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Psalm 18:10

"He did fly" or "he was seen"

Psalm 18 survives twice in the Hebrew Bible. In Psalm 18:10 God "rode upon a cherub, and did fly (wayyede')"; in 2 Samuel 22:11 "and was seen (wayyera')". The two words differ by one letter, dalet or resh, which look almost identical in Hebrew script.

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
  3. The same poem in 2 Samuel (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).

    Et ascendit super cherubim, et volavit; volavit super pennas ventorum.

    Latin numbering: Psalm 17:11. 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.

    וַיִּרְכַּ֣ב עַל־כְּ֭רוּב וַיָּעֹ֑ף וַ֝יֵּ֗דֶא עַל־כַּנְפֵי־רֽוּחַ׃

    He rode on a cherub and flew; he swooped (wayyede') on the wings of the wind

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 18:11. Hebrew counts the title as verse 1.

  4. AD 1008

    The same poem in 2 Samuel (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.

    וַיִּרְכַּ֥ב עַל־כְּר֖וּב וַיָּעֹ֑ף וַיֵּרָ֖א עַל־כַּנְפֵי־רֽוּחַ׃

    He rode on a cherub and flew; he was seen (wayyera') on the wings of the wind

    2 Samuel 22:11. KJV: "And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind."

  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).

    And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

  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.

    Et il est monté sur les Chérubins, et il a volé; il a volé sur les ailes des vents;

    Greek numbering: Psalm 17:11. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition. This Greek printing keeps the long heading as verse 1, so the verse is 17:11.

What changed, and why

Dalet (ד) and resh (ר) are among the letters most often confused in copying. Most scholars think Psalm 18's "fly" (da'ah, "swoop"), which fits the parallel "on the wings of the wind," is original and 2 Samuel's "was seen" a copying change. The Greek and Latin of Psalms both read "flew."

This one letter illustrates the dozens of small differences between the two copies of the poem: neither copy is simply the original, and comparing them is the oldest kind of biblical textual criticism.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedPsalm 18:10 reads wayyede' and 2 Samuel 22:11 wayyera'.
  • Strongly supported"Fly" is the original reading.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 18: The LORD Is My Rock →The long title says David sang this song "in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul." The same poem appears in 2 Samuel 22 with many small differences. The king calls God his rock, fortress and deliverer; in distress he cried and God came down in an earthquake and storm, rode a cherub, thundered, shot lightning and drew him out of many waters. God rewarded his righteousness and trained his hands for war. The song ends with God's steadfast love "to David, and to his seed for evermore."