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Psalm 42 · a question people ask

Were Psalms 42 and 43 once one psalm?

In the text

The Bible doesn't say. What the text shows is this. Psalm 43 has no title, though the psalms on either side of it have one (Psalm 42:1, 44:1). The refrain of Psalm 42 comes a third time at the end of Psalm 43: "Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God!" (Psalm 43:5), and in Hebrew 43:5 is the same as 42:11, letter for letter. And a whole line is shared: "Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" (Psalm 42:9, 43:2), where in Hebrew only the word for go differs. The WEB and the Hebrew text used here (the Westminster Leningrad Codex) both number them as two psalms. So the two share a refrain and a line. Whether they were ever sung as one, the text doesn't say, and these notes don't decide it.

The verses

“For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.”
Psalm 42:1 · World English Bible
“I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?””
Psalm 42:9 · World English Bible
“Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.”
Psalm 42:11 · World English Bible
“Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men. For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Psalm 43:1-2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 42

Psalm 42: As the deer pants

Psalm 42's pants is a word the Hebrew Bible has only here and in Joel 1:20, where the animals pant at water brooks that have dried up. And its refrain, "Hope in God!" (42:5), comes three times across Psalms 42 and 43: in Hebrew 42:11 and 43:5 are the same, letter for letter, though the WEB words their endings differently.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions