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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 9:1–2

The first letter of a broken alphabet

Psalms 9 and 10 form one alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew, and the Greek and Latin count them as one psalm (Psalm 9). The first stanza begins with alef: odeh, "I will praise." No translation can show the alphabet; the wording itself is stable.

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).

    Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo; narrabo omnia mirabilia tua. Lætabor et exsultabo in te; psallam nomini tuo, Altissime.

    Latin numbering: Psalm 9:2–3. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew. The Vulgate counts the title as verse 1.

  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.

    אוֹדֶ֣ה יְ֭הוָה בְּכָל־לִבִּ֑י אֲ֝סַפְּרָ֗ה כָּל־נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽיךָ׃ אֶשְׂמְחָ֣ה וְאֶעֶלְצָ֣ה בָ֑ךְ אֲזַמְּרָ֖ה שִׁמְךָ֣ עֶלְיֽוֹן׃

    I will praise (odeh) the LORD with all my heart; I will tell all your wonders. I will rejoice and exult in you; I will sing your name, Most High

    Hebrew numbering: Psalm 9:2–3. Hebrew counts the title as verse 1. The first word begins with alef.

  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 upon Muth–labben, A Psalm of David. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

  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.

    Je vous rendrai gloire, ô mon Dieu, de tout mon cœur; je raconterai vos merveilles. Je me réjouirai et je tressaillirai en vous; je chanterai votre nom, Dieu Très-Haut.

    Greek numbering: Psalm 9:1–2. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text; not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition.

What changed, and why

In the library's Hebrew the acrostic runs, roughly two verses per letter: alef (9:1–2), bet, gimel, (no dalet), he, waw, zayin, het, tet, yod, kaf through 9:18; lamed opens Psalm 10; mem to tsade are missing or disordered; qof, resh, shin and tav return at 10:12–17. Psalm 10 has no title, which supports the view that the two were one poem. Scholars debate whether the gaps come from damage in transmission or were part of the poem.

Because the Greek joins 9 and 10, every Greek and Latin psalm number from 10 to 147 is one less than the Hebrew. The site's search accepts either numbering: "Psalm 9 LXX" or "Psalm 9 Vulgate."

What the evidence shows

  • Strongly supportedPsalms 9–10 form one acrostic in Hebrew. Alphabetic pattern read from the WLC; gaps noted.
  • Independently documentedThe Greek and Latin count Psalms 9–10 as one psalm.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Psalm 9: With My Whole Heart →"Upon Muth-labben" ("on the death of the son"?). The speaker praises God for judging the nations and defending the oppressed: "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed." The nations sink into the pit they made; "the needy shall not alway be forgotten." The psalm's verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet from alef to kaf, and Psalm 10 continues the pattern. The Greek and Latin Bibles count Psalms 9 and 10 as one psalm.
    • Psalm 10: Why Standest Thou Afar Off? →The second half of the Psalm 9–10 acrostic, with no title. "Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?" The wicked man boasts, says in his heart "There is no God," lurks in villages like a lion to seize the poor. "Arise, O LORD… forget not the humble." God sees mischief and is the helper of the fatherless. "LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble… to judge the fatherless and the oppressed."