Why is Psalm 145 missing a verse?

29th July 2012, hej

This Article: (5 Pages)

1) Mystery of the extra words in the NIV translation

Psalm 145 is an alphabetic acrostic, but in the Masoretic Hebrew text it is missing the Hebrew letter 'nun'. Some more modern English translations add a verse, following the Catholic translations and Septuagint. The following will argue that there are powerful reasons why this letter was left out, and why the Masoretic Hebrew text is accurate.

We were made aware of this as we were given a 'nice-sounding' verse from Psalm 145:13 in a get-well greeting card, saying 'the Lord is faithful to all his promises & loving toward all he has made.' Not being familiar with this, we looked up our KJV Bibles and found instead,

Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.

The subsequent investigation revealed that the NIV had an added line to 145 verse 13. Had the KJV lost some text? Investigation also revealed that there seems much variation on what might be added to that verse for the missing letter of the acrostic, and that some Christians might argue about the validity of the words added and what those words should be, but Jews only talked about the meaning of the missing letter. Jews fully accepted the missing letter in the acrostic.

This chapter is not the only one with a missing letter in an alphabetic acrostic. Psalm 34 (with 23 verses) begins with every letter except vav. Psalm 37 (40 verses) has verses beginning with every letter but ayin. That Psalm 145 is not the only case of a missing letter, indicates that there might be a reason for it.

The portion of Psalm 145 reads:

12 להודיע לבני האדם גבורתיו וכבוד הדר מלכותו׃

To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glory of the majesty of His kingdom.

13 מלכותך מלכות כל־עלמים וממשׁלתך בכל־דור ודור׃

Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages, and Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.

No 'nun' נ

(Where some modern English translations add to verse 13)

14 סומך יהוה לכל־הנפלים וזוקף לכל־הכפופים׃

The LORD upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that are bowed down.

15 עיני־כל אליך ישׂברו ואתה נותן־להם את־אכלם בעתו׃

The eyes of all wait for Thee, and Thou give them their food in due season.

Counted letters

It is highly unlikely that the Masoretic text would lose one letter, let alone a whole verse. Each copy of the official copy had every letter counted. It is Jewish tradition to have Soferim count the number of each letter, the number of words and verses, so the text is always accurate. One lost or added letter meant rejection of a whole manuscript. Jewish tradition has Ezra the Scribe setting out the work of the Soferim. As Jews knew they had a perfect master copy there was some freedom with other, often personal, copies. Some personal copies have lots of things added, such as one version of the Psalm 145 found in the Dead Sea cache of scrolls which adds “Blessed be the LORD and blessed be his name forever and ever” after every verse.

But this addition ought not to be surprising as Psalm 145 is the Psalm recited three times daily as a prayer by Jews. For a long time it has been very important in worship. It is called the Ashrei (or 'Happy'). In addition, whereas they do not often add verses to other Psalms, for Psalm 145 they do. The sages for this worship prayer added a verse each from Psalms 84 and 144 to the beginning, and to the end a verse from Psalm 115. Jews themselves ask why add verses to this Psalm? One answer is that it is incomplete. The verses they add do not begin with the letter 'nun'. This indicates that it has always been incomplete.

Incompleteness of a world with suffering

The incomplete nature might have to do with an idea I heard that might be quite common among Jews, that the letters are part of the words that were the origin of the creation process.

And Elohim said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light. (Gen 1:3)

Another source says,

In the medieval.. Sefer Yitzirah: The Book of Creation, the letters of the Alef-bet are described as the stones used to build a house They are called the “twenty two letters of foundation.” This highlights the belief in the essential relationship between letters, words and the creative process. (http://www.gematrix.org/gematria.php).

The Psalm is a happy psalm, yet in the Psalm it speaks of stumbling, the bent being made straight and deliverance from the wicked. The world is not perfect. It is not complete. The end is that 'all creatures shall bless His holy name', which implies a happy future, when the process of this creation is complete and there is complete happiness. No Jewish text ever adds the incomplete letter.

The missing letter

More than the mere statement of incompleteness, the precise letter that is missing stands out. Our Lord points out the value placed in the missing item, over the others present. More attention is given to the lost or missing item.

What woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. (Luke 15:8-10)

It seems that every time one would read it we would take note of that one missing letter. Is there anything special about the letter 'nun'? It turns out there is.

2) The letter 'nun'

The letter nun is also a number. It is the number 50. The number 50 is a special number as it refers to the year of Jubilee. In that year people reduced to labouring for others return to their inheritance. It is the number for redemption, freedom and happiness in the inheritance given. Fifty years marks the change from one generation to another. The age of fifty is when one is thought to have lived long enough to have acquired wisdom by experience. The Psalm in particular makes mention of the generations,

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (Psa 145:4)

The return to the inheritance of the Jubilee, is a return to the inheritance promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So this speaks of the completeness of the plan of creation. As one reads the Psalm, one can see the praise of the return to the land, and the freedom of the 50th year.

The LORD uphold all that fall, and raises up all those that be bowed down. (Psa 145:14)

Those who 'fell' and become in debt, which led to bondage, are raised up. Their land which gave them food, is given back,

Thou open thine hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Psa 145:16) and

He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. (Psa 145:19)

This connection might not seems so obvious to us, but to the Hebrews who used letters as numbers daily, it would be more obvious.

3) Y'shua (Joshua) son of Nun

The letter has a name, נון which is the same as for a person, which indicates it had a meaning. According to Strongs 'nun' is from a word which means, 'to resprout, that is, propagate by shoots; figuratively, to be continued.'

It is used directly of David.

Psa 72:17 יהי שׁמו לעולם לפני־שׁמשׁ ינין שׁמו ויתברכו בו כל־גוים יאשׁרוהו׃

May his name endure for ever; may his name be continued as long as the sun; may men also bless themselves by him; may all nations call him happy. (Psa 72:17)

The sages interpret the verb yinon ינין in this verse to refer to the Messiah, and may be literally read as "may His Name Nun (propagate)." http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Nun/nun.html

Jews also note that the name David in its Hebrew letters adds up to 14, and nun is the 14th letter of the Alef-bet.

4) The Faithful Servant

To Jews the letter nun is quite special,

The letter NUN has a numerical value of fifty, and is the symbol of faithfulness.

There are two forms of the letter NUN: the bent one and the elongated one. The long NUN is only used at the end of a word.

The Hebrew word for soul (neshamah), and candle (ner) both begin with the letter NUN.

The Hebrew word for faithful one, ne'eman, is signified by the letter NUN.

Bje Hebrew

It is thought that the letter 'nun' refers to the faithful servant. This applied to Moses, where being a servant was the highest honour. And that the 50 also refers to when the Torah was given, as the “yoke of the kingdom of Heaven”, so that the people would be servants of the kingdom of Heaven. (see youtube on 'nun')

So Psalm 145 is thought to be the song of the faithful servant. This is why it is said so often as a prayer.

Also from the form of the Hebrew word, nun, and perhaps the fact that it is one of the 8 letters in classical Hebrew given a 'crown' of three tagin, the letter itself is now seen as a picture of bowed servant.

Nun is said to represent both faithfulness and the reward for faithfulness. ..Rashi said that this orthography suggests that the one who is humble before God will stand upright in the final day. In the olam hazeh (present life), this means that the tzaddik (righteous man) will simultaneously affirm: "I am nothing but dust," and "the world itself was made for my sake." Hebrew4Christians

The meaning of the letter 'nun' in all its different parts fits Psalm 145. The Psalm is entirely praise of God, and speaks of all the earth and 'all creatures' (and does not mention Israel). It begins with confidence in a future of praising God as king forever,

A Psalm of praise; of David. I will extol Thee, my God, O King; and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless Thee; and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:1-2)

5) Having thought on absence

The missing letter in the acrostic of Psalm 145 is important. It indicates firstly the world is not perfect, but waiting completion of God's plan. Secondly the precise letter, nun, which is missing draws attention to the number fifty, and the idea of redemption. The world 'nun' is related to 'sprouting' and to the Messiah, son of David, and faithful-one. The missing letter summarises what is understood, but missing, the in the Psalm. What was the purpose of the wondrous acts? How is the kindness shown? And when will all creatures bless His Holy Name? Is it not when the Faithful One is no longer missing, and when the fulfilment of the fiftieth year of redemption comes?

So why do some modern English versions add a verse '13b' to fill for the missing 'nun'? No Hebrew text does. It seems to come from those who long ago did not think on it deeply, and who put in a verse to complete it. An extra verse turned up in the Septuagint. The Septuagint, was possibly begun as personal translation, and was never considered a rival to the copy held by the scribes, or even the meticulous Hebrew copies reserved to be read in the Synagogue.

The extra words of the modern translation such as the NIV and the Latin translations used to fill in for the missing 'nun' verse apparently don't match the Septuagint, or each other, as there is variation in the extra verse, as if from a variety of human sources, none inspired. This web site though not as clear as one might wish, does cover the debate. brandplucked.webs.com

Truly,