SEPTUAGINT NUMBERING OF PSALMS

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SEPTUAGINT (LXX) NUMBERING OF PSALMS – The Orthodox Church uses primarily translations from the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint rather than translations from the Hebrew editions. The Septuagint (also known as the LXX) is the version of the Old Testament used in the many quotations of the Old Testament found in the New Testament. The numbering of the Psalms in the Septuagint differs from that found in Psalters and Bibles translated from the Hebrew.

Here is a table of the differences:

Greek (LXX) Numbering
and Latin Vulgate (V) Numbering
Hebrew Numbering
most English Numbering
1-8 1-8
9 9 and 10
10-112 11-113
113 114 and 115
114 116:1-9
115 116:10-19
116-145 117-146
146 147:1-11
147 147:12-20
148-150 148-150

 

For the most part, Protestant and Jewish translations and recent Catholic translations like the NAB, follow the numbering in the Hebrew (the Masoretic Text). In this system, Psalm 23 is the shepherd psalm (“The LORD is my shepherd.”).

Older Catholic translations and some recent Catholic translations follow the numbering in the Septuagint (and Vulgate). In this system, Psalm 22 is the shepherd psalm (“The LORD is my shepherd.”). .

You can easily find out which system a translation uses by determining whether the shepherd psalm is Psalm 23 or Psalm 22.

Here is a table of the differences from Hebrew to Greek numbering:

Hebrew Numbering
most English Numbering
Greek (LXX) Numbering
and Latin Vulgate (V) Numbering
1-8 1-8
9 9:1-20
10 9:21-38
11-113 10-112
114 113:1-8
115 113:9-26
116 114,115
117-146 116-145
147 146 and 147
148-150 148-150