Hypertext Bible

Polyglot Bible: Psalms: Psalms 54

Book of ActsGreek New TestamentPolyglot Bible

Summary only - full text stays on its own separately-gated source. Read the full text at the source »

This is a polyglot Bible — a parallel-text scholarly edition presenting Psalms simultaneously in four canonical versions: the King James Version (English, with Strong's concordance numbers), the Septuagint (Greek), the Masoretic/Tanakh text (Hebrew), and the Latin Vulgate. The KJV and Hebrew columns present Psalm 54, a brief seven-verse lament attributed to David amid the threat of the Ziphites informing Saul of his whereabouts, which pivots quickly from a cry for divine rescue to confident praise. The Septuagint and Vulgate columns present what those traditions number as Psalm 54 (corresponding to KJV Psalm 55), a longer and more anguished lament featuring the famous wish for "wings like a dove" to flee to the wilderness, a bitter complaint about a treacherous close friend, and the consolation "cast thy burden upon the Lord." The juxtaposition across columns is itself the scholarly argument: it makes visible the longstanding numbering divergence between the Hebrew/Protestant tradition and the Greek/Latin traditions (rooted in the LXX merging Psalms 9–10), showing that a reader citing "Psalm 54" reaches entirely different texts depending on which Bible they hold. This format is primarily a reference tool for textual critics, translators, or theologians comparing the ancient witnesses to the Psalter rather than a work advancing a single interpretive thesis.

Polyglot Bible: Psalms: Psalms 54

Related pages View as graph →