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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 73:1

"Good to Israel" or "good to the upright"

Every witness in the library reads "God is good to Israel." Many scholars propose dividing the same Hebrew letters differently, la-yashar el, "God is good to the upright," to match the parallel line "to such as are of a clean heart." This is a conjecture, not a manuscript reading.

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

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
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).

      Psalmus Asaph. Quam bonus Israël Deus, his qui recto sunt corde!

      Latin numbering: Psalm 72:1. 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.

      מִזְמ֗וֹר לְאָ֫סָ֥ף אַ֤ךְ ט֭וֹב לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל אֱלֹהִ֗ים לְבָרֵ֥י לֵבָֽב׃

      A psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to the pure in heart

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 73:1. The heading is part of verse 1 here.

    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).

      A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

    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.

      Que Dieu est bon pour Israël, pour ceux qui sont droits en leur cœur!

      Greek numbering: Psalm 72:1. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check).

    What changed, and why

    Le-yisra'el ("to Israel") and la-yashar el ("to the upright, God") share the same consonants (lysr'l) apart from word division. The conjecture rests on poetic parallelism alone; no Hebrew manuscript, Greek or Latin witness in the library reads "upright." Giguet's Greek and the Vulgate both have "Israel."

    The site records the conjecture because translations sometimes adopt it (e.g. some modern versions read "to the upright"), and readers should know it is a scholarly proposal, not evidence of a lost manuscript.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedAll library witnesses read "to Israel."
    • Plausible, not confirmedThe original read "to the upright." Conjecture; no manuscript.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 73: Until I Went into the Sanctuary →"A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone." The speaker envied the arrogant: healthy, rich, untroubled, mocking God. "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain." "Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end." "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee?… God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."