Psalm 100 · a question people ask
"It is he who has made us, and we are his" (100:3). Is that exactly what the Hebrew says?
At this point the Hebrew text has two readings, and the Westminster Leningrad Codex gives both: the word as it is written, and a reading it marks beside it. The written word is and followed by the letters of lo', which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "not". Read that way, the line says, word for word, he made us, and not we. The marked reading differs by one letter (the written word ends in aleph, the marked reading in vav): velo, which is and with the small word to him of "Give thanks to him" (100:4). Read that way, it says he made us, and we are his (word for word, and to him we). The WEB prints the second: "It is he who has made us, and we are his" (100:3). Both readings say the same first thing, "It is he who has made us" (100:3), and the Hebrew words after them are the same either way: "his people, and the sheep of his pasture" (100:3). These notes give what the WEB prints and don't weigh the two readings.
The verses
“Know that the LORD, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name.”