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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 65:1

"Praise waiteth for thee" or "a hymn is fitting"

Hebrew lekha dumiyyah tehillah: "For you silence is praise," or "To you, silence; praise." The Greek read the same letters with different vowels, domiyyah ("it is fitting"), and translated "To you a hymn is fitting": Vulgate "Te decet hymnus."

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
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).

      Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.

      Latin numbering: Psalm 64:2. 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.

      לְךָ֤ דֻֽמִיָּ֬ה תְהִלָּ֓ה אֱלֹ֘הִ֥ים בְּצִיּ֑וֹן וּ֝לְךָ֗ יְשֻׁלַּם־נֶֽדֶר׃

      To you silence (dumiyyah) is praise, O God, in Zion; and to you the vow shall be paid

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 65:2. Hebrew counts the heading as verse 1.

    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).

      To the chief Musician, A Psalm and Song of David. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.

    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.

      O Dieu, il convient en Sion de vous chanter des hymnes; et des vœux vous seront rendus.

      Greek numbering: Psalm 64:2. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition.

    What changed, and why

    Dumiyyah, "silence," also appears in Psalm 62:1 ("my soul is silent toward God"). Many modern translations follow the Greek ("Praise is due to you, O God," NRSV); others keep the Hebrew's striking idea that silent trust can itself be praise. KJV's "waiteth" is an interpretation of "silence."

    "Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion" became the verse of the Introit of the Latin Requiem Mass.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe Hebrew has dumiyyah, "silence."
    • Independently documentedThe Greek/Latin read "a hymn is fitting."

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 65: You Crown the Year →"Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed." God forgives transgressions; blessed is the one he chooses to dwell in his courts. He stills the roaring seas and the tumult of the peoples. "Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it… the river of God, which is full of water." "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness… the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing."