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
Here, as in
Psalms 13, 62, 148 and 150, the same word or words are repeated many times for the purpose of exploring ideas in differing contexts;
a technique which has no formal name in English; see my notes on this at Psalm 13.
29:1 MIZMOR LE DAVID HAVU LA YHVH BENEY ELIM HAVU LA YHVH KAVOD VA OZ
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד הָבוּ לַיהוָה בְּנֵי אֵלִים הָבוּ לַיהוָה כָּבוֹד וָעֹז
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David.) Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
BN (BibleNet translation): A Psalm for David. Come together for YHVH, you Beney Eylim; come together for YHVH, for glory and for strength.
Picks up the theme of OZ from the last Psalm. This is the great Shabbat Psalm, a hymn to the completion of Creation - which of course fits the plotology to perfection.
Descriptor and first verse clearly amalgamated here, the second verse echoing the form and lexicon of the first, establishing a pattern of echoes throughout this Psalm.
HAVU: From the root YAHAV, which Gesenius describes as "rare and defective", though "of frequent use in Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic". Rare may be overstating the matter, as it occurs in Genesis 29:21 and 38:16, Deuteronomy 1:13, Proverbs 30:15, Ruth 3:15, Job 6:22, 2 Samuel 11:15, ... and still others, albeit with variant meanings from "give" to "put". Genesis 11 may be the best place to look for the meaning in our verse, with verses 3, 4 and 7 all calling for people to come together in a common activity... probably the most famous usage is in the dancing song HAVAH NAGILAH, "let's all get up and dance with joy".
BENEY EYLIM: I have not translated this because I do not know what it means. The Beney Eylim could be those who worship the polytheistic gods, and the Psalmist is calling them to transfer their faith to YHVH. But verse 3 uses the name EL separately from YHVH, so this could be an invocation to worshipping both deities. However, as per my explanation at the link, the word EL came to mean ("came to mean" being part of the problem) "mighty", precisely because it was an attribute of the deity (both EL and YHVH at different times), as indeed are KAVOD and OZ in the second half of the verse. But those two words are not provided with any sort of verb, preposition or conjunction, so we cannot say for certain if they apply to the Beney Elim, or to YHVH or to YHVH and to EL; my translation inhabits the middle ground, capable of appying either way, though the next verse definitely leans towards the latter.
29:2 HAVU LA YHVH KEVOD SHEMO HISHTACHAVU LA YHVH BE HADRAT KODESH
הָבוּ לַיהוָה כְּבוֹד שְׁמוֹ הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה בְּהַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ
BN: Come together for YHVH in the glory of his name. Prostrate yourselves before YHVH in the beauty of holiness.
HISHTACHAVU: "Worship" is too vague. A person can worship in any physical position, including standing upright, sitting with his face propped on his left arm, as in Tachanun, or kneeling, or indeed while dancing the Havah Nagilah. But this is very precise. The root is SHETACH, which is the surface of the floor, and the form is HIT'PA'EL - get down on your face, completely prostrate. The manner of Moslem prayer, though modern Jews say it (eg in Mah Tovu), but never actually do it.
BE HADRAT KODESH: Which could just as accurately be translated the other way around, as "the holiness of beauty".
29:3 KOL YHVH AL HA MAYIM EL HA KAVOD HIR'IM YHVH AL MAYIM RABIM
29:3 KOL YHVH AL HA MAYIM EL HA KAVOD HIR'IM YHVH AL MAYIM RABIM
קוֹל יְהוָה עַל הַמָּיִם אֵל הַכָּבוֹד הִרְעִים יְהוָה עַל מַיִם רַבִּים
BN: YHVH's voice is the voice of the elements; {N} the glory of El, thundering; many, many gods, in many, many elements.
KOL: The voice goes with the DAVAR, which is the Word, the Creation of Life in its essential form. The god is simply, as Dylan Thomas put it, "the force that through the green fuse drives the flower", the kinetic powers that exist in the Cosmos. When the "voice" of the god "speaks" the "Word" "flower", say, it is a way of describing a rose coming into bloom, a geranium putting out a shoot, though it requires the essence (YHVH = "to be") to move forward ("EL") into physical form (CHAI, as in Chavah/Eve) for that to become manifest.
MAYIM: Yes, waters; but MAYIM is used in the Creation legend for more than just the stuff in wells and lakes and oceans; the elements themselves, those that occupy the firmament of the heavens, which is to say the Earth's atmosphere.
And we shall see, as we continue through this Psalm, that this is its message: YHVH is Life in its essence; whatever happens in the world is the consequence of YHVH, "given" or "put" there (HAVAH) by him. E=Elohim=MC².
EL: But continuing my puzzlement over the Beney Eylim, and my note on KOL, EL was originally a descriptive preposition, conveying the idea of forward motion, the dynamic or kinetic drive which is the consequence of the Big Bang. So is the EL here the name of the Kena'ani father-god, whence the Beney Eylim were his followers, or is the word being used generically - lower case god rather than upper case God in a Christian context - as yet one more descriptor of YHVH: EL HA KAVOD?
KOL: The voice goes with the DAVAR, which is the Word, the Creation of Life in its essential form. The god is simply, as Dylan Thomas put it, "the force that through the green fuse drives the flower", the kinetic powers that exist in the Cosmos. When the "voice" of the god "speaks" the "Word" "flower", say, it is a way of describing a rose coming into bloom, a geranium putting out a shoot, though it requires the essence (YHVH = "to be") to move forward ("EL") into physical form (CHAI, as in Chavah/Eve) for that to become manifest.
MAYIM: Yes, waters; but MAYIM is used in the Creation legend for more than just the stuff in wells and lakes and oceans; the elements themselves, those that occupy the firmament of the heavens, which is to say the Earth's atmosphere.
And we shall see, as we continue through this Psalm, that this is its message: YHVH is Life in its essence; whatever happens in the world is the consequence of YHVH, "given" or "put" there (HAVAH) by him. E=Elohim=MC².
EL: But continuing my puzzlement over the Beney Eylim, and my note on KOL, EL was originally a descriptive preposition, conveying the idea of forward motion, the dynamic or kinetic drive which is the consequence of the Big Bang. So is the EL here the name of the Kena'ani father-god, whence the Beney Eylim were his followers, or is the word being used generically - lower case god rather than upper case God in a Christian context - as yet one more descriptor of YHVH: EL HA KAVOD?
KAVOD: Which then leaves us wondering whether each of the three usages of the word KAVOD have not in fact been differently intended: perhaps, first, come and worship because you will gain glory from doing so; then, second, the doing so will glorify YHVH; and now, thirdly, all glory stems from YHVH anyway, so the circle is complete.
29:4 KOL YHVH BA KO'ACH KOL YHVH BE HADAR
29:4 KOL YHVH BA KO'ACH KOL YHVH BE HADAR
קוֹל יְהוָה בַּכֹּחַ קוֹל יְהוָה בֶּהָדָר
KJ: The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
BN: YHVH's voice is powerful; YHVH's voice is beautiful.
HADAR: Echoing HADRAT in verse 2, so we need to keep the same English translation; BE HADAR also echoes BA KO'ACH within the line, so we need to keep the form, and continue it into the start of the next verse as well, and several that follow, for the same reason.
29:5 KOL YHVH SHOVER ARAZIM VA YESHABER YHVH ET ARZEH HA LEVANON
HADAR: Echoing HADRAT in verse 2, so we need to keep the same English translation; BE HADAR also echoes BA KO'ACH within the line, so we need to keep the form, and continue it into the start of the next verse as well, and several that follow, for the same reason.
29:5 KOL YHVH SHOVER ARAZIM VA YESHABER YHVH ET ARZEH HA LEVANON
קוֹל יְהוָה שֹׁבֵר אֲרָזִים וַיְשַׁבֵּר יְהוָה אֶת אַרְזֵי הַלְּבָנוֹן
KJ: The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
BN: YHVH's voice cuts down the cedars; then YHVH cuts the cedars of Lebanon into pieces.
SHOVER...YESHABER: The same root, but in different Binyanim; the first is Po'al, standard active, the second Pi'el, intensive (a quick and simple guide to the Binyanim here; a fuller explanation here).
ARZEH HA LEVANON: Sent by King Hu-Ram of Tsur to Shelomoh for the building of the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im (1 Kings 5:16 ff); yet another confirmation that these Psalms are "for" David, or "about" David, even "to" David, but not "by" him (though it is true that, in 2 Samuel 5:11, he first sent cedars to David so that he could build a palace.
29:6 VA YARKIDEM KEMO EGEL LEVANON VE SIRYON KEMO VEN RE'EMIM
SHOVER...YESHABER: The same root, but in different Binyanim; the first is Po'al, standard active, the second Pi'el, intensive (a quick and simple guide to the Binyanim here; a fuller explanation here).
ARZEH HA LEVANON: Sent by King Hu-Ram of Tsur to Shelomoh for the building of the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im (1 Kings 5:16 ff); yet another confirmation that these Psalms are "for" David, or "about" David, even "to" David, but not "by" him (though it is true that, in 2 Samuel 5:11, he first sent cedars to David so that he could build a palace.
29:6 VA YARKIDEM KEMO EGEL LEVANON VE SIRYON KEMO VEN RE'EMIM
וַיַּרְקִידֵם כְּמוֹ עֵגֶל לְבָנוֹן וְשִׂרְיֹן כְּמוֹ בֶן רְאֵמִים
KJ: He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
BN: He gets them skipping like a calf, Levanon and Siryon like young wild-oxen.
SIRYON: One of the many names for Mount Chermon; we can therefore assume that Mount Levanon is also intended, rather than the country now known by that name.
29:7 KOL YHVH CHOTSEV LAHAVOT ESH
SIRYON: One of the many names for Mount Chermon; we can therefore assume that Mount Levanon is also intended, rather than the country now known by that name.
29:7 KOL YHVH CHOTSEV LAHAVOT ESH
קוֹל יְהוָה חֹצֵב לַהֲבוֹת אֵשׁ
KJ: The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
BN: YHVH's voice carves out flames of fire.
LAHAVOT ESH: I am hearing puns, but I think I may be reading them in. "Flames of fire" suggests the swastika, the "flaming sword" of Genesis 3:24; but that was LAHAT where this is LAHAV. But then, perhaps because the traditional singing of this Psalm rhythms it this way, LAHAVOT tends towards LA HAVOT, which then hints again at HAVAH. No, on this occasion I am sure I am reading into the lines.
29:8 KOL YHVH YACHIL MIDBAR YACHIL YHVH MIDBAR KADESH
29:8 KOL YHVH YACHIL MIDBAR YACHIL YHVH MIDBAR KADESH
קוֹל יְהוָה יָחִיל מִדְבָּר יָחִיל יְהוָה מִדְבַּר קָדֵשׁ
BN: YHVH's voice makes the wilderness dance; YHVH makes the wilderness of Kadesh dance.
YACHIL: From CHUL, which could whirl or shake, twist or go-go, jive or stomp, waltz or pogo, but probably, from that root, circle-dances, just as we do for HAVAH NAGILAH.
MIDBAR KADESH: There is a geographical location named "the wilderness of Kadesh", central to the story of the Exodus from Egypt. But there is also HADRAT KODESH in verse 2, which I said at the time could be translated in either direction. So, too, here: does he make the holy wilderness dance, or the wilderness holy by dancing? And ditto for the humans who have been called to do the same. So my triplet at verse 4 is re-affirmed: the Psalm is playing with these ideas, in multiple forms, throughout.
29:9 KOL YHVH YECHOLEL AYALOT VA YECHESOPH YE'AROT U VE HEYCHALO KULO OMER KAVOD
YACHIL: From CHUL, which could whirl or shake, twist or go-go, jive or stomp, waltz or pogo, but probably, from that root, circle-dances, just as we do for HAVAH NAGILAH.
MIDBAR KADESH: There is a geographical location named "the wilderness of Kadesh", central to the story of the Exodus from Egypt. But there is also HADRAT KODESH in verse 2, which I said at the time could be translated in either direction. So, too, here: does he make the holy wilderness dance, or the wilderness holy by dancing? And ditto for the humans who have been called to do the same. So my triplet at verse 4 is re-affirmed: the Psalm is playing with these ideas, in multiple forms, throughout.
29:9 KOL YHVH YECHOLEL AYALOT VA YECHESOPH YE'AROT U VE HEYCHALO KULO OMER KAVOD
קוֹל יְהוָה יְחוֹלֵל אַיָּלוֹת וַיֶּחֱשֹׂף יְעָרוֹת וּבְהֵיכָלוֹ כֻּלּוֹ אֹמֵר כָּבוֹד
BN: YHVH's voice causes the hinds to calve, and strips the forests bare; {N} and in his temple everyone cries out "Glory".
HEYCHALO: As per my second note to verse 5; any reference to the Temple must be post-Davidic, unless we are regarding this temple as the Cosmos itself, and the imagery as pure metaphor.
29:10 YHVH LA MABUL YASHAV VA YESHEV YHVH MELECH LE OLAM
HEYCHALO: As per my second note to verse 5; any reference to the Temple must be post-Davidic, unless we are regarding this temple as the Cosmos itself, and the imagery as pure metaphor.
29:10 YHVH LA MABUL YASHAV VA YESHEV YHVH MELECH LE OLAM
יְהוָה לַמַּבּוּל יָשָׁב וַיֵּשֶׁב יְהוָה מֶלֶךְ לְעוֹלָם
KJ: The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
BN: YHVH sat enthroned upon the flood, just as YHVH sits enthroned as our king for ever.
LA MABUL: The bad things that happen - floods, earthquakes, eruptions, disease, famine, death itself - are also YHVH. From this, though it isn't obvious at what moment in time it first happened, the Jewish concept of Tsiduk haDin, "justifying the judgement" evolves (though, at Jewish funerals, it is Psalm 49 rather than this one that is recited for that purpose after Tsiduk).
29:11 YHVH OZ LE AMO YITEN YHVH YEVARECH ET AMO VA SHALOM
יְהוָה עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן יְהוָה יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם
KJ: The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
BN: YHVH will strengthen his people; YHVH will bless his people with wholeness. {P}
SHALOM: Always gets translated in the limited sense of peace, but needs to be translated in its fullest sense here, as it does with the name Shelomoh and the city Yeru-Shala'im: SHALEM means "wholeness", and it may need peace to achieve that, but it needs a good deal more besides, and all those besideses are implicit here.
SHALOM: Always gets translated in the limited sense of peace, but needs to be translated in its fullest sense here, as it does with the name Shelomoh and the city Yeru-Shala'im: SHALEM means "wholeness", and it may need peace to achieve that, but it needs a good deal more besides, and all those besideses are implicit here.
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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