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Journey of a Passage

Psalm 96:10

"The LORD reigneth" and the words "from the tree"

"Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth." Some early Christian writers quoted the verse as "The Lord reigned from the tree," and Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 73) accused Jewish teachers of removing the words. They are absent from the Hebrew and from the library's Greek and Latin.

Disputed addition: some witnesses include it, some do not

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.

✓ includes the disputed words · ✕ does not include them · ❝ quotes part of them · ⓘ 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 passage (the disputed words)Translated from the Greek Psalter (Origen's Hexapla)

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

      dicite in gentibus, quia Dominus regnavit. Etenim correxit orbem terræ, qui non commovebitur; judicabit populos in æquitate.

      Latin numbering: Psalm 95:10. Jerome revised this Latin Psalter from the Greek, so it is a witness to the Greek, not to the Hebrew. No "a ligno."

    3. AD 1008

      Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

      ✓ Contains this passage (the disputed words)Descends, 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.

      אִמְר֤וּ בַגּוֹיִ֨ם ׀ יְה֘וָ֤ה מָלָ֗ךְ אַף־תִּכּ֣וֹן תֵּ֭בֵל בַּל־תִּמּ֑וֹט יָדִ֥ין עַ֝מִּ֗ים בְּמֵישָׁרִֽים׃

      Say among the nations, The LORD reigns; yes, the world is established, it shall not be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity

      Hebrew numbering: Psalm 96:10.

    4. 1611

      King James Bible

      ✓ Contains this passage (the disputed words)Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

      How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

      Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

    5. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

      Greek Psalter (library: Giguet's French)

      ✓ Contains this passage (the disputed words)Translated from the Old Greek Psalter

      How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

      Dites aux gentils Le Seigneur règne, car il a affermi le globe de la terre, et il ne sera plus ébranlé; il jugera les peuples avec droiture.

      Greek numbering: Psalm 95:10. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check); not checked against Rahlfs' critical edition (C check). No "from the tree."

    What changed, and why

    "From the tree" (apo tou xylou, a ligno) is found in Justin, in some Old Latin psalters and in later Latin tradition, most famously the 6th-century hymn Vexilla Regis ("regnavit a ligno Deus"). No Hebrew manuscript has it, nor does the main Greek manuscript tradition as far as is reported. Most scholars regard it as an early Christian gloss that entered some copies, not an original reading removed by Jewish scribes.

    The witnesses shown here are the library's (D checks). The Old Latin evidence and Justin's text are reported from scholarship (C check).

    What the evidence shows

    • Independently documented"From the tree" is absent from the library's Hebrew, Greek and Latin.
    • Independently documentedJustin Martyr quotes 96:10 with "from the tree."
    • Not independently verifiedJewish scribes removed "from the tree." Justin's charge; no manuscript evidence supports it.

    Sources

      Related lessons

      • Psalm 96: Sing to the LORD, All the Earth →"O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth." "Declare his glory among the heathen." "For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens." "Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength." "Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth." "Let the heavens rejoice… let the field be joyful… then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD: for he cometh to judge the earth."