Psalm 48 is the 48th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and generally in its Latin translations, this psalm is Psalm 47. In the Vulgate, it begins "Magnus Dominus". The psalm was composed by the sons of Korah, as "a celebration of the security of Zion", In its heading it is referred to as both a "song" and a "psalm". The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies, and has been set to music. Bach's 1729 cantata Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171, begins with verse 10 in German, and Penderecki's 1996 Symphony No. 7 begins with the first verse.

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Heading

The psalm is described initially as ''A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah''. Theologian Albert Barnes writes: "The two appellations, song and psalm, would seem to imply that it was intended to 'combine' what was implied in both these words; that is, that it embraced what was usually understood by the word psalm, and that it was intended also specifically to be sung.

Uses

Judaism

New Testament

In the New Testament, verse 2 of Psalm 48 is quoted in Matthew 5.

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the ninth day of the month, as well as at Mattins on Whitsunday.

Musical settings

Heinrich Schütz wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 48 in German, "Groß ist der Herr und hoch gepreist", SWV 145, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628. Magnus Dominus, in Latin, was set to music by François Giroust (1778), Charles Levens and Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville (1734) and by Richard Smallwood (1992). Bach's cantata Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171, begins with verse 10 in German. Penderecki's 1996 Symphony No. 7, a choral symphony subtitled "The Seven Gates of Jerusalem", begins with the first verse.