Overview

The Syriac Peshitta version of the book of Psalms includes several psalms, usually numbered 152–55, that are found neither in the Hebrew of the Masoretic Text (which contains 150 psalms) nor in other ancient translations such as the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. These four psalms are sometimes referred to as the “apocryphal Psalms of David” along with Psalm 151. Psalm 151 is a brief psalm that is found in the Septuagint; it was not originally part of the Peshitta, but a Syriac translation from the Septuagint is found in some Peshitta and Syro-Hexaplaric manuscripts, including some that do not contain psalms 152–55 (van Peursen, “Introduction,” 14; van Rooy, “Marginal Notes,” 544–45; Strugnell, “Notes,” 259–61). Psalms 151–55 may be canonical in churches of the Syriac tradition. Psalms 152–155 are not canonical in any other Christian or Jewish tradition; Psalm 151 is included in the Eastern Orthodox canon, but not in Jewish, Protestant, or Catholic biblical canons, though it sometimes appears in an appendix to Catholic Bibles.