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LXX Psalms

Septuagint

About this book
Psalm 17

1 For the end, of David the servant of the Lord; the words which he spoke to the Lord, even the words of this Song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul. 2 And he said, I will love you, Lord, my strength. 3 The Lord is my firm support, and my refuge, and my deliverer; my God is my helper, I will hope in him; he is my defender, and the horn of my salvation, and my helper. 4 I will call upon the Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from my enemies. 5 The pangs of death surrounded me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.⁠ 6 The pangs of hell came all around me: the snares of death overtook me. 7 And when I was afflicted I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his holy temple, and my cry shall enter before him, even into his ears. 8 Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them. 9 There went up a smoke in his fierce anger, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were kindled at it. 10 And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet. 11 And he mounted on cherubs and flew: he flew on the wings of winds. 12 And he made darkness his secret place: all around him was his tabernacle, even dark water in the clouds of the air. 13 At the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire. 14 The Lord also thundered from heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice. 15 And he sent forth his weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them. 16 And the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at your rebuke, Lord, at the blasting of the breath of your fierce anger. 17 He sent from on high and took me, he drew me to himself out of many waters. 18 He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from those that hate me; for they are stronger than I. 19 They overtook me in the day of my affliction: but the Lord was my stay against them. 20 And he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has pleasure in me. He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from those that hate me. 21 And the Lord will repay me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands he will repay me. 22 For I have kept the way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his ordinances from me. 24 And I shall be blameless with him, and shall keep myself from my iniquity. 25 And the Lord shall repay me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes. 26 With the holy you will be holy; and with the innocent man you will be innocent. 27 And with the excellent man you will be excellent; and with the perverse you will show perverseness. 28 For you will save the lowly people, and will humble the eyes of the proud. 29 For you, Lord, will light my lamp: my God, you will lighten my darkness. 30 For by you I shall be delivered from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall. 31 As for my God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a protector of all those that hope in him. 32 For who is God but the Lord? and who is a God except our God? 33 It is God that clothes me with strength, and has made my way blameless: 34 who strengthens my feet as stag's feet, and sets me upon high places. 35 He instructs my hands for war: and you have made my arms as a brass bow. 36 And you have given me the shield of my salvation: and your right hand has helped me, and your correction has upheld me to the end; yes, your correction itself shall instruct me. 37 You have made room for my goings under me, and my footsteps did not fail. 38 I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed. 39 I will dash them to pieces and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet. 40 For you have clothed me with strength for war: you have beaten down under me all that rose up against me. 41 And you have made my enemies turn their backs before me; and you have destroyed those that hated me. 42 They cried, but there was no deliverer: even to the Lord, but he did not listen to them. 43 I will grind them as dust before the wind: and I will beat them small as the mud of the streets. 44 Deliver me from the gainsayings of the people: you shall make me head of the Gentiles: a people whom I did not know served me, 45 at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me: the strange children lied to me. 46 The strange children grew old, and fell away from their paths through lameness. 47 The Lord lives; and blessed be my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 48 It is God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me; 49 my deliverer from angry enemies: you shall set me on high above those that rise up against me: you shall deliver me from the unrighteous man. 50 Therefore I will confess to you, Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.⁠ 51 God magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Psalm 17:50 and Romans 15:9

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

In Romans, Paul uses Psalm 18 to support the place of other nations in a story once centered on David. The psalm first praised God for saving the king and broadening his rule, and Paul reshapes this to show praise coming from non-Israelite people.

Passages

LXX Psalm 17:50

Septuagint
47 The Lord lives; and blessed be my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 48 It is God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me; 49 my deliverer from angry enemies: you shall set me on high above those that rise up against me: you shall deliver me from the unrighteous man. 50 Therefore I will confess to you, Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to your name. 51 God magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Psalms

Romans 15:9

New Testament
7 Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” 10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.”
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... There is little consensus, but Hays’ messianic exegesis, which evokes the narrative of the psalm and locates Christ’s proclamation in the context of the Davidic Messiah, seems likely, providing, as Hays argues, a framework for reading the whole catena. Paul makes use of this psalm of thanksgiving, attributed to the Lord’s servant, David, by highlighting the psalmist’s confession of the Lord among the nations. ‘Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.’ This first citation (Romans 15:9) is likely to be from Psalm 18:49 (LXX 7:50), although LXX 2 Samuel 22:50 is a possible source because of its similar wording. It is represented verbatim apart from the omission of the vocative κύριε, quite possibly, as Hays says, because it is the 'Lord' who speaks. Christ is the one who has welcomed Jew and Gentile, so it is quite possible that he himself is standing in the midst of the eschatological congregation, offering praise to God. Wagner sees Christ as the referent, but he also points out that Paul perceives his own ministry to be following that of Christ ..."
Sarah Whittle, Covenant Renewal and the Consecration of the Gentiles in Romans (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 136–137.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Psalm 17:50 and Romans 15:9

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