Psalms

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Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist. 3 Do not trust in princes, or in human beings, who cannot deliver. 4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground. On that day their plans die. 5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,⁠ who remains forever faithful, 7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry.⁠ The Lord releases the imprisoned. 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.⁠ The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly.⁠ 9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked.⁠ 10 The Lord rules forever, your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come. Praise the Lord!

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 146:8 and 4Q521 2 ii 8

Hebrew Bible · Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts

Summary

In Psalm 146, God frees prisoners and gives sight to the blind. In 4Q521 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, these acts become promises for the future, and the list grows to include raising the dead, something the psalm does not mention.

Passages

Psalm 146:8

Hebrew Bible

5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who remains forever faithful, 7 vindicates the oppressed, and gives food to the hungry. The Lord releases the imprisoned. 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. The Lord loves the godly. 9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner. He lifts up the fatherless and the widow, but he opposes the wicked. 10 The Lord rules forever, your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come. Praise the Lord!

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

4Q521 2 ii 8

Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts · A Messianic Apocalypse

5 For the Lord seeks out the faithful and calls the righteous by name. 6 Over the humble his spirit hovers, and the faithful he renews with his strength. 7 For he will honor the faithful on the throne of an everlasting kingdom, 8 setting prisoners free, opening the eyes of the blind, raising up those who are bowed down. 9 And forever I will cling to those who hope, and in his kindness … 10 and the fruit of a good [deed] will not be delayed for anyone. 11 And the Lord will do glorious things that have not been, as he [said]. 12 For he will heal the wounded and give life to the dead; he will bring good news to the humble, 13 and the [poor] he will satisfy, the uprooted he will lead, and the hungry he will make rich,

100–50 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 4Q521

References

“... quotes Psalm 146:7-8 (line 8) and Isaiah 61:1 (line 12). Just before the citation that recognizably comes from Isaiah 61 (“he will bring good news to the afflicted”), the text adds two activities not found in either Psalm 146 or Isaiah 61: “for he will heal the wounded, and he will bring the dead to life”. ...”

Loren T. Stuckenbruck, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament,” in Qumran and the Bible: Studying the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Nóra Dávid and Armin Lange (Leuven: Peeters, 2010), 154.

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

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 146:8 and 4Q521 2 ii 8

Summary

Passages

Psalm 146:8

4Q521 2 ii 8

References

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