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Why We Should Follow the Traditional Catholic Numbering of the Psalms

Tradition and Sanity

To the confusion of readers across the centuries, the Psalms come in two different numbering systems — and the use of one or the other bespeaks a worldview. In any Bible used by orthodox Catholics, Eastern or Western, from apostolic times down to the Protestant Revolt, and again within the Catholic Church right to the Second Vatican Council, there is one and only one psalm numbering system used: that of the Septuagint and the Vulgate. In this system, certain famous numbers come immediately to mind. The Miserere is Psalm 50. When Jesus prayed on the cross, he recited Psalm 21, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” Psalm 118 is the great hymn in praise of the Law. The Protestants, on the other hand, were the first to yield to a false antiquarianism by insisting on following the Hebrew Masoretic numbering of the Psalms, as if this were somehow “more authentic” than following the received Greco-Latin enumeration. As it happens, it is not. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.traditionsanity.com/subscribe