Psalms 12

When was the last time I wrote about Psalms 12? I cannot find a single post on it (on this blog). The last post was on Bob's Log in 2008 when I was just barely a toddler.

This is continuing from the post on Psalms 11, starting a new 'folio' in Book 1 of the Psalms from a few days ago - to the next acrostic, Psalms 25. In the meanwhile I have posted on Psalms 82 and 83, and a return to Psalms 3 and some comments on 110-112, part of the first folio in Book 5. It's a big book, the Psalms. It will take some work to get into it. Translation is not a slam dunk. 

Take verse 2 below. What is the ksid? (chasid - the strong aspirate is the first letter.) Does it deserve a definite article or an indefinite article in English? Articles behave differently in different languages. The ksid is singular and its parallel, amunim ('amen' in the plural) the faithful - collective plural. The stem for obliterate (gmr) occurs 5 times in the Psalms - and that's it (the other occurrences are a name and an Aramaic root). Vanished (pss) is equally rare. (You see how valuable the concordance is!)

thlim ib	Psalms 12	Fn	Min	Max	Syll
a lmnxk yl-hwminit mzmor ldvid	1 For the leader over octaves. A psalm of David.		3e	3f	13
b howiyh ihvh ci-gmr ksid ci-psu amunim mbni adm	2 Save Yahweh, for obliterated is the merciful one, for vanished are the faithful among the children of humanity.		3e	4B	9 9
g wva idbru aiw at-riyhu wpt klqot blb vlb idbru	3 Vanity they speak, each to his friend, lip divided, and heart from heart they speak.	C	3e	4C	14 8
d icrt ihvh cl-wpti klqot lwon mdbrt gdolot	4 Yahweh will cut off all lips divided ... tongue speaking greatness,		3e	4B	10 9
h awr amru llwonnu ngbir wptinu aitnu mi adon lnu	5 who said, With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are ours. Who is Lord to us!		3e	4C	17 5
v mwod yniim manqt abionim yth aqum iamr ihvh awit biwy ipik lo	6 From the devastation of the poor, from the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise, says Yahweh, I will impose in safety. He snorts at him.		3d	4B	11 8 9
z amrot ihvh amrot 'thorot csf xruf bylil larx mzuqq wbytiim	7 The sayings of Yahweh are clean sayings, silver refined in a furnace of earth, purged seven times.		3d	4B	11 10 7
k ath-ihvh twmrm tixrnu mn-hdor zu lyolm	8 You Yahweh you keep them. You will preserve us from this generation forever.		3e	4B	7 10
't sbib rwyim ithlcun crum zulut lbni adm	9 On every side the wicked are walking, so exalted is the vileness of the children of humanity.		3e	4A	9 8

This is depressing content. Vanished are the faithful, vileness is exalted. There is pattern in the music. Easier to hear than to describe. The inscription is low-key, a single colon sung with a slight pause at the revia, but otherwise without a significant rest. The verses arrange themselves two by two. Verses 6 and 7 are both tricola. They are the substance of the hope. Both 'them' and 'us' are preserved.