Threads from Henry's Web

Tag: Psalms

  • Psalm 137 around the Web

    I have a tendency to get caught up in an idea. When I started adding a lectionary tag to posts that I thought were relevant to upcoming lectionary readings my intention was to simply tag things I was going to write anyhow, and also to encourage myself to write a little bit more about my devotional reading. Then I thought I might round up some related posts.

    On Psalm 137, which I referenced yesterday on my Threads blog, Lingamish beat me to it by listing a number of excellent posts related to the Psalm in his post Psalm 137: A Dash of Theodicy.

    Besides the posts he links to, I’d like to call attention to this post by Chris Heard at Higgaion. It deals with much more than just Psalm 137, but the methods used in dealing with other materials may be helpful in responding to this Psalm. He also correctly points out how often attacks on the Bible due to issues such as violence result from poor hermeneutics. Much of the debate on the inspiration and value of the Bible is carried out at a very simplistic level.

    I should have read Chris Heard’s post earlier, but I simply never got to it. I found it via Bob’s Log, in which he is logging his work on the Psalms. He has a brief post on Psalm 137 here, and you can find his translation chart here. Bob goes a good deal deeper into the details of the Psalms than I normally do, and though I rarely comment, I find reading his material quite helpful.

    Randy Ridenour, a mobilized Army Reserve chaplain, gives a very special take on this passage from “the rivers of Babylon.” Relevant interpretation can come in many different ways.

    Keith McIlwain finds the passage very relevant:

    I love Psalm 137, which refers to the Babylonian Exile, because it gives me permission to be angry at times and sad at times. Few things annoy me more than a continually happy Christian. Life can sometimes stink; sometimes, life is painful and makes us angry; sometimes, life is so painful, we want to cry. Psalm 137 gives us permission to go through these moments of agony.

    Perhaps those who find this hard to preach from should consider the reality that is reflected by the Psalm. That won’t make it easy, but it may make it necessary.

  • Censored Lectionary – Psalm 79

    I wrote a post today for my wife’s devotional list that refers to the boundary line between the [tag]lectionary[/tag] reading, Psalm 79:1-9 and the rest of the Psalm.

  • Structure and Literal Translation

    I have found what is probably the best argument for a literal translation. I have certainly used literal translations frequently in commentary, though I favor dynamic equivalence for reading ease.

    But Bob MacDonald, whose blog Bob’s Log has just joined the Philophronos Blogroll, does some extremely interesting work on structure in the Psalms. Now you will get various discussions on this topic scattered through commentaries, but it’s hard to find extended material on the structure of various items of Hebrew Poetry. (Note my own work on the structure of Psalm 104 from a college paper.) Bob has also done some really good charts on the structure of Hebrews, which are on my reading list.

    In any case, there is a level of study that can be facilitated by the kind of translation he does, though most of the people I encounter in Bible studies would not have the patience for it. That’s their loss. I’m happy to try to provide what they are interested in, but there are some wonderful benefits to be gained just from thinking about this kind of work.

    I welcome Bob’s Log to the Philophronos Blogroll.

  • Added to my Blogroll

    I’m adding Bob’s Log to the Bible study blogs section of my blogroll. Bob deals with a great deal of Hebrew poetry, especially the Psalms, and is very interested in structure. I think it will be valuable to look over his shoulder as he works on this interesting material.

  • Psalm 104: Presenting the Message

    Psalm 104 has a distinct message about God’s creation that has stuck with me strongly since I first studied the passage in graduate school. I have previously posted links to my prior study of the text and structure of this Psalm, done more than 25 years ago. I’m starting from that point now.

    When we deal with translation, the message can be presented in many ways. In this case it is presented through poetry. Previously, I worked with Psalm 46, showing how it has been presented in various ways, such as in Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” I then tried to convert the message of the Psalm into the form of an Italian sonnet, at which I can be said to be no better than rank amateur.

    My point, however, is not to demonstrate my skill in transforming Biblical passages, rather it’s to suggest that we need to transform passages in various ways. For example, the message of Psalm 46 could be presented as:

    • A story built around the concept of God as our protector and defender
    • Multiple poetic forms
    • A hymn, as has been done, and in turn that hymn has been musically transformed many times
    • A praise song, or series of praise songs
    • A devotional or even theological essay
    • A drama presented at church

    I did some similar work with the story of Susanna from the apocrypha of Daniel. You can follow the links to related material there.

    All of this falls under the “Share” portion of my Bible study method. I think that Bible students are often the weakest at sharing, but that sharing can be one of the strongest aspects of your approach to Bible study. Thinking of different ways of sharing the message makes you think more about what the message actually is, while getting reactions from others tests the accuracy of your read of the message. Too often our idea of understanding the Bible is reducing it to theological propositions, and then sharing those propositions with others.

    Now don’t get me wrong here. Extracting theological propositions from your Bible study is not a bad thing. It’s just not the only thing. And sharing your theological propositions is not a bad thing either. But just as the Bible uses different ways of sharing, so you can use different ways of sharing. Consider that sharing part of your process of Bible study. It’s a way of exercising your understanding to discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).

    So what about Psalm 104? Well, I think this is a good illustration of precisely this point. Elsewhere, I’ve written about the two creation stories of Genesis–1:1-2:4a & 2:4bff. Now there are a number of approaches to these stories. Some people think they turn up a major Bible contradiction, and thus claim the fact that there are two creation stories as a challenge to the Bible’s inspiration and authority. Others defend against this charge by challenging the idea that there are two stories, thus preventing any contradiction.

    I have another suggestion: The story of God’s creation is much too broad and has way too many implications to be comprehended in any single telling. In Genesis 1, the theme is power and authority. God speaks and it happens. But at the same time God can seem very distant and other in that passage. Now these are part of the doctrine of God–transcendance. But what about God’s presence and care for us, immanence? Well, Genesis 2 and even the story of the fall in Genesis 3 present a God who is with us. Combine them, and we get a better picture of God than we would have had with either one. The stories, rather than contradicting, present two very different perspectives on one topic that’s large enough to allow both to present us with the truth of God and creation.

    But there is yet more that God needs to present to us. In reading Genesis 1-11, one could get the impression of a generally receding God, one who is getting more and more distant from us. That would be a sort of gradual deism, God the creator who is no longer present. Enter another perspective–Psalm 104. God is here, God is present, God is concerned with everything. At the same time God is ultimately powerful. (It would be good to go read Psalm 104 from your favorite Bible version about now.

    God’s power is shown in the first 8 verses. God is absolutely sovereign. God’s word sets the boundaries. The very foundations of the world (or the universe, as I understand it) are set by him. This part ties closely with Genesis 1–God of the powerful, absolute word.

    But then we turn in verse 9 to God’s attention to detail. Everything is beautiful. Everything works together. This culminates with the beautiful exclamation:

    (24) How marvelous are your works, O Lord!
    You made them all wisely.
    The earth is full of your created things.

    This is the detailed attention, the God who is present, providing food for everyone. It may be hard for us to comprehend this, but for God, who is infinite, there is no prioritizing. He can be the powerful God who sets the earth on its foundation and commands the water to be in a particular place, while at the same time being concerned with the food for a single particular lion, or a nesting place for a particular bird. We can’t manage that, because for every bit of attention we give to one thing, something else suffers. But not so with God. And here we have this theological principle about God presented in poetic form.

    But then we get down to the continuing nature of God’s presence.

    (27) All of them look to you,
    To give them their food on time.

    (28) You give to them, so they may gather;
    You open your hand, so they may be satisfied with good.

    (29) You hide your face, and they are disturbed;
    You bring their breath to an end,
    And they return to their dust.

    (30) You send forth your breath, and they are created;
    So you renew the face of the ground.

    It’s not just that God created, it’s that God creates. God is the ever-present creator. Every single move of every single subatomic particle is under God’s control. He doesn’t miss a thing. He doesn’t have a priority list. You are in no danger of falling off God’s radar screen, because nothing ever falls off of it.

    That’s why I call Psalm 104 the third creation story. There are a few other passages, but I think this one neatly ties together Genesis 1 and 2 and gives us the perspective of a God who is constantly present.

    Now the question I’m going to continue with in future posts on this topic is this: How do you share that concept in different ways? How do you catch the right way for you to really comprehend this and apply it? How can you find the right way for a friend?

  • Hebrews 2:5-9: Lower than the Angels

    I’m finally getting back to my series on Hebrews. I apologize for the delay. I will also be posting new entries soon in the series on Isaiah 24-27 and Genesis, where we will be going to chapter 6. In the meantime . . .

    I’m taking a very short piece of a passage for this entry to try to keep things at a workable length. I will tie this into the larger message of chapter 2, which deals with Jesus as an appropriate savior because he is like us as humans. We’ve already looked at part of this in discussing the human and divine aspects of the priesthood of Jesus.

    5Now it was not to angels that he {God} subjected the world to come, which we are discussing. 6Rather, somewhere it is affirmed:

    “What is man that you remember him,
    or the son of man that you are concerned with him?
    7You made him lower than the angels for a little while;
    You crowned him with glory and honor.
    8You placed everything in subjection under his feet.”
    [Psalm 8:5-7 LXX]

    Now in subjecting everything to him, he leaves nothing that is not subject. Yet now we do not yet see everything subject to him. 9But in the phrase “a little while less than the angels” we see Jesus, through the suffering of death, “crowned with glory and honor,” in order that by the grace of God he might taste death on behalf of everyone. — Hebrews 2:5-9 (TFBV)

    Let me outline the message first, and then discuss a couple of interesting problems. Having established in chapter 1 that Jesus is greater than the angels, our author is about to tell us that Jesus is (or was) lower than the angels. You could do worse than to take as your outline Philippians 2:5-11. Jesus is first greater than the angels, then God made him lower “for a little while” and then after that he is crowned with glory and honor. While the sequence is not established here, in both cases “crowned with glory and honor” is inextricably linked with being temporarily made lower than the angels, i.e. a human in all ways.

    Our author gets the words for this from Psalm 8. Now if you have a couple of different translations, or if you know both Greek and Hebrew, you may encounter an interesting problem. The NASB, for example, reads “a little lower than God” in Psalm 8:5. Obviously this wording is not in agreement with our author’s use of the passage. While the NIV uses “heavenly beings,” which will work with “angels” as quoted in our passage, but they still translate “a little lower.”

    In order to make his point, our author needs the reading of the LXX, which is the Bible he’s using. There the Greek word bracu, which can mean “for a little while.” Only in the particular translation that he is using is does this passage mean what he needs it to mean. Indeed, though there may be an alternate reading in some undiscovered Hebrew manuscript, this is not a probable translation of the Hebrew text as we have it.

    There are two elements of difference. First, does the verse mean “a little” or “for a little while.” Does this speak of someone who, for a period of time, became lower than the angels, or does it speak of someone who is, by nature, a little bit lower. Second, is it “angels” or “God”?

    The Hebrew word here is “elohim” which is plural in form, but may be singular of plural in meaning. I think that it is rarely correct to translate this as “divine beings” or angels. It refers to the gods of various nations in many cases, and one could use “divine beings” in that case, but that is to conceal the normal intent of the authors which is to specify that they were thought of as gods by their worshippers, but were not so regarded by the Israelites. Thus I prefer the NASB and NRSV translation of this passage.

    As for “a little while” as opposed to “a little bit” the only evidence in favor of this reading for the Hebrew passage is the translation from the LXX. This does not mean that it is impossible, simply that we seem to have no good evidence for it. In addition, in the context of Psalm 8, time does not seem to be in view. The subject is humanity and its place in creation. God made human beings a little bit lower than himself, and crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all of creation (on earth) to them.

    For translators, this presents a problem. Do you harmonize the passages? Do you present a footnote informing people in the two places? Some people do call for harmonization, but most translators would not consider that ethical. It would be a lie–concealing the actual statements of scripture in order to protect people from knowledge of a scriptural difficulty.

    Personally, I don’t regard the author of Hebrews as presenting us with an exegesis of Psalm 8, but is rather using the wording and epanding it into his own point. It’s a different look at the words. If the passage depends on an exegesis of the Psalm, then we would truly be in trouble, but the wording itself works wonderfully with his subject.

    But is there a further theological connection? I think that there is. Human beings were originally created a little lower than God, and in becoming our redeemer Jesus became our representative. This is one of the aspects of our extended discussion of the priesthood. As such we see a tie here between the creation and the incarnation. God emptied himself into his own creation, making himself in some sense subject to the laws of the physical universe, and even to the choices made by the creatures he created. As I go back to Genesis 6, we will see that God can be grieved by his creation.

    In the same way that he created humanity in the first place, God placed himself in the same state as humanity, with the final result that both Jesus, our priest, and all of humanity might be crowned with glory and honor.

  • Reading Psalm 46

    I’ve been reading Psalm 46 in my devotional time, and have gone through it numerous times now. I’ve blogged about some of the things I’ve been thinking about while working with this Psalm at Threads from Henry’s Web, in an article entitled Translating Psalm 46. Reading poetry is a bit different from reading prose, particularly theological prose. Some people derive theology from the Psalms much too easily. One should pay attention to the genre. (See my article Interpreting Poetry for some ideas.)

    But first let me call attention to some alternate ways of looking at Psalm 46. Martin Luther’s hymn, A Mighty Fortress is our God, translated into English long ago, is built on this Psalm.

    A mighty fortress is our God, a trusty shield and weapon;
    He helps us free from every need that hath us now overtaken.
    The old evil foe now means deadly woe; deep guile and great might
    Are his dread arms in fight; on Earth is not his equal.

    With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected;
    But for us fights the Valiant One, Whom God Himself elected.
    Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is.
    Of Sabbath Lord, and there’s none other God;
    He holds the field forever.

    Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us.
    We tremble not, we fear no ill, they shall not overpower us.
    This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will,
    He can harm us none, he’s judged; the deed is done;
    One little word can fell him.

    The Word they still shall let remain nor any thanks have for it;
    He’s by our side upon the plain with His good gifts and Spirit.
    And take they our life, goods, fame, child and wife,
    Let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won;
    The Kingdom ours remaineth.

    In dealing with translation I tried pouring the content into the form of an Italian sonnet, just for fun (Psalm 46 as an Italian Sonnet). When interpreting poetry, there are many ways to try to “feel” the result, and the feeling is often more important than the theology. In fact, those who have suffered trouble, both Jews and Christians, may wonder about God being “an easily found help in trouble.” People who trusted in God have not always found their help in the form of physical rescue. Often they find strength to endure the trial, or even to go to their deaths, but they are not always saved.

    But this Psalm is a resounding affirmation of God’s power and protection over those who trust in him, and of his presence with his people.

    Textual Issues

    Let me note one textual issue here. Some commentaries add the refrain from verses 7 and 11 between verses 3 and 4 as well. No translations have taken up this conjecture, and it is built entirely on structural considerations. I would suggest that this addition is forcing the text to fit a theory on the structure of the text. It also breaks an extremely eloquent contrast between verses 3 and 4. In verse three we have the chaotic waters roaring and behaving in a destructive way, but in verse 4, the waters are under control and are the source of life.

    Interpretation

    This psalm is usually viewed as a cultic hymn, and indeed it may have found its setting in that context, but I think one needs to get a little bit more specific. This is a community response to trouble based on the most fundamental theology about God. Yes, we can express this confidence in the cult, but the specific situation from which it grows is one of threatening danger, specifically of invasion.

    Verses 1-3 speak of God as creator. Elements here reflect the creation division of the water and the land, the flood as a sense of cosmic destruction (the feel of the P source), and God’s protection of his city. I would place this Psalm before the exile, so I don’t see Ezekiel as a source, but he is surely pulling from the same body of imagery in describing the river of Ezekiel 47.

    That same sense of moving from the God whose power is over all, and who is still in charge even in the midst of chaos is presented here by the stark contrast between verses 3 and 4. Raging waters become life-giving, controlled streams in God’s city. God is present there, it’s his sanctuary. It is the same creator God who is in charge, who sits on the flood (Psalm 29:10-11), who also dwells peacefully with his people and will protect them.

    Verse 7 introduces the refrain, and then verses 8-10 reflect God’s authority over the nations. The nations are in chaos like the sea (see the imagery of Daniel 7), but God is in control there. God is powerful and capable of destruction. God brings his own people peace. For a discussion of this dual imagery, applied to Jesus, see Jesus as King and Priest.

    The God of our parents is with us.

  • 2nd Sunday of Easter, 2005

    Second Sunday of Easter

    April 3, 2005

    I didn’t manage to restart these notes before Lent as I had planned and stated on the web page, but they are restarted now. I am no longer including my working translation so I can focus more on the interpretive process. Where I have worked such translations over enough, they will be found on my Totally Free Bible Version page, a project to work on Bible translation in public with input from anybody and everybody and the result free to anybody. Whether there is an entry there or not, I will include a link to a translation of the passage on the Bible Gateway, normally from the Contemporary English Version (CEV). I apologize for the long break in posting these notes, and hope the new style will be helpful.

    At the bottom of the page is a form for posting response notes. This will allow readers to add their own comments and thoughts.

    (more…)