Psalm 96 is the 96th psalm of the Book of Psalms, a hymn. The first verse of the psalm calls to praise in singing, in English in the King James Version: "O sing a new song unto the Lord". Similar to Psalm 98 ("Cantate Domino") and Psalm 149, the psalm calls to praise God in music and dance, because he has chosen his people and helped them to victory. It is one of the royal psalms praising God as the King of His people. In the slightly different numbering system used by the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 95. In Latin, it is known as "Cantate Domino canticum novum". The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The Latin conclusion, "Laetentur caeli", is used during the Christmas night liturgy. The psalm or verses of it have been paraphrased to hymns, and it has often been set to music, notably by Handel in his Chandos Anthems, by Mendelssohn who quoted from it in a movement of his choral symphony Lobgesang, and Zoltán Gárdonyi as part of three motets. Incipit: "O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth." (KJV; in Hebrew שירו ליהוה שיר חדש שירו ליהוה כל־הארץ).

Background and themes

According to Radak, this psalm was composed by David when he brought the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. On this day, David composed two songs – Hodu, and "Sing to the Lord, the entire earth" (verse 2 of this psalm, which is also recorded in ). As recounted in, David instructed Asaph and his brothers to sing these songs daily. Hodu was sung before the Ark every morning, and Psalm 96 was sung before the Ark every afternoon, until the time the Temple was constructed and the Ark was moved into it. However, Alexander Kirkpatrick associates the "newness" of the song with the deliverance of Israel from Babylonian captivity, inaugurating "a new stage in the nation’s history". He notes that the Septuagint's title for this psalm is "When the house was being built after the Captivity". In Hebrew, this psalm is known as Shiru Lashem ("Sing to the Lord"), and repeats the word "sing" three times. According to the Midrash Tehillim, these three instances allude to the three daily prayer services "when Israel sings praises to God". They are: Shacharit, the morning prayer, corresponding to "Sing a new song to the Lord" (verse 1); Mincha, the afternoon prayer, corresponding to "Sing to the Lord, all the earth" (verse 1); and Maariv, the evening prayer, corresponding to "Sing to the Lord, bless His Name" (verse 2). In Baptist minister Charles Spurgeon's assessment, Psalm 96 is a "missionary hymn". It is specifically paired with Psalm 95, which described "Israel's hard-heartedness" toward God in the desert. Christian scholars assert that Israel employed that same hard-heartedness to reject Jesus as the Messiah, so now the Christians have the task of declaring the gospel to the world. Matthew Henry interprets verses 10 to 13 in this psalm as instructions of what to say for those who preach the gospel. Biblical scholars note numerous thematic and structural similarities between Psalm 96 and Psalm 97, which are both "Kingship of YHWH" psalms.

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

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). The extant palimpsest AqTaylor includes a translation into Koine Greek by Aquila of Sinope in about 130 CE, containing verses 7–13.

Verse 1

These words match those of the prophet Isaiah in.

Verse 10

Many Old Latin manuscripts read Dominus regnavit a ligno, that is "The Lord reigns from the wood" or "The Lord reigns from the tree". This reading does not appear in any Hebrew manuscripts, and its only appearance in a Greek Old Testament manuscript (as ἀπὸ τῷ ξύλω) is in a bilingual Greek-Latin manuscript, the Codex Veronensis. Neither does it appear in the parallel passage in. However, Justin Martyr references it in his Dialogue with Trypho (c. 160 AD), accusing the Jews of having omitted it. Augustine quotes it in his commentary on the psalms (c. 430 AD), relating it to the crucifixion of Jesus, as do several other Church Fathers such as Tertullian, Cyprian and Lactantius. Jerome did not include it in the Vulgate because he could not find it in any Hebrew manuscripts. Despite this, it entered Christian hymnological and liturgical texts, such as the Psalterium Romanum, the hymn Vexilla regis prodeunt and the Coptic Agpeya, thus becoming familiar to many Christians. Most Biblical critics believe that the words "from the wood" were added by an early Christian scribe, perhaps as a gloss that was then incorporated into the main text. However, Fr John Hunwicke hypothesized that, if the verse is original, it might have originally referred to the wooden Ark of the Covenant and its victory over the Philistine god Dagon.

Uses

Judaism

Psalm 96 is the second of six psalms recited during the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Shabbat) service in Ashkenazic, Hasidic and some Sephardic communities.. These six psalms represent the six days of the week, with Psalm 96 corresponding to the second day of the week (Monday). Verses 4 and 9 are part of Selichot. Psalm 96 is recited to increase joy among family members.

Catholicism

The final three verses in Latin, "Laetentur caeli", comprise the offertory antiphon used in the Mass During the Night for the Nativity of the Lord.

Musical settings

Calling to sing, Psalm 96 has been paraphrased in hymns, and often set to music. "Laetentur caeli" (vv. 11–13 of the Psalm) was set by Orlande de Lassus for four parts, and by Giovanni Bassano for double choir, among others. Handel set the psalm around 1712, and a movement of his Chandos Anthems in 1717 or 1718. German settings of the Baroque era: In the 19th century, Mendelssohn quoted from Psalm 96 in movement 10 of his choral symphony Lobgesang on biblical texts in 1810. Czech composer Antonín Dvořák quoted the psalm, combined with verses of Psalm 98, in the final movement of his Biblical Songs of 1894. In the 20th century, Zoltán Gárdonyi set Psalm 96 as part of three motets in German, "Singet dem Herren", for mixed choir a cappella, along with a Finnish song and Psalm 23, published by Schott. James MacMillan wrote "A New Song" in 1997, with lyrics taken from this Psalm. Hymns referring to the psalm include the 1901 "This Is My Father's World", and "Sing to the Lord a new made song". Music inspired by the psalm also includes a gospel blues by Blind Willie Johnson, "Church, I'm Fully Saved To-Day", based on the hymn "Fully Saved Today".

Sources