Aestimatus sum

General information

8th of the Responsories for Holy Saturday

Source: Vulgate, Psalm 87.

The English translation is from King James version of Psalm 88. The final line is altered in the translation from the Latin original. "Posuerunt me" means "They have laid me," not "Thou hast laid me."

Settings by composers

• Carlo Gesualdo SSATTB
• Orlando di Lasso SATB
• Tomás Luis de Victoria SSAT & TTBB
• Annibale Zoilo SATB

Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above

• Johann Michael Haydn — Aestimatus sum
• Jan Dismas Zelenka — Aestimatus sum, ZWV 55:26
• Jan Dismas Zelenka — Responsories for Holy Saturday, ZWV 55:19-27

Text and translations

Latin text Aestimatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum, factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, inter mortuos liber. Versus: Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori, in tenebrosis et in umbra mortis. Factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, inter mortuos liber.

English translation I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: free among the dead. Verse: Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. I am as a man that hath no strength: free among the dead. Translation by Paul Pascal

Portuguese translation Contado entre aqueles destinados ao abismo Tornei-me homem abandonado: largado entre os mortos. Verso: Eles colocaram-me no mais fundo poço, em meio às trevas e sob a sombra da morte. Tornei-me homem abandonado: largado entre os mortos.