The Psalms in the Septuagint and the Vulgate

Those of you who are familiar with the Septuagint and the Vulgate might have noticed that the Psalm numbers and verse numbers do not always or even often coincide with what is printed in an English translation.

And you might have wondered why.

The reason is both simple and extraordinary.

The numbering of the Psalms in the Septuagint is different to that in English Bibles in several respects:

1. In the Septuagint, Psalms 9 and 10 have been joined together, however, in the original Hebrew they are separate. I have done a small amount of research into this and it appears, without going into too many details, that the compilers of the Septuagint considered that there was a strong thematic relationship between the two; there is also some speculation that there is an acrostic code (like Psalm 119) between the two Psalms. However, in this little note I am merely concerned with the variation in the numbering.
2. This means that from Psalm 11 the Psalm numbering in the Septuagint is one less that that shown in an English translation, so that Psalm 23 (for example) in the AV (I shall use the AV from now on as my English example) is Psalm 22 in the Septuagint.
3. This scheme is consistent up to Psalm 113 in the AV and Psalm 112 in the Septuagint. Then Psalms 114 and 115 (in the AV) have been joined together to become Psalm 113 in the Septuagint. Then Psalm 116 (in the AV, which has 19 verses) is split into Psalms 114 and 115 in the Septuagint (a total of 19 verses). So with Psalm 117 (in the AV) and Psalm 116 (in the Septuagint) we are back being one out of step.
4. This pattern is consistent up to Psalm 145 (in the Septuagint) and Psalm 146 (in the AV). Psalm 147 (with 20 verses in the AV) has been split in the Septuagint into Psalm 146 (11 verses) and Psalm 147 (9 verses), so that Psalms 148 – 150 are now the same in the Septuagint and the AV.
5. But just to round it all off, the Septuagint has an extra Psalm, number 151, which, according to the Septuagint, ‘was written by David’s own hand and is out of the numbering; when he fought in single combat with Goliath’. This Psalm also occurs in the Codex Sinaiticus.

Another variation occurs in the numbering of verses within a Psalm. Sometimes, the ‘heading’ at the beginning of the Psalm is shown as a separate verse, so that in Psalm 8 the AV has 9 verses but the Septuagint has 10, verse 1 being the ‘heading’ which is the same as the Hebrew Bible.

More variations in the Vulgate

In the Vulgate, there are TWO versions of the Psalms, one translated from the Hebrew (iuxta Hebraios) and the other translated from the Septuaguint (iuxta LXX). Once again the numbers differ from the AV.

1. Like the Septuagint, the Vulgate also joins Psalms 9 and 10 together, thereafter, the numbers agree with the Septuagint and differ by 1 from the AV up to Psalm 112 (Septuagint) and Psalm 113 (AV). Then although my edition of the Vulgate shows that Psalms 114 and 115 (AV) have been joined together as Psalm 113, and Psalm 116 (AV) has been split into Psalms 114 and 115 (Vulgate and Septuagint), the numbering of Psalms 114 and 115 is continuous; so the Psalm 115 apparently starts at verse 10.
2. So at Psalm 117 (AV) and Psalm 116 (Vulgate and Septuagint) we are back to being one behind (so to speak) up to Psalm 145 (Septuagint and Vulgate) and Psalm 146 (AV). Then, Psalm 147 (AV) is split into 2 in the Vulgate with a similar continuous numbering system so that Psalm 147 apparently starts at verse 12. Then Psalms 148 – 150 match the AV.
3. Psalm 151 is not included in my edition of the Vulgate. It will be interesting to see whether it occurs in the Church Latin Bible.