Friday, 31 December 2010
Happy New Year
As I have been writing on the psalms in a predictable fashion, reading them as one would read a novel, and as I have been correcting broken links in my journey through old things that I and others have said on the psalms, I occasionally come across some funny old posts - here's one on letter counts - complete with a query on what letters are used and not used in each of the psalms.
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Christmas walk - 2010
The sun shone brightly this morning on the waters of the Straits of Georgia and on the peaks of the Olympic mountains in Washington across the water from us.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Monday, 20 December 2010
Christmas 2010
#3 – 906 St Charles Street, 19 December 2010
Bob, now post 65, is still working at AMA and immersed in the study of Hebrew poetry. The language was great for identifying hummus in Israeli grocery stores – that's חומס, roughly.
April: after 15 years we finally bought a new car – a Prius (Hybrid), a good thing considering all this holidaying!
June: Di and Simon threw a surprise party for Jeremy’s 40th birthday. Jer put red windshield wipers on the Civic!
September: a second surprise party, this time for Bob’s 65th, with lots of friends, family and surprise guests, Simon and Jennifer. Two days later Bob flew to Ottawa. Di joined Bob the following week and we drove to Kingston to hear Sarah's Selwyn College Chapel Choir on tour, and to meet Bob's old school friend Peter whom he had not seen for 48 years (a story in itself). Di returned home and Bob flew to the UK for a conference on the Psalms in Oxford followed by two weeks reading at the University Library in Cambridge, again thanks to the very patient and ubiquitous Sarah - talk about seven-league boots!
October: Jerusalem! - fulfilling years of anticipation, and no small preparation. Of course this visit just happened to coincide with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s 75th Anniversary Tour, and we watched Jennifer dance in two performances! After 12 days ‘walking about Zion and considering her citadels’ Di ‘translates’ the psalm: Jerusalem is builded as a city that is at enmity with itself. Bob’s take is similar: Jerusalem is built as a pomegranate in razor wire.
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a year of celebration and sadness, farewells and feasts.
2010-11, the 25th anniversary of the GVYO, is dedicated to the memory of our beloved director János Sándor, who died in May. The baton has passed to his colleague, student and friend Yariv Aloni, whom János mentored as he had countless musicians throughout his full rich life. Silver Season concerts this fall featured superb performances by alumni Jonathan Crow (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto) and Sarah MacDonald (Poulenc Organ Concerto), commending 25 years of Work in Progress, the title of a film made about the GVYO in this banner and memorable year.
Diana continues her work with the orchestra, as 25th Anniversary Project Coordinator. She had the privilege of presenting a reflection at the memorial service for János. This was the second of two ‘micro-sermons’ Di was asked to give during the year, the first having been for one of the services celebrating St. John’s Church 150th anniversary year. Preparing a sermon is a significant and humbling task.
Bob, now post 65, is still working at AMA and immersed in the study of Hebrew poetry. The language was great for identifying hummus in Israeli grocery stores – that's חומס, roughly. Here is our year-in-review. You’ll see our busy-ness did not prevent an inordinate amount of holiday travels!
February: Ten days on the Big Island of Hawaii with our friends John and Helen Money – tennis every day, flowers galore, stargazing, snorkelling, coffee tasting, and hiking around volcanoes.
April: after 15 years we finally bought a new car – a Prius (Hybrid), a good thing considering all this holidaying! May-June: after a quick trip to Winnipeg Di and Simon took a road trip west through the Rockies to meet Bob and Jennifer and Stephanie in the Okanagan, for a holiday with Bob's brother Bill and wife Jeanne, and Di’s brother Jim and wife Ardis, not to mention the dogs. Biking, barbecuing, more tennis and wine tasting! The Chateau St-Charles Winery, after declaring incompetence, is now officially out of business.
June: Di and Simon threw a surprise party for Jeremy’s 40th birthday. Jer put red windshield wipers on the Civic!July: here at home for a sail on the HMCS Oriole with GVYO friends, two wonderful weeks of Duruflé with Garth MacPhee – and more tennis!
August: Di flew to UK for Sarah’s organ recital at St Paul's Cathedral London and visited the sweet little house in Cambridge newly bought and proudly owned by Sarah and Marcus. Di joined Marcus and Rita as groupies on tour to Paris where Sarah conducted Ely Cathedral Girls at Notre Dame (and others). We ate pastries, climbed la Tour Eiffel and finally visited Musée d’Orsay, then returned to London where Sarah directed the girls, now joined by the Lay Clerks, at Evensong in Westminster Abbey.
And Di arrived home just in time to prepare…
September: a second surprise party, this time for Bob’s 65th, with lots of friends, family and surprise guests, Simon and Jennifer. Two days later Bob flew to Ottawa. Di joined Bob the following week and we drove to Kingston to hear Sarah's Selwyn College Chapel Choir on tour, and to meet Bob's old school friend Peter whom he had not seen for 48 years (a story in itself). Di returned home and Bob flew to the UK for a conference on the Psalms in Oxford followed by two weeks reading at the University Library in Cambridge, again thanks to the very patient and ubiquitous Sarah - talk about seven-league boots! But wait – we’re not finished – we met, next month in …
October: Jerusalem! - fulfilling years of anticipation, and no small preparation. Of course this visit just happened to coincide with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s 75th Anniversary Tour, and we watched Jennifer dance in two performances! After 12 days ‘walking about Zion and considering her citadels’ Di ‘translates’ the psalm: Jerusalem is builded as a city that is at enmity with itself. Bob’s take is similar: Jerusalem is built as a pomegranate in razor wire. We had time to explore everything from Holy Sepulchre and Yad Vashem (Sho’a memorial designed by Canada’s Moishe Safdie) to the City of David (Hezekiah’s Tunnel, 7th Century BCE) and the more we saw the more we felt we needed to see. But time ran out and we took to the road with our Lonely Planet Guide and spent nine days exploring the rest of this ancient and complex Land that is called Holy.
We had walked the ramparts above the old romantic walls of Jerusalem. We were ushered through the new and frighteningly unromantic walls of its neighbour Bethlehem. There be scaffolding in the Church of the Nativity and shops where olive wood is sold in abundance. High-rises are cheek by jowl on the hillsides. The Dead Sea is weird and Di got muddy. Qumran is hot. The hills above the Sea of Galilee are as cool and vegetarian as our own Hornby Island. The Golan Heights and Nimrod’s Castle are high and mighty. The town of Nazareth is bewildering, but our stay there was a highlight. We were housed in a partially restored Ottoman mansion owned, managed and staffed by Jews, Christians and Moslems, some paid, others volunteers from around the globe. Eventually we found ourselves in Tel Aviv on the beach for 36 hours, just prior to the long flights home, where it took weeks to realize we were not in hotels halfway around the world.
There are many pictures – the summary is here:
And while you're there, do take a gander at Bob's translations. Especially fun is Qohelet in the style of Dr Seuss.
Our love and Christmas Blessings to you all.
Bob and Di
Bob and Di
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Letters I never knew disappear or get the L outa here
I am working my way through the psalms - and posting little as I study 'the vocabulary of recurrence', that is my 500 or so words that sound alike or have the same roots in the 19500 word forms in the psalter.
What do you make of psalm 49 - the verb acquire, לָקַח, get, actually drops the letter ל from the root like weak I-yod and I-nun verbs drop their yods and nuns! I had not seen this before in studying letter behaviour among Hebrew word forms.
Only in psalm 49 - see text here - does this word recur as a potential frame in the psalter.
Here is the bit that is framed - selah - think about it.
What do you make of psalm 49 - the verb acquire, לָקַח, get, actually drops the letter ל from the root like weak I-yod and I-nun verbs drop their yods and nuns! I had not seen this before in studying letter behaviour among Hebrew word forms.
Only in psalm 49 - see text here - does this word recur as a potential frame in the psalter.
Here is the bit that is framed - selah - think about it.
you will not fear when someone becomes rich
for the increase of the glory of his house
Monday, 13 December 2010
Sunday, 12 December 2010
The day of the rehearsal
Here are some pictures from our Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra concert with my daughter, Sarah, playing the Poulenc Organ Concerto. Sorry I can't give you an excerpt. It was a stunning work in performance the next day.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
The Senior Testament
How's that for a nice name for the OT?
Now, here's the question or two.
I would love to see developed thoughts on the Senior Testament connections to the unity texts of ch. 17 of John.
Now, here's the question or two.
I would love to see developed thoughts on the Senior Testament connections to the unity texts of ch. 17 of John.
Doesn't that sound like a good thesis topic?
And #2
Why is it that Jesus calls his commandment a 'new' commandment?
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Jeduthun
Psalms 39, 62, and 77 all have a superscription to Jeduthun (39) or against Jeduthun (62, 77). Jeduthun is a name used elsewhere as noted in this article from Wikiperdia - ha ha - you can verify the references.
Jim West asked about this on his Biblical Studies list. He wonders 'are there instances in the psalms where 'al' is definitely used in connection with a clearly proper noun?' My posts don't show up on that list, so I am posting my answer here. The list can't handle unicode, and I don't get email from it - too much volume on questions that I have little or no interest in. But it looks as if there will be a good discussion coming up January 10 list on Jesus, John and History with guest Tom Thatcher. (You need to be a member of this group to see the list).
In the Psalms, על is used with proper names such as the name of God, or Zion, or Edom, or Israel. Other uses of the preposition are in the list below. It seems to me that there would not be any distinction in a language of what prepositions can be used with common or proper nouns. While there are few personal names in the psalms, the examples show that other classes of proper nouns (place names, the Divine name) are used with this preposition.
על in the psalms: is על used with proper names?
| Psalm | Text | |
| Psalm 1.3 | על פלגי | |
| Psalm 1.5 | על כן | |
| Psalm 2.2 | על יהוה | |
| Psalm 2.6 | על ציון | |
| Psalm 3.9 | על עמך | |
| Psalm 4.5 | על משׁכבכם | |
| Psalm 6.1 | על השׁמינית | |
| Psalm 7.1 | על דברי | |
| Psalm 7.11 | על אלהים | |
| Psalm 8.1 | על הגתית | |
| Psalm 8.2 | על השׁמים | |
| Psalm 9.1 | על מות | |
| Psalm 9.20 | על פניך | |
| Psalm 10.12 | על מה | |
| Psalm 10.3 | על תאות | |
| Psalm 11.2 | על יתר | |
| Psalm 11.6 | על רשׁעים | |
| Psalm 14.2 | על בני | |
| Psalm 15.3 | על לשׁנו | |
| Psalm 15.3 | על קרבו | |
| Psalm 15.5 | על נקי | |
| Psalm 16.4 | על שׂפתי | |
| Psalm 18.11 | על כרוב | |
| Psalm 18.11 | על כנפי | |
| Psalm 18.42 | על יהוה | |
| Psalm 18.43 | על פני | |
| Psalm 18.50 | על כן | |
| Psalm 19.7 | על קצותם | |
| Psalm 21.13 | על פניהם | |
| Psalm 22.1 | על אילת | |
| Psalm 22.10 | על שׁדי | |
| Psalm 23.1 | על מי | |
| Psalm 24.2 | על ימים | |
| Psalm 25.8 | על כן | |
| Psalm 27.6 | על איבי | |
| Psalm 29.3 | על המים | |
| Psalm 29.3 | על מים | |
| Psalm 31.17 | על עבדך | |
| Psalm 31.19 | על צדיק | |
| Psalm 31.24 | על יתר | |
| Psalm 32.6 | על זאת | |
| Psalm 35.13 | על חיקי | |
| Psalm 36.5 | על משׁכבו | |
| Psalm 36.5 | על דרך | |
| Psalm 37.10 | על מקומו | |
| Psalm 37.11 | על רב | |
| Psalm 37.4 | על יהוה | |
| Psalm 37.5 | על יהוה | |
| Psalm 39.12 | על עון | |
| Psalm 40.16 | על עקב | |
| Psalm 40.3 | על סלע | |
| Psalm 41.4 | על ערשׂ | |
| Psalm 42.2 | על אפיקי | |
| Psalm 42.7 | על כן | |
| Psalm 45.1 | על שׁשׁנים | |
| Psalm 45.18 | על כן | |
| Psalm 45.3 | על כן | |
| Psalm 45.4 | על ירך | |
| Psalm 45.5 | על דבר | |
| Psalm 45.8 | על כן | |
| Psalm 46.0 | על עלמות | |
| Psalm 46.2 | על כן | |
| Psalm 47.3 | על כל | |
| Psalm 47.9 | על גוים | |
| Psalm 47.9 | על כסא | |
| Psalm 48.11 | על קצוי | |
| Psalm 48.15 | על מות | |
| Psalm 49.7 | על חילם | |
| Psalm 50.8 | על זבחיך | |
| Psalm 51.21 | על מזבחך | |
| Psalm 53.1 | על מחלת | |
| Psalm 53.3 | על בני | |
| Psalm 55.11 | על חומתיה | |
| Psalm 55.23 | על יהוה | |
| Psalm 56.1 | על יונת | |
| Psalm 56.8 | על און | |
| Psalm 57.12 | על השׁמים | |
| Psalm 57.12 | על כל | |
| Psalm 57.6 | על השׁמים | |
| Psalm 57.6 | על כל | |
| Psalm 60.1 | על שׁושׁן | |
| Psalm 60.10 | על אדום | |
| Psalm 61.1 | על נגינת | |
| Psalm 61.7 | על ימי | |
| Psalm 62.1 | על ידותון | |
| Psalm 62.4 | על אישׁ | |
| Psalm 62.8 | על אלהים | |
| Psalm 63.11 | על ידי | |
| Psalm 63.7 | על יצועי | |
| Psalm 66.5 | על בני | |
| Psalm 68.30 | על ירושׁלם | |
| Psalm 68.35 | על ישׂראל | |
| Psalm 69.1 | על שׁושׁנים | |
| Psalm 69.28 | על עונם | |
| Psalm 70.4 | על עקב | |
| Psalm 71.14 | על כל | |
| Psalm 72.13 | על דל | |
| Psalm 72.6 | על גז | |
| Psalm 74.13 | על המים | |
| Psalm 77.1 | על ידותון | |
| Psalm 79.9 | על דבר | |
| Psalm 79.9 | על חטאתינו | |
| Psalm 80.18 | על אישׁ | |
| Psalm 80.18 | על בן | |
| Psalm 81.1 | על הגתית | |
| Psalm 81.6 | על ארץ | |
| Psalm 81.8 | על מי | |
| Psalm 83.19 | על כל | |
| Psalm 83.4 | על עמך | |
| Psalm 83.4 | על צפוניך | |
| Psalm 84.1 | על הגתית | |
| Psalm 88.1 | על מחלת | |
| Psalm 89.20 | על גבור | |
| Psalm 89.48 | על מה | |
| Psalm 89.8 | על כל | |
| Psalm 90.13 | על עבדיך | |
| Psalm 90.16 | על בניהם | |
| Psalm 91.12 | על כפים | |
| Psalm 91.13 | על שׁחל | |
| Psalm 94.2 | על גאים | |
| Psalm 94.21 | על נפשׁ | |
| Psalm 95.3 | על כל | |
| Psalm 96.4 | על כל | |
| Psalm 97.9 | על כל | |
| Psalm 97.9 | על כל | |
| Psalm 99.2 | על כל | |
| Psalm 99.8 | על עלילותם | |
| Psalm 102.8 | על גג | |
| Psalm 103.11 | על הארץ | |
| Psalm 103.11 | על יראיו | |
| Psalm 103.13 | על בנים | |
| Psalm 103.13 | על יראיו | |
| Psalm 103.17 | על יראיו | |
| Psalm 104.3 | על כנפי | |
| Psalm 104.5 | על מכוניה | |
| Psalm 104.6 | על הרים | |
| Psalm 105.16 | על הארץ | |
| Psalm 106.17 | על עדת | |
| Psalm 106.22 | על ים | |
| Psalm 106.32 | על מי | |
| Psalm 106.7 | על ים | |
| Psalm 107.40 | על נדיבים | |
| Psalm 108.10 | על אדום | |
| Psalm 108.6 | על שׁמים | |
| Psalm 109.20 | על נפשׁי | |
| Psalm 109.6 | על ימינו | |
| Psalm 110.4 | על דברתי | |
| Psalm 110.5 | על ימינך | |
| Psalm 110.6 | על ארץ | |
| Psalm 110.7 | על כן | |
| Psalm 113.4 | על כל | |
| Psalm 113.4 | על השׁמים | |
| Psalm 115.1 | על חסדך | |
| Psalm 115.1 | על אמתך | |
| Psalm 119.104 | על כן | |
| Psalm 119.127 | על כן | |
| Psalm 119.128 | על כן | |
| Psalm 119.129 | על כן | |
| Psalm 119.136 | על לא | |
| Psalm 119.162 | על אמרתך | |
| Psalm 119.164 | על משׁפטי | |
| Psalm 119.17 | על עבדך | |
| Psalm 119.49 | על אשׁר | |
| Psalm 119.62 | על משׁפטי | |
| Psalm 121.5 | על יד | |
| Psalm 124.4 | על נפשׁנו | |
| Psalm 124.5 | על נפשׁנו | |
| Psalm 125.3 | על גורל | |
| Psalm 125.5 | על ישׂראל | |
| Psalm 128.6 | על ישׂראל | |
| Psalm 129.3 | על גבי | |
| Psalm 132.3 | על ערשׂ | |
| Psalm 133.2 | על הראשׁ | |
| Psalm 133.2 | על הזקן | |
| Psalm 133.2 | על פי | |
| Psalm 133.3 | על הררי | |
| Psalm 136.6 | על המים | |
| Psalm 137.1 | על נהרות | |
| Psalm 137.2 | על ערבים | |
| Psalm 137.4 | על אדמת | |
| Psalm 137.6 | על ראשׁ | |
| Psalm 138.2 | על חסדך | |
| Psalm 138.2 | על כל | |
| Psalm 138.7 | על אף | |
| Psalm 139.14 | על כי | |
| Psalm 141.3 | על דל | |
| Psalm 145.9 | על כל | |
| Psalm 146.5 | על יהוה | |
| Psalm 148.13 | על ארץ | |
| Psalm 149.5 | על משׁכבותם |
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Must not spare the praise for Psalm 9 CEV
I like very much the laying out of the acrostic letters in Psalm 9. The layout implies that daleth is verse 6. It is the ד that is missing - verse 6 (Hebrew verse 7) is ה.
There is a suggestion that Psalm 10 is also part of the acrostic, but there only one letter ל is noted. There are more: מ, נ, ס, ע, פ, צ are missing but the remainder ק ר ש ת are quite clear.
It is such a good idea to name and note the Hebrew letters. It gives the reader the sense that the text is old and different and not 'common'.
There are 8 opportunities to teach the letters, but they have taken only 2: Psalm 9 and Psalm 119. These are opportunities missed, I think. Particularly since all the acrostics in book 5 are perfect but each in book 1 is missing at least one letter.
My Sunday School children love learning the Hebrew letters. They particularly like puzzles - like why are the acrostics not perfect in book 1 but are in book 5?
These are ordinary uncommon children.
There is a suggestion that Psalm 10 is also part of the acrostic, but there only one letter ל is noted. There are more: מ, נ, ס, ע, פ, צ are missing but the remainder ק ר ש ת are quite clear.
It is such a good idea to name and note the Hebrew letters. It gives the reader the sense that the text is old and different and not 'common'.
There are 8 opportunities to teach the letters, but they have taken only 2: Psalm 9 and Psalm 119. These are opportunities missed, I think. Particularly since all the acrostics in book 5 are perfect but each in book 1 is missing at least one letter.
My Sunday School children love learning the Hebrew letters. They particularly like puzzles - like why are the acrostics not perfect in book 1 but are in book 5?
These are ordinary uncommon children.
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