Table of Contents

Translation of Psalms 1 - 41

1876-7.

PSALM 1.

PSALM 2.

PSALM 3.

PSALM 4.

PSALM 5.

PSALM 6.

PSALM 7.

PSALM 8.

PSALM 9.

PSALM 10.

PSALM 11.

PSALM 12.

PSALM 13.

PSALM 14.

PSALM 15.

PSALM 16.

PSALM 17.

PSALM 18.

PSALM 19.

PSALM 20.

PSALM 21.

PSALM 22.

PSALM 23.

PSALM 24.

PSALM 25.

PSALM 26.

PSALM 27.

PSALM 28.

PSALM 29.

PSALM 30.

PSALM 31.

PSALM 32.

PSALM 33.

PSALM 34.

PSALM 35.

PSALM 36.

PSALM 37.

PSALM 38.

PSALM 39.

PSALM 40.

PSALM 41.

Examination of the Hebrew Bible

as to the Structure and Idiom of the Language.

1876-7.

THE TENSES: THEIR FORCE, AND HOW TO BE RENDERED.

IN THE FOLLOWING ILLUSTRATION,

REMARKS.

TRANSLATION OF GENESIS 1: 1-12 - 4: 26.

G. V. Wigram - Memorials Volume 2: Part 2 Critical

G. V. Wigram

This document may be found online at www.stempublishing.com

You are welcome to freely access and use this material for personal study or sending to other Bible students, compiling extracts for notes etc, but please do not republish without permission.

With the prayerful desire that the Lord Jesus Christ will use this God-given ministry in this form for His glory and the blessing of many in these last days before His coming. © Les Hodgett (contact@stempublishing.com) (2011)

Translation of Psalms 1 - 41

Translation of Psalms 1 - 41.

G. V. Wigram.

from 'Memorials' Vol. 2, Part Second, CRITICAL.

1876-7.

N.B. p goes before a perfect tense, and f before a future or present, of an indicative mood; b before an infinitive; c before an imperative; d before participles; v before Vav, etc., however else translated.

PSALM 1.

1 Blessed is The man that p has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, v and in the way of sinners p has not stood, v and in the seat of d the scornful p has not sat.

2 But in the law of Jehovah his delight; v and in his law f he meditates day v and night.

3 v And * p he was to be like a tree d planted by the rivers of waters, that f brings forth his fruit in his season; v and his leaf f does not wither; v and all that f he does f shall prosper.

4 Not so The ungodly; but like the chaff that the wind f drives away.

5 Therefore the ungodly f shall not stand† in the judgment, v or sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For Jehovah is d knowing the way of the righteous; v but the way of the ungodly f shall perish.

* See Rom. 4: 17. Such was the counsel of God.

†John 5: 29. Query.

PSALM 2.

1 Why p have raged the Nations, v and why do the side-nations * f imagine a vain thing?

2 Kings of the earth f do set themselves, v and d rulers p have taken counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his Anointed, saying,

3 f We will break asunder their bands, v and f cast away their cords from us.

4 d He sitting in the heavens f shall laugh; Adonay f shall have them in derision.

5 Then f shall he speak to them in his wrath, v and in his sore displeasure f vex them;

6 v Yet I p have set my King upon Zion, hill of my holiness.

7 f I will declare the decree: Jehovah p has said to me, my Son art thou; t This day p have I begotten thee.

8 c Ask of me, v and f I will give thee the Nations for thine inheritance, v and for thy possession the ends of earth.

9 f Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; like a vessel of d a moulder f thou shalt dash them in pieces:

10 v And now ye kings c be wise; c be instructed ye d judges of earth.

11 c Serve Jehovah with fear, v and c rejoice with trembling.

12 c Kiss the Son, lest f he shall be angry, v and f ye perish from the way; for f does his wrath burn even as a little. Blessed are all d trusting in him.

* 'Leummim,' side-nations.

PSALM 3.

1 A psalm of David. b In his fleeing from the face of Absalom his son.

2 Jehovah, how p have increased my troublers! many d those rising up against me;

3 Many d those saying of my soul, No help for him in Elohim. Pause.

4 v But thou, Jehovah, art a shield round about me; my glory, v and d the one lifting up my head.

5 With my voice to Jehovah f I cry; v and f he hears me from the hill of his holiness. Pause.

6 I p laid me down v and f I sleep; p I awoke; for Jehovah f sustains me.

7 Not f will I fear ten thousands of the People, that around p have set themselves against me.

8 c Arise, Jehovah; c save me, my Elohim; for p thou hast smitten all d my enemies on the cheekbone; the teeth of the ungodly p hast thou broken.

9 Of [or to] Jehovah is The salvation; on thy People is thy blessing. Pause.

PSALM 4.

1 For d the chief musician* on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

2 b In My calling, c hear me, Elohim of my righteousness; p thou hast made enlargement for me in the distress; c have mercy on me, v and c hear my prayer.

3 Ye sons of men, how long is my glory for a shame? f ye love vanity, f ye seek after lying. Pause.

4 v But c know that Jehovah p has set apart the godly for himself; Jehovah f hears b in my calling on him.

5 c Stand in awe, v and f ye shall not sin; c commune with your own heart on your bed, v and c be still. Pause.

6 c Sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness, v and c trust in Jehovah.

7 Many d are saying, Who f will show us good? c Lift thou up the light of thy countenance on us, Jehovah.

8 p Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time their corn and their wine p increased.

9 In peace f will I both lay me down v and f sleep; for thou, Jehovah, alone, f makest me to dwell in safety.

*Chief musician; lit. d the one that has excelled.

PSALM 5.

1 For d the chief Musician on The flutes. A psalm of David.

2 My words c give ear to, Jehovah, c consider my meditation;

3 c Hearken to the voice of my cry, my King v and my Elohim; for to thee f I pray.

4 Jehovah, in the morning f thou wilt hear my voice; in the morning f will I direct my prayer to thee, v and f will look up:

5 For thou art not an El desirous of wickedness; not f shall dwell with thee evil;

6 Not f shall stand d the foolish before thine eyes; f thou hast hated all d workers of iniquity.

7 f Thou wilt destroy d those speaking lies; Jehovah f abhors the man of blood v and deceit.

8 v But I, — in the multitude of thy mercy, f I will come to thy house; f I will worship toward the temple of thy holiness in thy fear.

9 Jehovah, c lead me in thy righteousness because of d my enemies; c make straight before my face thy way.

10 For there is nothing in their mouth* d upright; their inward part is wickedness: a sepulchre open their throat; with their tongue f they flatter.

11 c Destroy thou them, Elohim; f they shall fall by their own counsels; in the multitude of their transgressions c cast them out; for p they have rebelled against thee.

12 v But f shall rejoice all d those trusting in thee; for ever f shall they shout for joy; v and f thou defendest them; v and f shall be joyful in thee d the lovers of thy name.

13 For thou f wilt bless, Jehovah, the righteous; as a shield f wilt thou with favour compass him.

*Lit. 'his mouth'; i.e. the mouth of every one of them. — ED.

PSALM 6.

1 For d the chief Musician on stringed instruments. On The 8th. A Psalm of David.

2 Jehovah, not in thine anger f wilt thou rebuke me; v and not in thy hot-displeasure f wilt thou chasten me.

3 c Have mercy on me, Jehovah, for d weak am I; c heal me, Jehovah, for my bones p have been vexed.

4 v And my soul p has been sore vexed; v but thou, Jehovah, how long!

5 c Return, Jehovah, c deliver my soul; c save me for the sake of thy mercy.

6 For remembrance of thee, in death, there is none; in the grave* who f will give thee thanks?

7 p I have been wearied with my groaning; f I make to swim my bed through all the night; with my tears my couch f I water.

8 Mine eye p has been consumed by grief; p it has waxed old because of all d my enemies.

9 c Depart from me, all d ye working iniquity; for Jehovah p has heard the voice of my weeping.

10 Jehovah p has heard my supplication; Jehovah f receives my prayer.

11 All d my enemies f shall be ashamed v and f shall be sore vexed; f they shall return; f they shall be suddenly ashamed.

*It is 'Sheol,' the grave; not Gehenna, hell.

PSALM 7.

1 A wandering-ode. Of David. Which p he sang to Jehovah, on the words of Cush the Benjamite.

2 Jehovah my Elohim, in thee p have I trusted; c save me from all d persecuting me, v and c deliver me;

3 Lest f he shall tear like a lion my soul, d rending in pieces, v and none d delivering.

4 Jehovah my Elohim, if p I have done this; if the existence of iniquity is in my hands;

5 If p I have rewarded evil to d the one peaceful to me; v yea, f I deliver d him being mine enemy causelessly:

6 d The enemy f shall persecute my soul, v and f take it; v yea, f tread down my life to the earth, v and f cause my honour to dwell in the dust. Pause.

7 c Arise, Jehovah, in thine anger, c lift up thyself because of the rage d of my enemies; v and c awake for me the judgment p thou hast commanded.

8 v So the congregation of side-nations f shall compass thee about; v and for its sake c return thou on high.

9 Jehovah f shall judge the Peoples; c judge me, Jehovah, according to my righteousness, v and according to my integrity upon me.

10 Assuredly, now, the wickedness of the wicked f shall come to an end; v but f thou wilt establish the righteous; v and d trier of hearts v and reins is righteous Elohim.

11 My shield is of Elohim, d saving the upright of heart,

12 Elohim is d judge of [or for] the righteous, v and El is d angry every day.

13 If f one turns not, his sword f will he whet; his bow p he has bent, v and f makes it ready;

14 v and for him p he has prepared instruments of death; he f works his arrows against d the persecutors.

15 Behold, f he travails with iniquity, v and p has conceived mischief, v and p has brought forth falsehood.

16 A pit p he made; v and f he digs it, v and f falls into the ditch f he makes.

17 His mischief f shall return on his own head, v and on his own pate his violence f shall come down.

18 f l will praise Jehovah according to his righteousness; v and f I will sing the name of Jehovah Most High, as praise.

PSALM 8.

1 For d the chief-Musician on The wine Vat. A Psalm of David.

2 Jehovah our Lord [Adonim], how excellent thy name in all The earth! as to which c set* thou thy glory above The heavens.

3 Out of the mouth of babes v and d sucklings p hast thou ordained strength, because of d thy enemies b to still the d enemy v and d avenger.

4 When f I consider thy heavens, work of thy fingers, moon v and stars which p thou hast ordained;

5 What is man, that f thou art mindful of him? v and the son of man, that f thou visitest him?

6 v For f thou makest him a little lower than the angels [elohim], v and with glory v and honour f thou crownest him.

7 f Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; all p thou hast put under his feet;

8 Sheep v and oxen all of them, v yea, also, beasts of the field;

9 Fowl of heavens v and fishes of The sea - d passing the paths of the seas.

10 Jehovah, our Lord [Adonim], how excellent thy name in all The earth!

*The word rendered here "set thou" is in the imperative. It occurs twenty-four times in the Old Testament, and here only was translated "hast set," which it could not be.

PSALM 9.

1 For d the chief-Musician, concerning death for the son, A Psalm of David.

2 f I will praise Jehovah, with all my heart; f I will show forth all thy marvellous works.

3 f I will be glad v and f rejoice in thee; f I will sing praise to thy name, Most High.

4 In b the turning back of d my enemies, f they shall fall v and f perish from thy presence.

5 For p thou hast maintained my right v and my cause; p thou satest in the throne d judging [or judge of] righteousness.

6 p Thou hast rebuked the Nations, p thou hast destroyed the wicked; their name p thou hast put out for ever v and ever.

7 O d enemy, destructions p have ended for perpetuity; v and cities p thou hast destroyed; their memorial p has perished with them.

8 v But Jehovah f endures for ever: p he has prepared for judgment his throne.

9 v And he f will judge the world in righteousness, f he will minister judgment to the side-nations in uprightness.

10 v And Jehovah f will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge for times in trouble.

11 v And f will trust in thee d those knowing thy name; for not p hast thou forsaken d those seeking thee, Jehovah.

12 c Sing praises to Jehovah, d the dweller in Zion: c declare among The Peoples his doings.

13 For d making inquisition for blood, them p he remembered; p not has he forgotten the cry of the humble.

14 c Have mercy on me, Jehovah! c consider [Raah] my trouble d from my haters, d thou that art lifting me up from the gates of death:

15 That f I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion; f I will rejoice in thy salvation.

16 The Nations p have sunk down in the pit p they made; in the net which p they hid, their own foot p has been taken.

17 Jehovah p has been known by the judgment p he has executed; in the work of his hands the wicked d is snared. Meditation. Pause.

18 The wicked f shall be turned into hell;* all the Nations forgetting Elohim.

19 For not alway - f shall be forgotten the needy; — [nor] the expectation of the poor f perish for ever.

20 c Arise, Jehovah; f man shall not prevail; the Nations f shall be judged in thy presence.

21 c Put, Jehovah, fear on them; the Nations f shall know that they are men. Pause.

*'Sheol,' the grave.

PSALM 10.

1 Why, Jehovah, f standest thou in the distance? f thou hidest for the times in trouble!

2 In the pride of the wicked f he persecutes the poor; f they will be taken in the devices which p they have imagined.

3 For the wicked p has boasted of his soul's desire, v and p has blessed d the covetous; — Jehovah p has abhorred him.*

4 The wicked according to the pride of his countenance, f will not seek; Elohim, there is none, is all his thoughts.

5 His ways f are grievous at every time; thy judgments are a height far above him; all d his enemies, f he puffs at them.

6 p He has said in his heart, f I shall not be moved, who am not for ever and ever in adversity.

7 Cursing p has filled his mouth f and deceit v and fraud; under his tongue mischief v and evil.

8 f He sits in the lurking-places of the villages; in the secret places f he murders the innocent; his eyes f are privily set against the poor;

9 f He lies in wait in the secret place, as a lion in his den; f he lies in wait b to catch the poor: f he catches the poor b by drawing him into his net;

10 f He crouches, he f humbles himself, v and the poor p have fallen by his strong ones.

11 p He said in his heart, El p has forgotten; p he has hid his face; p he has not seen — for ever;

12 c Arise, Jehovah, El c lift up thy hand; f thou wilt not forget the humble.

13 Wherefore p has the wicked contemned Elohim; p he has said in his heart, f thou wilt not require it.

14 p Thou hast seen it, for thou f beholdest mischief v and spite, b to requite it with thy hand; the poor f commits himself to thee; of the fatherless thou p hast been d the helper.

15 c Break thou the arm of the wicked v and evil; f thou wilt seek out his wickedness till f thou shalt not find any.

16 Jehovah is King for ever v and ever; the Nations p have perished out of his land.

17 The desire of the humble p thou hast heard, Jehovah; f thou preparest their heart, f thou causest thine ear to hear;

18 b To judge the fatherless v and oppressed, till not any more the man from The earth f shall repeat b to oppress.

* So A.V., but 'He has abhorred Jehovah' is better, which verse 13 would seem to confirm. — ED.

PSALM 11.

1 For d the chief-musician. David's. In Jehovah p have I trusted; how f say ye to my soul, c Flee, bird, to your mountain:

2 For, lo, The wicked f bend the bow, p they have made ready their arrow on the string to b shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.

3 If The foundations f are destroyed, the righteous what p has he done?

4 Jehovah is in the temple of his holiness; Jehovah, in the heavens is his throne; his eyes f behold, his eyelids f try the children of men:

5 Jehovah f tries the righteous; v but the wicked v and d the lover of violence his soul p has hated.

6 He f shall rain on the wicked snares, fire v and brimstone, v and a wind of burnings; portion of their cup.

7 For righteous Jehovah righteousness p has loved; his countenance f beholds the upright.

PSALM 12.

1 For d the chief-Musician on The 8th. A Psalm of David.

2 c Help, Jehovah; for the godly man p has ceased; for the faithful p have failed from among the children of men.

3 Vanity f they speak, each with his neighbour; with lip of flatteries and with a double heart [lit. a heart and a heart] f do they speak.

4 Jehovah f shall cut off all lips of flatteries, the tongue d speaking proud things,

5 Which p have said, with our tongue f will we prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord [adon] over us?

6 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now f will I arise, f saith Jehovah; f I will set him in safety as to him that f puffs at him.

7 The words of Jehovah are pure words; silver d tried in furnace of earth, d purified seven times.

8 Thou f shalt keep them, Jehovah; f thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

9 The wicked f walk around, according to f the exalting of the vilest of the children of men.

PSALM 13.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 Till when, Jehovah, f wilt thou forget me? For ever? Till when f hidest thou thy face from me.

3 Till when f shall I take counsel in my soul, sorrow is in my heart daily; till when f shall d mine enemy be exalted over me?

4 c Consider, c hear me, Jehovah my Elohim; c lighten mine eyes, lest f I sleep The sleep of death;

5 Lest d my enemy f shall say, p I have prevailed against him; my troublers f rejoice when f I am moved.

6 v But I in thy mercy p have trusted; my heart f shall rejoice in thy salvation; f I will sing to Jehovah, for p he has dealt bountifully with me.

PSALM 14.

1 For d the chief-Musician. Of David. The fool p has said in his heart, No, Elohim. p They have been corrupt, p have done abominable works; there is none d doing good.

2 Jehovah p looked down from heaven on the children of men, b to see whether there was the existence of d an understanding one, d seeking Elohim.

3 p Have these all gone aside, together? p Have they become filthy? Is there none d doing good, none, not even one!

4 Whether p have all d the workers of iniquity no knowledge? d eating up my People p they have eaten bread; on Jehovah p have they not called.

5 There p they feared a great fear; for Elohim is in the generation of the righteous.

6 The counsel of the poor f you put to shame, because Jehovah is his refuge.

7 Who f will give the salvation of Israel out of Zion! b in Jehovah's leading captive* the captivity of his People, Jacob f shall rejoice, Israel f shall be glad.

*Rather 'turning back' — ED.

PSALM 15.

1 A Psalm of David. Jehovah, who f shall abide in thy tabernacle? who f shall dwell in the hill of thy holiness?

2 d He walking uprightly, v and d working righteousness, v and d speaking the truth in his heart,

3 p He has not backbitten with his tongue: p he has not done to his neighbour evil, v and a reproach against his neighbour p he has not taken up.

4 d A vile person in his eyes p has been contemned; v and d the fearers of Jehovah f he honours; p he has sworn to b his own hurt, v and f he changes not.

5 His silver p he has not put out at usury; v and a bribe against, the innocent p he has not taken; d doing these things f he shall never be moved.

PSALM 16.

1 A golden Psalm of David. c Preserve me, El; for p I have trusted in thee.

2 My soul, p thou hast said* to Jehovah, Adonay art thou; my goodness not to thee,

3 But to the saints that are on earth v and the excellent; in them is all my delight.

4 Their sorrows f shall be multiplied; p they have hastened after another; not f will I offer their drink-offerings of blood, v and not f will I take up their names on my lips.

5 Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance v and of my cup; thou f dost maintain my lot.

6 The lines p have fallen to me in pleasant things; yea, a heritage of beauty is mine.

7 f I will bless Jehovah, who p has given me counsel; my reins also p have instructed me in the night-seasons.

8 p I have set Jehovah before me always; because he is at my right hand, f I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart p has been glad, v and my glory f rejoices; my flesh also f shall rest in hope.

10 For f thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;† f thou wilt not suffer thy holy one b to see corruption:

11 f Thou wilt make me to know the path of life; fulness of joys is in thy presence; pleasures at thy right hand for evermore.

*The verb is feminine, so perhaps "my soul," which is feminine, may be understood here.

†'Sheol,' not gehenna.

PSALM 17.

1 A prayer of David. c Hear, Jehovah, righteousness; f attend to my cry; c give ear to my prayer which is not from lips of deceit.

2 From thy presence my sentence f shall come forth; thine eyes f behold upright things.

3 p Thou hast proved my heart; p thou hast visited me at night; p thou hast tried me, f thou wilt not find anything; p I have purposed it; my mouth f shall not transgress.

4 As to the works of men, by the word of thy lips I p have kept from the paths of the destroyer.

5 b Holding up my goings in thy pathways, my footsteps p have not slipped.

6 I p have called on thee, for f thou hearest me, El; c incline thine ear to me, c hear my speech.

7 c Show thy loving-kindness, d causing to save by thy right hand d those trusting in thee d from those rising up against them.

8 c Keep me as the apple of the eye;* under the shadow of thy wings f thou wilt hide me.

9 From the face of the wicked who p have oppressed me, d my enemies against the soul, f they compass me about.

10 Their fat p has inclosed them; as to their mouth p they have spoken with pride.

11 As to our steps, p they have now compassed us in; their eyes f they set b to bow down on the earth,

12 Like as a lion f is greedy b to tear in pieces, v and as a young lion d lurking in secret places.

13 c Arise, Jehovah, c anticipate his face, c cast him down: c deliver my soul from the wicked who is thy sword:

14 From mortals which are thy hand, Jehovah, from mortals of the world; their portion is in this life, v and with thy hidden things f thou fillest their belly; f they are full of children, v and p have left their residue to their babes.

15 I, — in righteousness f will I behold thy face; f I shall be satisfied b in waking up in thy likeness.

*'The apple of the eye;' lit. 'the little man the daughter of the eye:' a man looking into the eye of another, sees himself reflected there.

PSALM 18.

1 For d the chief Musician. For the servant of Jehovah, David: who p spake to Jehovah the words of The [or This] very song in the day Jehovah p delivered him from the hand of all d his enemies, v and from the hand of Saul.

2 And f he says: Jehovah, my strength, f I love thee.

3 Jehovah my rock, v and my fortress v and d my deliverer; my El, my strength, f I trust in him; my buckler, v and horn of my salvation, my high-tower.

4 f I call on Jehovah d who is praise-worthy: v and f I shall be saved from d my enemies.

5 Cords of death p compassed me, v and floods of belial [ungodliness] f make me afraid.

6 The cords of hell* p surrounded me: the snares of death p anticipated me.

7 In distress on me, f I call on Jehovah, v and f cry to my Elohim; f he hears my voice from his temple, v and my cry before his face f comes into his ears.

8 v And The earth f shakes and f trembles; v and the foundations of the hills f move v and f are shaken, for p there is wrath to him.

9 A smoke p went up out of his nostrils, v and fire from his mouth f devours: coals p were kindled by it.

10 v And f he bows the heavens, v and f comes down; v and darkness is under his feet.

11 v And f he rides on a cherub, and f flies; v yea, f he flies on the wings of the wind.

12 f He makes darkness his secret-place; round about him, his pavilion is darkness of waters, thick-clouds of the skies.

13 From the brightness before him his thick-clouds p passed, hail v and coals of fire;

14 v And Jehovah f thunders in the heavens, v and the Most-High f gives forth his voice; hail v and coals of fire;

15 v And f he sends out his arrows, v and f scatters them; v and p he shot out lightnings, v and f discomforts them;

16 v And the channels of waters f are seen, v and the foundations of the world f are discovered at thy rebuke, Jehovah; at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils:

17 f He sends from above, f he takes me, f he draws me out of many waters,

18 f He delivers me from my strong d enemy v and from d those hating me; for p they were strong above me.

19 f They anticipate me in the day of my calamity; v but Jehovah f is for a stay to me;

20 v And f he brings me forth into a large place; f he delivers me, because p he delighted in me.

21 Jehovah f rewards me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands f does he recompense me.

22 For p I have kept the ways of Jehovah, v and p have not wickedly departed from my Elohim.

23 For all his judgments are before me, v and f I put not away his statutes from me.

24 v And f I am upright with him, v and f keep myself from my iniquity.

25 v And Jehovah f recompenses me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

26 With the merciful f thou wilt show thyself merciful: with an upright mighty one f thou wilt show thyself upright;

27 With d the pure f thou wilt show thyself pure; v and with the froward f thou wilt show thyself froward.

28 For thou f wilt save an afflicted People; v but f wilt bring down eyes of exaltation.

29 For thou f wilt light my candle; Jehovah, my Elohim, f will enlighten my darkness.

30 For by thee f I run through a troop, v and by my Elohim f I leap a wall;

31 The El, his way is perfect; the word of Jehovah is d tried; a buckler he to all Those d trusting in him.

32 For who is Eloah besides Jehovah? v and who a rock save our Elohim;

33 The El, The one d girding me with strength, v and f he makes my way perfect;

34 d Making my feet like the hinds, v and f he sets me on my high places;

35 d Teaching my hands for the war, v and a bow of steel p has been broken by my arms.

36 v And f thou givest to me the shield of thy salvation; v and thy right hand f holds me up, v and thy gentleness f makes me great.

37 f Thou enlargest my steps under me, v and my feet p have not slipped.

38 f I will pursue d mine enemies, v and f overtake them, v and f not turn again till b their consuming.

39 f I wound them, v and f they are not able b to rise; f they are fallen under my feet.

40 v And f thou girdest me with strength for the battle; f thou subduest under Me d those rising up against me,

41 p Thou hast given me v also the necks of d my enemies; v and f I will destroy those d hating me:

42 f They cry, v but none d saving them; on Jehovah. v but p he answered them not.

43 v Then f do I beat them small as dust before the face of the wind; as the dirt of the streets f I do cast them out.

44 f Thou deliverest me from the strivings of the People; f thou makest me for head of the Nations; a People p I have not known f shall serve me.

45 b At the hearing of the ear, f they will hear me; children of the stranger f will submit† themselves to me.

46 The children of the stranger f fade away, v and f are afraid out of their close places.

47 Jehovah is living,‡ v and d blessed be my rock; v and the Elohim of my salvation f shall be exalted;

48 The El is The one d giving requitals for me, v and f he will subjugate the Peoples under me;

49 d Delivering Me d from my enemies; yea, f thou liftest me up from among d those rising up against me; from the man of violence f thou deliverest me.

50 Therefore f I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the Nations, v and to thy name f I sing praise.

51 d Magnifying salvation to his King; v and d showing loving-kindness to his Anointed, to David, v and to his seed for evermore.

*'Sheol,' not gehenna.

†Probably feignedly submit to me.

‡'Living,' an adjective.

PSALM 19.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 The heavens d are declaring the glory of El; v and The firmament d showing the work of his hands:

3 Day to day f utters speech, v and night to night f shows knowledge;

4 No speech, v and no language, but their voice p has been heard;

5 Their line p has gone out through all The earth, v and their words to the end of the world; in them p has he set a tabernacle for the sun,

6 v And he as a bridegroom d going out of his chamber, f he rejoices as a strong one b to run a race;

7 His going forth is from the end of The heavens, v and his circuit to the ends of them; v and nothing d has been hid from the heat thereof.

8 The law of Jehovah is perfect, d converting the soul; the testimony of Jehovah d is sure, d making-wise the simple.

9 The statutes of Jehovah are right, d rejoicing the heart; the commandment of Jehovah is pure, d enlightening the eyes.

10 The fear of Jehovah is clean, d enduring for ever; the judgments of Jehovah are truth, p they have been righteous altogether.

11 These are d to be desired more than gold, v and than much fine gold; v and sweeter than honey v and the honeycomb.*

12 Also by them is thy servant d warned; b in keeping of them is great reward.

13 Who f understands his errors? c cleanse thou me from d secret things.

14 c Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous things; f they shall not have dominion over me; then f I shall be upright; v and p I have been innocent from† the great transgression.

15 The words of my mouth, v and the meditation of my heart, f will be acceptable in thy sight, Jehovah, my strength v and d my redeemer.

*Marg., 'The dropping of honeycombs.'

†Or 'clear, guiltless of.'

PSALM 20.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 Jehovah f hears thee in the day of trouble; the name of the Elohim of Jacob f defends thee;

3 f Sends thee help from the sanctuary, v and f strengthens thee out of Zion;

4 f Remembers all thy offerings v and f accepts thy burnt sacrifice. Pause.

5 f Grants thee according to thine heart, v and f fulfils all thy counsel.

6 f We will rejoice in thy salvation, v and in the name of our Elohim f we will set up banners; Jehovah f fulfils all thy petitions.

7 Now p I have known that Jehovah p has saved his Anointed; f he will hear him from the heavens of his holiness, with the strength of the salvation of his right hand.

8 These of the chariot, v and these of horses; v but we f will make mention of the name of Jehovah our Elohim.

9 These p have been brought down and p have fallen; v but we p have risen v and f stand upright.

10 Jehovah c save The king; f he hears us in the day of b our calling.

PSALM 21.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 Jehovah, in thy strength the king, f shall joy; v and in thy salvation how greatly f shall he rejoice.

3 Desire of his heart p thou hast given to him, v and request of his lips p thou hast not withholden. Pause.

4 For f thou dost anticipate him with blessings of goodness; f thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

5 Life p he asked from thee, p thou gavest to him length of days for ever and ever.

6 Great is his glory in thy salvation; honour v and majesty f thou layest on him.

7 For f thou dost make him blessings for ever; f thou dost make him glad with the joy of thy countenance.

8 For The king d is trusting in Jehovah, v and in the loving-kindness of the Most High, not f shall he be moved.

9 Thine hand f shall find out all d thine enemies; thy right hand f shall find out d those hating thee.

10 f Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire in the time of thine anger; Jehovah in his wrath f will swallow them up, v and fire f shall devour them.

11 Their fruit f wilt thou destroy from the earth, v and their seed from among the children of men.

12 For p they intended evil against thee; p they imagined a mischievous-device, which f they are not able to do.

13 For f thou wilt make them turn the back; f thou wilt make ready on thy bow strings against the face of them.

14 c Be exalted, Jehovah, in thy strength; f we will sing v and f praise thy power.

PSALM 22.

1 For d the chief-Musician, on The hind of The dawn. A Psalm of David.

2 My El, my El, why p hast thou forsaken me! far from helping me, the words of my roaring.

3 My Elohim, f I cry in the daytime, v but f thou hearest not, v and in the night season, v and there is no silence to me.

4 v But thou art holy, d the one inhabiting the praises of Israel.

5 In thee our fathers p trusted; p they trusted, v and f thou rescuest them.,

6 To thee p they cried v and p were delivered; in thee p they trusted, v and p were not confounded.

7 v But I a worm v and no man; a reproach of men v and d despised of the People.

8 All d seeing me f scornfully laugh at me; f they shoot out the lip, f they shake the head,

9 b Rolling on Jehovah, f he rescues him; f he will draw him forth, for p he delighted in him.

10 For thou art d the taker of me out of the womb; d making me hope on the breasts of my mother.

11 Upon thee p was I cast from the womb; from the belly of my mother, my El art thou.

12 f Thou wilt not be far from me; for trouble is near; for none d helping.

13 Many bulls p have compassed me; strong ones of Bashan p have beset me round.

14 p They gaped on me their mouths, as a lion d ravening v and d roaring;

15 p I have been poured out like water, v and all my bones p have been out of joint; my heart p has been like wax, p it has been melted in the midst of my bowels.

16 My strength p has been dried up like a potsherd; v and my tongue d cleaved to my jaws; v and f thou bringest me to the dust of death.

17 For dogs p have compassed me; the assembly of d the wicked p have enclosed me; p they pierced my hands v and my feet.

18 f I tell all my bones; these f look, f they stare on me.

19 f They part my garments among them, v and f cast the lot on my vesture.

20 v But thou, Jehovah, f art not far off. My strength, for my help c haste thou;

21 c Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling* from the hand of the dog,

22 c Save me from the mouth of the lion; v even from the horns of the unicorns, p thou hast heard me.

23 f I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation f will I praise thee.

24 Fearers of Jehovah, c praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob c glorify him; v and c fear before him, all ye the seed of Israel.

25 For p he has not despised v and p he has not abhorred the affliction of the afflicted one; v and p he has not hidden his face from him; v and b in his crying to him p he heard.

26 Of thee my praise shall be in the great congregation; my vows f will I pay before his fearers.

27 The meek f shall eat v and f be satisfied; d those seeking him f shall praise Jehovah; your heart f shall live for ever.

28 All the ends of the earth f shall remember v and f turn to Jehovah; v and all the kindreds of the Nations f shall worship before thee.

29 For to Jehovah is The kingdom; v and d he ruling among the Nations.

30 All the fat of the earth p have eaten v and f worship; all d going down to the dust f shall bow before him; v and his own soul p he† has not kept alive.

31 A seed f serves him; f it shalt be accounted to Adonay for a generation.

32 f They come v and f declare his righteousness to a People d about to be born; for p he has done it.

*'My only one' would be better.

†He or "one," like the French "on"

PSALM 23.

1 A Psalm of David. Jehovah d is shepherding me: f I do not want.

2 In pastures of greenness f he makes me to lie down; by waters of rest f he leads me;

3 My soul f he restores; f he leads me in paths of righteousness, for the sake of his name.

4 Yea, though f I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, f I will not fear evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, these f comfort me.

5 f Thou preparest before me a table in the presence of d my enemies; p thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runs over.*

6 Surely goodness v and loving-kindness f will follow me all the days of my life; v and p I have dwelt in the house of Jehovah for ever.†

*Marg., 'has moisture.'

†Lit 'for length of days.'

PSALM 24.

1 For David. A psalm. The earth is for Jehovah v and its fulness; the world v and d those dwelling in it:

2 For he p has founded it on the seas, v and f establishes it on the floods.

3 Who f ascends into the mount of Jehovah; v and who f shall stand in the place of his holiness?

4 Clean of hands v and the pure of heart; who p has not lifted up his soul to vanity v and p has not sworn deceitfully:

5 f He shall receive blessing from Jehovah, v and righteousness from the Elohim of his salvation.

6 This the generation of d those following him, d seeking thy face, Jacob. Pause.

7 c Lift up ye gates your heads; v and be you lifted up, you doors of everlasting; v and the king of The glory f shall come in.

8 Who is this king of The glory? Jehovah strong v and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle.

9 c Lift up ye gates your heads; v and c lift up ye doors of everlasting: v and the king of The glory f shall come in.

10 Who, He, this king of The glory? Jehovah of hosts, He is King of The glory. Pause.

PSALM 25.

1 For David. To thee, Jehovah, f I lift up my soul:

2 My Elohim, in thee p have I trusted, f I shall not be ashamed; d my enemies f shall not triumph over me;

3 Yea, not any d of those waiting on thee f shall be ashamed: The d transgressors without cause f shall be ashamed.

4 c Show me thy ways, Jehovah; c teach me thy paths.

5 c Lead me in thy truth, v and c teach me; for thou art Elohim of my salvation; on thee p have I waited all The day.

6 c Remember, Jehovah, thy tender-mercies v and thy loving-kindnesses; for these are ever of old.

7 The sins of my youth v and my transgressions f thou wilt not remember: thou, according to thy loving-kindness c remember thou me, for the sake of thy goodness, Jehovah.

8 Good v and upright is Jehovah; therefore f will he teach sinners in the way.

9 f He will guide the meek in judgment; v and the meek f will he teach his way.

10 All the paths of Jehovah are loving-kindness v and truth d to those keeping his covenant v and his testimonies.

11 For the sake of thy name, Jehovah, p thou hast pardoned v also my iniquity, for it is great.

12 Who this The man fearing* Jehovah? f he will teach him in the way f he will choose.

13 His soul f shall dwell in good; v and his seed f shall inherit the earth.

14 The secret of Jehovah is for those fearing him v and his covenant, b to make them know it.

15 My eyes are ever toward Jehovah; for he f will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 c Turn thou to me, v and c have mercy on me, for solitary v and afflicted am I.

17 The troubles of my heart p have been enlarged; out of my distresses c bring me.

18 c Look on my affliction v and my pain, v and c forgive all my sins.

19 c Look on d my enemies, for p they have increased, v and p they have hated me with hatred of violence.

20 c Keep my soul, v and c deliver me; f I shall not be ashamed, for p I have trusted in thee.

21 Integrity v and uprightness f will preserve me; for p I have waited on thee.

22 c Redeem Israel, Elohim out of all his troubles.

*'Fearing,' adjective.

PSALM 26.

1 For David. c Judge me, Jehovah, for I p have walked in my integrity, v and in Jehovah p I have trusted; f I shall not slide.

2 c Examine me, Jehovah, v and c prove me; c try my reins v and my heart;

3 For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes; v and p I have walked in thy truth;

4 p I have not sat with vain mortals, v and with d dissemblers f I go not;

5 p I have hated the congregation of d evil-doers, v and with the wicked f I will not sit.

6 f I will wash in innocency my hands, v and I will compass thy altar, Jehovah:

7 b To make known with the voice of thanksgiving; v and b to tell of all thy d wondrous-works.

8 Jehovah, p I have loved the habitation of thy house, v and the place of the dwelling of thy glory.

9 f Thou wilt not gather with sinners my soul, v and with men of blood my life;

10 As to whom in their hands is mischief, v and their right hand p has been full of bribes:

11 v But I, in my integrity f will walk; c redeem me, v and c be merciful to me.

12 My foot p has stood in an even place; in the congregations f will I bless Jehovah.

PSALM 27.

1 For David. Jehovah, my light v and my salvation. Of whom f shall I be in fear? Jehovah the strength of my life, of whom f shall I be afraid?

2 b In drawing near to me d the wicked, b to eat up my flesh, my foes v and d my enemies against me these p stumbled v and p fell.

3 If a camp f encamps against me, my heart f shall not fear; if war f rises against me, in this am I d confident.

4 One thing p have I desired from Jehovah, that f will I seek after; b my dwelling in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, b to behold the beauty of Jehovah, v and b to enquire in his temple.

5 For f he will conceal me in his pavilion in the day of trouble, he will hide me in the secret of his tabernacle; on a rock f will he set me up.

6 v And now my head f shall be lifted up above d my enemies round about me, v and f I will offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; f I will sing, v even f I will sing praises to Jehovah.

7 c Hear Jehovah, with my voice f I cry; v and c have mercy on me, v and c answer me.

8 To thee p said my heart, c Seek ye my face; thy face, Jehovah, f I will seek:

9 f Thou hidest not thy face from me, f thou puttest not in anger thy servant away; my help p hast thou been: f thou wilt not leave me, v and f thou wilt not forsake me, Elohim of my salvation.

10 When my father v and my mother p forsook me, v even Jehovah f takes me up.

11 c Teach me thy way, Jehovah, v and c lead me in a plain path, because of d my enemies.

12 f Thou wilt not give me over to the desire of my enemies, for witnesses of lies p have risen up against me, v and those breathing* out cruelty: they'll triumph,

13 Unless p I have believed b to look on the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.

14 c Wait thou on Jehovah; c be strong, v and f he will strengthen thy heart, v even c wait on Jehovah.

*'Breathing,' an adjective.

PSALM 28.

1 For David. To thee, Jehovah, f I cry, my rock; f thou wilt not be silent as to me, lest, if f thou art silent as to me, p I v even have become like d those going down to the pit.

2 c Hear the voice of my supplications, b in my crying to thee, b in the lifting up of my hands to the oracle of thy holiness.

3 f Thou wilt. not draw me away with the wicked, v and with d the workers of iniquity, d speaking peace with their neighbours, v and mischief in their hearts.

4 c Give to them according to their work, v and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: according to the work of their hands c give to them; c return to them their desert,

5 Because f they regard not the works of Jehovah v and the operation of his hands; f he will destroy them, v and f not build them up.

6 d Blessed be Jehovah, because p he has heard the voice of my supplications.

7 Jehovah is my strength v and my shield; in him my heart p trusted, v and p I have been helped; v and my heart f greatly rejoiceth: v and with my song f I will praise him.

8 Jehovah is strength to them, v and the strength of the salvations of his anointed is he.

9 c Save thy People, v and c bless thy inheritance; v and c feed them, v and c lift them up for The ever [eternity].

PSALM 29.

1 A Psalm of David. c Give to Jehovah, ye sons of the mighty, c give to Jehovah, glory v and strength.

2 c Give to Jehovah, the glory of his name; c worship toward Jehovah in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of Jehovah is on The waters; El of The glory p has thundered; Jehovah is on many waters.

4 The voice of Jehovah is in power; The voice of Jehovah in majesty.

5 The voice of Jehovah d breaking cedars; v and Jehovah, f he breaks the cedars of The Lebanon.

6 v And f he makes them skip as a calf, — Lebanon v and Sirion as the young of unicorns.

7 The voice of Jehovah d dividing the flames of fire;

8 The voice of Jehovah, f shakes the wilderness; Jehovah f shakes the wilderness of Kadesh;

9 The voice of Jehovah f makes the hinds to calve, v and f lays bare the forests, v and in his temple each of his d speaking of glory.

10 Jehovah on the flood p has sat; v yea, Jehovah f sits King for ever.

11 Jehovah, strength to his People f gives; Jehovah f blesses his People with peace.

PSALM 30.

1 A Psalm; Song of dedication of The house of David.

2 f I will extol thee, Jehovah; for p thou hast lifted me up, v and not p made d my foes to rejoice over me.

3 Jehovah my Elohim p I cried to thee, v and f thou healest me.

4 Jehovah, p thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; p thou hast kept me alive b from my going down to the pit.

5 c Sing to Jehovah, ye his saints, v and c give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

6 For a moment is in his anger; life is in his favour; weeping f will endure for a night,* v and in the morning joy.

7 v And I p said in my prosperity, f I shall not be removed for ever;

8 Jehovah, by thy favour p thou hast made to stand my mountain in strength p thou didst hide thy face, p I became d troubled.

9 To thee, Jehovah, f I cry, v and to Jehovah f I make my supplication.

10 What profit in my blood, b in my going down to the pit. Whether f shall the dust give thanks to thee? Whether f will it declare thy truth?

11 c Hear, Jehovah, v and c have mercy on me; Jehovah, c be thou d helping me,

12 p Thou hast turned my mourning to dancing for me; p thou hast put off my sackcloth, v and f thou girdest me with gladness.

13 To the end that glory f shall sing praise to thee, v and f it shall not be silent. Jehovah my Elohim, for ever f will I give thee thanks.

*Lit. 'for the evening.' — ED.

PSALM 31.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 In thee, Jehovah, p have I trusted, f I shall not be ashamed for ever; in thy righteousness c deliver me.

3 c Bow down to me thine ear; speedily c deliver me; c be to me for a strong rock, for a house of defence b to save me;

4 For my rock v and my fortress art thou; v and for the sake of thy name f thou wilt lead me, v and f guide me;

5 f Thou wilt pull me out of the net which p they have laid privily for me, for thou art my strength.

6 Into thy hand f I commit my spirit; p thou hast redeemed me, Jehovah, El of truth.

7 p I have hated d those regarding vanities of lying, v and I in Jehovah p have trusted.

8 f I will be glad v and f will rejoice in thy loving-kindness; in that p thou hast seen my trouble; p thou hast known in adversities my soul.

9 v And p thou hast not shut me up in the hand of the d enemy; p thou hast made my feet stand in a large room.

10 c Have mercy on me, Jehovah, for trouble is on me; mine eye p has been consumed with grief, my soul v and my belly.

11 For my life p has consumed with grief, v and my years with sighing; my strength p has failed from my iniquity, v and my bones p have consumed.

12 p I became a reproach among all my d enemies, v and greatly to my neighbours; v and a fear to my d acquaintance; d those seeing me without p they fled from me.

13 p I have been forgotten as a dead man out of mind, p I have been as a vessel d perishing.

14 For p I have heard the slander of many; fear was on every side; b in their taking counsel together against me, p they devised b the taking of my life.

15 v But I p trusted on thee, Jehovah; p I said, my Elohim art thou.

16 In thy hand are my times, c deliver me from the hand of d my enemies v and from d those persecuting me.

17 c Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; c save me in thy loving-kindness.

18 Jehovah, f I shall not be ashamed, for p I have called on thee; the wicked f shall be ashamed, f they shall be silent in the grave.

19 Lips of lies f shall be put to silence; d Those speaking against the righteous grievous things, in pride v and contempt.

20 How great thy goodness, which p thou hast laid up for those fearing thee; p thou hast wrought for d those trusting in thee before the sons of men:

21 f Thou wilt hide them in the hiding-place of thy presence from the pride of man; f thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

22 d Blessed be Jehovah, for p he has showed me his marvellous loving-kindness in a strong city.

23 v And p I said in my haste, p I have been cut off from before thine eyes, surely p thou heardest the voice of my supplications b in my crying to thee.

24 c Love Jehovah, all ye his saints; Jehovah d preserver of the faithful, v and, d requiting plentifully the proud d doer.

25 c Be strong, v and f he will strengthen your hearts, all d those hoping in Jehovah.

PSALM 32.

1 David's. Instruction. Blessed is d he who is forgiven as to transgression, v and d covered as to sin.

2 Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah f imputes not iniquity; v and in his spirit there is no guile.

3 When p I kept silence, my bones p waxed old through my roaring all The day.

4 For day v and night thy hand f is heavy on me; my moisture p has been turned into the drought of summer. Pause.

5 My sin f I acknowledge, v and my iniquity p I have not hid; p I said, f I confess concerning my transgressions to Jehovah; v and thou p thou didst forgives the iniquity of my sin. Pause.

6 For this every one that is godly f shall pray to thee in a time of b finding; surely in the flood of great waters f they will not come nigh to him.

7 Thou art a hiding-place for me; from trouble f thou wilt preserve me; with songs of deliverance f thou wilt compass me about. Pause.

8 f I will instruct thee v and f teach thee in what way f thou shalt go; f I will guide over thee mine eye.

9 f You shall not be as horse, as mule, without b understanding; with bit v and bridle their mouth b to restrain, that there be not b the drawing near to thee.

10 Many sorrows are to the wicked; v but The d truster in Jehovah, loving-kindness f shall compass him about.

11 c Be glad in Jehovah, v and c rejoice, ye righteous; v and c shout for joy, all ye upright in heart.

PSALM 33.

1 c Rejoice, ye righteous, in Jehovah; for the upright praise is comely.

2 c Praise Jehovah with harp, with psaltery of ten strings, c sing to him.

3 c Sing ye to him a new song, c do well in b playing with a loud noise.

4 For right is the word of Jehovah, v and all his works are in truth:

5 d Loving righteousness v and judgment, he; with the loving kindness of Jehovah The earth p is full;

6 By the word of Jehovah the heavens p were made, v and by the breath of his mouth all their host;

7 d Gathering together as an heap the waters of The sea, d laying up in stores the depths;

8 All The earth f shall fear Jehovah, all d the inhabitants of the world f shall be in awe of him.

9 For he p spoke, v and f it exists; p he commanded, v and f it stands fast.

10 Jehovah p brought to nought the counsel of the Nations, p he made the devices of the Peoples of none effect.

11 The counsel of Jehovah f stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is The Nation whose Elohim is Jehovah, The People p he has chosen for an inheritance to himself.

13 From the heavens p looked down Jehovah, p he beheld all the sons of The man.

14 From the place of b his dwelling p he looked to all d those inhabiting The earth.

15 d The one forming their hearts alike, d The one considering all their works.

16 No one who is The king is d saved by the multitude of a host, a mighty one f is not delivered by much strength.

17 Vain The horse for safety, v and not by his great strength f is he saved.

18 Behold, the eye of Jehovah is on those fearing him, on d those hoping in his kindness,

19 b To deliver from death their soul, v and b to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul p has waited on Jehovah, our help v and our shield is he.

21 For in him f rejoices our heart, for p we trusted in the name of his holiness.

22 Thy kindness, Jehovah, f is on us, as p we hoped in thee.

PSALM 34.

1 David's. b In his changing his conduct before Abimelech; v and f he drives him away, v and f he departs.

2 f I bless Jehovah at all times, continually his praise is in my mouth.

3 In Jehovah my soul f shall make her boast; the humble f shall hear v and f be glad.

4 c Magnify Jehovah with me, v and f we will exalt his name together.

5 p I sought Jehovah, v and p he heard me, and from all my fears p delivered me.

6 p They looked to him, v and p were enlightened, v and their faces f are not ashamed.

7 This poor man p cried, v and Jehovah p heard, v and out of all his troubles p saved him.

8 d Encamping is the angel of Jehovah round about to those fearing him, v and f he will deliver them.

9 c Taste v and c see that Jehovah is good; blessed is The mighty man that f trusts in him.

10 c Fear Jehovah, ye his saints, for no want is there to those fearing him.

11 Young lions p have lacked, v and p hungered, v but d those seeking Jehovah f shall not want any good.

12 c Come, children, c hearken to me, f I will teach you the fear of Jehovah.

13 Who is The man The one desiring life, d loving days to b see good in?

14 c Keep thy tongue from evil, v and thy lips from b speaking guile.

15 c Depart from evil, v and c do good; c seek peace, v and c pursue it.

16 The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, v and his ears toward their cry,

17 The face of Jehovah is against d those doing wrong, b to cut off from the earth the remembrance of them.

18 p Men have cried, v and Jehovah p has heard, v and p delivered them out of all their troubles.

19 Nigh is Jehovah to d the broken of heart, v and the contrite of spirit f he saves.

20 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, v but out of them all Jehovah f delivers him;

21 d Keeping all his bones, one of them p has not been broken.

22 Evil f shall slay the wicked, v and d those hating the righteous f shall be desolate.

23 Jehovah d is redeeming the soul of his servants, v and not any of d Those trusting in him f shall be desolate.

PSALM 35.

1 For David. c Contend, Jehovah, with d those contending with me; c fight against d those fighting against me.

2 c Take hold of shield v and buckler, v and c stand up for my help;

3 v And c draw out the spear, v and c stop b the meeting with me d of those persecuting me; c say to my soul, thy salvation am I.

4 f They shall be confounded v and f shall be put to shame d those seeking after my soul; f they shall be turned back v and f brought to confusion f devising my hurt;

5 f They shall be as chaff before the wind, v and the angel of Jehovah d achasing;

6 Their way f shall be darkness v and slippery; v and the angel of Jehovah d persecuting them;

7 For without cause p have they hid for me their net in a pit, without cause p they digged it for my soul;

8 Destruction f shall come on him, not f shall he know of it, v and his net which p he hid f shall catch himself; into destruction f he shall fall in it.

9 v And my soul f shall be joyful in Jehovah; f it shall rejoice in his salvation.

10 All my bones f shall say, Jehovah, who is like to thee, d delivering the poor from the stronger than he; v yea, the poor v and needy from him d spoiling him.

11 f There rise up witnesses of violence, who f lay to my charge* things p I knew not.

12 f They reward me evil for good, a spoiling of my soul.

13 v And I, b in their being sick, my clothing was sackcloth, p I humbled my soul with fasting, v and my prayer f returns to my bosom.

14 As a friend, as a brother to me, p I behaved myself; as one mourning a mother p I bowed down, d being heavy.

15 v But in my adversity p they rejoiced, v and p were gathered together, the abjects p were gathered together against me, v and p I knew it not; p they did tear me, v and p ceased not.

16 With hypocritical mockers at feasts, b gnashing on me with their teeth.

17 Adonay, how long f wilt thou look on? c rescue my soul from their destructions, from the lions my darling†.

18 f I will give thee thanks in the great congregation; among a strong People f I will praise thee.

19 d My enemies wrongfully f shall not rejoice over me; d those hating me without a cause f shall not‡ wink the eye.

20 For not peace f speak they, v and against the quiet in the land f they devise deceitful things.

21 v Yea, f they open wide their mouth against me; p they said Aha, aha, our eye p has seen it.

22 p Thou hast seen, Jehovah, f thou wilt not keep silence; Adonay, f thou wilt not be far from me.

23 c Stir up thyself, v and c awake to my judgment, my Elohim v and Adonay to my cause.

24 c Judge me according to thy righteousness, Jehovah my Elohim; v and f they will not rejoice over me.

25 f They will not say in their hearts, Aha, our soul, [our desire this]; f they will not say, p we have swallowed him up.

26 f They will be ashamed, v and f brought to confusion together, d those rejoicing at my hurt; f they will be clothed with shame v and dishonour, d Those magnifying against me.

27 f They shall shout for joy, v and f be glad that favour my righteousness, v and f they shall say continually: Jehovah f shall be magnified, The one taking pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

28 v And my tongue f shall speak of thy righteousness; all The day of thy praise.

*'Lay to my charge,' or 'ask of me.'

†'Darling,' or 'only one.'

‡The 'not' of the first clause is understood in the second.

PSALM 36.

1 For d the chief Musician. Of David, servant of Jehovah.

2 The transgression of the wicked d is saying in the inside of my heart, — there is no fear of Elohim before his eyes,

3 For p he has flattered himself in his eyes, to b the finding of his iniquity b to be hateful;*

4 The words of his mouth are iniquity v and deceit; p he has left off b to be wise b to do good;

5 Mischief f he devises on his bed, f he sets himself on a way not good, evil f he abhors not.

6 Jehovah in The heavens is thy loving-kindness; thy faithfulness unto the clouds;

7 Thy righteousness is as the mountains of El; thy judgments are a great deep; Man v and beast f thou preservest Jehovah.

8 How excellent is thy loving-kindness, Elohim; v therefore the children of men f trust under the shadow of thy wings.

9 f They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house, v and of the river of thy pleasures f thou wilt make them drink.

10 For with thee is the fountain of life, in thy light f we see light.

11 c Continue thy loving-kindness d to those knowing thee, v and thy righteousness to the upright of heart.

12 The foot of pride f shall not come against me, v and the hand of the wicked f shall not remove me.

13 There p have fallen d those working iniquity, p they have been cast down, v and p have not been able to rise.

*Marg. 'be hateful,' or 'to hate,' To hate it; i.e. his iniquity.

PSALM 37.

1 Of David, f Thou shalt not fret thyself because of d evil-doers; f thou shalt not be envious against d the workers of iniquity.

2 For like grass f they shall quickly be cut down, v and as the green herb f wither.

3 c Trust in Jehovah, v and c do good; c dwell in the land, v and c feed in truth.

4 v And c delight thyself in Jehovah; v and f he will give to thee the desires of thy heart;

5 c Commit to Jehovah thy way, c trust v also in him, v and f he will bring it to pass;

6 v And p he has caused to come forth as the light thy righteousness, v and thy judgment as the noonday.

7 c Rest in Jehovah, f and c wait patiently for him; f thou shalt not fret thyself at d him who prospers in his way, at the man d bringing wicked devices to pass.

8 c Cease from anger, v and c forsake wrath; f thou shalt not fret thyself m any wise b to do evil,

9 For d evil-doers f shall be cut off; v and d those waiting on Jehovah, these f shall inherit the earth.

10 v For yet a little while, v and none wicked; v yea, p thou hast diligently considered his place, v and there is none of it.

11 v But the meek f shall inherit the earth; v and p they have delighted themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked is d plotting against the just, v and d gnashing on him his teeth.

13 Adonay f will laugh at him, for p he has seen that his day f comes.

14 Sword, the wicked p have drawn out; v and p have bent their bow, b to cast down the poor v and needy, b to slay the upright in the way.

15 Their sword f shall enter into their own heart, v and their bows f shall be broken.

16 A little to the righteous man is good more than the riches of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked f shall be broken, v but d upholding the righteous is Jehovah.

18 Jehovah d is knowing the days of the upright, v and their inheritance f shall be for ever;

19 f They shall not be ashamed in the time of evil, v and in days of famine f they shall be satisfied:

20 For the wicked f shall perish, v and d the enemies of Jehovah be as the fat of lambs; p they have consumed away, in smoke p they have consumed away.

21 A wicked man is d borrowing, v and f he will not repay, v but a righteous man d is showing mercy v and d giving:

22 For d the blessed of him f shall inherit the earth, v and d the cursed of him f they shall be cut off.

23 Of Jehovah, the steps of a great man p have been ordered, v and in his way f he delights.

24 Though f he falls, f he shall not be utterly cast down, for Jehovah d is upholding his hand.

25 Young p I have been, also p I have become aged; v yet p have I not seen the righteous d forsaken, v or his seed d begging bread;

26 All The day d he is showing mercy, v and d lending; v and his seed is for a blessing.

27 c Depart from evil, v and c do good, v and c dwell for evermore.

28 For Jehovah d is loving judgment, v and f he forsakes not his saints, for ever p they have been preserved; v and the seed of the wicked p has been cut off.

29 The righteous f shall inherit the land, v and f dwell on it for ever.

30 The mouth of the righteous f speaks wisdom v and his tongue f talks of judgment;

31 The law of his Elohim is in his heart, not f shall slide his steps:

32 d Watching is the wicked against the righteous, v and d seeking to b slay him;

33 Jehovah f will not leave him in his hand, v and f will not condemn him b in his being judged.

34 c Wait on Jehovah v and c keep his way, v and f he will exalt thee b to inherit the land, b in the cutting off of the wicked f thou shalt see it.

35 p I have seen the wicked in great power, v and d spreading himself like a green bay tree.

36 v Yet f he passes, and lo, there is none of him, v and f I seek him, v but p he was not found.

37 c Mark the perfect, v and c behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.

38 v But d those transgressing p have been destroyed together; the end of the wicked p has been cut off.

39 v But the salvation of the righteous is from Jehovah; he is their strength in time of trouble.

40 v And Jehovah f helps them, v and f delivers them; f he delivers them from the wicked, v and f saves them, for p they have trusted in him.

PSALM 38.

1 A Psalm of David, b to bring to remembrance.

2 Jehovah, f thou wilt not in thy wrath rebuke me, v or in thy hot displeasure f chasten me.

3 For thine arrows p have stuck fast in me, v and thy hand f presses sore on me;

4 No soundness in my flesh in the presence of thine anger; no rest in my bones in the presence of my sin.

5 For my iniquities p have gone over my head, as a burden which is heavy; f they are too heavy for me.

6 p They have stunk, p they have been corrupt my wounds, in presence of my foolishness.

7 p I have been troubled, p bowed down, very much! all The day p I have gone d mourning;

8 For my loins p have been full of d a loathsome thing, v and no soundness is in my flesh.

9 p I have been feeble v and p broken, very much; p I have roared from the disquietness of my heart.

10 Adonay, before thee is all my desire; v and my groaning from thee p has not been hidden.

11 My heart p has panted; p failed me has my strength; v and light of my eyes, these also are not with me.

12 d My lovers v and my friends from my sore f stand aloof, v and my kinsmen afar off p have stood.

13 v And f they lay snares d those seeking my soul; v and d those following after my hurt p have spoken mischievous c things, v and deceits all The day f they imagine.

14 v But I, — as deaf f I hear not, v and am as one dumb, f he opens not his mouth.

15 v Thus f I am as a man that is not d hearing, v and in his mouth are no reproofs:

16 For in thee, Jehovah, p have I hoped; thou f wilt hear, Adonay my Elohim.

17 For p I said lest f they rejoice over me; b in the slipping of my feet p they have magnified* against me.

18 For I for halting d am ready, v and my wound is continually before me.

19 For my iniquity, f I will declare it; f I will be sorry for my sin.

20 v But d my enemies are lively; p they have been strong; v and d those hating me wrongfully p have multiplied.

21 v Also d those rendering evil for good f hate me for b my following of good.

22 f Thou, wilt not forsake me, Jehovah; my Elohim, f thou wilt not be far from me.

23 c Haste to my help, Adonay, my salvation.

*Magnified or gloried.

PSALM 39.

1 For d the chief-Musician, to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

2 p I said, f I will keep my ways, b from sinning with my tongue; f I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

3 p I was dumb with silence, p I held my peace from good; v and my sorrow p was stirred;

4 p Hot was my heart within me; in my musing, the fire f burns; p I spake with my tongue.

5 c Make me to know, Jehovah f my end, v and the measure of my days, what it is; f I shall know how frail I am.

6 Behold, hand breadths p hast thou made my days; v and mine age is as nothing before thee, surely all vanity is every man d standing. Pause.

7 Surely in a vain show man f walks; surely f they are disquieted with vanity; f he heaps up and f knows not who d the one gathering of them shall be.

8 v And now, Adonay, what p have I waited for? my hope in thee it is.

9 From all my transgressions, c deliver me; reproach of the fool f thou wilt not make me;

10 p I was dumb, f I open not my mouth; for thou p didst it.

11 c Remove from me thy stroke; by the blow of thy hand I p have been consumed;

12 With rebukes for sin p thou has corrected man, v and p thou makest to consume away, like a moth, his beauty. Surely every man is vanity. Pause.

13 c Hear my prayer, Jehovah, v and to my cry c give ear; at my tears f thou wilt not hold thy peace, for a stranger am I with thee, a sojourner as all my fathers.

14 c Spare me, v and f I shall recover strength, before f I go v and am no more.

PSALM 40.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 b Waiting p I waited for Jehovah, v and f he inclines to me, v and f hears my cry.

3 v And f he will bring me out of a horrible pit, out of clay of The mire, v and f will set on the rock my feet, p he has established my goings;

4 v And f he will put in my mouth a new song praise to our Elohim; many f shall see v and f fear v and f trust in Jehovah.

5 Blessed The mighty one who p has made Jehovah his trust, v and has not turned to the proud v and d those turning aside to falsehood.

6 Many things thou p hast done Jehovah, my Elohim; thy wonderful works v and thy thoughts to us-ward; there is no b reckoning up unto thee. f Will I declare v and f tell them p they have been more than b a reckoning.

7 Sacrifice v and offering p thou hast not desired; ears p hast thou opened* for me; burnt-offering v and sin-offering p hast thou not required.

8 Then p said I, Lo, p I have come: in the roll of the book d it is written of me;

9 To b do thy will, my Elohim, p I have delighted; v and thy law is within my heart.

10 p I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; lo, my lips f I withhold not, Jehovah, thou p hast known it.

11 Thy righteousness p I hid not within my heart; thy faithfulness v and thy salvation p I have declared, p I have not concealed thy loving-kindness v and thy truth from the great congregation.

12 Thou, Jehovah, f wilt not withhold thy tender mercies from me; thy loving-kindness v and thy truth continually f will preserve me.

13 For evils till there was no number p encompassed me about; my iniquities p have taken hold on me, v and p I have not been able to b look up; p they have been more than the hairs of my head, v and my heart p failed me.

14 c Be pleased, Jehovah, to b deliver me; Jehovah, to my help c haste.

15 f They shall be ashamed v and f confounded together d those seeking after my soul to b destroy it; f they shall be driven back v and f put to shame wishing me evil.

16 f They shall be desolate for reward of their shame d Those saying to me, Aha, aha.

17 f They shall rejoice v and be glad in thee all d seeking thee; f they shall say continually, Jehovah f shall be magnified d those loving thy salvation.

18 v And I, poor v and needy; Adonay f thinks of me: my help v and d my deliverer thou. My Elohim f thou wilt make no tarrying.

*'Opened,' or 'digged.'

PSALM 41.

1 For d the chief-Musician. A Psalm of David.

2 Blessed is d he considering of the poor; in the day of trouble, Jehovah f will deliver him.

3 Jehovah f will preserve him, v and f keep him alive; v and p he has been blessed on the earth; v and f thou wilt not deliver him up to the will of d his enemies.

4 Jehovah f will strengthen him on the bed of languishing; p thou hast made all his lying-down in his sickness.

5 I p said, Jehovah, c be merciful to me; c heal my soul; for p l have sinned against thee.

6 d My enemies f speak evil of me, When will f he die, v and his name p have perished.

7 v And if p he has come to b see, f he speaks vanity; his heart f gathers iniquity to it; f he will go forth, f he speaks it abroad.

8 Together against me f whisper all d hating me; against me f they devise evil against me.

9 An evil disease* d cleaving fast to him; v and now that p he has laid down, f he will not repeat b to rise up.

10 Also the individual of my peace,† in whom p I trusted, d he eating my bread, p has lifted up the heel against me.

11 v But thou, Jehovah, c be merciful to me, v and c raise me up, v and f I will requite them.

12 By this p have I known that p thou hast delighted in me; for d my enemy f does not triumph over me.

13 v And I, in my integrity p thou hast upheld me; v and f settest me before thy face for ever.

14 d Blessed be Jehovah Elohim of Israel from The everlasting v and to The everlasting. Amen, v and Amen.

*'An evil disease,' or 'a disease of belial'

†'My own familiar friend.'

Examination of the Hebrew Bible

Examination of the Hebrew Bible

as to the Structure and Idiom of the Language.

G. V. Wigram.

from 'Memorials' Vol. 2, Part Second, CRITICAL.

1876-7.

THE TENSES: THEIR FORCE, AND HOW TO BE RENDERED.

The tenses in Hebrew need fresh examination. Nothing but a careful study of them as they occur in the Bible can give a satisfactory solution to the difficulties and uncertainties which exist in many minds as to them.

In Hebrew verbs there are three moods — the Indicative, the Infinitive, and the Imperative — and, besides these, two participles. The indicative has two tenses, which I will call x and z for the present. The questions are, as to these (x and z), firstly, Do they carry in themselves a time of their own? or is the time which they express dependent upon the connection, in which they stand?

Let us look at them, first, in Genesis, from chap. 1: 1 to chap. 2: 3.

Gen. 1: 1, 2: "In the beginning God x created the heavens and the earth. And the earth x was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

The form marked x is called Preterite by the Hebraists.

Note this; "In the beginning," here, does not mean 'of creation;'* for (Job 38: 4-7) angels existed when the foundations of the earth were laid. Again, though it does refer to the commencement of the globe on which we are, it was not the commencement of 'the earth as prepared for man.' That begins in verse 3; and between the paragraphs (vv. 1, 2) and that beginning at verse 3, there is a gap, which is blank and void. Some geologists, in self-sufficient ignorance, who wish to find fault with Scripture, do not see either this, or that if the theories which they advocate are right, they must have been in the said gap; for the verses 1 and 2 describe a state not suited to much for which they demand a place. And the same is true of the paragraph which begins with verse 3; but there is the gap between the two, and Scripture, in saying nothing of it or its contents, leaves it a blank.

*This statement may be questioned, but it is left for the consideration of the reader. — ED.

Paragraph 1 contains a narration, in which the origin of this globe (heaven and earth) is ascribed to God; the formless and void condition of it is named, and darkness being over the deep; but the Spirit of God also was moving on the face of the waters.

Thus, what first came into being, God x created; and darkness x was, etc.; both these verbs are in the perfectly past time. The mind is thrown back to "the beginning," and to what was originated there, and the state of it. 'God created,' and 'what He created was,' etc. Here the object seems to be to mark that the originator was God as Creator.

In paragraph 2 (beginning with verse 3), on the contrary, we get a series of actings connected in one, each acting a step towards a whole. Six days, and their characteristic marks put upon them by God; and then a seventh, a day of rest.

Between these two paragraphs, when they are compared together, there is contrast. They cannot be made into one and the same series. But there may have been a gap between them, undefined as to extent and what was in it. Nothing could more mark, to my mind, the perfectly past time expressed, as above, by x "created" and x "was," and their isolateness as in paragraph 1. They are the first occurrences of the preterite form, and so are the more calculated to impress the mind; and the perfectly past time is stamped upon them by the context, and not only by the name given to them by the grammarians; so that I shall use p henceforth, instead of x.

Paragraph 2. Verses 3-5: "And God z said, z Let there be light: and there z was light. And God z saw the light, that it was good: and God z divided the light from the darkness. And God z called the light Day, and the darkness p He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."* (Heb., "And the evening z was and the morning was, a first day.")

*I give the quotation as found in the English authorized version, but mark the so-called tenses as they an in Hebrew - p for preterite, and z for the other.

Here we have six instances of z (called by the old grammarians future, and by the moderns present), then one p, and then in Hebrew two more occurrences of z - all translated alike, by a past (but which here, however, would sometimes be more like an imperfect than a proper perfect tense).

It might be translated differently, thus: 'And God z saith, Light z is, and there z is light. And God z sees the light, that it is good: and God z divides the light from the darkness. And God z calls the light Day, and the darkness p He called Night. And evening f is and morning z is, a first day.'

I see, as I judge, what led Hebrew rabbis astray sometimes, and what also misled Gentile translators into doing violence in the translation of the tenses, and moods too, here and elsewhere. The rabbis, on the one hand, made their observations on the text; and Gentile translators too soon turned to man-made grammars, and too little kept their minds in lively examination of the sacred text. On the other hand, while I admit that the idioms of the languages into which translators (whether Greek, or Latin, or English) sought to render that which was in the Hebrew did not readily admit the very forms of the Hebrew, this is all that I can as yet grant. And this, of course, raises a question as to the competency of the translators for their work, and is a proof of the need and the value of every such tentative paper as this. But if the mind of the respective translators rules in the LXX, in the Vulgate, in Jerome's, and in the English versions, ere I dare to submerge the Hebrew idiom, etc., altogether, and go to sea without a compass as to moods and tenses, I would say, Let us look carefully to the Hebrew, and see what the facts of the case are.

I observe then, firstly, that the English gives the paragraph 2 as a historical record: "God said, . . . Let there be light, . . . light was," etc. Now, this is just as if there had been no break after verse 2, and that the account given in verses 1 and 2 (paragraph 1), which was correctly so given, was being continued through paragraph 2.

On the contrary, the, Hebrew, more like the gospels by far, seems to give a vividness to what begins in verse 3, because it brings us into the scene itself where God is presented as a living Person in present action, and this living Person's actions and words characterize the whole paragraph onward.

I know, by their omission of Peh at the commencement of verse 3, that the rabbis did not see that a new paragraph began with verse 3; but any one that weighs the matter will see that it is the commencement of an entirely new paragraph. It has a vacuum before it occurs, sufficiently large for all the geologists, but it has no background; the vacuum is of most undefined space and occupation; on the other side of which is the origin of the globe and its chaos state, yet under the Spirit of God. If the various displays of creation of which the geologists, speak occupied that gap, they all had ceased and passed, when the living God is seen as personally present, and introducing an entirely new and orderly system of things. He is in living display, and He says, speaks, sees, divides, calls, creates, makes, etc., and the very variety of His ways and actings is a proof of the same.

I have spoken of x, the first tense, a preterite, which will, I anticipate, be found by us to be always, in one way and sense or in another,* a, tense carrying its own time, and that a perfect. Apparent exceptions are not always real ones, and the uses too to which a tense may be put may have to be considered.

*God's way of His own of writing and speaking — "Abraham is the father of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before Him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Rom. 4: 16, 17) — proves this. "Have made," when Abraham had no children — what did that mean? It was God that spoke and wrote it, and all was according to His foregone counsel, and plan, and promise. To us, now that His counsels and plans from before the foundation of the world have been brought to light, with immortality, by the gospel, all is simple in such a mode of speech; for all stands as, "yea and Amen" in them.

As to z, the second tense, called a future by the old, and a present by many grammarians, I have thought that in some cases, following a past, it might be to mark 'and consequently thereon,' or 'after that past, now so and so.' But here I may raise a question or two for examination and testing; viz., whether the great mistake has not flowed from this, that grammars and rules have been formed too hastily by man, after partial examination of the text, and too readily accredited? Again, does the second tense (z) possess, and carry with it any time of its own? or is it not rather dependent, or contingent, on its immediate context for the time it marks?

I am not at present aware of any occurrence in which it could be rendered correctly by a past time. Dependent upon the context, it may carry the present time or a future time, and does so, as I believe, constantly in Scripture.

To call x a preterite, and, in an initiatory sentence, to translate it by a present (as in Psalm 1: 1), falsifies the text, and changes (in that case) the doctrine, connecting three verbs with men, and not with the Anointed. The translators, perhaps, thought that they were protected (in Genesis 1: 3, in rendering what they called future tenses by past tenses) by what seemed to them the historic character of the narration, or for some reason which I do not know; but I cannot receive their doing so without proof of its correctness.

In Genesis 1: 3 the living God is present, and 'He will say,' etc. (in the future), could not be said; He speaks as in present action, and the present tense alone can he used. I observe, as I pass, that the translators turn the indicative mood, future (as they would say), into an imperative mood, "Let there be light." Thus likewise there are imperatives out of all number in the Psalms* in English, where in Hebrew they are in the so-called future. The imperatives thus used in the Psalms turn the energy of hope into the sense of need — which, with a lesser faith, a believer would do — imploring God for help, instead of expressing the assurance of hope. There are eight imperatives in Genesis 1, and the reason of their being used, and the effect on the sense, we shall see when we come to them.

*See eight instances in four verses, Psalm 20: 1-4.

Judging that z, instead of being a tense with a time of its own, is nothing of the kind, but dependent or contingent, as to the time which it marks, upon its connection and place in the clause, I have no hesitation in rendering it here, 'God saith, Light is: and there is light; and He sees, and divides,' etc. That is, the living God, in present action, is that which marks the time: this, and not, as some one has said, because it is always a present; for that it certainly is not. In the fourth day we see this. In verse 14 God speaks, first of what shall be, then of it as according with what was in purpose; and in verse 16 He, in action, creates what He had spoken of in verse 14 as about to be.

Thus verse 14, "And [z first a present] 'God saith,' next there 'shall be' lights [a future] in the firmament of the heavens," etc.; and this was to be so because of something past. These lights (p) have been (or were*) for signs, etc.; and again, (p) they have been (or were*) for lights, and so (z) 'it shall be;' but not till verse 16 does His action appear: 'And God z makes them, etc., and z sets them, etc., and z sees that it is good, etc.' (See also the same thing in verses 6-8. In us, faith leads through difficulties to trust in God, stay on Him, and to hope. So life shows itself. And often the same voice that calls for help under trial will add, a little later, "He will help." That is, when the soul is with God.

*According to the purpose and plan proposed by God long before.

Beautiful English is not so good, if it gives us only an approximation to the original (and that not a close one), as a rougher and less polished English which gives the original as nearly as possible as it stands. Moreover, the change in the mode of presenting the matter to be communicated is a serious change, and without warrant.

When I read from Genesis 1 to 2: 3 in the English Bible, I am as one listening to a narration; when I read the same portion in Hebrew, I am as one in the presence of God, the living God in action. Psalm 33: 6 is blessed; but Job 38: 4-7 is more stirring and impressive. What, so to speak, would Job have given for the answer to it in our present portion! What the grace which has given it to us? Our authorized version, with its many words which have changed their meaning (some of them altogether) since it was written; with its many italic words, put in to make it like English with its want of uniformity as to the use of the same word in English for the same word in the original (this last because of the king's order, and with the view of showing the largeness of the English vocabulary, etc. etc.), is still (all that notwithstanding) a precious gift from God to the English people. But if it led the way, faith would follow on, through grace, to something better. Ezekiel 43: 10, 11 may have a word for faith herein.

In verse 5 there is a remarkable change. "And God z 'calls' the light Day, and the darkness p 'He called' Night," Why the change here from 'calls' to 'called' — from a present to a past? It is the more marked because found in dealing with the two halves of one whole day.

Again, though less marked, yet in verse 10 a similar thing occurs: "z 'calls' the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters p He called."'

And see also verse 27: "z 'creates' the man in His own image, in the image of God p 'created' He him; male and female p 'created' He them."

In each of these cases the Spirit of God, writing through Moses, changes (if I may so say) His own position for the moment. Writing at first as one personally present, and a present witness of a scene occurring, He uses language befitting that position; but changes it, as to that of one looking back to a scene that is past. Man does the same thing frequently. As to the 'why' of this here, and as to the rationale of it, I have, at present, nothing to say. The effect of the change I feel to be this, that it draws my mind to the fact of the series which makes up the whole. 'And z He calls the light Day, and the darkness p He called Night. And evening z is and morning z is, a first day! But I could not say that this effect on the mind of the change from 'calls' to 'called' was the intention of the writer, so as to be worthy to be called one of the. intentional uses of this or similar changes. That it is a mode of speech common to many languages is true. And these remarks apply in a great measure to the two other instances adduced.

On the second day, verses 6-8, I have nothing more to say, having referred above to the proof they afford that z has at times a future sense, and why (i.e. the proof of it here), as well as, at other times, a present tense. Being without a time of its own, it is dependent for the time it presents on the connection in which it stands.

On the third day, verses 9-13, I have noticed the change of tense in one place, and have nothing more to add.

On the fourth day, verses 14-19, the 'shall be' and the 'is' of z, and why (i.e. the proof of it here), has been pointed out above (vv. 14, 15).

On the fifth day, verses 20-23. Here, after saying the things z are, etc., God z 'creates' certain ones, and "which the waters p brought forth," are the expressions used. Then we first get the "imperative mood" used. They being in existence, through creatorial power, He commands them, by procreation, to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the seas," and declares that "the fowl z shall multiply" — another future, with z, and not a present.

On the sixth day, verses 24-31, "God saith, The earth brings forth" (v. 24), and (v. 25) "God makes;" verse 26, "He saith, We will make Adam," and "they shall have dominion" — futures, and not presents (see above for the why); verse 27, "created" (as above), and then "be fruitful, multiply, and replenish, and subdue it, and have dominion" — all imperatives, as marking God's order for enlargement of the various species He had formed, etc.; and that it was not from the mud having a creatorial power in itself, or decomposition either, as some of old taught; or any other folly such as materialists, men learned as to things subjected to sense, have taught. But the power and the wisdom of the originator is that which settles the lines of extension, and, I may add, of maintenance and of protection. But Himself, acting still, though unseen, who at first originated, will in the end close Nature's course.

For maintenance, so far as food is concerned, the appointment was from Him. (vv. 29, 30.)

Verse 29. p "I have given to you" calls the attention, at least, to the change from creation to maintenance. In verse 31 God's scrutiny of the quality of that of which He was the originator occurs: "And, behold, it is very good;" and to this too, in point of fact, attention is roused by another change of tense from z to p, "God z sees every thing that p He made."

Chap. 2: 1-3. Verse 2, "God z finishes His work which p He made," another such change of tense; and "z He rests from all His work which p He made" is again another specimen of the same; and a third follows, "z sanctifies it: because that in it p He rested from all His work which God p created to make."

IN THE FOLLOWING ILLUSTRATION,

p and z above, but just before a verb, mark the two several tenses in Hebrew.

^ marks where an eth stands in the Hebrew.

The article is marked in Hebrew, where it occurs, by a capital T in the word The. The demonstrative article may be noticed, where it occurs, in notes. "The serpent," chap. 3: 1, might better be "a certain serpent;" and Isaiah 7: 14, "a certain virgin," etc. These are demonstrative pronouns.

ye denotes the article supplied in English to make sense.

Words in italics are supplementary, to help the English.

a above, but just before a word, marks a participle; b an infinitive; c an imperative.

'Hê' is at times the article, and at times a demonstrative pronoun, and at times an interrogation, equal to "?," as in Gen. 3: 11 and Gen. 4: 7, 9.

REMARKS.

1. Genesis 1: 3. "And Elohim," etc. If the force of z is dependent as to time upon context, it would pretty nearly amount to a 'then" or a 'now.' "And then Elohim" (in Hebrew text), etc., would be "And consequently thereon Elohim," etc. This 'consequently thereon' would be, very indefinite as to the date or thing of which it was a consequence. The interval between that referred to and the sequence to it might be a night or ten thousand years; so that the gap referred to above is not affected by it. On the other hand, if Elohim speaks of what He knows to be existent, the verb z would be rendered by a present; or if, secondly, of what He means to exist afterwards, then it would be rendered in English by a future.

This 'consequently thereon' would thus make z, as tied to a past of old date, in some sense a past historically; and yet the series might be consecutive as to the action of each, as of the above verbs. Z's (consequent upon a defined past) go on to the middle of verse 5, when another past is introduced. Whether or not the p is introduced here to mark the close of Elohim's actings in a first period may be considered. In such case the rest of the verse would be a break between the periods merely. On the other hand, it might be said, If so, would it not have been before morning — the close of the first day?

2. And then, verse 6, another series of, such z's (consequent upon a defined past) follows. What is that defined past? Query, verses land 2, or p'called' in verse 5? If it be said, "No; but of 'first day;"' that is a definite period indeed; but p'called,' verse 5, is twelve hours before the light which closed the first day. Yet a series does begin, verse 6, of such z's, which runs on to 'called seas,' verse 10. 'Seas' in contrast here with 'rain clouds;' but it, is in the third day, and not in the second.

3. A third series of such z's begins in verse 10, and runs on to verse 14. The same and similar queries may be raised as before.

Again, A series of z's runs on to verse 21: "He creates whales, etc., which the waters p brought forth abundantly." It may be that creates' and 'brought forth abundantly' are in contrast. But here the p neither marks a close of any series, or the commencement of another. Used at haphazard it could not be by God. Can it be that the use of p here is explained in its more immediate and private context? As in the contrast between 'night' and 'day,' between 'seas' and 'rain clouds,' so here (verse 21) between 'whales, etc., created,' and 'the waters multiplying,' etc. This is in the fifth day.

4. In the next series of z's, which is in the sixth day, queries as before might be raised. And, query, from middle of 21 to 27, Is the narration according to the lapse of time in order in the occurrences? And notice the correspondence between 20, 21, and 24, 25.

Verse 27. "p He created him in the image of God, male and female p created He them." Then three z's and five imperatives (which are future yet as to the time in which spoken), which give, therefore, a defined past, as date of departure, to what is consequent to the command. And then, verse 29, "Behold, p I have given."

2 p's, 'created,' 'created;'   5 imperatives;  A p, 'have given;'

a defined time.   a defined time.  a defined time.

Verse 29, z 'it is' or 'shall be;' verse 30, z 'it is so;' verse 31, z 'sees.'

Verse 31, p'made,' a defined past; 'evening z is,' 'morning z is.'

N.B. — Also the participles — their times of qualifying inherent in that which they qualify; though the time of their being given dependent on God's acting in giving.

Chapter 2 Verse 1, consequent on the six days' creation, z 'are finished;' verse 2, z 'ends,' p'made,' z 'rests.' p'he made;' verse 3, z 'blesses,' z 'sanctifies it;' p'rested: p'created.'

TRANSLATION OF GENESIS 1: 1-12 - 4: 26.

SECTION 1. 1 In ye beginning Elohim p created^ The heavens and^ The earth: 2 and The earth p was without form, and void; and darkness on ye face of ye deep. And ye Spirit of Elohim a moving on ye face of The waters.

3 And Elohim *saith, light z is, and z there is light. 4 And Elohim z sees The ^light, that it is good; and Elohim z divides between The light and The darkness. 5 And Elohim z calls The light day, and The darkness p he called night. And evening z is and morning z is, a first day.

6 And Elohim z saith, z there shall be a firmament in ye midst of The waters, and 2 it shall be a dividing between waters and waters. 7 And Elohim z makes ^The firmament, and she divides between The waters which are under The firmament, and The waters which are above The firmament; and z it is so. 8 And Elohim z calls The firmament heavens. And evening z is and morning z is, a second day.

9 And Elohim z saith, The waters under The heavens z shall be gathered together to one place, and The dry land z shall be seen, and so z it is; 10 and Elohim calls The dry land earth, and ye gathering together of The waters p he called seas, and Elohim z sees that it is good. 11 And Elohim z saith, The earth z brings forth grass, herb a seeding seed, and tree of fruit a producing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in it, on The earth; and so z it is. 12 And The earth z brings forth grass, herb a seeding seed after its kind, and tree a producing fruit, whose seed is in it, after its kind; and Elohim z sees that it is good. 13 And evening z is and morning z is, a third day.

14 And Elohim z saith, z there shall be lights in ye firmament of The heavens, to b divide between The day and The night; and p they have been (or were) for signs and for seasons, and for days and years: 15 and p they have been (or were) for lights in ye firmament of The heavens to give light on The earth, and so z it shall be.

16 And Elohim z makes ^Those two The lights The great ones; ^That light that great one for ye rule of The day, and ^That light, That lesser (lit. little one) for ye rule of The night; ^The stars also. 17 And Elohim z sets ^them in ye firmament of The heavens to b give light on The earth, and 18 b to rule over The day and over The night, and to b divide between The light and The darkness, and Elohim z sees that it is good. 19 And evening z is and morning z is, a fourth day.

20 And Elohim z saith, The waters z bring forth (or shall bring forth) abundantly ye creeping things of living being, and fowl z flies (or shall fly) over The earth in ye face of ye firmament of The heavens; 21 and Elohim z creates ^great whales [The whales The great] and ^every living being a That is creeping, which The waters p brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and ^every winged fowl after its kind, and Elohim z sees that it is good. 22 And Elohim z blesses ^them, b saying c be fruitful and c multiply and c fill ^The waters in The seas, and The fowl z shall multiply on The earth. 23 And evening z is and morning z is, a fifth day.

24 And Elohim z saith, The earth z brings forth ye living being after its kind, cattle and reptile and its living creature of ye earth after its kind, and so z it is. 25 And Elohim z makes ^ye living creature of The earth after its kind and ^The cattle after its kind and every reptile of The earth after its kind, and Elohim sees that it is good.

26 And Elohim z saith, z we will make man (Adam) in, our image, after our likeness, and z they shall have dominion over ye fish of The sea, and over ye fowl of The heavens, and over The cattle, and over all The earth, and over every reptile a That is creeping on The earth.

27 So Elohim z creates The man (Adam) in his own image, in ye image of Elohim p created he ^him; male and female p created he them. 28 And Elohim z blesses ^them, and Elohim z saith to them, c Be fruitful, and c multiply, and c replenish ^The earth, and c subdue it; and c have dominion over ye fish of The sea, and over ye fowl of The heavens and over every living thing a That is creeping on The earth.

29 And Elohim z saith, behold p I have given to you ^every herb a seeding seed, which is on ye face of all The earth, and every tree, in which is ye fruit of a tree a yielding seed, to you z it is for food; 30 and to every living creature of The earth and to every fowl of The heavens and to every thing a creeping on The earth, wherein is living being, ^every green herb for food, and so z it is. 31 And Elohim z sees ^everything that p he made, and, behold, it is very good. And evening z is and morning z is, The sixth day.

Gen. 2. 1 And The heavens and The earth z become finished, and all their host. 2 And, on The 7th day Elohim z finishes his work which p he made, and z he rests on The seventh day from all his work which p he made.

3 And Elohim z blesses ^The seventh day, and z sanctifies it; because that in it p he rested from all his work which Elohim p created b to make.*

*NOTE, — Reader, thus far we have met with about 12 instances of p, or preterites in 34 verses; and they are interspersed in about 66 instances of z; which the Rabbis call a future, and many moderns a present tense. Read and consider the matter for yourself. That the writer or speaker in Hebrew, if he started with a p, was free to bring in another, and start again, is indisputable. The circumstances under which he would do so and the effect or effects of so doing we have to weigh up and get light upon.

SECTION 2. Gen. 2. 4 These are ye generations of The heavens and The earth in b their being created, in ye day of b ye making by (of) Jehovah Elohim of earth and heavens: 5 and of every plant of The field before z it is on earth; and of every herb of The field before z it grows; for Jehovah Elohim p caused it not to rain on The earth, and man (Adam) there was none to b till ^The ground. 6 and a mist z goes up from The earth and p watered ^all ye face of The ground.

7 And Jehovah Elohim z forms 4 The man (or, Adam) of dust from The ground, and z breathes in his nostrils ye breath of life; and The man (or, Adam), z becomes a living soul. 8 And Jehovah Elohim z plants a garden in Eden, eastward, and z puts there ^The man (Adam) whom p he formed. 9 And Jehovah Elohim z causes to grow out of The ground every tree "pleasant to sight, and good for food; and tree of The life in ye midst of The garden, and tree of The knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river a is going out of Eden b to water ^The garden; and thence sit is parted, and p became four heads. 11 Ye name of The first Pishon; that is a The one compassing ^all ye land of The Havilah, where there is The gold; 12 and gold of The land The that (or, of that very land) is good; there is The bdellium and a stone The onyx. 13 And ye name of The river The second is Gihon; that a The one compassing ^all ye land of Cush. 14 And ye name of The river The third Hiddekel, that is a The one going eastward of Assyria (or, Ashur), and The river The. fourth that is Euphrates.

15 And Jehovah Elohim takes The man (or, Adam) and z puts him in ye garden of Eden, to b till it and to b keep it. 16 And Jehovah Elohim z commands The man (or, Adam), b saying, Of every tree of The garden b eating z thou shalt eat: 17 but of ye tree of The knowledge of good and evil, z thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day of b thy eating of it, b dying z thou wilt die. 18 And Jehovah Elohim z saith, It is not good b ye being of The man (Adam) alone, z I will make for him a helpmeet for him. 19 And Jehovah Elohim forms out of The ground every living creature of The field, and ^every fowl of The heavens, and z brings to The man (Adam) to b see what z he calls it: and all that which The man z calls ye living being, that is its name. 20 And The man z calls names to The every cattle, and to ye fowl of The heavens, and to every living thing of The field; but for man (Adam) p there was not found a help meet for him. 21 And Jehovah Elohim z causes a deep sleep to fall on The man (Adam), and z he sleeps; and z he takes one of his ribs, and z he closes up ye flesh instead of it: 22 and Jehovah Elohim z builds ^The rib which p he took out of The man (Adam) for a wife (isha), and z he causes her to come to The man (Adam). 23 And The man (Adam) z says, This (this time, now) is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: for this z she shall be called woman (isha), for out of man (ish) this p was taken. 24 Therefore z shall a man (ish) leave ^his father and ^his mother, and p has cleaved to his wife (isha); and p they were one flesh. 25 And z they two were naked, The man (Adam) and his wife (isha), and are not ashamed.

SECTION 3. Gen. 3: 1 And a certain serpent p was subtle above every living creature of The field which Jehovah Elohim p made, and she says to The woman (isha), It is good sure that Elohim p said; Of every tree of The garden z ye shall not eat. 2 And The woman (isha) z says to The serpent, Of ye fruit of ye tree of The garden z we eat. 3 And of ye fruit of The tree that is in ye midst of The garden Elohim p said z ye shall not eat of it, and z ye shall not touch it, lest z ye die. 4 And z says The serpent to The woman, Not b dying z you shall die. 5 For Elohim a is knowing that in ye day of b your eating of it your eyes p were even opened, and p you became as Elohim a knowing good and evil. 6 And The woman z sees that The tree is good for food, and that it is pleasant to The eyes, and The tree a to be desired to b make wise, and z she takes of its fruit and z eats, and z gives also to her husband with her, and z he eats. 7 And z are opened ye eyes of them both, and z they know that they are naked, and z they sew leaf of fig and z they make aprons for themselves. 8 And z they hear ^ ye voice of Jehovah Elohim a walking in The garden in ye wind-rise of The day; and The man (Adam) and his wife (ishah) z hide themselves from ye face of Jehovah Elohim in ye midst of ye trees of The garden. 9 And Jehovah Elohim z calls to The man (Adam) and z says to him, Where art thou? 10 And z he says ^Thy voice p I heard in the garden, and z I fear, for naked am I, and z I hide myself. 11 And z he says, Who p told thee that naked art thou? Whether of The tree which p I commanded thee not b to eat of it p hast thou eaten? 12 And The man (Adam) z says, The woman (ishah) that p thou gavest to be with me, she p gave to me of The tree, and z I eat. 13 And Jehovah Elohim z says to The woman (ishah), What this p thou hast done? and z says The woman (ishah.), The serpent p beguiled me, and z I eat. 14 And Jehovah Elohim z saith to The serpent, Because p thou hast done this, a cursed art thou above all The cattle, and above all living creature of The field; on thy belly z shalt thou go, and dust z shalt thou eat all ye days of thy life. 15 and z I put enmity between thee and The woman (ishah), and between thy seed and her seed; he z shall bruise, thee as to ye head, and thou z shalt bruise him as to ye heel. 16 To The woman (ishah) p he said, b Multiplying z I will multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow z thou shalt bring forth children, and to thy husband (ish) shall be thy desire, and he z shall rule over thee. 17 And to man (Adam) p he said, Because p thou hast hearkened to ye voice of thy wife (ishah), and z eatest of The tree which p I commanded thee, b saying, z thou shalt not eat of it, a cursed is The around by reason of thee, in sorrow z shalt thou eat of it all ye days of thy life. 18 And thorns and thistles z shalt it cause to bud for thee, and p thou hast eaten ^the herb of The field. 19 In sweat of thy face z shalt thou eat bread till b thy returning to The ground, for out of it p wast thou taken; for dust thou art and to dust z thou returnest. 20 And The man (Adam) z calls ye name of his wife (ishah) Living; for she p was mother of all living. 21 And Jehovah Elohim makes for Adam and for his wife (ishah) coats of skin and z clothes them. 22 And Jehovah Elohim z saith, Behold, The man (Adam) p has become as one of us to b know good and evil; and now, lest z he puts forth his hand, and p has taken also of ye tree of The life, and p has eaten and p has lived for ever; 23 and Jehovah Elohim z sends him forth from ye garden of Eden to b till ^The ground whence p he was taken. 24 And z he drives ^The man out; and z he makes to dwell eastward to ye garden of Eden ^The cherubim and ye flame of The sword a that turns every way, to b keep ^the way of ye tree of The life.

SECTION 4. Gen. 4: 1 And The man (Adam) p knew ^Chavah his wife, and z she conceives and z bears ^Cain, and z says, p I, have gotten a man (ish) ^from Jehovah. 2 And z she repeats (adds) b to bear ^his brother ^Hehvel (Abel); and Abel z is a feeding (a feeder of) sheep, and Cain p was a tilling (a tiller of) ground. 3 And z it comes to pass at ye end of some days, and Cain z brings of ye fruit of The ground an offering to Jehovah. 4 And Abel he also p brought of ye firstlings of his sheep and of their fat. and Jehovah z has respect to Abel and to his offering. 5 And to Cain and to his offering p he had not respect, and Cain z is very wrath, and his countenance (features) z fall (are lowering). 6 And z saith Jehovah to Cain, Why is there wrath (p has wrath kindled in) to thee, and why p has thy countenance fallen? 7 Whether is there not, if z thou doest well acceptance (a rising up, nasa), and if z thou doest not well at The door a sin (offering) a is lying and to thee his desire, and thou z rulest (z or shalt rule) over him. 8 And Cain z talks with (or to) Abel his brother; and z it comes to pass in b their being in The field and z Cain rises up against Abel his brother, and z slays him. 9 And Jehovah z saith to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And z he says, p I have not known. a The keeper of my brother am I? 10 And z he says, What p hast thou done? Voice of thy brother's blood a is crying to me from The ground. 11 And now a cursed art thou from The ground which p has opened ^its mouth to b receive ^ye blood of thy brother from thy hand. 12 When z thou tillest ^The ground, not z shall it repeat to give its strength to thee; a fugitive and a wanderer z shalt thou be on The earth. 13 And Cain z says to Jehovah, My iniquity is greater than b to be forgiven. 14 Behold, p thou hast driven ^me out This day from off ye face of The ground, and from thy face z I shall be hid, and p I have become a fugitive and a wanderer on The earth, and p it has come to pass that any one a finding me z will slay me. 15 And Jehovah z saith to him, therefore any one a slaying Cain z he shall be avenged sevenfold; and Jehovah z sets a sign on Cain, that any one a finding him b might not kill ^him. 16 And Cain z goes out from ye presence of Jehovah, and z dwells in ye land of Nod, eastward of Eden.

17 And Cain z knows ^his wife; and she conceives, and z bears ^Enoch: and she becomes a builder of a city, and z he calls ye name of The city according to ye name of his son Chanoch (Enoch). 18 And z there was born to Enoch ^Irad, and Irad p begat ^Mehujael, and Mehujael p begat ^Methusael, and Methusael p begat ^Lamech. 19 And Lamech z takes to him two wives; ye name of The one Adah, and ye name of The second Zillah. 20 And Adah z bears ^Jabal; he p was father of a him dwelling in tent and cattle. 21 And ye name of his brother was Jubal; he p was father of all a handling harp and organ. 22 And Zillah, she also p bare a Tubal-cain a an instructer (improver) of every a worker in brass and iron; and ye sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 23 And Lamech z says to his wives, Adah and Zillah, c Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, c hearken to my speech; for p I have slain an individual (ish) to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt 24 for Cain z shall be avenged sevenfold and Lamech seventy and seven-fold.

25 And Adam z knows ^his wife again; and z she bears a son, and z calls ^his name Sheth: for Elohim p has set to me another seed instead of Abel, for Cain p slew him. 26 And to Sheth, to him also a son p was born; and z he calls ^his name Enosh. Then p began some (or, it was begun) to b Call [Bêth] in the name of Jehovah.