Response regarding Psalm 70:3

I was going to leave a rather lengthy comment over at Damian’s blog, Castle of Nutshells, after reading his latest post. However, I think it will be easier to reply via my own blog, and it will also serve as some relief from my recent drought of content. So, before reading my reply, please head over to his blog and read his original post please:

Blind Comparison: Psalm 70:3

Ok, so I balked at the ‘Aha, aha!’ in the singing of Psalm 70 in the liturgy last Sunday, and went looking for an alternative translation
[snip]
Surprisingly, there are none! The only translation I can find with an alternative is the Message, which is totally random

Now, I am not sure which translations he quoted from because he did a blind comparison. However, I do know that I own seven translations (NETS from the Greek makes eight!) which do not use “aha!” in their rendering and so I will quote from them:

• let those who cry ‘Hurrah!’ at my downfall
  turn back at the shame they incur,
  New English Bible
• Let those who cry ‘Hurrah!’ withdraw in their shame.
  Revised English Bible
• May those who make fun of me be dismayed by their defeat.
  Good News Bible
• Let those who make fun of me stop because of their shame.
  New Century Version
• Embarrass and shame those who say, “We told you so!”
  Contemporary English Version
• May those who make fun of me be too embarrassed to speak.
  Easy-to-Read Version
• Let those who say, “O, O!” be turned back because of their shame.
  New Life Version
• May those who say, “Good, Good!” be turned back promptly with shame.
  A New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS)

First off, let me just say that the New Life Version continues to be one of the worst translations of scripture that I’ve ever read. Hopefully someone finds it edifying, however this may be the first and last time I feature this particular translation on my blog as it is consistently bad. Anyways, there is quite a variety in translations above, and they seem to lean on the dynamic side of things. Note that the NETS is based on the Greek Septuagint and tends to lean towards a more literal rendering. However, since it is not based on the Hebrew, I will not mention anything else about it. Though I would love it if one of my readers would make a special post about the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew for Psalm 70:3. Getting back to the original post, Damian asks two questions:

Firstly, what is translated ‘Aha!’, that there is no alternative, even in relatively dynamic translations?

I will skip the second part of his question because I have already answered it with multiple alternatives above. The Hebrew word that is underlying the English here is הֶאָח (he’ ah), which is Strong’s #1889, and GK #2027. From what I can tell, it only occurs 11-12 times in the Hebrew scriptures in the following passages: Job 39:25, Ps 35:21, Ps 35:25, Ps 40:15, Ps 70:3, Eze 25:3, Eze 26:2, and Eze 36:2. Feel free to look up those references if you’d like. I’m not sure what to say about the word itself as my dictionary simply points out that it means “Ah!” or “Aha!” In trying to sound out the Hebrew word, to me it almost sounds like what I would say as “Ha ha!” or in internet slang, “hahahahahahah!” Something that those in literary circles like to call onomatopoeia (with special thanks to the Greek language once again). I have no idea if that is what this word is, as I am no Hebrew scholar, but I would be interested to find out. On to his second question:

Secondly, Why the variation in the verb translation? Which do you think is most accurate?

As well as, of course, if you recognise any translations, if you favour any,  and why. I’m also curious about your opinion on the Message.

Now in reply, I am not sure where to go from here. For one, I have no idea what the underlying Hebrew means at all, other than through English translations. Also, I do not own any good commentaries on the Psalms and don’t have time to visit the local universities at this late hour. As far as which translation I favor… I would probably prefer to look at the entire Psalm before making a decision. However, the NEB is quite nice, and also uses a nice poetic layout on the page of my copy here before me. The Message seems to be too colloquial in it’s rendering, and I prefer many of the other translations. It does seems to capture the spirit of the Psalm I think.

I wasn’t planning on including this much text in my original reply, and so I am glad that I’ve replied here. Feel free to jump into the discussion yourself by either commenting here, at Damian’s blog, or at your own blog. If you make your own post, please link back to us so that we can read what you have to say. Thank you Damian for the interesting post, and hopefully someone can enlighten us further.

 

Book- Greek for the Rest of Us

I have finally finished reading the book I selected as my introduction for the Greek of the New Testament. Mounce’s book was more helpful than I expected, and my abilities in Greek have grown much more quickly than anticipated. If you are not familiar with it, Greek for the Rest of Us is written for those who wish to study the Bible with some depth, but don’t have the time or inclination to learn Greek. In my opinion this book meets it’s goal and is very approachable. If you have a desire to be able to study the Bible in more depth and use better resources then this is the book for you.

The book is broken down into six units designed to be covered over the course of six weeks. It arrived in the mail seven weeks ago, so I’d say that this is a pretty accurate way to break the material down. The book starts off with the Greek alphabet and then covers English grammar followed by a basic overview of Greek grammar. In addition, the use of bible study helps is covered, as this is the whole purpose of the book. Namely how to use electronic tools, concordances, lexicons, and commentaries, all from the perspective of having only a basic foundation in Greek. I admit that I already did most of the things recommended already, though this would be an excellent beginning for someone who is looking to get started for the first time.

I should point out that I purchased a paperback copy which does not come with the CD. At the time I couldn’t find the older hardback which includes the CD. If you click the image above it will link you to Eisenbrauns which currently has one hardback in stock. If you’d rather just use the paperback like I did, you can grab a copy from Amazon. Note that if you don’t get the hardback, the CD lectures are available for free online at the Biblical Training website. Last but not least, the book ends with an appendix that applies the same approach used with Greek but to the Hebrew language. It is a very brief exposure to the language and would help get you started in the right direction. I am holding off on learning Hebrew for now until I have made my way through a few Greek grammars and the Greek New testament first.

I noticed last month that Zondervan is publishing a companion to this volume later this summer, cleverly titled: Hebrew for the Rest of Us. I also forgot to mention that Mounce makes use of one of his other books (surprise) which is in the same series and which I have also found helpful called Interlinear for the Rest of Us. I’ll be starting my first Greek grammar just as soon as I finish my Essential English Grammar. I’m halfway through it now so I am guessing that I will start teaching myself Greek from a proper textbook this weekend.

[Update]

The copy at Eisenbrauns sold. There were two hardback copies on Amazon yesterday and there is only one left now. It looks like there is one affordable copy at Barnes & Noble as well.

 

An Acrostic Psalm

Psalm 112

Alleluia!
Blessed is the man who reveres the LORD, whose
Commandments he takes great delight in!
Descendants of his will be mighty in the land;
Each generation of the upright will be blessed.
For there will be wealth and
Great riches in his house;
His righteousness will stand forever.
In darkness Light arises for the upright, being
Just and gracious and compassionate.
Kind is the merciful man who lends; he contains his speech with judgment.
Let him never be shaken,
May the righteous be remembered forever.
Nor will he fear bad news;
Out of his heart he establishes trust in the LORD.
Propping up his heart he will not
Quake with fear, even though he sees his foes.
Roaming widely, he has given to the needy.
So his righteousness will stand forever,
The horn of his strength will be exalted in glory;
Until the wicked see it and become
Vexed, they will gnash their teeth and melt away;
Wicked one’s desires will perish!

I was reading this Psalm a couple of months ago and wondered how it would look in English. I could probably improve on it, but this was the draft I ended up saving and stopping with. I’ve found some other modernized psalms online which make for great reading over at Lingamish.

 

Help Wanted: Greek New Testament online?

I’ve just realized that I don’t have an electronic form of the GNT readily available. For that matter, the same problem with the Hebrew… I downloaded an e-sword module that includes text variants but I have no idea what version it is. The first thing I found that looks promising is The Unbound Bible courtesy of Biola. It appears that I can get results for the “Westcott/Hort, UBS4 variants” though I’m not really sure what is the best way to go. If anyone has any suggestions for an online resource that I can easily paste the latest critical editions of Greek (or Hebrew) for quoting on my blog please link them for me.