Psalm 115

Setting of the psalm

The 115th psalm is a biblical psalm from the fifth book of the psalter . According to the Greek count of the Septuagint , which is also used by the Latin Vulgate , it forms verses 9-26 of Psalm 113, during which the first eight verses correspond to Psalm 114 .

Bishop's coat of arms of Aristide Gonsallo , Benin, with motto: Non nobis ...

content

The psalm was probably written against the background of the experience of the years of exile and the period that followed. At that time the Israelites saw themselves increasingly exposed to the ridicule of their pagan environment, who, in view of the lack of images of gods among the Jews, made fun of the apparent lack of a visible sign of the existence of their god (verse 2: "Where is their God?"). This reproach is taken up and it is stated that the idols made by man are truly useless because they cannot do anything at all.

Verses 9-11 represent an alternating song between priest and congregation, which is similar to the alternating song in Psalm 118: 2-4 EU . The groups called in it to hope describe the congregation ( Israel ), the priests ( house of Aaron ) and the proselytes ( who fear the Lord ). Parts of the Psalm (verses 4–6, 8 and 10f) are taken up in Psalm 135.15–20 EU .

reception

The Vulgate incipit " Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam " became the motto of the Templar Order , as well as of the Silesian-Moravian noble family Lichnowski .

Non nobis is the original Dutch title of the novel Der Schatz der Templer (1987) by Hanny Alders .

Settings of the Non nobis Domine have been handed down by Richard Mudge , Jean Mouton and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy ( “Not our name, Herr” op. 31 MWV A 9).

Web links

Commons : Psalm 115  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Psalm 115 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 115 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain of settings for Psalm 115 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stuttgart Explanatory Bible. 2nd Edition. German Bible Society , Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-438-01121-2 , p. 752 f.
2. ↑ The Bible with Explanations. 3rd edition, Evangelische Haupt-Bibelgesellschaft, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-7461-0069-0 .