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
27:1 LE DAVID YHVH ORI VE YISH'I MI MI IYR'A YHVH MA'OZ CHAYAI MI MI EPHCHAD
לְדָוִד יְהוָה אוֹרִי וְיִשְׁעִי מִמִּי אִירָא יְהוָה מָעוֹז חַיַּי מִמִּי אֶפְחָד
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David.) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
BN (BibleNet translation): For David. YHVH is my light and my salvation; who should I fear? {N} YHVH is the stronghold of my life; of whom should I be afraid?
Of David or To David? Or it could be that it was written by someone else, and dedicated, not to David the mythological deity, but to David the King, in the way that artists and writers and composers have dedicated their works to their patrons down the years. In which case it should be translated as "for David". And of course, given that Yedid-Yah was his birthname, and Shelomoh only his monarch-name, it is entirely plausible that a dedication "For David" was in fact a personal gift for the king.
This time there is no title, only the dedication; unless the dedication is itself the title. But again the first verse merged, rather than separated.
ORI...IYRAH: As rich as a cryptic crossword clue. Where "Ani ani" in the previous Psalm was based on same-sound but different-letters, this has two verbs with the same letters, Aleph-Vav-Reysh, the difference being that IYRAH has a final-letter Aleph, so this becomes an anagram.
YASTIRENI....SETER: why the secrecy? the connection back to the evil through HISTIR PANAV is unavoidable - YITSPENENI, the second word in the verse, providing the link. And now see verse 9.
TSUR: As in Tsur Yisra-El? But what will actually be set upon the rock is the Temple itself, the black rock that is now beneath the Shrine of Omar, the rock on which Yitschak was bound: so David as the Azaz-El, the universal sacrificial animal (whose flesh is eaten eucharistically - see verse 2).
MIYSHUR... SHORERAI: Two different roots, and two different meanings, but musically they echo and parallel. Both include the letters Sheen-Vav-Reysh consecutively, but one adds a Mem-Yud before them, the other doubles the Reysh and adds a Yud afterwards. My translation of MIYSHUR as "truthful" is not as precise as it should be, though it is not inaccurate; it does, however, allow the SHORERAI to become "those who lie in wait for me", which is likewise not entirely accurate, but close enough, but more importantly creates a rather clever pun, in English, and thereby gets some at least of the word-play of the original.
27:12 AL TITNENI BE NEPHESH TSARAI KI KAMU VI EDEI SHEKER VIYPHE'ACH CHAMAS
KJ: Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
BN: Do not hand me over to the whims of my foes, for false witnesses have risen up against me, and stirrers-up of violence.
Where the imagery of verse 2 inferred the corn-god, and enemies in Nature - winds, storm-rains, midges, locusts - the imagery now is entirely human. So the language of the "angels" becomes the language of the congregation: classic methodology throughout Jewish liturgy.
27:13 LUL'E HE'EMANTI LIR'OT BE TUV YHVH BE ERETS CHAYIM
KJ: I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
BN: Except that I believed that I was witnessing the goodness of YHVH in the land of the living!
The Lord of the Underworld speaking of the Land of the Living! So SHA'ALTI becomes, albeit unstated except by inference, KIBALTI: "I requested" becomes "I received". And the moral of the tale is: it will happen, if you are patient. Which the next verse states explicitly. And then repeats, in case you missed it!
27:14 KAVEH EL YHVH CHAZAK VE YA'AMETS LIBECHA VE KAVEH EL YHVH
KJ: Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
BN: Wait for YHVH. Be strong. And let your heart take courage. Wait for YHVH. {P}
In verse 1 we had both OR and IYR'A, "light" and "fear", and placed in opposition to each other. In the verses that followed, the light increasingly dominated, as sun, and as teaching. Now, with "courage", the fear is dismissed altogether.
Of David or To David? Or it could be that it was written by someone else, and dedicated, not to David the mythological deity, but to David the King, in the way that artists and writers and composers have dedicated their works to their patrons down the years. In which case it should be translated as "for David". And of course, given that Yedid-Yah was his birthname, and Shelomoh only his monarch-name, it is entirely plausible that a dedication "For David" was in fact a personal gift for the king.
This time there is no title, only the dedication; unless the dedication is itself the title. But again the first verse merged, rather than separated.
ORI...IYRAH: As rich as a cryptic crossword clue. Where "Ani ani" in the previous Psalm was based on same-sound but different-letters, this has two verbs with the same letters, Aleph-Vav-Reysh, the difference being that IYRAH has a final-letter Aleph, so this becomes an anagram.
YISH'I: Once again confirming that the Moshi'a (Messiah) is the deity, not a human representative.
MI MI: Whereas this is simply two identical words with two completely different meanings that just happen to come together in a wonderfully, whimsically, musical manner.
27:2 BIKROV ALAI MERE'IM LE'ECHOL ET BESARI TSARAI VE OYEVAI LI HEMAH CHASHLU VE NAPHLU
KJ: When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
BN: When evil-doers approached me, to eat up my flesh {N} - my trouble-causers and my foes - they stumbled and fell.
sarshalom.us has failed to render or translate the 2nd half of this verse: error or deliberate?
MI MI: Whereas this is simply two identical words with two completely different meanings that just happen to come together in a wonderfully, whimsically, musical manner.
27:2 BIKROV ALAI MERE'IM LE'ECHOL ET BESARI TSARAI VE OYEVAI LI HEMAH CHASHLU VE NAPHLU
בִּקְרֹב עָלַי מְרֵעִים לֶאֱכֹל אֶת בְּשָׂרִי צָרַי וְאֹיְבַי לִי הֵמָּה כָשְׁלוּ וְנָפָלוּ
KJ: When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
BN: When evil-doers approached me, to eat up my flesh {N} - my trouble-causers and my foes - they stumbled and fell.
sarshalom.us has failed to render or translate the 2nd half of this verse: error or deliberate?
The construction of the line is awkward, but clearly it is libretto following score, and therefore it would be inappropriate for a translator to reorganise it; nevertheless, the parenthesis belongs with the "evil-doers", not with the "flesh".
The imagery here is a touch disconcerting, to say the least. But then, pause, think again - David, as I have said repeatedly, but no one wants to believe me because tradition has affirmed David as a mere human being, David is the earth-god, principally the corn-god, represented on Earth by a king named David, but still, mythologically, the corn-god, the "Word" of vegetation. So boil this verse, put a prong at each end, smear it in butter, and consume that flesh! A Psalm to the glories of corn on-the-cob! And sing John Barleycorn in whichever version you like best while you are doing so (my favourite is the Steeleye Span rendition, for which click here).
27:3 IM TACHANEH ALAI MACHANEH LO YIYRA LIBI IM TAKUM ALAI MILCHAMAH BE ZOT ANI VOTE'ACH
KJ: Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
BN: Even if an army should pitch camp against me, my heart shall not fear; {N} though war rise up against me, I will have trust in this.
TACHANEH...MACHANEH: More internal rhymes. Generally, in this Psalm, the rhymes are by repetition of the same suffix, at the ends of lines and in caesural pauses. Either this should be counted as an exception, or not, as per my very next note.
Lines in pairs and triplets again, hiatused (are they a type of alexandrine?). The problem is layout, in the Yehudit scroll as well as in the various translations. Probably this should be laid out as:
The imagery here is a touch disconcerting, to say the least. But then, pause, think again - David, as I have said repeatedly, but no one wants to believe me because tradition has affirmed David as a mere human being, David is the earth-god, principally the corn-god, represented on Earth by a king named David, but still, mythologically, the corn-god, the "Word" of vegetation. So boil this verse, put a prong at each end, smear it in butter, and consume that flesh! A Psalm to the glories of corn on-the-cob! And sing John Barleycorn in whichever version you like best while you are doing so (my favourite is the Steeleye Span rendition, for which click here).
27:3 IM TACHANEH ALAI MACHANEH LO YIYRA LIBI IM TAKUM ALAI MILCHAMAH BE ZOT ANI VOTE'ACH
אִם תַּחֲנֶה עָלַי מַחֲנֶה לֹא יִירָא לִבִּי אִם תָּקוּם עָלַי מִלְחָמָה בְּזֹאת אֲנִי בוֹטֵחַ
KJ: Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
BN: Even if an army should pitch camp against me, my heart shall not fear; {N} though war rise up against me, I will have trust in this.
TACHANEH...MACHANEH: More internal rhymes. Generally, in this Psalm, the rhymes are by repetition of the same suffix, at the ends of lines and in caesural pauses. Either this should be counted as an exception, or not, as per my very next note.
Lines in pairs and triplets again, hiatused (are they a type of alexandrine?). The problem is layout, in the Yehudit scroll as well as in the various translations. Probably this should be laid out as:
Even if an armyshould pitch camp against me,my heart shall not fear; {N}though war rise up against me,I will have trust in this.
MILCHAMAH: And for those who doubt my corn-god comment, remember that the words for "war" and "bread" in Yehudit stem from the same root (actually, in politics and economics too, sadly): LECHEM = "bread", baked from the corn. MILCHAMAH = "war", baked from the shortage of corn.
27:4 ACHAT SHA'ALTI ME ET YHVH OTAH AVAKESH SHIVTI BE VEIT YHVH KOL YEMEY CHAYAI LACHAZOT BE NO'AM YHVH U LEVAKER BE HEYCHALO
KJ: One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
BN: One thing I have asked of YHVH; and now I am asking again: {N}
27:4 ACHAT SHA'ALTI ME ET YHVH OTAH AVAKESH SHIVTI BE VEIT YHVH KOL YEMEY CHAYAI LACHAZOT BE NO'AM YHVH U LEVAKER BE HEYCHALO
אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת יְהוָה אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית יְהוָה כָּל יְמֵי חַיַּי לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֹעַם יְהוָה וּלְבַקֵּר בְּהֵיכָלוֹ
KJ: One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
BN: One thing I have asked of YHVH; and now I am asking again: {N}
let me dwell in the house of YHVH all the days of my life, {N}
to witness his grace, and to visit his temple.
SHA'ALTI...AVAKESH: Two very different forms of asking, the first a question, the second a request... And the first is also a play on words, because the... how shall I phrase this? In modern terms: The Psyche is the human underworld, the place where the dead matter of life goes to be biodegraded, and from which the spring growth of art, literature, philosophy are composted into fertile fruits. So, in Yehudit, SHE'OL is the Underworld, SHA'UL young David's king, and SHA'ALTI acquires rather more symbolic significance as a verb.
HEYCHALO: Which temple is he hoping to visit? Because, alas, however many times he may ask, the request to build one in Yeru-Shala'im was denied him. Perhaps that is why the verse says "visit".
27:5 KI YITSPENENI BE SUKAH BE YOM RA'AH YASTIRENI BE SETER AHALO BE TSUR YEROMEMENI
KJ: For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
BN: For he will hide me in his palm-booth on the day that the wickedness is done; {N} he will conceal me in the shadows of his tent; he will lift me up upon a rock.
SUKAH: Not a pavilion, as in the KJ; but it is not the Sukah of the harvest festival either.
to witness his grace, and to visit his temple.
SHA'ALTI...AVAKESH: Two very different forms of asking, the first a question, the second a request... And the first is also a play on words, because the... how shall I phrase this? In modern terms: The Psyche is the human underworld, the place where the dead matter of life goes to be biodegraded, and from which the spring growth of art, literature, philosophy are composted into fertile fruits. So, in Yehudit, SHE'OL is the Underworld, SHA'UL young David's king, and SHA'ALTI acquires rather more symbolic significance as a verb.
HEYCHALO: Which temple is he hoping to visit? Because, alas, however many times he may ask, the request to build one in Yeru-Shala'im was denied him. Perhaps that is why the verse says "visit".
27:5 KI YITSPENENI BE SUKAH BE YOM RA'AH YASTIRENI BE SETER AHALO BE TSUR YEROMEMENI
כִּי יִצְפְּנֵנִי בְּסֻכֹּה בְּיוֹם רָעָה יַסְתִּרֵנִי בְּסֵתֶר אָהֳלוֹ בְּצוּר יְרוֹמְמֵנִי
KJ: For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
BN: For he will hide me in his palm-booth on the day that the wickedness is done; {N} he will conceal me in the shadows of his tent; he will lift me up upon a rock.
SUKAH: Not a pavilion, as in the KJ; but it is not the Sukah of the harvest festival either.
AHALO: And likewise this is not a canvas tent at a caravanserai; we have seen the metaphor previously: the tent of the deity is the sky itself.
YASTIRENI....SETER: why the secrecy? the connection back to the evil through HISTIR PANAV is unavoidable - YITSPENENI, the second word in the verse, providing the link. And now see verse 9.
TSUR: As in Tsur Yisra-El? But what will actually be set upon the rock is the Temple itself, the black rock that is now beneath the Shrine of Omar, the rock on which Yitschak was bound: so David as the Azaz-El, the universal sacrificial animal (whose flesh is eaten eucharistically - see verse 2).
Though, having said that, I am also recalling that David went into hiding at Sochoh, or actually from Sochoh, where he was the armour-bearer in King Sha'ul's tent, and every morning Gol-Yat came out to call the Beney Yisra-El to battle, offering one-to-one combat rather than full-scale war, but on condition of surrender by the losing side. David fled... 1 Samuel 17:15 is the key verse, and we know he was on the run from his father's response, providing the means for him to buy his way back in. So David returns, verse 22 is simply comic, but there he is, the would-be coward turned the wrong way, into national hero, set up on the rock above the valley of Elah, and taking out Gol-Yat with just one stone. The opening of the next verse too tends towards this particular tale.
27:6 VE ATAH YARUM ROSHI AL OYEVAI SEVIYVOTAI VE EZBECHAH VE AHALO ZIVCHEI TERU'AH ASHIYRAH VA AZAMRAH LA YHVH
KJ: And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
BN: And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies who surround me. I will offer sacrifices in his tabernacle to the accompaniment of trumpets {N} I will sing, I will play my harp, for YHVH.
AZAMRAH: The harp isn't mentioned, but I have taken the liberty to add it. The singing is in ASHIYRAH. AZAMRAH is the musical accompaniment, and we understand from the texts that David's instrument was either the harp or the lyre. And presumably both are in use even now, for the performance of this Psalm.
27:7 SHEMA YHVH KOLI EKRA VE CHANENI VA ANENI
KJ: Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
BN: Hear, YHVH, when I call with my voice, and be gracious to me, and answer me.
CHANENI VA ANENI: An invitation to much fun if you are the musical arranger! There are unquestionably Psalms intended for recitation, unaccompanied and unscored; others, like this one - the rhymes are not the only give-aways, but important give-aways nonetheless - clearly songs rather than poems.
27:8 LECHA AMAR LIBI BAKSHU PHANAI ET PANEYCHA YHVH AVAKESH
KJ: When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
BN: To you said my heart: "Request my face"; your face, YHVH, I will request.
I have translated the words as they are given, but I am not happy that this can be what they intend. Every translation I have looked at makes the reversal which the KJ makes. But LECHA is definitely "to you", and LIBI and PHANAI are definitely "my heart", "my face". BAKSHU is plural, and a verb, so he is talking to a plurality - presumably the ELOHIM. Which makes my translation accurate and correct; and still I am not happy that this can be what is intended.
27:6 VE ATAH YARUM ROSHI AL OYEVAI SEVIYVOTAI VE EZBECHAH VE AHALO ZIVCHEI TERU'AH ASHIYRAH VA AZAMRAH LA YHVH
וְעַתָּה יָרוּם רֹאשִׁי עַל אֹיְבַי סְבִיבוֹתַי וְאֶזְבְּחָה בְאָהֳלוֹ זִבְחֵי תְרוּעָה אָשִׁירָה וַאֲזַמְּרָה לַיהוָה
KJ: And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
BN: And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies who surround me. I will offer sacrifices in his tabernacle to the accompaniment of trumpets {N} I will sing, I will play my harp, for YHVH.
AZAMRAH: The harp isn't mentioned, but I have taken the liberty to add it. The singing is in ASHIYRAH. AZAMRAH is the musical accompaniment, and we understand from the texts that David's instrument was either the harp or the lyre. And presumably both are in use even now, for the performance of this Psalm.
27:7 SHEMA YHVH KOLI EKRA VE CHANENI VA ANENI
שְׁמַע יְהוָה קוֹלִי אֶקְרָא וְחָנֵּנִי וַעֲנֵנִי
KJ: Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
BN: Hear, YHVH, when I call with my voice, and be gracious to me, and answer me.
CHANENI VA ANENI: An invitation to much fun if you are the musical arranger! There are unquestionably Psalms intended for recitation, unaccompanied and unscored; others, like this one - the rhymes are not the only give-aways, but important give-aways nonetheless - clearly songs rather than poems.
27:8 LECHA AMAR LIBI BAKSHU PHANAI ET PANEYCHA YHVH AVAKESH
לְךָ אָמַר לִבִּי בַּקְּשׁוּ פָנָי אֶת פָּנֶיךָ יְהוָה אֲבַקֵּשׁ
KJ: When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
BN: To you said my heart: "Request my face"; your face, YHVH, I will request.
I have translated the words as they are given, but I am not happy that this can be what they intend. Every translation I have looked at makes the reversal which the KJ makes. But LECHA is definitely "to you", and LIBI and PHANAI are definitely "my heart", "my face". BAKSHU is plural, and a verb, so he is talking to a plurality - presumably the ELOHIM. Which makes my translation accurate and correct; and still I am not happy that this can be what is intended.
BAKSHU: See my note on this at verse 4.
Above, and especially in the next verse, we are manoeuvering around the edges of the concept of HISTIR PANAV, which is the obverse of the YEVARECHECHA; now we have the YEVARECHECHA explicitly. Good and evil perceived (philosophically) not as Light and Darkness so much as the presence or absence of the sun; and thence YHVH as sun-god.
27:9 AL TASTER PANEYCHA MIMENI AL TAT BE APH AVDECHA EZRATI HAYIYTA AL TITSHENI VE AL TA'AZVENI ELOHAI YISH'I
KJ: Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
BN: Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. {N} You have been my help. Do not cast me off. Do not abandon me, you gods of my salvation.
AL TAT BE APH: A very Minotaurish sun-god though, with his inflated nostrils.
Above, and especially in the next verse, we are manoeuvering around the edges of the concept of HISTIR PANAV, which is the obverse of the YEVARECHECHA; now we have the YEVARECHECHA explicitly. Good and evil perceived (philosophically) not as Light and Darkness so much as the presence or absence of the sun; and thence YHVH as sun-god.
27:9 AL TASTER PANEYCHA MIMENI AL TAT BE APH AVDECHA EZRATI HAYIYTA AL TITSHENI VE AL TA'AZVENI ELOHAI YISH'I
אַל תַּסְתֵּר פָּנֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי אַל תַּט בְּאַף עַבְדֶּךָ עֶזְרָתִי הָיִיתָ אַל תִּטְּשֵׁנִי וְאַל תַּעַזְבֵנִי אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעִי
KJ: Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
BN: Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. {N} You have been my help. Do not cast me off. Do not abandon me, you gods of my salvation.
AL TAT BE APH: A very Minotaurish sun-god though, with his inflated nostrils.
ELOHEI: And definitely the head of the pantheon, not yet the Omnideity.
AL: Used four times, rhythmically, like a drum beat; why does KJ drop the last one, and replace it with "neither"?
27:10 KI AVI VE IMI AZAVUNI VA YHVH YA'ASPHENI
KJ: When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
BN: For though my father and my mother abandon me, YHVH will take me up.
Isn't that a rather horrifying verse. From both points of view. First, that a mother and father would abandon a child (yes, it happens, but it is very rare); second, that it appears to take such an extreme circumstance for a believer like David to turn to his god (the universal mummy-and-daddy!).
AL: Used four times, rhythmically, like a drum beat; why does KJ drop the last one, and replace it with "neither"?
27:10 KI AVI VE IMI AZAVUNI VA YHVH YA'ASPHENI
כִּי אָבִי וְאִמִּי עֲזָבוּנִי וַיהוָה יַאַסְפֵנִי
KJ: When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
BN: For though my father and my mother abandon me, YHVH will take me up.
Isn't that a rather horrifying verse. From both points of view. First, that a mother and father would abandon a child (yes, it happens, but it is very rare); second, that it appears to take such an extreme circumstance for a believer like David to turn to his god (the universal mummy-and-daddy!).
However, just like the Gol-Yat, there seems to be an underlying tale here, discernible in the word-games. Because YA'ASPHENI is not the obvious verb to use here, but it hints at Yoseph, whose mother cannot be blamed for abandoning him - she died giving birth to his brother Ben-Oni - and whose father cannot be accused of abandoning him either - his grief when he heard that wild animals had torn his son apart in the corn-field was exemplary (Genesis 37:33 ff). But Yoseph will become, effectively, the corn-god when he goes down to Mitsrayim. And his name there, his official title: TSAPHNAT PANEYACH - both of our keywords in this part of the Psalm. Can't be pure coincidence.
27:11 HORENI YHVH DARKECHA U NECHENI BE ORACH MIYSHUR LEMA'AN SHORERAI
KJ: Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
BN: Teach me your way, YHVH, and lead me on a truthful path, because of those who lie in wait for me.
HORENI: Picking up the word OR in verse 1. The light of the sun which illuminates; and from the same root TORAH, the Law, and MOREH, the teacher who expounds it.
27:11 HORENI YHVH DARKECHA U NECHENI BE ORACH MIYSHUR LEMA'AN SHORERAI
הוֹרֵנִי יְהוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ וּנְחֵנִי בְּאֹרַח מִישׁוֹר לְמַעַן שׁוֹרְרָי
KJ: Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
BN: Teach me your way, YHVH, and lead me on a truthful path, because of those who lie in wait for me.
HORENI: Picking up the word OR in verse 1. The light of the sun which illuminates; and from the same root TORAH, the Law, and MOREH, the teacher who expounds it.
MIYSHUR... SHORERAI: Two different roots, and two different meanings, but musically they echo and parallel. Both include the letters Sheen-Vav-Reysh consecutively, but one adds a Mem-Yud before them, the other doubles the Reysh and adds a Yud afterwards. My translation of MIYSHUR as "truthful" is not as precise as it should be, though it is not inaccurate; it does, however, allow the SHORERAI to become "those who lie in wait for me", which is likewise not entirely accurate, but close enough, but more importantly creates a rather clever pun, in English, and thereby gets some at least of the word-play of the original.
27:12 AL TITNENI BE NEPHESH TSARAI KI KAMU VI EDEI SHEKER VIYPHE'ACH CHAMAS
אַל תִּתְּנֵנִי בְּנֶפֶשׁ צָרָי כִּי קָמוּ בִי עֵדֵי שֶׁקֶר וִיפֵחַ חָמָס
KJ: Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
BN: Do not hand me over to the whims of my foes, for false witnesses have risen up against me, and stirrers-up of violence.
Where the imagery of verse 2 inferred the corn-god, and enemies in Nature - winds, storm-rains, midges, locusts - the imagery now is entirely human. So the language of the "angels" becomes the language of the congregation: classic methodology throughout Jewish liturgy.
27:13 LUL'E HE'EMANTI LIR'OT BE TUV YHVH BE ERETS CHAYIM
לוּלֵא הֶאֱמַנְתִּי לִרְאוֹת בְּטוּב יְהוָה בְּאֶרֶץ חַיִּים
KJ: I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
BN: Except that I believed that I was witnessing the goodness of YHVH in the land of the living!
LULEI: Not a commonly used expression, we can find it as Genesis 31:42 and 43:10, Deuteronomy 32:27 and Judges 14:18. "If I had not", or "unless", or "except"; there is no precise equivalent as far as I am aware in English. I have gone for "except that" here, because "If I had not" includes a negative, and there is definitely nothing negative in the original; au contraire, it is an expression of absolute positivity.
The Lord of the Underworld speaking of the Land of the Living! So SHA'ALTI becomes, albeit unstated except by inference, KIBALTI: "I requested" becomes "I received". And the moral of the tale is: it will happen, if you are patient. Which the next verse states explicitly. And then repeats, in case you missed it!
27:14 KAVEH EL YHVH CHAZAK VE YA'AMETS LIBECHA VE KAVEH EL YHVH
קַוֵּה אֶל יְהוָה חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל יְהוָה
KJ: Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
BN: Wait for YHVH. Be strong. And let your heart take courage. Wait for YHVH. {P}
In verse 1 we had both OR and IYR'A, "light" and "fear", and placed in opposition to each other. In the verses that followed, the light increasingly dominated, as sun, and as teaching. Now, with "courage", the fear is dismissed altogether.
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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