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Psalm 91:6

"The destruction that wasteth at noonday" or "the noonday demon"

Hebrew: "nor for the pestilence (dever) that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction (qetev) that wasteth at noonday." The Greek reads "nor for the thing that walks in darkness, nor for mishap and the demon of noon" (Giguet "ni du démon du midi"; Vulgate "daemonio meridiano").

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).

      a sagitta volante in die, a negotio perambulante in tenebris, ab incursu, et dæmonio meridiano.

      Latin numbering: Psalm 90:6. 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.

      מִ֭דֶּבֶר בָּאֹ֣פֶל יַהֲלֹ֑ךְ מִ֝קֶּ֗טֶב יָשׁ֥וּד צָהֳרָֽיִם׃

      of the pestilence that walks in darkness, of the destruction that lays waste at noon

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 91:6.

    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).

      Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

    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.

      Ni des traits qui volent en plein jour, ni des choses qui cheminent dans les ténèbres, ni des accidents, ni du démon du midi.

      Greek numbering: Psalm 90:6. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check).

    What changed, and why

    The Greek translators seem to have read yashud ("wastes") as shed ("demon") and divided the line differently; qetev itself appears elsewhere as a personified destroyer (Deuteronomy 32:24; Isaiah 28:2). Either way the Greek made the noonday danger a demonic being.

    "The noonday demon" became a term in early Christian monastic writing (Evagrius of Pontus, 4th century) for acedia, a listless despair of the hot afternoon. A translation choice thus entered the history of spirituality.

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documentedThe Greek and Latin of 91:6 have "the noonday demon."
    • Plausible, not confirmedThe Greek read shed ("demon") for yashud.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 91: Under the Shadow of the Almighty →"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." God delivers from the fowler's snare and the pestilence; "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday." "For he shall give his angels charge over thee… Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder." God speaks: "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him."