The (Syriac) Psalms of David

Some Syriac manuscripts preserve five apocryphal psalms, frequently entitled Psalms of David. An edition of the Syriac was published by M. Noth ("Die fünf syrisch überlieferten apokryphen Psalmen," ZAW 48 [1930] 1-23; repr. in M. Delcor, no. 1374), and a critical edition of the Syriac was published recently by W. Baars (no. 1370). The Five Syriac Psalms were translated by W. Wright ("Some Apocryphal Psalms in Syriac," Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 9 [1887] 257-66) and by A. Mingana, who also appended a facsimile of Mingana Syr. 31 ("Some Uncanonical Psalms," Woodbrooke Studies. Cambridge: Heffer, 1927. Vol. 1, pp. 288-92 [trans.], pp. 293f. [facsimile]). The Hebrew text of Syriac Psalms 1, 2, and 3 has been found in Qumran Cave Eleven; these have been edited with an English translation by J. A. Sanders (no. 1380). The first psalm is also extant in Greek, since the Psalter in the Septuagint contains 151 psalms (Sanders, no. 1380, pp. 54f., 60, conveniently juxtaposes the Greek and Hebrew; for the Latin version see R. Weber, no. 1395).

1. Psalm 1 (Psalm 151)

Psalm 1 apparently consists of two originally separate psalms, Psalm 151A and Psalm 151B, which recount respectively how David was elevated from a common shepherd to the anointed ruler (7 vss.) and how he defeated the Philistine Goliath (11QPsa is fragmentary; cf. Syr. MS Mingana 31).

Hebrew Text of Psalm 151 (Psalm of David 1) from Qumran Cave XI, designated 11 QPsa:

A Hallelujah of David the Son of Jesse

1 Smaller was I than my brothers

and the youngest of the songs of my father,

Yet he made me shepherd of his flock

And ruler over his kids.

2 My hands have made an instrument

and my finger a lyre;

And [so] have I rendered glory to the Lord,

Thought I, within my soul.

3 The mountains do not witness to him, nor do the hills proclaim;

The trees have cherished my words

And the flock my works.

4 For who can proclaim and who can bespeak

and who can recount the deeds of the Lord?

Everything has God seen,

Everything has he heard and he has heeded.

5 He sent his prophet to anoint me,

Samuel to make me great;

My brothers went out to meet him,

Handsome of figure and appearance.

6 Though they were tall of stature

and handsome by their hair,

The Lord God chose

Them not.

7 But he sent and took me from behind the flock

and anointed me with holy oil,

And he made me leader of his people

And ruler over the people of his covenant.

At the beginning of David’s power after the prophet of God had anointed him.

1 Then I [saw] a Philistine

uttering defiances from the r[anks of the Philistines].

Greek text of Psalm 151 This psalm is ascribed to David as his own composition (though it is outside the number), after he had fought in single combat with Goliath.

1 I was small among my brothers,

and the youngest in my father’s house;

I tended my father’s sheep.

2 My hands made a harp;

my fingers fashioned a lyre.

3 And who will tell my Lord?

The Lord himself; it is he who hears.

4 It was he who sent his messenger

and took me from my father’s sheep,

and anointed me with his anointing oil.

5 My brothers were handsome and tall,

but the Lord was not pleased with them.

6 I went out to meet the Philistine,

and he cursed me by his idols.

7 But I drew his own sword;

I beheaded him, and took away

Disgrace from the people of Israel.

2. Psalm 2 (Psalm 154)

Psalm 2 contains 20 verses which exhort the worshipper to glorify God.

Hebrew Text of Syriac Song of David 2 (Psalm 154) from 4QapPs = 4Q488 / Column 18

Praise God in a loud voice. Testify to his glory in the assembly. Lift up His name with the righteous and speak of His greatness with the faithful. Become one with the perfect and the good to praise the Lord. Join and worship together to tell of His salvation. And be swift in making known His fortitude and His righteousness to all the simple. Knowledge is granted so that we may praise the Lord and tell of his greatness. She[3] is made known to mankind, to speak of His strength and tell of his greatness to the ignorant, who have strayed from her gates and have sinned. For God is the Lord of Jacob and his grace is seen in all his works. A person who praises God is recognized by Him because the worshiper brings and offering and sacrifice of livestock, because the worshiper fills the altar with gifts. Her voice and her songs are heard and sung by the righteous. When they feast together, she is mentioned. Their thoughts are on the Law of God and they speak to testify of His strength. The evil and the rebellious are far from her grace. See how God has mercy on the good, and it is great for those who praise Him; He is their soul's salvation from wickedness. Praise the Lord who saves the meek from the grasp of the unknown and delivers the righteous from evil, Who lifts up a horn from Jacob and a moderator from Israel. He wants his gathering place to be in Zion, and He picks Jerusalem for all eternity.

3. Psalm 3 (Psalm 155)

Psalm 3, of 19 (in Hebrew) or 21 (in Syriac) verses, is a personal thanksgiving (individualles Danklied) because the Lord answered the sinner's cry.

4. Psalm 4

Psalm 4 is a plea to be delivered from the lion and the wolf who prey upon the "flock of my father"; hence it is a David pseudepigraphon (cf. 1Sam 17:34-37).

5. Psalm 5

Psalm 5 is a personal thanksgiving for deliverance, and is conceivably also a David pseudepigraphon since the psalmist was about to be devoured "by two (wild) beasts."