Psalm 19

The commentators vary on this psalm - one nameless but famous says the two poems have nothing to do with each other. Harold Fisch (1985) in the stream of literary critics rather than Biblical Studies identifies easily the structural analogies. It appears that Scripture is replete with structural clues to resolve the ambiguity of love.

Psalm 107 completed

This psalm has a complex structure:
invocation, theme, chorus 1, theme, chorus 2, conclusion
verse 1 chorus 1 answer to verse 1 chorus 2 answer 2 to verse 1
verse 2 chorus 1 answer to verse 2 chorus 2 answer 2 to verse 2
verse 3 chorus 1 answer to verse 3 chorus 2 answer 2 to verse 3
coda, theme achieved, recapitulation, conclusion

The wise who keep these things are promised a resolution to theodicy in the loving kindness of the LORD. The weather patterns over the past few years might make one wonder about the green possibilities in the city.

Psalm 107 - floods

Don't ask why - but Psalm 107 the last 10 or so verses got onto my list - random order for translation. Here, of the LORD, it is written that He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. Well, of course one would not translate without experience, so our house got flooded the day after I translated these words. The floods have subsided. And they are meant to have been productive in this case, though later in these verses, the poet also speaks of calamity. Perhaps a little taste of both.

Psalm 14 and 53 continued

Note well that Psalm 14 is a note by the LORD, and Psalm 53 is a note by God (Elohim). The former complains of wantonness and stubbornness (how long must I put up with this generation?) and the latter complains of injustice and lack of worship (worship God - in Spirit and in truth). Could this not be more obvious? Did you ever imagine that Psalm 14 and 53 would reinforce the key reading of the letter to the Hebrews. The Psalms are dialogue between the Father and the Son.

Psalms 15-19

I think I have discovered a pattern - Psalm 17 may be the centre of 15-19; 15-16 share vocabulary and match the pattern of Torah then Messianic, 18 and 19 are Messianic and Torah related - 17 is in the middle and it is not well understood according to at least one commentator - let's see what poetic structure will make of it (eventually).

Psalms 14 & 53

Reading all the books about the psalms is no substitute for reading the psalms themselves. But how will you read without dealing with the original text? For example, Bible gateway notes that "The Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient." Is that so? And if so, what is the implication for us who read the psalm? Are we morally deficient? or not? Are we right in all our thoughts? Do we ever note the possibility of the nihilism implied in Psalm 14 or 53? Is moral insufficiency of the essence of the problem?

In fact the 'Hebrew words' as if such a piece of intelligence was informative are not purely about 'morality' - whatever that means to us. They are about the tension in us to want our own power and the need in us to know some degree of transformation into joy. The word for fool is not a noun but an adjective. There is no definite article in the poem: so I have translated it as 'foolish said in his heart'. I did this so I could escape momentarily from the automatic reaction in me that says - I'm not so foolish. But am I?

The difference between Psalms 14 and 53 is instructive - in one case the word following abomination is 'wantonness', in the other it is 'injustice'. This foolishness is deeper than our acknowledgement of God as 'existing'. There are two words only in this phrase - AIN ELOHIM - 'God is of no account' would be one possible translation.

The phrase - 'there is none that doeth good' is three words in the Hebrew AIN OSEH TOV - literally 'nothing doing good', in parallel with 'nothing God'. These make the poem less moralistic than relational. Without the presence of God, we are only our own presence - incomplete, and in tune with 'nothing'. The consequences are how the term for foolish is defined in the lexicon: senseless, not appreciating the benefits of the LORD. Note how psalm 53 and 14 use different terms in the same spot in the poem for God - Elohim in Psalm 53 and YHWH in Psalm 14.

Note also the repetition of 'nothing doing good' followed by yet another difference in the psalms - stubborn (14) and not worshipping (53). Such is our state without the joy of love that God, the LORD gives. Whatever our intellectual knowledge - it is not in our own knowing what is not good, it is in the excellence of knowing that Good that comes only from God - an inexpressible word contained in the final verse of the psalm: Salvation (Hebrew yeshua) giving expressed joy in his people.

So this psalm is far from being merely moralistic in content. It lies on the axis of nihilism and joy - deeply expressing for us the reality of being counted among of God's people.

Psalm 6 revisited

I just uncovered a scansion of Psalm 6 by John Hobbins along with several other articles on Hebrew poetry.

I have compared this structure as described with Fokkelman's. It is still too early for me to confirm or deny syllable counts but the comparison helped remove a few errors and extra words from my own first cuts. See here for Fokkelman's version using my word by word structuring; and here for Hobbins using his line by line structuring (much more compact).

Raw

You know of course that my translations are raw - not pious or poetic yet - but raw. Repeat: talk to me about corrections if you can see any. Sometimes the most familiar psalms (like 51) are the hardest to translate. I am looking for a way to reread the ones I have done so far to see what I can remember and learn from. It's still a foreign tongue to this 3 year old.

Structure

Psalm 89 is a serious lament to God. The last verse is the doxology for the third part of the Psalter - It fits as an end to this psalm, but it is not a part of the poem. The poem itself ends with the possible allusion to Genesis 3:15, but certainly with a continuing reminder to God that there are promises to be fulfilled.

The poem's structure begins with a concentric first stanza around the pair of verbs: establish and build up. Several words contribute further (coloured in green) here. I have drawn lines to show the structure as well as marking it with colour.

The second stanza - if indeed it is a stanza, is marked by 'the congregation' as opening and closing brackets. The rhetorical question - who is like the LORD is in the centre of that circle with a coda following.

The third section (top of column 2) recalls Psalm 46. In the centre, Sabbath is allowed for the waves of the seas (bless Christopher Smart - Jubilate Agno).

The fourth section has 'lifted up' and 'righteousness' marking the inclusio.
This motif is carried into the third column where the 'lifted up' verb is repeated three times, reinforced by the additional word - horn. Note also the refer-back to the sea and how even the seas are subject to the anointed.

The next long column is bound with the words 'forever', 'seed', and 'throne' - the section spilled over into column 5 ending with the Selah just before the change in mood - so I moved the verses into a single column to see better the concentric structures.

Column 5 balances the power of the verbs at the top of column 2 and the power implied by the covenant promises - as noted in the white on black colours. Here there is no need to 'explain' God's displeasure. There is a 14-fold repetition of the complaint.

Re the final column, where is the concept of 'the anointed bearing on his breast the multitude of peoples' coming from in the poet's mind? It is a primal human experience: the care for others. As Bruggeman points out in his book, Israel's Praise, the Psalms are world-making and the King though the patron of the cult, is also subject to the cost of the tender loving kindness of God: his people and all the others are on his breast. A father with a disabled child who refuses to learn independence and choose the good will know a similar responsibility that weighs heavily on the breast.

Psalm 150

Nothing like getting to the end before the journey is done. Psalm 150 is one I have sung many times but never before observed its simple structure: praise of the LORD who is God and praise with the means at our command. Conceptually at least, the whole is in two parts - 1. who 2. how and with a wrapper: Praise the Lord. I have republished all the images with no reduction of jpg size - so they are large, some of them. Yesterday I lost a day - but I was not alone; two of my staff also thought today was Thursday! So it is not just my involvement with learning a new language. Actually the form of the language is new but the human content is not. The poems are new and fresh but the forms of the poetry are not. Psalm 89 verse 38(39) was an issue - there is no mention of transgression, but a piling on of verbs - anaphoric almost. You have rejected us, you have cast us off, remember that we are but dust. I at first misread the verb as ZNH rather than ZNX - the first is really impolite, virtually accusing G-d as behaving like a harlot! The second is just rejection, not unfaithfulness, though the psalmist comes as close as he dare to pile on the compaint: 13 verbs in a row.

Ho hum - not bored or anything, but more psalms

Psalm 100 and 67 are coloured; Psalm 89 is nearly finished, but wondering what to do with the very nasty word applied to God in verse 38 - dreamt of a tiger last night - sleeping with such - hmmm, growly. (At least it was a rare creature, not a roaring lion - ya gotta love those tiggers).

Psalms 51 and 91 are next, Psalm 119 in the wings (for ever) and Psalm 90 and 96 have to come soon and 42 - getting hart and water together again. Sooooo much depth and content here - if you don't know it, try it. Taste and see that the Lord is good (34) and dance with the ark to the holy mountain (134).

Continuing

There are some changes to the published images - still experimenting; see here. Also experimenting with the Greek and structure of John - not sure where this will lead. See here

My Heart is Inditing

רָחַשׁ לִבִּי, דָּבָר טוֹב My heart overflows with a good word. I am astonished how quickly some things move. I have loaded several more psalms into my workspace. The load preparation program for transcription now loads the transcription into the place where I will put the English. The database engine for the lexicon support is improving. I partially isolated the roots so that the Hebrew will sort by root for comparision purposes. The diagram surface has had up to 22 diagrams open at once and it has been very stable. The multi-tier framework is marvellous to work in - supporting a complex thought process and memory in ways I could not have imagined before doing it. My technical, historical, personal, and theological rivers have merged into one Amazon - hope there aren't too may of those sharp-toothed fish around.

Just loaded psalms 51, 67, 91, 100, and 119 (2195 nodes) - no problem with volume. Just over 6500 nodes are loaded of which 46% represent the 16 psalms translated to date.

Shades of Meaning

There are now Psalms 1-12 and 23, 46, 138, 145 in full colour draft form on the emerging content. In addition Psalm 89 illustrates a lexicon constructed from these first 16 psalms. New features will allow dynamic sorting and filtering of the lexicon in real time in my translation framework. My overall title is 'Shades of Meaning'.

How do we learn what we and others mean in our language and action. Psalms 11 and 12 illustrate this. Would you notice that Psalm 12 is about words? The colour coding shows it - the speaking of humans to each other and the word of God kept in the heavens - (and the heavens are not far distant but immanent). Note the inclusion -beni adam- (children of the dust), between verses 2 and 9 showing that the psalmist responds to the dejection of verse 1 with a complete answer to the issue of faithfulness. Similarly the verses 2-7 in psalm 11 answer the jibe in verse 1. Curious to me that the fire and brimstone imagery are fully present in these early psalms (7,11) - but can they be seen as the refiner's fire rather than solely as destructive and punitive? I think they can if we see the psalmist as reflecting on his own limitations - as surely David has done. So Psalm 3 prepares the way for a pivot at Psalm 51 - but I get ahead of myself. (And Psalms 6 and 9 with their references to Sheol are not connected specifically to punishment but rather to repentance and judgment in the face of the presence of God).

After even so little work (four to six months at an average of 1 hour a day) - I will never read a psalm in any translation the same again.

Translation

Reading Lawrence Hoffman's JourneyHome - nice introduction to Jewish thought. His section on translation (literal, contextual-historical, spiritual) reminds me that my translations so far are mostly literal - even to the point of keeping Hebrew word order for the most part. You have to start somewhere. Some of my translations are not 16th century pious literal - He restores my soul becomes he repairs my life. Some are surprising - mercy and reproof will follow me - because the presence of God in reproof is proof of presence and therefore also mercy and loving kindness - but it makes you stop and think.

I have done about 10% of the psalter in this first five month period. I am still a child - hardly at the point where I can sound out the Hebrew words. I am a long way from Ugaritic or textual criticism - but I have focussed on structure - a point which most if not all translations ignore. One day I may do a Berrigan (Uncommon Prayer, A Book of Psalms) but never a Baumann (Ancient Songs Sung Anew) - but first I will be straight up with the words and transfer them to my era only as they move themselves in me.

Working on 10,11,12 and 89 ...

Psalms 6, 7, and 9

Three more - or 2 + 1/2 a psalm more are available in the emerging content; Psalms 10-12 are pending. With Psalm 9-10 I haven't paid any attention yet to the acrostic - too impossible. Still alive after the danger of Psalm 6 which I lost and had to struggle through again, waiting for the miracle of memory. The tool I am using continues to evolve - a lexicon of what I have done is available - but the problem of sorting Hebrew words in root order is formidable. The coding of grammatical rules is only part of the problem of order in a non-alphabetic language. The other parts are variable spellings and vowels. I think I will try sorting with elimination of vowels from the transcription.

Danger

These poems are dangerous. I find it impossible to avoid the reality they portray - judgment and mercy; enemy and chosen; how can one cry out or whisper in safety when the answer comes from consuming fire?

Psalms 4 and 5

Two more early psalms are in the images. 3, 4, and 5 all seem similar in tone - dealing with the enemy and the righteous. In their human capacity, I have coloured both the same as if the poet was not just concerned with the other, but with the humanity within himself that he fights with - the accusing voice. This is particularly clear in Psalm 4. The third psalm answers the sardonic - no salvation for you, fellow - which comes from the other human, but Psalm 4 has such an accusation from the Lord - how long are you going to turn my glory to shame and seek emptiness? This is the Lord talking to the poet, not to the poet's enemies. (At least that is what my colouring implies.)

New features in the diagramming tool allow me to experiment more with shading - fun if nothing else.

Translation

http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2006/10/whats-joke.html is a nice review of how wrong translations can be. But there are many reasons nonetheless for translating. 1. you learn something of the language; 2. you learn how different translations are; 3 you reach deeper into historical communication with the distant past -

I have come across many personal translations of the Psalms in the last 3 months as I have begun this study - from Berrigan to Buddhist; from literal to pious; short and long. What is the attraction? A commonality of human experience expressed in poetry in relation to a known yet unknown presence. I likely have what would be seen as a pious bias but there's more to faith than piety, and more to being than just being right about what you think you ought to think.

I cannot see yet where I am going - but I think that there is a reality to search for in the Psalms and that it has something to teach me.

The LORD is winning on wordcount by a country mile

The divine name is clearly the most used in the first 11 psalms I have in the database. There are some hard issues in counting words though - the prefixes and suffixes mean that I will have to list the roots separately - not an automatable job, so I will have to see what can be done to enable it. But time is not of the essence in this work. Many people have done Psalms before me and in much greater and more experienced detail. For a rough cut of wordcounts, see here.