TheBibleNet: Psalm 103

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

The previous Psalm was unnamed, but appeared to be Davidic. This one is named, but we need to register that LE DAVID is most likely a dedication to him, or possibly an indication of the use of a genre attributed to him, but is not likely to be a Psalm by him.

Other than the dedication, the rest of the opening phrase is text, not title.

The argument for the Psalms being divided into five books is based on the four "doxological" verses at the end of the closing Psalm of each "book"; yet here is an example of doxology (and there are dozens more, throughout the Psalms), which is not regarded as a book-divider. And why should not the opening verse of a Psalm define the start of a new section, just as much as the closing verse of a Psalm?

The Psalm has 22 verses, allowing for the first to be both title and opening phrases. 22 happens to be the number of the letters in the Yehudit alphabet, so we might anticipate an alphabetical acrostic; but in fact there is no evidence of such.

103:1 LE DAVID BARACHI NAPHSHI ET YHVH VE CHOL KERAVAI ET SHEM KADSHO

לְדָוִד בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהוָה וְכָל קְרָבַי אֶת שֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ

KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David.) Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

BN (BibleNet translation): For David. May my soul bless YHVH, and [may] all that is within me [likewise bless] his holy name.

BARACHI: Why is there a Yud on the end of this word? On the noun - NEPHESH - it indicates the personal possessive, and NEPHESH is feminine, so the verb has to be rendered in the feminine as well, whence BARACHI. Which then leads me to wonder why it is pointed as BARACHI, and not either BARUCH, which is the form of the direct blessing, or BARACHU, which we will find in verse 20 and 21 below; or, indeed, for the feminine, BARCHI?

ET: is the indicator of an accusative noun - and therefore renders YHVH as the blessed, not the blesser; the second ET likewise, though the syntax is rather strange. Perhaps musical demands took precedence over the linguistic.

103:2 BARACHI NAPHSHI ET YHVH VE AL TISHKECHI KOL GEMULAV

בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהוָה וְאַל תִּשְׁכְּחִי כָּל גְּמוּלָיו

KJ: Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

BN: Bless YHVH, O my soul, and do not forget how many are his rewards.

TISHKECHI: Again the feminine, because NEPHESH is feminine.

GEMULAV: "Benefits" sounds like something you get to compensate for unemployment. The root is GAMAL, which is actually a camel (today we would probably equivalate with yachts or cars)! see verse 10.

103:3 HA SOLE'ACH LE CHOL AVONECHI HA ROPH'E LE CHOL TACHALU'AI'CHI

הַסֹּלֵחַ לְכָל עֲוֹנֵכִי הָרֹפֵא לְכָל תַּחֲלֻאָיְכִי

KJ: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

BN: Who forgives all my iniquity; who heals all my diseases;

HA: "The one who", using the definite article rather than ASHER; another archaism.

AVONECHI... TACHALU'AI'CHI: That final Yud again, emphasising the "my" throughout this: not "thy" or "your": this is a soul addressing itself (though there does seem to be an anomaly with EDYECH in verse 5)

TACHALU'AI'CHI: But also worth noting the difficulty of this word musically. The last two syllables sound like a coyote howling, way off in the distance, or maybe the wind, in the watchtower.

103:4 HA GO'EL MI SHACHAT CHAI'AYCHI HA ME'ATRECHI CHESED VE RACHAMIM

הַגּוֹאֵל מִשַּׁחַת חַיָּיְכִי הַמְעַטְּרֵכִי חֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים

KJ: Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

BN: Who redeems my life from the pit; who encompasses me with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

ME'ATRECHI: Definitely feminine, though it insists on using the masculine elsewhere. I am ready to postulate that this was originally a hymn to the mother-goddess, adapted as a hymn to YHVH later on, but without making all the necessary corrections - perhaps because, in the Ezraic epoch, as Nechem-Yah complains (Nehemiah 13:24), and his and Ezra's own writings confirm, they weren't really very good at Yehudit, these men who wrote down the Tanach!
And why am I so convinced? Not just the repetition of that feminine ending, but the nature of the deity. "Encompass" is not really accurate; this is about "hugging", "cuddling", "gathering in her arms in warm embrace". This is the RECHEM, not the ZAYIN. This deity drives an SUV, not a Porsche.

103:5 HA MASBIY'A BA TOV EDYECH TIT'CHADESH KA NESHER NE'URAI'CHI

הַמַּשְׂבִּיַע בַּטּוֹב עֶדְיֵךְ תִּתְחַדֵּשׁ כַּנֶּשֶׁר נְעוּרָיְכִי

KJ: Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

BN (provisional translation based on the Masoretic text): Who satisfies your old age with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the phoenix.

HA MASBIY'A BE TOV EDYECH: Problematic. If this is read unpointed, it could just as easily be HA MASHBIYA, which means "to swear an oath" (in the sense here of making the Covenant), and would allow us to read EDYECH as "your congregation" - which would also remove the seeming anomaly of EDYECH being 2nd person singular feminine.

EDYECH: If this is not the "congregation", then it roots with one of the other meanings of ADAH, for which see the link, but neither "mouth" nor "age" are amongst them.

NESHER: I am translating this as "phoenix", unable to state for certain whether that piece of ancient mythology was known to them, but confident that it would have been, and that this was the intention.

NE'URAI'CHI: Verse 5 rhyming with verse 3, which also had the same rhyme internally - check if there are other such rhymes in the piece.

BN (revised translation, rejecting the Masoretic): Who has sworn a Covenant with the congregation [of Yisra-El], to renew your youth like the Phoenix.

Which appears to introduce the concept of resurrection and an after-life - or was that already introduced with HA GO'EL MI SHACHAT CHAI'AYCHI in verse 4? A very late, probably Hasmonean era, piece of theology, if it is that. But it doesn't have to be that: in the Jewish world, renewal is about Vidu'i and Selichot, and can take place at any time.

103:6 OSEH TSEDAKOT YHVH U MISHPATIM LE CHOL ASHUKIM

עֹשֵׂה צְדָקוֹת יְהוָה וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לְכָל עֲשׁוּקִים

KJ: The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

BN: YHVH executes righteousness and acts of justice for all who are observant.

OSEH...MISHPATIM: As per his Covenant!

ASHUKIM: The same problem precisely here that I had with MASBIY'A in verse 5, except that this goes the other way around. There I am certain the Seen should be a Sheen; here that it is ASUKIM, not ASHUKIM - those who are "busy" with YHVH, which is to say those who fulfill their half of the Covenant.

103:7 YODIY'A DERACHAV LE MOSHEH LIVNEY YISRA-EL ALIYLOTAV

יוֹדִיעַ דְּרָכָיו לְמֹשֶׁה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲלִילוֹתָיו

KJ: He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

BN: He made his ways known to Mosheh, his doings to the Beney Yisra-El.

ALIYLOTAV: See my note on this at Psalm 77:12.

103:8 RACHUM VE CHANUN YHVH ERECH APAYIM VE RAV CHESED

רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן יְהוָה אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חָסֶד

KJ: The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

BN: YHVH is full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

Yom Kippur liturgy, but not precisely. In fact, it's a quotation from Exodus 34:6, and the same verse was quoted in Psalm 86:15, and alluded to at Psalm 102:15. It leads on to the "Thirteen Atttributes" of the deity, as proposed by Talmudic Judaism.

But, as above, RACHUM and CHANUN are the mother-goddess' attributes, coming from the womb (RECHEM). The hymn may well be very ancient, and therefore the archaic grammar, but the superimposed theology is Ezraic or post-Ezraic patriarchalisation.

103:9 LO LA NETSACH YARIV VE LO LE OLAM YITOR

לֹא לָנֶצַח יָרִיב וְלֹא לְעוֹלָם יִטּוֹר

KJ: He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

BN: He will not always strive with us; nor will he stay angry for ever.

Sadly the evidence of history does not support this statement.

103:10 LO CHA CHATA'EYNU ASAH LANU VE LO CHA AVONOTEYNU GAMAL ALEYNU

לֹא כַחֲטָאֵינוּ עָשָׂה לָנוּ וְלֹא כַעֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ גָּמַל עָלֵינוּ

KJ: He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

BN: He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor requited us according to our iniquities.

Is this a complaint? That he is not keeping his part of the Covenant as per the legal wording?

In any language that differentiates the masculine from the feminine, using standard grammatical forms to achieve it, rhyme is implicit, intrinsic and inevitable, and actually English is unusual in being a language that has removed these, keeping the genders of words (ships are female, for example), but neutralising the grammatical form. I mention this here only because there are internal rhymes in this verse, but they may well be there because the statement being made was only makeable that way, rather than a seeking-out (an ekeing-out, a wreaking-out) of rhymes for the purposes of musical effect (which is actually quite dissonant here).

CHA: (Hard "ch", please, as in "loch", as always; there is no soft "ch", as in "church" in Judaism.) The CHA, on the other hand, could easily have been avoided and still make the same statement; and indeed the same sound is continued into the next verse, with both KI CHI GEVO'AH and CHASDO.

103:11 KI CHI GEVO'AH SHAMAYIM AL HA ARETS GAVAR CHASDO AL YERE'AV

כִּי כִגְבֹהַּ שָׁמַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ גָּבַר חַסְדּוֹ עַל יְרֵאָיו

KJ: For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

BN: For like the heavens, which are vast above the Earth, so is his commitment vast to those who fear him.

CHI GEVO'AH: Or CHIG'VO'AH?

103:12 KI RECHOK MIZRACH MI MA'ARAV HIRCHIYK MIMENU ET PESHA'EYNU

כִּרְחֹק מִזְרָח מִמַּעֲרָב הִרְחִיק מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת פְּשָׁעֵינוּ

KJ: As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

BN: As far as the east is from the west, so far has he distanced our transgressions from us.

KI RECHOK: Or KIR'CHOK? Either way, still more of that same guttural sound.

MIMENU... PESHA'EYNU: And still more of the rhyme that I questioned in verse 10, this time ending the line to create what is definitely a standard rhyme; but if the whole rhyme pattern is intended, very soft and gentle too in contrast with those gutturals, why has the Masorete not added a Yud to MIMENU, making sure that we pronounce it MIMEYNU, which would still be perfectly correct. From a poetic perspective, MIMENU actually weakens the phrase, where MIMEYNU strengthens it. Read it out loud both ways and hear it.

103:13 KE RACHEM AV AL BANIM RICHAM YHVH AL YERE'AV

כְּרַחֵם אָב עַל בָּנִים רִחַם יְהוָה עַל יְרֵאָיו

KJ: Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

BN: Just as a father has compassion for his children, so has YHVH compassion for those who fear him.

Which sounds wonderful at first, but then there is the second half of the verse... does this not describe an emotional conflict? He has compassion for those who fear him - meaning that he does not have compassion unless there is first fear? Good fathers generally have compassion, which is a form of love, for their children, no matter what. But this is the theology set out from verse 6, and if we expect him to do it properly (as per our complaint in verse 10), then it is only reasonable that he should ignore those who do not do it properly themselves: legally-binding contracts!

103:14 KI HU YADA YITSRENU ZACHUR KI APHAR ANACHNU

כִּי הוּא יָדַע יִצְרֵנוּ זָכוּר כִּי עָפָר אֲנָחְנוּ

KJ: For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

BN: For he knows our inclinations; he remembers that we are dust.

YITSRENU: And if that rhyme is intentional, and even if it isn't, because it has established itself by repetition anyway, should this not be YITSREYNU, again adding a Yud in the Masoretic?
Meaning of YITSRENU needed. YETSER again!

APHAR: An essential (I choose the word deliberately), an absolutely vital (that too deliberate) aspect of Jewish theology, which really has not had the attention paid to it that it merits. YHVH is the microbes, the elements of the periodic table, the most fundamental of the particles that comprise the origins of life (see the link for the explanation of this; in brief, YHVH comes from the root LEHIYOT = "to be"). What YHVH is not is Creation made manifest. That is the CHAI of verse 4, from the root LECHIYOT, which also gives the name CHAVAH, Eve in English, "the mother of all living things" (Genesis 3:20, 4:1). Microbes and molecules do not atrophy into dust; only manifested creatures can do that: so, theologically, there is this journey of life: from YHVH via CHAVAH, to... whichever of the names is used for what-comes-last: She'ol, the Pit, Dumah, Shachat in verse 4, dust here.

103:15 ENOSH KE CHATSIR YAMAV KE TSITS HA SADEH KEN YATSITS

אֱנוֹשׁ כֶּחָצִיר יָמָיו כְּצִיץ הַשָּׂדֶה כֵּן יָצִיץ

KJ: As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

BN: As for man, his days are like grass; like a flower of the field, so he flourishes...

CHATSIR: And grass withers, as we saw in the very last Psalm.

TSITS: Which I should have rendered as TSIYTS, because this time the Masorete has added a Yud; but quite unnecessarily: the word is TSITS. (But does it really mean "flower"? I though it meant "fringe", as in the TSITSIT, or TSITSIS in Yiddish, the "fringed undergarment" worn by observant Jews to show that they are observant to the Covenant.)

103:16 KI RU'ACH AVRAH BO VE EYNENU VE LO YAKIYRENU OD MEKOMO

כִּי רוּחַ עָבְרָה בּוֹ וְאֵינֶנּוּ וְלֹא יַכִּירֶנּוּ עוֹד מְקוֹמוֹ

KJ: For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

BN: For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and the place where it grew no longer knows it.

EYNENU...YAKIYRENU: And of course the question could be asked the other way around: why put the Yud in, in verse 10, if it is the other renditions which are correct?

103:17 VE CHESED YHVH ME OLAM VE AD OLAM AL YERE'AV VE TSIDKATO LIVNEY VANIM

וְחֶסֶד יְהוָה מֵעוֹלָם וְעַד עוֹלָם עַל יְרֵאָיו וְצִדְקָתוֹ לִבְנֵי בָנִים

KJ: But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;

BN: But the loving-kindness of YHVH is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear him, {N} and his righteousness extends to the children's children.

I have commented previously that the ancients appear to have had an understanding of infinity that was no less accurate or inaccurate than ours today; in their case - this is where we get it wrong, despite Einstein - they appear to have recognised that infinity must apply equally to time and space.

103:18 LE SHOMREY VERIYTO U LE ZOCHREY PIKUDAV LA'ASOTAM

לְשֹׁמְרֵי בְרִיתוֹ וּלְזֹכְרֵי פִקֻּדָיו לַעֲשׂוֹתָם

KJ: To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

BN (provisional translation): To those who keep his covenant, and to those who remember his instructions, and undertake to practice them.

Following on from the "fear" of verse 17, and confirming the "covenant" earlier, a very clear statement that Judaism is all about"submission", "passive obedience", automaton-like subservience to a despot. How sad.

Or can we read this more positively? See my note at Psalm 19:9, which leads to this as an alternative rendition:

BN: To those who keep his covenant, and to those who accept the responsibilities he has given them, and undertake to practice them.

103:19 YHVH BA SHAMAYIM HECHIYN KIS'O U MALCHUTO BA CHOL MASHALAH

יְהוָה בַּשָּׁמַיִם הֵכִין כִּסְאוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ בַּכֹּל מָשָׁלָה

KJ: The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

BN: YHVH has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingship is a kingship over everything.

The statement of the Omnideity, and the moving of his palace from the Temple on Mount Tsi'on to a fantasy location in the outer heavens, can only belong to the Hasmonean era. But the full establishment of that epoch - the absorprion of all the other deities into the single One - has not yet happened; see verses 20 and 21, below.

103:20 BARACHU YHVH MAL'ACHAV GIBOREY CHO'ACH OSEY DEVARO LISHMO'A BE KOL DEVARO

בָּרֲכוּ יְהוָה מַלְאָכָיו גִּבֹּרֵי כֹחַ עֹשֵׂי דְבָרוֹ לִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקוֹל דְּבָרוֹ

KJ: Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

BN: Bless YHVH, you who are his messengers, {N} you who are mighty in strength, who carry out his word, hearkening to the voice of his word.

DEVARO: Complex theology here - I have explained it before, so please refer to that.

103:21 BARACHU YHVH KOL TSEVA'AV MESHARTAV OSEY RETSONO

בָּרֲכוּ יְהוָה כָּל צְבָאָיו מְשָׁרְתָיו עֹשֵׂי רְצוֹנוֹ

KJ: Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

BN: Bless YHVH, all you who are his hosts, you who are his ministers, who do his pleasure.

TSEVA'AV: The hosts of the heavens being the planets and moon, where the "messengers" of the previous verse were the stars and comets.

103:22 BARACHU YHVH KOL MA'ASAV BE CHOL MEKOMOT MEMSHALTO BARACHI NAPHSHI ET YHVH

בָּרֲכוּ יְהוָה כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו בְּכָל מְקֹמוֹת מֶמְשַׁלְתּוֹ בָּרֲכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהוָה

KJ: Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

BN: Bless YHVH, all his works, in every corner of his realm; {N} bless YHVH, O my soul. {P}

The Psalm began with two verses offering up blessings, and now ends with three that do the same, in the same form and structure, except for one essential difference, which takes us back to my question over the opening BARACHI - and note that it makes an appearance in this last verse as well. BARACHU is the 2nd person plural, essentially a vocative, calling on others to carry out this blessing, which appears to endorse the Yud on BARACHI as a diminutive of ANI or ANOCHI: the Psalmist there calling on himself to make the blessing. And if that is correct, then verses 3 to 19 fulfill that task, and verse 20-22 extend beyond the I to the You, and through the You to the We. Martin Buber would definitely approve of that!

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Psalms:

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