Psalm 117 is the 117th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people." In Latin, it is known as Laudate Dominum.[1] Consisting of only two verses, Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm and also the shortest chapter in the whole Bible. It is joined with Psalm 118 in the manuscripts of the Hebraist scholars Benjamin Kennicott and Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi.[2]
In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 116.
In Psalm 117, the gentiles are invited to join in praise of God. Christians view this as a fulfillment of God's promise of mercy to the gentiles, pointing to God's promise that all nations would be blessed in the seed of Abraham, who they believe is Christ, as described in the Letter to the Galatians:
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
With just two verses, seventeen words, and 62 characters (29 in verse 1 and 33 in verse 2) in Hebrew, this is the shortest psalm in the Book of Psalms. It is also the shortest chapter in the whole Bible. It is the 595th of the 1,189 chapters of the King James Version of the Bible, making it the middle chapter of this version.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[16][17] of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint,[18] the Latin text in the Vulgate[19] and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions.[note 1] In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 116.
↑Catholic Church; Congrégation de France (1961). The Liber usualis: with introduction and rubrics in English (in Latin). Tournai: Desclee Co. p.1853. OCLC598232.
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