Abram K-J Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 This is widespread enough that I didn't send it in just via Report Correction. When I copy a verse in the Psalms as Citation, it exports with a reference that reads Psalms 1:1, instead of Psalm 1:1 (which is correct). Almost had the error make it into the bulletin, but caught it in time! Happens in both NET and NIV, so I assume it's even further widespread... other Psalm verses, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Technically, it can be either way as "Psalms" can be short for "Book of Psalms." However, I prefer the singular "Psalm" myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abram K-J Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Really? Would be curious to hear more. I don't think I've ever seen "Psalms 1:1" in a reference, unless where it was in error. I'm not sure what the SBL or other style guides recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 SBL prefers "Psalm 1:1." You will tend to sometimes see something like "Psalms 1:1" in older and popular-level sources. I don't know the answer for why it reads "Psalms" in the Accordance citation, but it may be that way because this is a book of the Bible that would technically change when it is used with multiple chapters. For instance, it doesn't matter whether you write "Matthew 1" or "Matthew 1-4"; nothing changes in the name. But technically, it would change for "Psalm 1" vs. "Psalms 1-4." And since "Psalms" is not wholly incorrect, it may have been better to simply keep it as "Psalms" in the citation. But that's just a guess on my part. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abram K-J Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 That's what I was guessing, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Λύχνις Δαν Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 As a purely non-scholar non-academic who never writes a paper the singular seems odd to me because it would appear to suggest one was referring to a particular Psalm - eg. Psalm 46 for example, but the citation is describing the place in the work where the text cited can be found and thus Psalms 47:4 for example seems accurate and more correct. To my feeble computer mind it seems that the singular would refer to a given Psalm in toto and that the plural would be a reference to a location in the Book of Psalms. Just the way I think about it I suppose. tx D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abram K-J Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 True... unless you took Psalm 46:1 to mean, "Verse 1 from the (individual) Psalm which is Psalm 46 (in toto)," in which case "Psalm 46:1" would still be preferred. At any rate--fairly sure that's most common usage, and I made the fix before printing the bulletin. But, per Rick's point, I see why Accordance just exports the citation as "Psalms 46:1," since "Psalms" is the book name. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Λύχνις Δαν Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 True... unless you took Psalm 46:1 to mean, "Verse 1 from the (individual) Psalm which is Psalm 46 (in toto)," in which case "Psalm 46:1" would still be preferred. Yeah I thought of that. I initially rejected that for other reasons but its all convention in the end and whatever works is fine. Thx D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcombs Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Technically, it can be either way as "Psalms" can be short for "Book of Psalms." No, technically it can't be either way. It is the "book of Psalms" or "Psalm 23," not "Psalms 23." One can say Acts 23 because the book of Acts was divided up into chapters by Stephen Langton in the 13th century. But Psalm 23 is not Psalm chapter 23. The book of Psalms does not have chapters. Acts is a unitary work divided into chapters. The book of Psalms is a collection of individual Psalms. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Λύχνις Δαν Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Thanx for this. I had not considered the semantic distinction between chapter numbers and psalm numbers. Thx D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Technically, it can be either way as "Psalms" can be short for "Book of Psalms." No, technically it can't be either way. It is the "book of Psalms" or "Psalm 23," not "Psalms 23." One can say Acts 23 because the book of Acts was divided up into chapters by Stephen Langton in the 13th century. But Psalm 23 is not Psalm chapter 23. The book of Psalms does not have chapters. Acts is a unitary work divided into chapters. The book of Psalms is a collection of individual Psalms. I fully understand what you're saying, and as I said, I prefer and use the singular Psalm when referring to an individual psalm and reference. And you're correct that the psalms were already individual units before chapter divisions were added for the rest of the Bible. My point is merely that the plural abbreviation was often used in older and even now in some popular sources as referring to the whole book with the number following it. Although I don't prefer it, I don't feel it's outright incorrect (barring style prohibitions for a particular context) for a source to express "Psalms 23" like it would be incorrect to say "Revelations 22." In fact, in a quick scan of content in Accordance, I even found that the plural form is used in Zondervan's Exhaustive Analysis of the Hebrew Bible (no longer available as far as I can tell), which has a 2006 copyright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlesman Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I agree with “Psalm” as opposed to “Psalms.” Thanks, Abram J-K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Cue Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Does anyone ever say the 23rd Psalms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Λύχνις Δαν Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Probably not but they might say "Psalms 23" Thx D 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Francis Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Does anyone ever say the 23rd Psalms? No but you my say the 23rd of Psalms! or more likely Book of Psalms 23.... -dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Cue Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 No but you my say the 23rd of Psalms! or more likely Book of Psalms 23.... -dan Exactly Probably not but they might say "Psalms 23" Thx D That's exactly the point of this discussion, isn't it. People also say Revelations 3:20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P Finkelstein Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 This is a simple programming bug. Accordance needs to write into their citation algorithm a function to check for singular or plural (e.g., Psalms 1–2 = plural; Psalm 1 is singular). The singular method of referencing is the academic standard and is very important for the ancient evidence suggests (as with many other "books") a dynamically evolving psalm tradition. Thus, for the program to maintain its desire for high academic standards, this change should be implemented immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Cross Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Has this been corrected yet? Copy as Citation is still pasting Psalms instead of Psalm on my computer using Accordance 12.0.1. Is there a setting to change this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hall Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I have my settings for citation set to abbreviate the book name, so it is not an issue for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ιακοβ Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 For instance, it doesn't matter whether you write "Matthew 1" or "Matthew 1-4"; nothing changes in the name. But technically, it would change for "Psalm 1" vs. "Psalms 1-4." Is this true though? "Psalms 1–4" sounds quite strange to me. I doubt I have ever heard anyone say this. (Perhaps using the plural is a US thing?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Is this true though? "Psalms 1–4" sounds quite strange to me. I doubt I have ever heard anyone say this. (Perhaps using the plural is a US thing?) I hear the above example regularly and use it myself. I would personally never say or write "Psalms 1," but I would say or write "Psalms 1-4" in recognition of the fact that multiple psalms are in use. This is different usage from most books of the Bible, I would suggest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Gilbert Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Hi Ιακοβ,I used Pss many times in a book published by Walter de Gruyter in Berlin, proofread by Prof. Günter Stemberger, Series Editor of Studia Judaica.Regards,Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJF Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 This is my first post; I'm a new member. I was looking for how other people actually cite the Book of Psalms from the New Testament. I am of the mind a verse from the Book of Psalms should be cited as we do for say the Book of Numbers, Judges, Proverbs,... as the Book name, Psalms 1.2. I can appreciate the other opinions and haven't yet found anything that is definitive, Psalms or Psalm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abram K-J Posted November 1, 2018 Author Share Posted November 1, 2018 Hey, just posting from the future to let followers of this thread know that this is "fixed" in version 12.3. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesterchua Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I fhank God for Judges, Chronicles and Acts. And Psalms. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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