as much as possible.
I don't need to write
about it,
because I live it.
The sun warms
and nourishes my body,
and freedom
nourishes my soul.
How about you?
Monday, December 3, 2018
Nude Is My Normal
Nude is my normal,
as much as possible.
I don't need to write
about it,
because I live it.
The sun warms
and nourishes my body,
and freedom
nourishes my soul.
How about you?
as much as possible.
I don't need to write
about it,
because I live it.
The sun warms
and nourishes my body,
and freedom
nourishes my soul.
How about you?
Sunday, December 2, 2018
And Now the Mind Outruns the Body
And now the mind
outruns the body,
but both are still
in place,
and great distances
will be traveled
in this unequal
race.
outruns the body,
but both are still
in place,
and great distances
will be traveled
in this unequal
race.
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Psalm 61
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness:
lead me to a refuge that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
I will abide in your dwelling forever:
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
For you, O God, have heard my prayer:
you have given me the heritage
of those who revere your name.
You will add to the king's days,
and make his years as generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Pour forth mercy and truth,
that they may watch over him.
So I will sing praise to your name forever,
that I may daily fulfill my vows.
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness:
lead me to a refuge that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
I will abide in your dwelling forever:
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
For you, O God, have heard my prayer:
you have given me the heritage
of those who revere your name.
You will add to the king's days,
and make his years as generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Pour forth mercy and truth,
that they may watch over him.
So I will sing praise to your name forever,
that I may daily fulfill my vows.
Translation Copyright © 2018 by Donald Traxler
Translating Psalm 61 - III
Now we come to a rough patch, and some dictionary work will be required. The numbers, prefixed by H, are the numbers in Strong's Hebrew dictionary.
lead me to a rock 6697 (or refuge) that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter 4268, fr 2620 to me,
a strong tower against the enemy.
I will abide 1481 in your tent (or dwelling) 168 forever:
I will take refuge 2620 in the cover 5643 of your wings. Selah 5542. (Pause.)
lead me to a refuge that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
I will abide in your dwelling forever:
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
[I have decided to represent "selah," which means "pause," by skipping a space.]
For you, O God, have heard my prayer:
you have given me the heritage
of those who revere 3373 your name.
You will add to the king's days,
and make his years as generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Pour forth 4487 mercy and truth,
that they may watch over 5341 him.
So I will sing 2167 praise to your name forever 5703,
that I may daily fulfill 7999 my vows 5088.
[The literal meaning of H3373 is "to fear," but it also means to "morally revere." I think it is about time that we adopted the secondary meaning in this context. H4487 literally means to "weigh out," or figuratively to "allot." The assumption here (not mine, but of the editors of Strong's) is that the mysterious "מַן" of the Masoretic text is missing a final "h" ("ה") and should be "מנה," an assumption that fits and I agree with it. But "weigh out" sounds like "way out" to contemporary ears. I have therefore changed it to "pour forth," by analogy with "pour forth your spirit into our hearts." I have kept the other words within the boundaries of the extended definitions on the Strong's dictionary.]
So let's put it all together:
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness:
lead me to a refuge that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
I will abide in your dwelling forever:
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
For you, O God, have heard my prayer:
you have given me the heritage
of those who revere your name.
You will add to the king's days,
and make his years as generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Pour forth mercy and truth,
that they may watch over him.
So I will sing praise to your name forever,
that I may daily fulfill my vows.
lead me to a rock 6697 (or refuge) that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter 4268, fr 2620 to me,
a strong tower against the enemy.
I will abide 1481 in your tent (or dwelling) 168 forever:
I will take refuge 2620 in the cover 5643 of your wings. Selah 5542. (Pause.)
lead me to a refuge that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
I will abide in your dwelling forever:
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
[I have decided to represent "selah," which means "pause," by skipping a space.]
For you, O God, have heard my prayer:
you have given me the heritage
of those who revere 3373 your name.
You will add to the king's days,
and make his years as generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Pour forth 4487 mercy and truth,
that they may watch over 5341 him.
So I will sing 2167 praise to your name forever 5703,
that I may daily fulfill 7999 my vows 5088.
[The literal meaning of H3373 is "to fear," but it also means to "morally revere." I think it is about time that we adopted the secondary meaning in this context. H4487 literally means to "weigh out," or figuratively to "allot." The assumption here (not mine, but of the editors of Strong's) is that the mysterious "מַן" of the Masoretic text is missing a final "h" ("ה") and should be "מנה," an assumption that fits and I agree with it. But "weigh out" sounds like "way out" to contemporary ears. I have therefore changed it to "pour forth," by analogy with "pour forth your spirit into our hearts." I have kept the other words within the boundaries of the extended definitions on the Strong's dictionary.]
So let's put it all together:
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness:
lead me to a refuge that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter to me,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
I will abide in your dwelling forever:
I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings.
For you, O God, have heard my prayer:
you have given me the heritage
of those who revere your name.
You will add to the king's days,
and make his years as generations.
He shall abide before God forever.
Pour forth mercy and truth,
that they may watch over him.
So I will sing praise to your name forever,
that I may daily fulfill my vows.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Translating Psalm 61 - II
I promise you a superior translation. You will get to know my methods as we proceed. They involve:
1) Avoiding the use of post-1885 translations as aids. There is enforced (coerced?) conformity of mistranslation there, so agreement among them means nothing;
2) translating directly from the Hebrew as much as possible, also giving consideration to ancient sources.
So let's get started.
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness:
[When the Hebrew is easy to understand and there is much agreement among ancient translators, our work is light. My reading "in darkness" differs from the "weary," "faint," "overwhelmed," etc., of previous translators. But the very diversity of their readings indicates that they didn't really know the meaning of עטף. I would not have known either, but in Strong's it is linked to H5848, from a verb that means "to shroud." It has a constellation of meanings, but most are centered on the idea of darkness, which fits well here. The ancients did not have Hebrew texts with vowels, or concordances with wonderful built-in dictionaries. We do have those things, and we need to use them.]
Now we come to a rough patch, and some dictionary work will be required. The numbers, prefixed by H, are the numbers in Strong's Hebrew dictionary.
lead me to a rock 6697 (or refuge) that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter 4268, fr 2620 to me,
a strong tower against the enemy.
I will abide 1481 in your tent (or dwelling) 168 forever:
I will take refuge 2620 in the cover 5643 of your wings. Selah 5542. (Pause.)
(to be continued)
1) Avoiding the use of post-1885 translations as aids. There is enforced (coerced?) conformity of mistranslation there, so agreement among them means nothing;
2) translating directly from the Hebrew as much as possible, also giving consideration to ancient sources.
So let's get started.
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness:
[When the Hebrew is easy to understand and there is much agreement among ancient translators, our work is light. My reading "in darkness" differs from the "weary," "faint," "overwhelmed," etc., of previous translators. But the very diversity of their readings indicates that they didn't really know the meaning of עטף. I would not have known either, but in Strong's it is linked to H5848, from a verb that means "to shroud." It has a constellation of meanings, but most are centered on the idea of darkness, which fits well here. The ancients did not have Hebrew texts with vowels, or concordances with wonderful built-in dictionaries. We do have those things, and we need to use them.]
Now we come to a rough patch, and some dictionary work will be required. The numbers, prefixed by H, are the numbers in Strong's Hebrew dictionary.
lead me to a rock 6697 (or refuge) that is higher than myself.
For you have been a shelter 4268, fr 2620 to me,
a strong tower against the enemy.
I will abide 1481 in your tent (or dwelling) 168 forever:
I will take refuge 2620 in the cover 5643 of your wings. Selah 5542. (Pause.)
(to be continued)
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Translating Psalm 61 - I
This blog post assumes the following previous posts have been read:
When Translation Becomes Tikkun 28 Nov. 2018
When Translation Becomes Tikkun - II 28 Nov. 2018
When Translation Becomes Tikkun - III 29 Nov. 2018
If you haven't already read the above, related posts, please do. It's all part of the story of producing a correct translation of Psalm 61,
The word "tikkun" (תִקּוּן) = repair (n.), but to me it means a little more. I see it as renewal and restoration to original, pristine condition. In this translation we will try to do nothing less.
So let's get started.
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness
(to be continued)
When Translation Becomes Tikkun 28 Nov. 2018
When Translation Becomes Tikkun - II 28 Nov. 2018
When Translation Becomes Tikkun - III 29 Nov. 2018
If you haven't already read the above, related posts, please do. It's all part of the story of producing a correct translation of Psalm 61,
The word "tikkun" (תִקּוּן) = repair (n.), but to me it means a little more. I see it as renewal and restoration to original, pristine condition. In this translation we will try to do nothing less.
So let's get started.
Psalm 61
Hear my petition, O God,
give ear to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is in darkness
(to be continued)
When Translation Becomes Tikkun - III
I was raised as a Catholic, and I remember being taught a litany that was part of the Mass, called the Kyrie Eleison. The nun proudly told us that it was a relic of the time when the early Christians spoke Greek instead of Latin. It was, in fact, the only part of the Mass that was still in Greek.
"Kyrie, eleison" means "Lord, have mercy." It does not mean, "Lord, have steadfast love."
We are studying Psalm 61:7 (the verse is numbered 8 in the Masoretic text and in the Septuagint (LXX), where they count the introductory formula as a verse). The word used in the LXX is "eleos." If I look it up in my Greek dictionary, the definition I am given is "mercy."
In the newest translation of the Septuagint, called NETS, the translation given here is "steadfast love." What is wrong with these people? Because the RV (1885) mistranslated with the euphemism "lovingkindness,," followed by the ASV (1901), and the RSV (1952) mistranslated with the euphemism "steadfast love," now they ALL have to do it?
Yes, even the JPS Tanakh (1985, 2000) has "steadfast love," and they neglected to translate the word "truth" at all. So it's not just a Christian thing.
Isn't this akin to moving the goalposts in the middle of the game, because you don't like the size of the field?
It appears that, to get back to a world where mercy and truth are still important, you have to go back to the King James Version,
KJV-R (Webster) Psalms 61:7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
or the Latin of the Vulgate, which gives you a choice between a translation based on the LXX:
permanet in aeternum in conspectu Dei
misericordiam et veritatem quis requiret eius
or one based on an unpointed Hebrew text of ca. 400 CE:
sedebit semper ante faciem Dei
misericordia et veritas servabunt eum
Of the two Latin translations given above, that based on the Hebrew is closer to being correct. Neither is correct, but at least they do translate "mercy" and "truth" correctly.
In desperation, we go forward in time, to the new Latin Psalter of 1945:
Regnet in aeternum coram Deo:
gratiam et fidelitatem mitte, ut conservent eum.
This doesn't really solve our problem, either. It is better than Jerome's LXX-based translation, but it is worse than Jerome's Hebrew-based one, and unfortunately it calls "mercy" "gratia," and "truth" "fidelitas," instead of using their correct names as both of Jerome's translations did.
So what are we to do? I guess we'll have to translate the Psalm ourselves (including the meaning of the mystery word).
(to be continued)
"Kyrie, eleison" means "Lord, have mercy." It does not mean, "Lord, have steadfast love."
We are studying Psalm 61:7 (the verse is numbered 8 in the Masoretic text and in the Septuagint (LXX), where they count the introductory formula as a verse). The word used in the LXX is "eleos." If I look it up in my Greek dictionary, the definition I am given is "mercy."
In the newest translation of the Septuagint, called NETS, the translation given here is "steadfast love." What is wrong with these people? Because the RV (1885) mistranslated with the euphemism "lovingkindness,," followed by the ASV (1901), and the RSV (1952) mistranslated with the euphemism "steadfast love," now they ALL have to do it?
Yes, even the JPS Tanakh (1985, 2000) has "steadfast love," and they neglected to translate the word "truth" at all. So it's not just a Christian thing.
Isn't this akin to moving the goalposts in the middle of the game, because you don't like the size of the field?
It appears that, to get back to a world where mercy and truth are still important, you have to go back to the King James Version,
KJV-R (Webster) Psalms 61:7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
or the Latin of the Vulgate, which gives you a choice between a translation based on the LXX:
permanet in aeternum in conspectu Dei
misericordiam et veritatem quis requiret eius
or one based on an unpointed Hebrew text of ca. 400 CE:
sedebit semper ante faciem Dei
misericordia et veritas servabunt eum
Of the two Latin translations given above, that based on the Hebrew is closer to being correct. Neither is correct, but at least they do translate "mercy" and "truth" correctly.
In desperation, we go forward in time, to the new Latin Psalter of 1945:
Regnet in aeternum coram Deo:
gratiam et fidelitatem mitte, ut conservent eum.
This doesn't really solve our problem, either. It is better than Jerome's LXX-based translation, but it is worse than Jerome's Hebrew-based one, and unfortunately it calls "mercy" "gratia," and "truth" "fidelitas," instead of using their correct names as both of Jerome's translations did.
So what are we to do? I guess we'll have to translate the Psalm ourselves (including the meaning of the mystery word).
(to be continued)
