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).

    For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

  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.

    Parce que vous ne laisserez pas mon âme aux enfers; vous ne permettrez pas que votre Saint voie la corruption.

    Greek numbering: Psalm 15:10. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition.

What changed, and why

Shahat comes from a root meaning "to sink down" (a pit), but it was also connected with shahat "to destroy, corrupt." The Greek diaphthora, Vulgate corruptio and Giguet "corruption" all take the second sense. The apostolic argument ("David… saw corruption," Acts 13:36) depends on that reading.

The library's Vulgate combines 16:10 and 16:11 into one verse, an example of why the site matches verses by content and shows each edition's own numbering.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedThe Greek renders shahat as "corruption."
  • Independently documentedActs 2:27 and 13:35 quote the Greek of Psalm 16:10.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 16: The Path of Life →A miktam of David. The speaker seeks refuge in God, rejects the gods others run after, and celebrates his portion: "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Because God is at his right hand he will not be moved; his flesh rests secure, "for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life."