Psalm 24:7

Hebrew Bible

5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord, and vindicated by the God who delivers them. 6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor, Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. (Selah) 7 Look up, you gates. Rise up, you eternal doors. Then the majestic king will enter. 8 Who is this majestic king? The Lord who is strong and mighty. The Lord a mighty man in battle. 9 Look up, you gates. Rise up, you eternal doors. Then the majestic king will enter.

LXX Psalm 23:7

Septuagint

5 He it is that will receive blessing from the Lord and mercy from his divine savior. 6 This is the generation of people who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Iakob. Interlude on strings 7 Raise the gates, O rulers of yours! And be raised up, O perpetual gates! And the King of glory shall enter. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and powerful, the Lord, powerful in battle. 9 Raise the gates, O rulers of yours! And be raised up, O perpetual gates! And the King of glory shall enter.

 Notes and References

"... A remarkable instance of the liturgical application and perpetuation of such an error of translation is afforded by the picture of the princes carrying gates, which is more particularly made use of in Byzantine art, and in the celebration of the Ascension in the oriental church. The psalter of St. Albans also contains the illustration of a man, designated as a prince by a golden wreath on his cap, who carries a couple of gates to Christ. If it were not for the translations, who could imagine that this was intended to be an illustration of Psalm 24:7? The psalmist, in giving poetical life to dead matter, bids the gates to lift their heads in order that the king of glory might make his entry with head erect. The lintels of the gates were, in Jewish antiquity, evidently movable so that they could be raised. In consequence of an error in the text of the Septuagint, or by the carelessness of the translator, the splendid verse was transmitted into the art and the liturgy of the church in a garbled manner. The gates which raised their heads were turned into heads that raised their gates. Jerome repeated only too faithfully the error of the LXX, as will be seen from a comparison of the texts ..."

Kaufmann, David Errors in the Septuagint and the Vulgate from which Illustrations and Sculptures Derived their Origin (pp. 163-166) The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1898

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.