Psalm 48

Psalm 48
"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised"
Psalm 48 quoted on the back of a 17th-century double-sided icon held in Jerusalem
Other name	Psalm 47 "Magnus Dominus"
Language	Hebrew (original)

Psalm 48 is the 48th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and generally in its Latin translations, this psalm is Psalm 47. In the Vulgate, it begins "Magnus Dominus".^[1] The psalm was composed by the sons of Korah, as "a celebration of the security of Zion",^[2] In its heading it is referred to as both a "song" and a "psalm".^[3]

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies, and has been set to music. Bach's 1729 cantata Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171, begins with verse 10 in German, and Penderecki's 1996 Symphony No. 7 begins with the first verse.