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LXX Psalms

Septuagint

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Psalm 138

1 For the end, a Psalm of David. Lord, you have tested me, and known me. 2 You know my down-sitting and my up-rising: you understand my thoughts long before. 3 You have traced my path and my lot, and have foreseen all my ways. 4 For there is no word in my tongue. 5 Look, Lord, you have known all things, the last and the first: you have fashioned me, and laid your hand upon me. 6 The knowledge of you is too wonderful for me; it is very difficult, I can’t attain to it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? and where shall I flee from your presence?⁠ 8 If I should go up to heaven, you are there: if I should go down to hell, you are present. 9 If I should spread my wings at dawn, and stay at the extremity of the sea, 10 for even there your hand would guide me, and your right hand would hold me. 11 When I said, Surely the darkness will trample on me; even the night was light in my luxury. 12 For darkness will not be darkness with you; but night will be light as day: as its darkness, so shall its light be to you. 13 For you, Lord, have possessed my kidneys; you have helped me from my mother's womb. 14 I will give you thanks; for I have been fearfully made wondrous; wondrous are your works; and my soul knows it well. 15 My bones, which you made in secret were not hidden from you, nor my substance, in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and all men shall be written in your book; they shall be formed by day, though there should for a time be no one among them. 17 But your friends, God, have been greatly honored by me; their rule has been greatly strengthened. 18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied beyond the sand; I awake, and am still with you. 19 If only you would kill the wicked, God; depart from me, you men of blood. 20 For you will say concerning their thought, that they shall take your cities in vain. 21 Have I not hated them, Lord, that hate you? and wasted away because of your enemies? 22 I have hated them with perfect hatred; they were counted my enemies. 23 Test me, God, and know my heart; examine me, and know my paths; 24 and see if there is any way of iniquity in me, and lead me in an everlasting way.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Psalms 138:7 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 28:3

Septuagint · Early Christian

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Summary

In 1 Clement, the author quotes Psalm 139 in the Greek Septuagint translation and says it comes from the holy writing, which may be a Christian reference to the Writings, the third part of the Jewish scriptures alongside the Law and the Prophets.

Passages

LXX Psalms 138:7

Septuagint
5 Look, Lord, you have known all things, the last and the first: you have fashioned me, and laid your hand upon me. 6 The knowledge of you is too wonderful for me; it is very difficult, I can’t attain to it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? and where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I should go up to heaven, you are there: if I should go down to hell, you are present. 9 If I should spread my wings at dawn, and stay at the extremity of the sea, 10 for even there your hand would guide me, and your right hand would hold me. 11 When I said, Surely the darkness will trample on me; even the night was light in my luxury.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Psalms

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 28:3

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
1 Since, then, all things are seen and heard, let us fear Him and abandon the abominable lusts of evil works, so that we may be shielded by His mercy from the coming judgments. 2 For where can any of us escape from His strong hand? And what world will receive any of those who desert His service? 3 For the holy writing says somewhere “Where shall I go, and where shall I hide from Your face? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I go away to the farthest parts of the earth, there is Your right hand; if I make my bed in the depths, there is Your Spirit.” 4 Where then can anyone go, or where can anyone flee, from Him who embraces the universe?
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

References

“... Clement makes a twofold summary of the OT when he refers to what “Moses signified in the sacred books, whom the other prophets followed, testifying to the laws laid down by him” (1 Clem. 43.1). He seems to refer to the third division of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Writings) when he identifies Psalm 138:7–10 (LXX) as found in the “Writing” (1 Clem. 28.2-3). Clement’s references include some of the Apocrypha: Judith (the person, given as an example along with Esther, 1 Clem. 55.4-6) and Wisdom of Solomon ...”
Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids, eds., Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1997), 1197.

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 Psalms 138:7 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 28:3

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