Donald Traxler's Poetry

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Saturday, February 4, 2023

PSALM 11

I have taken refuge in the Lord:

How can you say to me,

"fly to the mountains

like a bird?"

For behold, sinners have bent

the bow and put the arrow

to the string to shoot

the upright in heart

from their hiding place.

When the foundations are destroyed,

what can a just person do?

The Lord is in His holy temple;

the Lord--His throne is

in the heavens.

His eyes see,

His eyelids test

the children of men.

The Lord tests the just,

but His soul hates

the wicked and those who love iniquity.

He will rain snares upon sinners:

fire and sulfur,

and a scorching wind

shall be the portion

of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous,

and He loves righteous deeds.

The upright will see

His face.

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Psalm 10

Why, O Lord,

do you stand far off?

Why do you look away

in times of trouble?

In the arrogance of the wicked,

the poor are burned up:

let them be caught in the schemes

that they have devised.

For the wicked glories in

the desire of his heart,

and the greedy, congratulating himself,

blasphemes the Lord.

The impious says, "He will not seek out

to the full extent of His wrath,"

nor is there any God

in his thoughts.

His ways prosper at all times;

your judgments are far from him:

he scorns his enemies.

He says in his heart,

"I will not be moved:

I will not be unhappy

through all the generations."

His mouth is full of curses,

deceit, and greed;

under his tongue

are grief and iniquity.

He sits in ambush with the rich,

in hidden places,

to kill the innocent:

his eyes spy out the pauper.

He lurks in secret,

like a lion in his den:

he lurks to seize the needy:

to seize the poor

by dragging them off.

In his trap he will humiliate them;

he will stoop and fall

when he has dominated the pauper:

For he has said in his heart,

"God has forgotten:

He has hidden his face;

He will never see."

Rise up, O Lord God,

raise your hand:

do not forget the needy.

Why do the wicked blaspheme God,

saying in their heart that

He will not seek them out?

You do see, for you observe

hardship and anger,

to move them into your hands.

The poor have taken refuge in you,

you are the one who helps the orphan.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evil:

seek out their wickedness until you find none left.

The Lord is king forever and ever:

the nations will perish from his land.

O Lord, you have heard the desire of the poor:

your ear has inclined to the readiness of their heart,

to do justice for the orphan and the humble,

that nevermore should humans tyrannize

upon the earth.

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Verse 21 of Psalm 9 is a troublesome one for translators, and they have produced wildly different results. The reason, though, is a simple one: the similarity of two Hebrew words, מוֹרֶה (moreh) and מוֹרָא (mora'). The first of these words means "teacher" or "lawgiver;" the second word means "fear, terror." In the Masoretic text that we have today (which goes back to the Leningrad Codex of 1010 CE), there is a mixed reading: מוֹרָה, which does not correctly correspond to either of these words, or indeed to any Hebrew word. Perhaps the Masoretes, faced with an impossible decision, decided to take a middle path. In the critical apparatus to the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS, see illustration), we are told that some (nonnuli) manuscripts (Mss), in addition to Jerome's Hebrew-based version and a couple of other texts, support the "terror" reading, while others, including the Greek of the Septuagint (LXX) and the Syriac (Aramaic) of the Peshitta, support the "teacher, lawgiver" reading.

How can we know for sure which reading is correct? The short answer is that we can't. But we can, and must, consider any clues that are available. In doing so, we will learn a lot about the history of the Hebrew text of this psalm.

The Peshitta (ca. 500 CE) supports the "teacher, lawgiver" reading. This is very important because Aramaic, a sister language of Hebrew, generally follows the Hebrew text of the OT. It is also important because at that time both Hebrew and Aramaic texts lacked vowel pointing. The two words in question, if spelled correctly, are already differentiated by their consonants, without any vowel pointing. For these reasons, a great deal of weight must be given to support from the Peshitta.

The Greek of the Septuagint (LXX, ca. 200 BCE) gives a word that means "lawgiver." We know that the Hebrew text underlying the LXX was in a better state of conservation than our Masoretic text (it includes, for example, the "missing" Nun-verse of the acrostic Psalm 145). It is also the oldest OT text that we have. For these reasons, the reading of the LXX must be given a lot of weight.

This brings us to the question of the state of conservation of the Hebrew text. By 1010 CE, the date of the Leningrad Codex, it was already defective. Some of the missing verses were known from other sources, but the Masoretes were afraid to supply them. Jerome's "Iuxta Hebraeos" version (392 CE), based on the Hebrew text of his time, gives us an interesting picture of the situation. In the edition of Harden (1922), which I think is the best edition, we find "terrorem" in verse 21. The scribal error (as I see it) had already crept into the Hebrew textual tradition by 392 CE. We need to see an earlier text. Unfortunately, the Dead Sea Scrolls are too fragmentary in the Psalms to be of help here. We have to go back to a time 600 years before Jerome did his Vulgate translations, to the Septuagint (LXX, ca. 200 BCE).

In the Vulgate translation of the Psalms (the version based on the LXX), The verset in question reads as follows:

constitue Domine legislatorem super eos (Set, O Lord, a legislator over them)

This was the version approved for use in the liturgy for some 1600 years, and so was familiar to all reciters of the Divine Office in the Breviarium Romanum.

I feel that "legislator" in the LXX and in the Vulgate is overly specific, since the Hebrew word מוֹרֶה can mean either teacher or legislator. Not knowing the intention of the psalmist, and because the second half of the verse has to do with "knowing," I have selected the broader term, "teacher," for inclusion in the verse.

It should also be noted, with regard to the second half of verse 21, that the word "only" should not be part of any translation of the verse. It is not present in the Hebrew, the Greek, or in either of the Latin versions. Indeed, it leaves open the possibility of a positive valuation of what it means to be human.

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

PSALM 9

Note: This psalm is, in the Masoretic 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 alphabetical order). Four of the verses, those corresponding to ד, מ, נ, ס, are missing from the Masoretic text, due to its relatively poor state of conservation in ancient times. 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, I now use the Masoretic numbering.

There are several places in this psalm where the Hebrew is quite problematic. I've done my best, using the most ancient sources available to me (as well as modern critical editions), to make my translation as accurate as possible.

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 sing 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 enemy is finished,

in eternal ruins.

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.

Sing to the Lord

who dwells in Zion,

and 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

in the gates of the daughter of Zion.

I will rejoice in your deliverance

The nations have fallen into

the pit that they made,

their foot is caught in

the net 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 human.

Sunday, January 29, 2023

PSALM 8 (revised)

O Lord, our Lord,

how great is your name

throughout the earth,

you who have spread

your majesty

above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of infants

and suckling babies,

you have brought forth praise

for quelling the punishing foe.

When I look at the heavens,

the work of your hands,

the moon and stars

that you established,

what is man,

that you remember him,

or the son of man,

that you visit him?

You have made him

a little less than God,

with honor and glory

you have crowned him.

You have given him power

over the works of your hands,

you have laid all things

under his feet:

all sheep and cattle,

and all beasts of the field,

the birds of the sky

and the fish of the sea

that travel the watery paths.