The Little Verse That Isn't There
[The LORD
is faithful in all his words
and kind in
all his works.]—Ps 145:13b
Verse 13b is the little verse that isn’t there. No text of the Hebrew Bible
contains it prior to the 3rd century A.D. Most modern versions place a verse in
brackets to indicate that it is not in the original text.
Ordinarily
we wouldn't know that a verse is missing, but Psalm 145 is an alphabetic acrostic, each verse beginning with
the next letter of the Hebrew Alphabet in sequence. The "mem"
("M") line is present (13a), but the verse that should begin with
"nun" ("N") is missing in the Hebrew text.
Apparently
some 3rd century A.D. scribe, realizing that a verse had been
omitted, made up one to fill out the acrostic. The "made up" verse is
found in several versions—notably, the Greek and Latin versions and the Dead
Sea Scrolls—and is the text that appears in brackets in most modern
translations: ["The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works."]
I can’t
think of a better summation of my thoughts about God. As Quakers say, “This scribe
speaks my mind.”
If you were
asked to make up a verse of the Bible—one that sums up your thoughts about God—what
would you write?
David Roper
4/17/17
