The best text of the Psalms is the Hebrew text underlying the Greek of the Septuagint. Unfortunately, we don't have it. The Septuagint itself contains the oldest Psalter in existence, approximately a thousand years older than the Masoretic Text. St. Jerome's Latin text, based on the Septuagint, is a very felicitous translation, and one that was at the heart of European religion and civilization for more than a thousand years. As a translation of some of the oldest poetry that we have, I don't think it has ever been surpassed. For all of these reasons, it is my starting point for my own translations of the Psalms. But I do not sit on a one-legged stool: I also consult the Greek and the Hebrew.
I translated Psalms 1-34/35 in the period 19 April 2017 - 1 July 2017. Later, I translated a few more, as follows (Masoretic numbering):
Psalm 121 5 Oct. 2018, 23-24 Nov. 2018, 25 Nov. 2018.
Psalm 61 29 Nov. 2018, 30 Nov. and 1 Dec. 2018.
Psalm 100 10 Dec. 2018
Psalm 137 10 Dec. 2018
Psalm 121 (in English and Udugi) 3 Feb. 2019 (also video)
Psalm 117 (in English and Udugi) 10 June 2021.
(Any of these blog entries can be read by clicking the arrows in the list to the right so that they point downward, opening year, month, and day.)
I have, thus, already translated 40 Psalms, out of the total of 150 canonical Psalms.
The work is not easy. I sometimes spend hours deciding on a single word. Typically, I have an array of half a dozen books open around me, to the displeasure of my wife, who accuses me of "spreading out" in our shared office.
I have 110 Psalms to go, and then I have to prepare the whole for publication. I am 79 years old. I may not be able to finish this project without help. If you, or someone you know, would like to collaborate, please let me know, explaining what you would bring to the table. I can be reached via email: exolinguist at gmail dot com. Thanks.
Text Copyright © 2021 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.
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