Beatus vir

For the choral work, see Beatus Vir (Górecki).
Beatus initial, f.4, start of Psalm 1 in the 10th-century Anglo-Saxon Ramsey Psalter
Beatus vir takes up the whole page in the 9th-century Ludwig Psalter.
The Tree of Jesse Beatus initial in the Gorleston Psalter, c. 1310, bordered by the royal arms of England and France (fol. 8r)

Beatus vir (Ecclesiastical Latin: [beˈatus ˈvir]; "Blessed is the man ...")[a] are the first words in the Latin Vulgate Bible of both Psalm 1 and Psalm 112 (in the general modern numbering; it is Psalm 111 in the Greek Septuagint and the Vulgate[b]). In each case, the words are used to refer to frequent and significant uses of these psalms in art, although the two psalms are prominent in different fields, art in the case of Psalm 1 and music in the case of Psalm 112. In psalter manuscripts, the initial letter B of Beatus is often rendered prominently as a Beatus initial.

Altogether the phrase occurs 14 times in the Vulgate text, eight times in the Book of Psalms, and four times in the rest of the Old Testament, but no uses in the New Testament.[1]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Bible Gateway search