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- What it is: A short psalm in David's voice, placed after Psalm 150 in the Greek Septuagint.
- Length: The standard Greek form has seven verses and stands outside the numbered collection of 150 psalms.
- Biblical place: It belongs to Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, but not the standard Protestant or Roman Catholic canon.
- Hebrew evidence: Related compositions called Psalm 151A and Psalm 151B survive in the Great Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11.
Psalm 151 is a short additional psalm that follows Psalm 150 in the Greek Septuagint and presents David recalling his youth, divine selection, and victory over Goliath. Its place in the Bible depends on the tradition: Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox psalters contain it, while standard Protestant and Roman Catholic canons do not. Related Hebrew compositions among the Dead Sea Scrolls show that its literary history extends beyond its Greek form.
This guide explains the psalm's title and length, its place in different biblical traditions, and the events it describes. It then turns to the Hebrew evidence from Qumran, the reasons for its absence from Protestant and Catholic canons, and related guides on ancient scripture.
What is Psalm 151?
Psalm 151 belongs to the manuscript tradition of the Greek Septuagint Psalter. The Septuagint is the ancient Greek translation of Jewish scriptures. In its standard Greek form, this additional poem is conventionally divided into seven verses. Its heading identifies it as outside the numbered collection of 150 psalms, so its position after Psalm 150 does not erase the distinction marked by the heading itself.
The term supernumerary describes that position beyond the usual total. The poem takes the form of a first-person recollection attributed to David, rather than a narrative told about him by another speaker. That literary attribution is not proof that the historical king composed it. The distinction matters for the authorship question: David is the voice within the poem, but the attribution alone does not establish its historical author.
Where Psalm 151 appears
Psalm 151 forms part of Eastern Orthodox biblical tradition and also appears in the Ethiopian Orthodox Psalter. Its presence in those settings gives a specific answer to whether it belongs to the Bible: it does within these traditions. That answer describes its place in particular scriptural collections rather than assigning a single status shared by every Jewish and Christian collection of psalms.
The wider transmission of extra psalms also reaches Syriac. A Syriac collection preserves five additional compositions conventionally numbered 151 through 155. Psalms 152 through 155 are separate works, not further portions of Psalm 151. This numbering therefore describes a group of additional psalms rather than an extended version of David's recollection. Scholars study these traditions as evidence for the transmission of biblical poetry across Hebrew, Greek, and Syriac.
What the poem describes
The poem's account of David's early life brings together his place within his family, his work, and his music. He presents himself as the youngest of his brothers and recalls tending his father's sheep. He also describes making musical instruments with his own hands. These details connect his shepherd life with musical activity, while the poem places that music within his relationship to God.
The anointing episode recalls Samuel's selection of David in 1 Samuel 16, presenting divine choice in contrast with his brothers' impressive appearance. The Greek poem then concludes with the encounter with the Philistine champion identified in the biblical narrative as Goliath, recalling 1 Samuel 17. Its account describes David killing the Philistine with the champion's own sword and presents the victory as removing disgrace from Israel.
The Hebrew evidence: Psalm 151A and Psalm 151B
Hebrew material corresponding to the Greek psalm survives in the Great Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11, commonly designated 11Q5 or 11QPsᵃ. The scroll is usually dated to the first century CE. It preserves two separate compositions conventionally called Psalm 151A and Psalm 151B. Those labels are scholarly designations, not ancient psalm numbers written in the scroll.
Psalm 151A concerns David's shepherd life, music, and divine selection, with material absent from the shorter Greek account. Only the beginning of Psalm 151B survives, introducing the encounter with the Philistine. The Greek psalm combines material corresponding to both compositions. The discovery established that related Hebrew forms circulated in ancient Judaism; Hebrew counterparts of Syriac Psalms 154 and 155 also survive in this scroll.
Why Protestant and Catholic Bibles leave it out
Psalm 151 is absent from the Masoretic Hebrew Psalter, and the standard Jewish Book of Psalms contains 150 psalms. It is also outside the standard Protestant biblical canon and the Roman Catholic biblical canon. Its absence from those Bibles reflects these canonical boundaries. Some modern Bibles nevertheless print it among additional or apocryphal writings, without treating its appearance there as recognition of canonical status.
The Qumran evidence does not turn these different boundaries into a single ancient consensus. The Great Psalms Scroll differs from the later standard Hebrew Psalter in both its selection and arrangement of compositions. A work's presence in a Qumran scroll does not by itself establish that all ancient Jews regarded it as canonical. Evidence that a poem circulated and evidence of universally accepted scriptural status are different kinds of evidence.
Where to go next
The guide to the Septuagint develops the Greek scriptural context, while the guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls concerns the ancient manuscript setting. The guide to the Ethiopian Bible covers the books of the Ethiopian Orthodox canon. Together, these topics extend the three main contexts of Psalm 151: its Greek transmission, its Hebrew witnesses, and its place in an Ethiopian biblical tradition.
A related royal attribution appears in the Prayer of Manasseh, a short anonymous prayer that presents King Manasseh confessing wrongdoing and asking for mercy; the guide to the Apocrypha offers a further related topic. The edition on this site is titled Psalm 151, and the work also forms part of The Complete 88-Book Ethiopian Bible and The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible.
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Every book’s page plays the opening of its audiobook. Open Psalm 151 below and press play.
Psalm 151Attributed to King DavidHear a sample
The Complete 88-Book Ethiopian BibleHear a sample
The Dead Sea Scrolls BibleHear a sample
The Prayer of ManassehAttributed to King ManassehHear a sample
Questions about Psalm 151
What is Psalm 151?
Psalm 151 is an additional psalm transmitted after Psalm 150 in the Greek Septuagint Psalter. Its standard Greek form has seven verses. Speaking in David's voice, it brings together recollections of shepherd life, music, divine selection, and the encounter with Goliath. Its heading places it outside the usual numbered collection.
Is Psalm 151 in the Bible?
Yes in Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, but not in the standard Protestant or Roman Catholic canon. The answer depends on which biblical tradition is meant. Some Bibles also print it with additional or apocryphal writings, where its presence does not mean that it is being treated as canonical.
Who wrote Psalm 151?
Psalm 151 is attributed to David, but that literary attribution does not establish that the historical king wrote it. The speaker recalls events from David's early life in the first person. Scholars also study the poem as an example of ancient Jewish writers retelling and expanding biblical stories about David.
Why is Psalm 151 not in the Protestant Bible?
Psalm 151 falls outside the standard Protestant canon and is absent from the Masoretic Hebrew Psalter, whose collection has 150 psalms. Its transmission in Greek and its related Hebrew witnesses do not give it the same canonical standing in every tradition. Its status therefore differs from its status in Orthodox traditions.
Where was Psalm 151 found among the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Related Hebrew material survives in the Great Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11. The manuscript is known as 11Q5 or 11QPsᵃ and is usually dated to the first century CE. It preserves Psalm 151A and the surviving opening of the separate composition called Psalm 151B.
