Pslm 2:1-2

Well, I took a few days off. No good reason, aside from being on break, researching for another paper, but no good reason. So heres Psalm 2:1-2 to ponder a bit.

לָמָּה רָגְשׁוּ גֹויִם וּלְאֻמִּים יֶהְגּוּ־רִֽיק

Why do the nations rage and the people (plural) dwell, growl, meditate over emptiness.

Very interesting verse! First of all, the word goi'im is used, so that is probably referring not to the people of God, but the nations in general. Also, the word meaning 'rage, to be in turmoil, plot' is ONLY used here in the entire OT!(!!!) This is an important point to take into consideration. For one reason, it makes it a little more difficult to translate exactly. When words are used many times, like the word for 'goi'im' it makes it easier to understand its meaning because there is more context in which to understand it. Despite this fact, it seems obvious though that it is not a good thing. Another interesting thing is in the second part of the sentence, we have another occurrence of the word to meditate, or growl, or whatever your preferred translation of it might be. This is one of the first indications of the idea that these two chapters probably shouldn't be viewed separately. It also answers the question raised in the first chapter that was not answered; the righteous dwell on the Word of God, but what do the wicked dwell on? Chapter two answers the question, the wicked dwell on emptiness, vanity.

יִתְיַצְּבוּ ׀ מַלְכֵי־אֶרֶץ וְרֹוזְנִים נֹֽוסְדוּ־יָחַד עַל־יְהוָה וְעַל־מְשִׁיחֹֽו

The kings of the earth station themselves [as kings], and the rulers (princes) sit themselves together against the LORD and against His Messiah.

Wow! This verse says so much in its few words! Firstly, it talks about the rulers of the earth. The author here is explaining how these rulers were not put in place by God, but that they have taken the seats of office by themselves. They have taken the office by their own will. Not only have they taken the office illegitimately, but they have set themselves not in the council of the LORD, but against the LORD. Not only have they set themselves up against the LORD, but against His Messiah. You may remember, in the dialogue of Psalm 1 I mentioned that this man is a special man. Psalm 2, when read in conjunction with Psalm 1, shows that this man spoken of in Psalm 1 is the Messiah, because these wicked men that are spoken of in Psalm 1 are referred to again here in Psalm 2. The connection is stronger still because of the use of the word 'meditate' being used both times, the first speaking of the Messiah, the blessed man, and the second time being used of the wicked, who are also mentioned in Psalm 1. This is an amazing connection! Here we are, in the passion week of Christ, and we find Him in the book of Psalms! The entire Bible, both New and Old Testament is truly about the person of Jesus!

Psalm 1:6

This verse is the last verse of the first chapter in the book of Psalms. Upon completion of translations of chapter 2, I think I'll discuss some things within the two chapters, if they should be considered two separate chapters, what's their purpose in the book of Psalms, etc. But now, the final verse in the supposed first chapter.

כִּֽי־יֹודֵעַ יְהוָה דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵֽד

Because the LORD knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked will perish.

This verse does not require much interpreting, its pretty obvious what it means. One thing that is interesting is the last word, "perish" is often used when talking about being lost, or even wandering. This should remind a careful reader of the OT of Israel, when they wandered the desert. They wandered because of the disobedience and their unbelief. The wicked man, spoken here in Psalm 1&2 will perish, be lost, wander, because of his disobedience and unfaithfulness. True, this probably isn't the clearest thing in this passage, it is an observation that can be made, keeping in mind the wider context of the passage, that whether the author is reminding of unfaithful Israel or not, the wicked will perish, which could be also seen as not being near the LORD.

Psalm 1:5

I know I just posted on Psalm 1:4, but I actually translated that yesterday but never got a chance to post it, so I did today. Today I translated verse 5, which is as follows.

עַל־כֵּן ׀ לֹא־יָקֻמוּ רְשָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט וְחַטָּאִים בַּעֲדַת צַדִּיקִֽים

Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgement, and sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

This verse is interesting, specifically the first half. The author says how the wicked will not stand in judgement. Immediately I thought this sounded contradictory, since the wicked will be judged by God, so how will they not stand in judgement? Well, using some commentary from the NET Bible (I don't agree with all of their footnotes/remarks on all the verses, but on this particular verse it helped to read what they had to say) and their notes said that this isn't referring to a final judgement talked about else where in Scripture, but a specific judgement. Well, I'm not certain either way on that point, but what did help is that it pointed out that the point that is trying to be made is that the wicked will not last judgement. It helps me to think of the wicked like a house built from wood, which in a fire (judgement) would not stand, it would burn up. But a house built of stone would stand through a fire, since the fire would not consume the stone.

The second part of the verse explains that sinners will not stand in congregation with the righteous. I think another good word for "congregation" might be "company" of the righteous. The author of Psalm 1 is again showing how different and distinct are the righteous from the wicked, they will not even stand together. Another question that arose in my mind while translating was why did the author use "wicked" in the first part of the verse, and "sinner" in the second half? I think I have an answer (though I'm open to correction, this is just a theory). In English poetry, we generally rhyme. A typical rhyming pattern might be an A B A B pattern. While the Hebrew poets do use the tool of phonemes in their poetry, one of the major tools they employ in poetry is parallelism. This entire chapter (or two) is parallelism, comparing the good man versus the wicked. That is what I think is going on here, the author is simply using another term that typifies someone who is opposite from the blessed man.

Well, that was much longer than I thought it was going to be. I fear that as I go on through these two chapters, that the posts are going to be longer and longer as there is more to point out, certain terms referring back to other terms, etc.

The next post will finish up chapter one with verse 6, then after that we'll continue on through chapter two!

Thanks for reading! Any feedback would be appreciated!

Psalm 1:4

In this post we'll go through verse 4 and learn more about the wicked.

לֹא־כֵן הָרְשָׁעִים כִּי אִם־כַּמֹּץ אֲ‍ֽשֶׁר־תִּדְּפֶנּוּ רֽוּחַ

Therefore the wicked are not because they are like chaff which is driven away by the wind.

Verse 3 was talking about the man, how he was planted by the streams of water, which causes him to prosper. Verse 4 compares the man with the wicked that were talked about previously. The beginning of the verse is a bit confusing, especially without consideration to the previous verse(s). The author says that the wicked are not like the man, who is planted by the streams of water. The author does not say where the wicked are planted, which is interesting to me. He could either mean that the wicked are not planted, which is why they are blown away by the wind. If they are not rooted in the ground, it is easy for them to be swept away. The author could mean that, or could he mean something different? Possibly that it was planted elsewhere, far away from the streams of water? I'm not sure, either way it isn't a good thing!

Technology

On occasion I'll post something that is really interesting to me. Being the author of this blog I have the power to do so. I'm a techie, and love any new piece of technology. Take this for instance. This is not only technology, but what I consider the right thing to do! Police officers should not be about creating revenue for their county, town, etc, but be about protecting its people, and this iPhone app helps.

Update

Updated the template of the blog, hopefully this one will be easier to look at.

Also, when I finish translating through Psalms 1&2, I'm going to translate through some New Testament passages, not entirely sure which ones yet, but I'm currently deciding which ones so I'll have some idea within the next week or so.

Thanks for reading, and any feedback would be appreciated!

Psalm 1:3

We saw in Psalm 1:1,2 that there is a man who is blessed by God, h(H)e does not walk with the wicked, etc. This man also meditates, or devours, the Word of God, and delights in it. In verse 3, we'll see more description about this man, and later in verse 4 He will be compared with the wicked.

וְֽהָיָה כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵי מָיִם אֲשֶׁר פִּרְיֹו ׀ יִתֵּן בְּעִתֹּו וְעָלֵהוּ לֹֽא־יִבֹּול וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂה יַצְלִֽיחַ

And he is like a tree, planted by the rivers of water which bring/give his fruit in its season, and his leaf will not wither and all which he does will prosper.

This is a longer verse in comparison to the previous verse, and gives an illustration of what this man is like. The author says that this man is like a tree planted by streams of water. (It is interesting that the author felt the need to specify what type of waters this tree is planted by, streams of water, not of any other variety. I'm not sure of the significance of that, but it does stand out as odd.) Something very interesting is the use of the word shatul which can be translated plant, but could also be translated as "transplanted, replanted." This is pointed out here. This source is suggesting that because the word is shatul and not natul, that the replanting idea is plausible.

The location of where this tree is planted, that being near the streams of water, is important because that is how a tree is sustained. It is because it is planted near the water that it is able to give its fruit and not wither. It is because of its location to its life source, can it not wither, and also how it prospers, by its proximity to the water.

Where are you planted?

Psalm 1

In my OT class we are beginning to study the book of the Psalms, and my professor is a Hebrew scholar, and spent much time specifically studying the beginning of the book, Psalms 1-2. In preparation for class I decided to begin to translate through the first two chapters to get a better grasp of where he is coming from.
Verse 1 of chapter 1 is pretty straight forward. While some translations render the first word "happy," thats probably not the best translation, as studying God's Word doesn't always make us happy (since if we are correctly applying it, we will necessarily have to change our life in order to line up with what it teaches, which isn't always fun) it will bless us. Here is the text of Psalm 1:1 and my translation:
אַשְֽׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר ׀ לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמֹושַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָֽׁב

Blessed is the man who/which does not walk in the council of the wicked and stand in the path of sinners and does not dwell in the seat of scoffers.

Fairly straight forward translation. While most translations in the last part of the verse go with "sit," this is word also can mean "dwell," which I think might be more appropriate for this verse.

כִּי אִם בְּתֹורַת יְהוָה חֶפְצֹו וּֽבְתֹורָתֹו יֶהְגֶּה יֹומָם וָלָֽיְלָה׃

Because in the Law of the LORD he delights, and in the law does he murmur, growl speak to himself, meditate day and night.

This word is an interesting one, and has a wide semantic range. It is also used of a lion growling or even drooling over his prey. Another way of picturing it is for a man to be murmuring to himself about the Word. This is how this man is being presented as reading the Bible, consuming it. This idea I've gotten to some extent from the book entitled "Eat this Book" by Eugene Peterson. He presents the idea of how we are to read the Bible not as a text book, but consume it so it will touch every part of our life. This is the idea that is presented here as well

As I continue to translate and study through these few chapters, I will fill more this idea of who this man is presented as, and explain more about how it should be applied to us.