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
Another of the Psalms that uses a technique which has no formal name in English, whereby the same word or words are repeated many times, but always in a slightly altered context, so that their meaning shifts with it, enabling the author to investigate concepts and ideas from multiple perspectives. The other occasions are Psalms 13, 29, 148 and 150 .
לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל יְדוּתוּן מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד
KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.) Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
BN (BibleNet translation): For the Artistic Director. On the nature of praise. A Mizmor. For David.
Yet again the opening verse is actually the title. KJ puts the title in brackets, to indicate that it has also absorbed the first verse into this one; the numbering of the ensuing verses is then adjusted, as noted in my brackets.
LA MENATSE'ACH: see my note at Psalm 51:1.
AL: Yet one more occasion when we have AL in the title, and don't immediately know which of now three possible meanings applies. My translation tells you which one I think it is.
YEDUTUN: who we met at Psalm 39:1, and will find again in Psalm 77. My notes here are a continuation of those at Psalm 39, so worthwhile to read them first; as there, I am starting with the First Book of Chronicles where, in 9:16, a Yedutun is listed among the Kohanim. But more importantly 16:38, where Yeditun (יְדִית֛וּן) is appointed as CHOSAH LE SO'ARIM at the Temple, a position that is usually translated as "gate-keeper"; but three verses later, and in Sha'ul's royal city of Giv-On rather than Yeru-Shala'im (or probably, if it was at that epoch, Chevron) YEDUTUN is appointed with "the other selected men designated by name to give praise to YHVH, 'For his steadfast love is eternal.'" And of the three references, this seems to be the one our current Psalm intends, and so I am going to restate that otherwise overlooked fact of verse 39 of the Chronicles text: that the principal place of worship is not Yeru-Shala'im, because this chapter is the tale of David bringing the Ark to Yeru-Shala'im, and appointing those who will minister there: that worship has taken place at Kiryat Ye'arim, where the Ark was being kept until Yeru-Shala'im was ready, but that the Shauline shrine at Giv-On, where the royal palace was located, was the other principal place of worship.
And then go on one more verse, to 42: "Heman and Yedutun had with them trumpets and cymbals to sound, and instruments for the songs of Ha Elohim; and the sons of Yedutun were to be at the gate." So "gate-keeper" isn't really the correct translation, as we suspected. These are the welcomers at the city-gate, the alarum trumpeters, the boogie-woogie bugle boys from Company B.
Now jump forward to 2 Chronicles 35:15, and you will find that "The Asaphite singers were at their stations, by command of David and Asaph and Heman and Yedutun, the seer of the king; and the gatekeepers were at each and every gate. They did not have to leave their tasks, because their Levite brothers provided for them." Which also confirms that Asaph led at least one part of the choir (Korach appears to have led the other part).
My guess is that the word came to mean "praising" in the same way that "boycotting" and "galvanising" and "gerrymandering" did in English - click here for more of these.
62:2 ACH EL ELOHIM DUMIYAH NAPHSHI MIMENU YESHU'ATI
KJ: as above
BN: Truly for Elohim does my soul wait in silence; from him comes my salvation.
EL ELOHIM: No, that is not the deity EL, but the preposition El - "to", "towards" - though at first glance it seems that it might be, and it is indeed that forward kinetic motion which is the reason why the founding-father god was named El. It is, however, the deity ELOHIM, not YHVH.
DUMIYAH: DUMAH is the silent world, one of many words available in Yehudit for death, Winter, the Underworld, the Netherworld, the black holes and the northern sky, which is to say any of those areas of the cosmos, or of life itself, in which there is no obvious sign of sun, or light, or life: even sleep and the unconscious. Mostly in the Psalms, because they are Davidic, it is She'ol, but we have witnessed Dumah as well, many times.
YESHU'ATI: The word is repeated throughout this Psalm; David is himself the MASHIYACH, but the request is for the role of the deity as MOSHI'A - two very different concepts, sadly reduced by confusion to the same one by the misunderstandings of Christian scholars.
62:3 ACH HU TSURI VIYSHU'ATI MISGABI LO EMOT RABAH
KJ (62:2): He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
BN: He alone is my rock and my salvation, my high tower, I shall not be greatly moved.
MISGABI: I questioned this "Bet or Vet", and also provided commentary on the word, at Psalm 59:10.
LO EMOT: I have repeatedly questioned our traditional understanding of this phrase, certain that it has nothing to do with being "moved", because "being moved" is meaningless; but no idea what it might mean instead. And now there is RABAH to make it more complex; "I shall not be moved much" is a very strange construction, if that is what it means. See also verse 7. But remember also that RABAH was the city at whose siege David gave orders that Ur-Yah the Beney Chet be placed in the front rank of the assault, thereby ensuring that his wife, or widow by the time the news reached her, was available for the king to marry (she mothered Shelomoh - Solomon). One of the most important of all the Davidic tales, and no one in Temple times would have heard that word in a Psalm and not drawn a connection. 2 Samuel 11 if you want to read it.
62:4 AD ANAH TEHOTETU AL ISH TERATS'CHU CHULCHEM KE KIR NATU'I GADER HADCHUYAH
KJ (62:3): How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
BN: How long will you go on attacking a man, so that you can kill him, all of you, {N} like a wall that is teetering, a fence that is tottering?
62:5 ACH MIS'ETO YA'ATSU LEHADIYACH YIRTSU CHAZAV BE PHIV YEVARECHU U VE KIRBAM YEKALELU (SELAH)
KJ (62:4): They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
BN: They plot together, merely to pull him down from the height he has reached, delighting in lies; {N} they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Selah
ACH: This is the third verse to begin with that tiny word, and it does seem to mean something slightly different on each occasion. And this is true throughout the Tanach. Genesis 44:28 for example translates it as "surely", as in "no question or doubt", and that appears to be the intention in verse 2 here. But it cannot have that meaning at Exodus 10:7; there, no question or doubt, it has to mean "only", which appears to be the intention in verse 3 here. And there are multiple other usages (Deuteronomy 16:15 for example, or Leviticus 11:4) but neither of those apply here, which seems to be mid-way between the previous two: merely, rather than surely or only.
MIS'ETO: Or MI SE'ETO?
Islam would call such people MUNAFIQUN, as Christians would say "hypocrites": except that this is even stronger.
62:6 ACH L'ELOHIM DOMI NAPHSHI KI MIMENU TIKVATI
KJ (62:5): My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
BN: Only for Elohim, my silence, my soul, for from him comes my hope.
We have at least to try to translate the text accurately, even when idioms in the departure have no precise equivalent in the arrival language. There is no verb "to wait" in this sentence. Three nouns, all in the first person possessive. And three more in the next verse.
62:7 ACH HU TSURI VIYSHU'ATI MISGABI LO EMOT
KJ (62:6): He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
BN: He alone is my rock and my salvation, my high tower, I shall not be moved.
This verse a variation of verse 3 above - RABAH missing. "We shall not be moved" became a protest song in the 1960s: demonstrators refusing to let the police prevent them. But clearly that is not the intention here. That protest song was actually a rewrite of a much earlier gospel song (click here), which took its line from here (and several other Psalms that use it): but what it means is those hymns is as difficult to figure as it is in these Psalms.
MIZMOR: See my notes in the "Introduction to the Psalms".
62:2 ACH EL ELOHIM DUMIYAH NAPHSHI MIMENU YESHU'ATI
אַךְ אֶל אֱלֹהִים דּוּמִיָּה נַפְשִׁי מִמֶּנּוּ יְשׁוּעָתִי
KJ: as above
BN: Truly for Elohim does my soul wait in silence; from him comes my salvation.
EL ELOHIM: No, that is not the deity EL, but the preposition El - "to", "towards" - though at first glance it seems that it might be, and it is indeed that forward kinetic motion which is the reason why the founding-father god was named El. It is, however, the deity ELOHIM, not YHVH.
DUMIYAH: DUMAH is the silent world, one of many words available in Yehudit for death, Winter, the Underworld, the Netherworld, the black holes and the northern sky, which is to say any of those areas of the cosmos, or of life itself, in which there is no obvious sign of sun, or light, or life: even sleep and the unconscious. Mostly in the Psalms, because they are Davidic, it is She'ol, but we have witnessed Dumah as well, many times.
YESHU'ATI: The word is repeated throughout this Psalm; David is himself the MASHIYACH, but the request is for the role of the deity as MOSHI'A - two very different concepts, sadly reduced by confusion to the same one by the misunderstandings of Christian scholars.
62:3 ACH HU TSURI VIYSHU'ATI MISGABI LO EMOT RABAH
אַךְ הוּא צוּרִי וִישׁוּעָתִי מִשְׂגַּבִּי לֹא אֶמּוֹט רַבָּה
KJ (62:2): He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
BN: He alone is my rock and my salvation, my high tower, I shall not be greatly moved.
MISGABI: I questioned this "Bet or Vet", and also provided commentary on the word, at Psalm 59:10.
LO EMOT: I have repeatedly questioned our traditional understanding of this phrase, certain that it has nothing to do with being "moved", because "being moved" is meaningless; but no idea what it might mean instead. And now there is RABAH to make it more complex; "I shall not be moved much" is a very strange construction, if that is what it means. See also verse 7. But remember also that RABAH was the city at whose siege David gave orders that Ur-Yah the Beney Chet be placed in the front rank of the assault, thereby ensuring that his wife, or widow by the time the news reached her, was available for the king to marry (she mothered Shelomoh - Solomon). One of the most important of all the Davidic tales, and no one in Temple times would have heard that word in a Psalm and not drawn a connection. 2 Samuel 11 if you want to read it.
62:4 AD ANAH TEHOTETU AL ISH TERATS'CHU CHULCHEM KE KIR NATU'I GADER HADCHUYAH
עַד אָנָה תְּהוֹתְתוּ עַל אִישׁ תְּרָצְּחוּ כֻלְּכֶם כְּקִיר נָטוּי גָּדֵר הַדְּחוּיָה
KJ (62:3): How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
BN: How long will you go on attacking a man, so that you can kill him, all of you, {N} like a wall that is teetering, a fence that is tottering?
62:5 ACH MIS'ETO YA'ATSU LEHADIYACH YIRTSU CHAZAV BE PHIV YEVARECHU U VE KIRBAM YEKALELU (SELAH)
אַךְ מִשְּׂאֵתוֹ יָעֲצוּ לְהַדִּיחַ יִרְצוּ כָזָב בְּפִיו יְבָרֵכוּ וּבְקִרְבָּם יְקַלְלוּ סֶלָה
KJ (62:4): They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
BN: They plot together, merely to pull him down from the height he has reached, delighting in lies; {N} they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Selah
ACH: This is the third verse to begin with that tiny word, and it does seem to mean something slightly different on each occasion. And this is true throughout the Tanach. Genesis 44:28 for example translates it as "surely", as in "no question or doubt", and that appears to be the intention in verse 2 here. But it cannot have that meaning at Exodus 10:7; there, no question or doubt, it has to mean "only", which appears to be the intention in verse 3 here. And there are multiple other usages (Deuteronomy 16:15 for example, or Leviticus 11:4) but neither of those apply here, which seems to be mid-way between the previous two: merely, rather than surely or only.
And now that I have drawn attention to the differences, tell me what ACH means when it opens verses 6, 7 and 10; and then note the word-play when the final verse opens, not with ACH, "only", but ACHAT, the masculine form of "one".
MIS'ETO: Or MI SE'ETO?
Islam would call such people MUNAFIQUN, as Christians would say "hypocrites": except that this is even stronger.
62:6 ACH L'ELOHIM DOMI NAPHSHI KI MIMENU TIKVATI
אַךְ לֵאלֹהִים דּוֹמִּי נַפְשִׁי כִּי מִמֶּנּוּ תִּקְוָתִי
KJ (62:5): My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
BN: Only for Elohim, my silence, my soul, for from him comes my hope.
We have at least to try to translate the text accurately, even when idioms in the departure have no precise equivalent in the arrival language. There is no verb "to wait" in this sentence. Three nouns, all in the first person possessive. And three more in the next verse.
62:7 ACH HU TSURI VIYSHU'ATI MISGABI LO EMOT
אַךְ הוּא צוּרִי וִישׁוּעָתִי מִשְׂגַּבִּי לֹא אֶמּוֹט
KJ (62:6): He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
BN: He alone is my rock and my salvation, my high tower, I shall not be moved.
This verse a variation of verse 3 above - RABAH missing. "We shall not be moved" became a protest song in the 1960s: demonstrators refusing to let the police prevent them. But clearly that is not the intention here. That protest song was actually a rewrite of a much earlier gospel song (click here), which took its line from here (and several other Psalms that use it): but what it means is those hymns is as difficult to figure as it is in these Psalms.
But it may help looking at the English etymology, as well as the Yehudit. From the Latin ēmovēre, meaning "to disturb".
62:8 AL ELOHIM YISH'I U CHEVODI TSUR UZI MACHSI B'ELOHIM
KJ (62:7): In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
KJ (62:8): Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
62:11 AL TIVTECHU VE OSHEK U VE GAZEL AL TEHBALU CHAYIL KI YANUV AL TASHIYTU LEV
KJ (62:10): Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
BN (extended translation): Don't imagine you can make your way in life through extortion and robbery, nor place vain hope that increasing your wealth, if it even happens, {N} is worth setting your heart upon.
62:12 ACHAT DIBER ELOHIM SHETAYIM ZU SHAMA'TI KI OZ L'ELOHIM
32:13 U LECHA ADONAI CHASED KI ATAH TESHALEM LE ISH KE MA'ASEHU
KJ (62:12): Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
BN: Also to you, my Lord, does mercy belong; for you render to every man according to his deeds. {P}
ADONAI: Not a mention of YHVH anywhere in this Psalm - not unusual for Book 2. Adonai here is "My Lord", a term of polite address to a superior, human or divine. And quite probably, given the dedication, and the text, the Lord in this verse is the earthly king, not the deity, anyway.
62:8 AL ELOHIM YISH'I U CHEVODI TSUR UZI MACHSI B'ELOHIM
עַל אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁעִי וּכְבוֹדִי צוּר עֻזִּי מַחְסִי בֵּאלֹהִים
KJ (62:7): In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
BN: In Elohim my salvation and my glory; in Elohim the rock of my strength and my refuge.
And again there are no verbs in this sentence, but only (ACH ACH) nouns.
62:9 BIT'CHU VO VE CHOL ET AM SHIPHCHU LEPHANAV LEVAVCHEM ELOHIM MACHASEH LANU (SELAH)
בִּטְחוּ בוֹ בְכָל עֵת עָם שִׁפְכוּ לְפָנָיו לְבַבְכֶם אֱלֹהִים מַחֲסֶה לָּנוּ סֶלָה
KJ (62:8): Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
BN: Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before him; {N} Elohim is a refuge for us. (Selah)
62:10 ACH HEVEL BENEY ADAM KAZAV BENEY ISH BE MOZNAYIM LA'ALOT HEMAH ME HEVEL YACHAD
KJ (62:9): Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
62:10 ACH HEVEL BENEY ADAM KAZAV BENEY ISH BE MOZNAYIM LA'ALOT HEMAH ME HEVEL YACHAD
אַךְ הֶבֶל בְּנֵי אָדָם כָּזָב בְּנֵי אִישׁ בְּמֹאזְנַיִם לַעֲלוֹת הֵמָּה מֵהֶבֶל יָחַד
KJ (62:9): Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
BN: Truly human beings are nothing but air, and the lives of most people are made up of falsehoods; {N} if they are set on the scales, even together, they are lighter than air.
BENEY ADAM...BENEY ISH: Translators seem determined to see two different types of human being in these terms, where really they are just two different ways of saying the human race, without falling into repetition, which would be unpoetic.
HEVEL: See my last statement! But then see the link below HEVEL, and you will realise what a clever repetition this actually is, enabling yet a third term for the human species.
62:11 AL TIVTECHU VE OSHEK U VE GAZEL AL TEHBALU CHAYIL KI YANUV AL TASHIYTU LEV
אַל תִּבְטְחוּ בְעֹשֶׁק וּבְגָזֵל אַל תֶּהְבָּלוּ חַיִל כִּי יָנוּב אַל תָּשִׁיתוּ לֵב
KJ (62:10): Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
BN (extended translation): Don't imagine you can make your way in life through extortion and robbery, nor place vain hope that increasing your wealth, if it even happens, {N} is worth setting your heart upon.
62:12 ACHAT DIBER ELOHIM SHETAYIM ZU SHAMA'TI KI OZ L'ELOHIM
אַחַת דִּבֶּר אֱלֹהִים שְׁתַּיִם זוּ שָׁמָעְתִּי כִּי עֹז לֵאלֹהִים
KJ (62:11): God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
BN: Elohim has spoken once; twice have I heard this: strength lies with Elohim.
BN: Elohim has spoken once; twice have I heard this: strength lies with Elohim.
32:13 U LECHA ADONAI CHASED KI ATAH TESHALEM LE ISH KE MA'ASEHU
וּלְךָ אֲדֹנָי חָסֶד כִּי אַתָּה תְשַׁלֵּם לְאִישׁ כְּמַעֲשֵׂהוּ
KJ (62:12): Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
BN: Also to you, my Lord, does mercy belong; for you render to every man according to his deeds. {P}
ADONAI: Not a mention of YHVH anywhere in this Psalm - not unusual for Book 2. Adonai here is "My Lord", a term of polite address to a superior, human or divine. And quite probably, given the dedication, and the text, the Lord in this verse is the earthly king, not the deity, anyway.
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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