Considering what the Hebrew Bible is about

I have been learning Hebrew by translating Tanach these past 20 years. What have I learned? It's always a stretch to really answer a question like this. Sometime ago, perhaps a week or a few days ago -- I forgot to look at the date, I selected Psalm 11 for a demonstration of a book idea I did not pursue -- to much at once! So I put this chapter below.

I think we can and must take the world as it is, a serious decision about what is good. And variety and trouble are part of that good. As the spiritual goes -- nobody knows de trouble a've seen... I notice that the musical contour is the same for Genesis 1:1a as it is for Verses in the story of Cain -- what have you done! And the contour is an inclusio for the deluge -- as you can discover.

The Hebrew Bible is an act of love, by humans for humans in a Spirit of Persistence of Love, a Holiness to be sought, and a Forming of Communities of Love in truth and kindness and faithfulness.
Let's put that visually -- and set it apart against this random psalm.

Psalms 11

Syllables: 150. Words: 68. Roots: 52. Root Recurrence: 38%. Average per verse: 3.7.

adm ahb (2) aic amr apl aw bkn (2) bmv bn gpr dvd drc hicl hnh hr hrs zlyph kzh (2) kms ksh kx ihvh (5) irh iwr (2) itr cvn cvs ci (3) csa lb mh mTr mnh nvd npw (2) nxk yin yl (2) ypyp pk pnh pyl xdiq (3) xdq xpr qdw qwh rvk rwy (3) wit wmim wna

Psalms 11: Syllables: 154; Longest recitation: 10; Tenor: f# 25.32%;
Ornament density: 15.6%; Average phrase length: 9.1.

1 For the leader. Of David. In Yahweh I take refuge. How do you say to me, Flit away to your mountain, bird? (1-2-4-1)
א למנצ֗ח לד֫ו֥ד בֽיהו֨ה ׀ חס֗יתי א֭יך תאמר֣ו לנפש֑י נ֝֗ודי הרכ֥ם צפֽור	7 11 6		a lmnxk ldvid bihvh ksiti aiç tamru lnpwi nudi hrcm xipor

2 ♪C For behold: the wicked. They direct a bow. They prepare their arrows on the bow-string, to shoot in gloom at the upright of heart. (C-4-1)
ב כ֤י הנ֪ה הרשע֡ים ידרכ֬ון ק֗שת כוננ֣ו חצ֣ם על־י֑תר ליר֥ות במו־א֝֗פל לישרי־לֽב	18 9		b ci hnh hrwyim idrcun qwt connu kixm yl-itr lirot bmo-aopl liwri-lb

3 ♪B For the fundamentals are overthrown. How does a righteous one work? (B-4-1)
ג כ֣י ה֭שתות יֽהרס֑ון צ֝ד֗יק מה־פעֽל	8 5		g ci hwtot iihrsun xdiq mh-pyl

4 Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh in the heavens his throne. His eyes gaze on, His eyelids test the children of humanity. (1-2-4-1)
ד יהו֤ה ׀ בֽה֘יכ֤ל קדש֗ו יהוה֮ בשמ֪ים כ֫סא֥ו עינ֥יו יחז֑ו עפעפ֥יו י֝בחנ֗ו בנ֣י אדֽם	14 5 10		d ihvh bhicl qodwo ihvh bwmiim cisao yiniv ikzu ypypiv ibknu bni adm

5 Yahweh will test a righteous one, but the wicked and lover of violence ... he hates. (1-2-4-1)
ה יהוה֮ צד֪יק י֫בח֥ן ו֭רשע ואה֣ב חמ֑ס שֽנא֥ה נפשֽו	6 8 4		h ihvh xdiq ibkn vrwy vaohb kms wnah npwo

6 He rains snares on the wicked. Fire and pitch and ferocious wind are the portion of their cup. (1-2-1)
ו ימט֥ר על־רשע֗ים פ֫ח֥ים א֣ש ו֭גפרית ור֥וח זלעפ֗ות מנ֣ת כוסֽם	8 14		v imTr yl-rwyim pkim aw vgoprit vruk zlypot mnt cosm

7 For Yahweh is a righteous one. He loves righteousness. His faces gaze on the upright. (1-4-1)
ז כֽי־צד֣יק י֭הוה צדק֣ות אה֑ב י֝ש֗ר יחז֥ו פנֽימו	9 8		z ci-xdiq ihvh xdqot ahb iwr ikzu pnimo

1	flit away, (nvd) wander aimlessly, even sounds like English nod, flit off is too rude for me though the sense may be that rude. your mountain, (hr) or hill. Your is plural, mountain is a metonym for God. I have used both mountain and hill for this word.
3	fundamentals, (wit) to set. The form of the word is rare, used here and in Isaiah 19:10, but the underlying root is very common. work, (pyl) not the word for do or make.
4	Does this one have eyelids (ypyp)? This word is rare in the Bible. It is used in Job three times. Taken together with Leviathan, it forms part of the framework of Job (with a touch of humour). It appears twice in the Psalter, here and in Psalm 132 where David says he will not let his eyelids slumber until he builds a house for his Lord. Elsewhere in the Bible, it occurs five more times, including one seductive fluttering in Proverbs 6.
5	he hates, lit. hates his being, or hates himself. Most translations consider the wicked as the object of hate belonging to Yahweh.
6	[Matthew 5:45]
7	gaze, third person plural agreeing with faces as subject.

First time recurrence (for this book in the chapter): ahb bkn kzh iwr

Word / Gloss	1	2	3	4	5	6	Vs	Stem
לישרי at the upright of		▒					2	ישר
יחזו gaze on				▒			4	חזה
יבחנו test					▒		4	בחן
יבחן will test					▒		5	בחן
ואהב and lover of						▒	5	אהב
אהב he loves						▒	7	אהב
ישר the upright		▒					7	ישר
יחזו gaze on				▒			7	חזה

Resolving the impasse of diacritics in the Hebrew Bible

Ornament Usage by Recitation Pitch

Here is yet another replacement of an image I have been making forever. The splitting of the ornaments by their usage above and below the text is the key to the deciphering key. It reveals patterns like no other decision can. I hope you can click the image to expand it. The html itself is too wide for my blog. I am using the music to demonstrate and fix textual errors in copying between the Leningrad and Aleppo codices. It's not easy being green, as a famous frog noted. For the music and its demonstration see my GitHub workbench. For comments and explanations to the extent that they are useful, see my Substack page. And play with the verses on the site -- click the links, without cost and without price. Enjoy the word upside down. Pull the strings in the site and send feedback on what you would like to see.

The deciphering key to the musical sense of the accents separates the accents below the text (which govern recitation pitch) from those above the text (which provide melodic ornamentation relative to that pitch). Counts reflect occurrences across the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible.