Psalm 92
Psalm 92 is the 92nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the ". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Hebrew Bible, this psalm is Psalm 91. In Latin, it is known as Bonum est confiteri Domino. The psalm is known as in Judaism, being dedicated to Shabbat in its first verse.
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish and Catholic liturgies. It has been set to music by, for example, Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz in German; Franz Schubert, who set it in Hebrew; and Eric Zeisl, a Jewish twentieth-century composer.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.The extant palimpsest Aq includes a translation into Koine Greek by Aquila of Sinope in CE, containing verses 1–10.
Uses
Judaism
Psalm 92 is recited three times during Shabbat:- Part of Kabbalat Shabbat. This recitation officially ushers in Shabbat in most communities.
- During Pesukei Dezimra on Shabbat morning.
- The song of the day in the Shir Shel Yom of Shabbat.
- Some communities recite it immediately after the Torah reading at Mincha on Shabbat.
According to Midrash Tanhuma "Bereshit" 25:5, Psalm 92 was sung by Adam in Gan Eden. Adam was created on Friday, and he said this psalm on the onset of the Shabbat. It is not a psalm that speaks about the Shabbat, but one that was said on the Shabbat: this was Adam's first day of existence, and he marveled at the work of the Creator.
Christianity
In the Catholic Church, Psalm 92 is appointed to be read at Lauds on Saturday in the fourth week of the month.Musical settings
A 1966 hymn by Rolf Schweizer, "Das ist ein köstlich Ding, dem Herren danken", paraphrases verses from Psalm 92; it became part of the German Protestant hymnal, Evangelisches Gesangbuch, as G 285.Heinrich Schütz set the Psalm 92 in a metred version in German as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628, "Es ist fürwahr ein köstlich Ding", SWV 190. The psalm was set to music by Marc-Antoine Charpentier in Latin, Bonum est confiteri Domino, H.195, for soloists, choir, 2 treble viols or violins and continuo. Dmitry Bortniansky wrote a setting in Old Church Slavonic, his Concerto No. 18, "Blago jest ispovjedatsja". The psalm was set by Franz Schubert in 1828 Hebrew for Salomon Sulzer,.
The Requiem Ebraico by Austrian-American composer Eric Zeisl, a setting of Psalm 92 dedicated to the memory of the composer's father "and the other countless victims of the Jewish tragedy in Europe", is considered the first major work of Holocaust commemoration. American composers Mark Alburger, Gertrude Rohrer, and Margaret Vardell Sandresky have also composed musical settings. Norma Wendelburg wrote a setting in English, It is Good, for women's chorus and organ or piano in 1973.
Text
The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions. In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 91.| # | Hebrew | English | Greek |
| Ψαλμὸς ᾠδῆς, εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου. - | |||
| 1 | It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: | ΑΓΑΘΟΝ τὸ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ ψάλλειν τῷ ὀνόματί σου, ῞Υψιστε, | |
| 2 | To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, | τοῦ ἀναγγέλλειν τῷ πρωΐ τὸ ἔλεός σου καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου κατὰ νύκτα | |
| 3 | Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. | ἐν δεκαχόρδῳ ψαλτηρίῳ μετ᾿ ᾠδῆς ἐν κιθάρᾳ. | |
| 4 | For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. | ὅτι εὔφρανάς με, Κύριε, ἐν τοῖς ποιήμασί σου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν σου ἀγαλλιάσομαι. | |
| 5 | O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. | ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου Κύριε· σφόδρα ἐβαθύνθησαν οἱ διαλογισμοί σου. | |
| 6 | A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. | ἀνὴρ ἄφρων οὐ γνώσεται, καὶ ἀσύνετος οὐ συνήσει ταῦτα. | |
| 7 | When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever: | ἐν τῷ ἀνατεῖλαι ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὡσεὶ χόρτον καὶ διέκυψαν πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, ὅπως ἂν ἐξολοθρευθῶσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. | |
| 8 | But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore. | σὺ δὲ ῞Υψιστος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, Κύριε· | |
| 9 | For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. | ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐχθροί σου, Κύριε, ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐχθροί σου ἀπολοῦνται, καὶ διασκορπισθήσονται πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, | |
| 10 | But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. | καὶ ὑψωθήσεται ὡς μονοκέρωτος τὸ κέρας μου καὶ τὸ γῆράς μου ἐν ἐλαίῳ πίονι· | |
| 11 | Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. | καὶ ἐπεῖδεν ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐπανισταμένοις ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ πονηρευομένοις ἀκούσατε τὸ οὖς μου. | |
| 12 | The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. | δίκαιος ὡς φοῖνιξ ἀνθήσει, ὡσεὶ ἡ κέδρος ἡ ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ πληθυνθήσεται. | |
| 13 | Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. | πεφυτευμένοι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Κυρίου, ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐξανθήσουσιν· | |
| 14 | They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; | ἔτι πληθυνθήσονται ἐν γήρει πίονι καὶ εὐπαθοῦντες ἔσονται τοῦ ἀναγγεῖλαι | |
| 15 | To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. | ὅτι εὐθὴς Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῷ. |