Writing a psalm

I have now been intensely studying the Psalter for 5 years. At the beginning, I looked word by word and phrase by phrase at various forms of micro structures. Conceptual repetition I enjoyed colouring, but who says my concept is the same as another reader's?  Antithetical parallelism I could also see, but it seemed also subject to my sense of what was opposite.  On the other hand, figures of speech like assonance and repetition present themselves right at the beginning of the Psalter.

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

1

Happy the one 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

Assonance like this (asheri ha-ish asher etc) is an objective feature of the poem. So also is the careful binding of the parallels in this verse: verb-noun, noun-verb, noun-verb. So also is the repetition of the negative - not - not - not.

Rabbi Magonet instructs us in his introductory book: A Rabbi Reads the Psalms, to read the psalms with  coloured pencils in hand and colour the repeating words. So he makes sense of even the most difficult psalms. E.g. Psalm 137 as noted here.

Starting from his instructions, I have now mapped hundreds, nay thousands, of recurring sounds and words in the Psalter. My intent is to find the frames which the poets were working with. (I have been correcting and refining sounds and derivations for a couple of months so there is some stability in the overall geodesic dome. You can find the first and last uses of frames by book here.) 

Now it occurs to me that these views might also suggest how to discover how a psalm was conceived. Some are very simple, like the one for psalm 114. Some have pairs of words (as psalm 114 does and as psalm 137 does) that tie the end to the beginning. So also psalm 1 is tied to psalm 2 and to psalm 144 in their use of happy. Some psalms form sections by sequence of recurrence, and some by reversing the sequence of the recurrence, circling their prey like psalms 22 (surrounding the hart, eating, worship, and the kingdom) and 51 (surrounding three recurrences of righteousness). And then there is psalm 145 with its 17 repetitions of the word all as a backbone and the rhyming cacophony of the second person singular ending. And psalm 37 with its 14 uses of wicked.

Could we write such poetry today? Coherent, framed, circling the key concepts, using parallels and chiasms and so on, formed by the word and sound into stanzas and sections...

Poets - think about it - let the pen become both impetuous and disciplined within its zeal. Perhaps in the morning you will find a thought implanted that will form itself into arresting verse - and then we won't have to endure the rewriting of ancient hymns into politically correct language. We will have new ones to sing.

The answer to the puzzle in The Doe lesson 1

If you really wanted to do this exercise, you would read the poem, making a list in order of the repeated words. Then lay out a table with as many columns as you have words.  Then put the words into the table verse by verse in the order you encounter them in the text. Et voila...  Include bulls too - optional :)

Notice where the gap is in the middle of the verse 22 (mind the gap)

לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד	1	For the leader to the hart of the dawn A Psalm of David ...
סְבָבוּנִי פָּרִים רַבִּים אַבִּירֵי בָשָׁן כִּתְּרוּנִי	13	Many bulls circled me The valiant of Bashan surrounded me
פָּצוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם אַרְיֵה טֹרֵף וְשֹׁאֵג	14	They gape at me their mouths a lion tearing and roaring
כַּמַּיִם נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי וְהִתְפָּרְדוּ כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי הָיָה לִבִּי כַּדּוֹנָג נָמֵס בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָי	15	Like water I am poured out and all my bones are separated My heart is like wax melted in the midst of my loins
יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ כֹּחִי וּלְשׁוֹנִי מֻדְבָּק מַלְקוֹחָי וְלַעֲפַר מָוֶת תִּשְׁפְּתֵנִי	16	My strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue cleaves to my jaws and you will bring me into the dust of death
כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוּנִי כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי	17	For dogs circled me An assembly of evildoers enclosed me They gouge my hands and my feet
אֲסַפֵּר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי הֵמָּה יַבִּיטוּ יִרְאוּ בִי	18	I will tell all my bones They gape and stare at me
יְחַלְּקוּ בְגָדַי לָהֶם וְעַל לְבוּשִׁי יַפִּילוּ גוֹרָל	19	They part my clothing among them and for my garment they cast lots
וְאַתָּה יְהוָה אַל תִּרְחָק אֱיָלוּתִי לְעֶזְרָתִי חוּשָׁה	20	But you, יְהוָה, you be not distant My hart, to my help, hurry
הַצִּילָה מֵחֶרֶב נַפְשִׁי מִיַּד כֶּלֶב יְחִידָתִי	21	Deliver my being from the sword my uniqueness away from the dog's paw
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִפִּי אַרְיֵה וּמִקַּרְנֵי רֵמִים עֲנִיתָנִי	22	Save me from the lion's mouth from the horns of wild bulls you have answered me

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Vs
סבב	סבבוני circled me							13
פה		פיהם their mouths						14
אריה			* אריה a lion					14
כל				כל all				15
עצם					* עצמותי my bones			15
סבב	סבבוני circled me							17
כלב						* כלבים dogs		17
יד							ידי my hands	17
כל				כל all				18
עצם					* עצמותי my bones			18
יד							מיד away from the paw	21
כלב						* כלב dog's		21
פה		מפי from the mouth						22
אריה			* אריה lion's					22

Hard work in the salt mines

You might imagine and you would be right that the sorting out of 2500 or so frames in an art gallery is sometimes difficult, even bordering on the tedious, and highly subject to error.  But every now and then there is a brilliant gem uncovered - sometimes as in the case of psalm 67, exactly where you knew it was anyway. Its symmetry is no less beautiful on second viewing ... My earlier post even remains somewhat sensible...

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	Vs
ברך	ויברכנו						2
ארץ		בארץ					3
כל			בכל				3
ידה				יודוך			4
עם					עמים		4
ידה				יודוך			4
עם					עמים		4
כל			כלם				4
לאם						לאמים	5
עם					עמים		5
לאם						ולאמים	5
ארץ		בארץ					5
ידה				יודוך			6
עם					עמים		6
ידה				יודוך			6
עם					עמים		6
כל			כלם				6
ארץ		ארץ					7
ברך	יברכנו						7
ברך	יברכנו						8
כל			כל				8
ארץ		ארץ					8

An idea

I am about to assign to my Sunday school folks the first in a series I hope to produce as a field test for some of my translations. The series is called The Doe.  See what you think.  Feel free to use the exercises if you think they might prove useful. Please feel free to give me feedback through a comment too,...

Oh my grammatical letters

I realize that on the edges, I slightly oversimplified the splitting of the Hebrew alphabet into 2 groups of 11, e.g. here (but it was a medieval suggestion, not mine.  Around about that time Joel Hoffman was talking about a moveable something or other - here, metathesis. I knew it was meta something and I actually found it in Putnam and then searched Joel's blog for it. I see now - by direct evidence, that one of the first 11, (the grammatical letters imaged as a cricket team), taf, has the ability to infiltrate enemy lines.  So it finds its way into the middle of the word worship: שׁחה becomes שׁתח every time it appears in the psalms.  I think this might be important - this worship. Remember what Paul noted concerning the golden calf...

Stem	Transcription	Hebrew	Psalm verse	English
שׁחה	$XH	וַאֲנִי בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ	5.8	But I, in the greatness of your loving kindness will enter your house I will adore in your holy temple in your fear
		יִזְכְּרוּ וְיָשֻׁבוּ אֶל יְהוָה כָּל אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ כָּל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת גּוֹיִם	22.28	All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to יְהוָה All the tribes of the nations will worship in your presence
		אָכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ כָּל דִּשְׁנֵי אֶרֶץ לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ כָּל יוֹרְדֵי עָפָר וְנַפְשׁוֹ לֹא חִיָּה	22.30	All who sleep in the earth will eat and worship in his presence All who go down to the dust will bow but his being he could not keep alive
		הָבוּ לַיהוָה כְּבוֹד שְׁמוֹ הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה בְּהַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ	29.2	Ascribe to יְהוָה the glory of his name worship יְהוָה in the beauty of holiness
		וְיִתְאָו הַמֶּלֶךְ יָפְיֵךְ כִּי הוּא אֲדֹנַיִךְ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִי לוֹ	45.12	and the king desires your beauty for he is your Lord so worship him
		כָּל הָאָרֶץ יִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְךָ וִיזַמְּרוּ לָךְ יְזַמְּרוּ שִׁמְךָ סֶלָה	66.4	All the earth will worship you and will sing a psalm to you and they will sing a psalm to your name Selah
		וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לוֹ כָל מְלָכִים כָּל גּוֹיִם יַעַבְדוּהוּ	72.11	and all kings will worship him all nations will serve him
		לֹא יִהְיֶה בְךָ אֵל זָר וְלֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לְאֵל נֵכָר	81.10	there will not be among you a strange god and you will not worship a foreign god
		כָּל גּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ יָבוֹאוּ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ אֲדֹנָי וִיכַבְּדוּ לִשְׁמֶךָ	86.9	All nations whom you made will come and worship in your presence, O Lord and glorify your name
		בֹּאוּ נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה וְנִכְרָעָה נִבְרְכָה לִפְנֵי יְהוָה עֹשֵׂנוּ	95.6	Come let us worship and bow down blessed in the presence of יְהוָה making us
		הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה בְּהַדְרַת קֹדֶשׁ חִילוּ מִפָּנָיו כָּל הָאָרֶץ	96.9	worship יְהוָה in the beauty of holiness let all the earth tremble in his presence
		יֵבֹשׁוּ כָּל עֹבְדֵי פֶסֶל הַמִּתְהַלְלִים בָּאֱלִילִים הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לוֹ כָּל אֱלֹהִים	97.7	all servants of a graven image will be ashamed boasting in the idols worship him all gods
		רוֹמְמוּ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַהֲדֹם רַגְלָיו קָדוֹשׁ הוּא	99.5	Exalt יְהוָה our God and worship at his footstool he is holy
		רוֹמְמוּ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְהַר קָדְשׁוֹ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ	99.9	Exalt יְהוָה our God and worship at his holy hill for יְהוָה our God is holy
		יַעֲשׂוּ עֵגֶל בְּחֹרֵב וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְמַסֵּכָה	106.19	they made a calf in Horeb and they worshiped before the image
		נָבוֹאָה לְמִשְׁכְּנוֹתָיו נִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לַהֲדֹם רַגְלָיו	132.7	we will go into his dwelling place we will worship at his footstool
		אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל-הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ וְאוֹדֶה אֶת-שְׁמֶךָ עַל-חַסְדְּךָ וְעַל-אֲמִתֶּךָ כִּי-הִגְדַּלְתָּ עַל-כָּל-שִׁמְךָ אִמְרָתֶךָ	138.2	I will worship in your holy temple and praise your name for your loving-kindness and for your truth for you magnify your promise by your full name

Concurrent reading of psalms

As noted earlier, I had been working on psalms 6 and 38, psalms of remembrance, concurrently. Now another happy concurrence: psalms 27 and 63. I have let psalm 27 out of the gate at PoC.

Correcting my work

With 5 years of translation under my belt (what an odd metaphor - I hope it does not give too much of a stomach ache), and a host of complexities re history, linguistics, idiom, concordance, structure etc to consider, I have finally found a way to connect my keyword derivations with my translation of the psalms.  This might give one the possibility of correcting things - and to develop a glossary - where did I translate x as y and why.

Here's the aleph list (boy do I need some dynamic filters etc... someday).  Of course it is easy to get stuck on aleph since the first word is father, ancestor, householder (Crossan's preference), or whatever.

Do take a look at the perfection of psalm 114

This little poem has a perfect structure - text here

Keywords in relative order - this was in the poet's mind very clever indeed.

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Vs
ישׂראל	ישׂראל														1
עקב		יעקב													1
ישׂראל	ישׂראל														2
ים			הים												3
נוס				וינס											3
ירד					הירדן										3
אחור						לאחור									3
הר							ההרים								4
רקד								רקדו							4
איל									כאילים						4
גבע										גבעות					4
בן											כבני				4
צאן												צאן			4
ים			הים												5
נוס				תנוס											5
ירד					הירדן										5
אחור						לאחור									5
הר							ההרים								6
רקד								תרקדו							6
איל									כאילים						6
גבע										גבעות					6
בן											כבני				6
צאן												צאן			6
פנה													מלפני		7
פנה													מלפני		7
עקב		יעקב													7
מים														מים	8
מים														מים	8

Salt - the Eucharistic imagery

Our parish is doing a craft event for children on Palm Sunday. The crafts will be all related to salt and making things using salt. This has led me to think about the imagery in salt. Why is every sacrifice to be salted with salt (Leviticus 2:13)? What has it to do with us?

The epistle to the Hebrews repeatedly (7 times: Hebrews 4:16, 7:25, 10:1, 10:22, 11:6, 12:18, 12:22) invites us to approach (προσέρχομαι) the Mercy Seat and finally to enter the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19).  This letter is a homily on the psalms using many of them to form the dialogue in the epistle between the Father and the Son. (There are 25 references to the psalms in Hebrews, a not necessarily comprehensive list is here.) Approach and enter - gift - and sacrifice are all tied together in the word qorban which we might recognize from Mark 7:11. While qorban may be interpreted as vow, its usage in Leviticus 2:13 shows that it has to do with sacrifice, offering, and the related verb קרב has to do with approaching (but not entering - at least not for anyone but the High Priest and that only once a year at the sacrifice of the atonement, Leviticus 16:34). Note too how qrb is used in the holiness code (Leviticus uses the verb 91 times - about a third of the total in the Senior Testament.)

With this as background and sort of in the distance - I was looking for salt and noticed the word in psalm 107:33-34.

He turns rivers into a wilderness
and a place of water into thirsty ground
a land of fruit into a salt plain
because of the evil of those dwelling in her

There’s a little salt for the children's crafts. They could make a wilderness.  So I thought I had better look for more salt.  It might also be too expensive for the children to make salt plains or for that matter, pillars of salt (after the manner of Lot's wife).

So here is the critical verse in Leviticus 2:13. Salt and this verse is referred to in Mark 9:49-50. Only Mark keeps the Leviticus reference.  So I thought I had better translate the verse for myself to see what I found - hence the need to explain the background of my own inner pastures (which I hope will not become a salt plain).

And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season (lit. salt) with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings (=oblations) thou shalt offer salt. (AV)

Here's my close reading:

Vecol (and every) qorban (oblation) minxateka (meat offering of you) bamelax (with salt) timalax (you will salt) velo tashbit (and you will not rest – same word as sabbath) melax (the salt - definite article implied by the following words) berit (of the covenant – definite because of the following word) eloheka (of your God) me-al minxateka (from on your meat offering) al col qorbaneka (on all your oblations) taqriv (you will oblate) melax (salt)

וְכָל־קָרְבַּן מִנְחָתְךָ בַּמֶּלַח תִּמְלָח וְלֹא תַשְׁבִּית מֶלַח בְּרִית אֱלֹהֶיךָ מֵעַל מִנְחָתֶךָ עַל כָּל־קָרְבָּנְךָ תַּקְרִיב מֶֽלַח׃ ס

What a beautiful verse! I must translate Leviticus – it is poetry!!! The you is always singular.

Look at that chiastic structure:
every oblation – meat offering – salt salt
no rest – salt – covenant – your God
on meat offering – on every oblation – oblate – salt

And every approach and gift of a meat offering you will salt with salt
And you will not cease the salt of the covenant of your God on your meat offering
On every approach and gift you will approach and give salt

My translation is freely associating the qorban = to draw near as the invitation in the book of Hebrews to approach the throne of grace and boldly enter the Holy of Holies and in the Eucharistic explanation (taken from Hebrews) to draw near with faith …

So what is the salt? The salt plain, and the pillar of salt represent the destruction of all of our inner enemies that prevent our approaching and coming near to the Mercy Seat which is the remembrance of the death of Jesus in the Eucharist (see also the psalms of remembrance – 6, 38, 70, 137) in whom all our enemies are destroyed so that we may offer our offerings and approach and enter in purity (1 John 3:3).  So Jesus says – leave your gift at the altar and be reconciled (Matthew 5:24)… and Paul warns about eating and drinking to our own condemnation ( 1 Cor 11:29), but invites the presentation and gift of our bodies, a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)…

State of my project on the psalms

The land appears fertile and endlessly yielding a succulent crop of milk and honey. Note the anaphoric insistence of the poet in psalm 74.  The poem is too long to see the structure in one table, but some selective filters allow one to see that there is a significant feature in the land and then to focus in on it. The tables are here including the following one that highlights the area of interest. Note what is in the middle, day and night - and the seven uses of the separated second person pronoun reflect the order of creation (as my wife suggested without even reading the psalm), beginning with Leviathan and ending with the seasons. Dig this land and you will find your own harvest and re-creation.

לְךָ יוֹם אַף

לְךָ לָיְלָה

to you is day indeed 

to you night

Keywords in relative order (verses 13 to 17)

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Vs
אתה	אתה												13
ראשׁ		ראשׁי											13
אתה	אתה												14
ראשׁ		ראשׁי											14
נתן			תתננו										14
עם				לעם									14
אתה	אתה												15
נחל					ונחל								15
אתה	אתה												15
אתן						איתן							15
לך							לך						16
יום								יום					16
אף									אף				16
לך							לך						16
אתה	אתה												16
אתה	אתה												17
כל										כל			17
ארץ											ארץ		17
חרף												וחרף	17
אתה	אתה												17

I have sketched all the tables that go with the translations up to psalm 89. Books 4 and 5 are still all in the old format. As I do this, I refine the English to reflect the sounds and to avoid false reflections where possible. At Poetry of Christ I have published my notes up to psalm 26.  In draft (see links to pdf's at PoC) I am up to psalm 61 - and finally after several intense weeks of error correction in my table of recurring sounds, I think I am close to 95-98% 'correct'.

Correct means that the sounds are the same and I have eliminated most of the false identities of stem.  I did notice last night that one of my routines skips the relative pronoun and the other leaves it in! That comes from endless jigging for the right approach and very ad hoc experimentation.  Also at one time I did not include several small words that I think have significant play - words like 'all' and 'no' and 'to you' or 'to me'. These often give a rhetorical flourish. Because these are now included, I am forced to read closely every time I fix something or approach a psalm again. (This is actually good for me!)  Also sometimes, the divine names (El, Eloah, Elohim, and the tetragrammeton) are structurally significant but I have not included them since they would almost always recur and thus obscure other significant features.  I have included the verb 'to be'.

These are the roots omitted from the tables: על ,יהוה ,אלוה ,סלה ,כי ,מן ,אל ,את

I welcome feedback.  Where am I obscure? Where too arcane? Help me find the remaining blunders.  Thanks in advance.

Hell

Lake of fire*

Dark land isolated from the light*

Hell is 'all the rage' among bloggers these days as I noted on a post on the subject at Clayboy, so here's another little contribution to Suzanne's quest.

A friend sent me these lovely pictures of the full moon. They are suggestive - or perhaps my thoughts are a slight lunacy. Are we looking at a lake of fire (left) or is hell a dark land (right) which sees the light from afar and longs after it, not so much in punishment as in remorse, the angel that can no longer behold the face of God. Or perhaps these are two sides of a coin and David Ker is on the money with his clear statement that we speculate concerning the afterlife.

I have always considered that John 5:24 (past the judgment) trumps Hebrews 9:27 (after death the judgment). Having already died therefore, I find the judgment of God managed for me and not to be feared. So I can pray psalm 26 (Judge me יְהוָה) without dread knowing that the trial I have already experienced in psalm 6 (יְהוָה do not in your wrath correct me) which I have remembered per the instruction in psalm 38 (to remember) is manageable. For as psalm 53 (extending psalm 14) says - there they dread dread where dread is not there. (It really is so: שָׁם פָּחֲדוּ פָחַד לֹא הָיָה פָחַד - the red is dread).

Time is one of my three mysteries (along with consciousness and gravity). Why do we imagine that time is like a straight line? Is it not recorded of Jesus that he said - before Abraham was, I am? (See how much is learned from one verb, even one that is often omitted.) Does this verse not presuppose a subtending of time that is not interminable (having no termination either end)? Perhaps Milton's view of space-time as a globe hanging from the floor of heaven is not so bad after all.  (Four-dimensional of course.)

If God is not known in the present, then there is nothing to hope for. If God is known in the present then even the past is changed and seen as a path to such a present as is not to be repented of any longer for the beginning and end has been found. God known in the present. That phrase uses all three mysteries: God for gravitas, aka glory, heavy stuff; known for the consciousness of the glory, and present for the act of receiving the gift.

My preacher at school, a tortured man, brought hell to earth by his actions and so did not need to preach about it. Such things should not be said about 'Christians' especially those who are 'of the cloth'.  It is for such reasons that the name of God is blasphemed among the pagans. Pagans have a better idea of presence than some who study it. When love and desire are so easily distorted, as psalm 18 notes, the enemy is too strong for us, is it not wise to seek a greater strength?  Should, does the presence provide such? Yes it should and it does as the king notes in psalm 63

- for it is good - your loving kindness - even over life. 

כִּי טוֹב חַסְדְּךָ מֵחַיִּים

Perhaps one can begin to see a theology coming out of the psalms that agrees completely with the reading of the psalms that Jesus knew in the days of his flesh. This reading  (as noted in Hebrews) defined his work under the anointing of the Spirit. These prayers are dialogue between God and the elect. (Why aren't you reading them, Christian?) They form a people who know mercy and who are therefore able to bind the kings in chains, (psalm 149) -- not that the kings should be punished in everlasting fire, or be deprived of light, but for their salvation. This is a binding dearly to be desired.

I do think there is everlasting fire. The hope is a marvel. But the fire is one as God is one. There is not a fire of wrath in hot red darkness and a second fire of love too bright to look upon, but a single consuming fire and non-consuming fire that is one love. How that love works out in our lives is a complex and inexplicable thing that perhaps can only be known, like the white stone, by the one to whom it is given. This is a gift of a name worth having.

So we should preach heaven and hell but not in a trivial linear fashion. There is a place where they meet - in the death of Jesus. The fire is a consuming fire and also a fire of recreation too bright to see at once but inviting a face to face engagement. A human's mind should be better than 'its own place that makes a hell of heaven and a heaven of hell'. A single self presented as a living offering will find it becomes proven, informed, inflamed, by the prayer of the Spirit who gives life to a mortal body. This is prayer worth being known in.

*Moonshots with thanks to the camera skills of Barb McDougall, Victoria BC (used with permission).

Arise my love, my fair one, and come away

On behalf of both my active blogs - each taking its cue from Christopher Smart and his remarkable poem the Jubilate Agno -

For the flowers are great blessings
For flowers have their angels even the words of God's creation
For the flower glorifies God
And the root parries the adversary
For there is a language of flowers
For flowers are peculiarly the Poetry of Christ

Duck

From 2011-03-19

Notepad and Unicode

I wondered why my experiment with linked keywords in the psalms came out in Chinese. Really simple: I had saved my Notepad text as Unicode instead of UTF-2.

I have, as you may have guessed, a manually created database of the consonantal text of the psalms without any glosses. How I would love to see my own concordance and link around it easily so I can criticize what I have done. (I can almost read the psalms in transcribed capitals - a curious result. But I can't read it in Chinese!)

It is quite fun to translate the ancient Hebrew automatically - the results are surprising - like דרך comes out as 'through' rather than 'way', שׁמע as audio!


Well, after the little boxes and Chinese characters, at least I will continue my experiment. Too bad I did such an oddball job of designing this database!  Now I have to work around all my idiosyncrasies. (Ed: So what else is new?)

Reasoning

Quote of the day (for the moment - I haven't finished reading this yet.)

There is no measure, ratio, logos, or rule of merely human reasoning adequate to encompass or predict the rule of practice and thinking that will be displayed in divine speech.

Peter Ochs - here

With thanks to TheraP who commented on the post I have been searching for - my intro to the Psalms remembering Iyov. [Nope - I don't like it much - and didn't finish it - It contains many distractions. One does not put new wine in old wineskins.]

Psalm 22 and the Lord's Prayer

I want you to see two things:

First. As I pointed out in an earlier one line post, there is the Hart, the Beloved of the Song circled by dogs and lions and - by recognizing the repetition of 'eating' and the eccentric repetition of hart and eat in the poem, we can see the hart implicitly identified with the food, and thus offering itself as the living bread that is the substance of the Eschatalogical Banquet.

The submission of the Hart is our model for all that goes by the name of love, even the gravity of attraction experienced by elementary particles as they congregate to form the stars that in their nuclear furnaces sang for joy at the creation of the world, they too being the repository of information that would give light and heat to the planets that circle them.

Secondly. A neighboring parish has a session on the Lord's prayer this weekend, led by Dom Crossan (and I will attend and hope to ask sensible questions about History Scripturalized or something or maybe I will just be on mute.) But notice how the Lord's Prayer petition of praise - for thine is the kingdom - is concentrically circled five times in the second half of the psalm. Note also the four concentric circles around the second occurrence of eat and of course the association of eat and worship. (See also eating in Torah, e.g. Exodus 12:8 and in the NT John 6:51, 53 etc.) So that's how Jesus reads the psalms. And the food that is the bread of the sandwich structure of the Psalter is for the redeemed, mercied royalty of the earth (see psalm 149).

Here it is! And this time I have coloured the English for the non-Hebrew-philes. Note - you can include bulls as an animal in the concentric circles, but the Hebrew words are different.

לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד	1	For the leader to the hart of the dawn A Psalm of david
אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי רָחוֹק מִישׁוּעָתִי דִּבְרֵי שַׁאֲגָתִי	2	My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? so distant from my salvation are the words of my groaning
אֱלֹהַי אֶקְרָא יוֹמָם וְלֹא תַעֲנֶה וְלַיְלָה וְלֹא דֻמִיָּה לִי	3	My God, I call by day and you do not answer and by night and I am not mute
וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ יוֹשֵׁב תְּהִלּוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל	4	But you are holy seated on the praises of Israel
בְּךָ בָּטְחוּ אֲבֹתֵינוּ בָּטְחוּ וַתְּפַלְּטֵמוֹ	5	In you our fathers trusted They trusted and you secured them
אֵלֶיךָ זָעֲקוּ וְנִמְלָטוּ בְּךָ בָטְחוּ וְלֹא בוֹשׁוּ	6	To you they appealed and you let them escape In you they trusted and were not ashamed
וְאָנֹכִי תוֹלַעַת וְלֹא אִישׁ חֶרְפַּת אָדָם וּבְזוּי עָם	7	But I am a worm and no man a reproach of humanity and despised of the people
כָּל רֹאַי יַלְעִגוּ לִי יַפְטִירוּ בְשָׂפָה יָנִיעוּ רֹאשׁ	8	All who see me will deride me They purse their lips They toss their head
גֹּל אֶל יְהוָה יְפַלְּטֵהוּ יַצִּילֵהוּ כִּי חָפֵץ בּוֹ	9	Roll with יְהוָה he will secure him Let him deliver him for he delights in him
כִּי אַתָּה גֹחִי מִבָּטֶן מַבְטִיחִי עַל שְׁדֵי אִמִּי	10	For you yourself took me from a belly giving me trust on the breasts of my mother
עָלֶיךָ הָשְׁלַכְתִּי מֵרָחֶם מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אֵלִי אָתָּה	11	On you I was cast from a womb From my mother's belly you are my God
אַל תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי כִּי צָרָה קְרוֹבָה כִּי אֵין עוֹזֵר	12	do not be far from me for trouble is near for there is no help
סְבָבוּנִי פָּרִים רַבִּים אַבִּירֵי בָשָׁן כִּתְּרוּנִי	13	Many bulls circled me The valiant of Bashan surrounded me
פָּצוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם אַרְיֵה טֹרֵף וְשֹׁאֵג	14	They gape at me their mouths a lion tearing and roaring
כַּמַּיִם נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי וְהִתְפָּרְדוּ כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי הָיָה לִבִּי כַּדּוֹנָג נָמֵס בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָי	15	Like water I am poured out and all my bones are separated My heart is like wax melted in the midst of my loins
יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ כֹּחִי וּלְשׁוֹנִי מֻדְבָּק מַלְקוֹחָי וְלַעֲפַר מָוֶת תִּשְׁפְּתֵנִי	16	My strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue cleaves to my jaws and you will bring me into the dust of death
כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוּנִי כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי	17	For dogs circled me An assembly of evildoers enclosed me They gouge my hands and my feet
אֲסַפֵּר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי הֵמָּה יַבִּיטוּ יִרְאוּ בִי	18	I will tell all my bones They gape and stare at me
יְחַלְּקוּ בְגָדַי לָהֶם וְעַל לְבוּשִׁי יַפִּילוּ גוֹרָל	19	They part my clothing among them and for my garment they cast lots
וְאַתָּה יְהוָה אַל תִּרְחָק אֱיָלוּתִי לְעֶזְרָתִי חוּשָׁה	20	But you, יְהוָה, you be not distant Hurry, my hart, to my help
הַצִּילָה מֵחֶרֶב נַפְשִׁי מִיַּד כֶּלֶב יְחִידָתִי	21	Deliver my being from the sword my uniqueness away from the dog's paw
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִפִּי אַרְיֵה וּמִקַּרְנֵי רֵמִים עֲנִיתָנִי	22	Save me from the lion's mouth from the horns of wild bulls you have answered me
אֲסַפְּרָה שִׁמְךָ לְאֶחָי בְּתוֹךְ קָהָל אֲהַלְלֶךָּ	23	I will declare your name to my kin In the midst of the congregation I will praise you
יִרְאֵי יְהוָה הַלְלוּהוּ כָּל זֶרַע יַעֲקֹב כַּבְּדוּהוּ וְגוּרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ כָּל זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל	24	You who fear יְהוָה praise him All the seed of Jacob glorify him and stand in awe of him all the seed of Israel
כִּי לֹא בָזָה וְלֹא שִׁקַּץ עֱנוּת עָנִי וְלֹא הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו מִמֶּנּוּ וּבְשַׁוְּעוֹ אֵלָיו שָׁמֵעַ	25	For he has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted and he has not concealed his presence from him but when he cried for help to him he heard him
מֵאִתְּךָ תְּהִלָּתִי בְּקָהָל רָב נְדָרַי אֲשַׁלֵּם נֶגֶד יְרֵאָיו	26	From you is my praise in the great congregation My vows I will pay before those who fear him
יֹאכְלוּ עֲנָוִים וְיִשְׂבָּעוּ יְהַלְלוּ יְהוָה דֹּרְשָׁיו יְחִי לְבַבְכֶם לָעַד	27	The afflicted will eat and be satisfied Those who seek יְהוָה will praise him May your heart live for ever
יִזְכְּרוּ וְיָשֻׁבוּ אֶל יְהוָה כָּל אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ כָּל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת גּוֹיִם	28	All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to יְהוָה All the tribes of the nations will worship in your presence
כִּי לַיהוָה הַמְּלוּכָה וּמֹשֵׁל בַּגּוֹיִם	29	for to יְהוָה is the kingdom and he governs in the nations
אָכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ כָּל דִּשְׁנֵי אֶרֶץ לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ כָּל יוֹרְדֵי עָפָר וְנַפְשׁוֹ לֹא חִיָּה	30	They will eat and worship - all who sleep in the earth - in his presence All who go down to the dust will bow but his being he could not keep alive
זֶרַע יַעַבְדֶנּוּ יְסֻפַּר לַאדֹנָי לַדּוֹר	31	A seed will serve him It will be recounted of the Lord for a generation
יָבֹאוּ וְיַגִּידוּ צִדְקָתוֹ לְעַם נוֹלָד כִּי עָשָׂה יְהוָה	32	They will come and will tell his righteousness to a people to be born for יְהוָה has made it so

See also the keyword tables following the ideas in Magné here

Psalm 22 anticipates the Eucharist

I have posted my analysis of psalm 22 here. The related posts and translations are linked also from there.

Psalm 22 - analysis of the concentric circles in the text.

Here's a different strategy that works in this part of the psalter - divide the query between keywords that have been used in the first 21 psalms and the ones that are new in psalm 22. Psalm 22 has 34 keywords that appear twice only - too many to see. In table 1, The animals, the hart surrounded by lion and dog, are highlighted.  In the second table, the frames that appear in earlier psalms are listed.  Table 3 shows what appears to be an interesting feature of the last section of the poem, around verse 28 to the end. Notice how eat, like hart, is outside and inside the circles.

Keywords in relative order - For keywords that are first use only and appearing twice only

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Vs
איל	* אילת the hart of														1
שׁאג		* שׁאגתי my groaning													2
בזה			* ובזוי and despised of												7
בטן				* מבטן from a belly											10
בטן				* מבטן from belly											11
עזר					* עוזר help										12
אריה						* אריה a lion									14
שׁאג		* ושׁאג and roaring													14
עצם							* עצמותי my bones								15
תוך								* בתוך in the midst of							15
עפר									* ולעפר and to the dust of						16
כלב										* כלבים dogs					17
עצם							* עצמותי my bones								18
איל	* אילותי my hart														20
עזר					* לעזרתי to my help										20
כלב										* כלב dog's					21
אריה						* אריה lion's									22
תוך								* בתוך in the midst of							23
קהל											* קהל the congregation				23
ירא												* יראי you who fear			24
בזה			* בזה he has despised												25
קהל											* בקהל in the congregation				26
ירא												* יראיו those who fear him			26
חיה													* יחי may live		27
שׁחה														* וישׁתחוו and will worship	28
שׁחה														* וישׁתחוו and worship	30
עפר									* עפר the dust						30
חיה													* חיה he could keep alive		30

Keywords in relative order - For keywords that are not first use only and appearing twice only

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Vs
ישׁע	מישׁועתי from my salvation																			2
לי		לי I am																		3
ישׂראל			ישׂראל Israel																	4
בך				בך in you																5
פלט					ותפלטמו and you secured them															5
בך				בך in you																6
בושׁ						בושׁו were ashamed														6
עם							עם the people													7
ראה								ראי who see me												8
לי		לי me																		8
פלט					יפלטהו he will secure him															9
נצל									יצילהו let him deliver him											9
אם										אמי my mother										10
אם										אמי my mother's										11
סבב											סבבוני circled me									13
רב												רבים many								13
פה													פיהם there mouths							14
סבב											סבבוני circled me									17
יד														ידי my hands						17
ראה								יראו and stare												18
בושׁ						לבושׁי my garment														19
נצל									הצילה deliver											21
נפשׁ															נפשׁי my being					21
יד														מיד away from the paw						21
ישׁע	הושׁיעני save me																			22
פה													מפי from the mouth							22
ישׂראל			ישׂראל Israel																	24
רב												רב great								26
נגד																נגד before				26
אכל																	יאכלו will eat			27
ארץ																		ארץ the earth		28
גוי																			גוים the nations	28
גוי																			בגוים in the nations	29
אכל																	אכלו they will eat			30
ארץ																		ארץ the earth		30
נפשׁ															ונפשׁו but his being					30
נגד																ויגידו and will tell of				32
עם							לעם to a people													32

Keywords in relative order - For selected keywords from verse 26 to 32 showing the five concentric circles surrounding: for to יְהוָה is the kingdom

Root	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Vs
הלל	* תהלתי is my praise									26
נגד		נגד before								26
אכל			יאכלו will eat							27
הלל	* יהללו will praise him									27
חיה				* יחי may live						27
כל					כל all					28
ארץ						ארץ the earth				28
שׁחה							* וישׁתחוו and will worship			28
פנה								לפניך in your presence		28
כל					כל all					28
גוי									גוים the nations	28
גוי									בגוים in the nations	29
אכל			אכלו they will eat							30
שׁחה							* וישׁתחוו and worship			30
כל					כל all					30
ארץ						ארץ the earth				30
פנה								לפניו in his presence		30
כל					כל all					30
חיה				* חיה he could keep alive						30
נגד		ויגידו and will tell of								32

Psalm 18 - another that is too big to analyse in one chunk

Latest experiment with presentation 2011.05.26:
Psalm 18 - 39 words occurring exactly twice. Servant and David stand out as frames for most of the poem.

Word and gloss * first usage

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

20

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Vs

Stem

* לעבד of a servant of

|

1

עבד

* לדוד of David

|

1

דוד

* ביום in the day

|

1

יום

* שׁאול Saul

|

1

שׁאול

ויאמר and he said

|

2

אמר

* אחסה I will take refuge

|

3

חסה

* בו in him

|

3

בו

אקרא I will call

|

4

קרא

* חבלי the bonds of

|

5

חבל

מות death

|

5

מות

* חבלי the bonds of

|

6

חבל

* שׁאול a grave

|

6

שׁאול

* סבבוני surrounded me

|

6

סבב

* קדמוני confronting me were

|

6

קדם

מות death

|

6

מות

אקרא I call on

|

7

קרא

קולי my voice

|

7

קול

לפניו before his face

|

7

פנה

באזניו to his very ears

|

7

אזן

* ותגעשׁ and shakes

|

8

געשׁ

* ומוסדי and the foundations of

|

8

יסד

* ויתגעשׁו and are shaken

|

8

געשׁ

שׁמים heavens

|

10

שׁמים

* סביבותיו round about him

|

12

סבב

* עבי clouds of

|

12

עב

* שׁחקים the skies

|

12

שׁחק

* מנגה from brightness

|

13

נגה

* עביו his clouds

|

13

עב

* ברד hail

|

13

ברד

בשׁמים in the heavens

|

14

שׁמים

קלו his voice

|

14

קול

* ברד hail

|

14

ברד

* וישׁלח and he sends

|

15

שׁלח

רב he multiplies

|

15

רב

* מוסדות the foundations of

|

16

יסד

* ישׁלח he will send

|

17

שׁלח

רבים many

|

17

רב

* ומשׂנאי and from those hating me

|

18

שׂנא

* יקדמוני they will confront me

|

19

קדם

* ביום in the day of

|

19

יום

* ויהי but becomes

|

19

היה

כצדקי for my righteousness

|

21

צדק

שׁמרתי I have kept

|

22

שׁמר

* ואהי and I will be

|

24

היה

ואשׁתמר and I will keep myself

|

24

שׁמר

כצדקי for my righteousness

|

25

צדק

עיניו his eyes

|

25

עין

אתה you yourself

|

28

אתה

ועינים and eyes

|

28

עין

אתה you yourself

|

29

אתה

* יגיה make light

|

29

נגה

אמרת the promise of

|

31

אמר

* החסים taking refuge

|

31

חסה

* בו in him

|

31

בו

מי who

|

32

מי

ומי and who

|

32

מי

* המאזרני clothes me in

|

33

אזר

* חיל force

|

33

חיל

* למלחמה to war

|

35

לחם

* זרועתי by my arms

|

35

זרע

עד until

|

38

עד

* ותאזרני and you will clothe me with

|

40

אזר

* חיל force

|

40

חיל

* למלחמה for the war

|

40

לחם

* ומשׂנאי and those hating me

|

41

שׂנא

* ואשׁחקם and I pulverized them

|

43

שׁחק

פני the face of

|

43

פנה

גוים nations

|

44

גוי

* יעבדוני will serve me

|

44

עבד

אזן ear

|

45

אזן

בני the children of

|

45

בן

* נכר aliens

|

45

נכר

בני the children of

|

46

בן

* נכר aliens

|

46

נכר

בגוים among the nations

|

50

גוי

* לדוד David

|

51

דוד

* ולזרעו and his seed is

|

51

זרע

עד for

|

51

עד

Keywords in relative order - where the count is 2 - this still has too many columns to manage visually... and there does not seem to be a simple binary division of the poem as there is in psalm 9. It is clear though that David frames the whole poem and there is a new concept introduced in Servant as noted here.


Keywords in relative order - where the count is more than 2

Root

Vs

דבר

דבר

1

דבר

דברי

1

כל

כל

1

איב

איביו

1

יד

ומיד

1

פלט

ומפלטי

3

צור

צורי

3

מגן

מגני

3

ישׁע

ישׁעי

3

איב

איבי

4

ישׁע

אושׁע

4

לי

לי

7

שׁוע

אשׁוע

7

שׁמע

ישׁמע

7

שׁוע

ושׁועתי

7

אף

באפו

9

אשׁ

ואשׁ

9

גחל

גחלים

9

תחת

תחת

10

רגל

רגליו

10

רוח

רוח

11

חשׁך

חשׁך

12

חשׁך

חשׁכת

12

מים

מים

12

נגד

נגדו

13

גחל

וגחלי

13

אשׁ

אשׁ

13

נתן

יתן

14

גחל

וגחלי

14

אשׁ

אשׁ

14

מים

מים

16

רוח

רוח

16

אף

אפך

16

רום

ממרום

17

מים

ממים

17

איב

מאיבי

18

לי

לי

19

ברר

כבר

21

יד

ידי

21

לי

לי

21

דרך

דרכי

22

לא

ולא

22

כל

כל

23

נגד

לנגדי

23

לא

לא

23

תמם

תמים

24

עם

עמו

24

לי

לי

25

ברר

כבר

25

יד

ידי

25

נגד

לנגד

25

עם

עם

26

חסד

חסיד

26

חסד

תתחסד

26

עם

עם

26

תמם

תמים

26

תמם

תתמם

26

עם

עם

27

ברר

נבר

27

ברר

תתברר

27

עם

ועם

27

עם

עם

28

ישׁע

תושׁיע

28

רום

רמות

28

חשׁך

חשׁכי

29

תמם

תמים

31

דרך

דרכו

31

מגן

מגן

31

כל

לכל

31

צור

צור

32

נתן

ויתן

33

תמם

תמים

33

דרך

דרכי

33

רגל

רגלי

34

יד

ידי

35

נתן

ותתן

36

לי

לי

36

מגן

מגן

36

ישׁע

ישׁעך

36

תחת

תחתי

37

לא

ולא

37

איב

אויבי

38

לא

ולא

38

לא

ולא

39

קום

קום

39

תחת

תחת

39

רגל

רגלי

39

קום

קמי

40

תחת

תחתי

40

איב

ואיבי

41

נתן

נתתה

41

לי

לי

41

שׁוע

ישׁועו

42

ישׁע

מושׁיע

42

לא

ולא

42

רוח

רוח

43

פלט

תפלטני

44

עם

עם

44

עם

עם

44

לא

לא

44

שׁמע

לשׁמע

45

שׁמע

ישׁמעו

45

לי

לי

45

לי

לי

45

צור

צורי

47

רום

וירום

47

ישׁע

ישׁעי

47

נתן

הנותן

48

לי

לי

48

דבר

וידבר

48

עם

עמים

48

תחת

תחתי

48

פלט

מפלטי

49

איב

מאיבי

49

אף

אף

49

קום

קמי

49

רום

תרוממני

49

ישׁע

ישׁועות

51

חסד

חסד

51