Psalm 11

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This article is about Psalm 11 in Hebrew (Masoretic) numbering. For Psalm 11 in Greek Septuagint or Latin Vulgate numbering, see Psalm 12.
Psalm 11
"In the LORD put I my trust"
Utrecht Psalter (cropped).jpg
Psalm 11 in the 9th-century Utrecht Psalter, where the illustration of the text is often literal
Other name
  • Psalm 10
  • "In Domino confido"
LanguageHebrew (original)
Psalm 11
BookBook of Psalms
Hebrew Bible partKetuvim
Order in the Hebrew part1
CategorySifrei Emet
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part19

Psalm 11 is the eleventh psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?" In the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, it is psalm 10, in a slightly different numbering, "In Domino confido".[1] Its authorship is traditionally assigned to King David, but most scholars place its origin some time after the end of the Babylonian captivity.[2]

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It was set to music by composers including Heinrich Schütz, Joseph Stephenson and Benjamin Cooke.

Text[]

Hebrew Bible version[]

The following is the Hebrew text of Psalm 11:[3]

Verse Hebrew
1 :לַמְנַצֵּחַ, לְדָוִד

.בַּיהוָה, חָסִיתִי--אֵיךְ, תֹּאמְרוּ לְנַפְשִׁי; נודו (נוּדִי), הַרְכֶם צִפּוֹר

2 --כִּי הִנֵּה הָרְשָׁעִים, יִדְרְכוּן קֶשֶׁת, כּוֹנְנוּ חִצָּם עַל-יֶתֶר

.לִירוֹת בְּמוֹ-אֹפֶל, לְיִשְׁרֵי-לֵב

3 .כִּי הַשָּׁתוֹת, יֵהָרֵסוּן-- צַדִּיק, מַה-פָּעָל
4 :יְהוָה, בְּהֵיכַל קָדְשׁוֹ-- יְהוָה, בַּשָּׁמַיִם כִּסְאוֹ

.עֵינָיו יֶחֱזוּ-- עַפְעַפָּיו יִבְחֲנוּ, בְּנֵי אָדָם

5 .יְהוָה, צַדִּיק יִבְחָן: וְרָשָׁע, וְאֹהֵב חָמָס--שָׂנְאָה נַפְשׁוֹ
6 .יַמְטֵר עַל-רְשָׁעִים, פַּחִים: אֵשׁ וְגָפְרִית, וְרוּחַ זִלְעָפוֹת--מְנָת כּוֹסָם
7 .כִּי-צַדִּיק יְהוָה, צְדָקוֹת אָהֵב; יָשָׁר, יֶחֱזוּ פָנֵימוֹ

King James Version[]

  1. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
  2. For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
  3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
  4. The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
  5. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
  6. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
  7. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

Structure[]

The shape of this psalm differs from the usual scheme,[4] for which the Old Testament scholar Hermann Gunkel finally assigns as a "confidence Psalm in the form of conversation". Erhard S. Gerstenberger calls the psalm a "disputierendes prayer" within the genus of Lamentations of an individual.[5]  [de] has the psalm as a song of prayer.[6]

Usually, the Psalm is organized as follows:[7]

  1. Verse 1a: trust in YHWH
  2. Verse 1b-3: Rejecting the advice of well-meaning friends
  3. Verse 4-7: YHWH as fair judge and legal helpers of the persecuted

A division into verses is sometimes not done.[8]

Interpretation[]

The psalm is strongly individual.  [de] calls this the personal testimony of persecution, who have opted for the legal process.[9] Hermann Gunkel agrees calling it the "subjective response of a single poet to an involuntary emergency".  [de] sees the psalm as "a product of post-exil scriptural scholarship that seeks to modernise traditional text" "ein Produkt nachexilischer Schriftgelehrsamkeit, die die Texte der Tradition modernisieren will").[4][8][10]

The psalm leads off with a question which is put to the writer's soul: 'Why should I flee like a bird to the mountains?' Barnes and many others see the fleeing as negative and running away rather than trusting God.[11] The Psalmist instead resolves to trust God. There is an irony in that David often did flee from Saul to the mountains, but in the long run became King in Jerusalem in 1 Sam chapters 21 through 23.[12] Additionally there is a contrast with Psalm 7: the wicked shoot arrows at the righteous in Psalm 11, but in Psalm 7 God readied his bow and arrows for the wicked.[13] There is also a tension: God is felt to be far away and unresponsive - but He is not and that tension also appears in other Psalms, such as in Psalm 22.

Uses[]

Catholicism[]

According to the Rule of St. Benedict (530AD), Psalm 1 to Psalm 20 were mainly reserved for Office of Prime. This psalm was traditionally performed at the Office of Prime on Wednesday.[14]

In the current liturgy, Psalm 11 is, most solemnly recited or sung during vespers on Monday of the first week.[15]

Music[]

Heinrich Schütz set a metred hymn paraphrasing Psalm 11 in German, "Ich trau auf Gott, was soll's denn sein", SWV 107, included in the Becker Psalter. Joseph Stephenson included a paraphrase in English, "Since I have plac'd my trust in God", in his 1757 collection Church Harmony, Sacred to Devotion.[16] Benjamin Cooke wrote a setting of a metred paraphrase in English of verses 1–3, "On God My Steadfast Hopes Rely", published in 1794.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ "Parallel Latin/English Psalter / Psalmus 10". Archived from the original on 2017-09-30. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  2. ^ Morgenstern, Julian. "Psalm 11." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 69, no. 3, 1950, pp. 221–231.
  3. ^ "Psalms Chapter 11 תְּהִלִּים". mechon-mamre.org. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b Hermann Gunkel, Die Psalmen. vol 6. (Auflage, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1986), p 40.
  5. ^  [de], Psalms. Part 1 (Ps 1–60) with an Introduction to Cultic Poetry. (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1988), p.78.
  6. ^ Hans-Joachim Kraus,Psalmen 1–59. 7. Auflage, (Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2003), p. 228.
  7. ^ Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalmen 1–59. 7. Auflage, (Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2003), p229.
  8. ^ a b Oswald Loretz, Psalmstudien. Kolometrie, Strophik und Theologie ausgewählter Psalmen. (de Gruyter, Berlin 2002), p. 106
  9. ^ Klaus Seybold: Die Psalmen Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1996, p 60.
  10. ^ Erhard S. Gerstenberger, Psalms. Part 1 (Ps 1–60) with an Introduction to Cultic Poetry. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids 1988, p78f.
  11. ^ "Psalm 11 Barnes' Notes".
  12. ^ "1 Samuel 21 ESV - - Bible Gateway".
  13. ^ "Psalm 7:12 ESV - - Bible Gateway".
  14. ^ traduction par Prosper Guéranger, Règle de saint Benoît, (Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, réimpression 2007) p46.
  15. ^ The main cycle of liturgical prayers takes place over four weeks.
  16. ^ Church Harmony, Sacred to Devotion (Stephenson, Joseph): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
  17. ^ On God My Steadfast Hopes Rely (Cooke, Benjamin): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

External links[]

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