Dust

A 24 hour holiday and where am I?

2012-02-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

We just spent a delightful night (a gift) in Sooke at the luxuriant Sooke Harbour House, called one of the 5 best boutique inns in the world (and why not!). We began with a 28km bike ride to Otter point and back over the Sooke hills - O my those hills! Then we soaked in the personal hot-pool. We had the whole hotel to ourselves. I am surprised they were open with only 2 guests! And all the cookie jars were full - really, they have cookies in the hallway on every corner!

The world-class dining room was closed so we had supper at a local place, Markus's - very nice, black cod on potato salad, and seared scallops on risotto - both superb, and a bottle of Santa Rita Cab. Sauv. But there was no need for coffee and desert since we could make decaf coffee in our room, and there were, after all, all those cookies!

Today, after a large continental breakfast (included in the hotel room), we walked the Whiffen spit and later we had a lunch of the leftover scones from breakfast on the beach at the Devonian Park.

Now, back on the computer, I am assessing my status on my 7 year project to translate the Psalms and to display all their recurring words. We are in year 6. I have spent the last month trying to remember how to write accompaniment for piano or organ for my setting of Psalm 19. It is more done than not done, I think. I intend to continue composing. It is a test for the translation and its rhythms. Maybe I will come up with a hit tune!

Over at Poetry of Christ, notes are appearing on the translations every day for the current group of psalms, the psalms of ascent, and every 3 or four days for the rest. Scheduled completion - last week of March 2012. I continue to adjust the translations subject to critical feedback from several sources - on notes, on translation decisions and glosses, and on appropriate means of presentation of rhetorical criticism. (And I keep coming across articles that I really should reference.)

Nice to have a day off. I think I will take another one on Monday - off to Vancouver to see two of my sons.

Revisiting Jonah, The Fury Part Two, aka The Tender Plant, 4:6-10

2012-01-31T06:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the story of the tender plant, the worm, and the sultry east wind. Each one was appointed by יְהוָה God, the first to deliver Jonah from his evil, so that he might be glad for himself, the next two to strike so that he might lose his fury over the comfort of others more ignorant than him.

The unique aspect of this section is clearly

The Tender Plant

It is tied by fury to the prior section.

The child of the night, stressing transience, closes the child frame opened in the first chapter. Jonah's patronym makes him a child of truth. The great city, Nineveh, is also a frame for the story.

So at the end of this revisitation of a delightfully serious and comical tale, I have revised my mnemonics for the whole poem slightly. The first two chapters, encompassing the city with the sea and windy (spirit) tempest and the havoc of hurling actions, are comprised of: The Descent, The Dice, The Mortals and The Fish. The Mortals anticipate Nineveh, its turning, and its belonging to God. The second two chapters are comprised of The Day, The Turn, The Fury (not God's but Jonah's), parts 1 and 2. Unlike Jonah, the king leads his people in the turning and God turns in comfort (sighing) to them. Such turning is evil for Jonah. Evil, used as a frame when the seafarers turn and again in this chapter, ties together chapters 1 and 4. Jonah succeeds in bringing evil upon others and in knowing it in himself.

וַיְמַן יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים קִיקָיוֹן וַיַּעַל מֵעַל לְיוֹנָה לִהְיוֹת צֵל עַל רֹאשׁוֹ לְהַצִּיל לוֹ מֵרָעָתוֹ וַיִּשְׂמַח יוֹנָה עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן שִׂמְחָה גְדוֹלָה	4.6	and יְהוָה God appointed a tender plant and made it come up over Jonah to become shade over his head to deliver him from his evil and Jonah was glad for the tender plant he was very glad
וַיְמַן הָאֱלֹהִים תּוֹלַעַת בַּעֲלוֹת הַשַּׁחַר לַמָּחֳרָת וַתַּךְ אֶת הַקִּיקָיוֹן וַיִּיבָשׁ	4.7	and God appointed a worm as the dawn came up in the morning and it struck the tender plant and it dried up
וַיְהִי כִּזְרֹחַ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וַיְמַן אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית וַתַּךְ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ עַל רֹאשׁ יוֹנָה וַיִּתְעַלָּף וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי	4.8	and it happened when the sun shone and God appointed a sultry east wind and the sun struck Jonah's head and he fainted and he wished his being to die and he said death is good compared with my life
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל יוֹנָה הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לְךָ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן וַיֹּאמֶר הֵיטֵב חָרָה לִי עַד מָוֶת	4.9	and God said to Jonah is it good for you to be furious over the tender plant? and he said it is good for me to be furious even to death
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אַתָּה חַסְתָּ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָמַלְתָּ בּוֹ וְלֹא גִדַּלְתּוֹ שֶׁבִּן לַיְלָה הָיָה וּבִן לַיְלָה אָבָד	4.10	and יְהוָה said you yourself showed pity for the tender plant that you did not toil for and did not make grow¹ that happened as a child of the night and as a child of the night perished
וַאֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס עַל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ בָּהּ הַרְבֵּה מִשְׁתֵּים-שְׂרֵה רִבּוֹ אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ וּבְהֵמָה רַבָּה ש	4.11	and I, will I not show pity to Nineveh the great city? for there are in her more than 12 ten-thousands of humans who cannot tell their right hand from their left and also many cattle ש

1or make great

Jonah 4:6-11

Selected recurring words in relative order (6 to 11)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

וימן and appointed

░

מנה

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

אלהים God

░

אלוה

קיקיון a tender plant

░

קיקיון

ויעל and made it come up

░

עלה

ליונה Jonah

░

יונה

להיות to become

░

היה

ראשׁו his head

░

ראשׁ

וישׂמח and was glad

░

שׂמח

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

הקיקיון the tender plant

░

קיקיון

שׂמחה he was glad

░

שׂמח

גדולה very

░

גדל

וימן and appointed

░

מנה

האלהים God

░

אלוה

בעלות as came up

░

בעל

ותך and it struck

░

נכה

הקיקיון the tender plant

░

קיקיון

ויהי and it happened

░

היה

השׁמשׁ the sun

░

שׁמשׁ

וימן and appointed

░

מנה

אלהים God

░

אלוה

ותך and struck

░

נכה

השׁמשׁ the sun

░

שׁמשׁ

ראשׁ head

░

ראשׁ

יונה Jonah's

░

יונה

למות to die

░

מות

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

מותי death is

░

מות

ויאמר and said

░

אמר

אלהים God

░

אלוה

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

ההיטב is it good

░

יטב

חרה to be furious

░

חרה

הקיקיון the tender plant

░

קיקיון

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

היטב it is good

░

יטב

חרה to be furious

░

חרה

מות death

░

מות

ויאמר and said

░

אמר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

חסת showed pity

░

חוס

הקיקיון the tender plant

░

קיקיון

אשׁר that

░

אשׁר

לא not

░

לא

ולא and not

░

לא

גדלתו you did make grow

░

גדל

שׁבן as a child of

░

בן

לילה the night

░

לילה

היה happened

░

היה

ובן and as a child of

░

בן

לילה the night

░

לילה

לא not

░

לא

אחוס will I show pity

░

חוס

הגדולה great

░

גדל

אשׁר for

░

אשׁר

הרבה more than

░

רב

אשׁר who

░

אשׁר

לא cannot

░

לא

רבה many

░

רב

This petulant prophet appears to be devoid of tenderness. But at least he is forthright. He knows his fury. God's mercy lies outside the human idea of fair or due reward. Jonah does not really like the good of creation, though he is glad enough for himself. His reaction is quite different from Job's. Job is ultimately seen to be both tender and right. Job changes. We don't know about Jonah. We are left with a question probably directed at ourselves. The inconsequential child of the night, the tender plant, is given to deliver Jonah from his evil.

Does the technique of observing the sequences and circles of repeating words help in memorizing this story? It has certainly made me read it with greater care than I did 40 odd years ago when I was asked to present this book at a conference (O how unprepared I was for that experience).

There are still many questions for me when I consider Jonah as 'the only sign to be given to this generation' (Matthew 16:4, Luke 11:29). What, for example, about the 'pilot', the chief of the encumbered band of seafarers? Why that phrase רַב הַחֹבֵל, surely an odd word for the quartermaster, or what is the significance of the one who descends paying the fare for the ship - her fare? Perhaps there are mortals who could comment. Is the foot-washing modeled after the actions of the king of Nineveh?

Halleluyah from the heart of God (Christopher Smart Jubilate Agno)
And from the hand of the artist inimitable,
And from the echo of the heavenly harp.
In sweetness magnifical and mighty.

Jerusalem Imax Video

2012-01-30T16:46:00.000-08:00

It is likely that we will visit Jerusalem again in 2013 - to an as yet unannounced festival at Hebrew University. This film in the meanwhile is a nice piece of work. What is the monastery to the west? (HT James McGrath)

Jerusalem | Filmed in Imax 3D from JerusalemTheMovie on Vimeo.

Revisiting Jonah, The Fury Part One 4:1-5

2012-01-30T06:05:00.000-08:00

Rather than The City, which we have already met, there is a new keyword, The Fury. It seems that when The Day is announced, and The Turn accomplished, The Fury belongs to someone other than God. So much for the Dies Ira. The Gospel is in the TNK.

The Fury

וַיֵּרַע אֶל יוֹנָה רָעָה גְדוֹלָה וַיִּחַר לוֹ	4.1	and this was evil for Jonah great evil and he was furious
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל יְהוָה וַיֹּאמַר אָנָּה יְהוָה הֲלוֹא זֶה דְבָרִי עַד הֱיוֹתִי עַל אַדְמָתִי עַל כֵּן קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה כִּי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אַתָּה אֵל חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל הָרָעָה	4.2	and he prayed to יְהוָה and said I beseech you יְהוָה was this not my word even in my own humanity about what would happen? therefore I stalled and ran away to Tarshish for I told you that you are a gracious and compassionate God slow to anger and of much kindness and who sighs over evil
וְעַתָּה יְהוָה קַח נָא אֶת נַפְשִׁי מִמֶּנִּי כִּי טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי ס	4.3	and now יְהוָה take please my being from me for death is good compared with my life ס
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לָךְ	4.4	and יְהוָה said is it good for you to be furious?
וַיֵּצֵא יוֹנָה מִן הָעִיר וַיֵּשֶׁב מִקֶּדֶם לָעִיר וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ שָׁם סֻכָּה וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחְתֶּיהָ בַּצֵּל עַד אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה מַה יִּהְיֶה בָּעִיר	4.5	and Jonah went out from the city and he sat east of the city and he made a shelter for himself there and he sat under it in the shade to see what would happen in the city

I wrestle whether to allow verse 5 to stand on its own, or to include it with verses 6 to 11 or to leave it with verses 1 to 4. Compare and see, The chunk from verses 6 to 11 is too large with verse 5. Verse 5 is temporizing and has its own simple structure.

Selected recurring words in relative order (1 to 4)

Word and gloss * first usage	1	2	3	4	5	Vs	Root
רעה evil	░					1	רע
ויחר and he was furious		░				1	חרה
יהוה יהוה			░			2	יהוה
ויאמר and he said				░		2	אמר
יהוה יהוה			░			2	יהוה
כי for					░	2	כי
כי that					░	2	כי
הרעה evil	░					2	רע
יהוה יהוה			░			3	יהוה
כי for					░	3	כי
ויאמר and said				░		4	אמר
יהוה יהוה			░			4	יהוה
חרה to be furious		░				4	חרה

Selected recurring words in relative order (5 to 5)

Word and gloss * first usage	1	2	Vs	Root
העיר the city	░		5	עיר
וישׁב and he sat		░	5	ישׁב
לעיר of the city	░		5	עיר
וישׁב and he sat		░	5	ישׁב
בעיר in the city	░		5	עיר

Selected recurring words in relative order (1 to 5)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

רעה evil

░

רע

ויחר and he was furious

░

חרה

לו --

░

לו

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

עד even

░

עד

היותי what would happen

░

היה

קדמתי I stalled

░

קדם

כי for

░

כי

כי that

░

כי

הרעה evil

░

רע

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

ממני from me

░

מן

כי for

░

כי

ויאמר and said

░

אמר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

חרה to be furious

░

חרה

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

מן from

░

מן

העיר the city

░

עיר

וישׁב and he sat

░

ישׁב

מקדם east

░

קדם

לעיר of the city

░

עיר

לו for himself

░

לו

וישׁב and he sat

░

ישׁב

עד so

░

עד

יהיה would happen

░

היה

בעיר in the city

░

עיר

Revisiting Jonah, The Turn, 3:6-10

2012-01-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

This section is about turning. Note how turning is not part of the language of the seafarers. It occurs for the mortals in their unsuccessful effort to turn the ship before hurling Jonah overboard (1:13). No escape that way.

The Turn

וַיִּגַּע הַדָּבָר אֶל מֶלֶךְ נִינְוֵה וַיָּקָם מִכִּסְאוֹ וַיַּעֲבֵר אַדַּרְתּוֹ מֵעָלָיו וַיְכַס שַׂק וַיֵּשֶׁב עַל הָאֵפֶר	3.6	and the word touched the king of Nineveh and he rose from his throne¹ and put aside his majesty from him and covered in sackcloth and sat on an ash-heap
וַיַּזְעֵק וַיֹּאמֶר בְּנִינְוֵה מִטַּעַם הַמֶּלֶךְ וּגְדֹלָיו לֵאמֹר הָאָדָם וְהַבְּהֵמָה הַבָּקָר וְהַצֹּאן אַל יִטְעֲמוּ מְאוּמָה אַל יִרְעוּ וּמַיִם אַל יִשְׁתּוּ	3.7	and he proclaimed and he said in Nineveh out of the taste of the king and his great ones saying the human and the animal the heard and the flock let none taste anything whatever let none pasture and water let none drink
וְיִתְכַּסּוּ שַׂקִּים הָאָדָם וְהַבְּהֵמָה וְיִקְרְאוּ אֶל אֱלֹהִים בְּחָזְקָה וְיָשֻׁבוּ אִישׁ מִדַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה וּמִן הֶחָמָס אֲשֶׁר בְּכַפֵּיהֶם	3.8	but let them them be covered in sackcloth the human and the animal and call out to God forcefully and let each turn from its evil way and from the violence that is in their palms
מִי יוֹדֵעַ יָשׁוּב וְנִחַם הָאֱלֹהִים וְשָׁב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד	3.9	who knows this God may turn and sigh and turn from his fierce anger and we will not perish
וַיַּרְא הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם כִּי שָׁבוּ מִדַּרְכָּם הָרָעָה וַיִּנָּחֶם הָאֱלֹהִים עַל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהֶם וְלֹא עָשָׂה	3.10	and this God saw their deeds that they turned from their evil ways and this God sighed over the evil that he intended to do to them and he did not do it

1compare John 13:4 for the sequence of actions

Jonah 3:6-10

Selected recurring words in relative order (6 to 10)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

הדבר the word

░

דבר

מלך the king of

░

מלך

נינוה Nineveh

░

נינוה

ויכס and covered in

░

כסה

שׂק sackcloth

░

שׂק

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

בנינוה in Nineveh

░

נינוה

מטעם from the taste of

░

טעם

המלך the king

░

מלך

לאמר saying

░

אמר

האדם the human

░

אדם

והבהמה and the animal

░

בהם

יטעמו let taste

░

טעם

ויתכסו but let them be covered in

░

כסה

שׂקים sackcloth

░

שׂק

האדם the human

░

אדם

והבהמה and the animal

░

בהם

אלהים God

░

אלוה

וישׁבו and let turn

░

שׁוב

מדרכו from its way

░

דרך

הרעה evil

░

רע

אשׁר that

░

אשׁר

ישׁוב may turn

░

שׁוב

ונחם and sigh

░

נחם

האלהים this God

░

אלוה

ושׁב and turn

░

שׁוב

ולא and not

░

לא

האלהים this God

░

אלוה

מעשׂיהם their deeds

░

עשׂה

שׁבו they turned

░

שׁוב

מדרכם from their ways

░

דרך

הרעה evil

░

רע

וינחם and sighed

░

נחם

האלהים this God

░

אלוה

הרעה the evil

░

רע

אשׁר that

░

אשׁר

דבר he intended

░

דבר

לעשׂות to do

░

עשׂה

ולא and not

░

לא

עשׂה he did do it

░

עשׂה

The pattern is prepared by the action of the king. Then all turn from evil, and God sighs, breathing out the Spirit, the Comforter.

Revisiting Jonah, The Day 3:1-5

2012-01-28T05:42:00.000-08:00

If you look in the table of recurring roots, you will see a name for this section that is more specific than what I had initially, 'The Call'. The first two verses recapitulate the opening of the story (with a little variation, showing that Nineveh is like the Sea-farers and has changed since chapter 1). You might say that יְהוָה has already prepared them for Jonah's 'call'. So you will note the recurrence of mortal applied to the Ninevites. If I had used men, you might not have noticed. But the unique word in this section is Day. Day should therefor be its title.

The Day

וַיְהִי דְבַר יְהוָה אֶל יוֹנָה שֵׁנִית לֵאמֹר	3.1	and the word of יְהוָה happened to Jonah again saying
קוּם לֵךְ אֶל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה וּקְרָא אֵלֶיהָ אֶת הַקְּרִיאָה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר אֵלֶיךָ	3.2	Rise, walk to Nineveh the great city and call out to her the call that I was speaking to you
וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל נִינְוֵה כִּדְבַר יְהוָה וְנִינְוֵה הָיְתָה עִיר גְּדוֹלָה לֵאלֹהִים מַהֲלַךְ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים	3.3	and Jonah rose and walked to Nineveh according to the word of יְהוָה Now Nineveh happened to be a great city belonging to God a walk of three days
וַיָּחֶל יוֹנָה לָבוֹא בָעִיר מַהֲלַךְ יוֹם אֶחָד וַיִּקְרָא וַיֹּאמַר עוֹד אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְנִינְוֵה נֶהְפָּכֶת	3.4	and Jonah let himself come into the city one day's walk¹ and he called out and he said yet forty days and Nineveh will be changed
וַיַּאֲמִינוּ אַנְשֵׁי נִינְוֵה בֵּאלֹהִים וַיִּקְרְאוּ צוֹם וַיִּלְבְּשׁוּ שַׂקִּים מִגְּדוֹלָם וְעַד קְטַנָּם	3.5	and the mortals of Nineveh believed in God and they called out for a fast and they put on sackcloth from the greatest of them and to the least of them

1Jonah only gets part way into Nineveh, the great city that belongs to God. One day in was enough. (Also compare psalm 34 and the frame of 'taste / madness'.)

Jonah 3:1-5 A three days walk. Jerusalem today is a 12 day city as a minimum, if you want to see even a small part of it. Nineveh must have been quite the tourist town of its day.

Selected recurring words in relative order (1 to 5)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

ויהי and happened

░

היה

דבר the word of

░

דבר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

לאמר saying

░

אמר

קום rise

░

קום

לך walk

░

ילך

נינוה Nineveh

░

נינוה

העיר the city

░

עיר

הגדולה great

░

גדל

וקרא and call out

░

קרא

הקריאה the call

░

קרא

דבר was speaking

░

דבר

ויקם and rose

░

קום

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

וילך and walked

░

ילך

נינוה Nineveh

░

נינוה

כדבר according to the word of

░

דבר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

ונינוה Now Nineveh

░

נינוה

היתה happened to be

░

היה

עיר a city

░

עיר

גדולה great

░

גדל

לאלהים of the gods

░

אלוה

מהלך a walk of

░

הלך

ימים days

░

יום

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

בעיר into the city

░

עיר

מהלך a walk

░

הלך

יום day's

░

יום

ויקרא and he called out

░

קרא

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

יום days

░

יום

ונינוה and Nineveh

░

נינוה

נינוה Nineveh

░

נינוה

באלהים in God

░

אלוה

ויקראו and they called out for

░

קרא

מגדולם from the greatest of them

░

גדל

Revisiting Jonah, The Fish, 2:1-11

2012-01-27T04:55:00.000-08:00

Chapter 2 is a psalm. It is good to read the psalms. The word rendered brought up is the same word used in chapter 1 for the ascending of the evil of Nineveh. I am sure this is not an accident. This word is also used for whole burnt offerings. The ascension is the visible manifestation of the completion of the offering. In this case יְהוָה is the agent who effects the completion of the offering. It occurs once in each of chapters 1 and 2 but we will see it again in this story (4:6-7).

וַיְמַן יְהוָה דָּג גָּדוֹל לִבְלֹעַ אֶת יוֹנָה וַיְהִי יוֹנָה בִּמְעֵי הַדָּג שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת	2.1	And יְהוָה appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah and it happened Jonah was in the innards of the fish three days and three nights
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל יוֹנָה אֶל יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו מִמְּעֵי הַדָּגָה	2.2	and Jonah prayed to יְהוָה his God from the innards of the fish¹
וַיֹּאמֶר קָרָאתִי מִצָּרָה לִי אֶל יְהוָה וַיַּעֲנֵנִי מִבֶּטֶן שְׁאוֹל שִׁוַּעְתִּי שָׁמַעְתָּ קוֹלִי	2.3	and he said I called out from my trouble to יְהוָה and he answered me from the belly of the grave² I cried you heard my voice
וַתַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי מְצוּלָה בִּלְבַב יַמִּים וְנָהָר יְסֹבְבֵנִי כָּל מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ עָלַי עָבָרוּ	2.4	and you cast me from the depth into the heart of the seas and torrent surrounded me All your breakers and your waves have passed over me³
וַאֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי נִגְרַשְׁתִּי מִנֶּגֶד עֵינֶיךָ אַךְ אוֹסִיף לְהַבִּיט אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ	2.5	and I, I said I am driven out from before your eyes⁴ surely I will again be attentive in your holy temple
אֲפָפוּנִי מַיִם עַד נֶפֶשׁ תְּהוֹם יְסֹבְבֵנִי סוּף חָבוּשׁ לְרֹאשִׁי	2.6	they enveloped me waters - ever - self abyss surrounding me reed wrapped round my head⁵
לְקִצְבֵי הָרִים יָרַדְתִּי הָאָרֶץ בְּרִחֶיהָ בַעֲדִי לְעוֹלָם וַתַּעַל מִשַּׁחַת חַיַּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי	2.7	to the roots of the hills I descended the earth with her bars about me forever but you brought up my life from destruction יְהוָה my God
בְּהִתְעַטֵּף עָלַי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהוָה זָכָרְתִּי וַתָּבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ תְּפִלָּתִי אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשֶׁךָ	2.8	when I in myself was disabled I remembered יְהוָה and my prayer came to you in your holy temple
מְשַׁמְּרִים הַבְלֵי שָׁוְא חַסְדָּם יַעֲזֹבוּ	2.9	those who keep futile emptiness abandon their kindness⁶
וַאֲנִי בְּקוֹל תּוֹדָה אֶזְבְּחָה לָּךְ אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתִּי אֲשַׁלֵּמָה יְשׁוּעָתָה לַיהוָה ס	2.10	so I in a voice of thanksgiving will offer you what I have vowed to recompense salvation ה to יְהוָה belongs ס
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה לַדָּג וַיָּקֵא אֶת יוֹנָה אֶל הַיַּבָּשָׁה פ	2.11	and יְהוָה spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto the dry land פ

1Fish is both masculine and here feminine

2Jonah has died

3Psalm 42:8b

4As with all psalms, there is a space where the poet realizes that things have changed. In this psalm there are two such gaps that move from death to life.

5the keyword structure surrounds the middle of this verse

6No participation in the recurrence pattern of this psalm

Selected recurring words in relative order (1 to 11)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

דג a fish

░

דג

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

במעי was in the innards of

░

מעה

הדג the fish

░

דג

שׁלשׁה three

░

שׁלושׁ

ושׁלשׁה and three

░

שׁלושׁ

ויתפלל and prayed

░

פלל

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

אלהיו his God

░

אלוה

ממעי from the innards of

░

מעה

הדגה the fish

░

דג

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

קולי my voice

░

קול

יסבבני surrounded me

░

סבב

ואני and I

░

אני

אמרתי I said

░

אמר

היכל temple

░

היכל

קדשׁך your holy

░

קדשׁ

נפשׁ self

░

נפשׁ

יסבבני surrounding me

░

סבב

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

אלהי my God

░

אלוה

נפשׁי I

░

נפשׁ

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

תפלתי my prayer

░

פלל

היכל temple

░

היכל

קדשׁך your holy

░

קדשׁ

ואני so I

░

אני

בקול in a voice of

░

קול

ליהוה to יהוה belongs

░

יהוה

ויאמר and spoke

░

אמר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

לדג to the fish

░

דג

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

The focus of the chapter is on Jonah's whole self, his nephesh. The frame for the section is threefold as can be seen in the table. One verse (see which is missing from the table) has words that do not recur. In fact four of the five words in the verse are unique in the whole book of Jonah. The fifth recurs in chapter 4, showing this story to be like Psalm 86, yet another meditation on Exodus 34:8.

Revisiting Jonah, The Mortals, 1:10-16

2012-01-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

From the prior post, this is really the third section of Jonah. The first two were The Descent, and The Dice. Initially I had called this section The Sea, but we have met the sea already in verses 5 and 9 and will again in chapter 2. The sea could gather in all four of these subsections, so I ought not to name only one of them after it but rather chose a word that recurs here and is unique, and one such word is readily to hand so I have renamed it:

The Mortals

וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו מַה זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ כִּי יָדְעוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים כִּי מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה הוּא בֹרֵחַ כִּי הִגִּיד לָהֶם	1.10	and the mortals feared, a great fear, and they said to him what is this you have done? for the mortals knew that from the face of יְהוָה he had run away for he had made it clear to them
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו מַה נַּעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ וְיִשְׁתֹּק הַיָּם מֵעָלֵינוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר	1.11	and they said to him what will we do to you that the sea may be quieted for us for the sea worked up a tempest
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם שָׂאוּנִי וַהֲטִילֻנִי אֶל הַיָּם וְיִשְׁתֹּק הַיָּם מֵעֲלֵיכֶם כִּי יוֹדֵעַ אָנִי כִּי בְשֶׁלִּי הַסַּעַר הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה עֲלֵיכֶם	1.12	and he said to them lift me up and hurl me onto the sea and the sea will be quieted for you for I, I know that it is from me that this great tempest is upon you
וַיַּחְתְּרוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים לְהָשִׁיב אֶל הַיַּבָּשָׁה וְלֹא יָכֹלוּ כִּי הַיָּם הוֹלֵךְ וְסֹעֵר עֲלֵיהֶם	1.13	But the mortals dug hard to turn to the dry land but they could not for the sea worked up a tempest against them
וַיִּקְרְאוּ אֶל יְהוָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ אָנָּה יְהוָה אַל נָא נֹאבְדָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה וְאַל תִּתֵּן עָלֵינוּ דָּם נָקִיא כִּי אַתָּה יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר חָפַצְתָּ עָשִׂיתָ	1.14	so they called out to יְהוָה and said we beseech you יְהוָה please, let us not perish in the being of this man and do not make us pay for innocent blood for you יְהוָה have done according to what you wanted
וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת יוֹנָה וַיְטִלֻהוּ אֶל הַיָּם וַיַּעֲמֹד הַיָּם מִזַּעְפּוֹ	1.15	and they lifted up Jonah and they hurled him onto the sea and the sea stood back from his rage
וַיִּירְאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים יִרְאָה גְדוֹלָה אֶת יְהוָה וַיִּזְבְּחוּ זֶבַח לַיהוָה וַיִּדְּרוּ נְדָרִים	1.16	and the mortals feared יְהוָה, a great fear and they offered an offering to יְהוָה and they vowed vows

Jonah 1:10-16

Selected recurring words in relative order (10 to 16)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

וייראו and feared

░

ירא

האנשׁים the mortals

░

אנושׁ

יראה a fear

░

ירא

גדולה great

░

גדל

ויאמרו and they said

░

אמר

מה what

░

מה

עשׂית that you have done

░

עשׂה

כי for

░

כי

ידעו knew

░

ידע

האנשׁים the mortals

░

אנושׁ

כי that

░

כי

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

כי for

░

כי

ויאמרו and they said

░

אמר

מה what

░

מה

נעשׂה will we do

░

עשׂה

וישׁתק that may be quietd

░

שׁתק

הים the sea

░

ים

כי for

░

כי

הים the sea

░

ים

הולך worked up

░

הלך

וסער a tempest

░

סער

ויאמר and he said

░

אמר

שׂאוני lift me up

░

נשׂא

והטילני and hurl me

░

טול

הים the sea

░

ים

וישׁתק and will be quieted

░

שׁתק

הים the sea

░

ים

כי for

░

כי

יודע I know

░

ידע

כי that

░

כי

הסער that tempest

░

סער

הגדול great

░

גדל

הזה this

░

זה

האנשׁים the mortals

░

אנושׁ

כי for

░

כי

הים the sea

░

ים

הולך worked up

░

הלך

וסער a tempest

░

סער

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

ויאמרו and said

░

אמר

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

הזה this

░

זה

כי for

░

כי

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

עשׂית you have done

░

עשׂה

וישׂאו and they lifted up

░

נשׂא

ויטלהו and they hurled him

░

תטל

הים the sea

░

ים

הים the sea

░

ים

וייראו and feared

░

ירא

האנשׁים the mortals

░

אנושׁ

יראה a fear

░

ירא

גדולה great

░

גדל

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

ויזבחו and they offered

░

זבח

זבח an offering

░

זבח

ליהוה to יהוה

░

יהוה

וידרו and they vowed

░

נדר

נדרים vows

░

נדר

This section is definitely framed by the repeated use of mortals, and the frame is strengthened by the surrounding fear. It is therefore one section. Note the recurrence of hurl from section 1. יהוה had hurled the wind, and the seafarers had hurled cargo. Now Jonah is to be hurled onto the sea to calm the tempest. Note also the sequence of recurring roots indicating actions of the mortals. The mortals (no longer just seafarers) take several actions, of which four are visible as recurring words that you can see in the table: they lift up and hurl Jonah into the sea as he had instructed them, then of their own accord, they offer an offering, and they vow vows.

5 more posts to come - one per day till the end of the month.

Revisiting Jonah, The Descent, 1:1-5, The Dice, 1:6-9

2012-01-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

There are already a few posts on this blog on Jonah that I did last year, as a kind of undergraduate final exam that was set for me and which I marked myself from Christensen's work here. I thought I would update the tables in those old posts - even perhaps produce a post on each section, so I spent the morning jiggering my algorithms to accept Jonah from the data rather than Psalms - a bit tricky in an ad hoc system. I might get the whole act together at some point - but here below for starters is Jonah 1:1-9 with the question - does it divide into 2 sections?

You may remember that in the pdf, I divided Jonah into 7 sections. These are named for the keyword in the section. It turns out that I can be even more precise now that I have learned more about how to use these tables.

Chapter 1 The Descent (1-9), ~~The Sea~~ The Mortals (10-16),
Chapter 2 The Fish,
Chapter 3 The ~~Call~~ ???? (1-5), The Turn (6-10),
Chapter 4 The ~~City~~ ???? (1-5), The Tender Plant (6-11).

But I think that chapter 1 may further divide. And I have noted already that even single verses sometimes give a beautiful diagram. Let's see what comes of ...

The Descent.

Jonah, like the dew of Hermon, and the precious oil of Psalm 133, descends in his escape from יהוה (shades of Psalm 139 too.) Jonah's descent is not complete till chapter 2, when he descends to the roots of the hills, but all the other occurrences of descending are in chapter 1:1-5.

וַיְהִי דְּבַר יְהוָה אֶל יוֹנָה בֶן אֲמִתַּי לֵאמֹר	1.1	and the word of יְהוָה happened to Jonah¹ child of Amittai saying
קוּם לֵךְ אֶל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ כִּי עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי	1.2	Rise - walk to Nineveh² the great city and call out against her for their evil has ascended in my face
וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה	1.3	but Jonah rose and ran away to Tarshish away from the face of יְהוָה and he descended to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish and he paid the fare and descended into her to go with them to Tarshish away from the face of יְהוָה
וַיהוָה הֵטִיל רוּחַ גְּדוֹלָה אֶל הַיָּם וַיְהִי סַעַר גָּדוֹל בַּיָּם וְהָאֳנִיָּה חִשְּׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵר	1.4	but יְהוָה hurled a great wind onto the sea and a great tempest happened on the sea and the ship, she was reckoning she was a wreck
וַיִּירְאוּ הַמַּלָּחִים וַיִּזְעֲקוּ אִישׁ אֶל אֱלֹהָיו וַיָּטִלוּ אֶת הַכֵּלִים אֲשֶׁר בָּאֳנִיָּה אֶל הַיָּם לְהָקֵל מֵעֲלֵיהֶם וְיוֹנָה יָרַד אֶל יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה וַיִּשְׁכַּב וַיֵּרָדַם	1.5	And the salt-sea-farers feared and they cried each to his God and they hurled their cargo that was in the ship onto the sea lightening themselves of trifles but Jonah had descended into the recesses below decks and he was laid out unconscious³
וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה לְּךָ נִרְדָּם קוּם קְרָא אֶל אֱלֹהֶיךָ אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ וְלֹא נֹאבֵד	1.6	so the pilot approached him and said to him what's with you - unconscious! Rise! Call out to your God maybe this God will do something for us and we will not perish
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל רֵעֵהוּ לְכוּ וְנַפִּילָה גוֹרָלוֹת וְנֵדְעָה בְּשֶׁלְּמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ וַיַּפִּלוּ גּוֹרָלוֹת וַיִּפֹּל הַגּוֹרָל עַל יוֹנָה	1.7	and they said, each to his companion look here, let's let the dice fall to know from whom this evil is ours and they let the dice fall and the dice fell to Jonah
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו הַגִּידָה נָּא לָנוּ בַּאֲשֶׁר לְמִי הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת לָנוּ מַה מְּלַאכְתְּךָ וּמֵאַיִן תָּבוֹא מָה אַרְצֶךָ וְאֵי מִזֶּה עַם אָתָּה	1.8	and they said to him, make it clear to us, please why is it that this evil is ours? what line of work are you in? and where have you come from? what part of earth? and from this people - who are you?
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם עִבְרִי אָנֹכִי וְאֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲנִי יָרֵא אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֶת הַיָּם וְאֶת הַיַּבָּשָׁה	1.9	and he said to them Hebrew I am and I, I fear יְהוָה the God of the heavens who made the sea and the dry land

1Jonah = Dove

2Nineveh = נִינְוֵה (N is a symbol for fish) + the letters of Jonah יוֹנָה with one reversal.

3shares two letters with descend and three in some forms of the conjugation (stem is רדם).

Here are the tables of recurring roots. Do they support a division of this section into 2 parts? (You can tell immediately from the colour coding, itself calculated from the summed numeric values of the root letters.)

Jonah 1:1-5 The Descent

Selected recurring words in relative order (1 to 5)

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

ויהי and happened

░

היה

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

קום rise

░

קום

הגדולה that great

░

גדל

לפני in my face

░

פנה

ויקם but rose

░

קום

יונה Jonah

░

יונה

תרשׁישׁה to Tarshish

░

תרשׁשׁ

מלפני away from the face of

░

פנה

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

וירד and he descended

░

ירד

אניה a ship

░

אניה

באה going to

░

בוא

תרשׁישׁ Tarshish

░

תרשׁשׁ

וירד and descended

░

ירד

לבוא to go

░

בוא

תרשׁישׁה to Tarshish

░

תרשׁשׁ

מלפני away from the face of

░

פנה

יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

ויהוה but יהוה

░

יהוה

הטיל hurled

░

טול

גדולה great

░

גדל

ויהי and happened

░

היה

גדול great

░

גדל

בים on the sea

░

ים

והאניה and the ship

░

אניה

ויטלו and they hurled

░

טול

באניה was in the ship

░

אניה

הים the sea

░

ים

ויונה but Jonah

░

יונה

ירד had descended

░

ירד

These first few verses introduce the characters, Jonah,יהוה, the ship. (yes she's a character in the story), and the salt-sea-farers (a word used only once in the story, carefully separating these 'characters' from the mortals of verses 10-16). They are the same group of people but their designation has changed. They are known as mortal rather than by their line of work. Is it because they have become aware of יהוה? The section is named from the recurrence of 'descend' but this word does not occur in the remaining 4 verses. The story-teller's memory will have a different hook for the following verses.
Jonah 1:6-9 The Dice

Selected recurring words in relative order (6 to 9)

Word and gloss * first usage	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Vs	Root
ויאמר and said	░									6	אמר
מה what's		░								6	מה
אלהיך your God			░							6	אלוה
לנו for us				░						6	לנו
ויאמרו and they said	░									7	אמר
ונפילה let's throw					░					7	נפל
גורלות the dice						░				7	גורל
הרעה evil							░			7	רע
הזאת this								░		7	זאת
לנו is ours				░						7	לנו
ויפלו and they threw					░					7	נפל
גורלות the dice						░				7	גורל
ויפל and pointed					░					7	נפל
הגורל the dice						░				7	גורל
ויאמרו and they said	░									8	אמר
לנו to us				░						8	לנו
באשׁר that									░	8	אשׁר
הרעה evil							░			8	רע
הזאת this								░		8	זאת
לנו is ours				░						8	לנו
מה what		░								8	מה
מה what		░								8	מה
ויאמר and he said	░									9	אמר
אלהי the God of			░							9	אלוה
אשׁר who									░	9	אשׁר

Verses 6 to 9 are a conversation between the seafarers and the prophet. It is a conversation about evil using dice as a decision making tool. The seafarers are introduced to יהוה, recalling Psalm 107 and after the manner of the psalms of Book 5 that name יהוה as the maker of heaven and earth, in this case, specifically the sea, the source of their distress and dry land, the desirable refuge from the tempest. Jonah can scarcely be justified by this unintended side effect of his disobedience, but it does give others of us a little encouragement that in spite of the awful behaviour of the religious, some benefit might yet accrue, as it were, by chance.

O my black soul

2012-01-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

I am not blacked out but whited out. I should not have made fun of winter.

There is a discussion of the translation of soul at various blogs, started by Joel Hoffman here and continued on the BBB here where Kurk Gale of BLT and other blogs drew my attention to comments by Robert Alter in his translation of the psalms. Along with the translation problem of the multiplicity of possible referents for a word, there is a metaphor in the discussion related to hardware-software.

Re Alter: his statement, "as I observed above" (page xxxii) I presume refers to his comment on page xxvii where he says 'nefesh means "life breath" and by extension "life" or "essential being"'.

I have to ask: whose extension? It is the extension by time and the dispersion by tongue in the usage, but particularly through translation into foreign tongues - psyche in Greek and anima in Latin. I can barely spell Greek and Latin, so I have to talk about them as languages that I have scanned, not languages that I read fluently. They have a positive estimation in my mind in spite of my limited apprehension of them. Greek is famed for its precision and Latin for its theological discourse. We have extended the meaning of soul in English and by implication nefesh in Hebrew. But I don't find the conclusion that nephesh may be immaterial believable. I don't see an immaterial usage anywhere in the words I have read from Scripture. In fact, Alter's objection to anima as its translation in the Vulgate seems to me to work against his argument.

One thing I have learned from software and hardware over the years is that symbols have meaning only from their usage. Polyvalent symbols will be used in areas of independent scope. Polyvalent symbols within the same scope are very bad practice in programming. They create confusion and frequently make code unmaintainable. Hardware-software as a metaphor cannot get much further in understanding life than the mechanical metaphor of the 19th century, but it does tell us something about tokens and human idiosyncrasy in their invention.

If nephesh is polyvalent then what hope have we of deciding what it 'means' based on its usage? We have to separate those places where it means throat, neck from those where it means breath, life, or just me, you, us, them etc. If we decide sometimes, depending on our whim, to render nephesh as 'life', this will confuse us when life is rendered for xayah (after the style of Miss Piggy). This sort of translation practice really messes up the poetry. I have worked through every instance of every word in the psalms and eventually I refused to let two completely different Hebrew words be rendered as the same word in English in this case or any other (with a few insurmountable exceptions). My refusal was not subjective. If it is true that the Hebrew poets used word-recurrence as a significant structuring ploy in their poems, then it is important to follow a rule that prevents confusion.

There are significant difficulties here especially with English helping verbs and certainly with nephesh. Nonetheless, when nfshi, means me rather than my being, the translation is a compromise. Psalm 69 is a good example. Nephesh occurs 3 times, verses 2, 10, 19 (Hebrew numbering). Though in English the metaphor of water seems broken in verse 2, the unity of verses 1-19 is compromised when a different word is used. But maybe this particular repetition is not significant. That is a subjective decision. In this case, it is possible that the water metaphor of verse 2 is separate from the use of reproach as an organizing principle for the poem. In this psalm, Alter uses three different approaches:

verse 1 is neck (this creates a different problem for him when the neck as body part turns up, but he can't use throat here since he uses it in verse 4 - not nephesh!)
verse 10 is being.
verse 19 is me.

In this usage he misses the sound of one of the frames of the section of the poem from verses 8-22. And he confuses these frames as well. There is an eight-fold concentric circle here - see for yourself in the text and the table at the link. It's deep indeed. (See also my notes here.)

My contention, following the software metaphor, is that we need to see the pattern of usage and not cross-match words if possible. Then we will see different usage patterns and will be able to 'distinguish those things that are different'.

Winter in Victoria

2012-01-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

A short walk at Government House

A Taste of Torah

2012-01-12T08:54:00.000-08:00

This comes to an old mailbox of mine from JTS. I don't know its URL so I copy this week's commentary by R. Matthew Berkowitz - always full of insight. On the heels of a lecture at UVIC yesterday by Bill Morrow on the destruction of the Canaanites, I had several questions on how people live within an ancient mythos. The lessons about colonialization and slavery are eqally obvious.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The opening of the book of Exodus details the enslavement of the Israelites by a pharaoh who “did not know of Joseph” (Exod. 1:8). Having become a prolific minority living among an Egyptian majority, Israelites—and their fertility—raised fears in pharaoh and his countrymen. Yet, counter to our perception of sudden slavery and brutality, the opening of Parashat Shemot gives us a much more nuanced sense of a people gradually transformed from freemen to servants. Pharaoh first accuses the Israelites of becoming too numerous, then sets fiscal oppressors (sarei misim) over them, and only after that does he choreograph a policy of murdering male Israelite infants. Each pharaonic gesture represents the increased embitterment of Israelite lives. How may we better understand this subtle descent to enslavement?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains:

The first taxes (misim) they had to pay as citizens are mentioned in Exodus 1:14. The Israelites still retained their rights, but had to pay for their right to protection by special levy of a labor-tax . . . After that, they were degraded to slaves: creatures without any right of appeal or redress for any wrongs committed against them. It no longer says that “Pharaoh oppressed them” but states that the “Egyptians oppressed them.” In other words, the people received the right to treat them as slaves. Then the third degree was added, that the Egyptians “embittered” their lives . . . The root and beginning of this indescribable maltreatment was strangeness (gerut), the supposed lack of rights as a foreigner. That is why the laws of Torah concerning the rights of foreigners offer the profoundest contrast to all other national laws up to this very day . . . The degree of justice in a land is measured not so much by the rights accorded to the native-born inhabitants, to the rich, or people who have representatives looking after their interests, but by what justice is meted out to the completely unprotected “stranger.” (Hirsch, Commentary on the Torah: Exodus, 9)

Rabbi Hirsch (who lived in 19th-century Germany) is profoundly thoughtful and sensitive in tracing the intensifying oppression of the Israelites. First, Pharaoh singles them out. Once they have become separate and apart from the majority, the Israelites are oppressed through economic means. Fiscal burden then leads to a collective unleashing of degradation. And finally, the atmosphere of the country is poisoned as the Egyptians successfully participate in the process of embittering the lives of the strangers in their midst. What began as the accusation of one misguided pharaoh (Exod. 1:9) transforms into the hateful, oppressive behavior of the many (Exod. 1:13). Even more importantly, Hirsch delivers a powerful message of Torah and of the Jewish people throughout the ages. It is this experience of “otherness” that has led to our heightened sensitivity toward the “stranger” in our own midst. As Jews in the Diaspora and in Israel, we must never forget the historical lesson of Egypt rooted in this week’s parashah. May we all internalize Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s teaching: “The degree of justice in a land is measured . . . by what justice is meted out to the completely unprotected ‘stranger.’”

Reading the OT with Music

2012-01-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

I am having fun composing, but I not posting any more aural performances at present. Sheet Music is in the form shown in the URL. I am up to Psalm 18 - sooo long a psalm. I re-used many leit-motif's in this setting.

While it is, by my thesis, only 1/2 way through act 1 scene 3, this psalm alludes to many of the prior psalms and anticipates many to follow. I have used thematic material to suggest these prior allusions such as the dialogue themes from Psalm 2, a confidence theme from Psalm 6 and 9. some musical allusions to St Nicholas (Britten), a reuse of the augmented 5th anger theme from Psalms 1 and 2, a new theophany theme - reused at the end as well as at the obvious part, a new innocence theme, lots of varied rhythms.

I have forgotten what little I knew about audacity so I can't even give you an MP3 at the moment. I am going to work on Psalm 19 - three things this time: a choral setting of part of it, and an Organ prelude and postlude based on some of it. Let's see what happens. In the meanwhile, if you read music, try Psalm 18 or any of the earlier ones. Our choir will, if my work is acceptable, sing Psalm 19 or the motet based on it mid-Lent.

Here's a brief summary so far

Psalm	Key Signatures	Time Signatures	Leitmotifs	Instruments	Bars
1	F+, Eb-	4/4	Happy triad, Warning/wrath – descending augmented 5th	Voice, Guitar	27
2	F-	4/4 12/8	Dialogue: descending major 7^th also wrath, happy from 1 destruction - discontinuous	Voice, Guitar	41
3	D+	4/4	top three notes of major triad only, a tentative beginning	Voice	21
4	D+	4/4	criticism motif, descending semi-tones in subdominant confidence theme, rising major scale to the sixth uses wrath motif as taunting	Voice, Violin	38
5	B-	4/4/ 12/8	Preparation motif, ascending 4^th jaunty, rhythmic	Voice, Flute	49
6	D-	4/4	Octaves, repentance motif confidence (minor key) destruction prayer (minor 3^rd)	Voice, Violin	45
7	Bb+	6/8 3/4 4/4 12/8+	Dance and destruction in semitones, judgment	Voice	81
8	Ab+ Db+	4/4 6/8	Folk melody	Voice	34
9	D- G+, Dorian, F ending incomplete – seque 10	12/8 4/4	Confidence destruction	Voice	92
10	B-	4/4 12/8	Octaves (6) very jaunty at the end lots of destruction	Voice	81
11	D+	4/4 rhythm modelled on Hebrew first	hell motif mocked 16^th note bird flight	Voice	32
12	Bb-	4/4 12/8	Octaves, allegro - andante battle in Bb	Voice	27
13	F#-	4/4	Persistent folk-tune	Voice	32
14	Eb+	5/4, 9/8	Allegro, ballad	Voice	32
15	F+ Db+	4/4	Recap Psalm 1 themes	Voice, Guitar	21
16	F#+	5/4 3/4	Pentatonic	Voice	70
17	Bb+	4/4	Free meditation on Compline apple of the eye theme	Voice	64
18	B+, B-	4/4 6/8	theophany themes dialogue theme from Psalm 2 reused confidence theme 2 - another quote from Nicholas (Britten) reuse anger theme - strong relationships to Psalm 2 reuse confidence motif 1 new - innocence theme - build on over confidence of psalm 5	Voice	264

Reading the NT with annotations - questions

2012-01-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

What notes occur to me as I read the Jewish Annotated New Testament?

I even read the list of abbreviations - well skimmed it at least. The first thing I noted in the text intro to Matthew (page 1) is that there is no mention of the Markan priority without Q, The Case Against Q that Mark Goodacre proposes (2002).

Next I noted this sentence: page 3. Messiah is never used in Tanakh of the future ideal Davidic king. I immediately wondered about the usage in the psalms, especially the use in Psalm 89 and comparing this psalm with Psalm 72. [I see reading David Mitchell's interactions with Wilson "Lord, Remember David: G. H. Wilson and the Message of the Psalter" that I am in good company - I really should read those authors. - even if they are just arguing with each other!]

Psalm 72 does not have the term anointed, but it does, at the end of Book 2 of the Psalter, describe the ideal king. This is in contrast to Psalm 89 at the end of Book 3 which describes the lament of the 'earthly' kingdom. (Failure is too strong a word.) Book 4 presents יְהוָה as king. What then is anointing and how does such a gift manifest itself in the individual, in the people, and in the relationship with יְהוָה?

The root for anoint is used in the following verses.

Verses sharing this stem

יִתְיַצְּבוּ מַלְכֵי אֶרֶץ וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ יָחַד עַל יְהוָה וְעַל מְשִׁיחוֹ	--2.2	They station themselves, these kinglets of earth these rule-makers reasoning as one against יְהוָה and against his anointed	rule-makers, רזן (rzn) once in the psalms, weighty, judicious, commanding the kings are against the anointed from the beginning
מַגְדִּל יְשׁוּעוֹת מַלְכּוֹ וְעֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד לִמְשִׁיחוֹ לְדָוִד וּלְזַרְעוֹ עַד עוֹלָם	-18.51	Great victories he does for his king and he makes loving kindness for his anointed for David and his seed for ever	victories, ישׁע (yshu) = salvation Psalms 17-18 are prayer and statement of completion
עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי הוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה מְשִׁיחוֹ יַעֲנֵהוּ מִשְּׁמֵי קָדְשׁוֹ בִּגְבֻרוֹת יֵשַׁע יְמִינוֹ	-20.7	Now I know because יְהוָה will save his anointed he will answer from his holy heaven in the prevailing of the salvation of his right hand	part of the prayer for the king - following a space in the poem where the prayer is answered.
יְהוָה עֹז לָמוֹ וּמָעוֹז יְשׁוּעוֹת מְשִׁיחוֹ הוּא	-28.8	יְהוָה their strength and the stronghold of the victories of his anointed is he	Psalms 27-28 are again a pair focused on the individual
אָהַבְתָּ צֶּדֶק וַתִּשְׂנָא רֶשַׁע עַל כֵּן מְשָׁחֲךָ אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֶיךָ שֶׁמֶן שָׂשׂוֹן מֵחֲבֵרֶךָ	-45.8	You have loved righteousness and hate wickedness therefore God your God has anointed you with oil of joy above your companions	the marriage of the king
מָגִנֵּנוּ רְאֵה אֱלֹהִים וְהַבֵּט פְּנֵי מְשִׁיחֶךָ	-84.10	See our shield O God and take note of the face of your anointed	in the middle of Book 3, prayer for the whole people
מָצָאתִי דָּוִד עַבְדִּי בְּשֶׁמֶן קָדְשִׁי מְשַׁחְתִּיו	-89.21	I have found David my servant with the oil of my holiness I have anointed him	the promise is noted
וְאַתָּה זָנַחְתָּ וַתִּמְאָס הִתְעַבַּרְתָּ עִם מְשִׁיחֶךָ	-89.39	But you yourself have rejected and refused You have passed over with your anointed	the lament follows at the failure of the Davidic line
אֲשֶׁר חֵרְפוּ אוֹיְבֶיךָ יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר חֵרְפוּ עִקְּבוֹת מְשִׁיחֶךָ	-89.52	that your enemies יְהוָה have reproached that they have reproached the footsteps of your anointed	the enemies are triumphant
אַל תִּגְּעוּ בִמְשִׁיחָי וְלִנְבִיאַי אַל תָּרֵעוּ	105.15	do not touch my anointed and to my prophets do no evil	the anointed is the whole people
בַּעֲבוּר דָּוִד עַבְדֶּךָ אַל תָּשֵׁב פְּנֵי מְשִׁיחֶךָ	132.10	on behalf of David your servant do not turn away the presence of your anointed	anointed is a frame with a promise in Psalm 132
שָׁם אַצְמִיחַ קֶרֶן לְדָוִד עָרַכְתִּי נֵר לִמְשִׁיחִי	132.17	There I will cause the horn Of David to grow I have arranged a lamp for my anointed	The psalms do more than give room for hope. They provide the framework in which the anointed may grow and learn mercy

The Plan

2012-01-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

The title of this post is a quote from Kermit the Frog. What is my Plan this year. Last year's plan was achieved. The proof of the pudding is at PoC with its 120 posts, 10 per month. This will continue with a more frequent pace (1 per day) for the Songs of Ascent. I hope I can keep up - for I continue to notice new things.

Today I received my copy of the Jewish Annotated NT - finally I will reread the NT - I wonder what this will do to me. I will spread this out over the year I think.

I will also continue composing - layer by layer, sketch by sketch, testing the rhythm of my translation. Sections of the music will be aural references to other sections. I will now move away from strict sequential composition and sketch several scattered sections at once so that when I come to them I remember what I already have written - (Bayard makes it clear how memory often fails a writer - true of music also.)

And like all good humans, I will likely continue decomposing too. But I hope to stop a few pesky aspects of my constitution. So far so good.

Happy New Year again!

Male-female - the axis of power, the place of good

2011-12-29T14:19:00.000-08:00

Kurk Gayle of BLT has asked me:

would you speculate with me, then, where the strict and precise and dogmatic separation of the sexes along the lines of such categories comes from? Isn't it from people who want to maintain categories that allow them more power than the "other"?

Well, yes - I would speculate. What is that knowledge of good and evil that was promised from the eating of that tree? First to his second question, the one that leads to an answer: is it that categorization represents power and also leads to the abuse of that power?

I was recently at a service of nine lessons and carols. The design of the service includes the idea that the lessons should be read by representatives of the whole community, from the least to the greatest. In this it follows the instruction in Psalm 49:1-3 and it breathes the fullness of the body, high and low, rich and poor, one with another, these words themselves being part of the Advent Responsory from the traditional service on Advent 1. Category and hierarchy are not evil in themselves. We need every level of growing responsibility in a healthy community. So it is today that laundry and housekeeping are shared in my two-person household as we prepare for the arrival of our adult children (a phrase I understand is now in OED).

There are, however, to get to the first part of the question, many of the male gender who fail to share responsibility or who imagine that the responsibilities are separated by person completely. Perhaps they would not sort their wife's clothes from the dryer, but might deign to sort their own. Or perhaps not at all: the man might say to the woman, I work 6 days a week and I bought you these expensive labour-saving devices, now you do your part! (I overheard these very words in front of one of the first microwaves in Toronto c 1974). It must be important. If I say I was not impressed, but I remembered the conversation for nearly 40 years, it was the male attitude that did not impress me.

The division of labour between the sexes goes back more than 40 years, of course. What I was hearing was a remnant of a prior age. While I used to blame everything on Queen Victoria, I think the tendency to focus blame on one age is misguided. The blame lies in every age, our own not excluded. Youthful zeal will not fix the tension between category of responsibility and abdication. Nor will it fix its opposite: the tendency of the responsibility of one to create incompetence in the other. I seldom cook, though I can and I gave my wife her first lessons in cooking c 1968, but now she is so competent and organized that unless I have to, I confine myself to cleaning up - a task I know how to do. Nor will youthful zeal fix the exploitation of a power imbalance.

Division of labour is a small thing. The dislocation of desire is larger as is the failure to see and respond to honour or even more specifically, the failure to allow the full growth of mutual independence, so that mutual interdependence can be healthy rather than dislocated. While this is a 'spirit' issue, it is clearly mediated by our human mechanisms and we study the failures of these mechanisms in those who are mentally ill or damaged in one way or another. None of this is sin or evil in itself, but it shows the work of God (John 9:3). Some of us are blind or deaf to some things, others deaf or blind in other ways. But the sickness can become the norm in a social order. (The pathetic nature of pride, avarice, and desire is well portrayed in Jane Austen's Persuasion, to give an example in the English tradition.)

This good of sex is so distorted. C.S.Lewis notes (in The Great Divorce, I think) that the greater gift is subject to the greater distortion. So honour sought with respect to sex and marriage, results in murder of daughter or wife if social norms are violated. Pleasure sought results in preference for the male, as if the woman is incapable of pleasure, and results in infanticide and selective abortion of the female. Male seems to prefer the obvious. It will prove to be to his own destruction.

There is no avoiding difference, of which male and female is among the more obvious. Differing gifts and capacities result in a power imbalance. The dependency of the woman during pregnancy and child rearing and her generally weaker frame and musculature has resulted in the male again dominating for pleasure and for property.

Co-operation seems rare. I wonder if some of the laws that seem against the woman are really against the male (the stronger partner), since he is at times so much more in need of correction, and so blind to his own self-absorption. So, I surmise, the sign of circumcision is in the flesh (בָּשַׂר) of the male. In this sign the Gospel (בָּשַׂר) is prefigured. The Gospel allows the fleshly creature in its mortal body, to know life through the Spirit, and that abundantly. This is a good to be sought that should not lead to dishonour, but it seems to have led there, if the shame of Christendom is to be seen. But dishonour is not just evident among those going by the name of Christian. However little they seem to have ears, they are no more deaf or blind than any other human group, even if they should know better.

But how does one get to 'know better'. I have used a word I avoid. I dislike 'better' for the world was created 'good' and the good is sufficient. So how can one find the good?

Personally, my own flesh learned the destruction of its desire through the death of Jesus, a circumcision of my self in obedience to that death, a place of good. I expected nothing in return, just relief through death of the destruction that I knew in myself. I was very surprised at the growth that became evident to me. As I have often written elsewhere, I sensed and knew maturing and healing, sight and hearing, of all sorts. I have since referred without ceasing all things to the invisible all-hearing Instructor. I especially reveal to the one who gave Torah, every trouble I discover, and every delight - though I am quicker with trouble! Somehow, I muddle through, for even my sight and my maturing is in part. Still, I have loved the path of learning, especially the intoxicating fullness of the Psalms which I continue to study. In every way they have taught me how to call and how to hear the Heavenly Voice, never far distant from anyone.

This good is sufficient. It is what was called very good in that first Day. Even in my current straits, a treatment via hormone therapy and radiation for cancer, I continue in this good, with all my fears and joys and feelings. One day the chariots of fire will come for me. And in that one day I will live, then and now. It is not different from the first day (Genesis 2:4) as George Herbert noted: there is but one and that one ever (Easter).

So even if there are, to quote Kurk again, 'people who want to maintain categories that allow them more power than the "other"', I trust it is possible not to do this regardless of social custom, for I have learned otherwise. Perhaps I will help a few who might come in contact with me and through me with the one who Teaches. I cannot 'solve' the presenting problem, nor it seems, will any particular organization of government, on its own. I remain grateful as I have acknowledged before to those like Kurk and Suzanne who face the issues head on - for they too will help others as they have helped me in my Day. The direct questioning of culture is important since so much of it is self-serving and self-perpetuating in spite of its destructive aspects, particularly to the female.

Two or three witnesses to books

2011-12-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

Before I received my Christmas present of Bayard's - How to talk about books you haven't read - I had already quoted from it, but even now, I forget the quote. So here is another: (Bayard 2007, p8).

Musil's librarian thus keeps himself from entering into the books under his care, but he is far from indifferent or hostile toward them, as one might suppose. On the contrary, it is his love of books - of all books - that incites him to remain prudently on their periphery, for fear that too pronounced an interest in one of them might cause him to neglect the others.

Of course, as I read this, I immediately applied it to our canonical texts:

... thus keeps himself from entering into the books of the Bible under his care, but he is far from indifferent or hostile toward them, as one might suppose. On the contrary, it is his love of the books of the Bible - of all these books - that incites him to remain prudently on their periphery, for fear that too pronounced an interest in one of them might cause him to neglect the others.

I can certainly appreciate this, but now, having like a bird pecked my way into the ripeness of the Psalter and its strongly fermented liquors, or having wormed my way into the heavy and seductive nectar of its seedy core, I can scarcely read or hear another word without reference to the distilled inebriation of spirit I find myself in.

A friend gave me this book independently of the lovely videos from NYPL shared by BLT.

60 year old train works again

2011-12-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

O those childhood years when one built the world from toy engines and plastic signs and buildo or minibrix (lego today) and gas pumps and thread strung on plastic telephone poles. I wondered if I could get our 60+ year old Lionel O-gauge train working again - and it did for a moment - then all stopped. Waited a while, worked again - but the couples come apart on the curves, then it stopped again. Wait. Try the milk-car - unload button doesn't work, car comes off the rails on the special track. Glue applied to loose tracker under the milk car. No more derail, but train stops again. Check all connections. Stumped. Was it the track - off to wash it with 99% rubbing alcohol and scrubbies - no better. Must be engine or transformer.

Off to the Railhead train store down the street. Always open when I get there, and testing the engine - tests out well - congratulations given on the emerald eyes still in place after 6 decades. But one of the steps on the front is missing - maybe from years ago... Then we test the transformer - definitely not working. Checked out a substitute - very few available and not quite compatible. While there are some parts inside the transformer that may be toast, it turns out when I removed the 4 screws, there was actually an anomaly inside - a 1/2 cubic centimeter accumulation of oxidized something or other on the circuit breaker. It looked like an old capacitor but was clearly not supposed to be there, so I chipped it away with a screwdriver and it came off with patience and more alcohol (rubbing type). What fun - the transformer actually worked!

Got it home, set it up and it still works but the old tracks are a bit rickety so there are frequent derailments - must bank the corners. However, we have successfully rounded the bend several times without stopping because of an electrical malfunction. Train does not uncouple on the curves unless I try and pull all rolling stock at once - too heavy.

Kudos to David Steele at Railhead for being there. Now he may also be able to fix an identical transformer to mine that he had there with a similar accumulation of stuff on the inside.

Greetings to all readers

2011-12-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Since, best Beloved, I would not want you to have an unhappy Christmas, let my blessing of a Happy Christmas be upon you and a thriving New Year after the manner of that Tree of Psalm 1 whose leaves are good medicine.

The Post at Poetry of Christ will be (wait for it), Psalm 112 - on Christmas Day. (111 is here) (112 translation is here)

As far as 'the project' is concerned, I continue to work on scene 3 of the opera (Psalms 11-25). Psalm 16 is pentatonic and in largely 5/4 rhythm. An accompanist could play all the notes at once and there would be no discord.

Psalm 17 will be a meditation on the melismas of Compline. Verse 8, the middle verse, forms part of this ancient service.

The music provides an amazing test of the viability of the translation.

I am also reading bits of Robert Alter's translation. I find myself disagreeing with some of the notes. As for his translations, I am not convinced by the indentation, a diagramming technique I used at the beginning of my journey. It is not adequate to the task and particularly it is not adequate in a book. Also I find arranging cola by parallels either obvious or subjective. So I have concentrated, for my learning, on the words and the more objective pattern recognition that comes from observing recurrence. Re the meaning, I like it when he says that anyone who translates this verse is guessing (16:3). He often complains that the Hebrew is 'crabbed' but for me that ancient Hebrew is all I can see, so I sometimes don't notice that it's difficult. The difficulty with his volume is that his notes often require that one see the whole Hebrew line to appreciate his problem (and he does not include the Hebrew except bits and pieces in transliteration). But I do appreciate many of his notes though I will only reference a few (just to show that I have read a bit of his work and can talk about a book I have not read.)

The year in review

2011-12-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

The MacDonald 2011 Christmas letter is posted here

To Remember

2011-12-20T14:14:00.000-08:00

BLT via JKGayle explores tender territory. I was going to leave a comment - but it morphed into too many random thoughts.

I am glad to see another blogger show the connection between Psalm 6 and Mt 7.23. (Leave me, all workers of mischief) I was surprised last January at the allusion. For me it re-frames the NT story:

1. Jesus identifies unambiguously with the psalmist in trouble - "do not rebuke me in your anger" (6.1),
2. "depart from me" never has to be the last word to anyone - restoration is still possible even after the shame of exile.

Psalm 6 is formative as a psalm of correction - the very correction Job longs for - the referee. It is vital for those 'kinglets' who have known "a hint of his anger" (Psalm 2 כִּי יִבְעַר כִּמְעַט אַפּוֹ "for he kindles with a hint of his anger"). It also begins the Psalter's theme of memory (6.6. "there is not in death remembrance of you").

Memory - remembrance is frequent in the Psalter but there are strong verbal links from Psalm 6 to Psalm 38, inscribed 'to remember' and 38.2 אַל בְּקֶצְפְּךָ תוֹכִיחֵנִי "do not in your rage correct me or in heat chasten me" immediately recalling 6:1. Psalm 70 like 38 is inscribed with 'to remember' and recalls Psalm 40 - implicitly recalling the entr'acte (38-41) between Books 1 and 2, and finally Psalm 137 a multi-voiced psalm of remembering closing the circle of the exile begun explicitly in Psalm 42. Memory is central to worship - so Psalm 22

All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to יְהוָה
All the families of the nations will worship in your presence

a necessary healing I think, however we are drawn in to the Beloved.

Psalm 14 music and more links

2011-12-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

I am partway into scene 3 of act 1 of The Psalter. I have drafted Psalms 11 to 14 - Psalm 53 will also share Psalm 14's music I expect. It was really strange and appeared to me in a combination of 9/8, 5/4 alternating time signatures.

Tonight I think I must go hear a 9 Lessons at my old haunt of 10 years ago where my wife is singing. Also must write 'the Christmas letter'. It will be a hidden acrostic. There is so much that cannot be said. And we are so poor at reading. - Do note this post on Barnstone and this one on Brettler and Levine and this one with a lovely greeting card from Doug at re-fractions

The Season - 5's and 6's, 10's and 110

2011-12-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

I have meandered quite seriously on Psalm 110 at the Poetry of Christ today - preparing for the celebration of Christmas with the two acrostics to follow.

Now aren't you impressed with my discipline? I have exactly 10 posts per month at PoC - for the last 12 months - a fulfillment of my New Year's 2011 resolution. As a result, all my notes for my translations on structural things are drafted together with a few more random comments on theological issues.

This morning, we had a pageant at St Barnabas with delightful dancing angels. 5 years ago there were about 5 children - today there were approaching 5 dozen. The theme was: time as strange and the human impossibility of seeing the transcendent. And time is strange. And the Christ that was always and is with us and is to come was seen in a child. The preacher was the Rev. Dr. Brokenleg - he gave a superb homily on the number 5 in Matthew and the fulfillment of the promise to David.

I also sang with a flautist, my Psalm 5 setting (a test drive in rehearsal mode)- I was not so disciplined here. So I modified the music to include the instruction - in strict rhythm. The words go by so quickly with the flute accompaniment that one has to manage the 6 pages of music with almost Gilbert and Sullivan gusto. Why is this one for flute? Rhythmic accompaniment changes the expression of the words in strange ways.

Things I noted this month

2011-12-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a lovely performance of Psalm 95 by David Koysis+
Henry's got a combo article on Virgin Births and Whale's Bellies

I have put many of my starred posts (where I leave comments) into the shared items list. (See the right hand panel or link here). That's the quickest way to do this kind of thing. I have another cold so I need to bury myself in something. (Definitely can't sing to Audacity - sooo wobbly.) Maybe I will go back to Esther as some posts have pushed me or Ecclesiastes - no, too much work. I think I will do some mechanical stuff like formatting the monster Word document that will eventually contain all my psalm notes - whew! Or I will write some more music for scene 3 - the road from Psalm 11 to 25. Long scene.

The curious case of the foreign pulse

2011-12-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

It surprises me that I have spent the last two to three weeks composing. Anyway, in my usual preoccupied (I have been occupied for a while) way, I began Psalm 11 by singing the Hebrew to myself and then I imposed the Hebrew pulse on the English. Psalm 11 is about the mockers - waver off to your mountain, bird. So it has a particular saucy lilt. After I got the first three musical phrases, I imposed them in an a-a-b-a-b pattern on the structure of the text. The result is a curious incarnation of sound with the b section imitating the a section but not distant as if heaven were far away.

The music suggested parallels in the text I had not considered... Consider here silently.

(I tried recording the first acrostic yesterday - but it is too long for my one-breath technique. I must find some better recording features where I can stop for a drink at one of the many bars!)

[I just downloaded Audacity - a suitable name for recording software]

Respite

2011-12-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

A link to some pictures we took while 'shopping'

Act 1 Scenes 1 and 2 drafted

2011-12-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

I have sketched the whole of act 1 scenes 1 and 2 of the Opera known as the Psalter. My most recent delight was adding a flute part to Psalm 5 - rather fun I think - MP3 here (vocals alone here, sheet music here). We'll see if it's playable - maybe try it out on Thursday.

The outline I suggested last month is holding out at the detail level. As I worked through the scansion for the music, I changed a few details in the text. A dozen or so. I think I won't meditate too much on this first part but forge ahead into the remaining music - rather a lot of fun - and no manuscripts to fuss with.

Music exposes the meaningless

2011-12-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

I was brought to a musical standstill - a muting of all instruments, by Psalm 7:8. There is no way to compose an opera of recitation when you don't know who is speaking and about what. What appeal is being made in this verse on whose behalf?

My current experimental thesis is that the psalms are collected in the shadow of the exile. Does that help to supply a character to the tribes? I searched my available texts and found an article that reconstructs a new text: The textual problems of Psalm 7, Jacob Leveen, Cambridge. He suggests, among many emendations, reading אֱלֹהִים gods for לְאֻמִּים tribes. I don't think that will help the music much. The help to the assembly of the tribes seems more immediate in any age whether of David or of post-exile or even of today with our current tribal conflicts.

OK - so back to the imagining of a leit-motif for the tribes...

Recitation in Hebrew

2011-12-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

The music I have written can also be sung in Hebrew. I will not immediately underlay Hebrew text to the whole recitation - but it is feasible as I have demonstrated here for the first phrase or two of Psalm 1. (PDF is a little more complete. In the image below I have not spelled it out in full - e.g. the resh with shwa would be unemphasized and r-sha-im therefore 3 syllables rather than two as illustrated). All that is required is a judicious omitting of some reciting notes, and the selection of up beat and on the beat syllables according to the requirement of the language. (If I record it in Hebrew, I will post the link on the right panel).

The reason this is possible is that the music is written by small groups of words with attention to their structural relationships. The image below also gives due acknowledgement of MuseScore whose software I am using. It is quick to learn but avoid complex copy and paste. And be very careful when you are in note input mode, you may be overwriting what you have written. This is a nice feature when you become aware of it.

Carnival

2011-11-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

I am grateful to Deane Galbraithe for his generous list of posts at PoC in the BS Carnival 69. There are in his list of blogs a huge number that I am not looking at - I wonder how to manage them. I have not been reading much recently - too much collecting and purging (of my own notes) and testing internal structures for the Psalms. Next there is going to be the music project - I doubt that that qualifies as Biblical Studies.

PoC has 10 posts scheduled for next month too. And they have all been revised since they were first scheduled. I am trying to find beautiful or convincing diagrams for each psalm. Some sections of the poems have very low recurrence - like maybe one word in 7 verses - but those verses connect very strongly to the rest of the poem - my thesis is that the poet is thinking in a larger block - i.e. 2 and 3 won't work as an organizing principle. 8, 10, 12 even 19 verse segments seem possible when recurrence is considered.

Probably I need another technique and another life to consider this question.

Hearing the Psalter - an outline of the Grand Opera

2011-11-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

The final result of the bulk of the Psalter is this note- this new song:


אֱלֹהִים שִׁיר חָדָשׁ אָשִׁירָה לָּךְ בְּנֵבֶל עָשׂוֹר אֲזַמְּרָה לָּךְ	144.9	O God, a song that is new I will sing to you on lute, a tenth I will sing a psalm to you
הַנּוֹתֵן תְּשׁוּעָה לַמְּלָכִים הַפּוֹצֶה אֶת דָּוִד עַבְדּוֹ מֵחֶרֶב רָעָה	10	giving salvation to kings setting even David his servant free from a sword of evil

Here then is the beginning of a draft of the Grand Opera known as the Psalter. (Links to music are on the right panel.)

First Act - David the Beloved, Book 1
Scene 1: Introduction (1-2) -
Ps 1 F+ A rising third and descending fifth motif for the 'Happy are' phrases - to be used whenever they recur at the seams and conclusions of the Psalter. A triple rhythm (hidden in this case in 4/4) that signifies the voice of the Most High.; angular diminished fifths as structural gates and as a tossed away motif.
Ps 2 F- (D-flat+) A lament motif - augmented descending fifth - recurs in various voices throughout the Psalter. Triple rhythm descending major 7th as well as high recitation on a single note for proclamation. Descending minor seconds for the derision. Rapid-fire 16th notes wrapping tenderness.
Scene 2: Prayer (3-6), problem (7), solution (8), celebration (9-10)
Ps 3-6 sequence in D+ upper minor third and lower major third separately then combined, then D- for lament. - the leit-motifs to be extended as the song develops.

Remainder of scenes in draft form... Note I am organizing the scenes using the acrostics in Books 1 and 5. I think that there are 4 is significant - copying perhaps the 4 in Lamentations and recognizing thereby the exile as a critical aspect of all human experience.
Scene 3: Restating the problem (12-15), leading to instruction (16-19), the king (20-24), celebration (25)
Scene 4: 26-34, Reprise (26), ? (27-30), ? (31-33), celebration (34)
Scene 5: Oracle and celebration (36-37)
Entr'acte: 38-41

Second Act - Surrounding the harvest
Part 1 Book 2
Scene 1: Korah (42-49)
Scene 2: Asaph (50 in front of the curtain)
Scene 3: David (51-64)
Scene 4: Harvest (65-67)
Scene 5: David (68-70)
Scene 6: Solo (71), Solomon (72)

Part 2 Book 3
Scene 7: Asaph (73-83)
Scene 8: Korah + (84-88)
Entr'acte: Lament 89

Third Act - Book 4 Moses
Scene 1: Moses and response (90-92), Rivers and judgment (93-94), Warning (95)
Scene 2: יְהוָה's reign (96-100)
Scene 3: David and renewal (101-103)
Entr'acte: Creation and redemption (104-106)

Fourth Act - Book 5
Scene 1: Predicament (107), redemption (108-110), celebration (111-112)
Scene 2: Praise and adoration (113-117), salvation (118), celebration (119)
Scene 3: Ascent (120-134), Arrival (135)
Scene 4: Creation and redemption (136)
Scene 5: Exile (137)
Scene 6: Recapitulation of David, Holy of Holies (138-139) Prayer of the anointed king on behalf of all (140-144), celebration (145)
Coda: 146-150

Do you see any patterns?

2011-11-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

Here are the words used in the Songs of Ascent more than once in the 15 psalms. (organized in order by count 2 to 15) I don't see much in the way of coherence internally. I suspect the collection has external references rather than internal.

Root

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

אדני

אהל

אז

אח

איב

אכל

בטן

בנה

גדל

חנן

חסד

חץ

יחד

יחל

ירא

כסא

כף

לב

לילה

לשׁון

מה

מוט

מן

משׁך

נוח

נום

נער

סבב

עבר

עדה

עזר

עיר

עלה

צדיק

קצר

קרא

רנן

רשׁע

שׁבט

שׁוב

שׁכן

שׁלא

שׁלח

שׁמע

שׁער

שׂבע

שׂמח

שׂנא

ארץ

אשׁר

בוא

בושׁ

בן

גם

הלך

הר

חיה

ילך

ירושׁלם

ישׁן

כן

לחם

לי

למען

מלא

נא

עבד

עמד

ענה

עתה

פה

פרי

קום

רגל

אם

אמר

גבר

דבר

טוב

לה

לך

נשׂא

עין

עלם

עשׂה

רבה

שׁמים

שׁמר

בית

היה

יד

נתן

עם

שׁלם

שׁם

ברך

דוד

ישׁב

כל

לא

נפשׁ

עד

הנה

ציון

ישׂראל

מעלה

שׁיר

Now for something quite different

2011-11-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

Busking - just kidding - not like David Ker in Africa somewhere. But here I am making music - you can't just see the psalms, you've gotta hear them too. So here's the sheet music that I wrote this week for Psalms 1, 2, and 3 - and will I dare - or more to the point, can I remember how to record it?

Oh - I remember - but there are a few hard notes to hit! I think it is easier in Psalm 1 to sing the E-flat major triad at the end if the nor is an A-flat. So let the variations begin!

In Psalm 2 there are likewise some tricky key-changes.

Psalm 3 with the other two show the beginning of the extent of chant music to map structure. (Psalm 4 and 5 will continue in D+ with Psalm 6 finding a minor key yet to be decided. I will be outlining the musical plan ... some day.)

Here they are - performance as I thought it might be - not note or word perfect but close - meant to be freely sung anyway. Probably could be mapped to other translations if they are close enough to the Hebrew. Performance links here: Psalms 1, 2, and 3.

If all goes well over the next two years, I will set all 42000 words of my translation. One thing surely it will do is to help me verify them rhythmically.

Any ideas for accompaniment? If you are a musician I can send you the .mscz files for experimentation.

Psalm 1 and 26

2011-11-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

I made a comment months ago on Poetry of Christ that Psalms 26 and 1 were closely related. Here is the pattern of word usage between the two of them. Psalm 26 opens with the request for judgment. Psalm 1 ends with being able to stand in such. Do you think the poet was reading Psalm 1 as he composed Psalm 26?

Selected words occurring in each of psalms --1,-26

Word and gloss * first usage

Stem

* אשׁרי happy

░

--1.1

אשׁר

* אשׁר who

░

--1.1

אשׁר

* לא does not

░

--1.1

לא

הלך walk

░

--1.1

הלך

* רשׁעים the wicked

░

--1.1

רשׁע

* חטאים sinners

░

--1.1

חטא

* לא does not

░

--1.1

לא

עמד stand

░

--1.1

עמד

* ובמושׁב and in the seat of

░

--1.1

ישׁב

* לא does not

░

--1.1

לא

* ישׁב sit

░

--1.1

ישׁב

* אשׁר that

░

--1.3

אשׁר

* לא does not

░

--1.3

לא

וכל and in all

░

--1.3

כל

* אשׁר that

░

--1.3

אשׁר

* לא not

░

--1.4

לא

* הרשׁעים the-many wicked

░

--1.4

רשׁע

* אשׁר that

░

--1.4

אשׁר

* לא they will not

░

--1.5

לא

יקמו arise

░

--1.5

קום

* רשׁעים the wicked

░

--1.5

רשׁע

במשׁפט in the judgment

░

--1.5

שׁפט

* וחטאים nor sinners

░

--1.5

חטא

* רשׁעים those wicked

░

--1.6

רשׁע

שׁפטני judge me

░

-26.1

שׁפט

* הלכתי have walked

░

-26.1

הלך

לא --

░

-26.1

לא

* והתהלכתי and I have walked

░

-26.3

הלך

לא not

░

-26.4

לא

ישׁבתי I have sat

░

-26.4

ישׁב

לא not

░

-26.4

לא

רשׁעים the wicked

░

-26.5

רשׁע

לא not

░

-26.5

לא

אשׁב I will sit

░

-26.5

ישׁב

כל all

░

-26.7

כל

ומקום and the -place of

░

-26.8

קום

חטאים sinners

░

-26.9

חטא

אשׁר whose

░

-26.10

אשׁר

עמדה stands

░

-26.12

עמד

Psalm 1 - illustration of my new approach

2011-11-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here ye! Hear ye! Extra! Extra! הנה Hey! הנה Behold!

This post illustrates how I am developing my visual structures in the Psalter. One year after the Psalms conference in Oxford, when I had just completed a first complete marathon (for me) read of the Hebrew Psalter in 2 months, I am now ready to focus on seeing - and hopefully eliminate the tendency to blather on about irrelevancies. If you would like to see the private work as it appears and as I work through each psalm again in sequence, drop me a comment or send me an email [bobmacdonald at gx.ca] and I will add you to the distribution list for my private blog.

Why private? I find I write differently for paper than for the web. The design problems are different and there is a need for frequent revision and editing. Also - it's the-whites-of-their-eyes issue. The whole will emerge when I am given enough time. And it is a blog, so I can make it public at a moment's notice. It will represent all the visual aspects of seeing the psalms that I discover - but with as little commentary as I can manage - mostly in notes by verse where I repoint the text or whatever.

I am still posting notes at Poetry of Christ. They are more commentary than visual, but they will morph into more visual for the last 50-odd posts scheduled there to March 31, 2012. That blog illustrates why blogs are unsuitable for real writing. So does this one. I have revised all those translations from 2010 by the hundreds. That's not blogging. They hardly have any of the original post left - a few bits and pieces if I want to illustrate some day how writing develops.

Now if you want to help, here's what I need. One or two persons willing to point out mistakes and unnecessary comment. And clarity of focus - when am I ambiguous or confusing? Matters of taste or gloss we might not agree on. And of theology, I hope to say little but let the text speak for itself. Also I don't think I am discovering magic - but rather the work of human poets and redactors with a devoted purpose. What I see must have been possible for them to see before and as they created the poems in their present form.

So I think the Psalter was deliberately constructed in the form I see it in, and I think it was perfectly possible for editors and writers to do such a thing as a response within their ordinary-extraordinary lives. There were great poets among them. Children also - Psalm 114 is the work of a young genius. Perhaps great musicians too. Psalm 89, on the demise of the Davidic monarchy, is like the Chaconne in D Minor, on the death of Bach's first wife. And Symphony? Psalm 78, Brahms, Psalm 84 later Mozart, 86 early Mozart, Psalm 90-91 The Art of the Fugue. 139 Bairstow, I sat down. I am getting carried away

What the Hilliard ensemble did with the Chaconne is illustrative of what I would like to hear in the text of the Psalter, the inner joins and the cantus firmus.

Seeing the Psalter - Psalm 1

2011-11-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Introducing the technique.
How do we read? How do we hear or see what we are reading? I will illustrate three techniques: Recurrence, Parallelism, and Prosody. They help see what is in the text.

Recurrence is the use of repeated words in the text. Following the text of each psalm, there are tables showing the patterns of the words that repeat. The patterns focus the sections of the psalm and help identify the thought of the one who constructed the text.

Parallelism is the expression of the same thought in different words. Distinguish parallelism and recurrence from each other. Recurrence is the repetition of the same word in the poem. This distinction removes some subjectivity from initial structural considerations. We will usually agree when two words are from the same root. We may not agree that two concepts in differing words in the poem represent the same thought.

Prosody: Prosody is the art of displaying poetry. In the case of Hebrew poetry, a starting point is to see the lines of a poem in twos and threes.

Here is Psalm 1 verse 1. This small example illustrates all three techniques.

Note the three lines that modify the happy individual. They are all in parallel with each other with a cumulative effect. They are each organized around three main words. A recurring motif is the word “not”!

who does not walk in the advice of the wicked
and in the way of sinners does not stand
and in the seat of the scornful does not sit

Parallelism: notice how the parallel phrases vary in conceptual order dividing each line in two: in this case, a, the action, and b where. These parallels are in the form a-b, then b-a, b-a. These are an example of rhyming ideas created with different words, walk -- sit -- stand; and wicked -- sinners -- scornful, and advice -- way -- seat.

Prosody: notice in the Hebrew that there are (apart from relative pronoun and negative particle) literally three words in each of the three lines. It is clear in English also. In the Hebrew below, I have underlined the roots of these “main words”. The other letters in a typical Hebrew word are prepositions, pronouns, verb forms, and so on. If you don’t read Hebrew, just look for the moment.

אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים
וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד
וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב

Notice that as there are three main words in the English so there are three underlined parts in the Hebrew corresponding to the three main English words per line. The underlined parts are the 'roots' of the Hebrew words.

Recurrence: The bold words are those that recur, in this case the recurring no.

Here is a miniature table showing the last two verses of Psalm 1.

Word and gloss * first usage	1	2	3	Vs	Root
* רשׁעים the wicked	░			5	רשׁע
* צדיקים the-many righteous		░		5	צדיק
* דרך the way of			░	6	דרך
* צדיקים those righteous		░		6	צדיק
* ודרך but the way of			░	6	דרך
* רשׁעים those wicked	░			6	רשׁע

The table shows the recurring words for verses 5 and 6. There are three of them: wicked -- righteous -- way. The numbered columns (1, 2, 3) represent the words in the sequence they occur in the poem, and the boxes in the grid show the pattern of their usage. The word itself and its gloss is in the left hand column. This column (*) also tells us if this is the first time the word has been used as a keyword in the Psalter. The verse numbers are in the second to last right hand column (Vs). The root of the word or where there is no root, the combination of prepositions and pronouns is in the right hand column (Root).

In this small table, we can see that wicked appears first and last in the table. An inner pair of words: righteous and way, recur in sequence. Wicked effectively 'frames' the two verses. A 'frame' is a word or set of words that recurs, effectively surrounding a text and highlighting it. It is similar to a picture frame in a gallery which sets off the picture for the viewer. This idea of framing is also expressed by other words in English: circling, enveloping, and including (via the Latin phrase inclusio).

Before continuing with the shapes to observe in the tables, first read and ponder Psalm 1. As you read, circle the words that recur.

Psalm 1 - The way of the wicked and the righteous

אַשְׁרֵי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמוֹשַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב	1	Happy the person who does not walk in the advice of the wicked and in the way of sinners does not stand and in the seat of the scornful does not sit
כִּי אִם בְּתוֹרַת יְהוָה חֶפְצוֹ וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה	2	In contrast: in the instruction of יְהוָה is his delight and in his instruction he mutters day and night
וְהָיָה כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַל פַּלְגֵי מָיִם אֲשֶׁר פִּרְיוֹ יִתֵּן בְּעִתּוֹ וְעָלֵהוּ לֹא יִבּוֹל וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה יַצְלִיחַ	3	and that one will be like a tree transplanted by streams of water that gives its fruit in its time and its leaf does not wither and in all that it does, it thrives
לֹא כֵן הָרְשָׁעִים כִּי אִם כַּמֹּץ אֲשֶׁר תִּדְּפֶנּוּ רוּחַ	4	Not so the-many wicked in contrast: like chaff that wind blows
עַל כֵּן לֹא יָקֻמוּ רְשָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט וְחַטָּאִים בַּעֲדַת צַדִּיקִים	5	So it is that they will not arise the wicked in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the-many righteous
כִּי יוֹדֵעַ יְהוָה דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵד	6	For יְהוָה knows the way of those righteous but the way of those wicked will perish

Selected recurring words in relative order

Word and gloss * first usage

Root

* אשׁרי happy

░

אשׁר

* אשׁר who

░

אשׁר

* לא does not

░

לא

* רשׁעים the wicked

░

רשׁע

* ובדרך and in the way of

░

דרך

* חטאים sinners

░

חטא

* לא does not

░

לא

* ובמושׁב and in the seat of

░

ישׁב

* לא does not

░

לא

* ישׁב sit

░

ישׁב

כי in

░

כי

* אם contrast

░

אם

* בתורת in the instruction of

░

תורה

* יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

* ובתורתו and in his instruction

░

תורה

* אשׁר that

░

אשׁר

* לא does not

░

לא

* אשׁר that

░

אשׁר

* לא not

░

לא

* כן so

░

כן

* הרשׁעים the-many wicked

░

רשׁע

כי in

░

כי

* אם contrast

░

אם

* אשׁר that

░

אשׁר

* כן so it is that

░

כן

* לא they will not

░

לא

* רשׁעים the wicked

░

רשׁע

* וחטאים nor sinners

░

חטא

* צדיקים the-many righteous

░

צדיק

כי for

░

כי

* יהוה יהוה

░

יהוה

* דרך the way of

░

דרך

* צדיקים those righteous

░

צדיק

* ודרך but the way of

░

דרך

* רשׁעים those wicked

░

רשׁע

Here are some shapes and features to look for in these tables:

Check to see if all verses are present. A missing verse number shows that the words of the verse occur only once in the psalm. This may be a central message. In Psalm 1, there are no verses missing.

Check to see what the last recurring word in the passage is. This may form a focal point for the text. In Psalm 1, the final recurring word is righteous.

When you see a shape like an arrowhead, it indicates that a set of words is used in reverse order. If you drew circles or arcs joining these words to each other in the text, you would see they are concentric. If you look at what these circles surround, you may find a particular theme or focus of the psalm. In Psalm 1, wicked -- way -- sinners are such a group. Contrast the miniature table showing only verses 1, 5, 6 with the full table for Psalm 1). Note how they reappear at the end of the table in reverse order from the beginning. Almost every psalm has such a frame, often comprised of more than one word. Sometimes two consecutive psalms will have a single frame.

Word and gloss * first usage	1	2	3	Vs	Root
* רשׁעים the wicked	░			1	רשׁע
* ובדרך and in the way of		░		1	דרך
* חטאים sinners			░	1	חטא
* וחטאים nor sinners			░	5	חטא
* ודרך but the way of		░		6	דרך
* רשׁעים those wicked	░			6	רשׁע

When you see a shape like parallel lines (like that -- not), this indicates that the recurring words occur in the same order. If you drew the circles, they would intersect. And you might find that the content is outlined with some emphasis by the feature. So in this case, the action of verse 3 is contrasted with the actions of verse 1. And the two words, that and not, surround the image of a fruitful tree.

When you see a vertical line of recurring words in the table, this indicates a word that recurs frequently. This may indicate a theme for the psalm or a word linking sections of the psalm. The example of no in Psalm 1 is typical. It will happen again in Psalm 15. A series of 18 such repetitions may be seen in Psalm 145. This is contrasted again by the that -- not of verses 4 and 5 which surround the scattering of the chaff by the wind.

Note: in order to keep the tables from getting too large, I have often but not always excluded the following words to reduce the volume of potentially non-significant structures. על(`l) preposition on, above, יהוה (yhvh), the tetragrammeton, אלוה ('lvh) God, usually plural, כי (ky) a very common conjunction meaning for or because, אל ('l) God or a negative (and many other possibilities but rare in the psalms), את ('t) the object marker, a word not usually translated. If any of these is significant in a poem, it will be noted. These 6 roots out of 1410 distinct combinations in the Psalter (<0.5%) account for more than 2,400 of the 19,584 words (>12.3%) of the Hebrew text.

Notes by verse

2	in contrast, כִּי אִם (ky 'im) preserving the unique combination of כִּי אִם (see also Jeremiah 7, Deuteronomy 12, Esther 2.) Thanks for the suggestion from Boaz Shoshan, Ben Gurion University of the Negev to bring more contrast into my first rendering 'in this case'. instruction, (תורה) Torah, or teaching, mentoring, but not Law in a legal sense The tetragrammeton, (four letters יְהוָה YHVH, the Name revealed to Moses) is reproduced in Hebrew without transliteration. In your reading, substitute whatever name is in your tradition, such as Adonai, or Hashem (the Name), or LORD, or Yahweh as you desire. mutter, הגה (hgh), reading to himself out loud, perhaps murmur or muse, meditate. Murmur המה (hmh) I have used later for its negative tone, so I cannot use it here.
3	that one, emphasizing the singular without the personal pronoun [Revelation 22:2]
4	the-many, drawing attention to the singular-plural contrast in this psalm which sets the tone for the incorporation of the elect singular and plural
5	so it is, therefore, but hear the similar sound of not so.
6	the way, specific by implication with the aforementioned many wicked or righteous

Hebrew words: 67
English words: 136
Percentage of Hebrew words that recur in this psalm: 55%
Average keywords per verse: 6.2

Psalm 1

Translation and Notes last updated on 2011.11.14-12:08

BBC Radio Evensong - live

2011-11-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

This will be a podcast - repeats Sunday after noon. It is my daughter Sarah conducting the Ely Cathedral Choir.

Two hour review of the first 10 psalms

2011-11-09T01:37:00.000-08:00

With some judicious questions and criticisms, CSRS Visiting Research Fellow, Bill Morrow helped me make a necessary course correction. He suggested from my answers to the question - why are you doing this - that I have conflicting motives striving for primacy. One solid one is enough. I now know what I must focus on in any comments I make on the psalms. I am looking first at recurrence patterns. I am not a commentator. I expect my translations to stand, but his review of the first 10 psalms pointed out some skills I need to hone to make the translations as precise as possible so that they reflect the focus I am suggesting. I will continue to report the odd experiment, but I don't expect to blog much except for the scheduled posts at the other blog. They are like the carrot pulling the donkey forward to carry the cart. That post on Psalm 98 is cool - it shows how 97-98 are framed as a single poem.

I am most grateful to Bill. A good teacher is a special gift. I didn't go to school to learn this stuff. Instead I spent 40 years in the database world - a skill I am using to pursue my research into the text. That's what I will eventually report. I am of course also grateful to many who share their knowledge through blogging on the Hebrew Bible.