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
23 verses in this, but with a title and prologue, so that really there are only 22 verses: which suggests that it should be an alphabetical acrostic, and it starts as one...
AVARACHAH
and it continues as one:
BA YHVH
GADELU
DARASHTI
HIBIYTU
however there is no Vav ...
... but it resumes with
ZEH ANI
CHONEH
TA'AMU
YER'U
KEPHIYRIM
LECHU
MI HA ISH
NETSOR
SUR
EYNEY
PENEY
TSA'AKU
KAROV
RABOT
SHOMER
TEMOTET
all of which is absolutely in the order of the Yehudit alphabet...
... but then it ends with a second Pey - PODEH.
Is this a revised version, the second Pey making up for a missing verse? But why not then add a Vav (the conjunction "and") to PODEH, and place it at verse 7, where it belongs, and move all the others down one? Was that not possible because the PODEH verse is a conclusion to the theme, and so it has to be at the end? But why a second Pey anyway, and not any other letter? Pey can have a quite different significance, the denoting of a musical or textual break, as in the Pey break of the Torah scrolls - but this is not that. We simply do not know the answers to any of these questions.
34:1 LE DAVID BA SHANOTO ET TA'MO LIPHNEY AVI-MELECH VA YEGARASHEHU VA YELACH
לְדָוִד בְּשַׁנּוֹתוֹ אֶת טַעְמוֹ לִפְנֵי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וַיְגָרֲשֵׁהוּ וַיֵּלַךְ
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.) I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
BN (BibleNet translation): For David; when he changed his demeanour before Avi-Melech, who drove him away, and he departed.
Just to make matters more complex, KJ incorporates the first verse into the title-and-prologue, making its verse-numbering one out from the Yehudit.
Why would you write a Psalm about this anyway, acrostically or otherwise? There has to be some aspect of the mythology which this is really about. So we need to go back to the story and explore it there. But which story? There isn't one!
Why would you write a Psalm about this anyway, acrostically or otherwise? There has to be some aspect of the mythology which this is really about. So we need to go back to the story and explore it there. But which story? There isn't one!
As per the link, there are several men named Avi-Melech in the Tanach, all but one of them kings of the Pelishtim, and the other very much later in David's story, and very minorly relevant, and nothing in his one mention to suggest this Psalm.
It may of course have been a title, rather than a name: "My father the king" as a variant on "His Majesty", in which case this could be any one of several tales, about Sha'ul, about several of the monarchs with whom David came into contact - but the text of the Psalm never touches on the detail of the tale anyway, so we cannot even deduce from there.
And it may have been an epithet for one of the deities too, even YHVH himself.
Or maybe there was some mis-remembering when this got written down, and Avi-Melech should be Achi-Melech, who appears in 1 Samuel 21, the tale of David's flight from Sha'ul to the shrine at Nov. But Achi-Melech did not drive him away, and he may have told a couple of white lies, but David did not really change his demeanour before him, or behave particularly strangely. And the only reason for thinking it may be this after all is because the other Avi-Melech, the one I mentioned above but waited till now to explain, was the son of Avi-Atar, one of David's two High Priests (1 Chronicles 18:16); and Avi-Atar's father was... Achi-Melech of Nov... and in the Jewish world people name their sons for dead grandfathers...
And if it isn't the Nov tale, the other possibility that scholars have considered is in fact in the same chapter, after he has fled from Nov and gone, of all unlikely places, to Gat of the Pelishtim - unlikely because just a couple of chapters earlier he had seized two hundred of the Pelishtim and force-circumcised them, and rightly feared vengeance now. So, in 1 Samuel 21:13/14, he pretends to be mad, which is definitely a change of behaviour, and as we have seen Avi-Melech may have been a title among the kings of the Pelishtim... but alas the name of this king was Achish.
YEGARESHEHU: Genesis 3:24 is the best place to look this up.
YELACH: From the same root that gives the word "MELECH", as in Avi-Melech: the Pi'el form of "to go" - so really any one who has a leadership role could be called a MELECH.
34:2 AVARACHAH ET YHVH BE CHOL ET TAMID TEHILATO BE PHI
KJ (34:1): I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
BN: I will bless YHVH at all the appointed times; praise for him shall always be in my mouth.
BE CHOL ET: As per my previous note on OTOTAI, an ET is an "appointed time", a fast, a feast, a festival, and not just any hour of the clock. And so is a TAMID, properly the "Olat Tamid", which was the name of one of the formal offerings in the Temple, for which see Exodus 29:38–42 and Numbers 28:3–8. The distinction here is between the BARUCHOT, the formal blessings, which are made as part of worship, and the TEHILAH, which may also be part of worship, but is stated here as perpetual, in or out of formal ceremony. The former is a rite, the latter an attitude - and the title of this Psalm has advised us that it is all about "attitude".
34:3 BA YHVH TIT'HALEL NAPHSHI YISHME'U ANAVIM VE YISMACHU
KJ (34:2): My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
BN: My soul shall glory in YHVH; the humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
TIT'HALEL: This took me by surprise, so much so that I had to go and check in a grammar. The verb form is the 3rd person singular - feminine. NEPHESH as a feminine? Hmmm! So I looked up RU'ACH as well - yes, feminine. And NESHAMAH? Yes, feminine. All the words for soul, spirit and the breath of life - feminine. Like all those RECHEM (womb) words that yield mercy and compassion - why am I surprised!
34:4 GADELU LA YHVH ITI U NEROMEMAH SHEMO YACHDAV
KJ (34:3): O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
BN: Exalt YHVH with me, and let us declare the greatness of his name together.
Like Hamlet's "To be" for an Englishman, every Jew who has ever been to shul and paid the slightest bit of attention knows this verse. Extracted from the Psalm and combined with others from elsewhere, it is the opening of the hymn that accompanies the taking out of the scrolls on Shabbat - click here.
GEDULAH: As in YITGADAL, the first word of the Kaddish; and so it is this word which I have translated as "exalt", because that is the customary rendering of the Kaddish so why confuse matters.
NEROMEMAH: RUM is the root, whence RAMAH for a high place, and the name Av-Ram too; like Avi-Melech, Av-Ram was probably, originally, an epithet for the deity. It translates into Latin as Yo-Pater, and into Celtic as Ar Thur: "Great Father" on each occasion.
34:5 DARASHTI ET YHVH VE ANANI U MI KOL MEGUROTAI HITSIYLANI
KJ (34:4): I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
BN: I sought YHVH, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
34:6 HIBIYTU ELAV VE NAHARU U PHENEYHEM AL YECHPARU
KJ (34:5): They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
BN: They looked at him, and were radiant; and that glow in their faces shall never be dimmed.
HIBIYTU: Who is the "they" here? His fears? The followers of Avi-Melech? The "whoever" before whom his behaviour has changed?
YECHPARU: I am not sure where Mechon-Mamre gets "abashed" from; and definitely not KJ's "ashamed", which we have had several times before as BOSHESH. Sar Shalom has "confounded". The root, CHAPHAR, is all about digging pits and wells (cf Genesis 21:30, 26:15...), so perhaps, metaporically... we talk about "digging ourselves a hole in the ground" when we are feeling embarrassed. But pits, and holes into the Underworld, in a tale about David, who has just fled there... and especially in the contrast with VE NAHARU, where the radiance is clearly the bright sunlight.
And if this tale is cosmological, but anthropomorphised, as I have suggested repeatedly from the outset, then the only radiant lights that do get dimmer are the stars when the sun comes out, the sun being... Avi-Melech, or in the 1st person plural Avinu Malkeynu, "Our Father, The King".
34:7 ZEH ANI KARA VA YHVH SHAME'A U MI KOL TSAROTAV HOSHIY'O
KJ (34:6): This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
BN: This poor man cried, and YHVH heard, and saved him from all his troubles.
Which poor man? If David is the author...
34:8 CHONEH MAL'ACH YHVH SAVIV LIYRE'AV VA YECHALTSEM
KJ (34:7): The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
BN: The messenger of YHVH descends from the heavens, forms a group of those who fear him, and trains them as pioneers.
And I challenge anyone who knows the language fluently to reject that translation!
34:11 KEPHIYRIM RASHU VE RA'EVU VE DORSHEY YHVH LO YACHSERU CHOL TOV
KJ (34:10): The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
BN: The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but those who seek YHVH do not want for any good thing.
Are young lions a totem clan, a poetic image, a metaphor? In the world of Ha Shomer Ha Tsa'ir we would have had young lions, young wolves, young bears, in much the same way that English schools have "houses". Training for loyalty, both to the institution, and the fellows. Craft guilds work on much the same principal, as do the fraternities and sororities of American universities.
34:12 LECHU VANIM SHIM'U LI YIR'AT YHVH ALAMEDCHEM
KJ (34:11): Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
BN: Come, children, pay attention to me; I will teach you to fear YHVH.
Are you aware that the English word "Abbot" comes from the Yehudit "Av", meaning "father", as in Avi-Melech; the plural is really AVOT, but for some reason the English always make Bs where there are Vs in Yehudit (Abraham, Jacob etc). And Abbots always refer to their monks as "sons" and "brothers" (Fra or Friar from the French "frère"), even though there is no biological connection; Abbesses (why are they not Emesses, from the Yehudit EM = "mother"?) call their nuns "daughters" and "sisters" in the same way.
34:13 MI HA ISH HECHAPHETS CHAYIM OHEV YAMIM LIR'OT TOV
KJ (34:12): What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
BN: Where is the man that who desires life, and loves each day that comes, that he may see the good that occurs in it?
34:14 NETSOR LESHONCHA ME RA U SEPHATEYCHA MI DABER MIRMAH
KJ (34:13): Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
BN: Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.
Is this an echo from, or is it echoed in, Proverbs 13:3? Is there also a link to Rabban Gamliel's blessing in the Amidah, Birkat Ha Minim, the one I have always refused to say?
34:15 SUR ME RA VA ASEH TOV BAKESH SHALOM VE RADPHEHU
KJ (34:14): Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
BN: Set aside evil, and do good; seek wholeness, and pursue it.
As I have insisted throughout these translations, SHALOM means "wholeness", "perfection", "harmony", which obviously includes a state of "peace", but is by no means confined to just that. The intention, whenever the word is used, is much larger.
34:16 EYNEY YHVH EL TSADIYKIM VE AZNAV EL SHAV'ATAM
KJ (34:15): The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
BN: YHVH's eyes are focused on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.
Did we not have virtually the same line in the last Psalm; cf verses14 and 15 and especially 18.
YHVH'S EYES: Love that sound-play, which is fully justified by the need to keep the form of the original. It works best if you pronounce YHVH as Adonai, as religious Jews will do, but "Yahweh's eyes" catches the half-rhyme of the original as well as keeping the form of the verse.
34:17 PENEY YHVH BE OSEY RA LEHACHRIT ME ERETS ZICHRAM
KJ (34:16): The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
BN: YHVH's face is turned away from those who commit evil, to cut off even the memory of them from the Earth.
Is there a word missing in the Yehudit? PENEY YHVH.... needs a verb before... BE OSEY RA; LEHACHRIT is an infinitive.
34:19 KAROV YHVH LE NISHBEREY LEV VE ET DAK'EY RU'ACH YOSHI'A
KJ (34:18): The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
BN: YHVH is there for the broken-hearted, and saves those whose spirits are contrite.
34:20 RABOT RA'OT TSADIK U MI KULAM YATSIYLENU YHVH
KJ (34:19): Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
BN: There are many ways by which the righteous can go bad, but YHVH will deliver them from every one.
RA'OT: Having inserted "righteous" at verse 18 (17 in its version), KJ is now stuck with the construct; and finding the word TSADIK here appears to validate their insertion. But, alas, only by mis-translating RA'OT, which does not mean "troubles", as they know perfectly well because they translated TSAROTAM as "troubles" in that same verse 18 (17), and were correct in doing so. RA'OT are "wicked deeds", and translating them as such confirms the ambiguity.
34:21 SHOMER KOL ATSMOTAV ACHAT ME HENAH LO NISHBARAH
KJ (34:20): He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
BN: He keeps all his bones intact; not one of them is broken.
34:22 TEMOTET RASH'A RA'AH VE SON'EY TSADIK YE'SHAMU
KJ (34:21): Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
BN: The wicked shall kill the wicked - and those who hate the righteous will be held accountable.
YE'SHAMU: I think, on this occasion, this is the Christian theologians needing to mis-translate, because it touches on a theological concept which is fundamentally different in Christianity than it is in Judaism, and translating this correctly would undermine the false claim that the two religions are hyphenable as Judeo-Christianity, which they are not. In Christianity Good and Evil are nouns, and they are in the power of God and the Devil, while human beings can do nothing but obey. In the Jewish world they are adjectives, and they are in the power of Human beings to choose, and human beings have to take responsibility for whatever choices they may make.
34:23 PODEH YHVH NEPHESH AVADAV VE LO YE'SHEMU KOL HA CHOSIM BO
KJ (34:22): The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
BN: YHVH redeems the souls of his worshippers; and none of those who take refuge in him shall be desolate. {P}
CHOSIM: As with TSAROTAM,the KJ translators know perfectly well that CHOSIM means "desolate", because they have translated it as such, and correctly, here; yet they have translated YE'SHAMU incorrectly as "desolate" two verses back. These theological impositions upon translation may best be described as one of the ways in which the righteous can be turned into the wicked (see verse 20), and they will be held responsible for it (see verse 22).
How to make an acrostic of this in English? Yehudit has 22 letters, English 26, so do I extend it by four letters, or take the opportunity to "acknowledge" that J, Q, X and Z are going to be difficult, and just leave them out? That leaves Y as the last letter - how convenient for YHVH! No, I have to leave out F, because that is the missing Vav line. Put back the J then, or the Q? Let's see!
2: Bestowed with glory shall my soul be through YHVH; the humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
34:2 AVARACHAH ET YHVH BE CHOL ET TAMID TEHILATO BE PHI
אֲבָרֲכָה אֶת יְהוָה בְּכָל עֵת תָּמִיד תְּהִלָּתוֹ בְּפִי
KJ (34:1): I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
BN: I will bless YHVH at all the appointed times; praise for him shall always be in my mouth.
BE CHOL ET: As per my previous note on OTOTAI, an ET is an "appointed time", a fast, a feast, a festival, and not just any hour of the clock. And so is a TAMID, properly the "Olat Tamid", which was the name of one of the formal offerings in the Temple, for which see Exodus 29:38–42 and Numbers 28:3–8. The distinction here is between the BARUCHOT, the formal blessings, which are made as part of worship, and the TEHILAH, which may also be part of worship, but is stated here as perpetual, in or out of formal ceremony. The former is a rite, the latter an attitude - and the title of this Psalm has advised us that it is all about "attitude".
BE CHOL ET U VE CHOL SHA'AH BISHLOMECHA can be found in the SIM SHALOM paragraph of the liturgy; it follows immediately after the YEVARECECHA (click here and go to page 223 for more detail on this).
34:3 BA YHVH TIT'HALEL NAPHSHI YISHME'U ANAVIM VE YISMACHU
בַּיהוָה תִּתְהַלֵּל נַפְשִׁי יִשְׁמְעוּ עֲנָוִים וְיִשְׂמָחוּ
KJ (34:2): My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
BN: My soul shall glory in YHVH; the humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
TIT'HALEL: This took me by surprise, so much so that I had to go and check in a grammar. The verb form is the 3rd person singular - feminine. NEPHESH as a feminine? Hmmm! So I looked up RU'ACH as well - yes, feminine. And NESHAMAH? Yes, feminine. All the words for soul, spirit and the breath of life - feminine. Like all those RECHEM (womb) words that yield mercy and compassion - why am I surprised!
34:4 GADELU LA YHVH ITI U NEROMEMAH SHEMO YACHDAV
גַּדְּלוּ לַיהוָה אִתִּי וּנְרוֹמְמָה שְׁמוֹ יַחְדָּו
KJ (34:3): O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
BN: Exalt YHVH with me, and let us declare the greatness of his name together.
Like Hamlet's "To be" for an Englishman, every Jew who has ever been to shul and paid the slightest bit of attention knows this verse. Extracted from the Psalm and combined with others from elsewhere, it is the opening of the hymn that accompanies the taking out of the scrolls on Shabbat - click here.
GEDULAH: As in YITGADAL, the first word of the Kaddish; and so it is this word which I have translated as "exalt", because that is the customary rendering of the Kaddish so why confuse matters.
NEROMEMAH: RUM is the root, whence RAMAH for a high place, and the name Av-Ram too; like Avi-Melech, Av-Ram was probably, originally, an epithet for the deity. It translates into Latin as Yo-Pater, and into Celtic as Ar Thur: "Great Father" on each occasion.
34:5 DARASHTI ET YHVH VE ANANI U MI KOL MEGUROTAI HITSIYLANI
דָּרַשְׁתִּי אֶת יְהוָה וְעָנָנִי וּמִכָּל מְגוּרוֹתַי הִצִּילָנִי
KJ (34:4): I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
BN: I sought YHVH, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
34:6 HIBIYTU ELAV VE NAHARU U PHENEYHEM AL YECHPARU
הִבִּיטוּ אֵלָיו וְנָהָרוּ וּפְנֵיהֶם אַל יֶחְפָּרוּ
KJ (34:5): They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
BN: They looked at him, and were radiant; and that glow in their faces shall never be dimmed.
HIBIYTU: Who is the "they" here? His fears? The followers of Avi-Melech? The "whoever" before whom his behaviour has changed?
YECHPARU: I am not sure where Mechon-Mamre gets "abashed" from; and definitely not KJ's "ashamed", which we have had several times before as BOSHESH. Sar Shalom has "confounded". The root, CHAPHAR, is all about digging pits and wells (cf Genesis 21:30, 26:15...), so perhaps, metaporically... we talk about "digging ourselves a hole in the ground" when we are feeling embarrassed. But pits, and holes into the Underworld, in a tale about David, who has just fled there... and especially in the contrast with VE NAHARU, where the radiance is clearly the bright sunlight.
And if this tale is cosmological, but anthropomorphised, as I have suggested repeatedly from the outset, then the only radiant lights that do get dimmer are the stars when the sun comes out, the sun being... Avi-Melech, or in the 1st person plural Avinu Malkeynu, "Our Father, The King".
34:7 ZEH ANI KARA VA YHVH SHAME'A U MI KOL TSAROTAV HOSHIY'O
זֶה עָנִי קָרָא וַיהוָה שָׁמֵעַ וּמִכָּל צָרוֹתָיו הוֹשִׁיעוֹ
KJ (34:6): This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
BN: This poor man cried, and YHVH heard, and saved him from all his troubles.
Which poor man? If David is the author...
34:8 CHONEH MAL'ACH YHVH SAVIV LIYRE'AV VA YECHALTSEM
חֹנֶה מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה סָבִיב לִירֵאָיו וַיְחַלְּצֵם
KJ (34:7): The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
BN: The messenger of YHVH descends from the heavens, forms a group of those who fear him, and trains them as pioneers.
And I challenge anyone who knows the language fluently to reject that translation!
CHONEH: Does indeed yield the word "camp", which is MACHANEH, but that is in the Pi'el, and this is Kal or Pa'al, the simple active form: and the root means "to bend down" or "to stoop".
And yes, the name CHANAH - Shemu-El's mother, for whom see 1 Samuel 2:1-10 - would be spelled exactly the same, unpointed. The root of her name is CHEN, meaning "grace", and the song that she sings bears a remarkable similarity to the one being sung in the next several verses of this Psalm, so it is entirely possible that the choice of CHONEH as the verb here is not coincidental.
YECHALTSEM: As in this link.
And is really what this verse means? Of course not. But as a former member of Ha Shomer Ha Tsa'ir, I cannot allow this allusion to go by without referencing it.
So what does it really mean? If this is about human David in some historical context, then I haven't a clue, except to say that "angel" is a mistranslation; the MAL'ACHIM were "messengers", and when they came down from the heavens it was in the form of light beaming from the stars, and not demi-humans with fairy-wings who whispered messages in your ears; today's horoscope readings are rather closer to the original.
But if this is about planet Earth wheeling about the Cosmos (or sitting still at its centre, as they probably believed in those days), then perhaps this is simply a way of describing the means of maintaining order in the Heavens.
34:9 TA'AMU U RE'U KI TOV YHVH ASHREY HA GEVER YECHESEH BO
KJ (34:8): O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
BN: O consider and see that the LORD is good; happy is the man that takes refuge in him.
TA'AMU: Taste? Taste what - the milk and honey? 1 Samuel 14:29 does a cover version of that song The Beatles recorded on the "Please Please Me" album, but I really don't think this is the intention of TA'AMU. The verb is used frequently for "taste" (Job 34:3, Jonah 3:7), but look at Proverbs 31:18, and there is absolutely nothing to do with "taste" there. She "sees" that "her business thrives"; or perhaps "perceives", or "considers", but some sort of mental assessment and evaluation. And now go back to the Jonah quote, and look more carefully. You were looking for "taste", and found it close to the end in the Yehudit text. But I'll bet you missed it at the very start, "MI TA'AM HA MELECH". Nothing to do with the king's palate there. A "decree". Something he has thought long and hard about, and now concluded, like the businesswoman in the Proverb. Two entirely different meanings derived from the same root, and there they are, side-by-side in the same verse.
34:10 YER'U ET YHVH KEDOSHAV KI EYN MACHSOR LIYRE'AV
KJ (34:9): O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
BN: Fear YHVH, you his holy ones; for there is no want for those who fear him.
KEDOSHAV: Who are the deity's "holy ones"? His priests, his "sacred-king", his MAL'ACHIM. But not his ordinary people, who may well be his CHASIDIM, even his NOTSTRIM, but not his KEDOSHIM.
טַעֲמוּ וּרְאוּ כִּי טוֹב יְהוָה אַשְׁרֵי הַגֶּבֶר יֶחֱסֶה בּוֹ
KJ (34:8): O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
BN: O consider and see that the LORD is good; happy is the man that takes refuge in him.
TA'AMU: Taste? Taste what - the milk and honey? 1 Samuel 14:29 does a cover version of that song The Beatles recorded on the "Please Please Me" album, but I really don't think this is the intention of TA'AMU. The verb is used frequently for "taste" (Job 34:3, Jonah 3:7), but look at Proverbs 31:18, and there is absolutely nothing to do with "taste" there. She "sees" that "her business thrives"; or perhaps "perceives", or "considers", but some sort of mental assessment and evaluation. And now go back to the Jonah quote, and look more carefully. You were looking for "taste", and found it close to the end in the Yehudit text. But I'll bet you missed it at the very start, "MI TA'AM HA MELECH". Nothing to do with the king's palate there. A "decree". Something he has thought long and hard about, and now concluded, like the businesswoman in the Proverb. Two entirely different meanings derived from the same root, and there they are, side-by-side in the same verse.
34:10 YER'U ET YHVH KEDOSHAV KI EYN MACHSOR LIYRE'AV
יְראוּ אֶת יְהוָה קְדֹשָׁיו כִּי אֵין מַחְסוֹר לִירֵאָיו
KJ (34:9): O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
BN: Fear YHVH, you his holy ones; for there is no want for those who fear him.
KEDOSHAV: Who are the deity's "holy ones"? His priests, his "sacred-king", his MAL'ACHIM. But not his ordinary people, who may well be his CHASIDIM, even his NOTSTRIM, but not his KEDOSHIM.
34:11 KEPHIYRIM RASHU VE RA'EVU VE DORSHEY YHVH LO YACHSERU CHOL TOV
כְּפִירִים רָשׁוּ וְרָעֵבוּ וְדֹרְשֵׁי יְהוָה לֹא יַחְסְרוּ כָל טוֹב
KJ (34:10): The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
BN: The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but those who seek YHVH do not want for any good thing.
Are young lions a totem clan, a poetic image, a metaphor? In the world of Ha Shomer Ha Tsa'ir we would have had young lions, young wolves, young bears, in much the same way that English schools have "houses". Training for loyalty, both to the institution, and the fellows. Craft guilds work on much the same principal, as do the fraternities and sororities of American universities.
34:12 LECHU VANIM SHIM'U LI YIR'AT YHVH ALAMEDCHEM
לְכוּ בָנִים שִׁמְעוּ לִי יִרְאַת יְהוָה אֲלַמֶּדְכֶם
KJ (34:11): Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
BN: Come, children, pay attention to me; I will teach you to fear YHVH.
Are you aware that the English word "Abbot" comes from the Yehudit "Av", meaning "father", as in Avi-Melech; the plural is really AVOT, but for some reason the English always make Bs where there are Vs in Yehudit (Abraham, Jacob etc). And Abbots always refer to their monks as "sons" and "brothers" (Fra or Friar from the French "frère"), even though there is no biological connection; Abbesses (why are they not Emesses, from the Yehudit EM = "mother"?) call their nuns "daughters" and "sisters" in the same way.
34:13 MI HA ISH HECHAPHETS CHAYIM OHEV YAMIM LIR'OT TOV
מִי הָאִישׁ הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים אֹהֵב יָמִים לִרְאוֹת טוֹב
KJ (34:12): What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
BN: Where is the man that who desires life, and loves each day that comes, that he may see the good that occurs in it?
HECHAPHETS: Is that the same as a HAFEZ in Arabic? Or sometimes pronounced HAFIZ. Or both, if you are a Persian poet.
34:14 NETSOR LESHONCHA ME RA U SEPHATEYCHA MI DABER MIRMAH
נְצֹר לְשׁוֹנְךָ מֵרָע וּשְׂפָתֶיךָ מִדַּבֵּר מִרְמָה
KJ (34:13): Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
BN: Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.
Is this an echo from, or is it echoed in, Proverbs 13:3? Is there also a link to Rabban Gamliel's blessing in the Amidah, Birkat Ha Minim, the one I have always refused to say?
34:15 SUR ME RA VA ASEH TOV BAKESH SHALOM VE RADPHEHU
סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ
KJ (34:14): Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
BN: Set aside evil, and do good; seek wholeness, and pursue it.
As I have insisted throughout these translations, SHALOM means "wholeness", "perfection", "harmony", which obviously includes a state of "peace", but is by no means confined to just that. The intention, whenever the word is used, is much larger.
34:16 EYNEY YHVH EL TSADIYKIM VE AZNAV EL SHAV'ATAM
עֵינֵי יְהוָה אֶל צַדִּיקִים וְאָזְנָיו אֶל שַׁוְעָתָם
KJ (34:15): The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
BN: YHVH's eyes are focused on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.
Did we not have virtually the same line in the last Psalm; cf verses14 and 15 and especially 18.
YHVH'S EYES: Love that sound-play, which is fully justified by the need to keep the form of the original. It works best if you pronounce YHVH as Adonai, as religious Jews will do, but "Yahweh's eyes" catches the half-rhyme of the original as well as keeping the form of the verse.
34:17 PENEY YHVH BE OSEY RA LEHACHRIT ME ERETS ZICHRAM
פְּנֵי יְהוָה בְּעֹשֵׂי רָע לְהַכְרִית מֵאֶרֶץ זִכְרָם
KJ (34:16): The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
BN: YHVH's face is turned away from those who commit evil, to cut off even the memory of them from the Earth.
Is there a word missing in the Yehudit? PENEY YHVH.... needs a verb before... BE OSEY RA; LEHACHRIT is an infinitive.
But which verb? In later Jewish theology, the concept of HISTIR PANAV, it is precisely the turning aside of the face of the deity which allows evil to take place - whereas the opposite, the deity "turning his face to shine on us", as in the YEVARECHECHA, enables all the good things of life and light. But this is evil that has happened by human choice, and the response of the deity is to turn away from that human, and have them plunged into the sunless darkness of oblivion. Similar as metaphor, but different as theology.
And again the need to keep the form of the verse, which is a continuation of the previous.
LEHACHRIT: Philosophically this is an extremely bad idea, and one that has been rejected by Talmudic Judaism. Wipe out even the memory of them, and there is nothing from which to learn, to try to ensure that such evil never happens again. So, for example, Yom Ha Sho'ah is not simply a memorial of the victims, but an opportunity to teach again, and against, the wickedness of Nazism and racism. Nor do I fear contradiction of this statement from inside the religious Jewish world, which, as I write this, is about to celebrate Chanukah for the same reason, and in six months time will remember the slavery in Egypt alongside the liberation.
34:18 TSA'AKU VA YHVH SHAME'A U MI KOL TSAROTAM HITSIYLAM
KJ (34:17): The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
BN: They cried, and YHVH heard, and delivered them from all their troubles.
KJ adds "the righteous" in italics; why is it needed? And is it even correct? Why is it not a continuation of the previous verse, and in fact it is precisely the unrighteous who are crying out, having just learned that they have been committed to "oblivion", and are seeking to be "delivered from all their troubles"? The ambiguity of the Yehudit allows - intentionally, I think, as per the next verse - both readings, but the KJ eliminates that ambiguity.
And again the need to keep the form of the verse, which is a continuation of the previous.
LEHACHRIT: Philosophically this is an extremely bad idea, and one that has been rejected by Talmudic Judaism. Wipe out even the memory of them, and there is nothing from which to learn, to try to ensure that such evil never happens again. So, for example, Yom Ha Sho'ah is not simply a memorial of the victims, but an opportunity to teach again, and against, the wickedness of Nazism and racism. Nor do I fear contradiction of this statement from inside the religious Jewish world, which, as I write this, is about to celebrate Chanukah for the same reason, and in six months time will remember the slavery in Egypt alongside the liberation.
34:18 TSA'AKU VA YHVH SHAME'A U MI KOL TSAROTAM HITSIYLAM
צָעֲקוּ וַיהוָה שָׁמֵעַ וּמִכָּל צָרוֹתָם הִצִּילָם
KJ (34:17): The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
BN: They cried, and YHVH heard, and delivered them from all their troubles.
KJ adds "the righteous" in italics; why is it needed? And is it even correct? Why is it not a continuation of the previous verse, and in fact it is precisely the unrighteous who are crying out, having just learned that they have been committed to "oblivion", and are seeking to be "delivered from all their troubles"? The ambiguity of the Yehudit allows - intentionally, I think, as per the next verse - both readings, but the KJ eliminates that ambiguity.
34:19 KAROV YHVH LE NISHBEREY LEV VE ET DAK'EY RU'ACH YOSHI'A
קָרוֹב יְהוָה לְנִשְׁבְּרֵי לֵב וְאֶת דַּכְּאֵי רוּחַ יוֹשִׁיעַ
KJ (34:18): The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
BN: YHVH is there for the broken-hearted, and saves those whose spirits are contrite.
34:20 RABOT RA'OT TSADIK U MI KULAM YATSIYLENU YHVH
רַבּוֹת רָעוֹת צַדִּיק וּמִכֻּלָּם יַצִּילֶנּוּ יְהוָה
KJ (34:19): Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
BN: There are many ways by which the righteous can go bad, but YHVH will deliver them from every one.
RA'OT: Having inserted "righteous" at verse 18 (17 in its version), KJ is now stuck with the construct; and finding the word TSADIK here appears to validate their insertion. But, alas, only by mis-translating RA'OT, which does not mean "troubles", as they know perfectly well because they translated TSAROTAM as "troubles" in that same verse 18 (17), and were correct in doing so. RA'OT are "wicked deeds", and translating them as such confirms the ambiguity.
34:21 SHOMER KOL ATSMOTAV ACHAT ME HENAH LO NISHBARAH
שֹׁמֵר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָיו אַחַת מֵהֵנָּה לֹא נִשְׁבָּרָה
KJ (34:20): He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
BN: He keeps all his bones intact; not one of them is broken.
34:22 TEMOTET RASH'A RA'AH VE SON'EY TSADIK YE'SHAMU
תְּמוֹתֵת רָשָׁע רָעָה וְשֹׂנְאֵי צַדִּיק יֶאְשָׁמוּ
KJ (34:21): Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
BN: The wicked shall kill the wicked - and those who hate the righteous will be held accountable.
YE'SHAMU: I think, on this occasion, this is the Christian theologians needing to mis-translate, because it touches on a theological concept which is fundamentally different in Christianity than it is in Judaism, and translating this correctly would undermine the false claim that the two religions are hyphenable as Judeo-Christianity, which they are not. In Christianity Good and Evil are nouns, and they are in the power of God and the Devil, while human beings can do nothing but obey. In the Jewish world they are adjectives, and they are in the power of Human beings to choose, and human beings have to take responsibility for whatever choices they may make.
Several options nonetheless for translating YE'SHAMU. The root ASHEM, can mean the "offense" committed, or the "guilty" verdict passed, or even the "guilt" felt by the offender.
34:23 PODEH YHVH NEPHESH AVADAV VE LO YE'SHEMU KOL HA CHOSIM BO
פּוֹדֶה יְהוָה נֶפֶשׁ עֲבָדָיו וְלֹא יֶאְשְׁמוּ כָּל הַחֹסִים בּוֹ
KJ (34:22): The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.
BN: YHVH redeems the souls of his worshippers; and none of those who take refuge in him shall be desolate. {P}
CHOSIM: As with TSAROTAM,the KJ translators know perfectly well that CHOSIM means "desolate", because they have translated it as such, and correctly, here; yet they have translated YE'SHAMU incorrectly as "desolate" two verses back. These theological impositions upon translation may best be described as one of the ways in which the righteous can be turned into the wicked (see verse 20), and they will be held responsible for it (see verse 22).
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So let me ask again: what has any of this to do with Avi-Melech, and David changing his demeanour after he was sent away? Nothing in the text takes us to any story told anywhere in the Tanach that this might be, including the Samuel tales that are generally referenced. But I have been naughty (which is less than "wicked", but still ASHEM, an "offense"; and I accept responsibility), and now I need to assess and evaluate and consider the bad taste I may have left behind by doing that, and maybe even issue a decree against myself. TA'AM. Go back to verse 1. You missed it, didn't you? The keyword of this entire Psalm. Explained by me at verse 9, but without bothering to pick up that first usage. We have to go back and re-translate that verse, in the light of what we have read since. How about:
34:1 LE DAVID BA SHANOTO ET TA'MO LIPHNEY AVI-MELECH VA YEGARASHEHU VA YELACH
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.) I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
BN (BibleNet revised translation): For David: when he reconsidered how he had behaved before the deity, who drove him away, and he departed.
לְדָוִד בְּשַׁנּוֹתוֹ אֶת טַעְמוֹ לִפְנֵי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וַיְגָרֲשֵׁהוּ וַיֵּלַךְ
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.) I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
BN (BibleNet revised translation): For David: when he reconsidered how he had behaved before the deity, who drove him away, and he departed.
I was also naughty at verse 1, in that I gave a link for YEGARESHEHU, but not an explanation, and I pointed out the root of YELACH, but didn't pick that up when we got to TA'AM again at verse 7, nor at verse 12, where it is used in place of LAVO, "to come", which we would have expected.
BN (BibleNet interpretative translation): For David: a revised training manual for those who are learning the proper behaviour when entering or leaving the presence of the king.
The king being both the earthly and the divine.
The king being both the earthly and the divine.
Though YELACH might be about their leadership role, and YEGARESH about leaving the holy sanctum of the training college. And "proper behaviour" may denote them as the equivalent of a Hafiz - see verse 13. But I do think my "interpretative" translation is 100% accurate. And who will have done the revising? The concepts that we have explored, the plays on words with "taste" and "face" and "guilt" especially, all take us to a very advanced stage of sophisticated ratiocination, well into the Metaphysical epoch; Hasmonean at the very earliest, and decidedly Pharisaic, not Sadducaic. Some of this could be from as late as the time of Rabbi Hillel.
✡
How to make an acrostic of this in English? Yehudit has 22 letters, English 26, so do I extend it by four letters, or take the opportunity to "acknowledge" that J, Q, X and Z are going to be difficult, and just leave them out? That leaves Y as the last letter - how convenient for YHVH! No, I have to leave out F, because that is the missing Vav line. Put back the J then, or the Q? Let's see!
For David: a revised training manual for those who are learning the proper behaviour when entering or leaving the presence of the king.
1: At all the appointed times I will bless YHVH; praise for him shall always be in my mouth.
2: Bestowed with glory shall my soul be through YHVH; the humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
3: Celebrate YHVH with me, and let us declare the greatness of his name together.
4: Delving deep I sought YHVH, and he answered me, and
delivered me from all my fears.
5: Eyes that gazed on him grew radiant; that glow in their faces shall never be dimmed..
6:
7: Great cries bellowed by this poor man - and YHVH heard, and
saved him from all his troubles.
8: Heard, and sent his messenger from the heavens, to form a group around those who fear him, and train them as his pioneers.
9: Is it not your consideration, your very perception, that YHVH is good?
Happy is the man who takes refuge in him.
10: Know the fear of YHVH, you his holy ones; for there
is no want for those who fear Him.
11: Lion cubs know lack, and suffer hunger; but
those who seek YHVH do not want for any good thing.
12: My children, come, pay attention to me; I will
teach you to fear YHVH.
13: Name me a man who does not desire life, or love each day that comes, that he may see the good that occurs in it.
14: Only keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from
speaking guile.
15: Put evil aside, and do good; seek wholeness, and
pursue it.
16: Quite rightly YHVH looks out for the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.
17: Rightly too, YHVH's face is turned away from those who act wrongly; he will cut off even the memory of them from the Earth.
18: So they cried, and YHVH heard, and delivered
them from all their troubles.
19: True to the broken-hearted is YHVH ; he saves those whose spirits are contrite.
20: Ubiquitous are the ways by which the righteous may go bad, but YHVH will deliver them from every one.
21: Virtuously he keeps every bone intact; not one of them is
broken.
22: Wicked souls will kill wicked souls; and those who hate
the righteous will be held accountable.
23: YHVH redeems the soul of his worshippers; and none of those who take refuge in him shall be desolate. {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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