Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Now for standing

Stand is the second verb in the psalms. Again, a negative - לֹא עָמָד has not stood, a qal perfect. Here beginneth the argument about vavs or waws if you prefer. Does the sequence of connected phrases change the aspect of this verb from completed (perfect) to ongoing (imperfect)? If it does then the vav allows you to connect these phrases in a narrative and reverse the aspect of the verbs.

I do not buy it at this stage of my learning at least not here in this psalm. Mostly I do not have enough information about the language to judge the fullness of thought behind the verb forms. The last instance in psalm 148 is a better argument for a vav-conversive since it occurs with the verb and not just as part of the phrase. But whether one translates psalm 148 as established or will establish now and forever, it seems to make little difference to the 'meaning'.

Warning, in my first raw translations - such as appear below from the database, I have often used 'past' tense to remind me that this verb was perfect and 'future' tense to remind me it was imperfect - but I have not bothered to be consistent either in the database - developed by hand over 18 months or in the second draft translations over the last year. What the verb does will be determined by the translation of the poetry. Continuous present is my favorite since it can almost be applied to everything!

I have no translation philosophy of literal (though I am mostly literal with respect to thought sequence) or dynamic equivalence or formal equivalence. I can barely pronounce these last two. My philosophy is - can I make sense of the writer's experience - psychological, verbal, and physical to the extent that the words can illustrate the historical or cultic situation of the writer and have some relationship to our own covenant dialogue? I will translate to that question - and I will keep on asking it. I cannot believe I should lock in my answer - whether for cultic power, religious power, social control, or fear of loss. There is no fear in love. There is no human power base for the covenant. I have had to use words. Only by words can I reach out and touch in this medium. The anointing is more than words.

There are some curious false positives from my root algorithm - so I have left them showing. I missed three (at least according to this list), always the Hiphil since it adds a yod and the computer cannot create data or match from nothing (yet - i.e. until I figure out the condition when a rule should test for hiphil).

Psalm Root English HebrewConjugation
Psalm 1:1 עמד has not stood לֹא עָמָד Qal, perfect
Psalm 10:1 עמד will you stand תַּעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 18:33
missed
he stands me
יַעֲמִידֵֽנִיHiphil, imperfect
Psalm 19:9 עמד is clean standing טְהוֹרָה עוֹמֶדֶת Qal, active participle
Psalm 23 עמד for you are with me כִּי-אַתָּה עִמָּדִי This is a curious accident - a false positive? or a verb?
Psalm 26:12 עמד stands עָמְדָה Qal, perfect
Psalm 30:7 עמד you made to stand הֶעֱמַדְתָּה Hiphil, perfect
Psalm 31:8 עמד but have set הֶעֱמַדְתָּ Hiphil, perfect
Psalm 33:9 עמד and it stands וַיַּעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 33:11 עמד will stand תַּעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 38:11 עמד they stand יַעֲמֹדוּ Qal, imperfect
Psalm 38:11 עמד they stand עָמָדוּ Qal, perfect
Psalm 50 עמד are mine עִמָּדִי More false positives
Psalm 55 עמד with me עִמָּדִי
Psalm 69 עמד foothold מָעֳמָד
Psalm 75 עמד its pillars עַמּוּדֶיהָ different false positives
Psalm 76:7 עמד and who can stand וּמִי יַעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 99 עמד in the pillar of בְּעַמּוּד
Psalm 101 עמד with me עִמָּדִי
Psalm 102:26 עמד you will stand תַעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 104:6 עמד they stood יַעַמְדוּ Qal, imperfect
Psalm 105:10
missed
and stood by it
וַיַּֽעֲמִידֶהָHiphil, imperfect
Psalm 106:23 עמד stood עָמַד Qal, perfect
Psalm 106:30 עמד and stood up וַיַּעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 107:25 עמד and will raise up וַיַּעֲמֵד Hiphil, imperfect
Psalm 109:6 עמד let stand at his right hand יַעֲמֹד עַל יְמִינוֹ Qal, imperfect
Psalm 109:31 עמד for he will stand כִּי יַעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 111:3 עמד stands עֹמֶדֶת Qal, active participle
Psalm 111:10 עמד stands עֹמֶדֶת Qal, active participle inclusio
Psalm 112:3 עמד standing עֹמֶדֶת Qal, active participle
Psalm 112:9 עמד standing עֹמֶדֶת Qal, active participle inclusio
Psalm 119:90 עמד and she stands וַתַּעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 119:91 עמד lo they stand עָמְדוּ Qal, perfect - adjacent to each other
Psalm 122:2 עמד standing עֹמְדוֹת Qal, active participle
Psalm 130:3 עמד who will stand מִי יַעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 134:1 עמד those standing הָעֹמְדִים Qal, active participle
Psalm 135:2 עמד who are standing שֶׁעֹמְדִים Qal, active participle
Psalm 147:17 עמד will stand יַעֲמֹד Qal, imperfect
Psalm 148:6
missed
established
וַיַּעֲמִידֵםHiphil, imperfect

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