Donald Traxler's Poetry

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

On Translating the Psalms - II

The second version that St. Jerome offered to Pope Damasus (translated from the Hebrew) is actually quite interesting. The underlying Hebrew text is pretty close to the Masoretic Text that we know today. This Hebrew text would be about 400 years older than the Masoretic, and about 550 years YOUNGER than the Hebrew text underlying the Septuagint. The Septuagint is about a thousand years older than the Masoretic Text, thus much closer to the source.

The version that Pope Damasus accepted, St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Greek of the Septuagint (shown on the left-hand page in the illustration above) became the standard in the Catholic Church. Orthodox churches used the Septuagint directly. There was, thus, overall agreement as to meanings.

The Septuagint isn't only a thousand years older than the Masoretic Text, it also reflects an underlying Hebrew text that was more complete and less corrupt. As an example of this, I'll give the case of the missing verse in Psalm 145 of the Masoretic Text, numbered as Psalm 144 in the Septuagint and the Vulgate.

Psalm 144/145 is an alphabetic acrostic. In other words, in the original Hebrew, each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and they appear in alphabetic order. But in the Masoretic Text, the verse beginning with the Hebrew letter "Nun" is missing. Apparently, that verse was missing in the manuscripts that the Masoretes had before them. But we know what the verse said, both because it does appear in at least one pre-Masoretic manuscript of this Psalm, and because it appears in the Septuagint.

Here is the Hebrew version of the missing verse:

נאמן יהוה בכל־דבריו וחסיד בכל־מעשיו

And here it is in St. Jerome's Latin, based on the Septuagint:

fidelis Dominus in omnibus verbis suis the Lord is faithful in all his words

et sanctus in omnibus operibus suis and holy in all his works

(to be continued)

Monday, November 29, 2021

On Translating the Psalms - I

A social-media friend of mine posted the original, color version of the illustration above. I have rendered it here in black and white in order to make the writing at the bottom more legible. It is a painting by Jean Fouquet, dated to 1452-1460, from a Book of Hours of the time.

The words are in Latin, with the characteristic abbreviations of the fifteenth century. Since I am not a paleographer, it took me a while to puzzle them out. Here they are, in more readable form:

Deus in adiutorium meum intende O God, come to my aid,

Domine ad adiuvandum me festina. O Lord, hurry to help me.

These are the opening words of Psalm 69 (in Septuagint/Vulgate numbering)/70 (in Masoretic Text numbering). Psalm 69/70. The words have been familiar to me since my youth (I was raised Catholic, and could read Latin long before I graduated from high school). The words are even more familiar, because for centuries they were recited by priests, monks, and nuns as part of the Roman Breviary.

As a poet, I cannot help but be impressed by the smooth, flowing quality of these words and indeed, all of St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Greek of the LXX (Septuagint).

The first question that arises for the prospective translator of the Psalms is which text/language to translate. Which text is oldest? Which text is most original? Which text is the least corrupt? In this case, the choices are pretty much the following:

Septuagint (Greek) ca. 150 BCE

Dead Sea Scrolls (Hebrew) ca. 30-50 CE, fragmentary

St. Jerome's Latin translation from the Hebrew ca. 400 CE

St. Jerome's Latin translation from the Septuagint ca 400 CE

The Masoretic Text (carefully conserved and pointed Hebrew) ca. 800 CE

The Septuagint got that name because it was supposedly translated by seventy of the most learned scholars in the Jewish community of Alexandria, a great center of learning at the time. We can gage its success and its influence by the fact that most of the biblical quotations in the New Testament are from the Septuagint, and it is still authoritative today for all Orthodox churches.

The Dead Sea Psalms scrolls number between thirty-nine and forty-four, and all, unfortunately, are fragmentary. Even the Great Psalms Scroll (11Q5), which covers mostly Psalms 90-150 plus a few non-canonical ones, lacks six or seven lines at the bottom of every column. The others are in many fragments.

The only part of the Bible for which St. Jerome produced two separate translations is the Book of Psalms. One translation was based on the Hebrew text (pre-Masoretic and still unpointed) of his time. The other was based on the Greek of the Septuagint. Jerome offered both to Pope Damasus, and the Pope chose the translation based on the Septuagint. The rest is ecclesiastical and monastic history.

(to be continued)

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Prayer for the World (en, es, fr, eo)

Prayer for the World

Deja que el mundo no carezca de belleza,
porque la belleza es una bendición.
Que el mundo no carezca de verdad
porque la verdad es nuestra guía.
Que el mundo no carezca de misericordia,
porque la misericordia es la compañera de la verdad.
Que al mundo no le falte
el conocimiento del corazón,
porque sin él, el saber
del cerebro es inútil.
Que el mundo no carezca de historias,
porque ellas nos dicen quiénes somos.
Que el mundo no carezca de la valentía
corregir errores y cantar canciones.
Que el mundo no carezca de los sagrados
elementos de tierra, aire, fuego,
agua y espíritu
en toda su pureza,
porque ellos nos sostienen.

Deja que haya amor,
deja que haya alegría
que haya paz,
porque sin ellos
no podemos vivir.

¿A qué diosa o dios
nos volcamos en nuestra necesidad?
Para todas estas cosas,
debemos dirigirnos
el uno al otro,
porque somos padre, madre,
hermano hermana
al pasado, presente y futuro.

Con un abrazo cariñoso
para hacernos fuertes,
habiendo cantado la canción,
vamos a plantar la semilla.

[Este poema se entrega al dominio público.]

Que le monde ne manque pas de beauté,
car la beauté est une bénédiction.
Que le monde ne manque pas de vérité,
car la vérité est notre guide.
Que le monde ne manque pas de pitié,
car la miséricorde est la compagne de la vérité.
Que le monde ne manque pas
la connaissance du coeur,
car sans ça le savoir
du cerveau est inutile.
Que le monde ne manque pas d'histoires,
car elles nous disent qui sommes.
Que le monde ne manque pas de courage
redresser les torts et chanter des chansons.
Que le monde ne manque pas des sacrés
éléments de la terre, de l'air, du feu,
eau et esprit
dans toute leur pureté,
car ils nous soutiennent.

Qu'il y ait de l'amour,
qu'il y ait de la joie,
qu'il y ait la paix,
parce que sans eux
nous ne pouvons pas vivre.

À quelle déesse ou dieu
retournons-nous à notre besoin?
Pour toutes ces choses,
nous devons tourner
l'un à l'autre,
car nous sommes père, mère,
frère, soeur
du passé, présent et futur.

Avec une étreinte douce
pour nous rendre forts,
ayant chanté la chanson,
laissez-nous planter la graine.

[Ce poème est donné dans le domaine public.]

Lasu ke la mondo ne manku belecon,
ĉar beleco estas benigo.
Lasu ke la mondo ne manku veron,
ĉar la vero estas nia gvidanto.
Lasu ke la mondo ne manku kompaton,
ĉar kompato estas la kunulo de la vero.
La mondo ne manku
la scion de la koro,
ĉar sen tio la scio
de la cerbo estas netaŭga.
Lasu ke la mondo ne manku rakontojn,
ĉar ili diras al ni, kiuj ni estas.
La mondo ne malhavu la kuraĝon
korekti maljustajxojn kaj kanti kantojn.
La mondo ne manku la sanktajn
elementojn de tero, aero, fajro,
akvo kaj spirito
en ilia tuta pureco,
ĉar ili subtenas nin.

Estu amo,
estu ĝojo,
estu paco,
ĉar sen ili
ni ne povas vivi.

Al kiu diino aŭ dio
ni turnos nin je nia bezono?
Pro ĉio ĉi tio,
Ni devas turni nin
unu al alia,
Ĉar ni estas patro, patrino,
fratino, frato
de l'pasinteco, ĉeestanto, kaj estonteco.

Kun amema brakumo
por fortigi nin,
kantinte la kanton,
Ni plantu la semon.

[Ĉi tiu poemo estas donita al la publika domajno.]

--Donald Jacobson Traxler

Friday, November 26, 2021

Sing the Sun Up

I would also have liked to include:

Imba jua juu

na kuomba chini,

na kutembea kwa uzuri

pamoja na dada zako na kaka zako

siku nzima.

Laula aurinko ylös

ja rukoile auringonlaskun aikaan,

ja kävellä kauneudessa

sisarten ja veljien kanssa

koko päivä.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

138,000 Visits, and Diverse Ramblings

"A man's a man, for a' that." So said one of my supposed ancestors, Robert Burns. But my great-grandmother Moore, who made much of that relatively doubtful connection, was in fact a direct descendant of nobility and royalty of Wales, Cornwall, England, and Ireland, going all the way back to Brian Boru, High King of Ireland. I'm pretty sure that my great-grandmother never knew about any of this. Neither did I, until eight or ten years ago. Why should she know? Why should I? "A man's a man, for a' that."

Now, of course, we have DNA results, and I know for the first time that I am part Finnish, which I like. Some of that Finnish may actually be Sámi, which I also like, because it is reminiscent of Native American. In fact, I get a warm feeling when I listen to Sámi singing, for the same reason. But "a man's a man, for a' that." Does it really matter?

There is another genealogy, which is the genealogy of the soul. It cares not a whit about DNA, but traces one's spiritual influences. I have many, and I cherish them all.

As usual I thank you, loyal readers, for your loyalty and continued interest. I wish all of you a happy holiday season.

Note on the illustration: I shot this selfie two years ago, and have never before posted it. Even now, I haven't really chosen it. Its number (2653) was given to me last night in a dream. This is the way I operate, much of the time.