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
Once again the opening verse is not part of the piece, which means there are really 12 verses; a significant number (or perhaps not)?
36:1 LA MENATSE'ACH LE EVED YHVH LE DAVID
לַמְנַצֵּחַ לְעֶבֶד יְהוָה לְדָוִד
KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD.) The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
BN (BibleNet translation): For the Artistic Director. To David, the servant of YHVH.
KJ has once again added the first verse to the title, disconfiguring the number-symmetries.
EVED is a complex word. We saw it throughout the Book of Shemot (Exodus), and wondered whether it really meant "slaves", given the feudal socio-political system established by Yoseph in the latter chapters of the Book of Genesis (41:33ff), in which the land and all its people were owned by the Pharaoh; and therefore "serf" rather than "slave", in the Russian distinction, or "vassal" rather than "slave" in the English.
But we have also encountered AVODAH as regular "work" on many occasions, contrastable with PE'ULAH, though the distinction there is much narrower; the SADRAN AVODAH, for example, in a modern factory, would be the "works foreman", but his staff would be PO'ALIM not AVADIM, perhaps because of the connotation of "slavery" attached to the latter; and the Histadrut, the Israeli equivalent of the English Trades Union Congress, uses the same terminologies in the same way. But here, I think, it is neither the worker nor the vassal, and definitely not the slave; in his role as priest-king, David serves YHVH as the British Prime Minsiter serves the Monarch.
The other meaning of AVODAH, which is "worshipper", the one used for the Temple ceremonies, and still today in every synagogue, is the act of prayer, and clearly there is that element to this as well, simply because it is a Psalm, written for the Temple worship.
And then, with all this in mind, look at the very last verse of this Psalm, where that contrast between AVADIM and PO'ALIM is made very explicit.
36:2 NE'UM PESH'A LA RASH'A BE KEREV LIBI EYN PACHAD ELOHIM LE NEGED EYNAV
נְאֻם פֶּשַׁע לָרָשָׁע בְּקֶרֶב לִבִּי אֵין פַּחַד אֱלֹהִים לְנֶגֶד עֵינָיו
KJ (36:1) The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.
BN: Sin speaks directly to the wickedness at the heart of my heart; there is no fear of Elohim before his eyes.
I have repeated the KJ translation.See my note at verse 1.
NE'UM: A fully-fledged "oracle" in one translation (here), but a mere "utterance", according to the etymologists (here). Mechon-Mamre reduces it even lower, to "methinks", as though the Psalmist is just pondering, but the vague thought happens to get written down (here).
36:3 KI HECHELIK ELAV BE EYNAV LIMTS'O AVONO LISN'O
KJ (36:2): For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
BN: For he disperses it from before his eyes - until his iniquity is revealed, and he is hated.
HECHELIK: How do the translators get "flattery" from this? The root is CHALAK, which "disperses" or "divides". Surely the point is that the second half of the previous verse, which is "righteousness", is there for him to see, but in verse 1 he declines to see it, and here, when it presses on him, he pushes it away. This is self-vindication, not self-flattery.
36:4 DIVREY PHIYV AVEN U MIRMAH CHADAL LEHASKIL LE HEYTIYV
KJ (36:3): The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
BN: What comes out of his mouth are lies and deceptions; he has given up trying to be wise or to do good.
36:5 AVEN YACHSHOV AL MISHKAVO YITYATSEV AL DERECH LO TOV RA LO YIM'AS
KJ (36:4): He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
BN: He thinks up his next iniquity while lying in bed; he plots a course that lacks the remotest good; he doesn't even accept that there is such a thing as evil.
YIM'AS: Is that where the modern phrase NIM'AS LI ("I am sick to death of...") comes from?
36:6 YHVH BE HA SHAMAYIM CHASDECHA EMUNAT'CHA AD SHECHAKIM
KJ (36:5): Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
BN: Your care and concern, YHVH, is in the heavens; your loyalty extends beyond the clouds.
BE HA SHAMAYIM: Now that is a very interesting variation. BA SHAMAYIM, the definite article ellided into, incorporated into the whole word, is what we are accustomed to, and should always translate it as "the skies", and not even "the heavens" except in that same sense as "skies", but never as that much later concept "Heaven". But here, the definite article is not ellided or enjambed or incorporated or inanyotherway included in the noun; so it separates the two words; so perhaps we do have our first instance of "the heavens" in the non-sky, metaphorical-Olympus sense.
36:13 SHAM NAPHLU PO'ALEY AVEN DOCHU VE LO YACHLU KUM
KJ (36:12): There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
BN: There are the workers of iniquity, fallen; they have been thrownt down, and cannot get up. {P}
PO'ALEY: See my notes to verse 1.
36:3 KI HECHELIK ELAV BE EYNAV LIMTS'O AVONO LISN'O
כִּי הֶחֱלִיק אֵלָיו בְּעֵינָיו לִמְצֹא עֲוֹנוֹ לִשְׂנֹא
KJ (36:2): For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
BN: For he disperses it from before his eyes - until his iniquity is revealed, and he is hated.
HECHELIK: How do the translators get "flattery" from this? The root is CHALAK, which "disperses" or "divides". Surely the point is that the second half of the previous verse, which is "righteousness", is there for him to see, but in verse 1 he declines to see it, and here, when it presses on him, he pushes it away. This is self-vindication, not self-flattery.
36:4 DIVREY PHIYV AVEN U MIRMAH CHADAL LEHASKIL LE HEYTIYV
דִּבְרֵי פִיו אָוֶן וּמִרְמָה חָדַל לְהַשְׂכִּיל לְהֵיטִיב
KJ (36:3): The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
BN: What comes out of his mouth are lies and deceptions; he has given up trying to be wise or to do good.
36:5 AVEN YACHSHOV AL MISHKAVO YITYATSEV AL DERECH LO TOV RA LO YIM'AS
אָוֶן יַחְשֹׁב עַל מִשְׁכָּבוֹ יִתְיַצֵּב עַל דֶּרֶךְ לֹא טוֹב רָע לֹא יִמְאָס
KJ (36:4): He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
BN: He thinks up his next iniquity while lying in bed; he plots a course that lacks the remotest good; he doesn't even accept that there is such a thing as evil.
YIM'AS: Is that where the modern phrase NIM'AS LI ("I am sick to death of...") comes from?
36:6 YHVH BE HA SHAMAYIM CHASDECHA EMUNAT'CHA AD SHECHAKIM
יְהוָה בְּהַשָּׁמַיִם חַסְדֶּךָ אֱמוּנָתְךָ עַד שְׁחָקִים
KJ (36:5): Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
BN: Your care and concern, YHVH, is in the heavens; your loyalty extends beyond the clouds.
BE HA SHAMAYIM: Now that is a very interesting variation. BA SHAMAYIM, the definite article ellided into, incorporated into the whole word, is what we are accustomed to, and should always translate it as "the skies", and not even "the heavens" except in that same sense as "skies", but never as that much later concept "Heaven". But here, the definite article is not ellided or enjambed or incorporated or inanyotherway included in the noun; so it separates the two words; so perhaps we do have our first instance of "the heavens" in the non-sky, metaphorical-Olympus sense.
SHECHAKIM: I often wonder how much the ancients knew of the workings of Nature, because we tend to think of them as ignorant and primitive, and then the texts tell us otherwise. Today we know (click here) that clouds are mostly water vapour, but the level of white or greyness is determined by the dust they have gathered, which renders the water vapour visible. So clouds and dust are interconnected. And here, SHECHAKIM, the same word for "dust" (Isaiah 40:15) and "clouds" (Job 36:28). And sometimes (Deuteronomy 33:26) it is understood as "the sky", as it is here, though actually that Deuteronomy verse also has SHAMAYIM for "sky", so we probably ought to rethink SHECHAKIM there.
36:7 TSIDKAT'CHA KE HAREREY EL MISHPATECHA TEHOM RABAH ADAM U VEHEMAH TOSHIY'A YHVH
KJ (36:6): Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
BN: Your righteousness is like one of El's mountains. Your judgments are like Tehom, the great sea-monster. You, YHVH, are the saviour of both Humankind and beast.
But if "heavens" are surprising, so also are Tehom and Vehemah, which might equally well be Tiamat or Tahamat and Behemot... they take us back to Genesis 1 and the dawn of Creation itself... and tell us, alongside EL, that this was a much earlier hymn, adopted and adapted by the Beney Yisra-El at some later moment. I wonder who would have been named where YHVH is named? Probably Ba'al.
36:8 MAH YAKAR CHASDECHA ELOHIM U VENEY ADAM BE TSEL KENAPHEYCHA YECHESAYUN
KJ (36:7): How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
BN: How precious is your lovingkindness, you gods! And Humankind takes refuge in the shadow of your wings.
And no surprise, now that we have entered the primordial chaos, to find the gods named there in the plural, the full Elohim, not simply the overlord YHVH.
Which leaves open the question, hinted at before now, but not yet fully stated: if the mythological tale of David is the Yisra-Eli equivalent of the mythological tale of Orpheus, and Orpheus is Phoroneus is Ephron the Hittite, then is it plausible that some of these Psalms were already being sung in the city that they both "ruled", Chevron, centuries before the "historical" David of the Tanach?
36:9 YIRVEYUN MI DESHEN BEITECHA VE NACHAL ADANEYCHA TASHKEM
KJ (36:8): They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
BN: They drink their fill from the bounty of your house; and you quench their thirst with the stream of your delights.
DESHEN: is indeed "fatness" - as opposed to the fat, which is SHEMEN; but in the sense of fullness, as in "the fat of the land" - cf Judges 9:9, Jeremiah 31:14. DESHEN does also mean "ashes" (Leviticus 1:16, 1 Kings 13:3), but that is strictly the ashes from the burned offering, or the residue from cremation. Does that double-meaning constitute a deliberate play with the double-meaning of SHECHAKIM at verse 6? I rather think it does. In both cases the two sides are regarded as parts of the whole, and necessary to each other, and not as separate, opposing forces: blue sky and cloud, life and death.
36:10 KI IMCHA MEKOR CHAYIM BE ORCHA NIR'EH OR
KJ (36:9): For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
BN: For the source of life is with you; in your light do we see light.
Famous lines! But more importantly, because we need to stay in context, the light, the first (? see my notes to Genesis 1) aspect of Creation: the Big Bang or Shevirat ha Kelim.
36:11 MESHOCH CHASDECHA LE YOD'EYCHA VE TSIDKAT'CHA LE YISHREY LEV
KJ (36:10): O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
BN: Continue your care-and-concern for those who know you, and your righteousness for those who are upright in heart.
36:12 AL TEVO'ENI REGEL GA'AVAH VE YAD RESHA'IM AL TENIDENI
KJ (36:11): Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
BN: Do not allow the foot of pride to overtake me, nor the hand of the wicked to drive me away.
The point here being that the capacity to do wrong is likewise not an outside force, but something that "speaks directly to the wickedness at the heart of my heart", as per verse 2. So he is seeking the strength to fight off the Yetser ha Ra, and remain on the road of the Yetser ha Tov.
36:7 TSIDKAT'CHA KE HAREREY EL MISHPATECHA TEHOM RABAH ADAM U VEHEMAH TOSHIY'A YHVH
צִדְקָתְךָ כְּהַרְרֵי אֵל מִשְׁפָּטֶךָ תְּהוֹם רַבָּה אָדָם וּבְהֵמָה תוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה
KJ (36:6): Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
BN: Your righteousness is like one of El's mountains. Your judgments are like Tehom, the great sea-monster. You, YHVH, are the saviour of both Humankind and beast.
But if "heavens" are surprising, so also are Tehom and Vehemah, which might equally well be Tiamat or Tahamat and Behemot... they take us back to Genesis 1 and the dawn of Creation itself... and tell us, alongside EL, that this was a much earlier hymn, adopted and adapted by the Beney Yisra-El at some later moment. I wonder who would have been named where YHVH is named? Probably Ba'al.
36:8 MAH YAKAR CHASDECHA ELOHIM U VENEY ADAM BE TSEL KENAPHEYCHA YECHESAYUN
מַה יָּקָר חַסְדְּךָ אֱלֹהִים וּבְנֵי אָדָם בְּצֵל כְּנָפֶיךָ יֶחֱסָיוּן
KJ (36:7): How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
BN: How precious is your lovingkindness, you gods! And Humankind takes refuge in the shadow of your wings.
And no surprise, now that we have entered the primordial chaos, to find the gods named there in the plural, the full Elohim, not simply the overlord YHVH.
Which leaves open the question, hinted at before now, but not yet fully stated: if the mythological tale of David is the Yisra-Eli equivalent of the mythological tale of Orpheus, and Orpheus is Phoroneus is Ephron the Hittite, then is it plausible that some of these Psalms were already being sung in the city that they both "ruled", Chevron, centuries before the "historical" David of the Tanach?
36:9 YIRVEYUN MI DESHEN BEITECHA VE NACHAL ADANEYCHA TASHKEM
יִרְוְיֻן מִדֶּשֶׁן בֵּיתֶךָ וְנַחַל עֲדָנֶיךָ תַשְׁקֵם
KJ (36:8): They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
BN: They drink their fill from the bounty of your house; and you quench their thirst with the stream of your delights.
DESHEN: is indeed "fatness" - as opposed to the fat, which is SHEMEN; but in the sense of fullness, as in "the fat of the land" - cf Judges 9:9, Jeremiah 31:14. DESHEN does also mean "ashes" (Leviticus 1:16, 1 Kings 13:3), but that is strictly the ashes from the burned offering, or the residue from cremation. Does that double-meaning constitute a deliberate play with the double-meaning of SHECHAKIM at verse 6? I rather think it does. In both cases the two sides are regarded as parts of the whole, and necessary to each other, and not as separate, opposing forces: blue sky and cloud, life and death.
36:10 KI IMCHA MEKOR CHAYIM BE ORCHA NIR'EH OR
כִּי עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה אוֹר
KJ (36:9): For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
BN: For the source of life is with you; in your light do we see light.
Famous lines! But more importantly, because we need to stay in context, the light, the first (? see my notes to Genesis 1) aspect of Creation: the Big Bang or Shevirat ha Kelim.
36:11 MESHOCH CHASDECHA LE YOD'EYCHA VE TSIDKAT'CHA LE YISHREY LEV
מְשֹׁךְ חַסְדְּךָ לְיֹדְעֶיךָ וְצִדְקָתְךָ לְיִשְׁרֵי לֵב
KJ (36:10): O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
BN: Continue your care-and-concern for those who know you, and your righteousness for those who are upright in heart.
36:12 AL TEVO'ENI REGEL GA'AVAH VE YAD RESHA'IM AL TENIDENI
אַל תְּבוֹאֵנִי רֶגֶל גַּאֲוָה וְיַד רְשָׁעִים אַל תְּנִדֵנִי
KJ (36:11): Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
BN: Do not allow the foot of pride to overtake me, nor the hand of the wicked to drive me away.
The point here being that the capacity to do wrong is likewise not an outside force, but something that "speaks directly to the wickedness at the heart of my heart", as per verse 2. So he is seeking the strength to fight off the Yetser ha Ra, and remain on the road of the Yetser ha Tov.
36:13 SHAM NAPHLU PO'ALEY AVEN DOCHU VE LO YACHLU KUM
שָׁם נָפְלוּ פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן דֹּחוּ וְלֹא יָכְלוּ קוּם
KJ (36:12): There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
BN: There are the workers of iniquity, fallen; they have been thrownt down, and cannot get up. {P}
PO'ALEY: See my notes to verse 1.
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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