Psalm 42 is the 42nd 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 ...

, often known in English by its

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it b ...

, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks" (in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

). The Book of Psalms is part of the

third section The Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (russian: Tretiye Otdeleniye, or ''III otdeleniye sobstvennoy E.I.V. kantselyarii'' - in full: Третье отделение Собственной Его Императорского � ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. In the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 42 opens the

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ea ...

of the five books (divisions) of Psalms, also known as the "Elohistic Psalter" because the word

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 ...

is rarely used and God is generally referred to as "

Elohim ''Elohim'' (: ), the plural of (), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it usually takes a singular verb and refers to a single deity, particularly (but not always) the God of Israel. At other times ...

". 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 t ...

version of the bible, and generally in its Latin translations, this psalm is Psalm 41, although the Nova Vulgata translation follows the Hebrew numbering. The psalm is a hymn psalm. It is one of twelve psalms attributed to the sons of Korah. In Latin, its incipit in the

Psalterium Gallicanum The Latin Psalters are the translations of the Book of Psalms into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. These translations are typically p ...

(the version in the

Roman Breviary The Roman Breviary (Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bi ...

until the optional introduction of the '' Versio Piana'' in 1945) is ''Quemadmodum desiderat cervus''; but Sicut cervus in the ''

Psalterium Romanum The Latin Psalters are the translations of the Book of Psalms into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church. These translations are typica ...

''. It begins "As pants the hart" in the English metrical version by Tate and Brady (1696) and in Coverdale's translation in the

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 ...

, "Like as the hart". 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 ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

and other Protestant liturgies and has often been set to music, notably in Palestrina's '' Sicut cervus'', Handel's '' As pants the hart'' and Mendelssohn's '' Psalm 42''.

Background and themes

While the psalm is attributed to the " sons of Korah", the text is written in the

first person singular In linguistics, grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically the distinction is between the speaker ( first person), the addressee ( second person), and others (third pers ...

. The psalm can be divided into two parts, each ending with the same line (verses 6 and 12 in the Hebrew). The psalmist bemoans all the troubles he has endured in his exile and prays for salvation. He laments his remoteness from the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

of God and expresses his desire for the renewal of the

divine presence Divine presence, presence of God, Inner God, or simply presence is a concept in religion, spirituality, and theology that deals with the ability of God to be " present" with human beings. According to some types of monotheism God is omnipresen ...

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition of the Old and New Testaments ...

speculates that David might have composed this psalm when he was prevented from returning to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, either due to persecution by

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 ...

or because of Absalom's revolt. Some ancient Hebrew manuscripts have this Psalm combined with Psalm 43, and C. S. Rodd argues on account of "similarities of thought and language" that these two psalms were originally one.

Text

Hebrew Bible version

Following is the Hebrew text of Psalm 42:

King James Version

# As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. # My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? # My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? # When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. # Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. # O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. # Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. # Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. # I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? # As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? # Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. The interpretation of the psalm's opening has been disputed for centuries. Jonathan Nathan argues that the traditional translation ("As the hart panteth after the water brooks") is based on an ancient but unsupported guess about the meaning of the rare Hebrew word תַּעֲרֹג. A better interpretation might be: "As you odturn a deer towards streams of water, so do you turn my soul towards yourself".

Uses

Judaism

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

recite Psalm 42 on the first and second nights of

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tis ...

prior to the evening prayer. Those who follow the custom of the Gra say Psalm 42 as the Song of the Day on the second day of Sukkot. Verse 2 is said during

Selichot Selichot ( he, סְלִיחוֹת, səlīḥōt, singular: , ''səlīḥā'') are Jewish penitential poems and prayers, especially those said in the period leading up to the High Holidays, and on fast days. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy ar ...

. Psalm 42 is one of the ten Psalms of the Tikkun HaKlali of Rebbe

Nachman of Breslov Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...

. This psalm is traditionally recited as a prayer for the end of the exile, and "to find favor in the eyes of others".

New Testament

The

rendering of some words in verse 5 shows close resemblance to the words of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

during the Agony in the Garden as recorded in

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

. A part of the next verse in Greek also resembles what was spoken by Jesus during the same event, according to

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

Fathers of the Church

In his discourse on this psalm, Saint

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

says that it corresponds to the longings of the Church.

Catholic Church

In the Rule of St. Benedict (530) this psalm was the fourth of those assigned to the second nocturn of Monday

matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated ...

. In the

promulgated by

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

in 1568, it is the fourth in Tuesday matins. In the 1911 Reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X, it appears, divided into two parts, in Tuesday

sext Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a canonical hour of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around noon. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the sixth hour of the day after dawn. ...

. In the post-

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: ''Liturgia Horarum'') or Divine Office (Latin: ''Officium Divinum'') or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the ...

it is the first psalm in

lauds Lauds is a canonical hour of the Divine office. In the Roman Rite Liturgy of the Hours it is one of the major hours, usually held after Matins, in the early morning hours. Name The name is derived from the three last psalms of the psalter (148 ...

on the Monday of the second of the four weeks over which the psalter is spread. In the

Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of th ...

, the

responsorial psalm Responsorial psalmody primarily refers to the placement and use of the Psalm within the readings at a Christian service of the Eucharist. The Psalm chosen in such a context is often called the responsorial psalm. Although often associated with ...

sung after a reading is several times composed of verses from this psalm, as at the Easter Vigil and at Masses for the Dead.

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's ''

'', the text begins "Like as a hart". The psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the eighth day of the month.

Musical settings

Musical settings of the psalm include:

Classical

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

by Ockeghem (15th century) * ''E'en like the hunted hind'': No. 5 from

Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter In 1567 English composer Thomas Tallis contributed nine tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter, a collection of vernacular psalm settings intended for publication in a metrical psalter then being compiled for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew ...

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (23 November 1585; also Tallys or Talles) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one o ...

(1567) * ''Sicut cervus'' by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (16th century) * ''Quemadmodum desiderat cervus'' by

Dietrich Buxtehude Dieterich Buxtehude (; ; born Diderik Hansen Buxtehude; c. 1637 – 9 May 1707) was a Danish organist and composer of the Baroque period, whose works are typical of the North German organ school. As a composer who worked in various vocal a ...

(17th century) * Loys Bourgeois used the tune for this psalm as a basis for the

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the th ...

tune 'Freu dich sehr o meine Seele'. * Heinrich Schütz wrote a setting of a paraphrase in German, "Gleich wie ein Hirsch eilt mit Begier", SWV 139, for the '' Becker Psalter'', published first in 1628. * In the 17th century, Michel Richard Delalande used it for a grand

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Ma ...

. *

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

set in 1679–1680, ''Quemadmodum desiderat servus'' H.174, for 3 voices, 2 treble instruments and continuo. *

Henry Desmarest Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumental works. Biogr ...

set around 1700 un Grand Motet ''Quemadmodum desiderat servus''. * ''As pants the hart'' by Handel (18th century) * Chorale ''Was betrübst du dich'', movement 6 of '' Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21'', by Johann Sebastian Bach (18th century) * ''Psalm 42'' by Mendelssohn (19th century) * ''2e verset du 41me psaume (2e vt du 42e de la Vulgate)'' by

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Li ...

(19th century) * ''Like as the hart'' by Herbert Howells (20th century) * ''As the Hart Panteth (Psalm 42)'' (1962, 1965; SATB 3' 20"), by Gloria Merle Huffman (1946–) (20th century) * ''Psalm 42 (There is a longing in my heart)'' (1988; New International Version), by Maranatha! Singers (USA) * ''Psalm 42 (As the deer pants for streams of water)'' (2008;

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The ''NIV'' was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest a ...

), by Sons of Korah * ''Sicut Cervus'', 3-part a cappella piece by Laura Kranz * ''Quemadmodum'', a 6-part motet by John Taverner * ''Psalm 42'' by Tori Kelly * " Like as the hart", setting the first seven verses from the

for choir

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

, written by Judith Weir for the

state funeral of Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death ...

on 19 September 2022

Jewish

''K'ayal ta'arog'' (As the hart pants, verses 2–3) is a popular Jewish song. An early

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism ( Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of conte ...

nigun A nigun ( he, ניגון meaning "tune" or "melody", plural nigunim) or niggun (plural niggunim) is a form of Jewish religious song or tune sung by groups. It is vocal music, often with repetitive sounds such as "Bim-Bim-Bam", "Lai-Lai-Lai", ...

was composed by the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi

Shneur Zalman of Liadi Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of ...

. The third Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi

Menachem Mendel Schneersohn Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (September 9, 1789 – March 17, 1866) also known as the Tzemach Tzedek (Hebrew: "Righteous Sprout" or "Righteous Scion") was an Orthodox rebbe, leading 19th-century posek, and the third rebbe (spiritual leader) of t ...

(the Tzemach Tzedek) also composed a melody for it.

Notes

References

External links

* * * Text of Psalm 42 according to th
1928 Psalter

text in Hebrew and English, mechon-mamre.org
Psalm 42 – The Assurance of those Who Trust in God
text and detailed commentary, enduringword.com
For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites. / As the deer longs for streams of water
text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

introduction and text, biblestudytools.com
Psalm 42 / As the deer longs for the water brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God.

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 Brit ...

Psalm 42
at biblegateway.com
Hymns for Psalm 42
hymnary.org
Recording of a traditional Jewish melody for verses 2 and 3 on Zemirot Database
{{Psalms 042