Punctuation and the Influence of Language in the Psalms

I have not yet translated Psalm 120 (121), but when I do, I'll have a decision to make. In the first verse, we have either:

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains.
from whence my help will come,

or

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains,
from whence will my help come?

A friend of mine had a father who absolutely loved the mountains of his native Switzerland, and this was his favorite psalm. He no doubt knew it in the first of these forms. Emotionally, I have to agree with him, since the mountains are very special to me, too. But the decision as to which version to use must be made on some other basis.

I began by looking at the Hebrew. The word that the KJV translates as "whence" is "me'ayin." It can be used interrogatively or relatively. But, going through all occurrences in Strong's Concordance, I found that it was usually interrogative; for relatives, other constructions were used most of the time.

In the Greek of the Septuagint, the word is "pothen." Again, it can be either interrogative or relative. The oldest manuscripts (I checked the Codex Sinaiticus, for example), had no punctuation here to guide us. Some modern editors, such as Rahlf, did put in a question mark.

In Latin, the word is "unde," and again, it can be either interrogative or relative. So why did the KJV translate it relatively? Those translators claimed to be working from the Hebrew, but we know that they were extremely influenced by the Latin of the Vulgate, where the word is translated in its relative sense. In those days, neither Latin nor Greek really gave any clue as to which meaning was intended.

I even checked the Syriac of the Peshitta, which is hard on these old eyes. Again, no special punctuation.

The most modern of my Latin translations (dating from 1945), put a question mark there. That translation has been very influential with modern English translations, so it is no surprise that they put in a question mark, too.

Going to my JPS Tanakh, I found that they had put in a question mark, too. Remembering my test with Strong's Concordance, and believing that no one is likely to understand Hebrew better than Jews, I decided to opt for the question mark. And that is, basically, how these things are done.

But I have a suspicion that those KJV translators loved mountains, too.

KADDISH

Glorified and sanctified
is the name of War
throughout the world
that it has created
according to
our will,
throughout the death camps
and the prisons,
in the trenches,
in our homes.

It has established its kingdom
in our lifetime and
in our days,
within the life
of all nations;
and say, "casualties,"
when you mean
deaths that are not
a result of chance at all;
and say, "troops,"
when you really mean
soldiers,
men and women
following orders,
in the flower of
their youth

May there be
abundant peace
from heaven.
and life for us all.

He who creates peace
in His heavenly heights,
may He create peace for us
and for our neighbors:

for all our dreams,
both ours and theirs,
have been turned
to ashes;

and say, "Amen,"
and say, "Amen."