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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 37:11

"The meek shall inherit the earth"

"But the meek shall inherit the land." All the versions agree. Matthew 5:5, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth," quotes the Greek almost word for word.

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

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 this verse · ▢ 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).

    Mansueti autem hæreditabunt terram, et delectabuntur in multitudine pacis.

    Latin numbering: Psalm 36:11. 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.

    וַעֲנָוִ֥ים יִֽירְשׁוּ־אָ֑רֶץ וְ֝הִתְעַנְּג֗וּ עַל־רֹ֥ב שָׁלֽוֹם׃

    But the humble ('anawim) shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant peace

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 37:11.

  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).

    But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

  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.

    Mais les doux auront la terre pour héritage, et ils se délecteront dans la plénitude de la paix.

    Greek numbering: Psalm 36:11. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition.

What changed, and why

Hebrew 'anawim means the humble or the poor, often the oppressed who depend on God. The Greek praeis ("gentle, meek") became the Beatitude's word. In the psalm, "the land" (erets) is the land of Israel; Greek gē and English "earth" can mean either the land or the whole earth. The Qumran commentary on this psalm (4Q171) reads "the meek" as "the congregation of the poor."

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedMatthew 5:5 echoes the Greek of 37:11.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 37: Fret Not Yourself →An acrostic in two-verse units. "Fret not thyself because of evildoers… For they shall soon be cut down like the grass." "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD… Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him." "The meek shall inherit the earth." An old man testifies: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."