PSALM 1

Happy are they
who do not follow
the counsel of the wicked,
nor start down the path
of sinners,
nor sit in the seats
of the impudent.

But their joy is in
the law of the Lord,
and on His law they
meditate day and night.

They are like a tree
planted by flowing waters,
that produces fruit in season,
whose leaves do not wither,
and all their works will prosper.

Not so the wicked, not so,
but like chaff blown
by the wind.

Therefore the wicked
will not rise up in judgment,
nor sinners in the
council of the just.

For the Lord knows the way
of the just,
but the path of the wicked
will perish.

Translation © 2015 by Donald C. Traxler

PSALM 9

Note: This psalm is, in the Hebrew text, divided into two psalms: Psalm 9 is comprised of verses 1-21, and verses 22-39 are there called Psalm 10. The psalm, though, is an acrostic (each verse begins with a different letter of the alphabet, in alphabetic order). Two of the verses, those corresponding to the letters Daleth and Samekh, are missing from the Masoretic text, due to its state of conservation, which is poorer than that of the Septuagint. Due to the Masoretic division of this psalm into two, from this point on the psalm numbers in the Masoretic text are one higher than those in the Septuagint and the Vulgate. The numbers again come into alignment with Psalm 148. In my translations the numbers, where they differ, are given according to both numbering systems.

I will celebrate you, O Lord,
with all my heart,
I will tell of all your wonders.
I will rejoice and exult in you,
I will make music to your name,
O Most High.

For my enemies have retreated,
they have fallen down and perished
before your face.

For you have accepted
my judgment and my cause,
you have sat on the throne
as a righteous judge.

You rebuked the nations,
destroyed the wicked,
erased their name forever.

The enemies have vanished,
their acts in eternal ruin,
you have destroyed their cities,
the memory of them has perished.

But the Lord abides forever,
he has established his throne
for judgment, and he will judge
the world with justice,
he will judge the peoples with equity.

The Lord will be a refuge
for the oppressed,
a haven in times of trouble.

They will hope in you
who have known your name,
for you, O Lord,
do not abandon
those who seek you.

Make music to the Lord
who dwells in Zion,
announce his works
to the nations,
for the avenger of blood
has remembered them,
he has not forgotten
the cry of the poor.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
see the affliction that I suffer
from the hands of my enemies.
Lift me from the gates of death,
that I may proclaim all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your deliverance.

The nations have fallen into
the pit that they made,
their foot is caught in
the snare that they hid.
The Lord has shown himself
and given judgment.
The wicked have been caught
in the works of their hands.

Let sinners be turned back to Sheol,
all the nations that have forgotten God.
For the poor will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the needy forever lost.

Rise up, O Lord, lest man prevail,
let the nations be judged in your sight.
Set a teacher over them, O Lord,
let the peoples know
that they are only human.

Translation © 2015 by Donald C. Traxler

one plus one

1

no comments

no sha

THE BOOK OF PSALMS AND ITS VARIOUS TRANSLATIONS

I'm very disappointed. Recently, after not having seen one for many years, I received a copy of Liber Psalmorum cum Canticis Breviarii Romani. It is the 1944-45 translation of the Psalms by the Pontifical Biblical Institute, ordered by Pius XII.

I expected a lot of it, because I agree with its announced premise: that the best text of the Psalms is the Hebrew text that underlies the Septuagint. Unfortunately, that Hebrew text no longer exists, and they have supposedly tried to reconstruct it. I cannot speak to their methods, but I'd like to say a few things about the results.

One expects a lot from a group calling itself the Pontifical Biblical Institute, so this translation has been very influential. In fact, the Book of Psalms in every Catholic translation of the Bible since the Second World War has been based on it. Due, I suppose, to the soundness of its basic premise, it has also strongly influenced modern Protestant translations, such as the NRSV and the NIV. All of this is extremely unfortunate.

This Liber Psalmorum, or New Latin Psalter (I'll refer to it as NLP from here on) has so far failed every test to which I have put it.

Recently I've noticed that modern translations of the Book of Psalms are tendentious in that they water down the original, strong language of the Psalms. The effect of this is to make the Psalms less of an indictment of the human social order, and to make them less embarrassing and threatening both to the civil governments of the world and to the institutional Church. I'll give some examples.

In Psalm 5, v. 12, the Vulgate has the phrase "et habitabis in eis," "and you will live in them." The verb used in the Septuagint (LXX) is "kataskEnaO," which means "to take up one's quarters, to pitch a tent, to encamp." But the NLP and its followers have "and protect them," certainly a less intimate relationship.

In Psalm 8, v. 5, the Vulgate, accurately reflecting the LXX, which is our rock, our compass, has the phrase "aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum," "or the son of man, that you visit him." But the NLP and its followers have "that you care for him." Now that Greek word has both of those meanings, so both interpretations are possible. But the Vulgate translated the word literally, suggesting a more intimate and direct relationship with God, something the institutional Church has always found threatening. By itself, I wouldn't say much about it, but it is part of an unfortunate pattern. The Hebrew word, by the way, doesn't have that ambiguity: it simply means "to visit."

I should take a little detour here, and say something about our beloved King James Version, of 1608. It contains, in my opinion, the last honest translation of the Book of Psalms. Where it differs from the Vulgate and the LXX, it is usually because something (often a whole verse) is missing from the Masoretic Hebrew, upon which it is based. For example, it leaves out the "NUN" verse that should be in Psalm 145, an alphabetic acrostic. But the omission had no agenda; it simply reflected the poor state of the Masoretic text.

Another example of the watering-down process is seen in Psalm 9b (10), where the Greek and (St. Jerome's) Latin tell us that while the impious man fills himself with pride, the poor man "goes up in flames." But according to the NLP, the poor man "is vexed." The Hebrew word in the Masoretic text means "to burn."

Our last example, for present purposes, comes from Psalm 11 (Vulg. and LXX)/Psalm 12 (Hebrew and KJV), where we find (in the Vulgate, which is basically a faithful reflection of the LXX) the phrase "Propter miseriam inopum, et gemitum pauperum. . ." This can be translated as "Because of the misery of the needy and the groans of the poor. . . " The LXX  has "Because of the misery of beggars and the groaning of the poor. . . " But in the NLP, the "misery of beggars" becomes "the affliction of the lowly" (afflictionem humilium).

Yes, let's forget that there are beggars, and let's reduce their "misery" to "affliction," which makes it all more abstract. Let's not offend the governments of the world, or the billionaires who own and control them.

In Florida and some other states, it is now illegal to feed the homeless or their children, and those who try to do it are arrested. To feed them is, of course, to notice them, and to admit that they exist.

All of this does not just "vex" me; it burns me up.

© 2011-2015 by Donald C. Traxler 

no plus ones

no comments

MEDITATION ON 11

In what do I take refuge,
with so much doubt?
How can you say to me.
"bird, hill"
without explaining?
Am I to fly like a bird
to the mountain,
or fly like a mountain bird?
Or fly to my own hill?

When the foundations
have been thrown over,
what can the just do?

For the foundations
are destroyed--
what has the Righteous
One done?

If the foundations are destroyed
what has the righteous man accomplished?

quoniam quae perfecisti, destruxerunt

Because what you fashioned,
they destroyed,
but what did the righteous do?

If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?

Quando fundamenta evertuntur,
justus quid facere valet?

For the laws are dissipated,
what has the just man done?

leges dissipatae sunt

There is so much doubt--
how is it to be
dissipated,
overturned,
destroyed?

The foundations
are a monument
to uncertainty.

December 12 2015, revised December 12 2016

PSALM 10 (11)

I take refuge in the Lord.
How can you tell me to
fly to the mountains
like a bird?
For behold, sinners bend
the bow and put the arrow
to the string to shoot
the upright in heart
by dark of night.

When the foundations are overturned,
what can a just person do?

The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord--his throne is
in the heavens.
His eyes are watching,
his eyelids examine
the sons of men.

The Lord examines the
just and the unjust;
they who love iniquity
hate their own soul.

He will rain blazing coals
and sulphur upon them,
a scorching wind
shall be the portion
of their cup.

For the Lord is just,
and he loves justice.
The upright will see
his face.

Translation © 2015 by Donald C. Traxler

PSALM 9b (10)

Why, O Lord,
do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself
in times of trouble?
While the impious are arrogant,
the poor man is set on fire;
let them be caught in
the schemes
that they devise.

For the sinner glories
in his lust,
and the greedy,
congratulating himself,
blasphemes the Lord.
The impious says,
in prideful mind,
"He will not judge,
there is no God."

His ways prosper
at all times,
your judgments
are far from his mind.
He scorns all
who oppose him.
In his heart he says,
"I will not be moved.
I will not be unhappy
through all the generations."
His mouth is full of
curses, fraud, and deceit,
under his tongue are
grief and injustice.

He sits in ambush with the rich,
in secret places
to murder the innocent;
his eyes spy out the pauper.
He lurks in secret
like a lion in his cave.
He lurks that he may
seize the poor,
that he may seize the poor
by dragging them into
into his net.

He stoops, he crouches,
and the poor fall
to his violence.
He says in his heart,
"God has forgotten,
he turns away his face,
and sees nothing."
Rise up, O Lord God,
lift up your hand,
do not forget
the needy.

Why has the wicked man
scorned God?
He says in his heart,
"He will not pass judgment."
But you do see.,
you take note of strife
and fury to take them
in hand.
The poor have entrusted
themselves to you,
you are the helper
of the orphan!

Crush the power of the sinner
and the wicked:
you will call their evil
to account, so that
when you seek it,
you will find it no more.

The Lord is king forever and ever,
the nations will perish
from his land.
You have heard the wish
of the needy, O Lord,
you have strengthened their
heart and inclined your ear,
to do justice for the orphan
and the oppressed,
so that earthly man
may tyrannize no more.

Translation © 2015 by Donald C. Traxler

PSALM 11 (12)

Save me, O Lord,
for the devout are few
and faithfulness has gone
from the sons of men.

They speak untruths
to each other, with
flattering lips
and duplicitous hearts.

May God remove all
deceitful lips and
boasting tongues,
those who say:
"By our tongues we are strong,
our lips are with us,
who can be our master?"

"Because of the plundering of the poor
and the moans of the needy,
I will rise up," says the Lord,
"and save them."

The words of the Lord
are sincere,
they are tested silver,
separated from the earth
and washed seven times.
You, O Lord, will guard us,
you will protect us
from this generation on
and forever.

The wicked prowl on every side
as baseness is exalted
among the sons of men.

Translation © 2015 by Donald C. Traxler