| Psalm 52 | |
|---|---|
| "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?" | |
Beginning of Psalm 52 in Claricia's Psalter
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| Other name |
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| Text | Attributed to King David |
| Language | Hebrew (original) |
Psalm 52 is the 52nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 51. In Latin, it is known as "Quid gloriatur in malitia",[1] It is described as a maskil,[2] attributed to David, and is said to have been written "when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, "David has gone to the house of Ahimelech".[3] In this psalm, David criticises those who use their talents for evil.[4]
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant liturgies.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[5][6] of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מַשְׂכִּ֥יל לְדָוִֽד׃ | For the Leader. Maschil of David; |
| 2 | בְּב֤וֹא ׀ דּוֹאֵ֣ג הָאֲדֹמִי֮ וַיַּגֵּ֢ד לְשָׁ֫א֥וּל וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ל֑וֹ בָּ֥א דָ֝וִ֗ד אֶל־בֵּ֥ית אֲחִימֶֽלֶךְ׃ | when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him: 'David is come to the house of Ahimelech.' |
| 3 | מַה־תִּתְהַלֵּ֣ל בְּ֭רָעָה הַגִּבּ֑וֹר חֶ֥סֶד אֵ֝֗ל כׇּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃ | Why boastest thou thyself of evil, O mighty man? The mercy of God endureth continually. |
| 4 | הַ֭וּוֹת תַּחְשֹׁ֣ב לְשׁוֹנֶ֑ךָ כְּתַ֥עַר מְ֝לֻטָּ֗שׁ עֹשֵׂ֥ה רְמִיָּֽה׃ | Thy tongue deviseth destruction; Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. |
| 5 | אָהַ֣בְתָּ רָּ֣ע מִטּ֑וֹב שֶׁ֓קֶר ׀ מִדַּבֵּ֖ר צֶ֣דֶק סֶֽלָה׃ | Thou lovest evil more than good; Falsehood rather than speaking righteousness. Selah |
| 6 | אָהַ֥בְתָּ כׇֽל־דִּבְרֵי־בָ֗לַע לְשׁ֣וֹן מִרְמָֽה׃ | Thou lovest all devouring words, The deceitful tongue. |
| 7 | גַּם־אֵל֮ יִתׇּצְךָ֢ לָ֫נֶ֥צַח יַחְתְּךָ֣ וְיִסָּחֲךָ֣ מֵאֹ֑הֶל וְשֵׁרֶשְׁךָ֨ מֵאֶ֖רֶץ חַיִּ֣ים סֶֽלָה׃ | God will likewise break thee for ever, He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, And root thee out of the land of the living. Selah |
| 8 | וְיִרְא֖וּ צַדִּיקִ֥ים וְיִירָ֗אוּ וְעָלָ֥יו יִשְׂחָֽקוּ׃ | The righteous also shall see, and fear, And shall laugh at him: |
| 9 | הִנֵּ֤ה הַגֶּ֗בֶר לֹ֤א יָשִׂ֥ים אֱלֹהִ֗ים מָ֫עוּזּ֥וֹ וַ֭יִּבְטַח בְּרֹ֣ב עׇשְׁר֑וֹ יָ֝עֹ֗ז בְּהַוָּתֽוֹ׃ | 'Lo, this is the man that made not God his stronghold; But trusted in the abundance of his riches, And strengthened himself in his wickedness.' |
| 10 | וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ כְּזַ֣יִת רַ֭עֲנָן בְּבֵ֣ית אֱלֹהִ֑ים בָּטַ֥חְתִּי בְחֶסֶד־אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים עוֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃ | But as for me, I am like a leafy olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. |
| 11 | אוֹדְךָ֣ לְ֭עוֹלָם כִּ֣י עָשִׂ֑יתָ וַאֲקַוֶּ֥ה שִׁמְךָ֥ כִי־ט֝֗וֹב נֶ֣גֶד חֲסִידֶֽיךָ׃ | I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; And I will wait for Thy name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints. |
The psalm's sub-heading refers to the occasion reported in 1 Samuel 21–22 when Doeg, the chief herdsman of Saul, the first king of Israel, informed Saul that David had been received by AhimelechatNob, a priestly town in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and assisted with the means for his flight. Alexander Kirkpatrick observes that "the character denounced in the Psalm is in some respects such as we may suppose Doeg to have been. He was a man of wealth and importance as the chief of Saul’s herdmen (or, according to the LXX, the keeper of his mules). His tongue was "a deceitful tongue", because although the facts he reported were true, he helped to confirm Saul in a false and cruel suspicion.[7]
However, Kirkpatrick notes that
the entire absence of any reference to the cold-blooded and sacrilegious murder of the priests at Nob, in which Doeg acted as Saul’s agent, when all his other officers shrank from executing his brutal order, makes it difficult, if not impossible, to suppose that the Psalm was really written by David on that occasion, unless we could assume that it was composed after Doeg’s information was given but before the massacre was perpetrated, which is wholly improbable.[7]
Instead, he argues that
Just sufficient appropriateness may be traced to account for the title having been prefixed by the compiler of this division of the Psalter, or for the Psalm having been connected with the story of Doeg in some historical work from which the compiler took it.[7]
This psalm opens the second section of the three traditional divisions of the Latin psalter, and for this reason the first words (Quid gloriatur in malitia qui potens est iniquitate...), and above all the initial "Q", were often greatly enlarged in illuminated manuscript psalters, following the pattern of the Beatus initials at the start of Psalm 1, and the "D" of Psalm 102.[8]
According to Hermann Gunkel's system of classification, Psalm 52 was conditionally classified as an Individual Psalm of Trust, one that demonstrates an expression of trust or confidence in YHWH's assistant to the petitioner.[9]
In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the tenth day of the month.[10]
Heinrich Schütz wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 52 in German, "Was trotzst denn du, Tyrann, so hoch", SWV 149, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628.
