TheBibleNet: Psalm 43

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

No title, no dedication; straight into the first verse. But one question: is this in fact a continuation of the previous Psalm? If it is, it is one verse short: 5 + the refrain in each half of that one, but only 4 + refrain here. An explanation of why and how the two become one can be found at Psalm 42.

43:1 SHAPHTENI ELOHIM VE RIYVAH RIYVI MI GOY LO CHASIYD ME ISH MIRMAH VE AVLAH TEPHALTENI

שָׁפְטֵנִי אֱלֹהִים וְרִיבָה רִיבִי מִגּוֹי לֹא חָסִיד מֵאִישׁ מִרְמָה וְעַוְלָה תְפַלְּטֵנִי

KJ (King James translation): Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

BN (BibleNet translation): Be my judge, you gods, and plead my cause against an impious nation. {N} Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

43:2 KI ATAH ELOHAI MA'UZI LAMAH ZENACHTANI LAMAH KODER ET'HALECH BE LACHATS OYEV

כִּי אַתָּה אֱלֹהֵי מָעוּזִּי לָמָה זְנַחְתָּנִי לָמָּה קֹדֵר אֶתְהַלֵּךְ בְּלַחַץ אוֹיֵב

KJ: For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

BN: For you are the gods who give me strength - why have you cast me off? {N} Why do I go mourning under the oppression of the enemy?

43:3 SHELACH ORCHA VA AMIT'CHA HEMAH YANCHUNI YEVIY'UNI EL HAR KADSHECHA VE EL MISHKENOTEYCHA

שְׁלַח אוֹרְךָ וַאֲמִתְּךָ הֵמָּה יַנְחוּנִי יְבִיאוּנִי אֶל הַר קָדְשְׁךָ וְאֶל מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶיךָ

KJ: O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

BN: Send your light and your truth; let them lead me; {N} let them bring me to your holy mountain, and to your dwelling-places.

HAR KADSHECHA... MISHKENOTEYCHA: If this is a continuation of the previous Psalm, then the mountain is Chermon, and the "dwelling places" are those of its slopes and foothills. And if not, where? If the intention is Tsi'on and Yeru-Shala'im, then there are no other "dwelling places", because the cult has been centralised. But before the Temple, any one of several mountains, and dozens of dwelling-places - does this, like the Elohim, then help us to date this Psalm?

MISHKENOTECHA: Not simply an allusion to Numbers 24:5, but the opening phrase, sung by the Beney Korach of our day, which is to say regular shul-goers, at the start of daily prayers. Click here.

43:4 VA AVO'AH EL MIZBACH ELOHIM EL EL SIMCHAT GIYLI VE ODECHA VE CHINOR ELOHIM ELOHAI

וְאָבוֹאָה אֶל מִזְבַּח אֱלֹהִים אֶל אֵל שִׂמְחַת גִּילִי וְאוֹדְךָ בְכִנּוֹר אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהָי

KJ: Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

BN: Then I will bring my great joy to the altar of the gods, to El himself, {N} and praise you on the harp, you gods who are my gods.

KINNOR: Can we assume from the words of this verse what type of Psalm this was - a Bob Dylan or a John Lennon on solo accoustic harp, one of those introspective ballads that Leonard Cohen specialised in: Avalanche, Who By Fire, If It Be Your Will? Josephus, in Antiquities 7:12:3 calls the instrument a "cinyra" and says that it had ten strings and was struck with a plectrum (but Cinyras was the Yuval of Greek mythology, believed to have invented all musical instruments, and particularly the flute, not the harp; so Josephus may, yet again, and twice over this time, be in error).

1 Samuel 16:23 (and many other references) finds the teenage David playing the Kinnor to soothe the king's frayed nerves; he is described as playing it "by hand", which could be finger-picking or hand-strumming or plectrum-work; though, speaking as a guitarist, all three are equally likely, and most of us switch between all three, depending on the mood and the song. Some translators render Kinnor as "harp", others as "lyre"; the difference between them will be explained to you by an expert if you click here.

43:5 MAH TISHTOCHACHI NAPHSHI U MAH TEHEMI ALAI HOCHIYLI L'ELOHIM KI OD ODENU YESHU'OT PANAI V'ELOHAI

מַה תִּשְׁתּוֹחֲחִי נַפְשִׁי וּמַה תֶּהֱמִי עָלָי הוֹחִילִי לֵאלֹהִים כִּי עוֹד אוֹדֶנּוּ יְשׁוּעֹת פָּנַי וֵאלֹהָי

KJ: Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

BN: Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why do you moan within me? {N} Place your hope in the gods, for I shall go on praising them until I receive salvation in their face, and know that they are my gods.{P}

See Psalm 42:6 which is the same line, save only the ending, and Psalm 42:12, which is identical.

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Psalms:

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