{"id":85388,"date":"2020-12-25T15:34:29","date_gmt":"2020-12-25T13:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=85388"},"modified":"2020-12-25T15:34:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T13:34:29","slug":"emending-an-enigmatic-verse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/emending-an-enigmatic-verse\/","title":{"rendered":"Emending an Enigmatic Verse"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"85388","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"641","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Is suggesting changing the Biblical text brave - or cowardly?\r\n\r\n","content":"

We have already had numerous occasions to comment on obscure or enigmatic verses in the Book of Psalms. Our psalm, too, contains a pair of verses so oblique and obtuse that some modern scholars maintain that the Masoretic Text must contain errors that have to be emended (corrected).<\/span><\/p>\n

Our psalmist, Asaph, called upon God to take note of the destruction that Israel\u2019s enemies have wrought upon His people and His land imploring Him to \u201cRemember the community You made Yours long ago, Your very own tribe that You redeemed, Mount Zion, where You dwell\u201d (2). If we combine the reference to Mount Zion with the continuation \u201cThe outrages of the enemy in the sanctuary (<\/span>kodesh<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (3) and \u201cYour foes roar inside Your meeting-place (<\/span>mo`adekha<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (4), he appears to be referring to the destruction of the Temple. Parenthetically, since both Hebrew terms we have cited, <\/span>kodesh<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>mo`ed<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> could refer to the Tabernacle (<\/span>mishkan<\/span><\/em>) as well, it is difficult to determine whether Asaph is the contemporary of David we identified in the previous chapter or a much later psalmist with the same name.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following two verses are singularly obscure. For comparative purposes, here are the renditions of vs. 5-6 by both JPS and Robert Alter:<\/span><\/p>\n

JPS \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> Alter<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n

5. It is like men wielding axes against a gnarled tree;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

5. They hacked away as one brings down from above in a tangle of trees with axes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

6. with hatchet and pike they hacked away at its carved work.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

6. And its carvings altogether with hatchet and pike they pounded.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Arguably, the actions described in both translations are those of the enemy soldiers engaged in cutting down the Israelite sanctuary, which, once dismembered, \u201cThey made\u2026 go up in flames\u201d (6). The devil, as they say, is still in the details. The first Hebrew word in v.5, <\/span>yivada<\/span><\/em>`, is reflected in the \u201cis like\u201d of the JPS translation but seems to be absent entirely from Alter. In light thereof, where did Alter get his \u201chacked away\u201d?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alter candidly noted that his translation rests on a textual emendation (presumed correction): \u201cThe Hebrew is obscure. The Masoretic Text has \u2018it became known\u2019 (<\/span>yiwada<\/span><\/em>`), but many textual critics prefer to read <\/span>yigada<\/span><\/em>` (literally, \u2018it was hacked away\u2019).\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The question we ought to consider is whether emending a biblical text is an act of bravery or the coward\u2019s way out?<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":85389,"id":85389,"title":"ps74-emendation","filename":"ps74-emendation.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/emending-an-enigmatic-verse\/ps74-emendation\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps74-emendation","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":85388,"date":"2020-12-25 13:33:20","modified":"2020-12-25 13:33:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1042,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation.jpg","2048x2048-width":1042,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation.jpg","post_full_size-width":1042,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps74-emendation-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Emending an Enigmatic Verse","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Is suggesting changing the Biblical text brave - 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