Monday, January 28, 2008

Psalm 138 verse 2

Any thoughts on translation of this verse?

אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה I worship
אֶל-הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ toward the temple of your holiness
וְאוֹדֶה אֶת-שְׁמֶךָ And I thank your name
עַל-חַסְדְּךָ וְעַל-אֲמִתֶּךָ By your mercy and by your truth
כִּי-הִגְדַּלְתָּ For you increase
עַל-כָּל-שִׁמְךָ אִמְרָתֶךָ By all your name - your word

Is the repetition of עַל significant? What English preposition best translates it in this context?

My diagram is here showing עַל and כִּי to be repeated - but I doubt this is significant recurrence for this psalm.

1 comment:

Nathan said...

Interesting! See some parallel renderings here.