Psalm 46 is the 46th psalm of the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of ...

, beginning in English in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

and Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 45. In Latin, it is known as "Deus noster refugium et virtus".. The song is attributed to the sons of Korah. The psalm forms a regular part of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and other Protestant liturgies. According to

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...

, Psalm 46 is called a "song of holy confidence"; it is also known as "Luther's Psalm", as

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

wrote his popular

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

" Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God") using Psalm 46 as a starting point. Luther's hymn has been quoted in many musical works, both religious and secular, including Bach's cantata ''Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott'', BWV 80.

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (also Bachelbel; baptised – buried 9 March 1706) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and ...

composed the psalm in German, while

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

and Jean Philippe Rameau, among numerous other composers, chose to set it in Latin.

Structure

The text is divided into three sections, each ending with a Selah, after verses 4, 8 and 12 according to the Hebrew verse numbering.

Themes

According to

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a British Nonconformist and Presbyterian minister and author who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition o ...

, this psalm may have been composed after

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

defeated the enemies of

ancient Israel The history of ancient Israel and Judah spans from the Israelite highland settlement, early appearance of the Israelites in Canaan's hill country during the late second millennium BCE, to the establishment and subsequent downfall of the two ...

from surrounding lands. Spurgeon notes that the description in verse 1 in the Hebrew Bible version, calling for the psalm to be played "on '' alamot''", could denote either a high-pitched musical instrument or the soprano voices of young girls who went out to dance in celebration of David's victory over the Philistines. The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

renders this word as an

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

. The Midrash Tehillim, however, parses the word ''alamot'' () as referring to the "hidden things" that God does for his people. The psalm praises God for being a source of power and salvation in times of trouble. POxy LXXVII 5101

There is a difference of opinion among Christian scholars as to which "river" the psalm is referring to in verse 4 of the

KJV The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

, the streams of which make glad the city of God. Among the possibilities are: * The

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

. However, the Jordan River is a distance of northeast of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

(assuming that the "city of God" is a reference to Jerusalem). For this reason, some have found this possibility unlikely. * A river in Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ. This river will run from beneath the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

eastward to the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, as described in the forty-seventh chapter of the

Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Nevi'im#Latter Prophets, Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and one of the Major Prophets, major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Book of Isaiah, Isaiah and ...

. * A river in Jerusalem after the millennial reign of Christ. This is the river that flows from the

New Jerusalem In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the capital of the ...

, as described in the twenty-second chapter of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

. It has been proposed that this psalm is prophesying the kingdom of God under Jesus Christ, which He inaugurated at His first coming and will conclude when He returns.

Uses

Judaism

Portions of the psalm are used or referenced in several Jewish prayers. Verse 2 in the Hebrew is part of Selichot. Verse 8 is said in the daily morning service during the recitation of the

incense offering The incense offering ( ) in Judaism was related to perfumed offerings on the altar of incense in the time of the Tabernacle and the First and Second Temple period, and was an important component of priestly liturgy in the Temple in Jerusalem. I ...

, in

Pesukei Dezimra ''Pesukei dezimra'' (; Rabbinic Hebrew: ''pasuqẽ hazzǝmiroṯ'' "Verses of songs"), or ''zemirot'' as they are called by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, are a group of prayers that may be recited during Shacharit (the morning set of prayers ...

, and in Uva Letzion; it is said in Uva Letzion in the

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

morning service, Yom Tov afternoon service, and

Motza'ei Shabbat The term Motza'ei Shabbat (—literally, the going out of the Sabbath) in Judaism refers to the time in the evening immediately following Shabbat, that is Saturday night. It is a time when, following one's declaration of the intention to end Shabba ...

evening service as well. Verse 12 is part of the

Havdalah Havdalah (, ) is a Judaism, Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine, and smelling sweet spices (). Shab ...

ceremony.

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

include it as part of

Yehi kevod Yehi kevod () is a prayer recited daily during pesukei dezimra prior to Ashrei. The prayer is a representation of God's exaltation in both the heavens and the earth. The succession Yehi kevod has with Ashrei is significant: it symbolizes the conne ...

. In the ''Siddur Avodas Yisroel'', Psalm 46 is the psalm of the day for Shabbat Va'eira.

Catholic Church

This psalm was traditionally recited or sung at the office of

matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning (between midnight and dawn). The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which w ...

on Tuesday after St. Benedict of Nursia established his rule of St. Benedict around 530, mainly in the numerical order of the psalms. Today, Psalm 46 is sung or recited at

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

on Friday of the first week of the liturgical four weekly cycle.

Coptic Orthodox Church

In the Agpeya, the

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...

book of hours A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

, this psalm is prayed in the office of

Terce Terce is a canonical hour of the Divine Office. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn. Along with Prime, Sext, None, and Compline, Terce belongs ...

Book of Common Prayer

In the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

's ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

'', this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the ninth day of the month.

Politics

U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

referenced the psalm in several speeches, most notably his Tucson memorial speech and his speech on the 10th anniversary of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in New York City.

Musical settings

wrote and composed a

which paraphrases Psalm 46, " Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott", which was translated as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God". Luther's hymn was called "the '' Marseillaise'' of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

" by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

in his essay '' Zur Geschichte der Religion und Philosophie in Deutschland''. It inspired many musical works, both religious and secular.

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

based one of his chorale cantatas, ''Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott'', BWV 80, on Luther's hymn. Pachelbel-motet-ps46-part

In the 17th century,

composed a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

setting of Psalm 46, ''Gott ist unser Zuversicht und Stärke''.

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

wrote a setting of a paraphrase in German, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott", SWV 143, for the '' Becker Psalter'', published first in 1628. In 1699, Michel-Richard Delalande based a grand motet on the psalm.

set in early 1690s a ''"Deus noster refugium"'' H.218, for soloists, chorus, 2 treble instruments and continuo. Jean Philippe Rameau set the psalm for the motet ''Deus noster refugium''. In July 1765, the 9-year old

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

wrote a short motet to the text of the first verse as a gift to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and an homage to 16th century English composers such as

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (; also Tallys or Talles; 23 November 1585) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...

. In contemporary music, the Christian duo

Shane & Shane Shane & Shane is a Texas-based contemporary worship music band known for acoustic Contemporary worship music, praise and worship music. The band consists of Shane Barnard (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Shane Everett (vocals). They are often joined ...

adapted the psalm into the song "Psalm 46 (Lord of Hosts)", which appeared on their 2016 album '' Psalms II''.

Text

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

text in the

and the English translation from the

. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the

Masoretic text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

come from different textual traditions.A 1917 translation directly from Hebrew to English by the

Jewish Publication Society The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...

can be foun
here
o
here
and an 1844 translation directly from the Septuagint by L. C. L. Brenton can be foun
here
Both translations are in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

. In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 45.

Verse 5

The reference to "morning" or the "break of day" in verse 5 alludes to

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

, who would rise at daybreak to pray to God.

Verse 10

:''Be still, and know that I am God;'' :''I will be exalted among the nations,'' :''I will be exalted in the earth!'' This verse is further developed in Psalm 47, which opens with the words "Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! It is all the nations of the world who are addressed.

Shakespeare's alleged involvement

For several decades, some theorists have suggested that

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

placed his mark on the translated text of Psalm 46 that appears in the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

, although many scholars view this as unlikely, stating that the translations were probably agreed upon by a committee of scholars.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* *
For the leader. A song of the Korahites. According to alamoth. / God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress
text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Psalm 46 / God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble

{{Psalms 046