Shaddai in Ps. 68

This is a short post to round up the series on Shaddai. Shaddai in Psalm 68 is translated in the Septuagint as the "Heavenly One."

When the Heavenly One sets apart kings over it
they will be snow covered in Selmon. Ps. 68:14 NETS

Finally, in Ezekial 10:5 Shaddai is simply transliterated as Σαδδαι. To sum up the different ways that Shaddai is translated in the Septuagint, we find, Pantocrator, theos, hikanos, Epouranios, Saddai, and in at least one case it is simply omitted. There is no definitive translation or easily established meaning for Shaddai. It is masculine in gender and I do not see that it is helpful to translate it as Breasted One. Neither do I see that as heresy. I will talk about this is a future post.

If we were to suggest an anatomically female name for God, we would wonder if there was a corresponding anatomically male name. Although the names of God have grammatical masculine gender (it is slightly more complicated than that) they don't refer to biologically or anatomically male characteristics.

The name "Lord of Hosts" is often referred to as a masculine name for God, the warrior God. However, it is worth noting that in Ps. 68:11, the "hosts" are women. Hosts is not an exclusively male term. So, rather than label the "Lord of Hosts" masculine and "Shaddai" feminine, I personally don't have a theory of gender for God's name. It doesn't seem necessary in deciding how to translate these names.

My sense is that names for God evolved somewhat independently in the different languages and that there has never been concordance or a one-to-one correspondance for translating the names of God from one language to another.

I hope to post on the name Adonai next and will also discuss feminine metaphors for God in a different post. These are both request posts.

I realize that there are some people who don't want to read about gender. This is a difficult thing. First, I have just looked at the flicks of the bibliobloggers lunch. There are lots of guy bibliobloggers. There are few enough of us who lack facial hair and don't talk about flatulence at lunch. I mean, how predictable is that. Get a bunch of guys in a room without a woman and what do they talk about! Get a woman alone on a blog and what does she talk about! We are so predictable.

Of course, some of you know that most of my work and writing has nothing to do with gender. I can talk of other things. However, at this time, it seems best for me to respond to the two requests I have on the table, Adonai, and the image of God as mother.

In any case, I have learned a lot about the Septuagint and about Shaddai, myself. I hope you have enjoyed it. John Hobbins has a great post on translating Gen. 1. There are also some good posts on Word Alone, He is Sufficient and This Lamp on translation.

Psalm 68: Almighty

It is always nice these days to find something to say that hasn't been already been said in greater detail in wikipedia. I note that the origin of the word Almighty does not fare too well there.

There is all kinds of silliness out there to connect the word Almighty with Shaddai. However, it was not the translation for Shaddai at all.

But first, let's line up the words that are a translation for each other. Pantocrator was a name for God in the Septuagint. Pantocrator translates into Latin as Omnipotens, into German as Allmächtige and into English as Almighty. Almighty appeared already as a name of God in Wycliff's translation and predates it by some time.

But, here is the catch. Pantocrator was not primarily the translation for Shaddai, but for the Lord of Hosts, or Lord Sabaoth. This is the name that Robert Alter refers to as the Lord of battalions or Lord of Armies, YHWH tseva'ot. So Pantocrator was the all-powerful God, the Lord of Hosts.

The meaning of Pantocrator, all powerful, has no connection to the name Shaddai. Not that Shaddai was not all powerful, but this is not an accurate translation of the name. Shaddai was Shaddai.

Throughout the LXX Pantocrator translates the Lord of Hosts. In Genesis, Shaddai is translated simply as theos. However, in Job, Shaddai was also translated as Pantocrator. So it appears that once the name Pantocrator had already been established in other books of the LXX for Lord Sabaoth, it was then used for Shaddai in Job.

Now it makes sense. Pantocrator, all powerful, the Lord of Hosts.

However, in the Vulgate, another twist, most references to both Shaddai and Lord of Hosts were translated as Omnipotens, all powerful. And finally, in the English, Lord Sabaoth was translated Lord of Hosts and only Shaddai was translated Almighty. This is the short story of how Shaddai came to be Almighty in English.

But, just to make this more confusing, in Isaiah 9:6, the Mighty God, is a translation of a completely different word, El Gibbor - God the mighty (hero).

I will have to write about how Shaddai was translated in Psalm 68 next time. Sometimes there are just too many twists and turns.

I almost forgot to mention that Pantocrator was a title for Zeus, and also associated with Apollo, the sun god. So we see Jesus Pantocrator portrayed as a sun god in some early Christian and even later Byzantine art. Pantocrator was not a name that was invented to translate Lord of Hosts, it already existed as a title for a god in Greek.

I realize that as Christians we might be very attached to the name Almighty for God, but in a translation, I find Shaddai and Lord of Hosts or Armies more in character with the Hebrew.

Psalm 68: Shaddai cont.

I thought I gave Shaddai rather short shrift last time so I am going to continue with this topic. There are three derivations of Shaddai that I did not mention. In this comment on my previous post, ElShaddai Edwards addresses two of them.

It is easy to see how there are massive cultural and linguistic overlays and assumptions to dig through in finding relevant meanings in translating El Shaddai.

For example, the "mountain" translation tradition is connected to the Akkadian (i.e. Mesopotamian, from whence Abram originally came) word sadu. Evidently "mountain" was a common Semitic word for gods residing on a cosmic mountain that was the center of the earth.

Abram then travels south and encounters "El", the father god of the Canaanites. Put El and a local variant of sadu together and you have the Father God of the Mountain.

A different linguistic path is that "el" is used as a "god of" modifier of whatever attribute followed. So "El Shaddai" would mean "God of Shaddai", perhaps the local god of the ancient city of Shaddai located on the banks of the Euphrates river in northern Syria, perhaps near Haran, where Abram lived after leaving Ur with his father, Terah.

The third association which I did not mention is "He is sufficient." Here is the entry from Jewish Encyclopedia.com

The word Shaddai (), which occurs along with El, is also used independently as a name of God,chiefly in the Book of Job. It is commonly rendered "the Almighty" (in LXX., sometimes παντοκράτωρ).

The Hebrew root "shadad," from which it has been supposed to be derived, means, however, "to overpower," "to treat with violence," "to lay waste." This would give Shaddai the meaning "devastator," or "destroyer," which can hardly be right. It is possible, however, that the original significance was that of "overmastering" or "overpowering strength," and that this meaning persists in the divine name.

Another interesting suggestion is that it may be connected with the Assyrian "shadu" (mountain), an epithet sometimes attached to the names of Assyrian deities.

It is conjectured also that the pointing of may be due to an improbable rabbinical explanation of the word as ("He who is sufficient"), and that the word originally may have been without the doubling of the middle letter. According to Ex. vi. 2, 3, this is the name by which God was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I can't provide more than that. However, I can explore in further depth how Shaddai came to be translated into English as Almighty when there is no linguistic rationale for that whatsoever. So, next time, where did the name "Almighty" come from? Not from Shaddai!

Psalm 68: Breasts and Mountains

This cannot be the first time that someone has remarked that mountains resemble breasts and are a symbol of fertility.

In seeking the meaning or connotation for El Shaddai I have come up with no answers but plenty of poetic allusions. Here are the three major connotations of El Shaddai - breasts and by association mountains, and destruction. These do not represent the known etymological roots of the word, but rather euphonic and associative connections.

In Genesis, El Shaddai is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. In Genesis 49:25, Shaddai, - שַׁדַּי the Almighty, is the one who blesses with the blessings of the heavens and the deep and the breasts שָׁדַיִם (the shadayim) and the womb.

Shaddai not only blesses the patriarchs with children but he takes children away from Naomi. Shaddai is the God of Job, who gave him life and children, the God who will not afflict. (Job 37:23.) In Isaiah 13:6 and Joel 1:15, destruction, שֹׁד (shod) comes from שַּׁדַּי Shaddai.

El Shaddai is mentioned only 6 times outside of Genesis and Job. One of these times is in Psalm 68:14.

When the Almighty scattereth kings
therein, it snoweth in Zalmon.
A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
Why look ye askance, ye mountains of peaks,
at the mountain which God hath desired for His abode?
Yea, the LORD will dwell therein for ever.

In Psalm 68, Shaddai can be associated with fertility and the blessing of children and homes in verse 6, with the mountains of the subsequent few verses, and also with the destruction of enemy kings.

It is perhaps best to simply remark that Shaddai is an archaic and poetic name for God. Perhaps it is a name remembered uniquely by the composer of this psalm, whether woman or man, one versed in the ancient poetic traditions. One of the most interesting things that I noticed about this psalm is that so many of God's names appear in it.

Shaddai represents to me the mixing of traditions, contemporary with ancient, and feminine with masculine. However, I do not find any exclusively female association with the name Shaddai. After all, the promise of the blessings of breast and womb were made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob - through their wives, of course. Bearing children was front and centre in the ancient Hebrew culture; it was the immortality that was promised to the patriarchs.

However, Shaddai does not seem to be mainstream by the time of the Psalms, a little counter cultural. This could possibly be explained by supposing that women had retained some of the ancient poetic traditions which had not become part of the temple worship.

I don't think one can attempt to find the original derivation of the name Shaddai, but as the Almighty He gives the blessing of life and immortality, He dwells in the mountains and has the power of destruction. He is sufficient.

Robert Alter transliterates Shaddai and simply remarks,

El Shaddai. The first term as in El Elyon, means God. Scholarship has been unable to determine the origins or precise meaning of the second term - tenuous associations have been proposed with a Semitic word meaning "mountain" and with fertility. What is clear (compare Exodus 6:3) is that the biblical writers considered it an archaic name of God. The Five Books of Moses page 81

Reading "Shaddai" rather than "Almighty" reminds of the distance between us and the culture which first knew God.

Other recent posts on the psalms are by Bob and Stefan.

Psalm 68: scripture citing scripture

One of the most puzzling cases of a citation of the Hebrew scriptures in the Christian scriptures is found in Psalm 68:19. It is not only cited in Eph. 4:8, but it also contains a citation from Judges 5:12.

Awake, awake, Deborah;
awake, awake, utter a song;
arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive,
thou son of Abinoam. Judges 5:12 JPS

Thou hast ascended on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive;
Thou hast received gifts among men yea, among the rebellious also,
that the LORD God might dwell there. Ps. 68:19 JPS

Thou hast ascended on high,
thou hast led captivity captive:
thou hast received gifts for men;
yea, for the rebellious also,
that the LORD God might dwell among them. Ps. 68:19 KJV

Look at how the King James version has altered the sense in the Psalm to make it match Ephesians.

Here is Eph. 4:8.

Wherefore he saith,
When he ascended up on high,
he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men. Eh. 4:8 KJV

And one final allusion to his phrase is found in Revelations.

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity:
he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Rev. 13:10

The phrase "lead captivity captive" is fairly constant in these four citations. However, there is a significant difference between Ps. 68 and Eph. 4. In the psalm God receives gifts from people and in Eph. 4 God gives gifts to people.

There are three options for what has happened in Eph. 4:8.

1. The author has changed the citation on purpose to suit his intended meaning.
2. The author had a different text with a variant in the Hebrew or Greek.
3. The author is quoting from a different text, a hymn perhaps which has not been preserved.

Obviously, our expectations of quotes are different from what we actually find in the scriptures. Rick has a related post on Eph. 4:26.

PS I had this post all lined up with the citations in Greek and Hebrew but I didn't feel that it added anything to the discussion. Feel free to bring this up if it seemed significant to you.

Ps. 68: Part 10

Update: John reviews Alter's Psalter and Chris shares some impressions,

Is it merely an entrance liturgy suitable for a variety of worship occasions, or is it specifically an entrance liturgy to be used in conjunction with the celebration of military victories?

I enjoy reading other people's take on the psalm, and have no intention of being comprehensive here. I am indulging in my interest in the history of translation by following this psalm throughout two millenia.

Bob writes on Bright Wings, a reference to Gerald Manley Hopkins.

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In verse 11 of psalm 68, we meet women again. In this case the most obvious interpretation is that they are announcing good news or a victory. To me this brings to mind return from war or restoration.

אֲדֹנָי יִתֶּן-אֹמֶר

הַמְבַשְּׂרוֹת צָבָא רָב

adonai yitten-omer hamvass^erot tzava rav

κύριος δώσει ῥῆμα τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ LXX

Dominus dabit verbum evangelizantibus, virtute multa. Clementine Vulgate

Domine dabis sermonem adnuntiatricibus fortitudinis plurimae Jerome

Dominus dat verbum;
virgines annuntiantes bona sunt agmen ingens: Nova Vulgata

Dominus dedit sermonem: earum quae nunciabant, exercitus magnus erat Pagnini

The Lord schal yyue a word; to hem that prechen the gospel with myche vertu. Wycliffe

The LORDE shal geue the worde, wt greate hoostes of Euagelistes. Coverdale

The Lorde gaue the worde: great was the company of the preachers. Bishop's

The Lorde gaue matter to the women to tell of the great armie. Geneva

The Lord gaue the word: great was the company of those that published it. KJV

The Lord giveth the word: the women that publish the tidings are a great host. Revised Version

The Lord giveth the word; the women that proclaim the tidings are a great host. JPS

The Master gives word --
the women who bear tidings are a great host: Alter

In Hebrew the verb is definitely feminine and so it must be "women". There does not seem to be much rhyme or reason to which translations indicated that the verb was feminine, - Jerome and Pagnini, - and those that did not, LXX and Vulgate . To add "virgins" in the Nova Vulgata seems odd. The word is not in the text so it is a supposition that these were unmarried women. It might suggest a custom, but it is still an interpretation. We will come back to virgins later in the psalm.

Regarding the variety of translation, it is possible to suggest that when it is translated without indicating the feminine, it tends to say "sermon", and "preach" or "evangelize"; and when the women are referred to, then the translation plays down the role and says "tell of the great army". There is no way one can tell if this is deliberate.

Adam Clarke, 1762 - 1832, makes this remark in his commentary.

Great was the company of those that published it. "Of the female preachers there was a great host." Such is the literal translation of this passage; the reader may make of it what he pleases. Some think it refers to the women who, with music, songs, and dances, celebrated the victories of the Israelites over their enemies. But the publication of good news, or of any joyful event, belonged to the women. It was they who announced it to the people at large; and to this universal custom, which prevails to the present day, the psalmist alludes. See this established in the note on Isa. xl. 9.

However, it seems clear to me that this is not a statement about preaching, but simply announcing a victory in war, or other announcement. It does indicate the full and joyous participation of women.

What is interesting is that the verb is in the feminine without a feminine noun first. It seems to be one more indication that this psalm was written by a woman. She quotes the song of Deborah throughout the psalm, she is concerned about children, widows, and homes, she says that those who announce the tidings are a host of women. Women will appear two more times in this psalm. It is not proof, of course, but this frequent mention of women is unusual in the psalms.

This is also the first time in the psalm that the name אֲדֹנָי Adonai, Lord, is used for God. I will write more about this in my next post.

Psalm 68: Pt.9: of one mind in an house

Iyov has provided access to Neale's commentary on Psalm 68 through a new widget(thingy) on his blog. This certainly puts an end to all dire predictions that blogs will disable people from reading extended texts. Cyberspace is now enabling us all to read one copy of the same book at the same time.

I will leave all Christological considerations aside, there is so much to comment on in this book I don't know where to begin, so I will restrict myself to a few lines. Neale comments on the Prayer Book version of the Psalter, which is significantly different from the King James tradition. It is descendant from the LXX, and Vulgate, so there are many alternate readings. The most fascinating one I have seen so far is this,

He is the Father of the fatherless, and defendeth the cause of widows: even God in his holy habitation.

He is the God that maketh men to be of one mind in a house, and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity: but letteth the runagates continue in scareness.

There is a completely logical explanation for how single men became "men of one mind". The LXX translated the Hebrew word which meant "only" or "solitary" as μονοτροπος, which can mean either "living alone" or "of one kind". The Vulgate translated it "of one manner" and so it became "of one mind".

And now, this is how Neale exegeted the concept of the "orphans". They are those who have left the world and joined Mother church.

The orphans are those, who born of their father the devil and of worldly desire, are now orphaned by abandoning their evil parents, and seeking a better FATHER, even God, and a tenderer Mother, His Church.

And those of one mind are those who are undivided by schism.

For by His inspiration the Prophets and Evangelists, and Apostles all teach the same great truth, all tend to the one goal, and His will it is that His church on earth should be at one, undivided by schisms and heresies, as it is written, "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul."

So we see that Neale's concern as a high churchman, is to counter schism: Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, and the Brethren are the bane of high churchmen. For him the fact that Christ is the head of the church means that the Church is our Mother and we should all belong to the One Church. That is, after all the meaning of the body. We are all one body in the church, if we remain in the church, that is. If we don't, we have left the body, and, in doing so, have left Christ.

This is the focus of the headship teaching is his day. But now some think that people may rightly attend whichever church they please, and worry only about conforming to the gender implications of headship, not all the other ones. The focus has shifted.

Without a subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica, all I know about Neale is from wikipedia. I leave it to others to comment on the Gentile nature of this commentary.

Psalm 68: Part 8: turns on a tent peg

Update: Bob has ventured into the next few verses.

Some readers might feel that by letting myself imagine the "background" to this psalm, I have left the text, as it is, and have added what is not there. On the contrary, it turns out that I have wandered into what really is there.

When I chose to write about this psalm, I had no notion of women being involved in writing it. I decided to start without the commentaries and develop my own feel for the text first and then go back and read the commentary.

After writing about the woman pegging down her tent, I then realized that this psalm contains several quotes and allusions from Deborah's Song in Judges 5 spread throughout the passage.

Psalm 68:5,8,9

Sing unto God,
sing praises to His name;
extol Him that rideth upon the skies,
whose name is the LORD;
and exult ye before Him.

O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people,
when Thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah

The earth trembled,
the heavens also dropped at the presence of God;
even yon Sinai trembled at the presence of God,
the God of Israel.

Judges 5:3-5

Hear, O ye kings;
give ear, O ye princes;
I, unto the LORD will I sing;
I will sing praise to the LORD,
the God of Israel.

LORD, when Thou didst go forth out of Seir,
when Thou didst march out of the field of Edom,
the earth trembled,
the heavens also dropped,
yea, the clouds dropped water.

The mountains quaked
at the presence of the LORD,
even yon Sinai
at the presence of the LORD,
the God of Israel.

Several phrases are recited from Deborah's Song, with little or no change. One notable change, however, is that יְהוָה YHVH in Deborah's Song becomes אֱלֹהִים Elohim in Psalm 68. Here God is addressed as Elohim, with the added clarification that YAH is his name.

Other phrases throughout the psalm are taken from Judges as well, without necessarily retaining the same connotation. For example, in Judges the ones who divided the spoil were Canaanite women, not Israelite women. The meaning of many of these references is obscure in Psalm 68.

Ps. 68:13

and she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil.

Judges 5:30

Are they not finding,
are they not dividing the spoil?

----------

Psalm 68:14

When ye lie among the sheepfolds

Judges 5:16

Why sattest thou among the sheepfolds,
to hear the pipings for the flocks?

-------------------

Ps. 68:19

Thou hast ascended on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive;
Thou hast received gifts among men,
yea, among the rebellious also,
that the LORD God might dwell there.


Judges 5:12

Awake, awake, Deborah;
awake, awake, utter a song;
arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive,
thou son of Abinoam.

-----------------------

Ps. 68:28

There is Benjamin, the youngest,
ruling them, the princes of Judah their council,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

Judges 5:14

after thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;
out of Machir came down governors,
and out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.

Apart from the initial reference, many of these phrases are difficult to interpret and integrate into the meaning of the psalm as a whole. They seem to function as allusions to Deborah's Song, to bring those events to mind for the hearers.

It seems entirely unlikely to me that Deborah's Song itself was kept alive by men, considering these lines,

Her hand she put to the tent-pin,
and her right hand to the workmen's hammer;
and with the hammer she smote Sisera,
she smote through his head,
yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.

At her feet he sunk, he fell, he lay;
at her feet he sunk, he fell;
where he sunk, there he fell down dead.

There is a note of exultation over an enemy and a stronger one at that, that I think might not have appealed to the male warrior, although surely the victory itself was welcome.

There is, then, an overwhelming probability that this psalm was composed by a woman who was familiar with the Song of Deborah, and borrowed bits and pieces of it to retain a connection to a famous victory.

However, there is no indication that subsequent readers, or singers of this psalm perceived it as a feminine song, or thought that it had a feminine voice. In fact, the Parliamentary armies sang this song during the English civil war.

Psalm 68 was a favourite of the Parliamentary armies, but one should not forget that it was an indelible part of the religious culture of the day. It would have been sung by the King's side as well. The Prayer Book version, though, is not the one they would have sung. When one reads of the soldiers of the Civil War advancing into battle singing psalms, it is a misimagination to think of them going into battle chanting Anglican chant. Almost certainly, they would have sung the words they would have known and loved:

Let God arise, and then his foes
will turn themselves to flight:
His enemies for fear shall run,
and scatter out of sight.

This is the Old Version of Psalm 68, by Sternhold.

Although there is much in this psalm to indicate that it was composed by a woman, or women, there is nothing intrinsically feminine about its sentiments. The author expresses the desires of all singers of this psalm - recognition of the greatness of God, appeal to him to scatter their enemies and understanding that he is a God of restoration and goodness. The psalmist does not compose a text for women, the psalmist composes a text for the nation.

Note: All citations are from the JPS.

Ps. 68: Notes

Stefan has joined us on Psalm 68, writing about a few interesting features of the Greek version mentioned by J. K. Gayle.

Ps. 68: Part 7: Reflections

J. K. Gayle had written on Psalm 68, picking up again my reference to the psalmist as possibly a woman. He comments,

for Aristotelianism (and likely for Aristotle himself):
- woman is a "botched" man
- rhetoric is "botched" logic
- translation is "botched" authority

In my view, masculine and feminine, as values, exist apart from actual men and women. An analysis of translation as feminine and the original as masculine is misleading in Biblical terms. When the translation becomes authoritative, the translators must be masculine. Masculinity is attached to authority.

Much systematic theology is derived from the Torah and the epistles. These are "masculine", and the narratives and poetry more "feminine". Segments of poetry throughout the scriptures are associated with the feminine voice, Deborah, Prov. 31, Mary's Magnificat and Anna. Authority is associated with the masculine.

At John's suggestion, and because the feminine voice will become very evident in the next few verse of Ps. 68, I have chosen to think of the psalm from a feminine point of view. This has no bearing on essential differences between men and women, but is a constructed view. If one were to think of the differences as essential, then one would have to see all poetry and musical expression as being intrinsically more feminine, and less masculine. That simply is not so. However, women were, and still are, in some contexts, restricted to, or encouraged to remain within, the musical domain in religious participation. It is less authoritative.

We have to reconsider. Are men less musical, are men less interested in expressing themselves through music and language than women. In some way, yes, but in others, not at all. Is my interpretation of the psalm actually feminine, or is something else going on?

In fact, my translation of Psalm 68 is heavily dependent on Rotherham, Jerome, Pagnini and Luther, all men, but men of a different era. It is men who translated "fatherless" as "orphans" "home" as "children" and "congregation" as "herds". The domestic and pastoral theme, the sense of restoration after war, is one I sensed in Luther's translation.

It is important to realize that what is feminine in one context, is masculine in another. Assigning an attribute to either the masculine or the feminine, is not a constant, but dependent on context. If in one rhetoric "protection" is assigned to the male, in another it is assigned to the female - think of the expression "protect her cubs." "Nurturing" is assigned to the female, but Paul assigns it to himself. Think of the good shepherd carrying the lambs in his arms. There is little that is absolute in terms of male and female attributes. Having said that, we are reared differently, we do behave differently, and although much of this is cultural, we do have our differences.

One of the reasons that I have taken up the domestic or "feminine" reading of this psalm, is because John had already intitiated his analysis of the psalm as a processional in time of war. That is, my reading of the psalm is gendered mainly because I am writing in the context of other writers who are men. If I sat down to write about this psalm on my own, in a vacuum, so to speak, it would most likely come out very differently, more neutral.

When I write in another domain, not religious, my writing is not distinctly feminine; it has been confused with that of a certain John McCarthy. Many commenters on this blog have also had their gender misread.

I write here with a woman's identity as a conscious choice. It highlights the dilemma of gender accuracy in translation and it establishes the author as one who is interacts with the text. It also provides the opportunity for me to embroider the posts with a little colourful ornamentation from time to time. I am not writing a thesis after all. :-)

Was Psalm 68 written by a woman? Does it matter? Not really but the next post will argue that at least for some verses, the psalmist really is a woman. Someone we have met already.

Ps. 68: Part 6: The heavens dripped

There are new posts on Psalm 68 by Lingamish, along with a fleet of comments, Bob offers commentary insight, some critical text analysis and alternative readings of verse 5, John brings in more musical background and J. K. joins the fray with a comparison of how Aristotle and Luther would read the psalm. J. K. quotes Luther writing,

Again in Psalm 68 we ran quite a risk, relinquishing the words and rendering the sense. For this many know-it-alls will criticize us, to be sure, and even some pious souls may take offense. But what is the point of needlessly adhering so scrupulously and stubbornly to words which one cannot understand anyway?

I frequently find in both Luther's translation and the King James Version, as well as Rotherham's a certain extravagant warmth of vocabulary. One does not get the sense of a clinical exercise in translation, but the addition of a loving turn of phrase. I was happy yesterday to see Luther's expression, "a house full of children." Not a feminist concern, but a human concern.

John has added several posts which reflect on mine here and here. And, once again, since I translated these verses several days ago, Iyov has posted Alter's version. Several words that I had already chosen occur in Alter's version, such as "strode" and "shed". So far, I have been very good, and have not yet "squirrelled down" the page to read the rest of Alter's version, which I will look at after I tackle each section of the psalm. I know I well be very influenced by Alter! Iyov first introduced me to Alter's Five Books of Moses last year, and encouraged me at the time to resume my study of Hebrew.

Here are verses 8-11.

אֱלֹהִים--בְּצֵאתְךָ

לִפְנֵי עַמֶּךָ

בְּצַעְדְּךָ בִישִׁימוֹן סֶלָה.

אֶרֶץ רָעָשָׁה


אַף-שָׁמַיִם נָטְפוּ--

מִפְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים

זֶה סִינַי-- מִפְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים

אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.


גֶּשֶׁם נְדָבוֹת תָּנִיף אֱלֹהִים

נַחֲלָתְךָ

וְנִלְאָה אַתָּה כוֹנַנְתָּהּ.


חַיָּתְךָ יָשְׁבוּ-בָהּ

תָּכִין בְּטוֹבָתְךָ לֶעָנִי אֱלֹהִים.

O God! When you came

before your people,

When you strode

through the wilderness, Selah.


Earth shook,

The very heavens dripped

at the face of God, -

This Sinai - at the face of God,

the God of Israel.


Abundant rain you shed, God,

on your inheritance,

And its fatigue you yourself replenished.


Your herds live there,

You establish

out of your goodness

the impoverished - O God!

_________

While John has written of the role of this Psalm in war time, and there is a very interesting article on its use in the English Civil War; I have focused on another theme to provide a slightly different approach from John. These should be seen as complementary, theme and sub-theme. John writes of religious processions which he has witnessed, and I think of the domestic and pastoral, the importance of children and rain. The difference between our two approaches is not theological but rather one of literary and thematic focus.

Rain

She heard the wind blowing down the slope and went to the door of the tent. As she looked upwind, clouds billowed on the horizon. She squatted down and took a small rock in her hands which were slick from rubbing sheep fat into the baby's bottom. She tapped on the tent peg, driving it further into the ground. Methodically, she went around to each peg, testing to see that it was secure, giving it an extra whack for good measure.

When she was done she straightened up and undid the ropes that held back the door flaps. Then she squatted down outside and waited and watched, taking deep breaths of cool air. Thunder split the sky and the rain came, a few drops at first. She let it fall on her face and outstretched arms and licked the first sweet drops from her forearms.

Eventually she withdrew into the doorway and remained squatting, humming a lullaby to the baby about a God who provided a father for the fatherless, justice for the widow and family for the single man. She sang about rain for the thirsty ground and grass for the herds. By now the drops were pounding on the sides of the tent and because the rhythm was faster than the familiar beat of her mother's heart, it woke up the child.

While preparing my translation I have become increasingly aware of the giants of Bible translation. Those that are becoming familiar to me, and that I am growing to appreciate more and more, are Jerome, Pagnini, Luther, Rotherham and Alter.

I will eventually be drawing this theme of God's bounty into a discussion of the names of God.

Ps. 68: Part 5 The barren woman

Update: I have just looked at Bob's image and noticed how he outlines the verse with the name of God in it. He also uses the very evocative phrase "bound in chains" instead of "captives" which I used. The shading really emphasizes the high density of the names of God in this psalm.

Lingamish has pointed out that Psalm 68 is the most difficult of all psalms. So I understand. Adam Clarke quotes Simon de Muis 1587-1644 saying,

"In this Psalm there are as many precipices and labyrinths as there are verses or words. It may not be improperly termed, the torture of critics, and the reproach of commentators.

I am going to go back and revisit one of these labyrinths by examining some verses recommended by John with reference to settling the singles in households.

John suggests I look at Ps 113:9, Hosea 11:11; Ps 107:36; Jer 32:37, and Ezek 36:11.

אֱלֹהִים מוֹשִׁיב יְחִידִים בַּיְתָה

מוֹשִׁיבִי עֲקֶרֶת הַבַּיִת-- אֵם-הַבָּנִים שְׂמֵחָה

elohim moshiv yechidim baytah Psalm 68:7

moshivi akeret habbayit-- em-habbanim semechah Ps. 113:9

These two lines are very similar. They are respectively,

God settles the singles in houses

Who settles the barren woman in her house, as a mother of children, joyful.

This supports my proposal that "settling the singles in houses" means "giving children to the childless." The other verses suggested by John refer in general to resettling people after a war.

They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will make them to dwell in their houses, saith the LORD. Hosea 11:11

And there He maketh the hungry to dwell, and they establish a city of habitation; Psalm 107:36

Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in Mine anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them back unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely; Jer. 32:37

and I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Ezekial 36:11

I think this last one points back to children. The thing is, does "to dwell in a house" mean to have a spouse and children. It does if the "house" stands for a family.

In mentioning the different classes of people, the psalmist is saying that children need a father, a widow needs representation, and single adults need marriage and children. There is a certain reciprocity here - parents are for their children and children for the parents. Then she continues, captives are lead out into rich land and those who are rebellious against God get the non-productive land.

While John was drawn to think first of the war time conditions that would be the background of this psalm, I thought of the very cohesive relationship between adults and children, as families, and the relationship of the people to the land.

Recognition of these needs is a justice issue. Women in the Hebrew scriptures had a certain right to bear children, men had a right to a wife and to beget children. The right to dwell in safety with a spouse and children was a vital concern. Hierarchy was not. What are the narratives all about - that Naomi and Tamar have children, that Isaac gets a wife and begets children. While finding land is also central, I am inclined to believe that when it says a "house", this refers to getting married and having children and not finding a place to live. That is important and is reflected in the repeated use of the word "land". Logical, eh?

John mentions that the psalmist seems to have a female voice in this psalm. Later in the psalm a similar point will be made by the composer of these lyrics.

John continues to translate and Lingamish is keeping track of comments. Let me just point out that if we write about a gender issue, people weigh in with lots of heated comments, myself foremost. However, when we attack a serious task of translation, readers just doze right off. So, Lingamish, good luck trying to get comments on a "real" post.

Lots more to go in this psalm. We have barely begun. No doubt we will fall over a precipice yet.

Update: I have just checked with the Buber Rosenzweig translation on "settling singles in houses" and they lean in the same direction as John. I am waiting with baited breath for Iyov's edition of Alter's Psalms to arrive.

Ps 68: Pt. 4: A house full of children

Down the hatch with the chicken scratch. I am in a four way race and even though I got off the starting block first, I have lost the lead and John has pulled ahead. Dave is already pondering the "lovely lady", Bob has provided the whole psalm en bloque, and I am slowly going to plod through one little word at a time.

A few notes in response to various emails, comments, etc.

• I usually choose boring titles because I detest the unwieldy URL
  
• I do not support affirmative action. I would now appreciate a female pastor for once because I have had an almost clear streak of male pastors for 50 years.
• I wish to thank David Reimer who sent me an electronic book, Grammatical Analysis of the Hebrew Psalter by Joana Julia Greswell, 1873. I am always very appreciative of anyone who sends me books, paper or electronic, and I am especially delighted when it is a scholarly book by a woman author.
• Thanks to J. K. for his comment on this post. It is worth coming back to in the future.
  

John has already provided his translation of Ps. 68:6-7, and is likely working on the next few verses as I write. However, I am going to take time to offer a slightly different interpretation of these verses. I hope that John will then respond. Very likely, both interpretations are possible, but John may just be able to prove that I am off base.

אֲבִי יְתוֹמִים

וְדַיַּן אַלְמָנוֹת

אֱלֹהִים בִּמְעוֹן קָדְשׁוֹ.

אֱלֹהִים מוֹשִׁיב

יְחִידִים בַּיְתָה

מוֹצִיא אֲסִירִים בַּכּוֹשָׁרוֹתאַךְ

סוֹרְרִים שָׁכְנוּ צְחִיחָה.

avi yetomim

vedaiyan almanot

elohim bim'on kadesho.


elohim moshiv

yechidim baytah


motzi asirim bakkosharot'ach

sorerim shachenu tzechichah.



Father of orphans,

And defender of widows,

God in his holy habitation


God who settles

The singles in households

God, who gives

To the childless children


Who leads captives out to fertile places

But the rebellious inhabit scorched land.

Who leads captives out to rich land

While rebels inhabit scorched earth.

Listen to it here. I have interpreted verse 7a somewhat differently from John. Where John writes, "God, who resettles the homeless to homes;" I have, "God, who gives to the childless children." First, I have taken a very literal approach to the word יְחִידִים It could mean "abandoned" or " deserted", but also "beloved" since its basic meaning is "only" or "single".

Next, I have once again chosen the literal "household" because I think it is understood that a "household" is the family inside the house. But, most important, rather than seeing the "singles" as a reprieve of the "orphans" and "widows", referring to the same group of people, I consider that it refers to a different group altogether, the never-married, or the childless. Since children are the chief blessing, the most important prosperity, in a tribal culture, I understand that this says that God gives to single people a family. That is, God gives the single man a wife and children, i.e. a household.

I still have to consider carefully whether the "singles" are only men, or single men and women. In an inflected language, all nouns are either feminine or masculine. Nouns referring to people break down into three groups pragmatically. Those with a feminine marking are all feminine. Those with a masculine marking can be either all masculine, or both masculine and feminine. If we are talking about taxation and civic affairs, it may be that the men represent the women, they represent their household. However, it may simply be a mixed crowd of men and women, and there is no representative function of the males whatsoever. I won't worry about that.

The question is whether we should see three groups of people, 1. orphans, 2. widows and 3. single/widowed men; or whether there are three groups of people, 1. orphans, 2. widows, and 3. single men and women.

The reference to the "house" seemed at first to bring to mind the many mentions of "the house of" in the genealogies. This is usually in conjunction with the name of the father - Abraham, Israel, David, etc. I was looking for a reference that would be true to this culture, not necessarily gender neutral. Does only a man have "a house", that is a wife and children and the women belong to "the house" of a man? My concern is not hierarchy but social configuration.

In looking back on the Genesis narratives, I thought of the importance of children to Abraham, and the story of his servant going to chose Rebekah for Isaac. It is one of the loveliest stories in that book. We know Rebekah will feel loved.

While this chapter is about fulfilling God's promise to Abraham that he will beget many children, it contains two mentions of the family of women. First, Rebekah in Gen. 24:28, runs off to tell the news "to her mother's house". So, I infer that a woman may also have "a house." Next, we read in verse 60

And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her: 'Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let thy seed possess the gate of those that hate them.'

While the Hebrew scriptures are predominantly patrilineal and patriarchal, they are not uniquely so. Therefore, I have translated Psalm 68:7 as "singles" not "single men" - "to singles a household". However, if I were to provide a more dynamic translation, I would say "to the childless children". The logical result of marriage is children, and in this culture no marriage would be complete without them.

And now, having struggled throughout this post knowing I have a slight disagreement with John over verse 7a, I finally sneak a peak at Luther, bless him, he sides with me. Luther translates, der den Einsamen das Haus voll Kinder gibt - "who gives to the single a house full of children." I think somehow Luther loved children.

Further Notes: From the New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible,

God setteth the solitary in families…


Which the Jewish writers generally understand of an increase of families, with children in lawful marriage; see (Psalms 113:9) ; an instance of which we have in Abraham and Sarah; from which single or solitary ones, when joined in marriage, sprung a numerous offspring, (Isaiah 51:2) (Hebrews 11:12) . And to this sense the Targum paraphrases the words;

``God is he that joins, couples single ones into a couple, as one:''

some copies add,

``to build an house out of them;''

that is, a family

;

Psalm 68 Part 3

Here is Psalm 68:4 in total. I will follow it with the KJV, which I have chosen arbitrarily for this study.

שִׁירוּ, לֵאלֹהִים--:

זַמְּרוּ שְׁמוֹ


סֹלּוּ,לָרֹכֵב בָּעֲרָבוֹת--


בְּיָהּ שְׁמוֹ;


וְעִלְזוּ לְפָנָיו.



Sing unto God,
sing praises to his name:
extol him that rideth upon the heavens
by his name JAH,
and rejoice before him.

And here is what it sounds like.

shiru, lelohim--
zammeru shemo:
sollu, larochev ba'aravot--
beyah shemo;
ve'ilzu lefanav.

It is going to take a bit of trial and error before I get this right, I am just learning the ropes of posting in Hebrew. I would appreciate any comment on how I have broken up the lines. The text I am using as a source has commas rather more frequently than I would expect.

One of the really puzzling things for translators of this verse is how to render two different Hebrew words שִׁירוּ and זַמְּרוּ with two different words in English.

שִׁיר

1. sing

זמּר

1. play an instrument
2. praise
3. sing

Here are how the two words are translated in three different Latin versions which served as models for the English translations.

Cantate - psalmum dicite - Vulgate from LXX
Cantate - canite - Jerome's Hebrew
cantate - psallite - Pagnini

Latin conveniently has two almost identical words which can be used here, canto and cano. However, Pagnini used psallo a transliteration of the the Greek ψαλλω "to sing or play music." The real problem was how to poetically render the Hebrew זמּר and the Greek ψαλλω, first into Latin and for us, into English.

While some of the early translations, for example, the Bishops' Bible, preserve the word "psalm", "sing a psalm unto his name," almost every other version uses some form of "sing praise". But once again, I have found a thoughtful alternative in Rotherham's Bible.

Sing ye to God,
Make music of his Name, -
Lift up (a song),
to him that rideth through the waste plains, -
Since Yah is his name,
exult ye before him.

The tension here is that English really lacks the full complement of verbs for making music. As an aside, it is worth noting that for this verse "sing praises" seems to come from lobsingen in German. However, in line 2, the English and German diverge. Luther has used "the desert" from Jerome's Hebrew Psalter and the KJV has used "heavens" from Pagnini. I am sure that each decision was made with reference to the Hebrew original and required much discussion.

There are many roadblocks in the way of a translator. What should one do when there are two different words in the source language and only one in the target language? What if you have to use two words in English to translate one in Hebrew? How does that affect the rhythm of the translation?

Psalm 68 Part 2

Tonight I want to write about Psalm 68 verse 4, the second line. Some of you might have noticed that it is translated in at least four significantly different ways.

סֹלּוּ, לָרֹכֵב בָּעֲרָבוֹת

Extol him that rideth upon the heavens KJV

Make a way for him who ascendeth upon the west: D-R

Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; ESV

Extol him who rides on the clouds NIV

The root ערבה can legitimately have several different meanings, as desert or wasteland, as the evening, or the clouds in the sky. The translation has depended strongly on context, that is, first, the verb which precedes this noun; and secondly, other expressions occurring in this psalm. In the KJV the line has been translated to accord with verse 33,

לָרֹכֵב, בִּשְׁמֵי שְׁמֵי-קֶדֶם
To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old;

The word for "ride" means to ride on an animal or in chariot, while ערבה has been variously translated in these ways in the different translations.

heavens - Pagnini, Coverdale, Geneva, Bishop's, KJV, JPS (skies)
clouds - RSV, (T)NIV, NET, HCSB, NRSV, CEV
evening, setting, going down - LXX, Vulgate, Wycliffe (going down)D-R (west)
desert - Jerome's Hebrew Psalter, Luther, NASB, ESV

These are the three translations which have influenced the different choices.

Vulgate (from LXX)
iter facite ei qui ascendit super occasum.
[make way for him who ascends on the setting]

Jerome's Hebrew Psalter
Praeparate viam ascenditi per deserta
[Prepare a way for him who ascends through the desert]

Pagnini
Exaltate eum qui equitat super coelos
[Exalt him who rides (a horse) on the heavens]

What is really fascinating is to see that the Bishops' Bible demonstrates its dependence on the Pagnini translation by explicitly mentioning "riding on a horse".

Magnifie hym that rideth vpon the heauens as it were vpon an horse Bishops'

Only the Latin of Pagnini refers to a horse. The others simply reflect "riding" on something. There seems to be no way to know absolutely which translation is correct. When it comes to Hebrew, I tend to simply accept the authority which I read or heard speak most recently. However, at least with the KJV you can know that the translation has its origin elsewhere in scripture, it is there, if somewhere else.

I can't come close to suggesting which translation is the most accurate, but I find it a good exercise to go through something like this and learn more about the process of translation over the centuries.

PS I am aware that I have some technical difficulties in posting in Hebrew. Advice is welcome.

Psalm 68 Part l

I have put off for over a year a series which has been requested more than once. It is only with the utmost hesitation and reluctance that I embark on this series. It is about the names of God. Because I really am an old fashioned person, and reared in a very strict way, I feel a certain taboo in talking directly about God. It is like looking directly into the sun.

So, I have named this series Psalm 68 and I will blog through this peculiarly interesting psalm. It does contain five of the most important names of God. This is an exercise in approaching something from an angle, obliquely. It will be an exploration for me, and is far outside of any small expertise I might have in languages.

A few weeks ago, Bryan L., a BBB lurker and email friend, asked,

I was doing a search on the word sovereign and all it's inflections (I think that is the word I'm looking for) because I wanted to study how it's used in the Bible. So using Bibleworks I did a search in the NIV and noticed almost 300 verses came up (an interesting side note only 5 were in the NT). So I decided to copy all those verse as well as the same verses from the NRSV and NASB to compare with how the NIV translates certain passages. I then noticed something. Those NRSV and NASB verses were not saying sovereign where the NIV did. So I decided to search for all the occurrences of sovereign and it's different (inflections) in the NRSV and the NASB. Here's what I found:

The NASB only shows 8 occurrences (only 1 for the actual word sovereign) and the NRSV only has 22 verses. The ESV actually does the same to from a quick search in it using E-Sword. Why the big difference between translations? I mean that is huge and obviously shows a translation philosophy difference or a difference in how a word or phrase should be translated. Hopefully you can help me out or guide me to where to look.

Thanks and keep up the great topics on BBB.

Yes, it is a huge difference, and, of course, there is a short answer, but this topic deserves proper treatment. It is better to build up our awareness of the different names of God and how they have been translated, or not, over the millenia.

On his own blog, Bryan has recently written,

Sometimes I attempt to read complicated theological books and I think to myself, wow, this person has really thought long and hard about this and has taken the best of philosophy and theology and melded them together to form these extremely detailed and complicated beliefs about God and his attributes and actions, and I'm really impressed. And then I think, it's probably no closer to the truth than a simple statement like God is good, or God is love, or God is our father or God is sovereign, or whatever. In fact, again, I wonder if the more we try to focus in on God the more wrong we get. Like taking a microscope to a picture and seeing a few of the cyan, magenta, yellow and black dots that help make the picture, and then confusing those dots for the picture.

So I think Bryan is interested in the attributes of God, revealed in his name.

Here are the first four verse of Ps; 68, in the KJV.

1Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

2As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

3But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

4Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

The word for God in verse 1, 2, 3, and 4a is אֱלֹהִים - ’ĕlōhîm. Of course, there is no such thing as upper case, and so one would not see the name of God with a capital in Hebrew, or Greek either. However, the name of God was held in reverence.

In verse 4b, God is mentioned by his name יְהוָה but in the abbreviated form יָהּ. What is particularly interesting is that יְהוָה, is not to be pronounced but יָהּ may be. So, if I put יְהוָה into the Hebrew transliteration tool, it comes out as hashem - "the name", but if I put יָהּ into the transliteration tool then the result is yah. This reflects the practise of the Jews in reading the name of God.

Verse 4 then in Hebrew reads,

שִׁירוּ, לֵאלֹהִים-- זַמְּרוּ שְׁמוֹ:
סֹלּוּ, לָרֹכֵב בָּעֲרָבוֹת--בְּיָהּ שְׁמוֹ; וְעִלְזוּ לְפָנָיו.

This is the only time that Jah occurs in the King James Bible. Elsewhere the name yah is translated as LORD. יָהּ occurs 49 times in the scriptures but only once has it been translated as Jah in the KJV - in Ps. 68:4. Most modern translations use LORD,

Jah - Pagnini , KJV, Darby, Eberfelder,
Yah - Emph. Bible
Iah - Geneva Bible
LORD - ESV, TNIV, NAB, JPS, NASB, NRSV, D-R
Yahweh - HCSB
HERR - Luther
Dominus - Vulgate

I will not discuss the translation of יְהוָה in this post. However, my understanding is that a variation of Jah is acceptable and Yahweh is not. Jah occurs in many Hebrew words and names, most commonly, Allelujah. But as you can see most translations have opted for LORD.

Pagnini's version is the first that I know of that does not translate יָהּ as Dominus - LORD, but uses Jah instead.

It is worth noting this point from Judaism 101,

Although the prohibition on pronunciation applies only to the four-letter Name, Jews customarily do not pronounce any of God's many Names except in prayer or study. The usual practice is to substitute letters or syllables, so that Adonai becomes Adoshem or Ha-Shem, Elohaynu and Elohim become Elokaynu and Elokim, etc.