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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 76:2

"In Salem" or "in peace"

Hebrew: "In Salem (shalem) is his tabernacle." The Greek read the word as "peace": "his place was made in peace" (Vulgate "factus est in pace locus ejus"; Giguet "son lieu est dans la paix").

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).

      Et factus est in pace locus ejus, et habitatio ejus in Sion.

      Latin numbering: Psalm 75:3. 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.

      וַיְהִ֣י בְשָׁלֵ֣ם סֻכּ֑וֹ וּמְע֖וֹנָת֣וֹ בְצִיּֽוֹן׃

      And his tabernacle was in Salem, and his dwelling place in Zion

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 76:3. 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).

      In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.

    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.

      Et son lieu est dans la paix, et sa demeure est dans Sion.

      Greek numbering: Psalm 75:3. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check).

    What changed, and why

    Shalem is the name of Melchizedek's city (Genesis 14:18), traditionally Jerusalem; the parallel line names Zion. The word is also related to shalom. The Greek translators took the noun rather than the place-name. Hebrews 7:2 later uses both senses: Melchizedek, "King of Salem, which is, King of peace."

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe Greek/Latin read "in peace" for "in Salem."

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 76: In Salem Is His Tabernacle →"In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle." The proud warriors "have slept their sleep"; at God's rebuke "both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep." "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee." "Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God."