Psalms 62
Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel
Psalms chapter 62 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.
8 patristic excerpts are attached to this chapter, from Saint Augustine of Hippo. The translator's notes for this chapter (3) follow the text.
Psalms 62
1(63) A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Idumea.Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαυὶδ, ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τῆς Ἰδουμαίας.
2O God, my God, I cry to you early; my soul has thirsted for you: how often has my flesh longed after you, in a barren and trackless and dry land!Ὁ Θεὸς ὁ Θεός μου πρὸς σὲ ὀρθρίζω, ἐδίψησέ σοι ἡ ψυχή μου, ποσαπλῶς σοι ἡ σάρξ μου, ἐν γῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ ἀβάτῳ καὶ ἀνύδρῳ,
3Thus have I appeared before you in the sanctuary, that I might see your power and your glory.οὕτως ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὤφθην σοι, τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὴν δύναμίν σου καὶ τὴν δόξαν σου.
4For your mercy is better than * life: my lips shall praise you.Ὅτι κρεῖσσον τὸ ἔλεός σου ὑπὲρ ζωὰς, τὰ χείλη μου ἐπαινέσουσί σε.
5Thus will I bless you during my life: I will lift up my hands in your name.Οὕτως εὐλογήσω σε ἐν τῇ ζωῇ μου, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἀρῶ τὰς χεῖράς μου.
6Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness; and my joyful lips shall praise your name.Ὡσεὶ στέατος καὶ πιότητος ἐμπλησθείη ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ χείλη ἀγαλλιάσεως αἰνέσει τὸ ὄνομά σου.
7† Forasmuch as I have remembered you on my bed: in the early seasons I have meditated on you.Εἰ ἐμνημόνευόν σου ἐπὶ τῆς στρωμνῆς μου, ἐν τοῖς ὄρθροις ἐμελέτων εἰς σέ.
8For you have been my helper, and in the shelter of your wings will I rejoice.Ὅτι ἐγενήθης βοηθός μου, καὶ ἐν τῇ σκέπῃ τῶν πτερύγων σου ἀγαλλιάσομαι.
9My soul has ‡ kept very close behind you: your right hand has upheld me.Ἐκολλήθη ἡ ψυχή μου ὀπίσω σου, ἐμοῦ ἀντελάβετο ἡ δεξιά σου.
10But they vainly sought after my soul; they shall go into the lowest parts o the earth.Αὐτοὶ δὲ εἰς μάτην ἐζήτησαν τὴν ψυχήν μου, εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὰ κατώτατα τῆς γῆς,
11They shall be delivered up to the power of the sword; they shall be portions for foxes.παραδοθήσονται εἰς χεῖρας ῥομφαίας, μερίδες ἀλωπέκων ἔσονται.
12But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that swears by him shall be praised; for the mouth of them that speak unjust things has been stopped.Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς εὐφρανθήσεται ἐπὶ τῷ Θεῷ, ἐπαινεθήσεται πᾶς ὁ ὀμνύων ἐν αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἐνεφράγη στόμα λαλούντων ἄδικα.
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. 3*Gr. lives.
- v. 6†Gr. if. See Acts 26:23
- v. 8‡Gr. been glued.
The Fathers on Psalms 62
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 62:2Saint Augustine of Hippo2. “God, my God, unto Thee from the light I watch” (ver. 1). What is to watch? It is, not to sleep. What is to sleep? There is a sleep of the soul; there is a sleep of the body. Sleep of body we all ought to have: because if sleep of body is not taken, a man fainteth, the body itself fainteth. For our frail body cannot long sustain a soul watching and on the stretch on active works; if for a long time the soul…
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On Psalms 62:2Saint Augustine of Hippo3. “My soul hath thirsted for Thee” (ver. 2). Behold that desert of Idumæa. See how here he thirsteth: but see what good thing is here, “Hath thirsted for Thee.” For there are they that thirst, but not for God. For every one that willeth anything to be granted to him, is in the heat of longing; the longing itself is the thirst of the soul. And see ye what longings there are in the hearts of men: one longeth for…
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On Psalms 62:3Saint Augustine of Hippo7. “Thus in a holy thing I have appeared to Thee, that I might see Thy power and Thy glory” (ver. 3).…Unless a man first thirst in that desert, that is in the evil wherein he is, he never arriveth at the good, which is God. But “I have appeared to Thee,” he saith, “in a holy thing.” Now in a holy thing is there great consolation. “I have appeared to Thee,” is what? In order that Thou mightest see me: and for this…
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On Psalms 62:5Saint Augustine of Hippo10. “So I will speak good of Thee in my life, and in Thy name I will lift up my hands” (ver. 5). Now in my life which to me Thou hast given, not in that which I have chosen after the world with the rest among many lives, but that which Thou hast given to me through Thy mercy, that I should praise Thee. “So I will speak good of Thee in my life.” What is “so”? That to Thy mercy I may ascribe my life wherein Thee I…
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On Psalms 62:7Saint Augustine of Hippo12. “If I have remembered Thee upon my bed, in the dawnings I did meditate on thee (ver. 7): because Thou hast become my helper” (ver. 8). His “bed” he calleth his rest. When any one is at rest, let him be mindful of God; when any one is at rest, let him not by rest be dissolved, and forget God: if mindful he is of God when he is at rest, in his actions on God he doth meditate. For the dawn he hath called…
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On Psalms 62:9Saint Augustine of Hippo13. “My soul hath been glued on behind Thee” (ver. 9). See ye one longing, see ye one thirsting, see ye how he cleaveth to God. Let there spring up in you this affection. If already it is sprouting, let it be rained upon and grow: let it come to such strength, that ye also may say from the whole heart, “My soul hath been glued on behind Thee.” Where is that same glue? The glue itself is love. Have thou love,…
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On Psalms 62:9Saint Augustine of Hippo14. “But themselves in vain have sought my soul. They shall go unto the lower places of the earth” (ver. 9). Earth they were unwilling to lose, when they crucified Christ: into the lower places of the earth they have gone. What are the lower places of the earth? Earthly lusts. Better it is to walk upon earth, than by lust to go under earth. For every one that in prejudice of his salvation desireth earthly things,…
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On Psalms 62:11Open Psalms 62 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 Hippo15. “They shall be delivered unto the hands of the sword” (ver. 10). In truth, thus it hath visibly befallen them, they have been taken by storm by enemies breaking in. “Portions of foxes they shall be.” Foxes he calleth the kings of the world, that then were when Judæa was conquered. Hear in order that ye may know and perceive, that those he calleth foxes. Herod the king the Lord Himself hath called a fox. “Go…
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