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
KJ has merged verse 1 into the title, so the verse-numbers are askew.
69:1 LA MENATSE'ACH AL SHOSHANIM LE DAVID
KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David.) Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
AL SHOSHANIM: See my notes on both AL and SHOSHANIM at Psalm 45. They might just be white lilies of the valley, in a bouquet for the soprano, though nothing in Yehudit scripture is ever "just" anything.
LE DAVID: Why has it taken me 69 Psalms, and this my third go-round, before the thought has occurred to me: surely this should be translated as "For the Beloved".
69:2 HOSHIYENI ELOHIM KI VA'U MAYIM AD NEPHESH
KJ (69:1): as above
BN: Save me, Elohim; for the waters are come in even unto the soul.
Waters coming in even unto the knees I can understand, but "to the soul" can only be metaphorical ("the aqua-jet is poetry"?). Generally, in these mythological tales of the Earth-god and the sun-god and the moon-goddess and the deities of the other stars and planets, the waters are the ones that break in order for Creation to become possible (see Genesis 1 or ask your obstetrician). We should expect allusion to floods and sea-monsters.
69:3 TAVA'TI BIYVEN METSULAH VE EYN MA'AMAD BA'TI VE MA'AMAKEY MAYIM VE SHIBOLET SHETAPHATNI
KJ (69:2): I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
No, I think he really does mean the knees!
TAVA'TI...BA'TI: Internal rhymes, but in such a way it makes an alexandrine and a hiatus.
KJ (69:3): I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
MEYACHEL: or ME YACHEL? And don't you just love the complaint? The deity as a personal servant, for whom you ring, and get angry when he doesn't come up from the scullery immediately.
ELOHAI: is plural, ELOHIM SHEL LI in full.
69:5 RABU MI SA'AROT RO'SHI SON'AI CHINAM ATSMU MATSMIYTAI OYEVAI SHEKER ASHER LO GAZALTI AZ ASHIV
KJ (69:4): They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
KJ (69:5): O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
KJ (69:6): Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
BN: Do not let those who wait for you be ashamed because of me, my Lord YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens; {N} do not let those who seek you be brought to confusion on my account, O gods of Yisra-El.
KJ (69:7): Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
KJ (69:8): I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
KJ (69:9): For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
BN: Because zeal for your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me.
69:11 VA EVKEH VA TSOM NAPHSHI VA TEHI LA CHARAPHOT LI
KJ (69:10): When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
KJ (69:11): I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
BN: I turned my clothing into sackcloth, and I became a byword to them.
MASHAL: is the word used for "proverb" in the book of that name.
69:13 YASIYCHU VI YOSHVEY SHA'AR U NEGIYNOT SHOTEY SHECHAR
KJ (69:12): They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
BN: Those who sit in the gate chatter about me; and I am the song of the drunkards.
69:14 VA ANI TEPHILATI LECHA YHVH ET RATSON ELOHIM BE RAV CHASDECHA ANEYNI BE EMET YISH'ECHA
KJ (69:13): But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
KJ (69:14): Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
BN: Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
No, he definitely means those waters literally (see verse 3).
69:16 AL TISHTEPHENI SHIBOLET MAYIM VE AL TIVLA'ENI METSULAH VE AL TE'TAR ALAI BE'ER PIYHA
KJ (69:15): Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
BN: Do not allow the flooding water to overwhelm me, nor let the deep swallow me up; {N} and do not alow the well to shut her mouth against me.
Second use of this; see Judges 12, and verse 3 above.
BE'ER: Not a BOR, nor any of the other several words used for pits and other entry-points to the Netherworld; this is quite specifically a Be'er, which is a well or fountain from which water may be gathered, as in Be'er Sheva or Be'er Lechi Ro'i; literal and geographical, not metaphorical, though obviously it connotes metaphorically as well. The point being, as per verse 4, that his throat is parched.
69:17 ANENI YHVH KI TOV CHASDECHA KE ROV RACHAMEYCHA PENEH ELAI
KJ (69:16): Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
BN: Answer me, YHVH, for your mercy is good; according to the multitude of your compassions turn to me.
ANENI: "Hear me" is simply incorrect. He knows he has been heard. What he needs is a response.
69:18 VE AL TASTER PANEYCHA ME AVDECHA KI TSAR LI MAHER ANENI
KJ (69:17): And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
BN: And do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress; answer me speedily.
69:19 KARVAH EL NAPHSHI GE'ALAH LEMA'AN OYEVAI PEDENI
KJ (69:18): Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
BN: Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it; ransom me because of my enemies.
The first four words of this verse are quoted in the fourth verse of the song that introduces Kabbalat Shabbat on a Friday evening, Lecha Dodi - the word Dodi itself coming, of course, from the same root that gives the name David.
69:20 ATAH YAD'ATA CHERPATI U VASHTI U CHELIMATI NEGDECHA KOL TSORERAI
KJ (69:19): Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
BN: You know my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion; my troubles are all before you.
No, again KJ is failing to translate the words in the text. There are no enemies here - those are the OYEVAI of verses 5 and 19: the troublemakers. These are the troubles themselves, the ones they have caused: TSURES in Yiddish.
69:21 CHERPAH SHAVRAH LIBI VA ANUSHAH VA AKAVEH LANUD VA AYIN VE LA MENACHAMIM VE LO MATSA'TI
KJ (69:20): Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
KJ (69:21): They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
69:23 YEHI SHULCHANAM LIPHNEYHEM LE PHACH VE LISHLOMIM LE MOKESH
KJ (69:22): Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
BN: Let their table become a snare before them; and when they they think that life has become a state of peace and harmony, let that become a trap as well.
69:24 TECHSHACHNAH EYNEYHEM ME RE'OT U MATNEYHEM TAMID HAM'AD
KJ (69:23): Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
BN: Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually shake.
TECHSHACHNAH: The root is CHOSECH, "dakness"; the prefictual Tav places it in the second person singular, but using that as a vocative; and PI'EL not PA'AL.
KJ (69:24): Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
KJ (69:25): Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
BN: Let their encampment be desolate; let none dwell in their tents.
I need to look this one up, but it seems that the desolate habitations is one of the major prophecies of one of the major prophets - and directed in his case against Yisra-El. (And yes, I know that it is quoted in Acts 1:20, but that isn't the one my synapses are having trouble locating).
KJ (69: 26): For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
BN: For they persecute he who you have smitten; and they tell of the pain of those who you have wounded.
KI ATAH: Very strange syntax here. Literally, word-by-word, "Because you who you struck they pursue and to sorrows your wounds they will tell". Make sense of that if you can!
CHALALEYCHA: Pure coincidence I am sure, but the poet's ear cannot help but hear this. CHAS VE CHALILAH ("the god's forbid") that I am correct, but soften the Chet into a Hey (and visually they are easily mistaken), and the space between those wounds (חֲלָלֶיךָ) and the praises (Hallelu-Yah) for the deity that caused them (הללויה) is very small indeed (see verse 31 below).
69:28 TENAH AVON AL AVONAM VE AL YAVO'U BE TSIDKATECHA
KJ (69:27): Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
BN: Add iniquity to their iniquity; and do not grant them access to your justice.
There is some serious anger being vented in this Psalm, an extraordinary contrast with the petitioning for mercy and compassion elsewhere.
69:29 YIMACHU MI SEPHER CHAYIM VE IM TSADIYKIM AL YIKATEVU
KJ (69:28): Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
BN: Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
Yom Kippur language; though we can also see where Rabban Gamli-El took his source of inspiration for that vile blessing in the Amidah, Ve La Malshinim.
69:30 VA ANI ANI VE CHO'EV YESHU'AT'CHA ELOHIM TESAGVENI
BN: But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, Elohim, set me up on high.
ANI ANI: One with an Ayin, one with an Aleph.
But there is also a point at which "woe is me" becomes tiresome, self-pitying, self-indulgent, and actually deeply hypocritical - and I think this verse is the point at which this Psalm achieves it (those who agree with me should see "Aye-Eye"). And why? Why such a Psalm anyway?
69:31 AHALELAH SHEM ELOHIM BE SHIR VE AGADLENU VE TODAH
KJ (69:30): I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
BN: I will praise the name of Elohim with a song, and exalt him with this thanksgiving.
69:32 VE TIYTAV L'YHVH MI SHOR PAR MAKRIN MAPHRIS
KJ (69:31): This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
KJ (69:32): The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
BN: The humble shall see it, and be glad; you who seek after the gods, let your heart revive.
69:34 KI SHOME'A EL EVYONIM YHVH VE ET ASIYRAV LO VAZAH
KJ (69:33): For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
KJ (69:34): Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
BN: Let the heavens and the Earth, the seas, and everything that moves therein and thereon praise him.
KJ (69:35): For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
BN: For the gods will save Tsi'on, and build the cities of Yehudah; and they shall abide there, and keep it as their possession.
YOSHI'A TSI'ON: Why is not ET TSI'ON?
YIVNEY AREY YEHUDAH: Can only be said after the return from exile, any time after 536 BCE. In Shelomoh's time, at the First Temple, it would have been meaningless to say this - Yeru-Shala'im was in the tribal territory of Bin-Yamin, so why pick out Yehudah and not mention all the other tribes as well? and anyway the land was Yisra-El; it only became Yehudah after the civil war following Shelomoh's death; but the liturgy of the First Temple, insofar as we know, refused to accept that the political division was also a religious division, and anyway there was nothing that required building in Yehudah until the destruction of 586 BCE.
69:37 VE ZERA AVADAV YINCHALUHA VE OHAVEY SHEMO YISHKENU VAH
KJ (69:36): The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
69:1 LA MENATSE'ACH AL SHOSHANIM LE DAVID
לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל שׁוֹשַׁנִּים לְדָוִד
KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David.) Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
BN (BibleNet translation): For the Artistic Director; to
be played using lily-shaped trumpets. To David.
LA MENATSEACH: For who was the MENATSE'ACH, see my note at Psalm 51:1.
LA MENATSEACH: For who was the MENATSE'ACH, see my note at Psalm 51:1.
AL SHOSHANIM: See my notes on both AL and SHOSHANIM at Psalm 45. They might just be white lilies of the valley, in a bouquet for the soprano, though nothing in Yehudit scripture is ever "just" anything.
LE DAVID: Why has it taken me 69 Psalms, and this my third go-round, before the thought has occurred to me: surely this should be translated as "For the Beloved".
69:2 HOSHIYENI ELOHIM KI VA'U MAYIM AD NEPHESH
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי אֱלֹהִים כִּי בָאוּ מַיִם עַד נָפֶשׁ
KJ (69:1): as above
BN: Save me, Elohim; for the waters are come in even unto the soul.
Waters coming in even unto the knees I can understand, but "to the soul" can only be metaphorical ("the aqua-jet is poetry"?). Generally, in these mythological tales of the Earth-god and the sun-god and the moon-goddess and the deities of the other stars and planets, the waters are the ones that break in order for Creation to become possible (see Genesis 1 or ask your obstetrician). We should expect allusion to floods and sea-monsters.
69:3 TAVA'TI BIYVEN METSULAH VE EYN MA'AMAD BA'TI VE MA'AMAKEY MAYIM VE SHIBOLET SHETAPHATNI
טָבַעְתִּי בִּיוֵן מְצוּלָה וְאֵין מָעֳמָד בָּאתִי בְמַעֲמַקֵּי מַיִם וְשִׁבֹּלֶת שְׁטָפָתְנִי
KJ (69:2): I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
BN: I am sunk in deep mire, and there is nowhere to stand; {N} I have come into deep waters, and the flood is overwhelming me.
No, I think he really does mean the knees!
TAVA'TI...BA'TI: Internal rhymes, but in such a way it makes an alexandrine and a hiatus.
TAV'ATI: From the root TEV'A,
BIYVEN: From the root YAVAN, which also gives YONAH, the dove who brought the olive-branch to No'ach at the end of the Flood; and YONAH, the Prophet who spent three days inside the belly of a whale (and strangely enough the same root is also how you write Greece in Yehudit; or Ionia anyway: YAVAN, יון. The Mesopotamian deity Oannes also comes from this root, and leads to the Greek name Johannes or John.
SHIBOLET: Should that not be pronounced Sibolet? See my notes at Judges 12:6.
SHIBOLET: Should that not be pronounced Sibolet? See my notes at Judges 12:6.
69:4 YAGA'TI VE KAR'I NICHAR GERONI KALU EYNAI MEYACHEL L'ELOHAI
יָגַעְתִּי בְקָרְאִי נִחַר גְּרוֹנִי כָּלוּ עֵינַי מְיַחֵל לֵאלֹהָי
KJ (69:3): I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
BN: I am exhausted from crying out all the time; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my gods.
I like this, a Psalm about being sick to death of being sick to death. I wonder if the irony was intentional.
I like this, a Psalm about being sick to death of being sick to death. I wonder if the irony was intentional.
YAGA'TI: Physically exhausted, not emotionally or mentally: that would be AYEPH, or possibly NIMAS.
KAR'I: THis is LIKRO'A, "calling out", not LIVCHOT, "weeping tears", though probably he is doing both. Though throats don't usually get dry from weeping.
MEYACHEL: or ME YACHEL? And don't you just love the complaint? The deity as a personal servant, for whom you ring, and get angry when he doesn't come up from the scullery immediately.
ELOHAI: is plural, ELOHIM SHEL LI in full.
69:5 RABU MI SA'AROT RO'SHI SON'AI CHINAM ATSMU MATSMIYTAI OYEVAI SHEKER ASHER LO GAZALTI AZ ASHIV
רַבּוּ מִשַּׂעֲרוֹת רֹאשִׁי שֹׂנְאַי חִנָּם עָצְמוּ מַצְמִיתַי אֹיְבַי שֶׁקֶר אֲשֶׁר לֹא גָזַלְתִּי אָז אָשִׁיב
KJ (69:4): They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
BN: More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without cause; {N} powerful are those among my enemies who would cut me off for no reason; must I give back what I never took in the first place?
SON'AI: One of those occasions when even the generally brilliant methodology of Nekudot has no automatic solution, and has to create an irregularity. To distinguish the consonant as a Seen, rather than a Sheen, requires that dot in the top left of the letter; but to show that the pronunciation is SON'AI also requires that same dot, because it serves both purposes - but it can't serve two different functions at once. So, if you look closely, you will that there is a second dot there, and it is two separate dots not a single double-dot; and so both purposes are achieved. Only one question: would it not have been simpler to do what is done on scores of other occasions, and insert a Vav with a dot on top after the problem-letter? ASHMOTAI in the next verse does precisely that.
69:6 ELOHIM ATAH YADA'TA LE IVALTI VE ASHMOTAI MIMCHA LO NICH'CHADU
69:6 ELOHIM ATAH YADA'TA LE IVALTI VE ASHMOTAI MIMCHA LO NICH'CHADU
אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ לְאִוַּלְתִּי וְאַשְׁמוֹתַי מִמְּךָ לֹא נִכְחָדוּ
KJ (69:5): O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
BN: Elohim, you know how stupid I am capable of being; and my mistakes cannot be concealed from you.
Why "LE" IVALTI? Is LADA'AT (in this usage) a transitive verb, like those French verbs that require à or de?
Why "LE" IVALTI? Is LADA'AT (in this usage) a transitive verb, like those French verbs that require à or de?
NICH'CHADU: The root really means "to deny", so this is more about the guilty person pleading not guilty than about the judge being all-wise and knowing anyway; but probably both are intended, the one consequent upon the other: no point denying, since you will know anyway.
69:7 AL YEVOSHU VI KOVEYCHA ADONAI YHVH TSEVA'OT AL YIKALMU VI MEVAKSHEYCHA ELOHEY YISRA-EL
69:7 AL YEVOSHU VI KOVEYCHA ADONAI YHVH TSEVA'OT AL YIKALMU VI MEVAKSHEYCHA ELOHEY YISRA-EL
אַל יֵבֹשׁוּ בִי קוֶֹיךָ אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה צְבָאוֹת אַל יִכָּלְמוּ בִי מְבַקְשֶׁיךָ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ (69:6): Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
BN: Do not let those who wait for you be ashamed because of me, my Lord YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens; {N} do not let those who seek you be brought to confusion on my account, O gods of Yisra-El.
For students of the techniques used in these Psalms, no better example of "Parallelism" than in this verse.
This constant naming of different deities confirms over and over that First Temple Judaism was still polytheistic, and we can state with confidence that one of the Redactor's jobs (he was very unsuccessful) was to rewrite the texts in such a manner that monotheism, if not yet the Omnideity, was endorsed and embedded.
69:8 KI ALEYCHA NASA'TI CHERPAH KISTAH CHELIMAH PHANAI
This constant naming of different deities confirms over and over that First Temple Judaism was still polytheistic, and we can state with confidence that one of the Redactor's jobs (he was very unsuccessful) was to rewrite the texts in such a manner that monotheism, if not yet the Omnideity, was endorsed and embedded.
69:8 KI ALEYCHA NASA'TI CHERPAH KISTAH CHELIMAH PHANAI
כִּי עָלֶיךָ נָשָׂאתִי חֶרְפָּה כִּסְּתָה כְלִמָּה פָנָי
BN: Because for your sake I have borne reproach, confusion has covered my face.
Should that be a comma, or a semi-colon, after "reproach"; because it changes the meaning of the verse entirely, by changing the meaning of the word "because" entirely.
69:9 MUZAR HAYITI LE ECHAI VE NACHRI LIVNEY IMI
Should that be a comma, or a semi-colon, after "reproach"; because it changes the meaning of the verse entirely, by changing the meaning of the word "because" entirely.
69:9 MUZAR HAYITI LE ECHAI VE NACHRI LIVNEY IMI
מוּזָר הָיִיתִי לְאֶחָי וְנָכְרִי לִבְנֵי אִמִּי
BN: I have become a stranger to my own kinsmen, and an outsider to my mother's children.
Is this perhaps an early instance of the child's Jewish identity depending on the mother rather than the father? In the Tanach, the child's identity is always taken from the father, regardless of the tribal or cultic or ethnic origin of the mother, but today it is precisely the opposite. Most historians date that change well beyond the end of the Tanach, but this verse definitely seems to challenge that.
69:10 KI KIN'AT BEIT'CHA ACHALATNI VE CHERPOT CHORPHEYCHA NAPHLU ALAI
69:10 KI KIN'AT BEIT'CHA ACHALATNI VE CHERPOT CHORPHEYCHA NAPHLU ALAI
כִּי קִנְאַת בֵּיתְךָ אֲכָלָתְנִי וְחֶרְפּוֹת חוֹרְפֶיךָ נָפְלוּ עָלָי
KJ (69:9): For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
BN: Because zeal for your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me.
69:11 VA EVKEH VA TSOM NAPHSHI VA TEHI LA CHARAPHOT LI
וָאֶבְכֶּה בַצּוֹם נַפְשִׁי וַתְּהִי לַחֲרָפוֹת לִי
KJ (69:10): When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
BN: So I wept, and afflicted my soul by fasting, and that was counted against me.
Am I hearing in this an early hint of the Major Prophets, chastising for the insincerity, the treadmill nature, of prayer, penitence, sacrifice? Or is this the Psalmist thinking back to the Psalm that carried that same message, and bemoaning the inner contradiction? Cf 1 Samuel 15:22,
69:12 VA ETNAH LEVUSHI SAK VA EHI LAHEM LE MASHAL
Am I hearing in this an early hint of the Major Prophets, chastising for the insincerity, the treadmill nature, of prayer, penitence, sacrifice? Or is this the Psalmist thinking back to the Psalm that carried that same message, and bemoaning the inner contradiction? Cf 1 Samuel 15:22,
69:12 VA ETNAH LEVUSHI SAK VA EHI LAHEM LE MASHAL
וָאֶתְּנָה לְבוּשִׁי שָׂק וָאֱהִי לָהֶם לְמָשָׁל
KJ (69:11): I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
BN: I turned my clothing into sackcloth, and I became a byword to them.
MASHAL: is the word used for "proverb" in the book of that name.
69:13 YASIYCHU VI YOSHVEY SHA'AR U NEGIYNOT SHOTEY SHECHAR
יָשִׂיחוּ בִי יֹשְׁבֵי שָׁעַר וּנְגִינוֹת שׁוֹתֵי שֵׁכָר
KJ (69:12): They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
BN: Those who sit in the gate chatter about me; and I am the song of the drunkards.
YASIYCHU: We have explored the word SIYCHA on several occasions, because its meaning was not entirely clear. This verse is extremely useful in providing that clarity.
NEGIYNOT: Precisely the same is true of this word, which has occurred in various forms, and we have been uncertain whether it was an indication of the melody, the instruments used to accompany the song, the song itself, or a specific type of song.
NEGIYNOT: Precisely the same is true of this word, which has occurred in various forms, and we have been uncertain whether it was an indication of the melody, the instruments used to accompany the song, the song itself, or a specific type of song.
69:14 VA ANI TEPHILATI LECHA YHVH ET RATSON ELOHIM BE RAV CHASDECHA ANEYNI BE EMET YISH'ECHA
וַאֲנִי תְפִלָּתִי לְךָ יְהוָה עֵת רָצוֹן אֱלֹהִים בְּרָב חַסְדֶּךָ עֲנֵנִי בֶּאֱמֶת יִשְׁעֶךָ
BN: But as for me, let my prayer be to you, YHVH, at an acceptable time; Elohim, in the abundance of your mercy, {N} answer me with the truth of your salvation.
And repeat the last two words, at least in the modern Conservative liturgy; it is now a key verse in Mah Tovu, the prayer that opens Shacharit every morning; and see my note about this hymn at Psalm 5:8: With the exception of the title, which comes from Bil'am's oracle in Numbers 24:5, the other verses that constitute "Mah Tovu" are all from Psalms: 26:8, this one, and 95:6, the latter modified from its original plural to the singular in the modern prayer. In Sephardi communities - the communities of Jews from Spain and North Africa – "Mah Tovu" is not sung, but Psalm 5:8 is recited on entering the synagogue, and Psalm 5:9 on leaving it.
69:15 HATSIYLENI MI TIYT VE AL ETBA'AH INATSLAH MI SON'AI U MI MA'AMAKEY MAYIM
And repeat the last two words, at least in the modern Conservative liturgy; it is now a key verse in Mah Tovu, the prayer that opens Shacharit every morning; and see my note about this hymn at Psalm 5:8: With the exception of the title, which comes from Bil'am's oracle in Numbers 24:5, the other verses that constitute "Mah Tovu" are all from Psalms: 26:8, this one, and 95:6, the latter modified from its original plural to the singular in the modern prayer. In Sephardi communities - the communities of Jews from Spain and North Africa – "Mah Tovu" is not sung, but Psalm 5:8 is recited on entering the synagogue, and Psalm 5:9 on leaving it.
69:15 HATSIYLENI MI TIYT VE AL ETBA'AH INATSLAH MI SON'AI U MI MA'AMAKEY MAYIM
הַצִּילֵנִי מִטִּיט וְאַל אֶטְבָּעָה אִנָּצְלָה מִשֹּׂנְאַי וּמִמַּעֲמַקֵּי מָיִם
KJ (69:14): Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
BN: Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
No, he definitely means those waters literally (see verse 3).
69:16 AL TISHTEPHENI SHIBOLET MAYIM VE AL TIVLA'ENI METSULAH VE AL TE'TAR ALAI BE'ER PIYHA
אַל תִּשְׁטְפֵנִי שִׁבֹּלֶת מַיִם וְאַל תִּבְלָעֵנִי מְצוּלָה וְאַל תֶּאְטַר עָלַי בְּאֵר פִּיהָ
KJ (69:15): Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
BN: Do not allow the flooding water to overwhelm me, nor let the deep swallow me up; {N} and do not alow the well to shut her mouth against me.
Second use of this; see Judges 12, and verse 3 above.
BE'ER: Not a BOR, nor any of the other several words used for pits and other entry-points to the Netherworld; this is quite specifically a Be'er, which is a well or fountain from which water may be gathered, as in Be'er Sheva or Be'er Lechi Ro'i; literal and geographical, not metaphorical, though obviously it connotes metaphorically as well. The point being, as per verse 4, that his throat is parched.
69:17 ANENI YHVH KI TOV CHASDECHA KE ROV RACHAMEYCHA PENEH ELAI
עֲנֵנִי יְהוָה כִּי טוֹב חַסְדֶּךָ כְּרֹב רַחֲמֶיךָ פְּנֵה אֵלָי
BN: Answer me, YHVH, for your mercy is good; according to the multitude of your compassions turn to me.
ANENI: "Hear me" is simply incorrect. He knows he has been heard. What he needs is a response.
RACHAMEYCHA: One of those womb-words. Rahim (رحم) in the Arabic, Rechem in the Yehudit-Ivrit: all the words for a nicer world (mercy, compassion etc) are womb-words; all the brutality comes from the Zayin, which is the penis, which is the holy number of YHVH, seven.
69:18 VE AL TASTER PANEYCHA ME AVDECHA KI TSAR LI MAHER ANENI
וְאַל תַּסְתֵּר פָּנֶיךָ מֵעַבְדֶּךָ כִּיצַרלִי מַהֵר עֲנֵנִי
KJ (69:17): And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
BN: And do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress; answer me speedily.
69:19 KARVAH EL NAPHSHI GE'ALAH LEMA'AN OYEVAI PEDENI
קָרְבָה אֶל נַפְשִׁי גְאָלָהּ לְמַעַן אֹיְבַי פְּדֵנִי
KJ (69:18): Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
BN: Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it; ransom me because of my enemies.
The first four words of this verse are quoted in the fourth verse of the song that introduces Kabbalat Shabbat on a Friday evening, Lecha Dodi - the word Dodi itself coming, of course, from the same root that gives the name David.
PEDENI: Ransom in the sense of PIDYON HA BEN, for which click the link; and yes, it really is "ransom" as we understand it from kidnapping, and redemption as we understand it from pawn-shops: cash-payment, though whether into the collection box or the annual fund-raiser is a matter of personal preference.
69:20 ATAH YAD'ATA CHERPATI U VASHTI U CHELIMATI NEGDECHA KOL TSORERAI
אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ חֶרְפָּתִי וּבָשְׁתִּי וּכְלִמָּתִי נֶגְדְּךָ כָּל צוֹרְרָי
KJ (69:19): Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
BN: You know my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion; my troubles are all before you.
No, again KJ is failing to translate the words in the text. There are no enemies here - those are the OYEVAI of verses 5 and 19: the troublemakers. These are the troubles themselves, the ones they have caused: TSURES in Yiddish.
69:21 CHERPAH SHAVRAH LIBI VA ANUSHAH VA AKAVEH LANUD VA AYIN VE LA MENACHAMIM VE LO MATSA'TI
חֶרְפָּה שָׁבְרָה לִבִּי וָאָנוּשָׁה וָאֲקַוֶּה לָנוּד וָאַיִן וְלַמְנַחֲמִים וְלֹא מָצָאתִי
KJ (69:20): Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
BN: Reproach has broken my heart; and I am sore sick; {N} and I looked for someone to show compassion, but there was no one; and for comforters, but I found none.
69:22 VA YITNU BE VARUTI ROSH VE LITSMA'I YASHKUNI CHOMETS
69:22 VA YITNU BE VARUTI ROSH VE LITSMA'I YASHKUNI CHOMETS
וַיִּתְּנוּ בְּבָרוּתִי רֹאשׁ וְלִצְמָאִי יַשְׁקוּנִי חֹמֶץ
KJ (69:21): They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
BN: They put poison into my food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
ROSH: The head, as in the top of the body, but also the starting-point of the river, and indeed the "Big Bang" of Creation itself - BERE'SHIT. So how does it come to mean poison? And why is it that the answer to that question takes us back yet again to Deuteronomy 32, which was so dominant a source (source, as in ROSH) for the last Psalm. Verses 32 and 33 when you get there, though Hosea 10:4 also has it, and several others, including Deuteronomy 29:17... none of which explain it, but at least they confirm that this is one of the usages.
ROSH: The head, as in the top of the body, but also the starting-point of the river, and indeed the "Big Bang" of Creation itself - BERE'SHIT. So how does it come to mean poison? And why is it that the answer to that question takes us back yet again to Deuteronomy 32, which was so dominant a source (source, as in ROSH) for the last Psalm. Verses 32 and 33 when you get there, though Hosea 10:4 also has it, and several others, including Deuteronomy 29:17... none of which explain it, but at least they confirm that this is one of the usages.
BEVARUTI: And you are wondering why I have this after ROSH, when it comes before it in the verse. Because ROSH is the head, and so needs to come first? Because ROSH takes us back to BERESHIT, where it is of course the first word - what other word could come first - and the second word is BAR'A, which means "to create", and specifically (see my notes there) in the sense of "to cut, carve out, form by cutting"... but that is BAR'A with an Aleph for its final letter, where the root of BEVARUTI is BARAH with a Hey ending, and it too means "to cut, carve out, form by cutting", which is what you have to do with meat or fruit or vegetables or cheese etc if you want to turn it into food. Is the Hey-Aleph difference simply the standard difference between the Yehudit and the Aramaic?
Worth looking at 2 Samuel 12:17 on that latter, because it is definitely food there, and definitely an Aleph ending; and then cf 2 Samuel 13:6, because that too is definitely food, and just as definitely a Hey ending.
The blessing over the wine also uses the same root "BOREY PERI HA GAPHEN", and I do wonder if it is the cutting rather than the creating that is being blessed here - because we don't bless it in the same way when we pluck the grapes to eat them raw, or to dry them into raisins.
CHOMETS: Two routes to go with this, either CHAMETS and Pesach, or Jesus' scourging (John 19) - though they may actually be parts of the same thing. But also note that CHOMETS here is vinegar, which is tempered or sour wine (Jews do not use the BOREY PERI HA GAPHEN blessing over it; but it is worth noting, in relation to John 19, that vinegar is poured over the head, and only the head, of the corpse, in the traditional Tahara ceremonies); whereas CHAMETS, spelled exactly the same (for which see Exodus 13:3), is the leftover leavened bread which has to be burned, matzah eaten in the meanwhile, before the new year's harvest can be baked. How odd that both parts of the Eucharist should become, in their damaged state, CHAMETS.
And having gone through each of those complexly ambivalent terms, is this verse really about people trying to poison him? I leave that to you to unravel.
And having gone through each of those complexly ambivalent terms, is this verse really about people trying to poison him? I leave that to you to unravel.
69:23 YEHI SHULCHANAM LIPHNEYHEM LE PHACH VE LISHLOMIM LE MOKESH
יְהִי שֻׁלְחָנָם לִפְנֵיהֶם לְפָח וְלִשְׁלוֹמִים לְמוֹקֵשׁ
KJ (69:22): Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
BN: Let their table become a snare before them; and when they they think that life has become a state of peace and harmony, let that become a trap as well.
PACH: Yes, it means a snare or a trap, but I cannot resist pointing out that, in modern Ivrit, a PACH ASHPAH (פַּח אַשׁפָּה) is a dustbin, and I have no doubt that this is how the Psalmist intends his PACH: a place to put the garbage of humanity.
LISHLOMIM: KJ has finally broken its habit of automatically translating SHALOM as "peace", recognising that SHALEM means "wholeness", of which "welfare", like "peace" is indeed one of its meanings.
I find it perplexing that so many of these Psalms are apologies, or full atonements, always deeply regretful, for the wicked thoughts of others, let alone the wicked actions; but then, as soon as that is done, out come the selfsame wicked thoughts, and a request of the deity to carry out the selfsame wicked actions by proxy against those others; and included in the very song that has just declared them sinful. "Murder is abhorrent, Lord. Kill all violent men" - something of that sort. Vindictive at times, malicious at others, and yet... but fortunately this blog-book is about literature and culture, not theology, so I am free to raise the question, but not bound to attempt the impossible, which is to answer it.
69:24 TECHSHACHNAH EYNEYHEM ME RE'OT U MATNEYHEM TAMID HAM'AD
תֶּחְשַׁכְנָה עֵינֵיהֶם מֵרְאוֹת וּמָתְנֵיהֶם תָּמִיד הַמְעַד
KJ (69:23): Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
BN: Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually shake.
TECHSHACHNAH: The root is CHOSECH, "dakness"; the prefictual Tav places it in the second person singular, but using that as a vocative; and PI'EL not PA'AL.
Did I just say "vindictive at times, malicious at others"? Mind you, TECHSHACHNAH is wonderfully onomatopoeic: you can almost hear the slashing of Cornwall's blade as he reduces Gloucester to blindness (Lear: Act 3, Scene 7). I'm not quite sure, however, beyond the Siren-dancing at the strip-club, how you make loins "continually shake", or even why you would want to.
MATNEYHEM: Or maybe it isn't their loins anyway. That would usually be MATNAYIM, using a multiple plural, and generally it means the entire lower back and front - probably the equivalent to the phrase "private parts" in English (2 Kings 4:29, 9:1, Isaiah 20:2...). And so, yes, it could be "loins", but the root is MATAN, which means "a gift", and becomes the "private parts" because these are the "special gifts" without which life cannot be created, or its residue removed. But there are other "special gifts" - the ones brought as sacrifices, for example, to remove the residue of wicked thought and violent action, the means of dumping the excrement of sin in the PACH ASHPAH which is the gutter that surrounds the altar (Ezekiel 43:13/14).
69:25 SHEPHACH ALEYHEM ZA'MECHA VA CHARON APCHA YASIYGEM
MATNEYHEM: Or maybe it isn't their loins anyway. That would usually be MATNAYIM, using a multiple plural, and generally it means the entire lower back and front - probably the equivalent to the phrase "private parts" in English (2 Kings 4:29, 9:1, Isaiah 20:2...). And so, yes, it could be "loins", but the root is MATAN, which means "a gift", and becomes the "private parts" because these are the "special gifts" without which life cannot be created, or its residue removed. But there are other "special gifts" - the ones brought as sacrifices, for example, to remove the residue of wicked thought and violent action, the means of dumping the excrement of sin in the PACH ASHPAH which is the gutter that surrounds the altar (Ezekiel 43:13/14).
69:25 SHEPHACH ALEYHEM ZA'MECHA VA CHARON APCHA YASIYGEM
שְׁפָךְ עֲלֵיהֶם זַעְמֶךָ וַחֲרוֹן אַפְּךָ יַשִּׂיגֵם
KJ (69:24): Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
BN: Pour out your indignation upon them, and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
It also clashes profoundly with Midrashic responses to such incidents as the miracle of the Red Sea (see my notes to Exodus 15, especially verse 19), where what is a miracle to one side is also a terrible tragedy to the other, and both attributable to the deity.
69:26 TEHI TIYRATAM NESHAMAH BE AHALEYHEM AL YEHI YOSHEV
It also clashes profoundly with Midrashic responses to such incidents as the miracle of the Red Sea (see my notes to Exodus 15, especially verse 19), where what is a miracle to one side is also a terrible tragedy to the other, and both attributable to the deity.
69:26 TEHI TIYRATAM NESHAMAH BE AHALEYHEM AL YEHI YOSHEV
תְּהִי טִירָתָם נְשַׁמָּה בְּאָהֳלֵיהֶם אַל יְהִי יֹשֵׁב
KJ (69:25): Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
BN: Let their encampment be desolate; let none dwell in their tents.
I need to look this one up, but it seems that the desolate habitations is one of the major prophecies of one of the major prophets - and directed in his case against Yisra-El. (And yes, I know that it is quoted in Acts 1:20, but that isn't the one my synapses are having trouble locating).
AHALEYHEM: interesting that he should describe them in this manner. Bedou still lived in tents, and maybe the odd shepherd put one up while flocking in the hills, but the Beney Yisra-El had become an entirely sedentary, town-dwelling people, by the time of King David and the only tent with which they would have been religiously familiar was the Mishkan, the Ohel Mo'ed, the tent that housed the Tabernacle.
Having said which, and having mentioned Acts 1:20 - worth going to the link to see some of the alternate translations for the third part of this verse, the words that come after AL YEHI YOSHEV... what, there aren't any other words? Are you sure? My text here is all there is? Have you checked multiple texts to be certain? Septuagint? Dead Sea Scrolls? What, does that mean, that Paul, pretended, made up, invented, an entire phrase, that just happens to prophesy Jesus as the Messiah... no, surely not!
69:27 KI ATAH ASHER HIKIYTA RADAPHU VE EL MACH'OV CHALALEYCHA YESAPERU
כִּי אַתָּה אֲשֶׁר הִכִּיתָ רָדָפוּ וְאֶל מַכְאוֹב חֲלָלֶיךָ יְסַפֵּרוּ
KJ (69: 26): For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
BN: For they persecute he who you have smitten; and they tell of the pain of those who you have wounded.
KI ATAH: Very strange syntax here. Literally, word-by-word, "Because you who you struck they pursue and to sorrows your wounds they will tell". Make sense of that if you can!
CHALALEYCHA: Pure coincidence I am sure, but the poet's ear cannot help but hear this. CHAS VE CHALILAH ("the god's forbid") that I am correct, but soften the Chet into a Hey (and visually they are easily mistaken), and the space between those wounds (חֲלָלֶיךָ) and the praises (Hallelu-Yah) for the deity that caused them (הללויה) is very small indeed (see verse 31 below).
69:28 TENAH AVON AL AVONAM VE AL YAVO'U BE TSIDKATECHA
תְּנָה עָוֹן עַל עֲוֹנָם וְאַל יָבֹאוּ בְּצִדְקָתֶךָ
KJ (69:27): Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
BN: Add iniquity to their iniquity; and do not grant them access to your justice.
There is some serious anger being vented in this Psalm, an extraordinary contrast with the petitioning for mercy and compassion elsewhere.
69:29 YIMACHU MI SEPHER CHAYIM VE IM TSADIYKIM AL YIKATEVU
יִמָּחוּ מִסֵּפֶר חַיִּים וְעִם צַדִּיקִים אַל יִכָּתֵבוּ
KJ (69:28): Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
BN: Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
Yom Kippur language; though we can also see where Rabban Gamli-El took his source of inspiration for that vile blessing in the Amidah, Ve La Malshinim.
69:30 VA ANI ANI VE CHO'EV YESHU'AT'CHA ELOHIM TESAGVENI
וַאֲנִי עָנִי וְכוֹאֵב יְשׁוּעָתְךָ אֱלֹהִים תְּשַׂגְּבֵנִי
KJ (69:29): But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
BN: But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, Elohim, set me up on high.
ANI ANI: One with an Ayin, one with an Aleph.
But there is also a point at which "woe is me" becomes tiresome, self-pitying, self-indulgent, and actually deeply hypocritical - and I think this verse is the point at which this Psalm achieves it (those who agree with me should see "Aye-Eye"). And why? Why such a Psalm anyway?
69:31 AHALELAH SHEM ELOHIM BE SHIR VE AGADLENU VE TODAH
אֲהַלְלָה שֵׁם אֱלֹהִים בְּשִׁיר וַאֲגַדְּלֶנּוּ בְתוֹדָה
KJ (69:30): I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
BN: I will praise the name of Elohim with a song, and exalt him with this thanksgiving.
AHALELAH: See my notes to verse 27.
TODAH: Amongst the sacrifices a TODAH is a thanksgiving offering, and, as per the link, precisely describes the context of this Psalm: "...obligatory for survivors of life-threatening crises...". And yet. We need to go to the next verse to understand that the "thank you" here is not a thanksgiving offering, but simply the singing of this Psalm, perhaps even just this verse.
69:32 VE TIYTAV L'YHVH MI SHOR PAR MAKRIN MAPHRIS
וְתִיטַב לַיהוָה מִשּׁוֹר פָּר מַקְרִן מַפְרִיס
KJ (69:31): This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
BN: And it shall please YHVH better than a bullock that has horns and hoofs.
VE TIYTAV: Picking up once again the insistence that the gods do not want the sacrifices, but rather the obedience, the righteous behaviour.
YHVH: Where most of the Psalms in this part of the collection focus on Elohim and virtually ignore YHVH, this one has already mentioned YHVH several times, once as YHVH Tseva'ot. But those were merely mentions; here he becomes the focus, and it is precisely when the Psalm is changing mood, from whining about enemies and wishing ill on them, to praise for the wonders of the world, and the beginning of the shift from sacrifices (Sadducean Temple) to obedience (Pharisaic Talmud). So YHVH supercedes Elohim, and the other named deities, but is still part of the polytheon (confirmed by verse 36); so we can date this part of the text as a deliberate rewriting of a much older text, rather than the creation of a new text; a re-creation for the restored Temple, rather than an original creation for the Solomonic First Temple, which was entirely polytheistic. Probably early in the Hasmonean epoch (by its middle YHVH has staged his coup and elected himself autocratic President for eternity).
MAKRIN MAPHRIS: Are those horns and hoofs among the origins of the later portrait of ha-Satan, the transformed Christian version, the one that also has a very Jewish nose?
69:33 RA'U ANAVIM YISMACHU DORSHEY ELOHIM VIYCHI LEVAVECHEM
VE TIYTAV: Picking up once again the insistence that the gods do not want the sacrifices, but rather the obedience, the righteous behaviour.
YHVH: Where most of the Psalms in this part of the collection focus on Elohim and virtually ignore YHVH, this one has already mentioned YHVH several times, once as YHVH Tseva'ot. But those were merely mentions; here he becomes the focus, and it is precisely when the Psalm is changing mood, from whining about enemies and wishing ill on them, to praise for the wonders of the world, and the beginning of the shift from sacrifices (Sadducean Temple) to obedience (Pharisaic Talmud). So YHVH supercedes Elohim, and the other named deities, but is still part of the polytheon (confirmed by verse 36); so we can date this part of the text as a deliberate rewriting of a much older text, rather than the creation of a new text; a re-creation for the restored Temple, rather than an original creation for the Solomonic First Temple, which was entirely polytheistic. Probably early in the Hasmonean epoch (by its middle YHVH has staged his coup and elected himself autocratic President for eternity).
MAKRIN MAPHRIS: Are those horns and hoofs among the origins of the later portrait of ha-Satan, the transformed Christian version, the one that also has a very Jewish nose?
69:33 RA'U ANAVIM YISMACHU DORSHEY ELOHIM VIYCHI LEVAVECHEM
רָאוּ עֲנָוִים יִשְׂמָחוּ דֹּרְשֵׁי אֱלֹהִים וִיחִי לְבַבְכֶם
KJ (69:32): The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
BN: The humble shall see it, and be glad; you who seek after the gods, let your heart revive.
69:34 KI SHOME'A EL EVYONIM YHVH VE ET ASIYRAV LO VAZAH
כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ אֶל אֶבְיוֹנִים יְהוָה וְאֶת אֲסִירָיו לֹא בָזָה
KJ (69:33): For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
BN: For El hears the needy, and does not despise those who are in gaol.
EL: And YHVH may have risen to the rank of Chief Executive, but El is still the Chairman of the Board.
EL: And YHVH may have risen to the rank of Chief Executive, but El is still the Chairman of the Board.
69:35 YEHALELUHU SHAMAYIM VA ARETS YAMIM VE CHOL ROMES BAM
יְהַלְלוּהוּ שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ יַמִּים וְכָל רֹמֵשׂ בָּם
KJ (69:34): Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
BN: Let the heavens and the Earth, the seas, and everything that moves therein and thereon praise him.
Based on 36, the "him" in question should really be regarded as neuter, not masculine: "it": the Cabinet, not the Prime Mnister.
69:36 KI ELOHIM YOSHIY'A TSI'ON VE YIVNEH AREY YEHUDAH VE YASHVU SHAM VIYRESHU'AH
כִּי אֱלֹהִים יוֹשִׁיעַ צִיּוֹן וְיִבְנֶה עָרֵי יְהוּדָה וְיָשְׁבוּ שָׁם וִירֵשׁוּהָ
KJ (69:35): For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
BN: For the gods will save Tsi'on, and build the cities of Yehudah; and they shall abide there, and keep it as their possession.
YOSHI'A TSI'ON: Why is not ET TSI'ON?
YIVNEY AREY YEHUDAH: Can only be said after the return from exile, any time after 536 BCE. In Shelomoh's time, at the First Temple, it would have been meaningless to say this - Yeru-Shala'im was in the tribal territory of Bin-Yamin, so why pick out Yehudah and not mention all the other tribes as well? and anyway the land was Yisra-El; it only became Yehudah after the civil war following Shelomoh's death; but the liturgy of the First Temple, insofar as we know, refused to accept that the political division was also a religious division, and anyway there was nothing that required building in Yehudah until the destruction of 586 BCE.
69:37 VE ZERA AVADAV YINCHALUHA VE OHAVEY SHEMO YISHKENU VAH
וְזֶרַע עֲבָדָיו יִנְחָלוּהָ וְאֹהֲבֵי שְׁמוֹ יִשְׁכְּנוּ בָהּ
KJ (69:36): The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
BN: And the future generations of his worshippers shall inherit it; and they who love his name shall inhabit it. {P}
Not for the first time 36 verses (37 with the title) - is there any significance? Thirty-six in Yehudit-Ivrit is Lamed-Vav (ל"ו), and that number is not only the number of King David's bodyguard (it takes 6x6 swords to make the Magen David, the Shield or Star of David), but in Talmudic Judaism the bodyguard of the human race itself. Click here.
Not for the first time 36 verses (37 with the title) - is there any significance? Thirty-six in Yehudit-Ivrit is Lamed-Vav (ל"ו), and that number is not only the number of King David's bodyguard (it takes 6x6 swords to make the Magen David, the Shield or Star of David), but in Talmudic Judaism the bodyguard of the human race itself. Click here.
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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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