Thursday 11 November 2010

Simplifying and equalizing volumes

It's better to keep things simple and just write about a sequence in sequence - so here's a division into 7 pieces respecting the existing 5-fold division in the text. Seven roughly equal sized volumes.

1 Psalms 1-23 Book 1 - part 1 - 2599 Hebrew words in this pile.
2 24-41 Book 1 part 2 - 2650 words
3 42-72 Book 2 - 4036 words - less commentary or thinner paper :)
4 73-89 Book 3 - 2777 words
5 90-106 Book 4 - 2433 words
6 107-119 Book 5 - part 1 - 2479 words
7 120-150 Book 5 - part 2 - 2602 words

Each part will have the following sections

There will be a structural introduction to the psalms in the volume in relation to those in other volumes. Then for each psalm:
  • the text in English footnoted where necessary :)
  • images of how the text is constructed and where the play is
  • relationship of the text to other texts - e.g. Genesis, Deuteronomy, Job, Samuel, other psalms
  • specific word studies based on the frames and cell contents
  • hearing the spaces between the words
  • How the psalm relates to the seven themes I noted in the last post: Torah, Anointing, Enemies, Sin, Covenant, Creation, Praise.
Example - it would be instructive to do an example detail section. E.g. Psalm 62 and its relationship to Qohelet's favorite word and Psalm 39. All these are touched on in what I have applied myself to over the past 4 years. But none of this is a slam dunk.

There will be no complete Hebrew text. [two months later, changed my mind] The English is meant to stand alone [yes] but it will also encourage investigation into the Hebrew or Greek text. This will be done by using some Hebrew words and showing how the fine grained grammatical and syntax structure works sometimes. There's quite a bit of tension in this statement. The tetragrammaton will always be in Hebrew letters. The square letters will be used but as if one is writing for one who is learning rather than one who already knows.

What else should I include in such a book series? Anyone want to help?

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