Category Archive: Bible – OT – Psalms

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Psalm 44

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
By the sons of Korah.
Maschil

God, with our ears we have heard,
Our fathers have recounted to us,
The work you worked in their days,
In the days of old.
You, with your hand, displaced nations and planted them;
You smashed peoples and spread them out.
Indeed, not by their sword did they possess the land,
And their arm did not save them,
For it was your right hand and your arm and the light of your face,
Because you favored them.

You are he, my king, O God!
Command salvations for Jacob!
In you our oppressors we will gore;
In your name we will trample those who rise up against us,
Because not in my bow will I trust,
And my sword will not save me,
For you have saved us from our oppressors,
And those who hate us you have shamed.
In God we have praised all the day;
And your name unto eternity we praise.  Selah.

But you have rejected and disgraced us
And you do not go out with our armies.
You make us turn back from the oppressor,
And those who hate us plunder for themselves.
You give us like sheep for food,
And among the nations you scatter us.
You sell your people with no gain;
And you have not increased by their price.
You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery and a joke to those around us.
You make us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.
All the day my disgrace is before me,
And the shame of my face has covered me,
Because of the voice of the reproacher and reviler,
Because of the face of the enemy and avenger.

All of this has come upon us and we have not forgotten you,
And we have not dealt falsely with your covenant.
Our heart has not drawn back,
Nor have our steps turned away from your path.
But you have crushed us in a place of dragons,
And you have covered over us with death-shadow.

If we have forgotten the name of our God
And spread our hands to a foreign Mighty One,
Will not God spy this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
But for your sake we have been killed all the day;
We have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter.

Awake!  Why do you sleep, Lord?
Wake up!  Do not reject us everlastingly!
Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and our oppression?
Indeed, bowed down to the dust is our soul,
Stuck to the earth is our belly.
Rise up as a help to us!
And redeem us for the sake of your loyalty!

A few comments about the translation of this Psalm:

(1) We don’t know what the word maschil means in the title.

(2) In lines 5 and 6, “them” refers to the fathers (line 2) in contrast to the nations which were displaced when Israel took the Promised Land.

(3) In line 11, “You are he, my king, O God,” may mean something like “You are he who did all of this.”

(4) In line 41, “dragon” is my translation of tannin.  Some translations have “jackals” or something similar, but the word is used in Scripture primarily to refer to sea monsters and first appears in Genesis 1, when God created the great sea-monsters on the Fifth Day.

(5) I haven’t studied this psalm carefully, but what puzzles me initially is when the psalm could have been written.  When was Israel defeated by enemies without having sinned against God?  That is, when could Israel say, “All of this has come upon us and we have not forgotten you and we have not dealt falsely with your covenant,” and so on?  Certainly not during the time of the Judges, and likely not during the time of the later kings.  So what’s the occasion?  Probably a glance at any commentary would reveal some possibilities, but … any suggestions?

Psalm 43

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

Judge me, God!
And argue my case against a nation that is not loyal.
From a deceitful and evil man rescue me!

For you are God, my fortress.
Why have you rejected me?
Why do I go begrimed because of the enemy’s oppression?

Send out your light and your trustworthiness!
They will lead me.
They will bring me to your holy mountain and to your tabernacles.

And I will come to the altar of God,
To the Mighty One, the joy of my rejoicing.
And I will praise you with a harp, God, my God.

Why are you cast down, my soul?
And why are you making an uproar within me?
Wait for God, because I will still praise him as the salvations of my face and my God.

Some comments on this translation of this Psalm:

(1) Psalm 43 may be the last part of Psalm 42.  They have the same refrain, and Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalms that doesn’t have a title.

(2) The opening lines ask God to judge (which here implies vindicate) the psalmist and to “argue his case.”  Both words in this last phrase, “argue” and “case,” are the same and have to do with a lawsuit.  If you have a better suggestion, that captures both the lawsuit language and the repetition, please let me know.  “Lawsuit my lawsuit” and “Case my case” don’t work for me.(3) In line 2, the psalmist speaks about “a nation that is not loyal.”  I’ve chosen to use the word “loyal” as a translation of the Hebrew word chesed because the word seems to be used for a special kind of covenantal loyalty and commitment or the behavior that flows from that bond.

So, for instance, David shows chesed to Jonathan by caring for Jonathan’s son, Mephibosheth.  The action is mercy, but what’s underlying the mercy is the promise that David made to Jonathan, so that this mercy is a fulfilling of the covenantal commitment.

David doesn’t, however, show chesed to Uriah the Hittite, but instead seduces his wife.  Here, “mercy” doesn’t work at all as a translation.  But again, the idea is that of covenantal loyalty.  The king is bound to his warrior and is precisely bound not to harm his marriage.

Here, the term may mean that the nation is “ungodly,” as some translations put it.  That is, they are not maintaining their proper behavior toward God.  But it’s equally possible, I think, that it means that they are not maintaining chesed toward the psalmist or toward Israel.  That is, they are being disloyal and are breaking the bonds they have toward Israel instead of acting in terms of them.  The phrase could imply, too, that they are failing to provide the mercy and care that they ought to.

(4) Line 4 literally reads something like “you are God of my fortress,” but the implication is that God is the psalmist’s fortress.  The Hebrew genitive can often work that way.  Though it may look as if a phrase should be translated “Daughter of Zion,” it’s actually the case that Zion is the daughter.  So, too, here, I suspect: It isn’t “God of my fortress” but rather “God, my fortress.”

(5) In line 6, “begrimed” is a word that has to do with becoming dark.  The sense here is that the psalmist is mourning, perhaps putting dust and ashes on himself and “darkening” or “begriming” himself that way.  Perhaps I’ll go through all of these psalms and replace “begrimed” with “mourning” or something like that to get the point across better, but I wanted to do something to keep the sense of darkening that this word has in Hebrew.  Suggestions?  Does “Why do I go about darkened?” work?

(6) In the last line, which is an exact echo of the last line of Psalm 42, the phrase “the salvations of my face and my God” probably identifies God as the one who saves (more than once!) the psalmist’s face and who is also his God.

As always, I invite your comments and suggestions for improving my translations.

Psalm 42

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
Maskil.
By the sons of Korah.

As a deer pants for streams of water,
So my soul pants for you, God.
Thirsted has my soul for God, for the Mighty One of life.
When will I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my bread day and night,
While they say to me all the day, “Where is your God?”

These things I remember and I pour out within myself my soul
For I went in the crowd; I walked with them to the house of God,
With a voice of joy and praise — a festal uproar.

Why are you cast down, my soul, and making an uproar within me?
Wait for God, because I will yet praise him for the salvations of His face.

God, within me my soul is cast down.  Therefore I will remember you
From the land of Jordan and the Hermons, from Mount Mizar.
Deep to deep calls at the voice of your waterspouts;
All your breakers and your rollers have passed over me.

Daily, Yahweh will command his loyalty
And in the night his song is with me, a prayer to the Mighty One of my life.
I will say to the Mighty One, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I walk about begrimed because of the enemy’s oppression?”
With murder in my bones my foes have taunted me,
By saying to me all the day, “Where is your God?”

Why are you cast down, my soul?  And why are you making an uproar within me?
Wait for God because I will yet praise Him as the salvation of my face and my God.

A few comments about the translation of this rather difficult psalm:

(1) Maskil in the title seems to have to do with understanding and may mean “to give understanding, insight.”

(2) In line 3, God is referred to as “the Mighty One of life,” which means that He’s the living Mighty One.  In line 17, however, it is “the Mighty One of my life,” which may mean “my living Mighty One” or “the Mighty One who preserves my life.”

(3) Lines 7 and 8 are hard to understand. “I pour out within myself my soul” could refer to grief as the psalmist remembers how he used to go up to God’s house.  Or it could be translated “I will pour out” as a pledge that he will remember his tears and sadness when he comes to God’s house in the future.

(4) In his essay, “The Oddness of the Feast of Booths” (Biblical Horizons 90), James B. Jordan says that the word translated “crowd” here, sak, should not be rendered “throne” or “multitude” (or “crowd” as I have it).  Rather, he says, it refers to the booths of Israel at a festival, which identifies it as the Feast of Booths.  I need to think this through some more.

(5) In line 10, the word for “making an uproar” could be translated “groaning” or “making a noise.”  It’s the root of the word for the festal uproar in line 9.

(6) In line 11, “the salvations of his face” are the salvations that come from God’s face lifted up to bless the psalmist, or, to put it another way, the deliverances wrought by God’s presence.

In line 23, however, the wording is different.  It’s “the salvation (singular) of my face and my God.”  It sounds as if “my face” and “my God” are somehow parallel, but the parallel isn’t clear to me. It isn’t “the rescue of my face (which was in danger) and of my God (who was also in danger),” after all.  But perhaps I’m simply thinking as an English-speaker here.  Perhaps what I see as two very different senses of a genitive construction would still be seen as good parallels by a Hebrew speaker.  Perhaps it’s “the salvation of my face and by (another sense of “of”) my God.”

At any rate, the psalmist is praising God for his salvation or even, perhaps, as the one who is both (a) the salvation of his face and (b) his God.  Any help in understanding this last line would be greatly appreciated.  I find the commentaries I’ve looked at singularly unhelpful here.

(7) In line 12, “I will remember you” may refer to memorializing God, of doing what God has commanded so that God remembers and acts.  Perhaps that’s also true of the earlier reference to “remembering.”

(8) In line 13, “the Hermons” may refer to the region around Mount Hermon or to the Hermon mountain range.

(9) In line 14, “waterspouts” refer to waterspouts or gutters (2 Sam. 5:8), here perhaps the gutters of heaven as the water pours down.  In line 15, “breakers and rollers” are waves which roll and break things apart.  I wonder if our English word “breakers” for waves is due to the use in this psalm.

(10) In line 19, “begrimed” has to do with becoming dark and is used here for mourning, probably because in mourning one would sprinkle dust and ashes over one’s head.

(11) In line 20, “murder in my bones” probably refers to extreme pain, the pain of one who is close to death.

(12) Finally, I should point out that Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 are very closely related.  Psalm 43 uses the same refrain that closes Psalm 42, which indicates a clear reference.  Does it mean, as many suggest, that Psalms 42 and 43 were once one psalm?  Maybe, but I’m treating them separately for now.  (If they were one, why did they get split apart?)

Psalm 41

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
A Psalm.
By David.

Happy is the one who acts insightfully toward the poor.
In the day of evil, Yahweh will deliver him.
Yahweh will guard him and keep him alive;
He will be called happy in the land,
And you will not give him to the desire of his enemies.
Yahweh will support him upon the couch of sickness.
His whole bed you transform in illness.

As for me, I said, “Yahweh, be gracious to me.
Heal my soul, because I have sinned against you.”

My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die and his name perish?”
And if he comes to see me, falsehood he will speak.
In his heart, he gathers mischief to himself;
He will go out; to the street he will speak it.
Together against me they whisper — all who hate me.
Against me they plot — evil for me.
“A thing of Belial is poured into him,
And he who lies down will now arise no more.”
Even my man of peace — in whom I trusted, who ate my bread —
Has exalted against me his heel.

And now, Yahweh, be gracious to me and raise me up,
And I will repay them.

By this I know that you are pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not shout triumphantly over me.
And as for me, in my integrity you uphold me
And you stand me before you forever.
Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
From everlasting and unto everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

A few comments about the translation of this psalm:

(1) In lines 1 and 4, the word translated “happy” is often translated “blessed.”  But the idea is that people are proclaiming this person to be truly happy, as in Genesis 30:13.  Of course, this true happiness comes from Yahweh’s blessing, so the two ideas go together.

(2) Line 16 sounds a bit awkward in English, but it tells us both that they are plotting against the psalmist (“against me they plot”) and that what they are plotting is harm that will befall him (“evil for me”).

(3) In line 17, “a thing of Belial” is hard to understand.  “Belial” sometimes means “worthlessness” or even “destruction,” so that this could refer to something evil, some destructive illness.  But the term translated “thing” may also refer to a word, perhaps a charge that David himself is worthless, and that charge is seen as sinking into his inner parts.

(4) In line 19, “my man of peace” is a man with whom David was at peace, a close friend.  He exalts (or lifts up) his heel to crush David (… as if it was David who was a serpent?).

(5) The psalm is a chiasm with five sections.  It opens and closes with sections dealing with the happiness of the man whom Yahweh delivers and supports and whom Yahweh does not give over to his enemies so that they triumph over him.  The second and fourth sections are a prayer for Yahweh to “be gracious” (the same phrase is used in each section), though with a contrast: the second section speaks of the psalmist’s sin, but the fourth section asks for the opportunity to repay his enemies.

The center section is an extended description of the behavior of his enemies as they come to David and speak all kinds of nice words, words of hypocrisy and falsehood, and then go out and blab to everyone in the street the harmful words they have been saving up in their hearts.

Psalm 40

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
By David.
A Psalm.

Waiting, I awaited Yahweh,
And he bent down to me and heard my cry.
And he brought me up from the roaring cistern,
From the slimy mud,
And he set upon a rock my feet;
He established my footsteps.
And he put in my mouth a new song,
Praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
And will trust in Yahweh.

Happy is the young man who has made Yahweh his trust,
And has not turned to the proud and those turning aside to a lie.
Many things have you done, Yahweh my God — your wonders;
And your thoughts toward us — there is no stating them to you in order.
I will declare and speak:
They are too numerous to count.

Sacrifice and tribute you did not desire.
Two ears you have dug out for me.
Ascension and sin offering you did not ask.
Then I said, “Look!  I come.
In the scroll of the book it is written about me.”
To do your will, my God, I delight;
And your Instruction is within my innards.

I have announced your righteousness in a great assembly.
Look!  My lips I will not hold back.
Yahweh, you yourself know.
Your righteousness I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.
Your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken.
I have not concealed your loyalty and your trustworthiness from a great assembly.

You yourself, Yahweh, will not hold back your compassions from me.
Let your loyalty and your trustworthiness continually preserve me,
Because surrounding me are evils till there is no number.
Overtaking me are my liabilities and I am not able to see.
More numerous they are than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has left me.

Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me!
Yahweh, to my help make haste!
Let them be shamed and confounded together —
The ones seeking my soul to destroy it.
Let them shrink back and be disgraced —
The ones wishing me evil.
Let them be desolate because of their shame —
Those saying to me, “Aha!  Aha!”
Let them be glad and rejoice in you –all those who seek you.
Let them say continually, “Great is Yahweh!” — those who love your salvation.

But I am oppressed and needy.
My Master thinks about me.
My help and my deliverer are you.
My God, do not delay.

A couple comments about this translation:

(1) In line 3, the “roaring” of the cistern (or pit) is the sound of many waters in a deep place.

(2) In line 14, the verb has to do with organizing something.  It can refer to an army being arrayed against someone, but that doesn’t fit the context here well.  It may also be used for comparison (“There is none like you!”), which is possible here.  But sometimes it refer to an orderly statement or argument, and that seems to fit the context best.

(3) In line 18, the word for “ears” neither singular (“ear”) nor plural (“ears”) but rather dual, a form that doesn’t exist in English but does in Hebrew: the psalmist is speaking of his two ears.

Psalm 39

A reminder: I’Ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
For Jeduthun.
A psalm.
By David.

I said, “I will guard my way
From sinning with my tongue.
I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
While the wicked one is before me.”
I was mute with silence;
I was quiet even from good.
And my pain was stirred up.
Hot was my heart within me.
In my meditating, the fire burned.
I spoke with my tongue:

Make me know, Yahweh, my end,
And the measure of my days — what it is,
That I may know how frail I am.
Look, as handbreadths you give my days,
And my lifespan is as nothing before you.

Surely, entirely vapor is every man standing firm.
Surely, as a shadow does a man walk.  Selah.

Surely, for vapor they clamor:
He heaps up and does not know who will gather them.

And now, what do I await, my Lord?
As for my hope, it is in you.

From all my rebellions deliver me;
As the reproach of a fool do not set me up.

I am mute; I will not open my mouth
Because it was you who did it.
Remove from upon me your plague;
From the opposition of your hand I have come to an end.

With rebukes for liability you discipline a man,
And you melt, like a moth, his treasure.

Surely a breath is every man.  Selah.

Hear my prayer, Yahweh!
And to my cry give ear!
To my tears do not be deaf,
Because a resident alien I am with you,
A sojourner like all my fathers.
Look away from me and let me be happy
Before I go and am no more.

A few comments about the translation of this psalm:

(1) In line 3, “I will guard my mouth with a muzzle” could be rendered “I will keep a muzzle for my mouth.”  The verb usually refers to guarding or protecting something, not just to having something on hand, however.

(2) In line 13, the word translated “frail” means “ceasing.”  It’s likely, as Alexander argues in his commentary, that the point isn’t that the psalmist wants to know how frail he is in general, but that he wants to know specifically when his life will actually end.

(3) In line 17, the word translated “shadow” normally refers to an image, but it’s related to other words that refer to shadows.  The idea here may be that a man is merely an image of himself, just a shadow of the real thing.

(4) In line 18, the verb for making a noise is related to a noun which can refer either to a tumult or to wealth or riches, an ostentatious display, probably because the wealthy like to make a lot of noise about their riches.  So the psalm moves from making a noise to heaping up wealth in a way that may seem awkward to us, but doesn’t in Hebrew.

(5) In line 26, the word for “plague” refers to an affliction but is also related to the word for “touch.” The affliction or plague here is seen as Yahweh’s touch.  The same word is used for leprosy in Leviticus 13.

(6) In the last two lines, all the phrases are found in Job.  “Let me be happy” may mean “let me have some comfort” (as it’s sometimes translated in Job 9:27 and Job 10:20.  The related word in Amos 5:9 isn’t easy to translate.  Many versions (and Holladay’s lexicon) render it as “to flash, flare up.”  The KJV, viewing it in the light of its use in this psalm and in Job, translated it as “to strengthen.”  In any case, it seems to have to do here with a brief period of happiness or comfort or strength before death.

Psalm 38

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

A Psalm.
By David.
For memorializing.

Yahweh, do not, in your wrath, reprove me,
Nor in your anger chastise me.
Indeed, your arrows have descended into me
And your hand has descended upon me.

There is no sound place in my flesh because of your indignation;
There is no peace in my bones because of my sin.
Indeed, my liabilities go over my head;
Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds stink, they have putrified,
Because of my foolishness.
I have been agitated, I have bowed down greatly;
All the day I have gone about begrimed,
Because my loins are filled with burning
And there is no sound place in my flesh.
I am numbed and crushed greatly;
I roar from the groaning of my heart.

My Lord, before you is all my longing,
And my sighing is not hidden from you.

My heart pounds; my strength has abandoned me;
And the light of my eyes — even they are not with me.
My lovers and my friends stand away from my plague;
And my neighbors stand afar off.

Those who seek my soul lay snares for me,
And those intent on my harm speak destructive words,
And deceits all the day they utter.

And I myself am like a deaf man who does not hear,
And like a mute man who will not open his mouth.
And I am like a man who does not hear
And there are in his mouth no objections,
Because for you, Yahweh, I wait —
You will answer, my Lord, my God! —
Because I said, “Lest they rejoice concerning me”;
When my foot slipped they magnified themselves against me.

Indeed, I myself am about to stumble,
And my suffering is before me continually.
Indeed, my liability I will declare;
I am anxious because of my sin.
And my mortal enemies are strong,
And multiplied are my deceptive haters.
And those repaying evil for good —
They oppose me for my pursuit of good.

Do not abandon me, Yahweh!
My God, do not be far from me!
To my help make haste,
My Lord, my salvation!

A few comments on this translation:

(1) The note in the title, “for memorializing,” indicates that this psalm is intended to call God to remember the suffering person who is singing this psalm.  It memorializes that person so that God remembers and acts.

(2) When the psalmist says that he has gone about “begrimed,” the Hebrew word has to do with darkness. He has grown dark, probably from the dust and ashes he has spread upon himself in mourning.

(3) The word I’ve translated “indeed” is sometimes tricky.  It’s the same word that I’ve translated “because” and that’s often rendered as “for” in many translations.  The term can cover things that we use a bunch of different words for in English, including causality (“because”) as well as emphasis (“indeed”).

It’s hard to tell sometimes exactly what the word means or what the flow of thought is in this psalm.  Sometimes the line introduced by this word seems like a reason for the previous line, and so I’ve used “because.”  But at other times, the connection isn’t clear to me, and so I’ve translated this word as “indeed” on the assumption that the word is used mainly for emphasis.

(4) In line 34, David says, “I am ready for stumbling.”  The word translated “ready” seems to have the sense of being prepared.  It’s in the passive voice here, but the active voice of this verb has to do with getting something ready, making something ready, and the passive voice often has to do with something being stable.

I don’t think David is saying that he’s stable so that he won’t fall.  The context would seem to indicate otherwise.  It’s possible that he means (as a quick read of the English might suggest) that he’s on the verge of stumbling.

But I wonder if this particular verb would be used for “being on the verge of” something or if the verb suggest, rather, that David is prepared to stumble and fall, perhaps in the sense that he is expecting it and is willing to declare his liability and so forth.  His stumbling will not take him by surprise because he knows what he has done to incur liability (which, by the way, seems to be the sense of this particular Hebrew word, which is often translated “iniquity”: the focus is often on the guilt incurred, rather than strictly on the act performed).

(5) In lines 38 and 39, David uses two parallel phrases which could be translated “my enemies of life” and “my haters of falsehood.”  The first one probably means “the enemies of my life.”  The second one indicates that these people who hate David act falsely or deceptively in their hatred.

[Revised: April 14, 2009.]

Psalm 37

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

By David.

א Do not rage at evildoers;
   Do not be envious of the doers of unrighteousness,
Because like grass they quickly dry out,
   And like a green plant they wither.

ב Trust in Yahweh and do good!
   Inhabit the land and feed on trustworthiness.
And delight in Yahweh
   And he will give you the requests of your heart.

ג Entrust to Yahweh your way,
  And rely on him, and he himself will do it.
  And he will bring out, like the light, your righteousness,
  And your justice like the noontime.

ד Be still before Yahweh
   And wait for him.
   Do not rage at one who prospers in his way,
   At one who does what he plots.

ה Desist from anger and abandon wrath.
   Do not rage only to do evil,
Because evildoers will be cut off,
   But those who wait for Yahweh — they will possess the land.

ו And still a little while and there will be no wicked man,
   And you will look carefully upon his place but he will not be there.
But the humble will possess the land,
   And they will delight in abundance of peace.

ז The wicked man plots against the righteous
   And gnashes at him with his teeth.
   My Lord laughs at him
   Because he sees that his day is coming.

ח A sword the wicked have drawn
   And they have bent their bow
   To make the oppressed and poor fall,
   To slaughter the upright in way.
   Their sword will enter into their heart,
   And their bows will be broken.

ט Better is a little belonging to a righteous man
   Than the wealth of many wicked men,
   Because the arms of the wicked will be broken,
   But Yahweh supports the righteous.

י Yahweh knows the days of the blameless,
   And their inheritance will be forever.
   They will not be shamed in a time of evil,
   And in days of famine they will be satisfied.

כ Indeed, the wicked — they will perish,
   And the enemies of Yahweh;
   Like the precious part of rams they are finished;
   In smoke they are finished.

ל A wicked man borrows and does not repay.
   But a righteous man is gracious and gives,
   Because his blessed ones will possess the land
   But his cursed ones will be cut off.

מ By Yahweh the steps of a young man are established
   And in his way he delights.
   Though he will fall he will not be thrown down
   Because Yahweh supports him by his hand.

נ A youth I have been; now I am old.
   But I have not seen a righteous man abandoned,
   Nor his seed begging bread.
   All the day he is gracious and lending,
And his seed is for blessing.

ס Turn from evil and do good
   And dwell forever,
   Because Yahweh loves justice,
   And he does not abandon his loyal ones.

ע Forever they are guarded,
   But the seed of the wicked will be cut off.
   The righteous will possess the land
   And dwell forever upon it.

פ The mouth of the righteous man proclaims wisdom,
   And his tongue speaks judgment.
   The instruction of his God is in his heart.
   His steps will not waver.

צ The wicked are watching for the righteous
   And are seeking to kill him.
   Yahweh will not abandon him in his hand
   And will not declare him guilty in his judgment.

ק Wait upon Yahweh
   And he will guard your way.
   And he will exalt you to possess the land.
   When the wicked are cut off you will see it.

ר I have seen the wicked man, a terrifying man
   And spreading himself like a native green tree.
   And he disappeared and — look! — he was not there.
   And I looked for him and he was not found.

ש Observe the blameless man and watch the upright,
Because there is a future for the man of peace.
   But the rebels will be destroyed together.
The future of the wicked will be cut off.

ת But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh,
Their fortress in a time of trouble.
   And Yahweh helps and delivers them.
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they seek refuge in him.

Some comments on this psalm:

(1) In the first line, I use the term “rage” to translate a word which appears again in stanzas four and five.  There, three different words are used for anger.  I’ve rendered them “rage,” “anger” and “wrath” in order to make the distinction, but it would be possible to use “be angry” for the word in the first line, which literally has to do with burning with anger, and save “rage” for the word I’ve translated “anger.”  Or something like that.

(2) In lines 11-12, “bringing out your righteousness” and “your justice” means vindication, showing that you’re in the right.

(3) In lines 20 and 23, it talks about “possessing” the land, which includes both inheriting the land (from God) and actually taking possession of it, as Israel inherited Canaan.  This is the basis of the Beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

(4) In line 36, the word for “wealth” actually refers to turmoil or a tumult, perhaps because it’s not just wealth but the noisy display that goes along with it.

(5) In the eleventh stanza, the enemies are described as being finished (or even perishing) like “the precious part of rams” and “in smoke.”  This may be a reference to sacrificial animals being burned up on an altar and turning to smoke as the sacrifice is completed, as J. A. Alexander suggests.

Some translations have “the splendor of the meadows” (NKJV), while other render the word here “pastures.”  The word does seem to mean “pastures” in some passages, probably because pastures are places for rams and lambs.  But the word appears to be the plural of a word for a ram.  So even if we go with that translation, we ought to keep the rams in view and understand that it isn’t talking about the grass or flowers in the pasture, but instead is referring to the rams in the pasture, which means that even this alternate translation is still probably talking about rams being offered on the altar and turning into smoke which ascends.

(6) At the end of the nineteenth stanza, our translation says, “When the wicked are cut off you will see it.”  Since the word “see” in this sort of context may mean looking on something with delight, it’s possible to translate this line: “At the cutting off of the wicked you will gaze.”

(7) The second line of the twentieth stanza, uses a word has to do with uncovering oneself or making oneself naked, but that doesn‘t seem to fit well with the image of a leafy green tree in native soil.  “Spreading himself” is what several translations have, so I stuck with that.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially if they don’t involve emending the text.

[Updated, March 26, 2009.]

Psalms or Greek Poetry?

In his preface to The Reason of Church Government, Book II, John Milton talks about the choice that confronted him when he set out to write a great poem and that led eventually to the writing of Paradise Lost.  The basic choice was whether to write an epic, a tragedy or drama, or lyric poetry.  In each of these categories, Milton mentions a Greek or Latin example and then a biblical example.  Interestingly, following David Paraeus, Milton includes the Song of Songs and Revelation as examples of biblical drama.

As for the third category, lyric poetry, which includes the Greek poets Pindar and Callimachus, as well as the Psalms and passages in the Prophets, Milton adds something interesting.  Here’s C. S. Lewis’s summary:

Almost as if he had foreseen an age in which “Puritanism” shouild be the bear seen in every bush, he has given his opinion that Hebrew lyrics are better than Greek “not in their divine argument alone, but in the very critical art of composition.”  That is, he has told us that his preference for the Hebrew is not only moral and religious, but aesthetic also.  I once had a pupil, innocent alike of the Greek and of the Hebrew tongue, who did not think himself thereby disqualified from pronouncing this judgement a proof of Milton’s bad taste; the rest of us, whose Greek is amateurish and who have no Hebrew, must leave Milton to discuss the question with his peers.  But if any man will read aloud on alternate mornings for a single month a page of Pindar and a page of the Psalms in any translation he chooses, I think I can guess which he will first grow tired of (A Preface to Paradise Lost, pp. 4-5).

Psalm 36

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

For the director.
By the servant of Yahweh.
By David.

An oracle of the rebellion of a wicked man is within my heart:
There is no fear of God before his eyes,
Because he flatters himself in his own eyes
With regard to finding his liability and hating it.
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
He has ceased to act wisely, to do good.
Trouble he plots on his bed;
He sets himself upon a path that is not good;
Evil he does not reject.

Yahweh, in the heavens is your loyalty,
Your trustworthiness is up to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of the Mighty One;
Your judgments are a great deep.
Man and cattle you save, Yahweh.
How precious is your loyalty, God.

And the sons of man —
In the shadow of your wings they take refuge.
They drink their fill of the fat of your house;
And the river of your pleasures you give them to drink,
Because with you is a fountain of life;
In your light we see light.

Extend your loyalty to those who know you;
And your righteousness to the upright of heart.

Let not the foot of pride come to me;
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There they have fallen — the troublemakers!
They are struck down and cannot rise.

Some comments on this psalm:

(1) In the title, “for” and “by” are the same word in Hebrew, so it isn’t clear if this psalm is for Yahweh’s servant (the chief musician) or by Yahweh’s servant (David).

(2) The opening line may mean that this is a declaration about the wicked man’s rebellion or that Rebellion itself is speaking in the man’s heart. It’s also possible, as James Jordan suggests, that “an oracle” should actually be seen as part of the title, so that the opening line is “The rebellion of the wicked man is within my heart” (i.e., something I’m meditating on).

(3) The fourth line may mean that the wicked man flatters himself so that he doesn’t bother hating his own sin or that he flatters himself into thinking that God won’t deal with his sin or, perhaps, that he flatters himself and hates to find his own liability. There is no fear of God before his eyes, and so, because he doesn’t fear God, he doesn’t see his guilt.

(4) In lines 15-16, instead of having “God” at the end of line 15, as the one being addressed, it might be possible to put it at the start of line 16 (which is how it appears in the Hebrew text): “Gods and the sons of man…” In that case, the “gods” would probably be human rulers, who are called by that name elsewhere in the psalms.

[Revised, March 9, 2009.]

Psalm 35

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

By David.

Dispute, Yahweh, against my disputers!
Devour my devourers!
Seize buckler and shield
And arise as my help.
And draw the spear and barrier against my pursuers;
Say to my soul, “Your salvation am I.”

Shamed and dismayed be the seekers of my soul;
Turned back and humiliated be those who plan my hurt.
Let them be like chaff before wind,
And let the angel of Yahweh be pushing them down.
Let their path be dark and slippery;
And let the angel of Yahweh be pursuing them,
Because without cause they hid for me their net-pit;
Without cause they dug it for my soul.
Let destruction he does not know come upon him;
And his net which he hid — let it take him;
To his destruction let him fall into it.

But my soul will exult in Yahweh
And be glad in his salvation.
All my bones will say,”Yahweh, who is like you,
Delivering the oppressed from the one stronger than himself,
And the oppressed and the needy from his despoiler?”

Violent witnesses rise up;
What I do not know they ask me.
They repay me evil instead of good,
Bereavement to my soul.

And as for me, when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting;
And my prayer was returning into my bosom.
As if it were a friend, my brother, I went about;
As one who mourns a mother, I stooped in squalor.

But when I limped they rejoiced and were gathered together;
They were gathered together against me,
Stricken ones — and I did not know it!
They tore and did not cease.
Among the ungodly mockers at a pastry feast,
They gnashed their teeth against me.

My Lord, how long will you see?
Restore my soul from their destructions,
From the young lions my only one.
I will thank you in the great assembly;
Among the numerous people I will praise you!

Do not let them rejoice over me, my lying enemies;
Nor let those who hate me without cause wink the eye,
Because they do not speak peace;
But against the quiet of the land they plan deceitful words,
And they have widened their mouth against me,
Saying, “Aha!  Aha!  Our eye has seen.”

You have seen, Yahweh.  Do not be silent.
My Lord, do not be far from me.
Rouse yourself and wake up for my judgment,
My God and my Lord, for my dispute!
Judge me according to your righteousness, Yahweh my God,
And do not let them rejoice over me!
Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha!  Our soul’s desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
Let them be shamed and humiliated together —
Those who rejoice in my evil.
Let them be clothed with shame and dismay —
Those who magnify themselves against me.

Let them shout and rejoice who desire my righteousness,
And let them say continually,
“Great is Yahweh,
Who desires the peace of his servant.”
And my tongue will declare your righteousness,
Your praise all the day.

A few comments about this psalm:

(1) The word translated “dispute” in the first verse refers primarily to a legal dispute, a lawsuit.  The psalmist is asking that God would plead his cause against those who are arguing their case against him.  But that metaphor could be applied to a battle or some other situation, too.

(2) “Evil” in this Psalm isn’t always sin.  Toward the end of the psalm, “my evil” is the adversity that the psalmist is experiencing at the hands of others (see “evil for me” in line 8 ).

(3) In line 9, “wind” could be “Spirit,” a reference to the Holy Spirit pursuing His enemies.

(4) In line 34, many translations turn “stricken ones” into “attackers” to try to make more sense out of it, and there are some arguments in favor.  It may be, though, that even the ones who are limping and wounded are making fun of David when he limps and is struck down.  Even though they are suffering, they rejoice to see that David is suffering.

(5) In line 36, “Among the ungodly mockers at a pastry feast” is something of a guess.  See Hirsch for this translation.

(6) In line 40, “my only one” refers to the psalmist’s soul.  He has only one soul, only one life, and he wants it rescued.

(7) In line 55, David prays that the enemies won’t say, “Aha!  Our soul’s desire!”  The word translated “soul’s desire” here is the word that elsewhere is just translated “soul,” but here it has the connotation of a deep desire.

[Revised March 2, 2009.]

Psalm 34

A reminder: I’ve prepared these psalms for our liturgy, trying to be as accurate in my translation as possible. The alternation between plain text and bold is for responsive reading. I invite feedback on the translation!

By David.
When he changed his sense before Abimelech
And he drove him out and he went.

א  I bless Yahweh at every time;
Continually his praise is in my mouth.
ב  In Yahweh my soul boasts.
The oppressed hear and rejoice.
×’  Magnify Yahweh with me,
And let us exalt his name together.
ד  I sought Yahweh and he answered me;
And from all my terrors he delivered me.

×” They looked to him and shone;
ו  And their faces were not shamed.
×– This oppressed man called and Yahweh heard;
And from all his distresses saved him.
×— The angel of Yahweh is encamping
All around those who fear him and delivers them.

ט Taste and see that Yahweh is good!
Happy is the young man who takes refuge in him.
×™ Fear Yahweh, his holy ones,
Because there is no lack for those who fear him.
×› Young lions have grown poor and hungered;
But the seekers of Yahweh do not lack any good thing.

ל Come, sons!  Listen to me!
The fear of Yahweh I will teach you.
מ Who is the man who desires life,
Who loves days in which to see good?
×   Preserve your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
ס Turn from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

×¢ The eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous,
And his ears are toward their cry.
פ The face of Yahweh is against those who do evil,
To cut off from the earth their memorial.

צ They cried and Yahweh heard;
And from all their distresses delivered them.
ק Near is Yahweh to the broken of heart;
And the crushed of spirit he saves.
ר Many are the evils of the righteous,
And from them all Yahweh will deliver him,
ש Guarding all his bones:
Not one of them is broken.
ת Evil will slay the wicked,
And the haters of the righteous will be condemned.
Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants,
And all who take refuge in him will not be condemned.

One note about this psalm: The word “evil” here doesn’t refer to sin.  Instead, it refers to hardships, troubles, the evils of life.  So when the Psalm says, “Many are the evils of the righteous,” it’s talking about what they suffer, not sins they commit.

[Update, August 12, 2011: I can’t figure out at this point how to make the Hebrew font work at the front of the various lines.  Sorry for the gibberish.  I had it once, and then there was a WordPress update.  Someday I’ll figure it out and fix all of this.]

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