Psalms 43
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 43 is given here in full, verse by verse, in Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), with the Greek text of the Septuagint set beneath each verse. The text follows the Septuagint tradition received throughout the Orthodox Church.
19 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (2) follow the text.
Psalms 43
1(44) For the end, a Psalm for * instruction, for the sons of Core.Εἰς τὸ τέλος, τοῖς υἱοῖς Κορὲ εἰς σύνεσιν ψαλμός.
2O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, the work which you wrought in their days, in the days of old.Ὁ Θεὸς ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ἡμῶν ἠκούσαμεν, οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀνήγγειλαν ἡμῖν, ἔργον ὃ εἰργάσω ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτῶν, ἐν ἡμεραίς ἀρχαίαις.
3Your hand utterly destroyed the heathen, and you did plant them: you did afflict the nations, and cast them out.Ἡ χείρ σου ἔθνη ἐξωλόθρευσε, καὶ κατεφύτευσας αὐτοὺς, ἐκάκωσας λαοὺς καὶ ἐξέβαλες αὐτούς.
4For they inherited not the land by their own sword, and their own arm did not deliver them; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you were well pleased in them.Οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ῥομφαίᾳ αὐτῶν ἐκληρονόμησαν γῆν, καὶ ὁ βραχίων αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔσωσεν αὐτοὺς, ἀλλὰ ἡ δεξιά σου καὶ ὁ βραχίων σου, καὶ ὁ φωτισμὸς τοῦ προσώπου σου, ὅτι εὐδόκησας ἐν αὐτοῖς.
5You are indeed my King and my God, who command deliverances for Jacob.Σὺ εἶ αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεύς μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου, ὁ ἐντελλόμενος τὰς σωτηρίας Ἰακώβ.
6In you will we push down our enemies, and in your name will we bring to nothing them that rise up against us.Ἐν σοὶ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἡμῶν κερατιοῦμεν, καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐξουθενώσομεν τοὺς ἐπανισταμένους ἡμῖν.
7For I will not trust in my bow, and my sword shall not save me.Οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ τόξῳ μου ἐλπιῶ, καὶ ἡ ῥομφαία μου οὐ σώσει με.
8For you have saved us from them that afflicted us, and have put to shame them that hated us.Ἔσωσας γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν θλιβόντων ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοὺς μισοῦντας ἡμᾶς κατῄσχυνας.
9In God † will we make our boast all the day, and to your name will we give thanks for ever. Pause.Ἐν τῷ Θεῷ ἐπαινεθησόμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐξομολογησόμεθα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. διάψαλμα.
10But now you have cast off, and put us to shame; and you will not go forth with our hosts.Νυνὶ δὲ ἀπώσω καὶ κατῄσχυνας ἡμᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἐξελεύσῃ ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ἡμῶν.
11You have turned us back before our enemies; and they that hated us spoiled for themselves.Ἀπέστρεψας ἡμᾶς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω παρὰ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἡμῶν, καὶ οἱ μισοῦντες ἡμᾶς διήρπαζον ἑαυτοῖς.
12You made us as sheep for meat; and you scattered us among the nations.Ἔδωκας ἡμᾶς ὡς πρόβατα βρώσεως, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι διέσπειρας ἡμᾶς·
13You have sold your people without price, and there was no profit by their exchange.Ἀπέδου τὸν λαόν σου ἄνευ τιμῆς, καὶ οὐκ ἦν πλῆθος ἐν τοῖς ἀλαλάγμασιν αὐτῶν.
14You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision them that are round about us.Ἔθου ἡμᾶς ὄνειδος τοῖς γείτοσιν ἡμῶν, μυκτηρισμὸν καὶ καταγέλωτα τοῖς κύκλῳ ἡμῶν.
15You have made us a proverb among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the nations.Ἔθου ἡμᾶς εἰς παραβολὴν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, κίνησιν κεφαλῆς ἐν τοῖς λαοῖς.
16All the day my shame is before me, and the confusion of my face has covered me,Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἡ ἐντροπή μου κατεναντίον μου ἐστὶ, καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐκάλυψέ με,
17because of the voice of the slanderer and reviler; because of the enemy and avenger.ἀπὸ φωνῆς ὀνειδίζοντος καὶ παραλαλοῦντος, ἀπὸ προσώπου ἐχθροῦ καὶ ἐκδιώκοντος.
18All these things are come upon us: but we have not forgotten you, neither have we dealt unrighteously in your covenant.Ταῦτα πάντα ἦλθεν ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπελαθόμεθά σου, καὶ οὐκ ἠδικήσαμεν ἐν διαθήκῃ σου.
19And our heart has not gone back; but you have turned aside our paths from your way.Καὶ οὐκ ἀπέστη εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐξέκλινας τὰς τρίβους ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου.
20For you have laid us low in a place of affliction, and the shadow of death has covered us.Ὅτι ἐταπείνωσας ἡμᾶς ἐν τόπῳ κακώσεως, καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἡμᾶς σκιὰ θανάτου.
21If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search these things out?Εἰ ἐπελαθόμεθα τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, καὶ εἰ διεπετάσαμεν χεῖρας ἡμῶν πρὸς θεὸν ἀλλότριον,
22for he knows the secrets of the heart.οὐχὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐκζητήσει ταῦτα; αὐτὸς γὰρ γινώσκει τὰ κρύφια τῆς καρδίας.
23✡ For, for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for slaughter.Ὅτι ἕνεκά σου θανατούμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐλογίσθημεν ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς.
24Awake, therefore sleep you, O Lord? arise, and do not cast us off for ever.Ἐξεγέρθητι, ἱνατί ὑπνοῖς Κύριε; ἀνάστηθι, καὶ μὴ ἀπώσῃ εἰς τέλος.
25Therefore turn you your face away, and forget our poverty and our affliction?Ἱνατί τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀποστρέφεις; ἐπιλανθάνῃ τῆς πτωχείας ἡμῶν καὶ τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν;
26For our soul has been brought down to the dust; our belly has cleaved to the earth.Ὅτι ἐταπεινώθη εἰς χοῦν ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν, ἐκολλήθη εἰς γῆν ἡ γαστὴρ ἡμῶν.
27Arise, O Lord, help us, and redeem us for your name's sake.Ἀνάστα Κύριε, βοήθησον ἡμῖν, καὶ λύτρωσαι ἡμᾶς ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου.
Translator's Notes
These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.
- v. 8†Gr. will be praised etc. See Ps. 106.
- v. 22✡Rom 8:36 * 44: See also Ps 68 and 79, titles; q. d. repeated, see Hebrew.
The Fathers on Psalms 43
Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.
On Psalms 43:2–4Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “O God, we have heard with our ears; our fathers have told us the work that Thou didst in their days, and in the days of old” (ver. 1). Wondering wherefore, in these days, He has seemingly forsaken those whom it was His will to exercise in sufferings, they recall the past events which they have heard of from their fathers; as if they said, It is not of these things that we suffer, that our fathers told us! For…
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On Psalms 43:5Saint Augustine of Hippo4. “What? Was He then other than now He is?” Away with the supposition. For what follows? “Thou art Thyself my King and my God.” (ver. 4). “Thou art Thyself;” for Thou art not changed. I see that the times are changed; but the Creator of times is unchanged. “Thou art Thyself my King and my God.” Thou art wont to guide me: to govern me, to save me. “Thou who commandest salvation unto Jacob.” What is, “Thou who…
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On Psalms 43:6–7Saint Augustine of Hippo5. But perhaps it is only what is past that has been described to us: but nothing of the kind is to be hoped for by us for the future. Nay indeed, it is still to be hoped for. “Through Thee will we winnow away our enemies” (ver. 5). Our fathers then have declared to us a work that Thou didst “in their days, and in the days of old,” that Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles: that Thou “didst cast out the peoples; and…
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On Psalms 43:8Saint Augustine of Hippo6. “For Thou hast saved us from our enemies” (ver. 7). This too is spoken of the future under the figure of the past. But this is the reason that it is spoken of as if it were past, that it is as certain as if it were past. Give heed, wherefore many things are expressed by the Prophets as if they were past; whereas it is things future, not past facts that are the subject of prophecy. For the future Passion of our…
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On Psalms 43:9Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “In God will we boast all the day long” (ver. 8). Observe how he intermingles words expressive of a future time, that you may perceive that what was spoken of before as in past time was foretold of future times. “In God will we boast all day long; and in Thy name will we confess for ever.” What is, “We shall boast”? What, “We shall confess”? That Thou hast “saved us from our enemies;” that Thou art to give us…
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On Psalms 43:10Saint Augustine of Hippo8. Since then we have the certainty that these things are to be hereafter, and since we have heard from our fathers that those we spoke of were in time past, what is our state at present? “But now Thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame” (ver. 9). Thou hast “put us to shame” not before our own consciences, but in the sight of men. For there was a time when Christians were persecuted; when in every place they…
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On Psalms 43:11Saint Augustine of Hippo9. “Thou hast turned us away backward in presence of our enemies” (ver. 10), so that they are, as it were, before; we, behind; they are counted as conquerors, we as conquered. “And they which hate us spoiled for themselves.” What did they “spoil” but ourselves?
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On Psalms 43:12Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “Thou has given us like sheep appointed for meat, and hast scattered us among the nations” (ver. 11). We have been “devoured” by “the nations.” Those persons are meant, who, through their sufferings, have by process of assimilation, becomes part of the “body” of the Gentile world. For the Church mourns over them, as over members of her body, that have been devoured.
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On Psalms 43:12, 14Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “Thou madest us a reproach to our neighbours; a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us” (ver. 13). “Thou madest us a similitude among the heathen” (ver. 14). What is meant by a “similitude”? It is when men in imprecating a curse make a “similitude” of his name whom they detest. “So mayest thou die;” “So mayest thou be punished!” What a number of such reproaches were then uttered! “So mayest thou…
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On Psalms 43:13Saint Augustine of Hippo11. “Thou hast sold Thy people for no price” (ver. 12). For we see whom Thou hast made over; what Thou hast received, we have not seen. “And there was no multitude in their jubilees.” For when the Christians were flying before the pursuit of enemies, who were idolaters, were there then held any congregations and “jubilees” to the honour of God? Were those Hymns chanted in concert from the Churches of God, that…
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On Psalms 43:16–17Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “My shame is continually before me; and the confusion of my face has covered me” (ver. 15). “For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth” (ver. 16): that is to say, from the voice of them that insult over me, and who make it a charge against me that I worship Thee, that I confess Thee! and who make it a charge against me that I bear that name by which all charges against me shall be blotted out.…
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On Psalms 43:18–19Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten Thee” (ver. 17). What is meant by, “have not forgotten Thee”? “Neither have we behaved ourselves frowardly in Thy covenant.” “Our heart has not turned back; and Thou hast turned aside our goings out of Thy way” (ver. 18). See here is “understanding,” in that “our heart has not gone back;” that we have not “forgotten Thee, have not behaved frowardly in Thy…
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On Psalms 43:19–20Saint Augustine of Hippo15. “For Thou hast brought us low in the place of infirmity” (ver. 18): therefore Thou wilt exalt us in the place of strength. “And the shadow of death has covered us” (ver. 19). For this mortality of ours is but the “shadow” of death. The true death is condemnation with the devil.
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On Psalms 43:21–22Saint Augustine of Hippo16. “If we have forgotten the Name of our God.” Here is the “understanding” of the “sons of Korah.” “And stretched out our hands to a strange God” (ver. 20). “Shall not God search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart” (ver. 21). He “knows,” and yet He “searches them out”? If He knows the secrets of the heart, what do the words, “Shall not God search it out,” do there? He “knows” it in Himself; He…
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On Psalms 43:23Saint Augustine of Hippo17. “For, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter” (ver. 22). For you may see a man being put to death; you do not know why he is being put to death. God knoweth this. The thing in itself is hid. But some one will say to me, “See, he is detained in prison for the name of Christ, he is a confessor for the name of Christ.” Why do not heretics also confess the name of…
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On Psalms 43:24Saint Augustine of Hippo18. “Awake; why sleepest Thou, O Lord?” (ver. 23). Who is addressed, and who is the speaker? Would not he be more correctly said to sleep and slumber, who speaks such words as these? He replies to you, I know what I am saying: I know that “He that keepeth Israel doth not sleep:” but yet the Martyrs cry, “Awake; why sleepest Thou, O Lord?” O Lord Jesus, Thou wast slain; Thou didst “sleep” in Thy Passion; to us…
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On Psalms 43:25Saint Augustine of Hippo19. “Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face:” as if Thou wert not present; as if thou hadst forgotten us? “And forgettest our misery and trouble?” (ver. 24).
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On Psalms 43:26Saint Augustine of Hippo20. “For our soul is bowed down to the dust” (ver. 25). Where is it bowed down? “To the dust:” i.e. dust persecutes us. They persecute us, of whom Thou hast said, “The ungodly are not so; but are like the dust, which the wind driveth away from the face of the earth.” “Our belly hath cleaved to the earth.” He seems to me to have expressed the punishment of the extreme of humiliation, in which, when any one…
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On Psalms 43:27Open Psalms 43 in the interactive reader Switch translations, hear the chapter read aloud, tap any verse for its patristic commentary, and study the Greek word by word.Saint Augustine of Hippo21. “Arise, O Lord, help us” (ver. 26). And indeed, dearly beloved, He has arisen and helped us. For when he awaked (i.e. when He arose again, and became known to the Gentiles) on the cessation of persecutions, even those who had cleaved to the earth were raised up from the earth, and on performing penance, have been restored to Christ’s body, feeble and imperfect though they were: so that in them was fulfilled…
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