Psalm 100:3, “and not we ourselves”, or “and his we are”?
Psalm 100:3 is transmitted with “and not we ourselves” in the written text and “and his we are” in the margin. The difference turns on ולא and ולו.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
“The base text reads וְל֣וֹ. The copies also carry ולא [hebrew consonantal tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The evidence is balanced because both readings rest on the same single late witness; the internal sense slightly favors the vocalized reading but not decisively.”
“The base text reads וְלוֹ. The copies also carry ולא [hebrew reading tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The consonantal tradition supports וְלוֹ; the reading tradition alone supports ולא. The internal evidence favors וְלוֹ as the source of ולא.”
The APB 3.5 textual decision records the base reading first: “The base text reads וְל֣וֹ.” It says the committee “kept the base text,” after three readers considered readings and witnesses only by class and date. A second listed note also says, “The consonantal tradition supports וְלוֹ; the reading tradition alone supports ולא.” The committee's printed text at Psalm 100:3 nevertheless reads “He made us, and not we ourselves.” The pericope audit verdict is “clean,” and no rationale note matches this crux.
The argument for each reading
If “his we are”
Reading A, ולו, gives the clause “and his we are.” It is the Masoretic qere, the marginal reading, and the packet identifies it as the line most modern translations print. This wording fits the following description of the people as “his people and the flock of his pasturing.” The APB 3.5 textual decision also records that “The base text reads וְל֣וֹ” and that the committee “kept the base text.” Its first note says that internal sense “slightly favors the vocalized reading but not decisively”; the second says the internal evidence favors וְלוֹ as the source of ולא. Those statements provide a case for the marginal reading while retaining the decision's stated uncertainty.
If “not we ourselves”
Reading B, ולא, gives “and not we ourselves.” It is the ketiv, the reading written in the Masoretic Text, and the supplied consonantal verse includes both forms at the point of variation. The APB's printed text for Psalm 100:3 adopts this wording: “He made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the flock of his pasturing.” The variant therefore has direct support in the written line as preserved by the listed codex. The APB 3.5 notes do not dismiss it: one says “The copies also carry ולא [hebrew consonantal tradition],” and describes the evidence as balanced because both readings rest on the same single late witness.
The uncertainty lies in the relation between the written consonants and the marginal reading, alongside differing statements in the listed textual notes. The wording changes whether the clause denies self-making or states possession. No doctrine is decided here; doctrines ordinarily rest on many passages, while this page records the evidence and the distinct sense of each reading.
Common questions
Does Psalm 100:3 say “and not we ourselves” or “and we are his”?
The written Masoretic reading is “and not we ourselves.” The marginal qere reads “and his we are.”
Which reading does the APB print in Psalm 100:3?
The APB prints: “He made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people and the flock of his pasturing.”
What is the difference between the ketiv and qere here?
The ketiv is the written reading, ולא. The qere is the marginal reading, ולו.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.