Irish Psalm Book Update

I posted about the discovery of a psalm book in an Irish bog a couple of days ago. The book dates from somewhere between 800-1000 AD. The Irish museum has issued a clarification of what the book was open to. They say it is not the 83rd psalm as we are familiar with it, instead it is what we would call the 84th psalm. The difference arose because the book is a translation of the older Vulgate bible, not the later King James version. The numbers apparently changed.

The National Museum of Ireland announced on Tuesday what it said was one of the most significant Irish discoveries in decades; an ancient Psalter or Book of Psalms, written around 800 AD. It said part of Psalm 83 was legible.

In modern versions of the Bible, Psalm 83 is a lament to God over other nations' attempts to wipe out Israel and many commentators wondered at the coincidence of such a discovery at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East.

"The above mention of Psalm 83 has led to misconceptions about the revealed wording and may be a source of concern for people who believe Psalm 83 deals with 'the wiping out of Israel'," the museum said in its clarification.

The confusion arose because the manuscript uses an old Latin translation of the Bible known at the Vulgate, which numbers the psalms differently from the later King James version, the 1611 English translation from which many modern texts derive.

"The Director of the National Museum of Ireland … would like to highlight that the text visible on the manuscript does not refer to wiping out Israel but to the 'vale of tears'," the museum said.

The vale of tears is in Psalm 84 in the King James version.

Hmm. Curious, isn't it? Here's the Vulgate bible translated. Psalm 83 does not mention Israel. Here is the King James. The number change is indeed shown.