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
32:1 LE DAVID MASKIL ASHREY NESU'I PESH'A KE SU'I CHATA'AH
לְדָוִד מַשְׂכִּיל אַשְׁרֵי נְשׂוּי פֶּשַׁע כְּסוּי חֲטָאָה
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David, Maschil.) Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
BN: For David, a song of Enlightenment. Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.
The Yehudit this time is the one incorporates the first verse into the title. And it cannot be anything but the first verse, because the text of the second verse echoes and parallels it.
MASKIL: many transliterations render it as MASCHIL, but that Kaf (כִּ) definitely has a dagesh. See verse 8. I wrote in an earlier Psalm about the difference between MOREH and MELAMED, "teaching" versus "education", "putting it in" as opposed to "drawing it out". HASKALAH is the outcome of the latter, usually translated as "enlightenment", which is clever in English, because it gets both meanings of the "light", the one that illuminates MOREH as well as the one that is illuminated by HASKALAH (see my previous note to understand the Yehudit behind that). The HASKALAH movement was the Jewish equivalent of the European Enlightenment of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, though actually the Jewish one, like the Arab-Moslem, had begun many centuries earlier.
NESU'I...KE SU'I: the rhyme is not easy to convey in translation.
32:2 ASHREY ADAM LO YACHASHOV YHVH LO AVON VE EYN BE RUCHO REMIYAH
אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם לֹא יַחְשֹׁב יְהוָה לוֹ עָוֹן וְאֵין בְּרוּחוֹ רְמִיָּה
KJ: Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
BN: Happy is the man who YHVH does not regard as iniquitous, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
ASHREY: I regret having to mark the KJ "incorrect" so often, but it so often is. "Blessed" is BARUCH, not ASHREY; very precise and specific terms, used throughout these Psalms, and elsewhere in the Tanach, and those nuances of meaning cannot simply be overlooked.
YACHASHOV: The root is CHASHAV, which means "to think", but here in its other meaning, which is "to account" - literally, accountancy, the drawing up of lists: "happy is the man who hasn't been put on the list of those regarded as iniquitous"
REMIYAH: Elsewhere translated as "deceit" rather than "guile", though it is not easy to tell those two apart.
ASHREY: I regret having to mark the KJ "incorrect" so often, but it so often is. "Blessed" is BARUCH, not ASHREY; very precise and specific terms, used throughout these Psalms, and elsewhere in the Tanach, and those nuances of meaning cannot simply be overlooked.
YACHASHOV: The root is CHASHAV, which means "to think", but here in its other meaning, which is "to account" - literally, accountancy, the drawing up of lists: "happy is the man who hasn't been put on the list of those regarded as iniquitous"
REMIYAH: Elsewhere translated as "deceit" rather than "guile", though it is not easy to tell those two apart.
32:3 KI HECHERASHTI BALU ATSAMAI BE SHA'AGATI KOL HA YOM
כִּי הֶחֱרַשְׁתִּי בָּלוּ עֲצָמָי בְּשַׁאֲגָתִי כָּל הַיּוֹם
KJ: When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
BN: When I stayed silent, my bones got worn away by groaning all day long.
HECHERASHTI: Most famous from Esther 7:4.
SHA'AGATI: This is not "groaning", this is "roaring", as lions do in Job 4:10 and Isaiah 5:29 and many other places. But the two halves of the verse do not make sense, do they? He stayed silent, but his bones roared? I think the answer lies in Psalm 38, at verse 9:
נְפוּג֣וֹתִי וְנִדְכֵּ֣יתִי עַד מְאֹ֑ד שָׁ֝אַ֗גְתִּי מִֽנַּהֲמַ֥ת לִבִּֽיNEPHUGOTI VE NIDKEYTI AD ME'OD SHA'AGTI MI NACHAMAT LIBII am all benumbed and crushed; I roar because of the turmoil in my mind.
So we can say that his bones are doing the groaning, but not his mind, let alone his mouth. But is he accepting his condition, because this is what the deity has ordained for him, and he will not refuse to "justify the judgement"? It does not appear so. If anything, he appears to be criticising the deity: given that I am not counted among the unrighteous, why am I being punished with physical depletion? In which case, the Psalm is itself the breaking of the silence. Just like Esther.
32:4 KI YOMAM VE LAILAH TICHBAD ALAI YADECHA NEHPACH LE SHADI BE CHARVONEY KAYITS (SELAH)
כִּי יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה תִּכְבַּד עָלַי יָדֶךָ נֶהְפַּךְ לְשַׁדִּי בְּחַרְבֹנֵי קַיִץ סֶלָה
KJ: For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
BN: For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; {N} my sap was turned as in the droughts of summer. (Selah)
He is, indeed, most definitely complaining, no longer silent, no longer passively complicitous in his own victimhood.
He is, indeed, most definitely complaining, no longer silent, no longer passively complicitous in his own victimhood.
LESHADI: Impossible to see this in the Yehudit and not mis-read it as Av-Ram's deity, EL SHADAI. And it is, though it also is not. Explain! LASHAD is the root for "to suck", a SHAD is a woman's breast, and EL SHADAI (see the link) was originally the multi-breasted goddess known in the Greco-Roman world as Diana of Ephesus (see my notes on DINAH for an alternate picture of her).
CHARVONEY: Taking us back to the previous Psalm, where the corn did manage to get through the hot, dry summer with its sap intact, and reach the harvest. The root is CHARAV, whence the LAHAT HA CHEREV, the "flaming sword" or "wheel of fire" that guards the mother-goddess' sacred grove in Genesis 3; whence also Mount Chorev, the holy mountain in the midst of a desert that can get up into the 120s Fahrenheit at the height of summer.
So perhaps the groaning in his bones is the sound of the corn-stalks, drying out.
32:5 CHATA'TI ODIY'ACHA VA AVONI LO CHISIYTI AMARTI ODEH ALEY PHESHA'AI LA YHVH VE ATAH NASA'TA AVON CHATA'TI (SELAH)
חַטָּאתִי אוֹדִיעֲךָ וַעֲוֹנִי לֹא כִסִּיתִי אָמַרְתִּי אוֹדֶה עֲלֵי פְשָׁעַי לַיהוָה וְאַתָּה נָשָׂאתָ עֲוֹן חַטָּאתִי סֶלָה
BN: I acknowledged my sin to you, and I have not hidden my iniquity; {N} I said, I will make confession to YHVH concerning my transgressions. {N} And you, you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Selah)
Two [N] separations in a single verse need some explaining. Alas, I am unable to, except to speculate that it is probably, like the word SELAH, musical notation, a note to the choir that there is about to be an orchestral solo.
ODIY'ACHA: Confirming that this is indeed a Psalm of Complaint. And perhaps that is the real meaning of MASKIL?
32:6 AL ZOT YITPALEL KOL CHASID ELEYCHA LE ET METS'O RAK LE SHETEPH MAYIM RABIM ELAV LO YAGIY'U
עַל זֹאת יִתְפַּלֵּל כָּל חָסִיד אֵלֶיךָ לְעֵת מְצֹא רַק לְשֵׁטֶף מַיִם רַבִּים אֵלָיו לֹא יַגִּיעוּ
KJ: For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
BN: For that let every one who is pious pray to you at a time when you may be found. {N} Surely, when the great waters overflow, they will not reach him.
CHASID: See my note on the difference (if there is any!) between a Chasid and a Notser in the previous Psalm.
LE ET METS'O: see my note to OTOTAI in the previous Psalm.
LO YAGIY'U: Meaning what exactly? The flood is the opposite of the drought: too much water, not enough water: both will destroy the crop and render the harvest pointless. But is it water, as in rain and river and spring, or are these the elemental waters, the ones over which the primaeval hen sat (Genesis 1:2) in order to hatch out Creation (Genesis 1:6 makes the waters, the next verses lead to 1:11, where the crops emerge)?
32:7 ATAH SETER LI MI TSAR TITSRENI RANEY PHALET TESOVEVENI (SELAH)
CHASID: See my note on the difference (if there is any!) between a Chasid and a Notser in the previous Psalm.
LE ET METS'O: see my note to OTOTAI in the previous Psalm.
LO YAGIY'U: Meaning what exactly? The flood is the opposite of the drought: too much water, not enough water: both will destroy the crop and render the harvest pointless. But is it water, as in rain and river and spring, or are these the elemental waters, the ones over which the primaeval hen sat (Genesis 1:2) in order to hatch out Creation (Genesis 1:6 makes the waters, the next verses lead to 1:11, where the crops emerge)?
32:7 ATAH SETER LI MI TSAR TITSRENI RANEY PHALET TESOVEVENI (SELAH)
אַתָּה סֵתֶר לִי מִצַּר תִּצְּרֵנִי רָנֵּי פַלֵּט תְּסוֹבְבֵנִי סֶלָה
BN: You are my hiding-place. You will protect me from troubles. {N} You will surround me with songs of deliverance. (Selah)
SETER: See multiple previous notes on this word, which is the source of HISTIR PANAV, the hiding of the face of the deity.
Count the Selah breaks in this Psalm, and then add the Nun breaks; is this happening because the music is moving through a set form, the way a sonata might today? Does the music follow transitions in the intellectual content, or the point in the liturgical schedule ("before the opening of the Ark; pause, read the law; resume when the scrolls are being returned", might be a modern equivalent). I am simply surmising.
RANEY...: Need to check whether these come before or after the Nun break. The KJ makes it appear to come before, but the sense of the text wants it to come after. Answer lies in the Mechon-Mamre version, for which click here.
32:8 ASKILCHA VE ORECHA BE DERECH ZU TELECH IY'ATSAH ALEYCHA EYNI
RANEY...: Need to check whether these come before or after the Nun break. The KJ makes it appear to come before, but the sense of the text wants it to come after. Answer lies in the Mechon-Mamre version, for which click here.
32:8 ASKILCHA VE ORECHA BE DERECH ZU TELECH IY'ATSAH ALEYCHA EYNI
אַשְׂכִּילְךָ וְאוֹרְךָ בְּדֶרֶךְ זוּ תֵלֵךְ אִיעֲצָה עָלֶיךָ עֵינִי
BN: I will educate you, and I will instruct you, in this way that you shall go. I will tutor and counsel you, and keep my eye on you.
ASKILCHA: The key word from the title, and it is correct to call this a Psalm of Enlightenment, and not despite the complaint, but precisely because of it. Verses 1-7 established the problem; verses 8ff will provide the solution. And on this occasion both classroom-modes are in place, side-by-side - recognition that even the most committed "facilitator of self-learning" will sometimes have to stand in front of the whiteboard, and hand out the notes.
32:9 AL TIHEYU KE SUS KE PHERED EYN HAVIYN BE METEG VA RESEN EDYO LIVLOM BAL KEROV ELEYCHA
ASKILCHA: The key word from the title, and it is correct to call this a Psalm of Enlightenment, and not despite the complaint, but precisely because of it. Verses 1-7 established the problem; verses 8ff will provide the solution. And on this occasion both classroom-modes are in place, side-by-side - recognition that even the most committed "facilitator of self-learning" will sometimes have to stand in front of the whiteboard, and hand out the notes.
32:9 AL TIHEYU KE SUS KE PHERED EYN HAVIYN BE METEG VA RESEN EDYO LIVLOM BAL KEROV ELEYCHA
אַל תִּהְיוּ כְּסוּס כְּפֶרֶד אֵין הָבִין בְּמֶתֶג וָרֶסֶן עֶדְיוֹ לִבְלוֹם בַּל קְרֹב אֵלֶיךָ
BN: Do not be like the horse, or the mule, which have no understanding,{N} whose mouths have to be held with a bit and a bridle, so that they do not come too close to you.
Creatures which are also, and therefore, and by default, silent (see verse 3). Galileo, after being shown the instruments of torture, or the writings of Copernicus, once they have been confiscated and hidden in the vaults of the Vatican, just as much as the uneducated rabble on the football terrace.
Creatures which are also, and therefore, and by default, silent (see verse 3). Galileo, after being shown the instruments of torture, or the writings of Copernicus, once they have been confiscated and hidden in the vaults of the Vatican, just as much as the uneducated rabble on the football terrace.
32:10 RABIM MACH'OVIM LA RASH'A VE HA BOTE'ACH BA YHVH CHESED YESOVEVENU
רַבִּים מַכְאוֹבִים לָרָשָׁע וְהַבּוֹטֵחַ בַּיהוָה חֶסֶד יְסוֹבְבֶנּוּ
KJ: Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
BN: Much sorrow shall befall the wicked. But he who places his trust in YHVH will be compassed about with mercy.
YESOVEVENU: This business of "compassing about", which we already saw at verse 7, is far more fundamental to the theology than is probably realised. The stalk of corn thrusting its way into the sky from the womb of earth, warmed to fertility by YHVH, is a phallic image, and YHVH is always phallic - his sacred number is 7, which is written in Yehudit as Zayin, which is also the male organ. But it is a womb of earth, protectively uterine, and suckled by the multiple breasts of the mother-goddess. "Compassed about" is also uterine, and the CHESED goes with the RACHUM in the attributes of mercy: RACHUM from RECHEM, the womb.
32:11 SIMCHU VA YHVH VE GIYLU TSADIYKIM VE HARNIYNU KOL YISHREY LEV
שִׂמְחוּ בַיהוָה וְגִילוּ צַדִּיקִים וְהַרְנִינוּ כָּל יִשְׁרֵי לֵב
BN: Take pleasure from YHVH. And rejoice, you who are righteous. And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. {P}
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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