The book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible consists of 150 psalms. These psalms are accepted as canonical Scripture by Jews and all Christians. However, the Greek manuscripts of the book of Psalms contain 151 psalms; this additional psalm is considered part of the canonical book of Psalms by the Orthodox churches. It has not traditionally been included among the apocryphal books of Protestant Bibles, but RSV expanded its Apocrypha in an “expanded edition” in 1977 to include Psalm 151, as well as 3-4 Maccabees, other books valued in the Orthodox tradition. NRSV continued this practice.
Besides the Greek, this psalm is also known in Latin, Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, and Ethiopic. It has been used in the coronation ceremony for the emperors of Ethiopia.

Although this psalm was translated from Hebrew, no Hebrew text was known until it was discovered on a scroll of psalms found at Qumran in 1956. The Hebrew text is longer than the Greek, and is followed by fragments of another psalm that also parallels the Greek Psalm 151. RSV gives a translation of the Hebrew as part of the introduction to the psalm. It is believed that the long-known Greek Psalm 151 is an abbreviation of the two Hebrew psalms noted above. The complete Hebrew psalm deals with David’s selection by God; the fragmentary psalm apparently dealt with the contest between David and Goliath. This Handbook deals with the Greek text only.

Psalm 151 has a superscription. After that the psalm has two parts:

1-5 David tells of his selection by God
6-7 David tells of killing Goliath

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see