Wednesday 6 July 2022

The subversion of the wicked

Here’s a transcription of the puzzle in the letter on uncertainty. The text is Psalms 146, verses 6 to 9. There are many possible ways of transliterating Hebrew. I have chosen one that maps to the SimHebrew (left column) as much as possible. It might help you with your pronunciation - but you can see that the centre column is more data than you need eventually - i.e. when you get used to reading SimHebrew. The raised comma is a guttural (aleph), the y is a deeper guttural (ayin). So the double ii is the English y sound and there are schwas that are more or less obvious between two successive consonants in the SimHebrew.

thlim qmv a little help in pronunciation Psalms 146
v yowh wmiim varx at-him vat-cl-awr-bm
hwomr amt lyolm
yose shamaiim va’arets
’et-haiiam və’et-col-’asher-bam
hashomer ’emet ləyolam
6 who makes heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them,
keeping truth forever,
z yowh mwp't lywuqim notn lkm lrybim
ihvh mtir asurim
yose mishpat layashuqim
noten lekem larəyevim
ihvh mattir ’asurim
7 doing judgment for the oppressed, giving bread to the hungry,
Yahweh, releasing the prisoners,
k ihvh poqk yivvrim ihvh zoqf cpupim
ihvh aohb xdiqim
ihvh poqeak yivrim
ihvh zoqef cəfufim
ihvh ’ohev tsaddiqim
8 Yahweh, giving sight to the blind, Yahweh, uplifting the disturbed,
Yahweh, loving the righteous,
't ihvh womr at-grim itom valmnh iyodd
vdrç rwyim iyvvt
ihvh shomer ’et-gerim
iatom və’almana iəyoded
vəderec rəshayim iəyavvet
9 Yahweh, sheltering the guest. Orphan and widow he relieves,
and the way of the wicked he subverts.



The character of God is fully revealed in the Psalms. God cares for the poor. As Holland notes, this is contrary to the law of the survival of the fittest. It gives rise to the declaration of human rights. Curious, eh? The whole character of God is to subvert the way of the wicked. See also this post on war.


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