Eros and The Christ, Fredrickson, David E.

Here are two conflicting reviews, both necessary, one potentially fearful, one potentially hopeful, of what looks like a suitable book for adults in the faith.

I won't be buying it, but it is suitable to read the reviews and give thanks that at least someone has perceived the overarching metaphor of Holy Scripture. I am just in the middle of Zephaniah 3 where the hidden love in the first two chapters becomes clearer. More to come.

I have also just finished a full second draft of Ruth. That's why all my old translation links have disappeared from the blog. (In case you noticed). Why such motivation? Reality not to be controlled or second-guessed. As Buckminster Fuller once wrote in a fine title: No More Secondhand God.

Words worth while

A couple of posts I noted this morning -

Kurk Gayle on Love - surely the best reading of Luke 10 I have ever seen - makes one of two as Britten does in one of his choral songs that I cannot find.

Dovetails nicely with Ken Schenck's brilliant list of paradigm shifts in reading the Bible, phylogeny recapitulating ontology again.

probably I should have noted more but the 'mark all as read' button is too inviting.

You might want to read this review

A book on Genesis 1 - What really happened in the Garden of Eden?

From inside:

The translation “rib” is discarded, as Zevit indicates that that was not even considered as one of the options by the early rabbis. His suggestion is that the limb/appendage referred to is the baculum—the bone that other species have in the penis but is absent in human beings (137–50).

I've requested a review copy - not holding my breath.

Have I got porcupine in my capitals, or bittern in the lintels

Or bats in my belfry? Here is Zephaniah 2, chapter 1 is here. There is a curious possible repetition of the strange word for watchers שׁרר in the Psalms - or it is a hitpolel root of singing שׁיר. I think the animals are metaphorical by the way.

Zephaniah 2		Fn		Min	Max	Syll
הִֽתְקוֹשְׁשׁ֖וּ וָק֑וֹשּׁוּ הַגּ֖וֹי לֹ֥א נִכְסָֽף	1		Assemble yourselves together and assemble together, O nation not ached for.	3e	4A	6 6
בְּטֶ֙רֶם֙ לֶ֣דֶת חֹ֔ק כְּמֹ֖ץ עָ֣בַר י֑וֹם בְּטֶ֣רֶם ׀ לֹא־יָב֣וֹא עֲלֵיכֶ֗ם חֲרוֹן֙ אַף־יְהוָ֔ה בְּטֶ֙רֶם֙ לֹא־יָב֣וֹא עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם י֖וֹם אַף־יְהוָֽה	2		Ere a decree is born as chaff, a day passes by. Ere there come upon you the burning of the anger of Yahweh, ere there come upon you the day of the anger of Yahweh, ere the day of the anger of Yahweh come upon you,	3e	4B	11 25
בַּקְּשׁ֤וּ אֶת־יְהוָה֙ כָּל־עַנְוֵ֣י הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִשְׁפָּט֖וֹ פָּעָ֑לוּ בַּקְּשׁוּ־צֶ֙דֶק֙ בַּקְּשׁ֣וּ עֲנָוָ֔ה אוּלַי֙ תִּסָּ֣תְר֔וּ בְּי֖וֹם אַף־יְהוָֽה	3		seek Yahweh, all the afflicted of the land who have worked his judgment, seek righteousness, seek gentleness, that perhaps he will hide you in the day of the anger of Yahweh.	3e	4C	19 18
כִּ֤י עַזָּה֙ עֲזוּבָ֣ה תִֽהְיֶ֔ה וְאַשְׁקְל֖וֹן לִשְׁמָמָ֑ה אַשְׁדּ֗וֹד בַּֽצָּהֳרַ֙יִם֙ יְגָ֣רְשׁ֔וּהָ וְעֶקְר֖וֹן תֵּעָקֵֽר ס	4	C	For Gaza will be forsaken and Ashkelon, desolate. Ashdod at noon they will expel, and Eqron will be barren. S	3e	4C	15 17
ה֗וֹי יֹֽשְׁבֵ֛י חֶ֥בֶל הַיָּ֖ם גּ֣וֹי כְּרֵתִ֑ים דְּבַר־יְהוָ֣ה עֲלֵיכֶ֗ם כְּנַ֙עַן֙ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וְהַאֲבַדְתִּ֖יךְ מֵאֵ֥ין יוֹשֵֽׁב	5	~	Alas for the inhabitants of the margins of the sea, a nation of those who are cut off. The word of Yahweh is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines, and I will make you perish and there will be no inhabitant.	3d	4B	13 24
וְֽהָיְתָ֞ה חֶ֣בֶל הַיָּ֗ם נְוֺ֛ת כְּרֹ֥ת רֹעִ֖ים וְגִדְר֥וֹת צֹֽאן	6		And the margin of the sea will be homes, digs for shepherds, fences for flocks.	3d	4B	17
וְהָ֣יָה חֶ֗בֶל לִשְׁאֵרִ֛ית בֵּ֥ית יְהוּדָ֖ה עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם יִרְע֑וּן בְּבָתֵּ֣י אַשְׁקְל֗וֹן בָּעֶ֙רֶב֙ יִרְבָּצ֔וּן כִּ֧י יִפְקְדֵ֛ם יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖ם וְשָׁ֥ב שְׁבִיתָֽם	7		And the margin will be for the residue of the house of Judah. On them they will pasture. In the house of Ashkelon in the evening they will recline, for Yahweh their God will visit them and turn their captivity.	3c	4B	17 27
שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ חֶרְפַּ֣ת מוֹאָ֔ב וְגִדּוּפֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י עַמּ֑וֹן אֲשֶׁ֤ר חֵֽרְפוּ֙ אֶת־עַמִּ֔י וַיַּגְדִּ֖ילוּ עַל־גְּבוּלָֽם	8		I have heard the reproach of Moab and the revilings of the children of Ammon, that they reproach my people and promote themselves on their borders.	3e	4C	15 15
לָכֵ֣ן חַי־אָ֡נִי נְאֻם֩ יְהוָ֨ה צְבָא֜וֹת אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כִּֽי־מוֹאָ֞ב כִּסְדֹ֤ם תִּֽהְיֶה֙ וּבְנֵ֤י עַמּוֹן֙ כַּֽעֲמֹרָ֔ה מִמְשַׁ֥ק חָר֛וּל וּמִכְרֵה־מֶ֥לַח וּשְׁמָמָ֖ה עַד־עוֹלָ֑ם שְׁאֵרִ֤ית עַמִּי֙ יְבָזּ֔וּם וְיֶ֥תֶר גּוֹיִ֖י יִנְחָלֽוּם	9		Therefore I, Living, an oracle of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: for Moab as Sodom will be and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, steward to nettles and salt-digs, a desolation for evermore. The residue of my people will despoil them and what remains of my nation will inherit them.	3d	4C	46 16
זֹ֥את לָהֶ֖ם תַּ֣חַת גְּאוֹנָ֑ם כִּ֤י חֵֽרְפוּ֙ וַיַּגְדִּ֔לוּ עַל־עַ֖ם יְהוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת	10	f	This is for them under their pride. For they have reproached and promoted themselves against the people of Yahweh of Hosts.	3e	4C	8 14
נוֹרָ֤א יְהוָה֙ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם כִּ֣י רָזָ֔ה אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֱלֹהֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְיִשְׁתַּֽחֲווּ־לוֹ֙ אִ֣ישׁ מִמְּקוֹמ֔וֹ כֹּ֖ל אִיֵּ֥י הַגּוֹיִֽם	11		The fear of Yahweh will be on them for he will emaciate all the gods of the land. And they will worship him, each from its place, all the islands of the nations.	3e	4C	18 15
גַּם־אַתֶּ֣ם כּוּשִׁ֔ים חַֽלְלֵ֥י חַרְבִּ֖י הֵֽמָּה	12		Even you Ethiopians, the profaned of my sword are they.	3e	4B	11
וְיֵ֤ט יָדוֹ֙ עַל־צָפ֔וֹן וִֽיאַבֵּ֖ד אֶת־אַשּׁ֑וּר וְיָשֵׂ֤ם אֶת־נִֽינְוֵה֙ לִשְׁמָמָ֔ה צִיָּ֖ה כַּמִּדְבָּֽר	13		And he will stretch out his hand against the north and make Ashur perish, and define Nineveh, a desolation, arid as a wilderness.	3e	4C	13 14
וְרָבְצ֨וּ בְתוֹכָ֤הּ עֲדָרִים֙ כָּל־חַיְתוֹ־ג֔וֹי גַּם־קָאַת֙ גַּם־קִפֹּ֔ד בְּכַפְתֹּרֶ֖יהָ יָלִ֑ינוּ ק֠וֹל יְשׁוֹרֵ֤ר בַּֽחַלּוֹן֙ חֹ֣רֶב בַּסַּ֔ף כִּ֥י אַרְזָ֖ה עֵרָֽה	14		And troops will recline in her midst, all the animals of the nations, even an unclean bird, even porcupine in her capitals will stop over. A voice will be watcher in the windows, sword in the doorway, for he will expose her cedar.	3e	4C	27 16
זֹ֠את הָעִ֤יר הָעַלִּיזָה֙ הַיּוֹשֶׁ֣בֶת לָבֶ֔טַח הָאֹֽמְרָה֙ בִּלְבָבָ֔הּ אֲנִ֖י וְאַפְסִ֣י ע֑וֹד אֵ֣יךְ ׀ הָיְתָ֣ה לְשַׁמָּ֗ה מַרְבֵּץ֙ לַֽחַיָּ֔ה כֹּ֚ל עוֹבֵ֣ר עָלֶ֔יהָ יִשְׁרֹ֖ק יָנִ֥יעַ יָדֽוֹ ס	15	~	This is the exultant city, the confident inhabitant. She says in her heart, I am and my ends continue. How she has become desolated, for the animals to recline. All who pass by her will hiss and waggle their hand. S	3e	4C	26 25

Psalm 16

This translation makes some guesses as to what the psalm 'means'. The problem of who is talking to whom is magnified in this psalm. In verse 1 the poet and the reader address God, seeking refuge. In verse 2a, the poet addresses himself, so it could read I said rather than you said. Or perhaps the poet is in dialogue with another unnamed person. Verse 2b reaffirms trust and recognizes the immense difference between my good and יהוה ’s good. There is a rest on of them in verse 3. The holy ones and majesties, I have taken as the same as those of verse 4 who following, rush headlong. Verse 5 closes the first section of the poem. Verses 1 to 5 are linked by the second person pronoun. (Right hand column is syllable counts between line breaks in the Hebrew. Line breaks usually correspond to cadences and accents.)

Psalms 16		Fn		Min	Max	Syll
מִכְתָּ֥ם לְדָוִ֑ד שָֽׁמְרֵ֥נִי אֵ֝֗ל כִּֽי־חָסִ֥יתִי בָֽךְ	1		From gold, concerning atonement, through inscription, of David. Keep me O God for I take refuge in you.	3e	4A	5 8
אָמַ֣רְתְּ לַֽ֭יהוָה אֲדֹנָ֣י אָ֑תָּה ט֝וֹבָתִ֗י בַּל־עָלֶֽיךָ	2		You said to Yahweh, You are my Lord, my good pales beside you.	3e	4B	10 7
לִ֭קְדוֹשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־בָּאָ֣רֶץ הֵ֑מָּה וְ֝אַדִּירֵ֗י כָּל־חֶפְצִי־בָֽם	3	g	About the holy ones that are in the earth, of them, and of majesties ... Is all my delight in them?	3e	4B	10 8
יִרְבּ֥וּ עַצְּבוֹתָם֮ אַחֵ֪ר מָ֫הָ֥רוּ בַּל־אַסִּ֣יךְ נִסְכֵּיהֶ֣ם מִדָּ֑ם וּֽבַל־אֶשָּׂ֥א אֶת־שְׁ֝מוֹתָ֗ם עַל־שְׂפָתָֽי	4		Let their idols increase. Following they rush headlong. I will not spill out their libations with blood, neither will I bear their names on my lips.	3d	4B	10 8 12
יְֽהוָ֗ה מְנָת־חֶלְקִ֥י וְכוֹסִ֑י אַ֝תָּ֗ה תּוֹמִ֥יךְ גּוֹרָלִֽי	5		Yahweh is the portion of my share and my cup. You yourself maintain my lot.	3e	4A	9 7
חֲבָלִ֣ים נָֽפְלוּ־לִ֭י בַּנְּעִמִ֑ים אַף־נַ֝חֲלָ֗ת שָֽׁפְרָ֥ה עָלָֽי	6		Pledges have fallen to me in pleasures. Indeed for me there is a glistening inheritance.	3e	4B	9 8
אֲבָרֵ֗ךְ אֶת־יְ֭הוָה אֲשֶׁ֣ר יְעָצָ֑נִי אַף־לֵ֝יל֗וֹת יִסְּר֥וּנִי כִלְיוֹתָֽי	7		I will bless Yahweh who advises me. Indeed in the nights my vital centre chastens me.	3e	4B	12 9
שִׁוִּ֬יתִי יְהוָ֣ה לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד כִּ֥י מִֽ֝ימִינִ֗י בַּל־אֶמּֽוֹט	8		I have agreed with Yahweh in front of me continually, for he is at my right hand so I will not be moved.	3e	4B	10 7
לָכֵ֤ן ׀ שָׂמַ֣ח לִ֭בִּי וַיָּ֣גֶל כְּבוֹדִ֑י אַף־בְּ֝שָׂרִ֗י יִשְׁכֹּ֥ן לָבֶֽטַח	9		So my heart will be glad and my glory rejoice. Indeed my flesh will dwell in trust.	3e	4C	12 9
כִּ֤י ׀ לֹא־תַעֲזֹ֣ב נַפְשִׁ֣י לִשְׁא֑וֹל לֹֽא־תִתֵּ֥ן חֲ֝סִידְךָ֗ לִרְא֥וֹת שָֽׁחַת	10	C	For you will not forsake me to the grave. You will not permit one within your mercy to see destruction.	3e	4C	8 9
תּֽוֹדִיעֵנִי֮ אֹ֤רַח חַ֫יִּ֥ים שֹׂ֣בַע שְׂ֭מָחוֹת אֶת־פָּנֶ֑יךָ נְעִמ֖וֹת בִּימִינְךָ֣ נֶֽצַח	11		You will make known to me a path of life, satisfaction of gladness in your presence, pleasures at your right hand always.	3e	4C	8 9 8

Who will lead me to an enclosed city?

So begins the second half of Psalm 60 also reflected in Psalm 108. Either one gets giggles from the choir for the phrase 'Moab is my washpot'. Zephaniah picks up the idiom of the enclosed city. Here is my first cut at Zephaniah chapter 1 - you have to start somewhere with new work.

There is one surprising anomaly. I never read the preposition used for belonging (as in my beloved is mine and I am his) as meaning 'against' - so see if you can spot my workaround.

Zephaniah 1		Fn		Min	Max	Syll
דְּבַר־יְהוָ֣ה ׀ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָיָ֗ה אֶל־צְפַנְיָה֙ בֶּן־כּוּשִׁ֣י בֶן־גְּדַלְיָ֔ה בֶּן־אֲמַרְיָ֖ה בֶּן־חִזְקִיָּ֑ה בִּימֵ֛י יֹאשִׁיָּ֥הוּ בֶן־אָמ֖וֹן מֶ֥לֶךְ יְהוּדָֽה	1		The word of Yahweh that happened to Zephaniah, child of Cushi, child of Gedoliah, child of Amariah, child of Hezekiah, in the days of Amon's child, Josiah, king of Judah.	3d	4B	27 14
אָסֹ֨ף אָסֵ֜ף כֹּ֗ל מֵעַ֛ל פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָ֖ה נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה	2		I will wreak havoc for all from off the surface of the ground. An oracle of Yahweh.	3d	3g	17
אָסֵ֨ף אָדָ֜ם וּבְהֵמָ֗ה אָסֵ֤ף עוֹף־הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וּדְגֵ֣י הַיָּ֔ם וְהַמַּכְשֵׁל֖וֹת אֶת־הָרְשָׁעִ֑ים וְהִכְרַתִּ֣י אֶת־הָאָדָ֗ם מֵעַ֛ל פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָ֖ה נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה	3		I will spread havoc for human and beast. I will spread havoc for fowl in the heavens and fish in the sea, and the stumbling-blocks are with the wicked. And I will cut off the human from off the surface of the ground. An oracle of Yahweh.	3d	4C	26 20
וְנָטִ֤יתִי יָדִי֙ עַל־יְהוּדָ֔ה וְעַ֖ל כָּל־יוֹשְׁבֵ֣י יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם וְהִכְרַתִּ֞י מִן־הַמָּק֤וֹם הַזֶּה֙ אֶת־שְׁאָ֣ר הַבַּ֔עַל אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם הַכְּמָרִ֖ים עִם־הַכֹּהֲנִֽים	4		And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off from this place the Baal's residue, the name of those who crave with the priests,	3e	4C	19 26
וְאֶת־הַמִּשְׁתַּחֲוִ֥ים עַל־הַגַּגּ֖וֹת לִצְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְאֶת־הַמִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוִים֙ הַנִּשְׁבָּעִ֣ים לַֽיהוָ֔ה וְהַנִּשְׁבָּעִ֖ים בְּמַלְכָּֽם	5		and those who worship on the roofs to the host of the heavens, and those who worship swearing to Yahweh and swearing by their king,	3e	4B	17 21
וְאֶת־הַנְּסוֹגִ֖ים מֵאַחֲרֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וַאֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹֽא־בִקְשׁ֥וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א דְרָשֻֽׁהוּ	6		and the spineless, late of Yahweh, but who neither seek Yahweh nor search him out.	3d	4B	11 15
הַ֕ס מִפְּנֵ֖י אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֑ה כִּ֤י קָרוֹב֙ י֣וֹם יְהוָ֔ה כִּֽי־הֵכִ֧ין יְהוָ֛ה זֶ֖בַח הִקְדִּ֥ישׁ קְרֻאָֽיו	7	~	Be hushed from the presence of my Lord, Yahweh, for near is the day of Yahweh for Yahweh prepares an offering. He sanctifies those he called.	3c	4C	8 17
וְהָיָ֗ה בְּיוֹם֙ זֶ֣בַח יְהוָ֔ה וּפָקַדְתִּ֥י עַל־הַשָּׂרִ֖ים וְעַל־בְּנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וְעַ֥ל כָּל־הַלֹּבְשִׁ֖ים מַלְבּ֥וּשׁ נָכְרִֽי	8		And it will be in the day of Yahweh's offering that I will visit the nobility and the king's children, and all those clothed in alien clothing,	3e	4B	24 10
וּפָקַדְתִּ֗י עַ֧ל כָּל־הַדּוֹלֵ֛ג עַל־הַמִּפְתָּ֖ן בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא הַֽמְמַלְאִ֛ים בֵּ֥ית אֲדֹנֵיהֶ֖ם חָמָ֥ס וּמִרְמָֽה ס	9		and I will visit all who leap over the adder on that day, those filling their master's house with violence and deceit. S	3c	4B	17 14
וְהָיָה֩ בַיּ֨וֹם הַה֜וּא נְאֻם־יְהוָ֗ה ק֤וֹל צְעָקָה֙ מִשַּׁ֣עַר הַדָּגִ֔ים וִֽילָלָ֖ה מִן־הַמִּשְׁנֶ֑ה וְשֶׁ֥בֶר גָּד֖וֹל מֵהַגְּבָעֽוֹת	10		And it will be on that day, an oracle of Yahweh, the voice of an outcry from the fish-gate and of torment from the second, and a great shattering from the hillocks.	3e	4C	28 9
הֵילִ֖ילוּ יֹשְׁבֵ֣י הַמַּכְתֵּ֑שׁ כִּ֤י נִדְמָה֙ כָּל־עַ֣ם כְּנַ֔עַן נִכְרְת֖וּ כָּל־נְטִ֥ילֵי כָֽסֶף	11		Howl, you who inhabit the deep hollow, for undone are all the people of Canaan, cut off are all the carriers of silver.	3e	4C	8 17
וְהָיָה֙ בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔יא אֲחַפֵּ֥שׂ אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם בַּנֵּר֑וֹת וּפָקַדְתִּ֣י עַל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים הַקֹּֽפְאִים֙ עַל־שִׁמְרֵיהֶ֔ם הָאֹֽמְרִים֙ בִּלְבָבָ֔ם לֹֽא־יֵיטִ֥יב יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹ֥א יָרֵֽעַ	12		And it will be at that time I will plan Jerusalem with lamps, and I will visit the men congealed from dregs, who say in their hearts, Yahweh will not do good and he will not do evil.	3e	4B	18 31
וְהָיָ֤ה חֵילָם֙ לִמְשִׁסָּ֔ה וּבָתֵּיהֶ֖ם לִשְׁמָמָ֑ה וּבָנ֤וּ בָתִּים֙ וְלֹ֣א יֵשֵׁ֔בוּ וְנָטְע֣וּ כְרָמִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יִשְׁתּ֖וּ אֶת־יֵינָֽם	13		And their wealth will become plunder and their houses desolate, and they will build houses but not inhabit and they will plant vineyards and not imbibe their wine.	3e	4C	15 23
קָר֤וֹב יוֹם־יְהוָה֙ הַגָּד֔וֹל קָר֖וֹב וּמַהֵ֣ר מְאֹ֑ד ק֚וֹל י֣וֹם יְהוָ֔ה מַ֥ר צֹרֵ֖חַ שָׁ֥ם גִּבּֽוֹר	14	C	Near is the great day of Yahweh, near and most impetuous. The voice of the day of Yahweh is bitter. There a valiant one screams.	3e	4C	8 7 11
י֥וֹם עֶבְרָ֖ה הַיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא י֧וֹם צָרָ֣ה וּמְצוּקָ֗ה י֤וֹם שֹׁאָה֙ וּמְשׁוֹאָ֔ה י֥וֹם חֹ֙שֶׁךְ֙ וַאֲפֵלָ֔ה י֥וֹם עָנָ֖ן וַעֲרָפֶֽל	15	f	A day of fury is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of vanity and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and dark turbulence,	3c	4C	7 26
י֥וֹם שׁוֹפָ֖ר וּתְרוּעָ֑ה עַ֚ל הֶעָרִ֣ים הַבְּצֻר֔וֹת וְעַ֖ל הַפִּנּ֥וֹת הַגְּבֹהֽוֹת	16	f	a day of shophar and shout of triumph, over the enclosed cities and over the haughty presence.	3e	4C	6 15
וַהֲצֵרֹ֣תִי לָאָדָ֗ם וְהָֽלְכוּ֙ כַּֽעִוְרִ֔ים כִּ֥י לַֽיהוָ֖ה חָטָ֑אוּ וְשֻׁפַּ֤ךְ דָּמָם֙ כֶּֽעָפָ֔ר וּלְחֻמָ֖ם כַּגְּלָלִֽים	17		And I will be the adversary of humanity and they will walk like the blind for they that are Yahweh's, they sin. And their blood will be poured out as dust and their intestines as a roll of dung.	3e	4C	20 14
גַּם־כַּסְפָּ֨ם גַּם־זְהָבָ֜ם לֹֽא־יוּכַ֣ל לְהַצִּילָ֗ם בְּיוֹם֙ עֶבְרַ֣ת יְהוָ֔ה וּבְאֵשׁ֙ קִנְאָת֔וֹ תֵּאָכֵ֖ל כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־כָלָ֤ה אַךְ־נִבְהָלָה֙ יַֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה אֵ֥ת כָּל־יֹשְׁבֵ֖י הָאָֽרֶץ ס	18		Even their silver, even their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh's fury, but in the fire of his jealousy all the land will be devoured. For surely, a consuming vexation he will make for all inhabitants of the land. S	3e	4C	31 17

Zephaniah 3:8 as an example verse for conflicting cantillation schemes

Here's a comparison of Vantoura vs Jacobson traditional cantillation using a single verse.

I could use some help. I have changed the pdf to be easier to read and summarized the music for this verse using both methods - I don't have much confidence in my cantillation according to Jacobson since this is the first verse I have tackled.

I also was completely wrong on my first version since I used the page on Torah cantillation instead of Haftarah. That made some differences (huge differences) in shape. As well, from the CD it appears to me that all the musical shapes are generally at a constant pitch. I.e. they do not change pitch depending on the reciting note. Whereas in the SHV scheme, the ornaments do change pitch based on the reciting note. O my blinding assumptions!

Some aspects of the results in both systems may be somewhat awkward to get used to or even be somewhat unsingable. That's for future considerations. Meanwhile I am going to get back to translation. I might as well finish Zephaniah now that I have started it. It's not a book I know very well. Maybe will concentrate on the 12 for a while.

And here's a translation

לָכֵ֤ן חַכּוּ־לִי֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה לְי֖וֹם קוּמִ֣י לְעַ֑ד כִּ֣י מִשְׁפָּטִי֩ לֶאֱסֹ֨ף גּוֹיִ֜ם לְקָבְצִ֣י מַמְלָכ֗וֹת לִשְׁפֹּ֨ךְ עֲלֵיהֶ֤ם זַעְמִי֙ כֹּ֚ל חֲר֣וֹן אַפִּ֔י כִּ֚י בְּאֵ֣שׁ קִנְאָתִ֔י תֵּאָכֵ֖ל כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ

8

Therefore you tarry for me, this is an oracle of Yahweh, to the day of my arising for ever. For my judgment is to gather nations, to collect kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all my fierce anger, for in the fire of my jealousy, all the earth will be devoured.

Reading 1000 pages alone

Joshua R. Jacobson, Chanting the Hebrew Bible, The Complete Guide to the Art of Cantillation is on my desk. Also there are a host of reference books open in various positions and a computer with 12 pages on the web open, a dozen other programs running including a remote link to my office computer a few kilometers away with more programs running. Such a state that when the computers get updated, it takes 5 to 10 minutes to recover where I was.

How will I read these 1000 pages alone with so many bookmarks being kept for me. Well maybe one at a time and maybe not. I am both impatient and grumpy, a resistant learner, I suppose.

When it comes to the music, it seems to me that there is both a preserving and a scattering of knowledge over the last 2000 or more years in the Jewish traditions of cantillation.

On the one hand, the text has been lovingly preserved and we are all grateful, but the music has been elaborated in all sorts of ways - and perhaps this is as it should be, for music is above all creative and an expression of beauty, though I think I have heard the odd cantor in a hurry at times.

Suzanne Haik-Vantoura's scheme was foreign to me when it was introduced to me in 2010 at the Oxford conference on the Psalms, but it had an immense appeal to me because of the inferences she had made based on the data she discovered. And they were the inferences of one who designs from a simple principle, like the four letters of the DNA alphabet. One could grasp immediately that learning was possible. And I heard the results. There is a scale, modal for the Psalms, Proverbs, and the speeches of Job, and a full octave scale (not exactly diatonic but familiar) for the remaining '21' books. You may remember I described it here and have explored it in many posts. Others have also written about it.

Here is the first set of marks, the scale for the prose books as deciphered by Suzanne Haik-Vantoura (SHV).
ב֧ ב֤ ב֣ ב֑ ב֖ ב֥ בֽ ב֛
These she sets to correspond (reading left to right) exactly to a tonic sol-fa scale with a raised fifth. C D E F, G# A B C. Notice how close the poetry scale is: D# E F# G A B C.
ב֤ ב֣ ב֑ ב֖ ב֥ בֽ ב֢
All these pitches are relative to the tonic, the third note of the prose scale and the second note of the poetry scale.

There it is in a very few words, the germ, the design document. Of course the names are foreign, and I haven't mentioned the ornaments (see the link and my next post). And the tonic, the second note of the modal scale or the third note of the prose scale, can be any note that is comfortable for the singer, and so on. The names are difficult to get into my head. I now have a few. If they were sung as part of a piece, one could remember them as one remembers language. And with SHV's scheme, one starts with the music. The names are not as important as the impact of the sound. And the sound accomplishes the disjunctive and conjunctive aspects of punctuation without one having to remember a 1000 rules. One can, in fact, probably derive the rules from the usage.

Breakfast anyone? It is food for the love of Scripture. In a period when the ear and the tone was known, perhaps as long ago as 700 BCE, it was taught by rote from the then known abstraction of the design. And there were variations, depending on how you tuned your lyre. Perhaps it was passed from generation to generation in this way for years. When the temple was destroyed the first time, and the song was no longer being taught in the temple schools, to preserve the sound, it was reduced to a set of little squiggles representing hand signals. This is a common way of documenting music in the ancient world before the advent of neumes in the late first millennium CE.

But the design document, the rationale behind the squiggles, has been lost, and now there are a myriad of aural interpretations. Torah manuscripts for chanting even today are written without vowels or music. The cantillation must be memorized. When the temple was destroyed again in 70 CE, the design disappeared and an oral tradition was forced upon the scattered community. The question is - did SHV uncover the original design or something close to it?

How can I get away from these 1000 pages? I'm through the punctuation bit. Now I have many pages of music to see - but it seems No written out examples from the text of the Bible. One good example would teach so much, or even one text with the dozens of settings. Instead I am faced with a host of fragments to integrate with libretto being the name of the sign to see if there is an overall principle. Ah - I've remembered there is a CD - I am going back to aural learning mode - yea! But the first of the 87 aural examples made me laugh - it has the underlay 'siluq' illustrating a few seconds of exercise. But there some examples that are real text sung - this will give me what I need since I can reduce them to music for comparison's sake. (It will also train my ear in Hebrew. Tov.)

And I did find one short example on paper (page 849) from Lamentations 3:1-6. It is a special melody but set with underlying text rather than a libretto consisting of the names of the signs. And I think I see a few verses of Esther. This will give me at least a few direct comparisons from Jacobson's hand which I can compare with examples from Vantoura (whom he mentions in the Bibliography but only there!). So what I will do, as HaShem has patience with me, is to construct examples based on the CD and compare the systems against the inferred design of Vantoura's that I have. It will take several posts - I think I already told you (and me) that.

This site is very good for the technical stuff. Let's take that as a given. My article referenced above is OK for SHV's scheme, and I have produced hundreds of examples and can produce any part of the Bible on a few minutes notice. But patience! Where is the germ of the music? My next post will have a summary table of sign and musical expression to support reading the text for 'meaning'. And let meaning be open-ended and shrewd, not superficial or demeaning. And let me, us, not be impatient and grumpy, resistant learners.

A little data for the psalms concerning the major disjunctive accents

This is preliminary in order to test the one claim I have heard for ole-yored. I was able to get data for all the 2,525 verses of the psalms.

The claim is this: "Atnah (also called Etnahta) is the main verse divider for the twenty-one books as ole veyored is for the three. " See this article by the British and Foreign Bible Society page 12 - It is quite clear to me now that it's not all Greek.

The raw data is just too much to look at - but the claim is overstated. [stats updated - this is hard to look for accurately]

• Ole-veyored occurs in 41 of 2,525 verses by itself. It occurs with atnah in 169 other verses - and always before the atnah (that much is true). 
• Atnah occurs in 2,327 of the verses.
• In some verses there are no mid verse cadences.

Now I ask you - what is the main verse divider for the Psalms? Where main is main solely out of numbers: 2,327 >> 342. Atnah occurs 7 times more frequently. In the first chapter of the speeches of Job (Job 3), there 3 ole veyored but 23 atnah.

Ole-veyored may be a strong cadence, even stronger than atnah - that is still to be determined, but it is not main in the sense of more frequent.

Q.E.D.

BTW - Haik-Vantoura has a cadence on the supertonic for ole-veyored, but on the subdominant for atnah. These are her choices and they make good sense to a musician today.

Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture

The Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture latest volume is online. It includes one of my articles on my research, Using Software to Analyse Patterns of Recurrence in the Poetry of the Psalms. I am very grateful to Tim Hutchings for his patience in editing my article and seeing it through to final product. It's a bit more thorough and lengthy process than writing a blog post.

Preliminary examples of Jacobson vs Vantoura

Jacobson is very thorough. He will approach the accents in the Hebrew text of the Bible from several points of view. I will begin with the earliest examples and work through the book page by page. I can let it dovetail with my translation intentions. In these first three examples, he argues for the need for accents as punctuation. Nothing he says is not accomplished by the accents as musical signs and it is accomplished better.

I have ignored some signs - in fact, I ignored almost all of them at first. I ran from them as from a gorse-bush or a handful of nails offered as food. The descriptions of disjunctives and conjunctives is unbelievably obtuse. I have not read this article in detail. Perhaps I will some day - but only to question their homework. This article (and others also) tells me this "Atnah (also called Etnahta) is the main verse divider for the twenty-one books as ole veyored is for the three." This is simply a false statement as far as I can see the data.

I have not got all my data loaded yet, but the preliminary data for the psalms shows that ole veyored occurs somewhat frequently but atnah 5 times more often in a selection of about 10 psalms. A brief look at Job 3 confirms that. Ole veyored occurs only once in the chapter. But atnah 23 times. I will be returning to this problem later when I have developed better search tools for the necessary statistics. (I will admit that where both occur, so far, the atnah is always second. See first article on stats here.)

The atnah continues its role as the major disjunctive within a verse. (Here Jacobson agrees so far, I am glad to say). In brief SHV has the atnah as a cadence on the subdominant. In her work, there is no radical difference in the roles of the accents between the three books (Psalms, Proverbs, and the speeches of Job) and the remaining 21 (more of them if you count as in the OT). There are differences, but they are not so blatantly contradictory.

Here's a bit of Jacobson's intro.

You can see some minor problems here:

1. 'the inflection had to be memorized'. As punctuation this is humanly impossible. As music it is humanly possible. 
2. the signs were 'devised' in the 'seventh century'. No substantiation for this is offered. 
3. 'one symbol would have been enough, not thirty'. I am not sure there are thirty. But 24 or thirty is too much for punctuation and enough for music. [31 here but not all actively used]

Nonetheless, let me not be ungenerous. I will learn some music from this book, even if he is struggling with the idea of punctuation as the primary explanation.

And from Jacobson's first several examples, we do learn how accents distinguish the same word as two differing words, how they aid pronunciation and stress, and how they resolve ambiguity. All this without getting to the music! The music does this also of course, through cadence, recitation change, and ornament.

Example 1: Genesis 29:6-9, two ways to pronounce באה (ba-ah) and hear its meaning. This is rather good - clearly I should use these signs for automated translation as well as music - but I'm not there yet. The first is accented on the second syllable, a natural result of that syllable falling on the first beat of a bar, the second is accented on the first syllable, the result being produced by the ornament. Same word, two meanings: is coming, and came. (Here I am quoting Jacobson, not analyzing verbs).

Example 2: 1 Kings 8:48, two identical sets of letters, two differing roots. I bet my root algorithm got this wrong. The differing words are known again by the stress that the music gives them. Oh punctuation! Can you imagine memorizing punctuation! The first is the root שׁוב, (to turn, return) the second is שׁבה, (to capture).

Example 3: decoding the grammar. The music makes it clear who is speaking and what he is saying. The choices are: A servant said, I am Abraham, or Abraham's servant said, It is I, or He said, I am Abraham's servant. This is the best example to support punctuation, but music does the job admirably.

Surface contradictions and similarities

Here are some notes (and pictures of notes). 

Traditional cantillation and that proposed by Suzanne Haik Vantoua are incompatible in some respects and yet have similar results and objectives in others.

On the surface

1. SHV associates a single musical meaning with each sign. The traditional varies the meaning for various reasons, by day of the year, between prose and poetry books, between Torah and Haftarah, and so on. But some association with notes is evident. It will take me about 6 months to get sufficient data to explore the differences in more detail with examples.

   

   Reuchlin

2. SHV recognizes the possibility that the 8 sublinear signs are a scale. This concept leads to the idea of a current reciting note. The traditional does not recognize a distinction between sublinear and supra-linear and does not have the idea of a reciting note. Both systems have melismatic interpretations of some signs. 
3. SHV uses the resulting music to parse the text. The traditional uses the signs as conjunctive or disjunctive punctuation to parse the text. Both agree on the major disjunctions. SHV shows them to be cadences. My bias is this: "describing a musical line as a series of conjunctive and disjunctive points in a phrase is a very complex way of describing something one should hear." I am also biased in terms of a design paradigm based on Occam's razor - less is more.
4. Both systems recognize that the signs are old, but the SHV theorists note that there is no knowledge of when the signs originated. Jacobson (page 13) assumes without evidence that both sets of signs were 'introduced' by the Ben Asher school. Yet he also notes that chironomy was known as early as 350 CE: R. Akiba says, "because one points with [the right hand] to the accents in the scroll" (b. Ber 62a.) So - the signs cannot have been introduced by the Ben Asher school.
5. Both systems recognize the beauty and adornment of music.
6. Traditional chanting passed on by oral means has preserved Tonus Peregrinus. Jacobson illustrates this with an image of Sephardic chant and Gregorian chant (Figure 1.7 below). 

The blind application of SHV's rules by my computer program produces a surprisingly similar tune (see this post for a full pdf) but with more variation than the Anglican chant in the Canadian Psalter of 1963 which is of course the same tune. Does that seem a coincidence? That such a tune - itself so singable - might have been reproduced through the generations by oral tradition in both Jewish and Christian communities and then turn up as a consequence of applying a set of rules derived by induction from these ancient marks - though how ancient we do not know.

It raises an important question that is a weakness in SHV's rules: Point 2 above is strong for the sublinear accents, but the ornaments (as she calls them), the supra-linear accents seem somewhat arbitrary in her scheme. Perhaps there are hints yet to come from the base data of the text and from traditional tunes.

Various opinions and scholars I have found on the subject online.

Mitchell in his still to be published work on the Songs of Ascent refers to 19th and 20th century theory re te'amim. William Wickes, Franz Delitzsch, A.Z. Idelsohn (1882–1938), Robert Lachmann (1892–1939), R. Flender (1992).

Jacobson - (The Complete Guide to the Art of Cantillation, 2002) references medieval Christian scholars who published theory on the te'amim. Johannes Reuchlin, Caspar Ammam, Sebastian Munster (who appears to have translated Genesis to Kings from Hebrew into Latin), and Johannes Vallensis. The source for the notation (image above) was Johannes Boeschenstein (1472-1540).

Jacobson says "Jews continued to transmit the melodies orally" until the 19th century. Then he mentions Isaac Nathan (London 1823) Samuel Naumbourg (Paris 1847) Salomon Sulzer (Vienna 1865) Abraham Baer (Goteborg, Sweden 1877) and Israel M. Japhet (Frankfurt am Main 1896.) He also notes the 20th century scholars overlapping with Mitchell: Solomon Rosowsky, The Cantillation of the Bible,  Abraham Z. Idelson, Thesaurus of Oriental Hebrew Melodies, and Jewish Music in Its Historical Development, (good introduction to accents here beginning on page 68 or so), Hanoch Avenary, The Ashkenazi Tradition of Biblical Chant between 1500 and 1900, Eric Werner, The Sacred Bridge. From which this quote:

"The reader chanted the pericope of the day in a manner determined by the rigid tradition prescribed by the ecphonetic accents of the Masoretic text of the Bible. This cantilktion is called trop (Greek: tropos, mode, fashion) or ngina (melody). The ecphonetic signs are called taamim in Hebrew. Theirs is a threefold purpose: (1) To provide the scriptural text with a most elaborate punctuation, both syntactic and logical. Practically every word bears one of these punctuating signs. (2) They indicate the cantilktion, according to specific rules which determine the mode of the musical setting. (3) They point out the syllable to be accentuated in accordance with the rules of Hebrew grammar as they were known to the Masoretes and grammarians from the fifth to the tenth century A.D."

Accents is the generic name for the te'amim. Idelson associates three common signs with the acute, grave, and circumflex of Greek usage. These signs have almost completely lost their musical meaning in languages like French, if indeed they should even be connected. They are, in French, pronunciation guides or indicate a lacking 's'. (At least that is what I was taught many years ago). Idelson also assumes that Ben Asher invented the system of signs. That seems highly unlikely. Alternatives include that he inherited them from the oral tradition, or he was given a manuscript that included the signs from another source.

Werner is careful with his origins to say that the accents received "the final codification about A.D. 850" (p 105).

"Many nations and languages knew of the 'Ur-accents* (acute, circumflex, grave) and their function to indicate the inflexion of the voice: inirium, colon, period. Fleischer has shown that these primitive accents were known to Greeks, Romans, Hindus, Armenians, Syrians, Jews, etc. Whether they are derivatives from a common root is all but impossible to determine, in spite of Fleischer's insistence on such a hypothesis."

Werner's text is full of suggestive history reaching back to the first century and beyond with one ninth century Rabbi saying "the scriptural accents with the melodies of cantillation were given to us on Mount Sinai". That places preparation and reading of these accents in an important place - so that we might not simply be reading חֻקִּים לֹא טֹובִים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לֹא יִֽחְיוּ בָּהֶֽם " statutes that are not good and judgments we should not live by" Ezekiel 20:25 cited in b. Meg. 32a.

Alternatives to Suzanne Haik-Vantoura

Don't get me wrong. I am so glad to have seen what SHV has done and to have sung her work as a reader and as a listener to a choir who sang my transcription of Psalm 32. I am also glad that I can reproduce her work with a few minutes of data preparation rather than a week of manual writing.  But there are other methods, and I cannot take her word against them for granted.

So I am beginning a 960 page volume on the Art of Cantillation by Joshua Jacobson. It looks as if his rules will be sufficiently clear to program them. He make claims that if true in the data will prove one or the other set of rules clear or not. He does use 'maybe' frequently. It will be interesting if SHV's rules suggest a simpler explanation for what he is saying. I will report in due course. (first report is in the next post).

Using the music to help punctuate a verse of a Psalm

I enjoyed the article very much on the demonstrative pronoun זה. Thanks to Robert Holmstedt.

Here is my question for him. What do you think, dear readers of Dust? He is talking in detail - beautiful linguistic detail, of the phrase זֶ֥ה סִינַ֑י

Do you consider the atnach in Psalm 68:9 to assist in collecting the pairs of words? I don’t think it impacts your rejection of the genitive role of זה, but it does have an impact on the balance of 6 pairs on each side of ‘the parallelism’. Rather, I wonder if a 3/2 rhythm is implied instead of 2/3. If I punctuate it, it seems almost parenthetical. I am following Fishbane’s reading in Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, p55. The division agrees with the music very well. There is a minor cadence just before the parenthesis and the major midpoint cadence in the subdominant at the atenach.

אֶ֤רֶץ רָעָ֨שָׁה ׀ אַף־שָׁמַ֣יִם נָטְפוּ֮
מִפְּנֵ֪י אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים זֶ֥ה סִינַ֑י
מִפְּנֵ֥י אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל
Earth quaked, also the heavens dropped
from the presence of God, (that is Sinai)
from the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Here is the music for the verse.

Finally I have seen the contradictions between SHV and other systems. The systems need to be studied. But the first contradiction is between the oleh veyored and the atnach as interpreted in poetry and prose. That they should reverse their roles in the two sets of books seems very odd indeed. I don't believe it. I will complete my own study. Atnach acts in all 24 books the same way. oleh veyored is a secondary cadence in the Psalms, and is much rarer than the regular atnach. I will go get a book (or two) and see what can be learned. Actually, I already have a prepub copy of Mitchell and he reviews some of the issues. Also the atnach is far more common than the oleh-veyored even in the Psalms, and the latter always precedes the main cadence. So I doubt if a rationale can be found for reversing the roles.

Is Suzanne Haik-Vantoura simply wrong?

My last post got a negative reaction. SHV is "simply wrong. It is based on an occidental system of music. Moreover, it is really late."

Quite apart from the tonal recognition that this scheme involves: tonic, dominant, subdominant, octaves and so on, and one could interpret these in the way of western music, and quite apart from the rhythm of the recitation that the sublinear imply, there is much to learn from her experiments - even if they are wrong!

What can we learn: That verses existed before they were numbered. These signs are not 'late'. They would be if they were added in the 8th century CE, but no one knows exactly where they came from. For 1000 years, they have been explained as punctuation. Where is Victor Borge when we need him?

They are incomprehensible when explained as conjunctive and disjunctive. They need no explanation when sung as music. And they do the job of punctuation much better as music.

They divide the text with great aptitude. When there is no 'major disjunction' - no atenach, we read the verse differently. It is rare, it is without a rest point. It is obvious in the music.

So verse 2 of Psalm 1 - there is no rest for one who mutters Torah. It is day and night for him, whatever befall.

So this verse stands out as one of a few in a thousand where the thought of the verse is one and should be read as one without pause. So maybe the major disjunction is good sense. But the music is better sense since it reveals all 24 signs. And one can still breathe even if only at a secondary cadence.

That she discovered such cadences reveals the workings of the te-amim like no other system. There could be other systems, but I have not seen them and what I have heard in synagogues - admittedly a limited experience since I don't often attend, is nothing like as clarifying to the cantillation as the music she has revealed.

Can you do this work with 'oriental' music? I expect you can - but let it be done. And let's see what the history of the signs really is.

Psalm 2, punctuated.

Reading the psalms again, and punctuating my prior translation, but reading in Greek and hopefully learning a bit over the next year about Greek. Here's Psalm 2 in my usual literal translation from the Hebrew. I am no longer leaving untransliterated words in the English. So the Divine Name is rendered as Yahweh. I am also paying too little attention to the Greek - but I will be looking for semiticisms in the Greek, such as are pointed out in this rather good lecture by Steven Notley.

The music first:

Psalms 2		Fn		Min	Max	Syll
לָ֭מָּה רָגְשׁ֣וּ גוֹיִ֑ם וּ֝לְאֻמִּ֗ים יֶהְגּוּ־רִֽיק	1	g	Why such a throng of nations? and tribes in empty muttering?	3e	4B	6 6
יִ֥תְיַצְּב֨וּ ׀ מַלְכֵי־אֶ֗רֶץ וְרוֹזְנִ֥ים נֽוֹסְדוּ־יָ֑חַד עַל־יְ֝הוָה וְעַל־מְשִׁיחֽוֹ	2	f	They station themselves, these sovereigns of earth, these rule-makers reasoning as one, over Yahweh and over his anointed:	3e	4A	12 8
נְֽ֭נַתְּקָה אֶת־מֽוֹסְרוֹתֵ֑ימוֹ וְנַשְׁלִ֖יכָה מִמֶּ֣נּוּ עֲבֹתֵֽימוֹ	3		Let us snap their bonds, and kiss good-bye to their cords.	3e	4B	8 11
יוֹשֵׁ֣ב בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם יִשְׂחָ֑ק אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י יִלְעַג־לָֽמוֹ	4		The one sitting in the heavens, he laughs. My Lord derides them.	3e	4B	7 7
אָ֤ז יְדַבֵּ֣ר אֵלֵ֣ימוֹ בְאַפּ֑וֹ וּֽבַחֲרוֹנ֥וֹ יְבַהֲלֵֽמוֹ	5	C	Then he will speak to them in his anger, and in his burning vex them.	3e	4C	10 10
וַ֭אֲנִי נָסַ֣כְתִּי מַלְכִּ֑י עַל־צִ֝יּ֗וֹן הַר־קָדְשִֽׁי	6	g	I myself have offered as libation my own king, on Zion, my holy hill.	3e	4B	8 6
אֲסַפְּרָ֗ה אֶֽ֫ל חֹ֥ק יְֽהוָ֗ה אָמַ֘ר אֵלַ֥י בְּנִ֥י אַ֑תָּה אֲ֝נִ֗י הַיּ֥וֹם יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ	7		I will recount the decree. Yahweh promised to me: You are my son. I myself this day gave birth to you.	3e	4A	5 10 8
שְׁאַ֤ל מִמֶּ֗נִּי וְאֶתְּנָ֣ה ג֭וֹיִם נַחֲלָתֶ֑ךָ וַ֝אֲחֻזָּתְךָ֗ אַפְסֵי־אָֽרֶץ	8		Ask me and I give the nations as your legacy, and as yours to hold fast, the ends of the earth.	3e	4C	15 8
תְּ֭רֹעֵם בְּשֵׁ֣בֶט בַּרְזֶ֑ל כִּכְלִ֖י יוֹצֵ֣ר תְּנַפְּצֵֽם	9	g	You will injure them with an iron sceptre. Like fashioned vessels, you will smash them.	3e	4B	8 7
וְ֭עַתָּה מְלָכִ֣ים הַשְׂכִּ֑ילוּ הִ֝וָּסְר֗וּ שֹׁ֣פְטֵי אָֽרֶץ	10	g	So now, you sovereigns, let there be insight. Be warned you who judge on earth.	3e	4B	9 7
עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה בְּיִרְאָ֑ה וְ֝גִ֗ילוּ בִּרְעָדָֽה	11		Serve Yahweh in fear, and rejoice in trembling.	3e	4B	8 6
נַשְּׁקוּ־בַ֡ר פֶּן־יֶאֱנַ֤ף ׀ וְתֹ֬אבְדוּ דֶ֗רֶךְ כִּֽי־יִבְעַ֣ר כִּמְעַ֣ט אַפּ֑וֹ אַ֝שְׁרֵ֗י כָּל־ח֥וֹסֵי בֽוֹ	12		Kiss, each of you - pure lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for he kindles as a hint of his anger. Happy are all who take refuge in him.	3e	4C	19 6

People are used to seeing kiss here, but equip yourself with purity would also be a reasonable rendering. It is unfortunate that people use texts as if they were weapons as proof-texts. No one,  especially not the 'inspired' needs to prove their point with a weapon.

Selected recurring words

Word / Gloss	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	VSS	Stem
* גוים nations	░							1	גוי
* מלכי these sovereigns of		░						2	מלך
* ארץ earth			░					2	ארץ
* מוסרותימו their bonds				░				3	יסר
* ממנו bye to					░			3	מן
* באפו in his anger						░		5	אף
* ואני myself							░	6	אני
* מלכי my own king		░						6	מלך
* אני myself							░	7	אני
* ממני me					░			8	מן
* גוים the nations as	░							8	גוי
* ארץ the earth			░					8	ארץ
* מלכים you sovereigns		░						10	מלך
* הוסרו be warned				░				10	יסר
* ארץ earth			░					10	ארץ
* אפו his anger						░		12	אף