Psalm 23 in Aramaic

Moryo ner'ein, the Lord is my shepherd, in the language of Jesus and the chant of the Maronite Church

Psalm 23 in Aramaic begins Moryo ner'ein: "The Lord will shepherd me." It is the most beloved psalm in the world, the one read at hospital beds and gravesides, and the Syriac Christian tradition has chanted it in Aramaic for nearly two thousand years.

Below is the full text from the Peshitta, the ancient Syriac Bible: the Syriac script, a transliteration you can read aloud, the English meaning, and a short reflection on each verse. First, though, an honest word about what "Psalm 23 in Aramaic" actually is.

A Psalm Written in Hebrew, Prayed in Aramaic

The Psalms were written in Hebrew. Psalm 23 is traditionally attributed to David, the shepherd who became king, and in the Hebrew it opens Adonai ro'i, lo echsar. Jesus would have sung it in Hebrew in the synagogue, as every Jew of his time did.

But the language of his daily life was Aramaic, and the earliest Aramaic-speaking Christians wanted the Psalms in their own tongue. The result is the Psalter of the Peshitta, the standard Syriac Bible, translated directly from the Hebrew in the first centuries of the Church. Syriac is a literary dialect of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, and the Peshitta Psalter is the form in which Maronite, Syriac, Assyrian, and Chaldean Christians have prayed the Psalms ever since.

So the Syriac Psalm 23 is not the psalm's original language. It is something almost as moving: the shepherd psalm as it has lived in the language of Jesus, on the lips of his Church, for seventeen centuries.

Psalm 23 in Aramaic, Verse by Verse

The text below follows the Peshitta Psalter. Each verse is given in Syriac script, in a Latin-letter transliteration (Western Syriac pronunciation, the one Maronites use), and in an English rendering of the Syriac.

Verse 1: The Lord is my shepherd

ܡܪܝܐ ܢܪܥܝܢܝ ܘܡܕܡ ܠܐ ܢܚܣܪ ܠܝ

Moryo ner'ein, u medem lo nhassar li

The Lord will shepherd me, and I shall lack nothing.

Moryo is the Syriac name for the Lord, the same word sung in every Maronite liturgy. The verb ner'ein carries the whole range of a shepherd's work in one word: to feed, to guard, to lead, to keep. The psalm begins not with what I must do, but with what he does.

Verse 2: Pastures of strength, waters of rest

ܘܥܠ ܡܪ̈ܓܐ ܕܥܘܫܢܐ ܢܫܪܝܢܝ ܘܥܠ ܡܝ̈ܐ ܢܝ̈ܚܐ ܢܕܒܪܢܝ

W'al marge d'ushno nashrein, w'al mayo nihe ndabran

He makes me dwell in pastures of strength, and leads me beside restful waters.

Here the Syriac surprises. Where the Hebrew has "green pastures," the Peshitta has marge d'ushno, "pastures of strength": pasture that restores what the road has taken. The waters are nihe, restful, quiet, from the same root as the Syriac word for rest itself.

Verse 3: Paths of truth

ܢܦܫܝ ܐܦܢܝ ܘܕܒܪܢܝ ܒܫܒ̈ܝܠܝ ܩܘܫܬܐ ܡܛܠ ܫܡܟ

Nafshi afni, w-dabran bashbilay qushto, metul shmokh

He restores my soul, and leads me in the paths of truth for the sake of your name.

The Hebrew's "paths of righteousness" becomes shbilay qushto, "paths of truth." Qushto is one of the great words of Syriac spirituality: truth as something you walk in, not merely something you believe. The shepherd does not only feed the flock; he keeps it on the true road.

Verse 4: The valleys of the shadows of death

ܐܦܢ ܐܗܠܟ ܒܢܚ̈ܠܝ ܛܠܠ̈ܝ ܡܘܬܐ ܠܐ ܐܕܚܠ ܡܢ ܒܝܫܬܐ ܡܛܠ ܕܐܢܬ ܥܡܝ ܫܒܛܟ ܘܚܘܛܪܟ ܗܢܘܢ ܒܝܐܘܢܝ

Ofen ehalekh b'nahlay telolay mawto, lo edhal men bishto, metul d'at 'am; shabtokh w'hutrokh henun bayaun

Even if I walk in the valleys of the shadows of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The Syriac puts both valley and shadow in the plural: nahlay telolay mawto, the valleys of the shadows of death, as if the psalmist knew there would be more than one. At the verse's center the psalm turns from speaking about God to speaking to him: d'at 'am, "you are with me." Anyone who has prayed this verse in a hospital corridor knows why the grammar changes there.

Verse 5: A table before my enemies, a cup that overflows

ܣܕܪܬ ܩܕܡܝ ܦܬܘܪ̈ܐ ܠܘܩܒܠ ܒܥܠܕ̈ܒܒܝ ܐܕܗܢܬ ܪܝܫܝ ܒܡܫܚܐ ܘܟܣܝ ܡܪܘܐ ܐܝܟ ܚܝܐ

Sedart qdomay fothure luqbal b'eldbobay; adhent rish b'meshho, w'kos marwe aykh hayo

You have prepared tables before me, opposite my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup overflows as though it were alive.

The Peshitta adds an image the Hebrew does not have: the cup overflows aykh hayo, "as though it were alive," brimming and moving like a living thing. Syriac Christian readers have always heard the Eucharist in this verse, the table set, the oil of anointing, the living cup.

Verse 6: Goodness and mercy shall pursue me

ܛܝܒܘܬܟ ܘܪ̈ܚܡܝܟ ܪܕܦܘܢܝ ܟܠܗܘܢ ܝܘ̈ܡܬܐ ܕܚܝ̈ܝ ܕܐܥܡܪ ܒܒܝܬܗ ܕܡܪܝܐ ܢܘܓܪܐ ܕܝܘ̈ܡܬܐ

Taybuthokh w'rahmayk radfun kulhun yawmotho d'hayay, d'e'mar b'bayteh d'Moryo nughro d'yawmotho

Your grace and your mercies pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days.

Radfun is a strong verb: not "follow" politely at a distance, but "pursue," "chase," the word used for a pursuer on the road. In this psalm the only thing chasing you is mercy. Taybutho, grace or lovingkindness, is the same word the Maronite liturgy uses when the priest invokes the grace of the Lord upon the congregation.

How the Maronite Church Prays the Shepherd Psalm

The Psalms are the backbone of Maronite prayer. The daily office, the Shimto, is built on them, and psalm verses thread through the Qurbono from the entrance rites to Communion. For centuries the monks of Lebanon chanted the entire Psalter in Syriac each week, and in the monasteries of the Qadisha Valley, where Saint Charbel was formed, that chant has never stopped.

Psalm 23 holds a particular place in the rites for the sick and the dead. Its images, the shepherd, the valley, the table, the overflowing cup, carry Maronite funerals the way they carry funerals everywhere. And when the Gospel of the Good Shepherd is read, the psalm stands behind it: the shepherd who leads through the valleys of the shadows of death is the one who laid down his life for the sheep.

If you want to go deeper into this tradition, start with the language Jesus spoke, the Our Father in Aramaic, and the Aramaic words of Jesus preserved in the Gospels, from Talitha koum to Abba. Together with the Peshitta, they form a single inheritance: the words of Scripture in the tongue of Jesus, kept alive by the churches of the Syriac tradition.

Praying It Yourself

Read the transliteration aloud, one verse a day, slowly. Do not worry about a perfect accent; the psalm was first prayed by shepherds, not scholars. Begin with the first verse until it stays with you: Moryo ner'ein, u medem lo nhassar li.

Then pray it in your own language, and let the Syriac words you have learned surface where they belong: qushto on the true road, d'at 'am in the dark valley, taybutho for the mercy that pursues you home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What language was Psalm 23 originally written in?

Psalm 23 was originally written in Hebrew, traditionally attributed to King David. It opens Adonai ro'i, lo echsar, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The Aramaic version comes from the Peshitta, the ancient Syriac Bible, which translated the Hebrew Psalms into Syriac in the earliest centuries of Christianity. Syriac is a dialect of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, and Syriac Christians including the Maronites have chanted the Psalms in it ever since.

How do you say "the Lord is my shepherd" in Aramaic?

In the Syriac Aramaic of the Peshitta, "the Lord is my shepherd" is Moryo ner'ein (ܡܪܝܐ ܢܪܥܝܢܝ), literally "the Lord will shepherd me" or "the Lord shepherds me." The full first verse is Moryo ner'ein, u medem lo nhassar li: "The Lord will shepherd me, and I shall lack nothing." Moryo is the Syriac word for "the Lord," the same word Syriac Christians use for God and for Christ in the liturgy.

Is the Aramaic Psalm 23 different from the Hebrew?

The Peshitta follows the Hebrew closely but with small, beautiful differences. Verse 2 reads "pastures of strength" where the Hebrew has "green pastures." Verse 3 has "paths of truth" (qushto) for "paths of righteousness." And in verse 5 the Syriac says the cup overflows "as though it were alive," an image the Hebrew does not have. None of these change the psalm's meaning; they show how the early Syriac translators heard it.

Did Jesus pray Psalm 23?

Almost certainly. The Psalms were the prayer book of every first-century Jew, sung in the synagogue and recited at home, and Jesus quotes them constantly, including Psalm 22 from the cross (Mark 15:34). He would have known Psalm 23 in Hebrew and discussed it in Aramaic, his everyday language. When he called himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), his hearers would have heard this psalm behind his words.

Do Maronites still chant the Psalms in Syriac?

Yes. The Psalms are the backbone of the Maronite daily office, the Shimto, and psalm verses are woven through the Qurbono, the Maronite Divine Liturgy. Most parishes today pray them in Arabic or English, but Syriac chant survives in the monasteries, in the ordination and funeral rites, and in communities that keep the old office. In the monasteries of the Qadisha Valley, the Psalms have been chanted in Syriac without interruption for more than a thousand years.