Translators to the Reader_2

The second installment of “The Translators to the Reader.” I have always loved history, and they make me want to dive in more deeply – and more often. Their words about ancient emporers and kings would no doubt resonate with politicians of all ranks of this or any other day.

Two pull-quotes for me here – both in the “don’t be surprised when people hate you” category (we are defined as much by who hates us as by who loves us):

Whosoever attempteth anything for the public (especially if it pertain to Religion, and to the opening and clearing of the word of God) the same setteth himself upon a stage to be gloated upon by every evil eye, yea, he casteth himself headlong upon pikes, to be gored by every sharp tongue.

He that medleth with men's Religion in any part, medleth with their custom, nay, with their freehold; and though they find no content in that which they have, yet they cannot abide to hear of altering.

What delicious irony. We can be most unhappy about our “Religion” but let anyone dare suggest a change (“Change!?”) and you’d think you just disturbed a Balrog from the Netherworld. “He that medleth with men’s Religion in any part, medleth with their custom.” All true Translators and Reformers “medleth” until their formerly radical meddling becomes the new “custom” – and thus the children of past meddlers bear the pikes with which to skewer all new “meddlers” (heretics and usurpers all!). What an odd game we play…



The Highest Personages have been Calumniated

If we will descend to later times, we shall find many the like examples of such kind, or rather unkind acceptance. The first Roman Emperor did never do a more pleasing deed to the learned, nor more profitable to posterity, for conserving the record of times in true supputation1; than when he corrected the Calendar, and ordered the year according to the course of the Sun; and yet this was imputed to him for novelty, and arrogance, and procured to him great obloquy2. So the first Christened Emperor (at the leastwise that openly professed the faith himself, and allowed others to do the like) for strengthening the Empire at his great charges, and providing for the Church, as he did, got for his labour the name Pupillus, as who would say, a wasteful Prince, that had need of a Guardian or overseer. So the best Christened Emperor, for the love that he bare unto peace, thereby to enrich both himself and his subjects, and because he did not seek war but find it, was judged to be no man at arms, (though indeed he excelled in feats of chivalry, and showed so much when he was provoked) and condemned for giving himself to his ease, and to his pleasure. To be short, the most learned Emperor of former times, (at the least, the greatest politician) what thanks had he for cutting off the superfluities of the laws, and digesting them into some order and method? This, that he hath been blotted by some to be an Epitomist, that is, one that extinguished worthy whole volumes, to bring his abridgments into request. This is the measure that hath been rendered to excellent Princes in former times, even, Cum bene facerent, male audire, For their good deeds to be evil spoken of. Neither is there any likelihood, that envy and malignity died, and were buried with the ancient. No, no, the reproof of Moses taketh hold of most ages; You are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men. [Num 32:14] What is that that hath been done? that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the Sun, saith the wise man: [Ecc 1:9] and S. Stephen, As your fathers did, so do you. [Acts 7:51]

His Majesty's Constancy, Notwithstanding Calumniation, for the Survey of the English Translations

This, and more to this purpose, His Majesty that now reigneth (and long, and long may he reign, and his offspring forever, Himself and children, and children's children always) knew full well, according to the singular wisdom given unto him by God, and the rare learning and experience that he hath attained unto; namely that whosoever attempteth anything for the public (especially if it pertain to Religion, and to the opening and clearing of the word of God) the same setteth himself upon a stage to be gloated upon by every evil eye, yea, he casteth himself headlong upon pikes, to be gored by every sharp tongue. For he that medleth with men's Religion in any part, medleth with their custom, nay, with their freehold; and though they find no content in that which they have, yet they cannot abide to hear of altering. Notwithstanding his Royal heart was not daunted or discouraged for this or that colour, but stood resolute, as a statue immovable, and an anvil not easy to be beaten into plates, as one saith; he knew who had chosen him to be a Soldier, or rather a Captain, and being assured that the course which he intended made much for the glory of God, and the building up of his Church, he would not suffer it to be broken off for whatsoever speeches or practices. It doth certainly belong unto Kings, yea, it doth specially belong unto them, to have care of Religion, yea, to know it aright, yea, to profess it zealously, yea to promote it to the uttermost of their power. This is their glory before all nations which mean well, and this will bring unto them a far most excellent weight of glory in the day of the Lord Jesus. For the Scripture saith not in vain, Them that honor me, I will honor, [1 Sam 2:30] neither was it a vain word that Eusebius delivered long ago, that piety towards God was the weapon, and the only weapon, that both preserved Constantine's person, and avenged him of his enemies.

1 supputation – estimation, reckoning, thought

2 obloquy – abusive speech, disputing

Translators to the Reader _1

The first segment of “The Translators to the Reader” from the 1611 King James Version. Certainly not easy reading, but it will reward you if you will work with it (kinda like the Bible they were translating. You may notice some footnotes in these readings for what I think are unusual words that I had to look up. You may find others to look up for yourself! It’s a delicious irony that the KJV translators saw themselves as pioneers “devising and revising” with a “zeal to promote the common good” and that their heirs treat modern “pioneers” in kind and receive them and their work with “but cold entertainment in the world.”

Pull-quotes for me from this beginning segment (good stuff indeed!):

As oft as we do anything of note or consequence, we subject ourselves to everyone's censure.

Happy is he that is least tossed upon tongues; for utterly to escape the snatch of them it is impossible.

Being brought together to a parley face to face, we sooner compose our differences than by writings which are endless.

So hard a thing it is to please all, even when we please God best.

The Best Things Have Been Calumniated

Zeal to promote the common good, whether it be by devising anything ourselves, or revising that which hath been laboured by others, deserveth certainly much respect and esteem, but yet findeth but cold entertainment in the world. It is welcomed with suspicion instead of love, and with emulation instead of thanks: and if there be any hole left for cavil1 to enter, (and cavil, if it do not find a hole, will make one) it is sure to be misconstrued, and in danger to be condemned. This will easily be granted by as many as know story, or have any experience. For, was there ever any thing projected, that savoured any way of newness or renewing, but the same endured many a storm of gainsaying, or opposition? A man would think that Civility, wholesome Laws, learning and eloquence, Synods, and Church-maintenance, (that we speak of no more things of this kind) should be as safe as a Sanctuary, and out of shot, as they say, that no man would lift up the heel, no, nor dog move his tongue against the motioners of them. For by the first2, we are distinguished from brute beasts lead with sensuality; By the second3, we are bridled and restrained from outrageous behaviour, and from doing of injuries, whether by fraud or by violence; By the third4, we are enabled to inform and reform others, by the light and feeling that we have attained unto ourselves; Briefly, by the fourth5 being brought together to a parley face to face, we sooner compose our differences than by writings which are endless; And lastly6, that the Church be sufficiently provided for, is so agreeable to good reason and conscience, that those mothers are holden to be less cruel, that kill their children as soon as they are born, than those nursing fathers and mothers (wheresoever they be) that withdraw from them who hang upon their breasts (and upon whose breasts again themselves do hang to receive the Spiritual and sincere milk of the word) livelihood and support fit for their estates. Thus it is apparent, that these things which we speak of, are of most necessary use, and therefore, that none, either without absurdity can speak against them, or without note of wickedness can spurn against them.

Yet for all that, the learned know that certain worthy men have been brought to untimely death for none other fault, but for seeking to reduce their countrymen to good order and discipline; and that in some Commonwealths it was made a capital crime, once to motion the making of a new Law for the abrogating of an old, though the same were most pernicious; And that certain, which would be counted pillars of the State, and patterns of Virtue and Prudence, could not be brought for a long time to give way to good Letters and refined speech, but bare themselves as averse from them, as from rocks or boxes of poison; And fourthly, that he was no babe, but a great clerk, that gave forth (and in writing to remain to posterity) in passion peradventure, but yet he gave forth, that he had not seen any profit to come by any Synod, or meeting of the Clergy, but rather the contrary; And lastly, against Church-maintenance and allowance, in such sort, as the Ambassadors and messengers of the great King of Kings should be furnished, it is not unknown what a fiction or fable (so it is esteemed, and for no better by the reporter himself, though superstitious) was devised; Namely, that at such a time as the professors and teachers of Christianity in the Church of Rome, then a true Church, were liberally endowed, a voice forsooth was heard from heaven, saying: Now is poison poured down into the Church, etc. Thus not only as oft as we speak, as one saith, but also as oft as we do anything of note or consequence, we subject ourselves to everyone's censure, and happy is he that is least tossed upon tongues; for utterly to escape the snatch of them it is impossible. If any man conceit, that this is the lot and portion of the meaner sort only, and that Princes are privileged by their high estate, he is deceived. As the sword devoureth as well one as the other, as it is in Samuel [2 Sam 11:25], nay as the great Commander charged his soldiers in a certain battle, to strike at no part of the enemy, but at the face; And as the King of Syria commanded his chief Captains to fight neither with small nor great, save only against the King of Israel: [1 Kings 22:31] so it is too true, that Envy striketh most spitefully at the fairest, and at the chiefest. David was a worthy Prince, and no man to be compared to him for his first deeds, and yet for as worthy as act as ever he did (even for bringing back the Ark of God in solemnity) he was scorned and scoffed at by his own wife [2 Sam 6:16]. Solomon was greater than David, though not in virtue, yet in power: and by his power and wisdom he built a Temple to the Lord, such a one as was the glory of the land of Israel, and the wonder of the whole world. But was that his magnificence liked of by all? We doubt of it. Otherwise, why do they lay it in his son's dish, and call unto him for easing of the burden, Make, say they, the grievous servitude of thy father, and his sore yoke, lighter. [1 Kings 12:4] Belike he had charged them with some levies, and troubled them with some carriages; Hereupon they raise up a tragedy, and wish in their heart the Temple had never been built. So hard a thing it is to please all, even when we please God best, and do seek to approve ourselves to everyone's conscience.

1 cavil = petty fault-finding or criticism

2 Civility

3 wholesome laws

4 learning and eloquence

5 Synods

6 Church maintenance

Happy 400th, KJV!

This year marks the 400th birthday of the King James Version. It’s worth noting.

In January, 1604, at the Hampton Court Conference – a meeting of leading Anglican churchmen along with leaders of the Puritan movement convened by the newly crowned King James I of England – it was proposed that there be a new translation made of the Bible:

“Newly Tranſlated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Tranſlations diligently compared and reuiſed, by his Maiesties speciall Comandement. Appointed to be read in Churches.”

It was a translation that in the Old Testament utilized the current Masoretic Hebrew textual tradition along with the Greek of the Septuagint, the Latin of the Vulgate, and the English of earlier translations such as the Bishop’s Bible, and in the New Testament utilized the Greek text of Erasmus’ Textus Receptus (which accounts for approximately 80% of the text) and once again the Latin of the Vulgate (if I recall correctly, nearly the entire book of Revelation in the KJV was translated not from the Greek, but from the Latin Vulgate). Initially, 54 Anglican scholars were chosen for the work but ultimately the number was whittled down to 47 men working in six committees (five of them assigned different portions of the Bible, a sixth was assigned the Apocrypha – yes, the Apocrypha was included in the KJV at that point, even as it had been in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament used in the time of Christ; in 1644 Parliament forbade reading the Apocrypha in church, and in 1666 the first editions of the King James Version were printed without it).

These 47 scholars labored from 1604 to 1611. When their finished work was printed by the king’s printer, Robert Barker, it faced a long road to acceptance. One only has to imagine what the reaction would be in this country in this century if the present administration (or any administration) proposed a “new translation to be read in the churches.” Oh my. I’m just imagining the piles of burning Bibles – and the fevered ascriptions of “Antichrist!” It wasn’t until 1633 that the King James Version made its entry into Scottish churches. Even slower was acceptance by scholars – such as Hugh Broughton, by some accounts (and surely by his own) the most highly regarded English Hebraist of the time (but who had been excluded from the panel of translators because of his, shall we say, uncongenial manner). In 1611 he issued a total condemnation of the new version, criticising especially the translators' rejection of word-for-word equivalence and stated that "he would rather be torn in pieces by wild horses than that this abominable translation should ever be foisted upon the English people.” You’d think he was talking about the Message.

Some scholars began to acquiesce to the King James Version – at least for the vulgar, unlearned commoners. Men of letters were expected, naturally, to continue reading and studying the Bible in Latin.

But eventually, the King James Version won out over the earlier efforts at English translation (The Geneva Bible, the Bishop’s Bible, et al.) – largely because printers stopped printing them. Over the course of the 18th Century, the King James Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for the English speaking world, and in fact came to be regarded by some as an inspired text in itself – so much so that any challenge to its readings or its textual base came to be regarded as an assault on Holy Scripture itself.

And so the wheel had come full circle.

But whether you love the King James Version or have left it behind long ago (or, as is surely the case for many in our present culture, whether you’ve never even heard of it), this version of the Bible has had a profound influence on our literary and popular culture. It’s 400th birthday is worth noticing by thoughtful followers of Christ as well as thoughtful students of history. For those of you who would dare to follow with me, I would like to mark and celebrate this historical landmark by running here the comments left to us by these 47 scholars in their preface, The Translators to the Reader. You won’t find this in most modern editions of the King James Version, but you will in reproductions of the original 1611 edition. It’s an awesome message – one that speaks volumes quite eloquently to our own continuing (if somewhat lessened) squabbles over the prospect of modern translations. But it’s also 11,403 words long. So I propose to run it in about 10 segments, with some occasional comments and footnotes.

I invite you to read with me, to take in a piece of history, to savor some of our religious heritage as an English speaking people. Read what these scholars of old had to say. And then, why don’t you pick up a copy of the King James Bible and give it a read this year.

open spaces

For each finite thing I saw an end –
            but your command is exceedingly broad.   Psalm 119:96

Broad. Wide. Spacious.

This is the Psalmist’s experience of the “commands,” the “mitzvot” of the Lord. I’m struck by how little we really see. Think about it – what “mitzvot” would the Psalmist be experiencing as so “broad” and “spacious”? Leviticus? Numbers? Deuteronomy? I’m pretty sure we feel pretty cramped in those legal spaces. But he sees something more far reaching than the Great Plains.

We mimic Jesus announcing with such bravado, “Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it.” We, of course, include ourselves in that “narrow few.” Yet perhaps the very narrowness of which Jesus speaks, perhaps the very reason so few find this way to life, is that so few of us, relatively speaking, have the capaciousness of soul to truly take in the wide open spaces of God and his “mitzvot.” Most of us, religious and irregilious, are far too busy constructing our constricting little boxed explanations for life and the world and vigorously defending them.

But the psalmist has found a plain. A wide open space full of possibilities.

Western intellectuals that we are, we often affirm confidently that every statement of Scripture has but one interpretation if understood correctly (and guess who has that correct interpretation?). It’s almost as if we think a word is equal to no more than the sum of its letters and a sentence no more than the sum of its words.

Really?

I’m struck by how little we really see.

Paul, rabbi that he was, could look at a seemingly straightforward statement like Deuteronomy 25:4 “Don’t muzzle the ox when it’s treading out the grain” and see something much more. “Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be a partaker in his hope” says Paul (on a day when he was feeling very Shakespearian…1 Corinthians 9:9-10). Paul moves from ox and threshing to hope and gospel and messenger. Judged by our typical “what did the original author intend” measuring rod, that seems a bit of a leap. And it is – but only for those who don’t yet know the famed wisdom of Rafiki and who don’t know how to “look harder.”

Paul sees two “layers” in Deuteronomy 25:4 and then went so far as to say that the lower layer was “altogether” what God had really meant all along.

Paul saw two layers. Other rabbis said that every word of the Torah had 70 faces and 600,000 meanings. Maybe they overstate the case. Maybe they didn’t count nearly high enough. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves just how inspired the Word really is if we view it in such definable, finite terms. The infinite God giving us a finite revelation. Such a finite Word seems hardly “living and active”…seems more like a specimen jar and smells of formaldehyde.

Open spaces.

Reminds me of Alan Jacobs description of C.S. Lewis in The Narnian:

Lewis’ mind was above all characterized by a willingness to be enchanted and it was his openness to enchantment that held together the various strands of his life – his delight in laughter, his willingness to accept a world made by a good and loving God, and (in some ways above all) his willingness to submit to the charms of a wonderful story, whether written by an Italian poet of the sixteenth century, by Beatrix Potter or by himself. What is “secretly present in what he said about anything” is an openness to delight, to the sense that there’s more to the world than meets the jaundiced eye, to the possibility that anything could happen to someone who is ready to meet that anything. For someone with eyes to see and the courage to explore, even an old wardrobe full of musty coats could be the doorway into another world.

Or even an old Book filled with what some consider but musty words.

walking or talking

Warm-up: read Mark 6:53-7:13

As for you, son of man, you've become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, 'Let's go hear the latest news from God.' They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. To them you're merely entertainment — a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it. Ezekiel 33:30-32 MSG

We have such a propensity to talk.

We can be much like the Athenians who enjoyed nothing more than to hear the latest philosophical/
theological/political trends and talk talk talk about it (or in our case, blog blog blog, post post post). And most of them missed the Lord who didn’t fit into their oh so smart intellectual boxes.

Or perhaps we can be like the Pharisees of old who enjoyed nothing more than to recount and regurgitate the ancient teachings and traditions of their faith. They ended up seeing dirty hands instead of desperate souls in need of God’s hand and healing and pointed fingers of accusation at the Healer who came to touch them.

Jesus called them posers.

Both groups remind me of Ezekiel’s crowd, this crowd of fellow exiles who came out to hear what the eccentric prophet would say this time. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone was selling tickets. Ezekiel poured out the Message and then they would applaud and like Idol judges hold up their scorecards, perhaps wiping away tears if that last tune had been especially touching.

And nothing ever came of anything.

Walking or talking. When it comes right down to it, it really isn’t a matter of one or the other the way some are inclined to emphasize deeds rather than creeds. The fact is the creed (what we believe) produces the deeds (what we do). So they are linked. Both are crucial.

Too much talking and we generally end up in the proverbial paralysis of analysis – or worse still stuck in the dead end of pointless debates. Paul vividly describes this dead end as he repeatedly warns Timothy to avoid the “infantile indulgence” (youthful lusts) of instigating or getting sucked into religious debates that don’t move us to the goal of “love that comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”:

Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God's people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won't be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple. Stay clear of pious talk that is only talk. Words are not mere words, you know. If they're not backed by a godly life, they accumulate as poison in the soul. 2 Timothy 2:14-17 MSG

Having been part of a fellowship in the past that majored in religious debate in which virtually everyone was condemned (besides us) while we ourselves did very little, I can smell it a mile away. Adding insult to injury we regularly belittled other churches who were actually trying to serve the needy (Social gospelers! Show-offs! Do-gooders trying to earn their way into heaven! Ad nauseum). As Ecclesiastes says, it’s a bad business. Just another section of the Ezekiel crowd.

On the other hand if it’s all walking with little or no talking we generally forget just where it is we are going and why – not to mention who we are in the first place.

The challenge is developing a healthy rhythm and balance of each, our talking leading to much walking, our walking spurring on yet more vigrous talking. The challenge is avoiding the twin pitfalls of too little talk that leaves us clueless about just where it is we are headed and that of getting bogged down in excessive and pointless talk while He patiently waits for us to get moving again.

Mattie's Psalm

God of vengeance, O Lord,
    God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth,
    bring down on the proud requital.
How long the wicked, O Lord,
    how long will the wicked exult?
They utter arrogance, speak it,
    all the wrongdoers bandy boasts.
Your people, O Lord, they crush,
    and your estate they abuse.
Widow and sojourner they kill,
    and orphans they murder.
And they say, “Yah will not see,
    and the God of Jacob will not heed.”
Take heed, you brutes in the people,
    and you fools, when will you be wise?”
Who plants the ear, will He not hear?
      Who fashions the eye, will He not look?
The chastiser of nations, will He not punish,
    Who teaches humankind knowledge?

                                               Psalm 94:1-11 Robert Alter’s translation

I had the pleasure this morning of “murmuring” Psalm 94, among others.

Having just viewed True Grit this past weekend, I couldn’t help but see Psalm 94 coming out of Mattie Ross’ mouth – the fiesty 14 year old girl who narrates the story.

First, on the film, I’m trying to remember the last time I found myself just basking in such cinematic beauty. I haven’t seen everything thing the Coen brother’s have done, but I’ve seen some of their more quirky pieces (Raising Arizona, O Brother Where Art Thou) and have thoroughly enjoyed them. This film definitely bears their mark, but they’ve ventured into new territory for them (from what I’ve seen) and done it masterfully. I saw the original theatrical version with the Duke on the big screen forty years ago and so I knew where the story was going (this time with the Dude), and how it would end. And I loved every minute watching it get there. It’s not so much a re-making of the 1969 film but a re-creation of the story, with a few telling differences. This one was far more, well, gritty. And overlaid atop that grittiness was a soundtrack that stirred me to the depths with its simple, haunting subtleties and it drew me in as I watched, Mattie’s theme throughout being strains of the classic hymn Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. It was simply beautiful.

Hope that doesn’t oversell it.

But this story of a young girl seeking justice after her father’s murder suddenly sprung before me in the words of the Psalm I was muttering this morning. David and his fellow psalmists didn’t live in the Old West, but we could say that they lived in an Old East that had much in common with it.

And it just makes me think.

Yes, I grasp the transforming nature of the cross and Jesus’ prayer, “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.” I get the injunction to “as much as it lies within you, live in peace with all men” and it’s ultimate follow-up in Paul’s classic challenge to us to “overcome evil with good.” I understand that as followers of Christ we are in the business of “being killed all day long” rather than doing the killing (too bad the Church has forgotten that through much of its history).

But as I hear the heavenly strains of beheaded souls under the altar in Revelation 6 crying out their own, “How long, O Lord?” I still feel the relevance of Psalm 94 in a world that despite our seemingly civilized manners feels very much practically like an Old Testament world.

I don’t think that means we necessarily all start packing pistols and setting out for justice – though to be fair, Mattie didn’t set out as a vigilante seeking to take vengeance like an “avenger of blood” of old, she turns to the law and employs a marshal, and when she does shoot it’s only in self-defense. In the same way Psalm 94 is not crying out for bloody crusade or jihad – but for the divine intervention of justice in human affairs – which is what the Marshal Cogburns of the world are for.

But I do think it means that perhaps by “outlawing” the sentiments expressed in psalms like this (just try praying this psalm in your next small group meeting or church gathering and see what response you get) we have surrendered to a phony, unbibilcal Christian “niceness” evidencing more an emasculated spirituality that conforms to current cultural norms than embracing a truly biblically informed maturity shaped by Christ.

Perhaps such spiritual emasculation is what can make us cringe at the thought of the torments of hell. The fictional Rooster Cogburn doesn’t strike me as one who would flinch at the thought of it for the likes of a Tom Chaney – and as I’ve waded through most of the gospel of Matthew in the past few days, neither does Jesus seem too. Yes he is meek and lowly of heart, but that very statement in Matthew 11:29 comes on the heels of “Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! Woe to you Capernaum! You think you will be exalted to heaven? You will be cast down to hell.” Makes me think we need to look at that word “meek” again. Now, the very suggestion of parallels between Rooster Cogburn and Jesus Christ no doubt raises an eyebrow or two, but hands down I would choose to stand with either of them in a fight! And the fact is, that’s what we all have on our hands in this world. Reminds me of the classic comment about Aslan – “He’s not safe – but he’s good.” Why do we always seem to be so either/or, so dualistic? He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world or he is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Why do we seem to have such difficulty grasping both, such difficulty “considering the kindness and the severity of God”?

Just wondering about a spirituality that doesn’t have room for such an image of Jesus Christ, of a God who is the “chastiser of nations” – or for Mattie’s psalm of vengeance – as much as I wonder about one that only knows how to play that tune.

Selah.

Psalms - they ain't pretty

Reading the Psalms has been a gritty, invigorating romp.


Part of it has been the pure enjoyment of Robert Alter’s translation of the Psalms. Alter is a foremost Hebrew scholar, and though I’m sure our views differ on many things, he does a wondeful job of catching the pithy Hebrew rhythms of the Psalms, which is the goal of his work. I came to realize I had never really experienced the Psalms until I did so in Hebrew for the first time some twenty years ago. Alter does the best I’ve seen of someone actually catching those Hebrew movements in English.

Though he lauds the beauty of the classic rendering of the King James Version, ultimately he finds it wanting for the simple reason that it is, well, too pretty. The Psalms are not pretty prayers and praise-pieces. They are pithy and pointed and rough, a gutteral sampling of the Hebrew psyche in prayer and worship. They are not refined poetic set-pieces of theology and devotion, they are a roiling and rolling expression of humanity grasping and gasping after God in the midst of a life that all too often makes little sense. More earthy than heavenly – or perhaps better, heavenly glories expressed in earthy rhythms. Heaven meets earth in a sloppy wet kiss. The line from the popular song has stirred more than a few frowns, but it’s not a bad description of the messiness and untidy nature of these ancient Hebrew songs. They are real. As a child I remember being struck by the oddity of seeing men get up to lead congregational prayers and witnessing their voice change and their words suddenly sound very unlike themselves at all. Such men could be reciting and praying seemingly Psalmlike with a King James’ air, but those listening in are hearing more of Shakespeare’s rhythms than the strumming of David.

Which stands as a reminder to me. Prayer and praise are not a performance public or private or otherwise. They are the gritty movements of our own heart and body and tongue as we like the deer pant after the living God in moments high and low. No subject is off-limits, no emotion taboo. If it happens on earth, heaven bends to hear the earthy strains of prayer and praise that issue from it.

The book of Psalms is quoted in the New Testament more frequently than any other Old Testament book (Isaiah is a close second, as I recall). Which means that Jesus and Paul lived in these pages. These Psalms were their climbing companions. When we, like the disciples, would ask either of them to “teach us to pray” they both would ultimately point us here (note that the “Lord’s prayer” that Jesus taught his disciples to pray is just as pithy and pointed, which is why we have remembered and passed it on for nearly two millenia).

May our experience of the Psalms free us from the seeming devoutness of flowery sacred speak, and into the gritty and earthy movements of truly inspired prayer and praise and poetry marked by our own rhythms as we would dare open our mouths in answering speech to God.