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
Again a Mizmor, again to (or by?) Asaph, whatever Asaph means (or whoever Asaph was) but definitely not the "artistic director" of King David's epoch, as the subtitle in the opening verse makes clear.
79:1 MIZMOR LE ASAPH ELOHIM BA'U GOYIM BA NACHALATECHA TIM'U ET HEYCHAL KADSHECHA SAMU ET YERU-SHALA'IM LE IYYIM
מִזְמוֹר לְאָסָף אֱלֹהִים בָּאוּ גוֹיִם בְּנַחֲלָתֶךָ טִמְּאוּ אֶת הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ שָׂמוּ אֶת יְרוּשָׁלִַם לְעִיִּים
KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of Asaph.) O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
BN (BibleNet translation): A Psalm for Asaph. {N} Elohim, the nations have come into your inheritance; they have defiled yout holy Temple; {N} they have reduced Yeru-Shala'im to ruins.
As with several earlier Psalms, there is only one recorded instance of a destruction on this scale, and that is the conflagration that ended the Davidic succession in 586 BCE, long after the six-and-a-half northern tribes had vanished from history (as in the last Psalm), half a millennium after the Asaph of David's time. Was Asaph then the job-title, "Chief Cataloguer of the Temple Library", or somesuch? Or does Asaph refer to the anthology itself? In which case "A Psalm for the Collection".
GOYIM: The KJ translation on this occasion is simply a disgrace! See verses 6 and 10, where the same word is translated the same way - likewise incorrectly.
HEYCHAL: Likewise there was no Heychal in the original Asaph's time; the Heychal was "the palace of YHVH", a name for the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im.
79:2 NATNU ET NIVLAT AVADEYCHA MA'ACHAL LE OPH HA SHAMAYIM BESAR CHASIYDEYCHA LE CHAY'TO ARETS
As with several earlier Psalms, there is only one recorded instance of a destruction on this scale, and that is the conflagration that ended the Davidic succession in 586 BCE, long after the six-and-a-half northern tribes had vanished from history (as in the last Psalm), half a millennium after the Asaph of David's time. Was Asaph then the job-title, "Chief Cataloguer of the Temple Library", or somesuch? Or does Asaph refer to the anthology itself? In which case "A Psalm for the Collection".
GOYIM: The KJ translation on this occasion is simply a disgrace! See verses 6 and 10, where the same word is translated the same way - likewise incorrectly.
HEYCHAL: Likewise there was no Heychal in the original Asaph's time; the Heychal was "the palace of YHVH", a name for the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im.
79:2 NATNU ET NIVLAT AVADEYCHA MA'ACHAL LE OPH HA SHAMAYIM BESAR CHASIYDEYCHA LE CHAY'TO ARETS
נָתְנוּ אֶת נִבְלַת עֲבָדֶיךָ מַאֲכָל לְעוֹף הַשָּׁמָיִם בְּשַׂר חֲסִידֶיךָ לְחַיְתוֹ אָרֶץ
KJ: The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
BN: They have given the dead bodies of your worshippers to be food for the fowls of the heavens, {N} the flesh of your pious followers to the beasts of the Earth.
AVADEYCHA: There is always a question over the word EVED, because it can mean a servant, a slave, or a worshipper. Given the context, this surely has to be the latter.
CHASIYDEYCHA: And as to this, in the KJ translation; "saints" are a Christian fantasy, not a Jewish one. In the Jewish world there are "gibborim", who are military heroes, and "tsadikim", who are wise men, and occasional "ga'onim" and "il'uim" who are what we usually call "geniuses" in English. But these are much more ordinary folk, mere "chasidim", pious souls who observe the laws and follow the lifestyle religiously. A synonym for "worshippers", in truth.
One question before we continue: this is a Psalm that records the destruction of the country in 586 BCE, at which time the aristocracy, the priesthood, the merchants, the scholars, and a great deal more besides, were dragged away in chains to walk across the Jordanian desert and take up exile and slavery in Babylon. Is that a moment of history in which anyone was likely to write a Psalm? Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon would say yes, but would also ask you to keep the context of the writing in mind: either one could have written his equivalent while in the trenches; either one could have written it while doing post-trauma therapy (in Owen's case), or court martial evasion (in Sassoon's), at Craiglockhart. I wonder which this was.
79:3 SHAPHCHU DAMAM KA MAYIM SEVIYVOT YERUSHALAYIM VE EYN KOVER
שָׁפְכוּ דָמָם כַּמַּיִם סְבִיבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם וְאֵין קוֹבֵר
KJ: Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.
BN: They have shed their blood like water all over Yeru-Shala'im, with no one to bury them.
The grammar and tone of this makes it feel like live commentary, "our correspondent on the scene", so to speak; witness testimony, not history. But good writers can evoke from memory just as convincingly.
79:4 HAYIYNU CHERPAH LISHCHENEYNU LA'AG VA KELES LISVIYVOTEYNU
הָיִינוּ חֶרְפָּה לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ לַעַג וָקֶלֶס לִסְבִיבוֹתֵינוּ
KJ: We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
BN: We have become an object of mockery to our neighbours, of scorn and derision to those who dwell around us.
And good writers can use past events as analogies for present ones, so this could have been penned decades, even centuries later.
79:5 AD MAH YHVH TE'ENAPH LA NETSACH TIV'AR KEMO ESH KIN'ATECHA
עַד מָה יְהוָה תֶּאֱנַף לָנֶצַח תִּבְעַר כְּמוֹ אֵשׁ קִנְאָתֶךָ
KJ: How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
BN: Until what, YHVH? Will you be angry for ever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
AD MAH: The KJ translation is naughty, because this isn't what it says, and it surely knows it, becauser this is one of the most famous lines of Yesha-Yah (Isaiah) that is unquestionably being [mis-]quoted. But Yesha-Yah said AD MATAI (Isaiah 6:11), and this is AD MAH: until what? "Until the scene described in the opening verses of the Psalm takes place" is the intention. See my notes on this same issue at Psalm 74:9.
79:6 SHEPHOCH CHAMAT'CHA EL HA GOYIM ASHER LO YEDA'UCHA VE AL MAMLACHOT ASHER BE SHIMCHA LO KARA'U
שְׁפֹךְ חֲמָתְךָ אֶל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְדָעוּךָ וְעַל מַמְלָכוֹת אֲשֶׁר בְּשִׁמְךָ לֹא קָרָאוּ
KJ: Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.
BN: Pour out your wrath upon the nations that do not know you, {N} and on those kingdoms that do not call on your name.
79:7 KI ACHAL ET YA'AKOV VE ET NAVEHU HESHAMU
כִּי אָכַל אֶת יַעֲקֹב וְאֶת נָוֵהוּ הֵשַׁמּוּ
KJ: For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
BN: For they have eaten up Ya'akov, and laid waste his habitation.
79:8 AL TIZKAR LANU AVONOT RI'SHONIM MAHER YEKADMUNU RACHAMEYCHA KI DALONU ME'OD
אַל תִּזְכָּר לָנוּ עֲוֹנֹת רִאשֹׁנִים מַהֵר יְקַדְּמוּנוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ כִּי דַלּוֹנוּ מְאֹד
KJ: O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.
BN: Do not remember us against the iniquities of our forefathers; {N} let your compassion come speedily to meet us; for we have been brought very low.
AL TIZKAR: "Unto the fourth generation...". Again this is a famous allusion - Deuteronomy 5:8/9 to be precise, speaking of false gods and graven images: "You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them; for I YHVH your god am a jealous god, who will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those who hate me...And showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments."
RI'SHONIM: is not "forefathers"; "precursors", or maybe "forebears". "Forefathers" in the Tanach are explicitly the patriarchs Av-Raham, Yitschak and Ya'akov, and this is about far more people, and far more sins. But also asking that Deuteronomy 5:8 be overlooked, in favour of Deuteronomy 5:9, because it is unfair to punish us for sins that we did not commit; and with an inference in the phrasing that "and anyway, we committed enough sins of our own to deserve punishment, but they are ours and we are ready to deal with them".
79:9 AZRENU ELOHEY YISH'ENU AL DEVAR KEVOD SHEMECHA VE HATSIYLENU VE CHAPER AL CHAT'OTEYNU LEMA'AN SHEMECHA
עָזְרֵנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ עַל דְּבַר כְּבוֹד שְׁמֶךָ וְהַצִּילֵנוּ וְכַפֵּר עַל חַטֹּאתֵינוּ לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ
KJ: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.
BN: Help us, you gods of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of your name; {N} and deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.
Am I recognising Yom Kippur liturgy? Definitely the word CHAPER is in there. LEMA'AN SHEMECHA is the third of the Avinu Malkeynu verses.
79:10 LAMAH YOMRU HA GOYIM AYEH ELOHEYHEM YIVAD'A BA GIYIM LE EYNEYNU NIKMAT DAM AVADEYCHA HA SHAPHUCH
לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ הַגּוֹיִם אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם יִוָּדַע בַּגִּיִּים לְעֵינֵינוּ נִקְמַת דַּם עֲבָדֶיךָ הַשָּׁפוּךְ
KJ: Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.
BN: Why should the nations say: "Where are their gods?" {N} Let the avenging of your servants' shed blood be made known among the nations, in our sight.
GOYIM... GIYIM: see my note to verse 1; but also note the play on sounds here.
But alas, though that would make a wonderful outcome to this Psalm, it is not what this verse is saying; and the one that follows even less so.
NIKMAT: Did you notice the contradiction? In verse 8: MAHER YEKADMUNU RACHAMEYCHA - let your compassion come speedily to meet us. So we call on the gods to be compassionate towards us, but simultaneously demand visible vengeance against the perpetrators. I seem to recall that Simeon Wiesenthal, the post-Holocaust "Nazi-hunter", entitled his autobiography "Justice, Not Revenge" - rather more compassion there than here.
79:11 TAVO LEPHANEYCHA ENKAT ASIYR KE GODEL ZERO'ACHA HOTER BENEY TEMUTAH
תָּבוֹא לְפָנֶיךָ אֶנְקַת אָסִיר כְּגֹדֶל זְרוֹעֲךָ הוֹתֵר בְּנֵי תְמוּתָה
KJ: Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die.
BN: Let the groaning of the prisoner come before you; according to the greatness of your power set free those who have been condemned to death.
As at verse 3, a sense of immediacy in these lines. The city has been captured, ransacked, the Temple burned to the ground, thousands killed, thousands more lined up to be marched off into captivity; and apparently some, probably the leadership, to be hanged or speared or probably in those days beheaded. Please spare them!
79:12 VE HASHEV LISHCHENEYNU SHIV'ATAYIM EL CHEYKAM CHERPATAM ASHER CHERPHUCHA ADONAI
וְהָשֵׁב לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ שִׁבְעָתַיִם אֶל חֵיקָם חֶרְפָּתָם אֲשֶׁר חֵרְפוּךָ אֲדֹנָי
KJ: And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
BN: And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, {N} wherewith they have reproached Thee, O Lord.
SHIV'ATAYIM: Rendering the vengeance sacred - see Number Seven, and especially LAMECH'S comment about KAYIN.
In your compassion, Lord, save us from death and exile - but wipe all of the enemy out, and destroy their land.
79:13 VA ANACHNU AMCHA VE TSON MAR'IYTECHA NODEH LECHA LE OLAM LE DOR VE DOR NESAPER TEHILATECHA
וַאֲנַחְנוּ עַמְּךָ וְצֹאן מַרְעִיתֶךָ נוֹדֶה לְּךָ לְעוֹלָם לְדֹר וָדֹר נְסַפֵּר תְּהִלָּתֶךָ
KJ: So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.
BN: So we who are your people, and the flock of your pasture, will give you thanks for ever; {N} we will sing your praises to all the coming generations. {P}
Psalms:
Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles
Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language
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