Gregory Sharpe was deep in the translator’s notes for Psalm 16 when he hit verse 10. In Psalm 16:10 God promises that he will not let his faithful one see corruption, the verse Peter later preaches in Acts 2. The Hebrew says חֲסִידְךָ, khasidekha, “your loyal one.” The Septuagint renders it hosion (ὅσιον), from hosios (ὅσιος). The New Testament, quoting the Greek, keeps hosion (ὅσιον). And nearly every English Bible translates that as “your holy one.” Would Scriptura translate it that way? Would they recommend it to translators?

The problem, it turned out, wasn’t the Greek. It was the English. Hosios (ὅσιος) is not the usual Greek word for holy — that’s hagios (ἅγιος), the word behind “holy of holies.” Sharpe pulled up the Brill lexicon and read the entry for hosios (ὅσιος) aloud: established or permitted by divine or natural law, pious, holy. Then the other glosses — pious, religious, respectful, devoted.

So, how should it be translated? Since Scriptura reflects the Hebrew, they would not use ‘holy’ because that’s not what the Hebrew says. ‘Devoted’ might be a closer translation of the Greek hosios (ὅσιος). And that matches the Hebrew better as well. Khasid (חֲסִיד) comes from khesed (חֶסֶד), loyalty, faithfulness. The Septuagint translators hadn’t reached for the wrong word. Hosios (ὅσιος) may be the best faithful Greek rendering of khasid (חֲסִיד) available to them.

The distortion enters only when hosios (ὅσιος) becomes the English “holy one,” dragging in associations the Greek never carried.

The English gloss ‘holy one’ is an unfortunate translation for hosios (ὅσιος). So, in a note for translators, the first thing needed would be to ensure they understood that the Greek doesn’t use hagios (ἅγιος) at all. So Scriptura translates חֲסִידְךָ, khasidekha as “your loyal one,” supported by both the Hebrew and the Greek.