Psalms:
Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles
Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language
This Psalm also appears in 2 Samuel 22, sometimes identical, sometimes with variations. I have included the Samuel text here, and will comment on the variations where it is relevant to do so; but my full commentary on that version can be found at the link, above. The translation here is from Sefaria.org. Note the use of Samech breaks in the Samuel to indicate the verse structure.
18:1 LA MENATSE'ACH LE EVED YHVH LE DAVID ASHER DIBER LA YHVH ET DIVREY HA SHIYRAH HA ZOT BE YOM HITSIL YHVH OTO MI KAPH KOL OYEVAV U MI YAD SHA'UL
לַמְנַצֵּחַ לְעֶבֶד יְהוָה לְדָוִד אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לַיהוָה אֶת דִּבְרֵי הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת בְּיוֹם הִצִּיל יְהוָה אוֹתוֹ מִכַּף כָּל אֹיְבָיו וּמִיַּד שָׁאוּל
KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,) I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
2 Samuel 22:1: וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר דָּוִד֙ לַיהֹוָ֔ה אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַשִּׁירָ֣ה הַזֹּ֑את {ס} בְּיוֹם֩ הִצִּ֨יל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֹת֛וֹ מִכַּ֥ף כׇּל־אֹיְבָ֖יו וּמִכַּ֥ף שָׁאֽוּל׃ {ס} - David addressed the words of this song to the LORD, after the LORD had saved him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hands of Saul.
Title and sub-title - the first that we have encountered. The context could fit any one of several of the tales told in the Book of Samuel, though actually no specific tale gets told here, and we are left only with the general context - the Earth-god endlessly pursued into the Netherworld of the wilderness by the Lord of the Underworld - and the rather cosmologically poetical prayer. I suspect that the original Psalm was entirely mythological, and only became "historical", which is to say "pseudo-historical", later, and that this is really (so to speak) Dante's Hallelu-Yah when he and Virgil performed that neat little summersault over Dis in the final Canto of "The Inferno", and climbed up thereby into Purgatorio. Dis here being She'ol, its Lord Sha'ul (Saul) [and he rose again on the third day...]
King James yet again incorporates the first line of the hymn into the title, so that we will have to bracket its verse numbers; on this occasion it actually gets its own verse division wrong, keeping VA YOMAR inside its bracket, when it belongs after the close of the parenthesis.
18:2 VA YOMAR ERCHAMCHA YHVH CHIZKI
KJ (18:1): (And he said,) I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
BN (option a): And he said: I will be merciful to you, YHVH, my strengthener.
ERCHAMCHA: Not the usual way of expresing love, so this needs some etymology. And indeed, as soon as we do so, we realise that the KJ translation is simply wrong. The root is RECHEM, which is the womb, and provides the first of the thirteen attributes of the deity, and is really a leftover from the mother goddess - men don't have wombs, after all. The image of the penis versus the womb runs through proto-Judaism as well as Talmudic-Judaism, the difference being that the male and female are equal in the former, but the female is amalgamated into the male in the patriarchal latter. So the uterus provides the symbol of all things protective, the comfort-zone inside which the foetus can grow towards parturition: mercy being the one that gets carried forward into Islam when it too describes the principal attributes of al-Lah: "r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ)"; the gracious and merciful".
As to my two translations. Option a appears to be accurate, but I cannot believe that this is the intention, because even Earth-gods do not offer to show mercy to their senior deity; it is always the other way around. Click here for a list of occasions when the same root is verbed in the same manner, and you will see that it always has the same meaning: "I will show you compassion". The Aleph first letter indicates first person singular, future tense. The final Kaf with an inserted qamats indicates a second person singular dative, "to you".
CHIZKI: Add the name of the moon-goddess and you have the name of the greatest of all the kings after Shelomoh, Chizki-Yah (Hezekiah); and also one of the three greats among the prophets, Yechezke-El (Ezekiel), though, as per his name, he appears to have found his strength in El, not YHVH.
KJ (18:2): The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
KJ (18:3): I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
MEHULAL: Takes me to the name MAHALAL-EL, but it may just be coincidence. See the link.
18:5 APHAPHUNI CHEVLEY MAVET VE NACHALEY VELI-YA'AL YEVA'ATUNI
KJ (18:4): The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
BN: The cords of Death bound me, and the rivers of Beli-Ya'al assailed me.
2 Samuel 22:5: כִּ֥י אֲפָפֻ֖נִי מִשְׁבְּרֵי־מָ֑וֶת {ס} נַחֲלֵ֥י בְלִיַּ֖עַל יְבַעֲתֻֽנִי - For the breakers of Death encompassed me, The torrents of Belial terrified me;
VELI-YA'AL: Is this a different spelling of Belial from the one we're used to, or a completely different word? That ya'al seems to hint at a different meaning from the one(s) we have been offered by translators previously (see Deuteronomy 15:9 for example). Does it perhaps intend Bli-El, the idea of a person who is "without" (beli) any belief in any sort of god (el) at all? Or is YA'AL is connected with ALIYAH, being the process of climbing up - and as such it would connect back to SAL'I in the previous verse. But the root is also used for things being "worthwhile" or "profitable", the latter both materially and spiritually - see for example Proverbs 10:2. But I think the answer to our conundrum lies in Job 21:15, where the two seemingly disparate constructs come together as one: that one can "go up" to the deity, using one meaning of the root, and - using the other meaning of the root - "gain benefit" as a consequence, just as this Psalm keeps telling us. So a person who has no deity at all, denies himself that opportunity for benefit, and we can say that VELIYA'AL is both "worthlessness" and "atheism".
CHEVLEY MAVET seems to endorse my sense of this as a hymn of thanks after being rescued from the clutches of the Lord of the Underworld, and belongs with those more modern Mi She Beyrach and Birkat ha Gomel prayers, for one who has survived a near-death experience such as war, sickness, etc.
18:6 CHEVLEY SHE'OL SEVAVUNI KIDMUNI MOKSHEY MAVET
KJ (18:5): The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
BN: The cords of She'ol surrounded me; the snares of Death confronted me.
2 Samuel 22:6: חֶבְלֵ֥י שְׁא֖וֹל סַבֻּ֑נִי {ס} קִדְּמֻ֖נִי מֹ֥קְשֵׁי מָֽוֶת - The snares of Sheol encircled me, The coils of Death engulfed me.
She'ol and Sha'ul are now unified and the CHEVLEY MAVET likewise; it is in verses like this one that we find the case confirmed beyond equivocation or argument. In a collection of poems where every single word-play is palpably deliberate, how can we hear these two aurally almost identical words, and see them written down unpointed absolutely identical, and not understand that they are one and the same: Sha'ul is the Underworld, the Underworld is Sha'ul. QED.
18:7 BA TSAR LI EKR'A YHVH VE EL ELOHAI ASHAVE'A YISHM'A ME HEYCHALO KOLI VE SHAV'ATI LEPHANAV TAVO VE AZNAV
KJ (18:6): In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
BN: In my distress I called out to YHVH, and cried to El my god. {N} Out of his temple he heard my voice, and my cry rose up before him until it reached his ears.
2 Samuel 22:7: בַּצַּר־לִי֙ אֶקְרָ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה וְאֶל־אֱלֹהַ֖י אֶקְרָ֑א {ס} וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע מֵהֵֽיכָלוֹ֙ קוֹלִ֔י וְשַׁוְעָתִ֖י בְּאׇזְנָֽיו - In my anguish I called on the LORD, Cried out to my God; In His Abode He heard my voice, My cry entered His ears.
EL ELOHAI: Is the EL here a preposition - "to" - or another reference to the head of the Kena'ani polytheon? And if it is a preposition, the use of Elohai is nonetheless plural, so the intention is the same anyway: David appeals to YHVH, and to the full Valhalla-Olympus of the heavens. We are not yet in a Omnideistic epoch.
HEYCHAL: I like the idea, which I don't think has been expressed previously, that the gods too had a Temple, metaphorically of course, up there in Valhalla-Olympus, and presumably the "angels" provided it with a choir and orchestra, and sang Psalms just like this one. As humans need to mirror the heavens in every aspect of the Earth, the twelve constellations through the twelve tribes, the deity through the king, the angels through the priests, etc, so there has to be an equivalent Temple... eventually. Not yet in David's time: he was forbidden by the Elder of the Guild of Prophets (the equivalent of the senior Arch-angel?) to build it, and though he bought the land, and raised the money through a contraversial poll-tax census, it was only after his death that the Temple was erected, by the second Yedid-Yah, his son Shelomoh.
LEPHANAV...AZNAV: In a previous chapter I asked about an IV or AV pronunciation; here are two reasons why; both these are AV though they look like IV without the nekud, and would sound like AIV with it, which would be incorrect.
18:8 VA TIG'ASH VA TIR'ASH HA ARETS U MOSDEY HARIM YIRGAZU VA YITGA'ASHU KI CHARAH LO
KJ (18:7): Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
18:9 ALAH ASHAN BE APHO VE ESH MI PIV TO'CHEL GECHALIM BA ARO MIMENU
KJ (18:8): There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
BN: Smoke coming out of his nostrils, and fire issuing from his mouth, devoured everything; {N} flaming coals poured out of him.
2 Samuel 22:9: עָלָ֤ה עָשָׁן֙ בְּאַפּ֔וֹ וְאֵ֥שׁ מִפִּ֖יו תֹּאכֵ֑ל {ס} גֶּחָלִ֖ים בָּעֲר֥וּ מִמֶּֽנּוּ - Smoke went up from His nostrils, From His mouth came devouring fire; Live coals blazed forth from Him.
PIV: Whereas this is definitely PIV and not PAV.
The start of this verse sounds like the bull with inflamed nostrils once again; but bulls do not spit coals; no, this is the original YHVH, the Mosaic YHVH from the burning bush at Chorev, the one to whom he brought out his people so that they could witness a volcanic eruption from close-at-hand, and understand through that experience the indomitable might and power of the deity Nature; this is the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night, the same one that Lot fled when the same volcano erupted at Sedom, and further evidence both of the ancientness of this Psalm, and the probability that YHVH began life as a Midyanite volcano-god (the only geological possibility for Kena'ani volcanos is the area around the Dead Sea, which is Midyanite), and rose up through the hierarchy to become the Omnideity later on.
18:10 VA YET SHAMAYIM VA YERAD VA ARAPHEL TACHAT RAGLAV
KJ (18:9): He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
BN: He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and thick darkness was under his feet.
2 Samuel 22:10: וַיֵּ֥ט שָׁמַ֖יִם וַיֵּרַ֑ד {ס} וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל תַּ֥חַת רַגְלָֽיו - He bent the sky and came down, Thick cloud beneath His feet.
This presumably a description of the volcanic mushroom cloud.
ARAPHEL: The play-on-words on this occasion could easily go unnoticed. Take the final Lamed off ARAPHEL and you are left with OREPH, which is the upper part of the back, and the neck, the rear-view of a bust in sculpture. YHVH repeatedly describes the Beney Yisra-El as a "stiff-necked people" (click here for numerous exemplars, but Exodus 32:9 is as plain as it gets). So, here, YHVH proves that he is not stiff-necked, by "bowing down" the heavens. ARAPHEL is really the thick cloud itself, not the darkness that it brings; and in both cases an unusual word is being used, which is generally a hint of a word-game. The cloud should really be an ANAN (ענן), and the darkness should really be CHOSHECH.
18:11 VA YIRKAV AL KERUV VA YA'OPH VA YED'E AL KANPHEY RU'ACH
KJ (18:10): And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
BN: And he rode on a Keruv, and flew; he swooped down on the wings of the wind.
KERUV: Christianity has had a bad tradition of reducing other people's gods, heroes and tales to the smallest possible size. So the Titans of the Celtic world became leprachauns; so the great winged beast of Babylonian mythology, two exemplars of which stood guard at the Mishkan in the same way that they dominate the Middle Eastern section of the British Museum today, twenty or even thirty feet high, head of a lion, eagle's wings, a creature fit to adorn a poem by Daniel (click here) or Yeats (click here); but in mediaeval Christian paintings, reduced to a diapered baby with an adult head, flying around with angel's wings in search of a Christmas tree to alight upon. Yes, that cherub.
18:12 YASHET CHOSHECH SITRO SEVIYVOTAV SUKATO CHESHCHAT MAYIM AVEY SHECHAKIM
KJ (18:11): He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
BN: He made darkness his hiding-place, his temporary lodging to enclose himself; {N} darkness of water, thick clouds of sky.
2 Samuel 22:12: וַיָּ֥שֶׁת חֹ֛שֶׁךְ סְבִיבֹתָ֖יו סֻכּ֑וֹת {ס} חַֽשְׁרַת־מַ֖יִם עָבֵ֥י שְׁחָקִֽים - He made pavilions of darkness about Him, Dripping clouds, huge thunderheads;
SEVIVOTAV: is an AV - see my notes to verses ....
How ancient might this Psalm be, given that the volcanic eruptions are likely to have been memories from the Ice Age (is there any evidence of volcanic activity in the region more recently than that?); and then the bigger picture of the deity, in this verse and the following: from the epoch of the Prophets onwards, when the Mythological Age passes into the Metaphysical, the divine attributes will all be moral, ethical and philosophical abstractions, Truth, Justice, Peace, Mercy, Compassion. But not here. Here we are in the black hole, literally and metaphorically.
SUKATO: A "tabernacle" elsewhere, a temporary booth set up in the Mosaic wilderness for the time it would take to re-read the Law to the people (Numbers 33:5 ff); from which the place acquired the name Sukot. But also the booths made out of palm leaves set up for the autumn harvest, and at some point adopted as the name of that harvest (click here). Here, however, it seems to be a rather more generic intention, some sort of a temporary home, metaphorical anyway, as the entire account is metaphorical.
18:13 MI NOGAH NEGDO AVAV AVRU BARAD VE GACHALEY ESH
KJ (18:12): At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
AVAV likewise; not to be confused with AVIV, which is "Spring".
NOGAH NEGDO... AVAV AVRU: Alliteration and assonance, which I have attempted to parallel in my translations - ideally "hailstones" needed an English equivalent with a hard "c" or a "th" - but actually the Yehudit only does this for the first half of the verse and the final word-pairing.
18:14 VA YAR'EM BA SHAMAYIM YHVH VE ELYON YITEN KOLO BARAD VE GACHALEY ESH
KJ (18:13): The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
YHVH VE ELYON: No question that two different gods are being mentioned here - and not the same two as last time either.
18:15 VA YISHLACH CHITSAV VA YEPHIYTSEM U VERAKIM RAV VA YEHUMEM
KJ (18:14): Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
BN: And he fired off his arrows, and drove them to all corners; then he shot off lightning, and destroyed them altogether.
18:16 VA YERA'U APHIKEY MAYIM VA YIGALU MOSDOT TEVEL MI GA'ARAT'CHA YHVH MI NISHMAT RU'ACH APECHA
KJ (18:15): Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
BN: Then channels of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare; {N} at your rebuke, YHVH, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
2 Samuel 22:16: וַיֵּֽרָאוּ֙ אֲפִ֣קֵי יָ֔ם יִגָּל֖וּ מֹסְד֣וֹת תֵּבֵ֑ל {ס} בְּגַעֲרַ֣ת יְהֹוָ֔ה מִנִּשְׁמַ֖ת ר֥וּחַ אַפּֽוֹ - The bed of the sea was exposed, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the mighty roaring of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
What is emerging from She'ol, from the black smoke and burning lava of the volcano, from the "black hole" that I only half-jestingly alluded to, is also Creation itself, not the defeat of human enemies, as the title appeared to suggest, but the overthrowing of the armies of the Lord of the Underworld, those terrible beasts of nothingness and uncreation, the anarchic spirits of the void that precedes Genesis 1, Tohu, Bohu and Choshech (there must be a fourth, if the Daniel quoted above is correct: Nechushtan posibly, or Liv-Yatan?). Indeed, we should probably read this entire Psalm as a kind of intermezzo between Genesis 1:2 and 1:3.
18:17 YISHLACH MI MAROM YIKACHENI YAMSHENI MI MAYIM RABIM
KJ (18:16): He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
18:19 YEKADMUNI VE YOM EYDI VA YEHI YHVH LE MISH'AN LI
KJ (18:18): They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
YEKADMUNI: From which corner of the heavens does the sun rise, please remind me? MI KEDEM, from the east. But, as per my note at this link, the word is used for time as well as geography (BE YAMEYNU KE KEDEM, as is prayed in the synagogue daily), so the east is not only the location of the sunrise, but also its precise hour and minute. And if I have translated this as "confronted", it is because that is the nearest I could get to an accurate-enough equivalent word-play in English. The intention in the Yehudit is that the darkness et al are standing in front of him, blocking his view of the sunrise.
TSIDKI does not really mean "righteousness", though it includes it; nor does KEVOD mean "cleanliness" - it means "glory" or"honour". But these are probably as near as we can get in English to the intention of the idiom in Yehudit. Though the latter may be about "the quality of the work of my hands", rather than their post-Selichot Pontius Pilateness.
18:22 KI SHAMARTI DARCHEY YHVH VE LO RASHA'TI ME ELOHAI
KJ (18:21): For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
BN: For I have kept the ways of YHVH, and have not wickedly departed from my god.
2 Samuel 22:22: כִּ֥י שָׁמַ֖רְתִּי דַּרְכֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וְלֹ֥א רָשַׁ֖עְתִּי מֵאֱלֹהָֽי {ס} - For I have kept the ways of the LORD And have not been guilty before my God;
18:23 KI CHOL MISHPATAV LE NEGDI VE CHUKOTAV LO ASIR MENI
KJ (18:22): For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
BN: For all of his statutes were before me, and I did not set aside even one of his instructions.
2 Samuel 22:23: כִּ֥י כׇל־מִשְׁפָּטָ֖ו לְנֶגְדִּ֑י וְחֻקֹּתָ֖יו לֹא־אָס֥וּר מִמֶּֽנָּה - I am mindful of all His rules And have not departed from His laws.
MISHPATAV... CHUKOTAV: the central rhyme continues. For an explanation of the difference between the two terms, click here. And notice, when you get there, that there is also a third term - EDOT; for which go back to verse 19! I presume the EDOT are not mentioned here, precisely because they do not go with verse 19, but the word-play would lead us to think they did, and that would confuse the matter.
MENI: Have I mis-typed this and it should be MIMENI? No, I have checked several versions, and they all have MENI; and yet 2 Samuel 22:23 insists, not just on the second Mem, but in the feminine as well: MIMENAH.
18:24 VA EHI TAMIM IMO VA ESHTAMER ME AVONI
KJ (18:23): I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
EHI: A second piece of unusual grammar in as many verses.
Not precisely a repetition of verse 21, though clearly the intention is the same; the intervening verses provide the rubric, and serve to explain the criteria and benchmarks behind verse 21, and this verse then confirms the given grade. A*.
18:26 IM CHASID TIT'CHASAD IM GEVAR TAMIM TITAMAM
KJ (18:25): With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
BN: With the pious you show yourself trustworthy; with the upright you show yourself upright.
2 Samuel 22:26: עִם־חָסִ֖יד תִּתְחַסָּ֑ד {ס} עִם־גִּבּ֥וֹר תָּמִ֖ים תִּתַּמָּֽם - With the loyal You deal loyally; With the blameless hero, blamelessly.
CHASID: Merciful? Well, yes, possibly, in Psalm 145:17, and Jeremiah 3:12, though the former is thoroughly debateable, and the latter at least partially so. I would prefer "excellent" in the former, "loyal" or "trustworthy" in the latter, both synonyms for "piety", which is the virtue that is being most extolled in the "rubric" verses we have just read. The term Chasid actually began with the Hasmoneans, though we tend to think of it as being the "ultra-orthodox" communities that grew up in central Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
18:27 IM NAVAR TITBARAR VE IM IKESH TITPATAL
KJ (18:26): With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
BN: With the pure you show yourself pure; with the devious you can be just as devious.
2 Samuel 22:27: עִם־נָבָ֖ר תִּתָּבָ֑ר {ס} וְעִם־עִקֵּ֖שׁ תִּתַּפָּֽל - With the pure You act in purity, And with the perverse You are wily.
The form of this verse echoing that of the one before, including the use of the Hitpa'el (reflexive) for all four verbs.
IKESH TITPATAL: Both roots can have the meaning "twisted", the former in the sense of "corrupt", the latter rather more snake-like in its movements. I would like to translate this as "with those who are wrestling, you are willing to wrestle", for which Jihadic notion see Genesis 30:8. But the idea of "wrestling" automatically word-associates with Ya'akov at Penu-El, and that tale does not use PATAL - see Genesis 32:25 (though the use of the reflexive here definitely suggests that "struggle" may well be intended).
18:28 KI ATAH AM ANI TOSHI'A VE EYNAYIM RAMOT TASHPIL
KJ (18:27): For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
18:29 KI ATAH TA'IR NERI YHVH ELOHAI YAGIYAH CHASHKI
KJ (18:28): For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
BN: For you light my candle; YHVH my gods light up my darkness.
2 Samuel 22:29: כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה נֵירִ֖י יְהֹוָ֑ה {ס} וַיהֹוָ֖ה יַגִּ֥יהַּ חׇשְׁכִּֽי - You, O LORD, are my lamp; The LORD lights up my darkness.
YHVH ELOHAI is hugely problematic, because the former is singular, but the latter plural, and so the combination becomes ungrammatical, and I mean that theologically as well. I wonder if the first, or perhaps though less likely the second, was added on at a later point of history. Rhythmically too it is YHVH which is dissonant (and I mean that theologically as well). Note that YHVH is not present, but the Elohai are, in the next verse. Note also that the Samuel text resolves the problem by simply removing the Elohai - does this also help us date the two?
GEDUD: The troop is Gad, one of the 12 tribes, but also the god of Fortune. How odd, just after we witnessed the birth of Naphtali in verse 27. Given that this is a Psalm of Creation, and we have seen the sun and Earth both rising, it would be entirely logical to have the twelve constellations and the moon present too, the latter going down as it is day-time, the former losing visibility (did the ancients know that the stars were still there by day, or did they think they too went home to sleep and only came out at night?) We will know if this is the case, if the other tribes turn up in the ensuing verses. No doubt in my mind that the bizarre phrasing of this verse is a desperate attempt by the poet to get the tribe mentioned - and for the tribes as representatives of the constellations, click here.
18:31 HA EL TAMIM DARKO IMRAT YHVH TSERUPHAH MAGEN HU LE CHOL HA CHOSIM BO
KJ (18:30): As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
The N (Yehudit Nun) signifies a hiatus in the Psalm - is it the musical form that now changes, or the theme, the mode of language, the tone? And can we learn anything more about this unexplained Nun, from the fact that the equivalent verse in 2 Samuel has a Samech, which we do understand?
These shifts between El and YHVH, given that David is the beloved son, become the son respecting both the father and the grandfather. We have to learn to read these pre-Jewish texts through a pre-Jewish lens.
18:32 KI MI ELOHA MI BAL'ADEY YHVH U MI TSUR ZULATI ELOHEYNU
KJ (18:31): For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
BN: For who is god, if not YHVH? And who is a rock, if not the gods?
2 Samuel 22:32: כִּ֥י מִי־אֵ֖ל מִבַּלְעֲדֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה {ס} וּמִ֥י צ֖וּר מִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֥י אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ - Yea, who is a god except the LORD, Who is a rock except God -
18:33 HA EL HA ME'AZRENI CHAYIL VA YITEN TAMIM DARKI
KJ (18:32): It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
BN: El girds me with strength, and makes my way straight.
2 Samuel 22:33: הָאֵ֥ל מָֽעוּזִּ֖י חָ֑יִל {ס} וַיַּתֵּ֥ר תָּמִ֖ים (דרכו) [דַּרְכִּֽי] - The God, my mighty stronghold, Who kept my path secure;
ME'AZRENI: From AZAR with an Aleph, where AZAR with an Ayin means "to help". But all these epithets are about the ways in which the various deities "help" the Psalmist, so the word-play is again intentional.
Ah but there is a lot going on in this brief verse!
18:36 VA TITEN LI MAGEN YISH'ECHA VIYMIYNCHA TIS'ADENI VE ANVAT'CHA TARBENI
KJ (18:35): Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
BN: You gave me your shield of salvation, and your right hand gave me a strong foundation; and your gentleness has made me fruitful.
2 Samuel 22:36: וַתִּתֶּן־לִ֖י מָגֵ֣ן יִשְׁעֶ֑ךָ וַעֲנֹתְךָ֖ תַּרְבֵּֽנִי {ס} - You have granted me the shield of Your protection And Your providence has made me great.
MAGEN YISH'ECHA: The shield we know, the "Star" of David, twinkling in the dawn sky, but also protecting the archers with their brass bows. YISH'ECHA makes him the MASHIYACH, where the deity, as we have seen, is the MOSHI'A.
18:37 TARCHIV TSA'ADI TACHTAI VE LO MA'ADU KARSULAI
KJ (18: 36): Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
BN: You gave me a secure footing, so my ankles have not wobbled.
2 Samuel 22:37: תַּרְחִ֥יב צַעֲדִ֖י תַּחְתֵּ֑נִי וְלֹ֥א מָעֲד֖וּ קַרְסֻלָּֽי - You have let me stride on freely, And my feet have not slipped.
TARCHIV: Back again to my unresolved issue of the IV or the AV. Here it can only be IV, because the final letter is a Vet, not a Vav. The issue is not the qamats under the Yud, but the problematic nature the of Vav itself. Vet is a softening of Bet, but Vav can be softened to O or U, and that is where the qamats then becomes the issue. No issue that MA'ADU is an U, even in the pre-Maroretic text, where the Vav is not medugash; grammar requires it, for a third person plural.
18:39 EMCHATSEM VE LO YUCHLU KUM YIPLU TACHAT RAGLAI
KJ (18:38): I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
BN: I will smite them so throughly, they will be unable to get up; they will fall beneath my feet.
RAGLAI: Feet, as per my note to the previous verse.
18:40 VE TE'AZRENI CHAYIL LA MILCHAMAH TACHRIY'A KAMAI TACHTAI
KJ (18:39): For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
BN: For you will gird me with strength for the battle. You will subdue beneath me those who rise up against me.
2 Samuel 22:40: וַתַּזְרֵ֥נִי חַ֖יִל לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה {ס} תַּכְרִ֥יעַ קָמַ֖י תַּחְתֵּֽנִי - You have girt me with strength for battle, Brought low my foes before me,
Again in the future tense.
18:41 VE OYEVAI NATATAH LI OREPH U MESAN'AI ATSMIYTEM
KJ (18:40): Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
BN: Just as you made my enemies retreat before me, so I shall cut down those who hate me.
Whereas this reverts to the past tense in the first half, using history as evidence to support his commitment in the future.
OREPH: See my notes at verse 10. We should read this as both the physical necks of the human enemy, and the metaphorical stars in the darkness of the sky, though whether NATATAH LI infers that they have "turned their necks", as in retreated, or he has "severed their necks", as in beheaded, is less comfortable easy to determine, though the insinuation of the second part of the verse is definitely the latter.
18:42 YESHAV'U VE EYN MOSHI'A AL YHVH VE LO ANAM
KJ (18: 41): They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
BN: They will cry, but there will be no one to save them; they will cry to YHVH, but he will not answer.
2 Samuel 22:42: יִשְׁע֖וּ וְאֵ֣ין מֹשִׁ֑יעַ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א עָנָֽם -They looked, but there was none to deliver; To the LORD, but He answered them not.
YESHAV'U: See verse 7, where the same word is used, but with a different outcome (he gets the response; his enemies get rejected). But then look again at verse 34, where the same letters are used to form an entirely different root (think of words like bow and bow in English, the first worn as a tie, or used to fire arrows, or to project the colours of the sky after rain; the latter what the actor does at the end of a performance, usually from the bow of the stage, not the aft: same letters, different meanings, but the word-play on those homonyms entirely deliberate).
Again we need to note the difference between a Moshi'a and a Mashiyach.
18:43 VE ESHCHAKEM KE APHAR AL PENEY RU'ACH KETIT CHUTSOT ARIYKEM
KJ (18:42): Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
BN: Then I will pulverise them, like dust before the wind; I shall empty them onto the street like dirt.
2 Samuel 22:43: וְאֶשְׁחָקֵ֖ם כַּעֲפַר־אָ֑רֶץ {ס} כְּטִיט־חוּצ֥וֹת אֲדִקֵּ֖ם אֶרְקָעֵֽם - I pounded them like dust of the earth, Stamped, crushed them like dirt of the streets.
ESHCHAKEM: As with the previous verses, the grammar tells us that we are in the future, not the past. And given that this is a mythological rendering of the life of the Earth-god, who is primarily symbolised as the corn-god, because that is the staple of human feeding, should we be wondering if the "pulverising" here isn't what happens on the threshing-floor at the end of the harvest, when the three wise men come from the east because the beer is better in Beit-Lechem (click here for an explanation of that little witticism).
18:44 TEPHALTENI ME RIYVEY AM TESIYMENI LE ROSH GOYIM AM LO YADA'TI YA'AVDUNI
KJ (18:43): Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
BN: You will enable me to escape from the squabblings of the people. You will place me at the head of the nations; people I do not even know will serve me.
2 Samuel 22:44: וַֽתְּפַלְּטֵ֔נִי מֵרִיבֵ֖י עַמִּ֑י תִּשְׁמְרֵ֙נִי֙ לְרֹ֣אשׁ גּוֹיִ֔ם {ס} עַ֥ם לֹא־יָדַ֖עְתִּי יַעַבְדֻֽנִי - You have rescued me from the strife of peoples, Kept me to be a ruler of nations; Peoples I knew not must serve me.
TEPHALTENI: My translation may seem merely pedantic at first, but actually it is key to this entire Psalm. Again and again we are told that YHVH enables, but David enacts. If YHVH "delivers", then David is merely the passive recipient of divine benevolence, and that is not what is needed from the Mashiyach. But it isn't that. YHVH enables, David enacts. And thus he is ready to fulfill the second part of this verse.
YA'AVDUNI: Serve me as employees, or as slaves, because he is the earthly king? Worship him as faithful cult-followers, because he is the Beloved Son? Or both, even?
18:46 BENEY NECHAR YIBOLU VE YACHREGU MI MISGEROTEYHEM
KJ (18:45): The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
BN: The non-believers will fade away, and come trembling out of their hiding-places.
2 Samuel 22:46: בְּנֵ֥י נֵכָ֖ר יִבֹּ֑לוּ וְיַחְגְּר֖וּ מִמִּסְגְּרוֹתָֽם - Aliens have lost courage And come trembling out of their fastnesses.
Read verses 46 and 46 as though they were a deliberate pair - this is how it appears in the Samuel, and even just as word-order it makes more sense than the Psalms version: BENEY NACHAR at the start of each of these two verses; unless verse 45 is split in the middle, allowing BENEY NACHAR to be the beginning of a new line.
18:47 CHAI YHVH U VARUCH TSURI VE YARUM ELOHEY YISH'I
KJ (18:46): The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
BN: YHVH lives, and blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the gods of my salvation.
2 Samuel 22:47: חַי־יְהֹוָ֖ה וּבָר֣וּךְ צוּרִ֑י {ס} וְיָרֻ֕ם אֱלֹהֵ֖י צ֥וּר יִשְׁעִֽי - The LORD lives! Blessed is my rock! Exalted be God, the rock Who gives me victory;
CHAI YHVH: Theologically this is particularly interesting. Rather than me explaining it again here, read the opening of my piece on YAH; having CHAI and YHVH together like this, and described as though they were the same thing, resolves the quarrel between Sartre and Camus, but not in any form that a contemporary scientist could affirm (contemporary religious scientists would disagree with me; click here). And even in later, Talmudic Jewish thought, we would expect (cf Exodus 3:14) HAI YHVH, both coming from Lehiyot, rather than this merging of the female principle Chavah (Eve) with the male principle YHVH.
18:48 HA EL HA NOTEN NEKAMOT LI VA YADBER AMIM TACHTAI
KJ (18:47): It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
BN: He is the god who executes vengeance for me, and subdues nations under me.
2 Samuel 22:48: הָאֵ֕ל הַנֹּתֵ֥ן נְקָמֹ֖ת לִ֑י {ס} וּמֹרִ֥יד עַמִּ֖ים תַּחְתֵּֽנִי - The God who has vindicated me And made peoples subject to me,
Which concept clashes with the earlier assertions: here it is definitely YHVH who is active, and David merely the passive recipient of the beneficence.
18:49 MEPHALTI ME OYEVAI APH MIN KAMAI TEROMEMENI ME ISH CHAMAS TATSIYLENI
KJ (18:48): He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
BN: He delivers me from my enemies; yea, you lift me up above those who rise up against me; you rescue me from men of violence.
2 Samuel 22:49: וּמוֹצִיאִ֖י מֵאֹֽיְבָ֑י וּמִקָּמַי֙ תְּר֣וֹמְמֵ֔נִי {ס} מֵאִ֥ישׁ חֲמָסִ֖ים תַּצִּילֵֽנִי - Rescued me from my enemies, Raised me clear of my foes, Saved me from lawless men!
CHAMAS: Explained previously. All I can say on this occasion is that I have now joined the Historical Association of Teachers and Educators, that we have researched the subject thoroughly, and there is definitely nothing that could be construed as negative about our acronym.
MEPHALTI...TEROMEMENI...TATSIYLENI: The first is in the 3rd person singular, the second and third in the 2nd person singular.
18:50 AL KEN ODECHA VA GOYIM YHVH U LE SHIMCHA AZAMERAH
KJ (18:49): Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
18:51 MIGDOL YESHU'OT MALKO VE OSEH CHESED LIMSHICHO LE DAVID U LE ZAR'O AD OLAM
KJ (18:50): Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
BN: He bestows his Messianic power upon the king, {N} and his mercy on his Mashiyach, on David and his seed, eternally. {P}
2 Samuel 22:51: (מגדיל) [מִגְדּ֖וֹל] יְשׁוּע֣וֹת מַלְכּ֑וֹ וְעֹֽשֶׂה־חֶ֧סֶד לִמְשִׁיח֛וֹ {ס} לְדָוִ֥ד וּלְזַרְע֖וֹ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ {פ} - Tower of victory to His king, Who deals graciously with His anointed, With David and his offspring evermore.
YESHU'OT...LIMSHICHO: We have witnessed the interaction between YHVH as Moshi'a and David as Mashiyach throughout the Psalm; now it is confirmed and endorsed. Christians take note.
And Jews, remind me please where this last verse is sung in modern liturgy - with a tiddly-om-pom immediately before the Oseh Shalom in Reform versions of the closing Kiddush; but Oseh Shalom isn't this Psalm; then is the one I'm thinking of taken from here rather than there, or is the same verse located elsewhere as well? Actually it’s even more complex than that - see my page on Elohey netsor leshoni in "Myrtle" (and is it not also sung as part of bensching?)
And the phrasing confirms yet again that this is sung to David, and not written by him.
King James yet again incorporates the first line of the hymn into the title, so that we will have to bracket its verse numbers; on this occasion it actually gets its own verse division wrong, keeping VA YOMAR inside its bracket, when it belongs after the close of the parenthesis.
18:2 VA YOMAR ERCHAMCHA YHVH CHIZKI
וַיֹּאמַר אֶרְחָמְךָ יְהוָה חִזְקִי
KJ (18:1): (And he said,) I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
BN (option a): And he said: I will be merciful to you, YHVH, my strengthener.
BN (option b): ...saying, "I will be merciful to you". YHVH, my strength...
2 Samuel 22:2: וַיֹּאמַ֑ר יְהֹוָ֛ה סַֽלְעִ֥י וּמְצֻדָתִ֖י וּמְפַלְטִי־לִֽי - He said: O LORD, my crag, my fastness, my deliverer!
2 Samuel 22:2: וַיֹּאמַ֑ר יְהֹוָ֛ה סַֽלְעִ֥י וּמְצֻדָתִ֖י וּמְפַלְטִי־לִֽי - He said: O LORD, my crag, my fastness, my deliverer!
ERCHAMCHA: Not the usual way of expresing love, so this needs some etymology. And indeed, as soon as we do so, we realise that the KJ translation is simply wrong. The root is RECHEM, which is the womb, and provides the first of the thirteen attributes of the deity, and is really a leftover from the mother goddess - men don't have wombs, after all. The image of the penis versus the womb runs through proto-Judaism as well as Talmudic-Judaism, the difference being that the male and female are equal in the former, but the female is amalgamated into the male in the patriarchal latter. So the uterus provides the symbol of all things protective, the comfort-zone inside which the foetus can grow towards parturition: mercy being the one that gets carried forward into Islam when it too describes the principal attributes of al-Lah: "r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ)"; the gracious and merciful".
As to my two translations. Option a appears to be accurate, but I cannot believe that this is the intention, because even Earth-gods do not offer to show mercy to their senior deity; it is always the other way around. Click here for a list of occasions when the same root is verbed in the same manner, and you will see that it always has the same meaning: "I will show you compassion". The Aleph first letter indicates first person singular, future tense. The final Kaf with an inserted qamats indicates a second person singular dative, "to you".
So to my second option, which assumes that the opening phrase in fact belongs in verse 1, as part of the subtitle, indeed as the conclusion to that subtitle. And that YHVH CHIZKI is the opening of the Davidic response. So he was rescued from She'ol because YHVH showed him mercy; so the poem is the thank you to "the one who is my strength"; and then more, because this now flows on into the next verse.
CHIZKI: Add the name of the moon-goddess and you have the name of the greatest of all the kings after Shelomoh, Chizki-Yah (Hezekiah); and also one of the three greats among the prophets, Yechezke-El (Ezekiel), though, as per his name, he appears to have found his strength in El, not YHVH.
18:3 YHVH SAL'I U METSUDATI U MEPHALTI ELI TSURI ECHESEH BO MAGINI VE KEREN YISH'I MISGABI
יְהוָה סַלְעִי וּמְצוּדָתִי וּמְפַלְטִי אֵלִי צוּרִי אֶחֱסֶה בּוֹ מָגִנִּי וְקֶרֶן יִשְׁעִי מִשְׂגַּבִּי
KJ (18:2): The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
BN: YHVH is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; {N} my god, my rock; in him I take refuge; he is my shield, my horn of salvation, my high tower.
2 Samuel 22:3: אֱלֹהֵ֥י צוּרִ֖י אֶחֱסֶה־בּ֑וֹ {ס} מָגִנִּ֞י וְקֶ֣רֶן יִשְׁעִ֗י מִשְׂגַּבִּי֙ וּמְנוּסִ֔י {ס} מֹשִׁעִ֕י מֵחָמָ֖ס תֹּשִׁעֵֽנִי O God, the rock wherein I take shelter: My shield, my mighty champion, my fortress and refuge! My savior, You who rescue me from violence!
SAL'I: Not TSURI, which is the better known "rock" - Tsur Yisra-El, sung immediately before the Amidah, the central prayer in every Jewish service of worship. Probably TSUR is metaphorical, and the word really means a fortress or stronghold, as in the city of Tsur, whch we call Tyre; whereas SAL is the actual, physical rock, usually a summit-rock (the root means "height" or "elevation") - the one beneath the sacrificial altar in the Temple, for example, the summit-rock of Mount Mor-Yah. Cf Judges 15:8, 1 Samuel 23:25, and also Psalms 31:4 and 42:10. However, see also verses 32 and 47 , where TSUR is used.
2 Samuel 22:3: אֱלֹהֵ֥י צוּרִ֖י אֶחֱסֶה־בּ֑וֹ {ס} מָגִנִּ֞י וְקֶ֣רֶן יִשְׁעִ֗י מִשְׂגַּבִּי֙ וּמְנוּסִ֔י {ס} מֹשִׁעִ֕י מֵחָמָ֖ס תֹּשִׁעֵֽנִי O God, the rock wherein I take shelter: My shield, my mighty champion, my fortress and refuge! My savior, You who rescue me from violence!
SAL'I: Not TSURI, which is the better known "rock" - Tsur Yisra-El, sung immediately before the Amidah, the central prayer in every Jewish service of worship. Probably TSUR is metaphorical, and the word really means a fortress or stronghold, as in the city of Tsur, whch we call Tyre; whereas SAL is the actual, physical rock, usually a summit-rock (the root means "height" or "elevation") - the one beneath the sacrificial altar in the Temple, for example, the summit-rock of Mount Mor-Yah. Cf Judges 15:8, 1 Samuel 23:25, and also Psalms 31:4 and 42:10. However, see also verses 32 and 47 , where TSUR is used.
MAGINI: The metaphorical source of the famous "Star of David", which should really be known as the "Shield of David".
MISGABI: Why is the Bet medugash? It should infer a double-letter but I think it is simply intended to prevent the reduction to Vet. But why is it not MISGAVI?
18:4 MEHULAL EKRA YHVH U MIN OYEVAI IVASHE'A
MISGABI: Why is the Bet medugash? It should infer a double-letter but I think it is simply intended to prevent the reduction to Vet. But why is it not MISGAVI?
18:4 MEHULAL EKRA YHVH U MIN OYEVAI IVASHE'A
מְהֻלָּל אֶקְרָא יְהוָה וּמִן אֹיְבַי אִוָּשֵׁעַ
KJ (18:3): I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
BN: "Praised", I will cry, "is YHVH" - and I will be saved from my enemies!
2 Samuel 22:4: מְהֻלָּ֖ל אֶקְרָ֣א יְהֹוָ֑ה {ס}וּמֵאֹיְבַ֖י אִוָּשֵֽׁעַ - All praise! I called on the LORD, And I was delivered from my enemies.
2 Samuel 22:4: מְהֻלָּ֖ל אֶקְרָ֣א יְהֹוָ֑ה {ס}וּמֵאֹיְבַ֖י אִוָּשֵֽׁעַ - All praise! I called on the LORD, And I was delivered from my enemies.
MEHULAL: Takes me to the name MAHALAL-EL, but it may just be coincidence. See the link.
18:5 APHAPHUNI CHEVLEY MAVET VE NACHALEY VELI-YA'AL YEVA'ATUNI
אֲפָפוּנִי חֶבְלֵי מָוֶת וְנַחֲלֵי בְלִיַּעַל יְבַעֲתוּנִי
KJ (18:4): The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
BN: The cords of Death bound me, and the rivers of Beli-Ya'al assailed me.
2 Samuel 22:5: כִּ֥י אֲפָפֻ֖נִי מִשְׁבְּרֵי־מָ֑וֶת {ס} נַחֲלֵ֥י בְלִיַּ֖עַל יְבַעֲתֻֽנִי - For the breakers of Death encompassed me, The torrents of Belial terrified me;
APHAPHUNI: I'm sure we saw a version of this (APHAPHAI perhaps) in an earlier Psalm, but with a very different meaning (something to do with inflamed nostrils and the bull-god?)
VELI-YA'AL: Is this a different spelling of Belial from the one we're used to, or a completely different word? That ya'al seems to hint at a different meaning from the one(s) we have been offered by translators previously (see Deuteronomy 15:9 for example). Does it perhaps intend Bli-El, the idea of a person who is "without" (beli) any belief in any sort of god (el) at all? Or is YA'AL is connected with ALIYAH, being the process of climbing up - and as such it would connect back to SAL'I in the previous verse. But the root is also used for things being "worthwhile" or "profitable", the latter both materially and spiritually - see for example Proverbs 10:2. But I think the answer to our conundrum lies in Job 21:15, where the two seemingly disparate constructs come together as one: that one can "go up" to the deity, using one meaning of the root, and - using the other meaning of the root - "gain benefit" as a consequence, just as this Psalm keeps telling us. So a person who has no deity at all, denies himself that opportunity for benefit, and we can say that VELIYA'AL is both "worthlessness" and "atheism".
CHEVLEY MAVET seems to endorse my sense of this as a hymn of thanks after being rescued from the clutches of the Lord of the Underworld, and belongs with those more modern Mi She Beyrach and Birkat ha Gomel prayers, for one who has survived a near-death experience such as war, sickness, etc.
18:6 CHEVLEY SHE'OL SEVAVUNI KIDMUNI MOKSHEY MAVET
חֶבְלֵי שְׁאוֹל סְבָבוּנִי קִדְּמוּנִי מוֹקְשֵׁי מָוֶת
KJ (18:5): The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
BN: The cords of She'ol surrounded me; the snares of Death confronted me.
2 Samuel 22:6: חֶבְלֵ֥י שְׁא֖וֹל סַבֻּ֑נִי {ס} קִדְּמֻ֖נִי מֹ֥קְשֵׁי מָֽוֶת - The snares of Sheol encircled me, The coils of Death engulfed me.
She'ol and Sha'ul are now unified and the CHEVLEY MAVET likewise; it is in verses like this one that we find the case confirmed beyond equivocation or argument. In a collection of poems where every single word-play is palpably deliberate, how can we hear these two aurally almost identical words, and see them written down unpointed absolutely identical, and not understand that they are one and the same: Sha'ul is the Underworld, the Underworld is Sha'ul. QED.
18:7 BA TSAR LI EKR'A YHVH VE EL ELOHAI ASHAVE'A YISHM'A ME HEYCHALO KOLI VE SHAV'ATI LEPHANAV TAVO VE AZNAV
בַּצַּר לִי אֶקְרָא יְהוָה וְאֶל אֱלֹהַי אֲשַׁוֵּעַ יִשְׁמַע מֵהֵיכָלוֹ קוֹלִי וְשַׁוְעָתִי לְפָנָיו תָּבוֹא בְאָזְנָיו
KJ (18:6): In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
BN: In my distress I called out to YHVH, and cried to El my god. {N} Out of his temple he heard my voice, and my cry rose up before him until it reached his ears.
2 Samuel 22:7: בַּצַּר־לִי֙ אֶקְרָ֣א יְהֹוָ֔ה וְאֶל־אֱלֹהַ֖י אֶקְרָ֑א {ס} וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע מֵהֵֽיכָלוֹ֙ קוֹלִ֔י וְשַׁוְעָתִ֖י בְּאׇזְנָֽיו - In my anguish I called on the LORD, Cried out to my God; In His Abode He heard my voice, My cry entered His ears.
HEYCHAL: I like the idea, which I don't think has been expressed previously, that the gods too had a Temple, metaphorically of course, up there in Valhalla-Olympus, and presumably the "angels" provided it with a choir and orchestra, and sang Psalms just like this one. As humans need to mirror the heavens in every aspect of the Earth, the twelve constellations through the twelve tribes, the deity through the king, the angels through the priests, etc, so there has to be an equivalent Temple... eventually. Not yet in David's time: he was forbidden by the Elder of the Guild of Prophets (the equivalent of the senior Arch-angel?) to build it, and though he bought the land, and raised the money through a contraversial poll-tax census, it was only after his death that the Temple was erected, by the second Yedid-Yah, his son Shelomoh.
LEPHANAV...AZNAV: In a previous chapter I asked about an IV or AV pronunciation; here are two reasons why; both these are AV though they look like IV without the nekud, and would sound like AIV with it, which would be incorrect.
18:8 VA TIG'ASH VA TIR'ASH HA ARETS U MOSDEY HARIM YIRGAZU VA YITGA'ASHU KI CHARAH LO
וַתִּגְעַשׁ וַתִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ וּמוֹסְדֵי הָרִים יִרְגָּזוּ וַיִּתְגָּעֲשׁוּ כִּי חָרָה לוֹ
KJ (18:7): Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
BN: Then the Earth shook and tremored; the foundations of the mountains also trembled. {N} They were shaken, because he was angry.
2 Samuel 22:8: וַתִּרְעַשׁ֙ הָאָ֔רֶץ {ס} מוֹסְד֥וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם יִרְגָּ֑זוּ וַיִּֽתְגָּעֲשׁ֖וּ כִּי־חָ֥רָה לֽוֹ - Then the earth rocked and quaked, The foundations of heaven shook - Rocked by His indignation. (ותגעש) [וַיִּתְגָּעַ֤שׁ]
CHARAH: how did that get transformed into today's usage?
The classic mythological explanation for volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis and the other violent manifestations of intelligent design.
2 Samuel 22:8: וַתִּרְעַשׁ֙ הָאָ֔רֶץ {ס} מוֹסְד֥וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם יִרְגָּ֑זוּ וַיִּֽתְגָּעֲשׁ֖וּ כִּי־חָ֥רָה לֽוֹ - Then the earth rocked and quaked, The foundations of heaven shook - Rocked by His indignation. (ותגעש) [וַיִּתְגָּעַ֤שׁ]
CHARAH: how did that get transformed into today's usage?
The classic mythological explanation for volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis and the other violent manifestations of intelligent design.
18:9 ALAH ASHAN BE APHO VE ESH MI PIV TO'CHEL GECHALIM BA ARO MIMENU
עָלָה עָשָׁן בְּאַפּוֹ וְאֵשׁ מִפִּיו תֹּאכֵל גֶּחָלִים בָּעֲרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ
KJ (18:8): There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
BN: Smoke coming out of his nostrils, and fire issuing from his mouth, devoured everything; {N} flaming coals poured out of him.
2 Samuel 22:9: עָלָ֤ה עָשָׁן֙ בְּאַפּ֔וֹ וְאֵ֥שׁ מִפִּ֖יו תֹּאכֵ֑ל {ס} גֶּחָלִ֖ים בָּעֲר֥וּ מִמֶּֽנּוּ - Smoke went up from His nostrils, From His mouth came devouring fire; Live coals blazed forth from Him.
PIV: Whereas this is definitely PIV and not PAV.
The start of this verse sounds like the bull with inflamed nostrils once again; but bulls do not spit coals; no, this is the original YHVH, the Mosaic YHVH from the burning bush at Chorev, the one to whom he brought out his people so that they could witness a volcanic eruption from close-at-hand, and understand through that experience the indomitable might and power of the deity Nature; this is the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night, the same one that Lot fled when the same volcano erupted at Sedom, and further evidence both of the ancientness of this Psalm, and the probability that YHVH began life as a Midyanite volcano-god (the only geological possibility for Kena'ani volcanos is the area around the Dead Sea, which is Midyanite), and rose up through the hierarchy to become the Omnideity later on.
18:10 VA YET SHAMAYIM VA YERAD VA ARAPHEL TACHAT RAGLAV
וַיֵּט שָׁמַיִם וַיֵּרַד וַעֲרָפֶל תַּחַת רַגְלָיו
KJ (18:9): He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
BN: He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and thick darkness was under his feet.
2 Samuel 22:10: וַיֵּ֥ט שָׁמַ֖יִם וַיֵּרַ֑ד {ס} וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל תַּ֥חַת רַגְלָֽיו - He bent the sky and came down, Thick cloud beneath His feet.
This presumably a description of the volcanic mushroom cloud.
ARAPHEL: The play-on-words on this occasion could easily go unnoticed. Take the final Lamed off ARAPHEL and you are left with OREPH, which is the upper part of the back, and the neck, the rear-view of a bust in sculpture. YHVH repeatedly describes the Beney Yisra-El as a "stiff-necked people" (click here for numerous exemplars, but Exodus 32:9 is as plain as it gets). So, here, YHVH proves that he is not stiff-necked, by "bowing down" the heavens. ARAPHEL is really the thick cloud itself, not the darkness that it brings; and in both cases an unusual word is being used, which is generally a hint of a word-game. The cloud should really be an ANAN (ענן), and the darkness should really be CHOSHECH.
But that is only the first bright flickering of the OREPH. The truly bright flickering also needs to be described, especially as, over the coming verses, we are about to reach sunrise, and the daily re-Creation of the Cosmos, with the Earth at its centre. Out there, the brightest of all the stars in the night sky, is Vega in Lyra, the star of Orpheus in the Greek world (the Egyptians knew him as... wait for that...), the Star of David in the Yisra-Eli, and the two connected by the placing at Chevron of Ephron the Beney Chet, who was Hurrian Orpheus, Pelasgian Phoroneus, brother of the moon-goddess Yah. And known by what name in Yehudit, as in Egyptian? OREPH. See my notes on Av-Ram for more on this.
18:11 VA YIRKAV AL KERUV VA YA'OPH VA YED'E AL KANPHEY RU'ACH
וַיִּרְכַּב עַל כְּרוּב וַיָּעֹף וַיֵּדֶא עַל כַּנְפֵי רוּחַ
KJ (18:10): And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
BN: And he rode on a Keruv, and flew; he swooped down on the wings of the wind.
2 Samuel 22:11: וַיִּרְכַּ֥ב עַל־כְּר֖וּב וַיָּעֹ֑ף {ס} וַיֵּרָ֖א עַל־כַּנְפֵי־רֽוּחַ - He mounted a cherub and flew; He was seen on the wings of the wind.
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| Cherubs by Francesco Gonin (1808-1889) |
And presumably this is also the mythological source of Muhammad's fantasy-tale, the Isra or Night-Journey, when he rode on the the winged talking-horse Buraq, and likewise ended his journey on the Temple Mount in Yeru-Shala'im (click here).
יָשֶׁת חֹשֶׁךְ סִתְרוֹ סְבִיבוֹתָיו סֻכָּתוֹ חֶשְׁכַת מַיִם עָבֵי שְׁחָקִים
KJ (18:11): He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
BN: He made darkness his hiding-place, his temporary lodging to enclose himself; {N} darkness of water, thick clouds of sky.
2 Samuel 22:12: וַיָּ֥שֶׁת חֹ֛שֶׁךְ סְבִיבֹתָ֖יו סֻכּ֑וֹת {ס} חַֽשְׁרַת־מַ֖יִם עָבֵ֥י שְׁחָקִֽים - He made pavilions of darkness about Him, Dripping clouds, huge thunderheads;
SEVIVOTAV: is an AV - see my notes to verses ....
How ancient might this Psalm be, given that the volcanic eruptions are likely to have been memories from the Ice Age (is there any evidence of volcanic activity in the region more recently than that?); and then the bigger picture of the deity, in this verse and the following: from the epoch of the Prophets onwards, when the Mythological Age passes into the Metaphysical, the divine attributes will all be moral, ethical and philosophical abstractions, Truth, Justice, Peace, Mercy, Compassion. But not here. Here we are in the black hole, literally and metaphorically.
SUKATO: A "tabernacle" elsewhere, a temporary booth set up in the Mosaic wilderness for the time it would take to re-read the Law to the people (Numbers 33:5 ff); from which the place acquired the name Sukot. But also the booths made out of palm leaves set up for the autumn harvest, and at some point adopted as the name of that harvest (click here). Here, however, it seems to be a rather more generic intention, some sort of a temporary home, metaphorical anyway, as the entire account is metaphorical.
18:13 MI NOGAH NEGDO AVAV AVRU BARAD VE GACHALEY ESH
מִנֹּגַהּ נֶגְדּוֹ עָבָיו עָבְרוּ בָּרָד וְגַחֲלֵי אֵשׁ
KJ (18:12): At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
BN: From the brightness before him, clear through thick clouds, barrages of hailstones, burning coals.
2 Samuel 22:13: מִנֹּ֖גַהּ נֶגְדּ֑וֹ בָּעֲר֖וּ גַּחֲלֵי־אֵֽשׁ {ס} - In the brilliance before Him Blazed fiery coals.
2 Samuel 22:13: מִנֹּ֖גַהּ נֶגְדּ֑וֹ בָּעֲר֖וּ גַּחֲלֵי־אֵֽשׁ {ס} - In the brilliance before Him Blazed fiery coals.
AVAV likewise; not to be confused with AVIV, which is "Spring".
NOGAH NEGDO... AVAV AVRU: Alliteration and assonance, which I have attempted to parallel in my translations - ideally "hailstones" needed an English equivalent with a hard "c" or a "th" - but actually the Yehudit only does this for the first half of the verse and the final word-pairing.
18:14 VA YAR'EM BA SHAMAYIM YHVH VE ELYON YITEN KOLO BARAD VE GACHALEY ESH
וַיַּרְעֵם בַּשָּׁמַיִם יְהוָה וְעֶלְיוֹן יִתֵּן קֹלוֹ בָּרָד וְגַחֲלֵי אֵשׁ
KJ (18:13): The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
BN: YHVH thundered in the heavens, while the voice of Elyon bellowed; hailstones and burning coals.
2 Samuel 22:14: יַרְעֵ֥ם מִן־שָׁמַ֖יִם יְהֹוָ֑ה וְעֶלְי֖וֹן יִתֵּ֥ן קוֹלֽוֹ {ס} - The LORD thundered forth from heaven, The Most High sent forth His voice;
2 Samuel 22:14: יַרְעֵ֥ם מִן־שָׁמַ֖יִם יְהֹוָ֑ה וְעֶלְי֖וֹן יִתֵּ֥ן קוֹלֽוֹ {ס} - The LORD thundered forth from heaven, The Most High sent forth His voice;
YHVH VE ELYON: No question that two different gods are being mentioned here - and not the same two as last time either.
18:15 VA YISHLACH CHITSAV VA YEPHIYTSEM U VERAKIM RAV VA YEHUMEM
וַיִּשְׁלַח חִצָּיו וַיְפִיצֵם וּבְרָקִים רָב וַיְהֻמֵּם
KJ (18:14): Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
BN: And he fired off his arrows, and drove them to all corners; then he shot off lightning, and destroyed them altogether.
2 Samuel 22:15וַיִּשְׁלַ֥ח חִצִּ֖ים וַיְפִיצֵ֑ם בָּרָ֖ק (ויהמם) [וַיָּהֹֽם] ׃ - He let loose bolts, and scattered them; Lightning, and put them to rout.
CHITSAV...RAV: How many times does this rhyme recur? Now you understand why I felt the need to point out the grammatical anomaly earlier.
YEHUMEM: No, he does a great deal more than "discomfit" them. See my note at Exodus 14:24, and also Deuteronomy 2:15.
YEHUMEM: No, he does a great deal more than "discomfit" them. See my note at Exodus 14:24, and also Deuteronomy 2:15.
18:16 VA YERA'U APHIKEY MAYIM VA YIGALU MOSDOT TEVEL MI GA'ARAT'CHA YHVH MI NISHMAT RU'ACH APECHA
וַיֵּרָאוּ אֲפִיקֵי מַיִם וַיִּגָּלוּ מוֹסְדוֹת תֵּבֵל מִגַּעֲרָתְךָ יְהוָה מִנִּשְׁמַת רוּחַ אַפֶּךָ
KJ (18:15): Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
BN: Then channels of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare; {N} at your rebuke, YHVH, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
2 Samuel 22:16: וַיֵּֽרָאוּ֙ אֲפִ֣קֵי יָ֔ם יִגָּל֖וּ מֹסְד֣וֹת תֵּבֵ֑ל {ס} בְּגַעֲרַ֣ת יְהֹוָ֔ה מִנִּשְׁמַ֖ת ר֥וּחַ אַפּֽוֹ - The bed of the sea was exposed, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the mighty roaring of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
What is emerging from She'ol, from the black smoke and burning lava of the volcano, from the "black hole" that I only half-jestingly alluded to, is also Creation itself, not the defeat of human enemies, as the title appeared to suggest, but the overthrowing of the armies of the Lord of the Underworld, those terrible beasts of nothingness and uncreation, the anarchic spirits of the void that precedes Genesis 1, Tohu, Bohu and Choshech (there must be a fourth, if the Daniel quoted above is correct: Nechushtan posibly, or Liv-Yatan?). Indeed, we should probably read this entire Psalm as a kind of intermezzo between Genesis 1:2 and 1:3.
18:17 YISHLACH MI MAROM YIKACHENI YAMSHENI MI MAYIM RABIM
יִשְׁלַח מִמָּרוֹם יִקָּחֵנִי יַמְשֵׁנִי מִמַּיִם רַבִּים
KJ (18:16): He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
BN: He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters.
2 Samuel 22:17: יִשְׁלַ֥ח מִמָּר֖וֹם יִקָּחֵ֑נִי {ס} יַֽמְשֵׁ֖נִי מִמַּ֥יִם רַבִּֽים - He reached down from on high, He took me, Drew me out of the mighty waters;
And the "me" in question? The earth-god himself, indeed the Earth itself, pulled out of the primordial elements - and in the Babylonian world, those "primordial elements" were known as Tiamat, or Tahamat, as Tohu, or Tehom.
18:18 YATSIYLENI ME OYEVI AZ U MI SON'AI KI AMTSU MIMENI
KJ (18:17): He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
2 Samuel 22:17: יִשְׁלַ֥ח מִמָּר֖וֹם יִקָּחֵ֑נִי {ס} יַֽמְשֵׁ֖נִי מִמַּ֥יִם רַבִּֽים - He reached down from on high, He took me, Drew me out of the mighty waters;
And the "me" in question? The earth-god himself, indeed the Earth itself, pulled out of the primordial elements - and in the Babylonian world, those "primordial elements" were known as Tiamat, or Tahamat, as Tohu, or Tehom.
18:18 YATSIYLENI ME OYEVI AZ U MI SON'AI KI AMTSU MIMENI
יַצִּילֵנִי מֵאֹיְבִי עָז וּמִשֹּׂנְאַי כִּי אָמְצוּ מִמֶּנִּי
KJ (18:17): He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
BN: He delivered me from the strength of my enemy, and from those who hated me, for they were too powerful for me.
2 Samuel 22:18: יַצִּילֵ֕נִי מֵאֹיְבִ֖י עָ֑ז {ס} מִשֹּׂ֣נְאַ֔י כִּ֥י אָמְצ֖וּ מִמֶּֽנִּי - He rescued me from my enemy so strong, From foes too mighty for me.
2 Samuel 22:18: יַצִּילֵ֕נִי מֵאֹיְבִ֖י עָ֑ז {ס} מִשֹּׂ֣נְאַ֔י כִּ֥י אָמְצ֖וּ מִמֶּֽנִּי - He rescued me from my enemy so strong, From foes too mighty for me.
18:19 YEKADMUNI VE YOM EYDI VA YEHI YHVH LE MISH'AN LI
יְקַדְּמוּנִי בְיוֹם אֵידִי וַיְהִי יְהוָה לְמִשְׁעָן לִי
KJ (18:18): They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
BN: They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but YHVH supported me.
2 Samuel 22:19: יְקַדְּמֻ֖נִי בְּי֣וֹם אֵידִ֑י וַיְהִ֧י יְהֹוָ֛ה מִשְׁעָ֖ן לִֽי {ס} - They attacked me on my day of calamity, But the LORD was my stay.
2 Samuel 22:19: יְקַדְּמֻ֖נִי בְּי֣וֹם אֵידִ֑י וַיְהִ֧י יְהֹוָ֛ה מִשְׁעָ֖ן לִֽי {ס} - They attacked me on my day of calamity, But the LORD was my stay.
YEKADMUNI: From which corner of the heavens does the sun rise, please remind me? MI KEDEM, from the east. But, as per my note at this link, the word is used for time as well as geography (BE YAMEYNU KE KEDEM, as is prayed in the synagogue daily), so the east is not only the location of the sunrise, but also its precise hour and minute. And if I have translated this as "confronted", it is because that is the nearest I could get to an accurate-enough equivalent word-play in English. The intention in the Yehudit is that the darkness et al are standing in front of him, blocking his view of the sunrise.
EYDI: An alternative word for "destruction", partnering YEHUMEM at verse 15. But. But. The root is IYD, with an Aleph, but IYD with an AYIN gives us a second pun on time, the MO'ED being the appointed time for feasts and fasts and seasons and ... Moslem Eid and Latin Ide ditto)... and take a look at Genesis 1:14. Or Leviticus 23:37. And don't forget the other signficant usage, at Exodus 30:26.
"When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow low in worship there, and he is leaning on my arm (וְה֣וּא נִשְׁעָ֣ן עַל־יָדִ֗י) so that I must bow low in the temple of Rimmon - when I bow low in the temple of Rimmon, may YHVH pardon your servant in this.”
A king may not walk on his own feet - probably because he can't, because his heels and ankles have been immolated, forcing him to walk on tiptoes and thus be above common humanity, closer to the gods. So he requires a Chamberlain, on whose arm he can lean like a staff (the reason why the employees are called "the staff": the boss relies on them). So, here, metaphorically, YHVH as sun-god provides the arm-to-lean-on for David the Earth-god, as he makes his first public appearance in the heavens.
18:20 VA YOTSIY'ENI LA MERCHAV YECHALTSENI KI CHAPHETS BI
KJ (18:19): He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
18:20 VA YOTSIY'ENI LA MERCHAV YECHALTSENI KI CHAPHETS BI
וַיּוֹצִיאֵנִי לַמֶּרְחָב יְחַלְּצֵנִי כִּי חָפֵץ בִּי
KJ (18:19): He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
BN: He brought me out into an open place. He delivered me, because he found delight in me.
2 Samuel 22:20: וַיֹּצֵ֥א לַמֶּרְחָ֖ב אֹתִ֑י יְחַלְּצֵ֖נִי כִּי־חָ֥פֵֽץ בִּֽי {ס} - He brought me out to freedom, He rescued me because He was pleased with me.
MERCHAV: For the earthly king, this could be the audience-chamber, the broad-room in the palace, or it could be the public square, where the petitioners are hoping for an opportunity to present to him. But for the earth-god this is the other meaning of RACHAV - which just happens to be the one name I left out of my list in my note to verse 17 (and maybe this is the fourth for my note to verse 16, though the Shomronim, the Samaritans, would insist on Oannes, and the Pelishtim Dagon). Click the link under her name, and don't forget that Shelomoh named his eldest son, his heir, in her honour: Rechav-Am (Rehoboam).
18:21 YIGMELENI YHVH KE TSIDKI KEVOD YADAI YASHIV LI
KJ (18:20): The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
18:21 YIGMELENI YHVH KE TSIDKI KEVOD YADAI YASHIV LI
יִגְמְלֵנִי יְהוָה כְּצִדְקִי כְּבֹר יָדַי יָשִׁיב לִי
KJ (18:20): The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
BN: YHVH rewarded me in exact proportion to my merits; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.
2 Samuel 22:21: יִגְמְלֵ֥נִי יְהֹוָ֖ה כְּצִדְקָתִ֑י כְּבֹ֥ר יָדַ֖י יָשִׁ֥יב לִֽי {ס} - The LORD rewarded me according to my merit, He requited the cleanness of my hands.
2 Samuel 22:21: יִגְמְלֵ֥נִי יְהֹוָ֖ה כְּצִדְקָתִ֑י כְּבֹ֥ר יָדַ֖י יָשִׁ֥יב לִֽי {ס} - The LORD rewarded me according to my merit, He requited the cleanness of my hands.
TSIDKI does not really mean "righteousness", though it includes it; nor does KEVOD mean "cleanliness" - it means "glory" or"honour". But these are probably as near as we can get in English to the intention of the idiom in Yehudit. Though the latter may be about "the quality of the work of my hands", rather than their post-Selichot Pontius Pilateness.
18:22 KI SHAMARTI DARCHEY YHVH VE LO RASHA'TI ME ELOHAI
כִּי שָׁמַרְתִּי דַּרְכֵי יְהוָה וְלֹא רָשַׁעְתִּי מֵאֱלֹהָי
KJ (18:21): For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
BN: For I have kept the ways of YHVH, and have not wickedly departed from my god.
2 Samuel 22:22: כִּ֥י שָׁמַ֖רְתִּי דַּרְכֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וְלֹ֥א רָשַׁ֖עְתִּי מֵאֱלֹהָֽי {ס} - For I have kept the ways of the LORD And have not been guilty before my God;
18:23 KI CHOL MISHPATAV LE NEGDI VE CHUKOTAV LO ASIR MENI
כִּי כָל מִשְׁפָּטָיו לְנֶגְדִּי וְחֻקֹּתָיו לֹא אָסִיר מֶנִּי
KJ (18:22): For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
BN: For all of his statutes were before me, and I did not set aside even one of his instructions.
2 Samuel 22:23: כִּ֥י כׇל־מִשְׁפָּטָ֖ו לְנֶגְדִּ֑י וְחֻקֹּתָ֖יו לֹא־אָס֥וּר מִמֶּֽנָּה - I am mindful of all His rules And have not departed from His laws.
MISHPATAV... CHUKOTAV: the central rhyme continues. For an explanation of the difference between the two terms, click here. And notice, when you get there, that there is also a third term - EDOT; for which go back to verse 19! I presume the EDOT are not mentioned here, precisely because they do not go with verse 19, but the word-play would lead us to think they did, and that would confuse the matter.
MENI: Have I mis-typed this and it should be MIMENI? No, I have checked several versions, and they all have MENI; and yet 2 Samuel 22:23 insists, not just on the second Mem, but in the feminine as well: MIMENAH.
18:24 VA EHI TAMIM IMO VA ESHTAMER ME AVONI
וָאֱהִי תָמִים עִמּוֹ וָאֶשְׁתַּמֵּר מֵעֲוֹנִי
KJ (18:23): I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
BN: And I remained upright with him, and I kept myself from my own iniquity.
2 Samuel 22:24: וָאֶהְיֶ֥ה תָמִ֖ים ל֑וֹ {ס} וָאֶשְׁתַּמְּרָ֖ה מֵעֲוֺנִֽי - I have been blameless before Him, And have guarded myself against sinning -
2 Samuel 22:24: וָאֶהְיֶ֥ה תָמִ֖ים ל֑וֹ {ס} וָאֶשְׁתַּמְּרָ֖ה מֵעֲוֺנִֽי - I have been blameless before Him, And have guarded myself against sinning -
EHI: A second piece of unusual grammar in as many verses.
TAMIM: See Genesis 6:9 and Job 1:1 - though the latter has TAM in the singular, where the former has it, as here, in the plural.
IMO: And then a third. Does this help us date the piece? If so, it has to be very early grammar (because we have no examples of these in pieces that we know must be from a later period) - and many other indications in the Psalm proclaim its ancientness as well.
18:25 VA YASHEV YHVH LI CHE TSIDKI KE VOR YADAI LE NEGED EYNAV
KJ (18:24): Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
BN: So YHVH has rewarded me according to my merits, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyes.
2 Samuel 22:25: וַיָּ֧שֶׁב יְהֹוָ֛ה לִ֖י כְּצִדְקָתִ֑י {ס} כְּבֹרִ֖י לְנֶ֥גֶד עֵינָֽיו - And the LORD has requited my merit, According to my purity in His sight.
IMO: And then a third. Does this help us date the piece? If so, it has to be very early grammar (because we have no examples of these in pieces that we know must be from a later period) - and many other indications in the Psalm proclaim its ancientness as well.
18:25 VA YASHEV YHVH LI CHE TSIDKI KE VOR YADAI LE NEGED EYNAV
וַיָּשֶׁב יְהוָה לִי כְצִדְקִי כְּבֹר יָדַי לְנֶגֶד עֵינָיו
KJ (18:24): Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
BN: So YHVH has rewarded me according to my merits, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyes.
2 Samuel 22:25: וַיָּ֧שֶׁב יְהֹוָ֛ה לִ֖י כְּצִדְקָתִ֑י {ס} כְּבֹרִ֖י לְנֶ֥גֶד עֵינָֽיו - And the LORD has requited my merit, According to my purity in His sight.
Not precisely a repetition of verse 21, though clearly the intention is the same; the intervening verses provide the rubric, and serve to explain the criteria and benchmarks behind verse 21, and this verse then confirms the given grade. A*.
LE NEGED EYNAV: I wonder if those "eyes" are a deliberate allusion to the No'ach story, just as the TAMIM will be in the next verse. Cf Genesis 6:8 - the only qualification to this is that 6:8 has CHEN, where this Psalm has KEVOD (verse 21). The No'ach story is, after all, yet one more account of the Creation, or in this case the daily re-Creation of the world, his journey to "set" on Mount Ararat the tale of the sun's daily crossing of that primordial ocean which we call "the heavens".
18:26 IM CHASID TIT'CHASAD IM GEVAR TAMIM TITAMAM
עִם חָסִיד תִּתְחַסָּד עִם גְּבַר תָּמִים תִּתַּמָּם
KJ (18:25): With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
BN: With the pious you show yourself trustworthy; with the upright you show yourself upright.
2 Samuel 22:26: עִם־חָסִ֖יד תִּתְחַסָּ֑ד {ס} עִם־גִּבּ֥וֹר תָּמִ֖ים תִּתַּמָּֽם - With the loyal You deal loyally; With the blameless hero, blamelessly.
CHASID: Merciful? Well, yes, possibly, in Psalm 145:17, and Jeremiah 3:12, though the former is thoroughly debateable, and the latter at least partially so. I would prefer "excellent" in the former, "loyal" or "trustworthy" in the latter, both synonyms for "piety", which is the virtue that is being most extolled in the "rubric" verses we have just read. The term Chasid actually began with the Hasmoneans, though we tend to think of it as being the "ultra-orthodox" communities that grew up in central Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.
18:27 IM NAVAR TITBARAR VE IM IKESH TITPATAL
עִם נָבָר תִּתְבָּרָר וְעִם עִקֵּשׁ תִּתְפַּתָּל
KJ (18:26): With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
BN: With the pure you show yourself pure; with the devious you can be just as devious.
2 Samuel 22:27: עִם־נָבָ֖ר תִּתָּבָ֑ר {ס} וְעִם־עִקֵּ֖שׁ תִּתַּפָּֽל - With the pure You act in purity, And with the perverse You are wily.
The form of this verse echoing that of the one before, including the use of the Hitpa'el (reflexive) for all four verbs.
IKESH TITPATAL: Both roots can have the meaning "twisted", the former in the sense of "corrupt", the latter rather more snake-like in its movements. I would like to translate this as "with those who are wrestling, you are willing to wrestle", for which Jihadic notion see Genesis 30:8. But the idea of "wrestling" automatically word-associates with Ya'akov at Penu-El, and that tale does not use PATAL - see Genesis 32:25 (though the use of the reflexive here definitely suggests that "struggle" may well be intended).
18:28 KI ATAH AM ANI TOSHI'A VE EYNAYIM RAMOT TASHPIL
כִּי אַתָּה עַם עָנִי תוֹשִׁיעַ וְעֵינַיִם רָמוֹת תַּשְׁפִּיל
KJ (18:27): For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
BN: For you save those who are impoverished, but you humble those who are arrogant.
2 Samuel 22:28: וְאֶת־עַ֥ם עָנִ֖י תּוֹשִׁ֑יעַ {ס} וְעֵינֶ֥יךָ עַל־רָמִ֖ים תַּשְׁפִּֽיל - To humble folk You give victory, And You look with scorn on the haughty.
A slight variation in the verse-form, and again we will see it echoed in the verse that follows.
2 Samuel 22:28: וְאֶת־עַ֥ם עָנִ֖י תּוֹשִׁ֑יעַ {ס} וְעֵינֶ֥יךָ עַל־רָמִ֖ים תַּשְׁפִּֽיל - To humble folk You give victory, And You look with scorn on the haughty.
A slight variation in the verse-form, and again we will see it echoed in the verse that follows.
TOSHI'A: I cannot avoid pointing out yet again that MOSHI'A is the divine role, and MASHIYACH belongs to the human surrogate - see verse 51 especially, which confirms this.
18:29 KI ATAH TA'IR NERI YHVH ELOHAI YAGIYAH CHASHKI
כִּי אַתָּה תָּאִיר נֵרִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי יַגִּיהַּ חָשְׁכִּי
KJ (18:28): For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
BN: For you light my candle; YHVH my gods light up my darkness.
2 Samuel 22:29: כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה נֵירִ֖י יְהֹוָ֑ה {ס} וַיהֹוָ֖ה יַגִּ֥יהַּ חׇשְׁכִּֽי - You, O LORD, are my lamp; The LORD lights up my darkness.
YHVH ELOHAI is hugely problematic, because the former is singular, but the latter plural, and so the combination becomes ungrammatical, and I mean that theologically as well. I wonder if the first, or perhaps though less likely the second, was added on at a later point of history. Rhythmically too it is YHVH which is dissonant (and I mean that theologically as well). Note that YHVH is not present, but the Elohai are, in the next verse. Note also that the Samuel text resolves the problem by simply removing the Elohai - does this also help us date the two?
18:30 KI VECHA ARUTS GEDUD U VE'LOHAI ADALEG SHUR
KJ (18:29): For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
BN: For through you the land is most fortunate; and through my gods I overcome all obstacles.
2 Samuel 22:30: כִּ֥י בְכָ֖ה אָר֣וּץ גְּד֑וּד {ס} בֵּאלֹהַ֖י אֲדַלֶּג־שֽׁוּר With You, I can rush a barrier, With my God, I can scale a wall.
כִּי בְךָ אָרֻץ גְּדוּד וּבֵאלֹהַי אֲדַלֶּג שׁוּר
KJ (18:29): For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
BN: For through you the land is most fortunate; and through my gods I overcome all obstacles.
2 Samuel 22:30: כִּ֥י בְכָ֖ה אָר֣וּץ גְּד֑וּד {ס} בֵּאלֹהַ֖י אֲדַלֶּג־שֽׁוּר With You, I can rush a barrier, With my God, I can scale a wall.
GEDUD: The troop is Gad, one of the 12 tribes, but also the god of Fortune. How odd, just after we witnessed the birth of Naphtali in verse 27. Given that this is a Psalm of Creation, and we have seen the sun and Earth both rising, it would be entirely logical to have the twelve constellations and the moon present too, the latter going down as it is day-time, the former losing visibility (did the ancients know that the stars were still there by day, or did they think they too went home to sleep and only came out at night?) We will know if this is the case, if the other tribes turn up in the ensuing verses. No doubt in my mind that the bizarre phrasing of this verse is a desperate attempt by the poet to get the tribe mentioned - and for the tribes as representatives of the constellations, click here.
ARUTS: Yes, it can mean "I will run", from the verb LARUTS. But that requires the Masoretic pointing to be correct, and I don't think the Masoretes would have been been willing to accept "Fortune" over "troop", and therefore had to point it the way they did. Unpointed, Aleph-Reysh-Tsade spells Erets = "Land".
ADALEG SHUR: We have been in the realm of idions throughout this Psalm. ADALEG means "leap", "bound", "scale"; a SHUR is more complex, because Hosea 12:12 uses it, probably from the Chaldean, to mean an ox, though that may be a Masoretic error for SHEVAR anyway, and from SHUR to SHOR is again a matter of Masoretic pointing. But cf Exodus 21:37, and Leviticus 22:27, and ... but it is unlikely to be a bull or an ox in our verse.
How do we get from this to "wall", which is definitely the meaning of SHUR in Ezra 4:13 and 16? Probably the answer lies at the root (it usually does!); and the root here means "to go round" or "to go about", which could be any journey, but always one that crosses borders, boundaries, or has walls or other obstacles to impede it. See Ezekiel 27:25 for its use in the generality of journeying; and also Psalm 92:12, where the SHUR is not the wall itself, but the OREVIM, the "liers-in-wait" who are concealed behind it, preparing their ambush.
How do we get from this to "wall", which is definitely the meaning of SHUR in Ezra 4:13 and 16? Probably the answer lies at the root (it usually does!); and the root here means "to go round" or "to go about", which could be any journey, but always one that crosses borders, boundaries, or has walls or other obstacles to impede it. See Ezekiel 27:25 for its use in the generality of journeying; and also Psalm 92:12, where the SHUR is not the wall itself, but the OREVIM, the "liers-in-wait" who are concealed behind it, preparing their ambush.
18:31 HA EL TAMIM DARKO IMRAT YHVH TSERUPHAH MAGEN HU LE CHOL HA CHOSIM BO
הָאֵל תָּמִים דַּרְכּוֹ אִמְרַת יְהוָה צְרוּפָה מָגֵן הוּא לְכֹל הַחֹסִים בּוֹ
BN: El is absolute in his purity; his road leads to perfection; {N} the word of YHVH is proven; he is a shield for all who take refuge behind him.
2 Samuel 22:31: הָאֵ֖ל תָּמִ֣ים דַּרְכּ֑וֹ אִמְרַ֤ת יְהֹוָה֙ צְרוּפָ֔ה {ס} מָגֵ֣ן ה֔וּא לְכֹ֖ל הַֽחֹסִ֥ים בּֽוֹ - The way of God is perfect, The word of the LORD is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
2 Samuel 22:31: הָאֵ֖ל תָּמִ֣ים דַּרְכּ֑וֹ אִמְרַ֤ת יְהֹוָה֙ צְרוּפָ֔ה {ס} מָגֵ֣ן ה֔וּא לְכֹ֖ל הַֽחֹסִ֥ים בּֽוֹ - The way of God is perfect, The word of the LORD is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
The N (Yehudit Nun) signifies a hiatus in the Psalm - is it the musical form that now changes, or the theme, the mode of language, the tone? And can we learn anything more about this unexplained Nun, from the fact that the equivalent verse in 2 Samuel has a Samech, which we do understand?
These shifts between El and YHVH, given that David is the beloved son, become the son respecting both the father and the grandfather. We have to learn to read these pre-Jewish texts through a pre-Jewish lens.
18:32 KI MI ELOHA MI BAL'ADEY YHVH U MI TSUR ZULATI ELOHEYNU
כִּי מִי אֱלוֹהַּ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי יְהוָה וּמִי צוּר זוּלָתִי אֱלֹהֵינוּ
KJ (18:31): For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
BN: For who is god, if not YHVH? And who is a rock, if not the gods?
2 Samuel 22:32: כִּ֥י מִי־אֵ֖ל מִבַּלְעֲדֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה {ס} וּמִ֥י צ֖וּר מִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֥י אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ - Yea, who is a god except the LORD, Who is a rock except God -
TSUR: See my note at verse 3.
18:33 HA EL HA ME'AZRENI CHAYIL VA YITEN TAMIM DARKI
הָאֵל הַמְאַזְּרֵנִי חָיִל וַיִּתֵּן תָּמִים דַּרְכִּי
KJ (18:32): It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
BN: El girds me with strength, and makes my way straight.
2 Samuel 22:33: הָאֵ֥ל מָֽעוּזִּ֖י חָ֑יִל {ס} וַיַּתֵּ֥ר תָּמִ֖ים (דרכו) [דַּרְכִּֽי] - The God, my mighty stronghold, Who kept my path secure;
ME'AZRENI: From AZAR with an Aleph, where AZAR with an Ayin means "to help". But all these epithets are about the ways in which the various deities "help" the Psalmist, so the word-play is again intentional.
TAMIM: note the continuous repetition of this word.
18:34 MESHAVEH RAGLAI KA AYALOT VE AL BAMOTAI YA'AMIYDENI
KJ (18:33): He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
BN: He makes my feet like hinds', and sets me down on the high places.
2 Samuel 22:34: מְשַׁוֶּ֥ה (רגליו) [רַגְלַ֖י] כָּאַיָּל֑וֹת {ס} וְעַ֥ל בָּמֹתַ֖י יַעֲמִדֵֽנִי - Who made my legs like a deer’s, And set me firm on the heights;
MESHAVEH: Like ME'AZRENI in the previous verse, and MELAMED in the next, the poet is using the Pi'el or intensive form, where we might expect the Hiph'il. But the deity is assisting the poet, not doing it for him. The Hiph'il causes things to happen, so the deity would be doing it for him; but the Pi'el intensifies, so accomplishment is coming from within, but with assistance.
18:34 MESHAVEH RAGLAI KA AYALOT VE AL BAMOTAI YA'AMIYDENI
מְשַׁוֶּה רַגְלַי כָּאַיָּלוֹת וְעַל בָּמֹתַי יַעֲמִידֵנִי
KJ (18:33): He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
BN: He makes my feet like hinds', and sets me down on the high places.
2 Samuel 22:34: מְשַׁוֶּ֥ה (רגליו) [רַגְלַ֖י] כָּאַיָּל֑וֹת {ס} וְעַ֥ל בָּמֹתַ֖י יַעֲמִדֵֽנִי - Who made my legs like a deer’s, And set me firm on the heights;
MESHAVEH: Like ME'AZRENI in the previous verse, and MELAMED in the next, the poet is using the Pi'el or intensive form, where we might expect the Hiph'il. But the deity is assisting the poet, not doing it for him. The Hiph'il causes things to happen, so the deity would be doing it for him; but the Pi'el intensifies, so accomplishment is coming from within, but with assistance.
AYALOT: Yes, hinds, or does - female deer anyway, very fast-running creatures, very difficult to see in the woodlands, where they use the trees as cover. But in the early morning you can see them, coming out to gather food for their young. That time of the morning, the time of our Psalm too, is known as AYELET HA SHACHAR. See Psalm 22:1 especially - and this link.
BAMOT: Mountains and hills, yes, but more pointedly the shrines and holy places erected on the summits of those mountains and hills (Leviticus 26:30, Numbers 33:52...), or in their caves.
18:35 MELAMED YADAI LA MILCHAMAH VE NICHATAH KESHET NECHUSHAH ZERO'OTAI
KJ (18:34): He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
BN: He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can even hold up a bow made of brass.
2 Samuel 22:35: מְלַמֵּ֥ד יָדַ֖י לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה {ס} וְנִחַ֥ת קֶשֶׁת־נְחוּשָׁ֖ה זְרֹעֹתָֽי - Who trained my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze!
BAMOT: Mountains and hills, yes, but more pointedly the shrines and holy places erected on the summits of those mountains and hills (Leviticus 26:30, Numbers 33:52...), or in their caves.
18:35 MELAMED YADAI LA MILCHAMAH VE NICHATAH KESHET NECHUSHAH ZERO'OTAI
מְלַמֵּד יָדַי לַמִּלְחָמָה וְנִחֲתָה קֶשֶׁת נְחוּשָׁה זְרוֹעֹתָי
KJ (18:34): He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
BN: He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can even hold up a bow made of brass.
2 Samuel 22:35: מְלַמֵּ֥ד יָדַ֖י לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה {ס} וְנִחַ֥ת קֶשֶׁת־נְחוּשָׁ֖ה זְרֹעֹתָֽי - Who trained my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze!
Ah but there is a lot going on in this brief verse!
NICHATAH: The root is really the opposite of ALIYAH, that being a "going up", this being a "going down" - and he has just made his way to the high place, which would be noon for the sun, followed by sunset, but is dawn for the Earth, and then the long day to follow. How does it get to be used for "broken"? No idea, but the Samuel verse uses it in precisely the same way as here, and Psalm 38:2 metaphors it very similarly.
KESHET: The Keshet is indeed a "bow", as in one that shoots arrows, but the much more famous bow is the one that the deity "set in the clouds", in the aftermath of that other Creation tale, Noa'ch and the Flood: see Genesis 9:13.
NECHUSHAH: And Nechushah does indeed mean brass, or possibly bronze, but unlikely to have been steel, though something very much like early steel does seem to have been invented, in Anatolia apparently, around 1300 BCE - click here. But this is no more about brass or bronze than it is about bows and arrows. This is about the daily Creation and re-Creation of the Cosmos, and so of course, alongside Our Lady of the Primordial Ocean (Tiamat et al), there has also to be that other serpent, the "brass serpent" indeed, the one I was sure was missing from several earlier verses, the one who was the Arthurian dragon on Mosheh's banner. Nechushtan.
ZERO'OTAI: And yes again, the ZERO'OT are indeed the arms, or really the shoulders and upper arms, the part where the strongest muscles can be found and the greatest burdens carried. But look at Psalm 97:11, where "Light is sown for the righteous, radiance for the upright", which is precisely what this Psalm has been telling us, repeatedly." The "sowing of the light" is OR ZARUA; a ZER'A is a seed, and though it is spelled exactly the same as these ZERO'OT, it probably isn't the same root. But yet again the allusion is unavoidable; and then look at Exodus 6:6, where that arm becomes fully metaphorical and achieves, once again, precisely the intention of this Psalm.
18:36 VA TITEN LI MAGEN YISH'ECHA VIYMIYNCHA TIS'ADENI VE ANVAT'CHA TARBENI
וַתִּתֶּן לִי מָגֵן יִשְׁעֶךָ וִימִינְךָ תִסְעָדֵנִי וְעַנְוַתְךָ תַרְבֵּנִי
KJ (18:35): Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
BN: You gave me your shield of salvation, and your right hand gave me a strong foundation; and your gentleness has made me fruitful.
2 Samuel 22:36: וַתִּתֶּן־לִ֖י מָגֵ֣ן יִשְׁעֶ֑ךָ וַעֲנֹתְךָ֖ תַּרְבֵּֽנִי {ס} - You have granted me the shield of Your protection And Your providence has made me great.
MAGEN YISH'ECHA: The shield we know, the "Star" of David, twinkling in the dawn sky, but also protecting the archers with their brass bows. YISH'ECHA makes him the MASHIYACH, where the deity, as we have seen, is the MOSHI'A.
VIYMIYNCHA: Is he being ironic, given that he is himself YHVH's "right hand man"; or is it simply another play on words, a mutually reciprocal assistance in their two roles: I help you do the MOSHI'Aing, you help me do the MASHIYACHing?
ANVAT'CHA: ANAV is yet another word in this Psalm with two very distinct meanings. Psalms 9:13, 10:12, 22:27, 34:3, 147:6 and 149:4 all have variations on one of those meanings, which is "afflicted", "impoverished", generally "miserable". But that is not something generally attributed to the deity as one of his woes! We have to go to Numbers 12:3 to find its other meaning, which is "meek" - but that too is not an attribute generally associated with the deity. Perhaps the intention at Numbers wasn't "meek" at all, but simply "gentle" - though none of the volcanos, tsunamis, earthquakes or hurricanes that we have witnessed infer that either. 1 Kings 19:12 has a form of gentleness - but it doesn't use ANAV. Psalm 45:5 is the only other occasion where ANAV is used with whatever this meaning is.
TARBENI: This is the Earth-god, being given the assistance of the sky-god; the outcome is crops, harvest, offspring.
18:37 TARCHIV TSA'ADI TACHTAI VE LO MA'ADU KARSULAI
תַּרְחִיב צַעֲדִי תַחְתָּי וְלֹא מָעֲדוּ קַרְסֻלָּי
KJ (18: 36): Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
BN: You gave me a secure footing, so my ankles have not wobbled.
2 Samuel 22:37: תַּרְחִ֥יב צַעֲדִ֖י תַּחְתֵּ֑נִי וְלֹ֥א מָעֲד֖וּ קַרְסֻלָּֽי - You have let me stride on freely, And my feet have not slipped.
TARCHIV: Back again to my unresolved issue of the IV or the AV. Here it can only be IV, because the final letter is a Vet, not a Vav. The issue is not the qamats under the Yud, but the problematic nature the of Vav itself. Vet is a softening of Bet, but Vav can be softened to O or U, and that is where the qamats then becomes the issue. No issue that MA'ADU is an U, even in the pre-Maroretic text, where the Vav is not medugash; grammar requires it, for a third person plural.
But that is only the pronunciation of TARCHIV; for its implicit word-play, see my notes at verse 20. For the explicit, the point here is that, wandering through the marshy, sandy, scrubby wilderness, YHVH has made the ground firm like the paved area of a market-square.
MA'ADU: It seems as if every word is a play on itself, and every variation will no doubt eventually crop up (yes, I think I do mean crop up) in this Psalm. The root MA'AD does indeed mean "wavering" or "tottering", but we have seen the two forms of the MO'ED already, through EYDI at verse 19, and should now add that there is also a name, MA'ADAI, generally reckoned to mean "ornaments", though it is not obvious why, who appears as Ma'adya in Ezra 10:34, but as Ma'ad-Yah in Nehemiah 12:5; both should probably be MO'AD... not MA'AD, and then look at Nehemiah 12:17 before you close the page.
As to why I have made the king's steps like Winnie-the-Pooh's spelling. See my note on KARSOLAI, below, and then go back to my explanation of LE MISH'AN LI at verse 18. Seems to me very clear that he would be "wobbling".
KARSOLAI: REGEL is used for both "feet" and "legs", EKEV for the "heel". A KERES is a "joining part" - so a "tache" for the curtains of the Tabernacle at Exodus 26:6, the KERASAV distinguished from the KERASHAV at Exodus 35:11 and 39:33, the latter being the boards below; useful because the debate over KARSOLAI is over "ankles" or "soles", and clearly the Kerasav are the joints, and therefore the ankles, where the KERASHAV are the "floorboards", and therefore the soles.
18:38 ERDOPH OYEVAI VE ASIYGEM VE LO ASHUV AD KALOTAM
KJ (18:37): I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
BN: I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are defeated.
2 Samuel 22:38: אֶרְדְּפָ֥ה אֹיְבַ֖י וָאַשְׁמִידֵ֑ם {ס} וְלֹ֥א אָשׁ֖וּב עַד־כַּלּוֹתָֽם - I pursued my enemies and wiped them out, I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
Almost every translation I have looked at transfers this to the past tense; but it is unquestionably in the future tense: this is David making a commitment, not describing history.
18:38 ERDOPH OYEVAI VE ASIYGEM VE LO ASHUV AD KALOTAM
אֶרְדּוֹף אוֹיְבַי וְאַשִּׂיגֵם וְלֹא אָשׁוּב עַד כַּלּוֹתָם
KJ (18:37): I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
BN: I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are defeated.
2 Samuel 22:38: אֶרְדְּפָ֥ה אֹיְבַ֖י וָאַשְׁמִידֵ֑ם {ס} וְלֹ֥א אָשׁ֖וּב עַד־כַּלּוֹתָֽם - I pursued my enemies and wiped them out, I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
Almost every translation I have looked at transfers this to the past tense; but it is unquestionably in the future tense: this is David making a commitment, not describing history.
18:39 EMCHATSEM VE LO YUCHLU KUM YIPLU TACHAT RAGLAI
אֶמְחָצֵם וְלֹא יֻכְלוּ קוּם יִפְּלוּ תַּחַת רַגְלָי
KJ (18:38): I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
BN: I will smite them so throughly, they will be unable to get up; they will fall beneath my feet.
2 Samuel 22:39: וָאֲכַלֵּ֥ם וָאֶמְחָצֵ֖ם וְלֹ֣א יְקוּמ֑וּן {ס} וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ תַּ֥חַת רַגְלָֽי - I destroyed them, I struck them down; They rose no more, they lay at my feet.
RAGLAI: Feet, as per my note to the previous verse.
18:40 VE TE'AZRENI CHAYIL LA MILCHAMAH TACHRIY'A KAMAI TACHTAI
וַתְּאַזְּרֵנִי חַיִל לַמִּלְחָמָה תַּכְרִיעַ קָמַי תַּחְתָּי
KJ (18:39): For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
BN: For you will gird me with strength for the battle. You will subdue beneath me those who rise up against me.
2 Samuel 22:40: וַתַּזְרֵ֥נִי חַ֖יִל לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה {ס} תַּכְרִ֥יעַ קָמַ֖י תַּחְתֵּֽנִי - You have girt me with strength for battle, Brought low my foes before me,
Again in the future tense.
18:41 VE OYEVAI NATATAH LI OREPH U MESAN'AI ATSMIYTEM
וְאֹיְבַי נָתַתָּה לִּי עֹרֶף וּמְשַׂנְאַי אַצְמִיתֵם
KJ (18:40): Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
BN: Just as you made my enemies retreat before me, so I shall cut down those who hate me.
2 Samuel 22:41: וְאֹ֣יְבַ֔י תַּ֥תָּה לִּ֖י עֹ֑רֶף מְשַׂנְאַ֖י וָאַצְמִיתֵֽם {ס} - Made my enemies turn tail before me, My foes - and I wiped them out.
Whereas this reverts to the past tense in the first half, using history as evidence to support his commitment in the future.
OREPH: See my notes at verse 10. We should read this as both the physical necks of the human enemy, and the metaphorical stars in the darkness of the sky, though whether NATATAH LI infers that they have "turned their necks", as in retreated, or he has "severed their necks", as in beheaded, is less comfortable easy to determine, though the insinuation of the second part of the verse is definitely the latter.
And do not overlook the fact that OREPH is also the name of David's star, Vega in Lyra.
18:42 YESHAV'U VE EYN MOSHI'A AL YHVH VE LO ANAM
יְשַׁוְּעוּ וְאֵין מוֹשִׁיעַ עַל יְהוָה וְלֹא עָנָם
KJ (18: 41): They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
BN: They will cry, but there will be no one to save them; they will cry to YHVH, but he will not answer.
2 Samuel 22:42: יִשְׁע֖וּ וְאֵ֣ין מֹשִׁ֑יעַ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א עָנָֽם -They looked, but there was none to deliver; To the LORD, but He answered them not.
YESHAV'U: See verse 7, where the same word is used, but with a different outcome (he gets the response; his enemies get rejected). But then look again at verse 34, where the same letters are used to form an entirely different root (think of words like bow and bow in English, the first worn as a tie, or used to fire arrows, or to project the colours of the sky after rain; the latter what the actor does at the end of a performance, usually from the bow of the stage, not the aft: same letters, different meanings, but the word-play on those homonyms entirely deliberate).
Again we need to note the difference between a Moshi'a and a Mashiyach.
18:43 VE ESHCHAKEM KE APHAR AL PENEY RU'ACH KETIT CHUTSOT ARIYKEM
וְאֶשְׁחָקֵם כְּעָפָר עַל פְּנֵי רוּחַ כְּטִיט חוּצוֹת אֲרִיקֵם
KJ (18:42): Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
BN: Then I will pulverise them, like dust before the wind; I shall empty them onto the street like dirt.
2 Samuel 22:43: וְאֶשְׁחָקֵ֖ם כַּעֲפַר־אָ֑רֶץ {ס} כְּטִיט־חוּצ֥וֹת אֲדִקֵּ֖ם אֶרְקָעֵֽם - I pounded them like dust of the earth, Stamped, crushed them like dirt of the streets.
ESHCHAKEM: As with the previous verses, the grammar tells us that we are in the future, not the past. And given that this is a mythological rendering of the life of the Earth-god, who is primarily symbolised as the corn-god, because that is the staple of human feeding, should we be wondering if the "pulverising" here isn't what happens on the threshing-floor at the end of the harvest, when the three wise men come from the east because the beer is better in Beit-Lechem (click here for an explanation of that little witticism).
CHUTSOT: Are not really "streets". CHUTS means "outside"; as in Genesis 6:14 (I trust that my using the example of the Ark for this is helpful!).
ARIYKEM: Does not really mean "cast out". REYK is "empty". So this is the debris left at the end of the harvest-supper, put into recyclable garbage bags, and dumped in the green bin.
18:44 TEPHALTENI ME RIYVEY AM TESIYMENI LE ROSH GOYIM AM LO YADA'TI YA'AVDUNI
תְּפַלְּטֵנִי מֵרִיבֵי עָם תְּשִׂימֵנִי לְרֹאשׁ גּוֹיִם עַם לֹא יָדַעְתִּי יַעַבְדוּנִי
KJ (18:43): Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
BN: You will enable me to escape from the squabblings of the people. You will place me at the head of the nations; people I do not even know will serve me.
2 Samuel 22:44: וַֽתְּפַלְּטֵ֔נִי מֵרִיבֵ֖י עַמִּ֑י תִּשְׁמְרֵ֙נִי֙ לְרֹ֣אשׁ גּוֹיִ֔ם {ס} עַ֥ם לֹא־יָדַ֖עְתִּי יַעַבְדֻֽנִי - You have rescued me from the strife of peoples, Kept me to be a ruler of nations; Peoples I knew not must serve me.
TEPHALTENI: My translation may seem merely pedantic at first, but actually it is key to this entire Psalm. Again and again we are told that YHVH enables, but David enacts. If YHVH "delivers", then David is merely the passive recipient of divine benevolence, and that is not what is needed from the Mashiyach. But it isn't that. YHVH enables, David enacts. And thus he is ready to fulfill the second part of this verse.
There is also another word-play here, because the word sounds like TEPHILATENI, which would be "my prayer" or "my petition", and that is precisely how this engagement between sky-father and Earth-son got started in the Psalm.
YA'AVDUNI: Serve me as employees, or as slaves, because he is the earthly king? Worship him as faithful cult-followers, because he is the Beloved Son? Or both, even?
Notice that even KJ recognises at last that all this is in the future tense. And actually the phrasing of the next verse requires all the above to have been in the future tense, or it is rendered meaningless. So why have they placed it in the past tense?
18:45 LE SHEM'A OZEN YISHAM'U LI BENEY NECHAR YECHACHASHU LI
KJ (18: 44): As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
BN: As soon as they hear of me, they will hear from me; those who do not follow you will cower before me.
2 Samuel 22:45 בְּנֵ֥י נֵכָ֖ר יִתְכַּחֲשׁוּ־לִ֑י לִשְׁמ֥וֹעַ אֹ֖זֶן יִשָּׁ֥מְעוּ לִֽי {ס} - Aliens have cringed before me, Paid me homage at the mere report of me.
18:45 LE SHEM'A OZEN YISHAM'U LI BENEY NECHAR YECHACHASHU LI
לְשֵׁמַע אֹזֶן יִשָּׁמְעוּ לִי בְּנֵי נֵכָר יְכַחֲשׁוּ לִי
KJ (18: 44): As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
BN: As soon as they hear of me, they will hear from me; those who do not follow you will cower before me.
2 Samuel 22:45 בְּנֵ֥י נֵכָ֖ר יִתְכַּחֲשׁוּ־לִ֑י לִשְׁמ֥וֹעַ אֹ֖זֶן יִשָּׁ֥מְעוּ לִֽי {ס} - Aliens have cringed before me, Paid me homage at the mere report of me.
LE SHEM'A...YISHAM'U: This takes us back to the word-games in an earlier Psalm (10:14), where I have also noted that Matthew records Jesus playing the same word-game; the poet is making a distinction between mere looking and actual seeing, mere listening and actual hearing, mere information gleaned from wisdom actively obtained. So, here, both words come from the root SHAM'A = "to hear", but with the first it is really LEHACHSHIV, "to listen", transformed into meaningfully "hearing" by the time it becomes the second.
I don't actually think my translation gets the meaning as precisely as my explanation does, but the word-play in English is irresistible!
BENEY NECHAR: "Sons of the stranger" is literal, but meaningless. Where we today use GOYIM to distinguish the Jewish people from other ethnic groups, so the ancients used NACHRI to distinguish the Yisra-Eli cult from other religious cults.
18:46 BENEY NECHAR YIBOLU VE YACHREGU MI MISGEROTEYHEM
בְּנֵי נֵכָר יִבֹּלוּ וְיַחְרְגוּ מִמִּסְגְּרוֹתֵיהֶם
KJ (18:45): The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
BN: The non-believers will fade away, and come trembling out of their hiding-places.
2 Samuel 22:46: בְּנֵ֥י נֵכָ֖ר יִבֹּ֑לוּ וְיַחְגְּר֖וּ מִמִּסְגְּרוֹתָֽם - Aliens have lost courage And come trembling out of their fastnesses.
Read verses 46 and 46 as though they were a deliberate pair - this is how it appears in the Samuel, and even just as word-order it makes more sense than the Psalms version: BENEY NACHAR at the start of each of these two verses; unless verse 45 is split in the middle, allowing BENEY NACHAR to be the beginning of a new line.
YIBOLU: From the root NAVAL, meaning "foolishness" - and the name of Avi-Gayil's husband (see my notes at Psalm 14): a tale absolutely central to David's wilderness years, which are the context of this Psalm (1 Samuel 25:3 ff).
YIBOLU: From the root NEVEL, which provide the thirsty with various types of water-containers, from flasks to flagons (Isaiah 30:14, Jeremiah 13:12...).
YIBOLU: From the root NEVEL, which is a twelve-string lyre, according to Josephus, but only ten-stringed, and a harp, according to Psalm 33:2 and 144:9.
YIBOLU: From the root NEVAL, which, used in the feminine, is a corpse, animal at Leviticus 5:2, human at Deuteronomy 21:23.
YIBOLU: From the root NAVAL, or possibly NEVEL, it only occurs once (or twice if this is the inention of our current verse), in Hosea 2:12, and means "shame" or "disgrace", but only as a very Puritanical euphemism; really it is the same body as the Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but still alive, and nothing to be ashamed of (cf Genesis 3:7-11).
So which of the above is the intention of this verse? Given the continuousness of the word-games, I would say "all of them".
MISGEROTEYHEM: From the root SAGAR meaning "close", as in "shut". So any fortress or stronghold, but also any hiding-place.
18:47 CHAI YHVH U VARUCH TSURI VE YARUM ELOHEY YISH'I
חַי יְהוָה וּבָרוּךְ צוּרִי וְיָרוּם אֱלוֹהֵי יִשְׁעִי
KJ (18:46): The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
BN: YHVH lives, and blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the gods of my salvation.
2 Samuel 22:47: חַי־יְהֹוָ֖ה וּבָר֣וּךְ צוּרִ֑י {ס} וְיָרֻ֕ם אֱלֹהֵ֖י צ֥וּר יִשְׁעִֽי - The LORD lives! Blessed is my rock! Exalted be God, the rock Who gives me victory;
CHAI YHVH: Theologically this is particularly interesting. Rather than me explaining it again here, read the opening of my piece on YAH; having CHAI and YHVH together like this, and described as though they were the same thing, resolves the quarrel between Sartre and Camus, but not in any form that a contemporary scientist could affirm (contemporary religious scientists would disagree with me; click here). And even in later, Talmudic Jewish thought, we would expect (cf Exodus 3:14) HAI YHVH, both coming from Lehiyot, rather than this merging of the female principle Chavah (Eve) with the male principle YHVH.
Does all this help us date the Psalm? I think it both does and does not. By which I mean: there is evidence throughout of a very ancient hymn to the polytheon, but also evidence of this sort which insinuates a very late, probably Hasmonean-age, update and rewrite, to retain what was probably a favourite hymn, but one which did not exactly accord with the theology of that redactive age.
And yet, like Hallelu-Yah elsewhere, the Elohai have not been eliminated - not in the Psalm anyway; they have in the Samuel! Which came first?
The Christians have the same problem with Guy Fawkes in Britain, just as they do with the eggs of Ishtar at springtime, and the World-Tree at the winter solstice! You can try to change people's understanding of culture, but what is embedded very deep is embedded very deep, and it will survive.
18:48 HA EL HA NOTEN NEKAMOT LI VA YADBER AMIM TACHTAI
הָאֵל הַנּוֹתֵן נְקָמוֹת לִי וַיַּדְבֵּר עַמִּים תַּחְתָּי
KJ (18:47): It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
BN: He is the god who executes vengeance for me, and subdues nations under me.
2 Samuel 22:48: הָאֵ֕ל הַנֹּתֵ֥ן נְקָמֹ֖ת לִ֑י {ס} וּמֹרִ֥יד עַמִּ֖ים תַּחְתֵּֽנִי - The God who has vindicated me And made peoples subject to me,
Which concept clashes with the earlier assertions: here it is definitely YHVH who is active, and David merely the passive recipient of the beneficence.
18:49 MEPHALTI ME OYEVAI APH MIN KAMAI TEROMEMENI ME ISH CHAMAS TATSIYLENI
מְפַלְּטִי מֵאֹיְבָי אַף מִן קָמַי תְּרוֹמְמֵנִי מֵאִישׁ חָמָס תַּצִּילֵנִי
KJ (18:48): He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
BN: He delivers me from my enemies; yea, you lift me up above those who rise up against me; you rescue me from men of violence.
2 Samuel 22:49: וּמוֹצִיאִ֖י מֵאֹֽיְבָ֑י וּמִקָּמַי֙ תְּר֣וֹמְמֵ֔נִי {ס} מֵאִ֥ישׁ חֲמָסִ֖ים תַּצִּילֵֽנִי - Rescued me from my enemies, Raised me clear of my foes, Saved me from lawless men!
CHAMAS: Explained previously. All I can say on this occasion is that I have now joined the Historical Association of Teachers and Educators, that we have researched the subject thoroughly, and there is definitely nothing that could be construed as negative about our acronym.
MEPHALTI...TEROMEMENI...TATSIYLENI: The first is in the 3rd person singular, the second and third in the 2nd person singular.
18:50 AL KEN ODECHA VA GOYIM YHVH U LE SHIMCHA AZAMERAH
עַל כֵּן אוֹדְךָ בַגּוֹיִם יְהוָה וּלְשִׁמְךָ אֲזַמֵּרָה
KJ (18:49): Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
BN: Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, YHVH, and I will sing praises to your name.
2 Samuel 22:50: עַל־כֵּ֛ן אֽוֹדְךָ֥ יְהֹוָ֖ה בַּגּוֹיִ֑ם {ס} וּלְשִׁמְךָ֖ אֲזַמֵּֽר - For this I sing Your praise among the nations And hymn Your name
2 Samuel 22:50: עַל־כֵּ֛ן אֽוֹדְךָ֥ יְהֹוָ֖ה בַּגּוֹיִ֑ם {ס} וּלְשִׁמְךָ֖ אֲזַמֵּֽר - For this I sing Your praise among the nations And hymn Your name
18:51 MIGDOL YESHU'OT MALKO VE OSEH CHESED LIMSHICHO LE DAVID U LE ZAR'O AD OLAM
מִגְדֹּל יְשׁוּעוֹת מַלְכּוֹ וְעֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד לִמְשִׁיחוֹ לְדָוִד וּלְזַרְעוֹ עַד־עוֹלָם
KJ (18:50): Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
BN: He bestows his Messianic power upon the king, {N} and his mercy on his Mashiyach, on David and his seed, eternally. {P}
2 Samuel 22:51: (מגדיל) [מִגְדּ֖וֹל] יְשׁוּע֣וֹת מַלְכּ֑וֹ וְעֹֽשֶׂה־חֶ֧סֶד לִמְשִׁיח֛וֹ {ס} לְדָוִ֥ד וּלְזַרְע֖וֹ עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ {פ} - Tower of victory to His king, Who deals graciously with His anointed, With David and his offspring evermore.
YESHU'OT...LIMSHICHO: We have witnessed the interaction between YHVH as Moshi'a and David as Mashiyach throughout the Psalm; now it is confirmed and endorsed. Christians take note.
And Jews, remind me please where this last verse is sung in modern liturgy - with a tiddly-om-pom immediately before the Oseh Shalom in Reform versions of the closing Kiddush; but Oseh Shalom isn't this Psalm; then is the one I'm thinking of taken from here rather than there, or is the same verse located elsewhere as well? Actually it’s even more complex than that - see my page on Elohey netsor leshoni in "Myrtle" (and is it not also sung as part of bensching?)
And the phrasing confirms yet again that this is sung to David, and not written by him.
Psalms:
Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles
Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language
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