LXX Psalms

Septuagint

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Psalm 31

1 A Psalm of instruction by David. Those whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered are blessed.⁠ 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose mouth there is no guile. 3 Because I kept silence, my bones grew old, from my crying all the day. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me: I became thoroughly miserable while a thorn was fastened in me. Pause. 5 I acknowledged my sin, and did not hide my iniquity: I said, I will confess my iniquity to the Lord against myself; and you forgave the ungodliness of my sin. Pause. 6 Therefore shall every holy one pray to you in a fit time: only in the deluge of many waters they shall not come near to him. 7 You are my refuge from the affliction that encompasses me; my joy, to deliver me from those who have surrounded me. Pause. 8 I will instruct you and guide you in this way in which you shall go: I will fix my eyes upon you. 9 Do not be as horse and mule, which have no understanding; but you must constrain their jaws with bit and curb, for fear that they should come near to you. 10 Many are the scourges of the sinner: but him that hopes in the Lord mercy shall surround. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and exult, you righteous: and glory, all you that are upright in heart.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Psalm 31:1 and Romans 4:7

Septuagint · New Testament

Summary

Psalm 32 pronounces a blessing on the person whose sins God refuses to count. In Romans, Paul combines this psalm with Genesis 15 to argue that righteousness is given as a gift, not earned as wages for work.

Passages

LXX Psalm 31:1

Septuagint

1 A Psalm of instruction by David. Those whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered are blessed. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose mouth there is no guile. 3 Because I kept silence, my bones grew old, from my crying all the day.

100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Psalms

Romans 4:7

New Testament

6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin.” 9 Is this blessedness then for the circumcision or also for the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.”

55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

“... In verse 4 he defines someone who works, earning his wages and therefore receiving them in accordance with “obligation,” not “grace” (τῷ δὲ ἐργαζομένῳ ὁ μισθὸς οὐ λογίζεται κατὰ χάριν ἀλλὰ κατὰ ὀφείλημα). The actual verb used to denote this process of payment is of course λογίζομαι, and it must take the sense here of “credit.” (Workers do not have their wages “viewed” in accordance with obligation.) This commercial sense is then reinforced by Paul’s quotation of Psalm 32:1–2a (LXX Psalm 31:1–2a) in verses 7–8, which speak of the blessing of the person “to whom the Lord will not credit sin” (μακάριος ἀνὴρ οὗ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται κύριος ἁμαρτίαν). It is difficult if not impossible to account for the accusative ἁμαρτίαν here if the verb is read as “viewed” (and this reading would also have to override the implications of verse 7 [Psalm 32:1], where various transgressions and sins have been “released” and “covered”). So Paul is clearly using a broadly commercial reading of the verb (and even if that violates the Jewish scriptural antecedents) ...”

Douglas A. Campbell, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 547–549.

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

LXX Psalms151 psalms

Compare LXX Psalm 31:1 and Romans 4:7

Summary

Passages

LXX Psalm 31:1

Romans 4:7

References

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