Psalm 52 is the 52nd psalm of the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

, beginning in English in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

: "Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

and Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 51. In Latin, it is known as "Quid gloriatur in malitia", It is described as a ''maskil'', attributed to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, and is said to have been written "when

Doeg the Edomite Doeg ( ''Dō’ēg'') was an Edomite, chief herdsman to Saul, King of Israel. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of First Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, where he is depicted as an antagonist of David responsible for the deaths of a large num ...

went and told

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

, and said to him, "David has gone to the house of

Ahimelech Ahimelech ( ''ʾĂḥīmeleḵ'', "my brother is king"/"brother of a king"), the son of Ahitub and father of Abiathar (), but described as the son of Abiathar in and in four places in 1 Chronicles."Ahimelech", ''Encyclopedia Biblica'' He des ...

". In this psalm, David criticises those who use their talents for evil. The psalm forms a regular part of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

liturgies.

Text

Hebrew Bible version

The following is the Hebrew text of Psalm 52:

King James Version

# Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. # Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. # Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. # Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. # God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. # The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: # Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. # But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. # I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

Context

The psalm's sub-heading refers to the occasion reported in

1 Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...

21– 22 when Doeg, the chief herdsman of

, the first king of Israel, informed Saul that

had been received by

Nob , also known by the name NoB, is a Japanese singer. He is the former lead singer of the band Make-Up and a Project.R member. Overview With Make-Up, he recorded several songs for the anime ''Saint Seiya'', including the first opening song " ...

, a

priestly Priestly is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Miranda Priestly, a character in ''The Devil Wears Prada'' * Paul Priestly, a character in ''EastEnders'' See also * Priestley (disambiguation) * Priestly source, one of the propose ...

town in the vicinity of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and assisted with the means for his flight.

Alexander Kirkpatrick Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick (25 June 1849 – 22 January 1940) was Regius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge University (1882–1903) and the third Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge (1898–1907). Life Kirkpatrick was born at Lewes, East Su ...

observes that "the character denounced in the Psalm is in some respects such as we may suppose Doeg to have been. He was a man of wealth and importance as the chief of Saul’s herdmen (or, according to the LXX, the keeper of his mules). His tongue was "a deceitful tongue", because although the facts he reported were true, he helped to confirm Saul in a false and cruel suspicion.Kirkpatrick, A. (1906)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Psalm 52, accessed 21 November 2021 However, Kirkpatrick notes that Instead, he argues that

Latin divisions

This psalm opens the second section of the three traditional divisions of the Latin psalter, and for this reason the first words (''Quid gloriatur in malitia qui potens est iniquitate...''), and above all the initial "Q", were often greatly enlarged in

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

psalter A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...

s, following the pattern of the

Beatus initial Beatus vir (; "Blessed is the man...") are the first words in the Latin Vulgate Bible of both Psalm 1 and Psalm 112 (in the general modern numbering; it is Psalm 111 in the Greek Septuagint and the Vulgate). In each case, the words are used to r ...

s at the start of

Psalm 1 Psalm 1 is the first psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English King James Version: "Blessed is the man", and forming "an appropriate prologue" to the whole collection.Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1906)Cambridge Bible for Schools and Collegeson ...

, and the "D" of

Psalm 102 Psalm 102 is the 102nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee." In Latin, it is known as "Domine exaudi orationem meam". In the slightly different numb ...

Psalm form

According to

Hermann Gunkel Hermann Gunkel (23 May 1862 – 11 March 1932), a German Old Testament scholar, founded form criticism. He also became a leading representative of the history of religions school. His major works cover Genesis and the Psalms, and his major inte ...

's system of classification, Psalm 52 was conditionally classified as an Individual Psalm of Trust, one that demonstrates an expression of trust or confidence in

YHWH The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', ''waw'', and '' ...

's assistant to the petitioner.

Book of Common Prayer

In the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

's ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'', this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the tenth day of the month.Church of England
Book of Common Prayer: The Psalter
as printed by

John Baskerville John Baskerville (baptised 28 January 1707 – 8 January 1775) was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wov ...

in 1762, pp. 196ff

Musical settings

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 52 in German, "Was trotzst denn du, Tyrann, so hoch",

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

149, for the ''

Becker Psalter The ''Becker Psalter'' is a German metrical psalter authored by the Leipzig theologian Cornelius Becker and first published by Jakob Apel in Leipzig in 1602 under the title ''Der Psalter Davids Gesangweis''. Several composers set the psalms contai ...

'', published first in 1628.

References

External links

* * * Text of Psalm 52 according to th
1928 Psalter

text in Hebrew and English, mechon-mamre.org
Tehillim — Psalms 52 (Judaica Press)
translation with

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

's commentary at

Chabad.org Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites and the first and largest virtual congregation. History In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating ...

For the leader. A maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite entered and reported to Saul, saying to him: “David has entered the house of Ahimelech." / Why do you glory in what is evil, you who are mighty by the mercy of God?
text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

introduction and text, biblestudytools.com
Psalm 52 – Praying About the Man Who Loved Evil
enduringword.com
Psalm 52 / Refrain: I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.

Psalm 52
at biblegateway.com
Hymns for Psalm 52
hymnary.org {{Psalms 052 Works attributed to David