תהלים קנ״א | Psalms 151, as found in the Septuagint (LXX)

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Avraham Kahana (Hebrew translation) and Septuagint

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כ״ג בכסלו ה׳תשפ״א (2020-12-09) under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Second Temple Period

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apocryphal psalms, Psalms 151

This is Psalms 151 as found in the Septuagint (LXX) in Greek translation (here offered with its translation into Hebrew by Avraham Kahana). The psalm as it is found in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls is designated as Psalms 151a.

Translation (Greek)	Translation (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
¹ Οὗτος ὁ ψαλμὸς ἰδιόγραφος εἰς Δαυΐδ καὶ ἔξωθεν τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ· ὅτε ἐμονομάχησε τῷ Γολιάθ. —	^א מִזְמ֣וֺר לְדָוִ֑ד אַחֲרֵ֥י הִ֝לָּחֲמ֗וֹ אֶת־גׇּלְיָֽת׃	¹ A psalm of David, after he battled Goliat.
Μικροσ ἤμην ἐν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου καὶ νεώτερος ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ πατρός μου· ἐποίμαινον τὰ πρόβατα τοῦ πατρός μου. ² αἱ χεῖρές μου ἐποίησαν ὄργανον, καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοί μου ἥρμοσαν ψαλτήριον.	^ב צָעִ֗יר הָ֭יִֽיתִי בְת֣וֹךְ אָחָ֑י וְ֝נַ֗עַר בְּבֵ֥ית אָבִֽי׃ ^ג רֺ֭עֶֽה בְּצֺ֣אן אָבִ֑י נוֹהֵ֖ג עֶדְר֥וֹ בַמִּדְבָּֽר׃ ^ד יָדַ֗י עָ֭שֽׂוּ עוּגָ֑ב אֶ֝צְבְּעוֹתַ֗י כּ֥וֹנֲנוּ נָֽבֶל׃	² Young I was in the midst of my brothers, and a lad in my father’s house. ³ A shepherd of my father’s flock, driving his herd in the wilderness. ⁴ My hands performed upon a lute, my fingers worked a lyre.
³ καὶ τίς ἀναγγελεῖ τῷ Κυρίῳ μου; αὐτὸς Κύριος, αὐτὸς εἰσακούσει. ⁴ αὐτὸς ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἦρέ με ἐκ τῶν προβάτων τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ ἔχρισέ με ἐν τῷ ἐλαίῳ τῆς χρίσεως αὑτοῦ.	^ה וּמִ֣י יַגּׅ֣יד לַיהו֑ה י֝הו֗ה ה֥וּא יִשְׁמָֽע׃ ^ו ה֭וּא שָׁלַ֥ח מַלְאָכ֑וֹ וַ֫יִּקָּחֵ֥נִי מֵאַ֣חֲרֵי צֹא֣ן אָבִֽי׃ ^ז וַ֭יִּמְשָׁחַֽנִי בְּשֶׁ֣מֶן מִשְׁחָת֑וֹ וַיְּצַוַּ֖נִי נָגִ֣יד עַל־עַמּֽוֹ׃	⁵ And who can tell YHVH? YHVH – He will hear. ⁶ He sent His messenger, and took me from after my father’s flock. ⁷ And He anointed me with anointing oil, and appointed me a prince of my people.
⁵ οἱ ἀδελφοί μου καλοὶ καὶ μεγάλοι, καὶ οὐκ εὐδόκησεν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὁ Κύριος. ⁶ ἐξῆλθον εἰς συνάντησιν τῷ ἀλλοφύλῳ, καὶ ἐπικατηράσατό με ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτοῦ· ⁷ ἐγὼ δέ, σπασάμενος τὴν παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ μάχαιραν, ἀπεκεφάλισα αὐτὸν καὶ ἦρα ὄνειδος ἐξ υἱῶν ᾿Ισραήλ.	^ח אַחַ֗י טוֹבִ֣ים וּגְדוֹלִ֑ים וְלֺ֥א בָ֝הֶ֗ם חָפֵ֥ץ יהוֽה׃ ^ט יָצָ֖אְתִי לִקְרַ֣את הַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑י וַ֝יְּקַלֲלֵ֗נִי בָאֱלִלָֽיו׃ ^י וְאָנֹכִ֤י ׀ שָׁלַ֗פְתִּי חַרְבּ֥וֺ וָאֶכְרֺ֣ת רֹאשׁ֣וֹ מֵעָלָ֑יו וָאָסִ֥יר חֶ֝רְפָּ֗ה מִבְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃	⁸ My brothers are good and strong, but them YHVH did not desire. ⁹ He took me out towards the Philistine, who cursed me through his idols. ¹⁰ And I tore off his sword, and cut off his head, and removed reproach from the children of Yisrael.

The Greek text of Psalms 151 is copied from Éllopos. The verse numbering for Psalms 151 in the Septuagint differs from the verse numbering of its Hebrew translation by Avraham Kahana. A secondary English translation of Kahana’s Hebrew was made by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer. (Thank you!) His translation was first published to the Sefaria Project.

Source

Psalms 151 – Codex Sinaiticus Book 26

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“תהלים קנ״א | Psalms 151, as found in the Septuagint (LXX)” is shared by the contributors with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Avraham Kahana (Hebrew translation)

Abraham Kahana (Hebrew: אברהם כהנא, Russian: Авраам Маркович Каган Avraam Markovich Kagan; 19 December 1874 - 20 February 1946) was a scholar of Judaism, best known for its Hebrew edition of the Jewish Apocrypha.

Septuagint

The Septuagint (from the Latin: septuaginta, lit. 'seventy'; often abbreviated 70; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Koine Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible, various biblical apocrypha, and deuterocanonical books. The first five books of the Hebrew Bible, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch, were translated in the mid-3rd century BCE; they did not survive as original-translation texts, however, except as rare fragments. The remaining books of the Septuagint are presumably translations of the 2nd century BCE. The full title (Ancient Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα, lit. 'The Translation of the Seventy') derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas that the Torah was translated into Greek at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BCE) by 70 Jewish scholars or, according to later tradition, 72: six scholars from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who independently produced identical translations. The miraculous character of the Aristeas legend might indicate the esteem and disdain in which the translation was held at the time; Greek translations of Hebrew scriptures were in circulation among the Alexandrian Jews. Egyptian papyri from the period have led most scholars to view as probable Aristeas's dating of the translation of the Pentateuch to the third century BCE. Whatever share the Ptolemaic court may have had in the translation, it satisfied a need felt by the Jewish community (in whom the knowledge of Hebrew was waning).

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established."–Psalms 90:17