TRANSLATIONS IN ENGLISH

1 PSALMS OF DAVID TRANSLATIONS IN ENGLISH 1530 2010 Paul AS Harvey Penname: Stean Anthony

2 Paul AS Harvey (Stean Anthony): Lectures on the Psalms in English versions 1535-2010. [March 2015] Psalm Fifty-Three Text and Notes. Versions of Psalms Miles Coverdale 1535 King James 1611 Philip Sidney c 1580 - Sternhold and Hopkins 1562 Tate and Brady 1696 George Sandys 1636 - Scottish Psalter 1650 Charles Wesley c 1730 - Isaac Watts c 1710 Psalter United Presbyterian Ch. of N. America 1887 - Christopher Webber 1986 - Psalms for All Seasons 2012 - Modern Translation of the Psalm NRSV Footnotes and cross refs found on Bible Gateway website: New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE) New American Standard Bible (NASB) New International Version (NIV) Marot & Beze Genevan Psalms c 1550, 1729 (French) Miles Coverdale 1535 1662 BCP Psalm 53: (copy used from a PDF file modern-spelling edition of Psalms, the Coverdale translation edited by W. S. Peterson and Valerie Macys.) Dixit insipiens 1. The foolish body hath said in his heart, There is no God. 2. Corrupt are they, and become abominable in their wickedness; there is none that doeth good. 3. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God. 4. But they are all gone out of the way; they are altogether become abominable. There is also none that doeth good, no not one. 5. Are not they without understanding that work wickedness, eating up my people as if they would eat bread? They have not called upon God. 6. They were afraid where no fear was; for God hath broken the bones of him that besieged thee. Thou hast put them to confusion, because God hath despised them. 7. O that the salvation were given unto Israel out of Sion! O that the Lord would deliver his people out of captivity! 8. Then should Jacob rejoice, and Israel should be right glad. King James 1611 Psalm 53: 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. 2. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God. 5. There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. 6. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Sternhold and Hopkins S & H p. 31 1562 Psalm 53: 1. The foolish man within his heart Blasphemously, hath said, There is not any God at all, Why should we be afraid?

3 2. They are corrupt, and they also A heinous work have wrought, Among them all there is not one Of good that worketh ought. 3. The Lord looked down from heaven upon The sons of men below, To see if any were that sought The living God to know. 4. Out of the way they all are gone, They all corrupted are; There is not any that doth good, Not one for God doth care. 5. Do not all wicked workers know, That they do feed upon My people as they feed on bread? The Lord they call not on. 6. Even there they were afraid, and stood With trembling all dismayed. When as there was no cause at all Why they should he afraid. 7. For God his bones that thee besieged Hath scattered all abroad, He hath confounded them, for they Rejected are of God. 8. O Lord, give to thy people health, And thou, O Lord, fulfill Thy promise made to Israel From out of Sion hill. 9. When God his People shall restore That once were captive led, Then Jacob shall rejoice therein, And Israel be glad. Tate and Brady T&B 1696 Psalm 53: 1. The wicked fools must sure suppose That God is but a name; This gross mistake their practice shows, Since virtue all disclaim. 2. The Lord looked down from heaven s high tower, The sons of men to view; To see if any owned his power, Or truth; or justice knew. 3. But all, he saw, were backwards gone, Degenerate grown, and base; None for religion cared, not one Of all the sinful race. 4. But are those workers of deceit So dull and senseless grown,

4 That they, like bread, my people eat, And God s just power disown? 5. Their causeless fears shall strangely grow, And they, despised of God, Shall soon be foiled; his hand shall throw Their shattered bones abroad. 6. Would he his saving power employ To break our servile band, Loud shouts of universal joy Should echo through the land. Philip Sidney (c. 1580) Psalm 53: A labored version, omitted. George Sandys (1578-1644) from Paraphrases Upon the Psalms (1636) Psalm 53: Tortuous version, omitted. Verse 4 O deaf to good, in knowledge blind By sin through clouds of error led Dull sensual forms without a mind Nor slow, though certain, vengeance dread! The righteous they devour like bread All piety at once declined. Isaac Watts Psalm 53: v.4-6 C.M. 1 Are all the foes of Zion fools, Who thus devour her saints? Do they not know her Savior rules, And pities her complaints? 2 They shall be seized with sad surprise; For God s revenging arm Scatters the bones of them that rise To do his children harm. 3 In vain the sons of Satan boast Of armies in array; When God has first despised their host They fall an easy prey. 4 O for a word from Zion s King, Her captives to restore! Jacob with all his tribes shall sing, And Judah weep no more. Charles Wesley Psalm 53: Omitted. Scottish Psalter (1650 revised 1880) Psalm 53: 1. That there is not a God, the fool Doth in his heart conclude: They are corrupt, their works are vile, Not one of them doth good.

5 2. Upon the sons of men did God From heaven cast his eyes, To see if any one there was That sought God, and was wise. 3. Corrupt they altogether are, They all are backward gone; And there is none that doeth good, No, not so much as one. 4. These workers of iniquity, Do they not know at all, That they my people eat as bread, And on God do not call? 5. Even there they were afraid, and stood With trembling, all dismayed, Whereas there was no cause at all Why they should be afraid. For God his bones that thee besieged Hath scattered all abroad; Thou hast confounded them, for they Despised are of God. 6. Let Israel s help from Zion come: When back the Lord shall bring His captives, Jacob shall rejoice, And Israel shall sing. Psalter United Presbyterian Ch. of N. America (1887) Psalm 53: The same as the Scottish Psalter version. Christopher L. Webber, A New Metrical Psalter (Church Hymnal Corp., 1986) Psalm 53: Omitted. Psalms for All Seasons (Faith Alive, 2012) ( ) Psalm 53: Nothing special here, omitted. New Revised Standard Version (1989) Psalm 53: To the leader: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. 1 Fools say in their hearts, There is no God. They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; There is no one who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven on humankind To see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. 3 They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; There is no one who does good, no, not one. 4 Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon God? 5 There they shall be in great terror, In terror such as has not been. For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly; They will be put to shame, for God has rejected them. 6 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

6 1 Notes: words and phrases & general interpretation & meaning Ps 53 duplicates Ps 14 except that God is used for the Lord and verses 5-6 are different. What does this tell us? Here are possibilities: (1) that the difference in the way that God is written down is quite sufficient to make the psalm a different prayer, with a different strength and purpose [note that it is the practice of Psalms Book 2 to substitute Jehovah with Elohim.] (2) that the content appealed to the priests as a strong statement of what they wanted to say i.e. a favorite psalm and so it appeared twice (3) that although the content is duplicated, the number or place of the psalm in the Book of Psalms is significant (as we find with Ps 100) (4) in the writing down of the psalms and priest-scribe editing of the psalter, they made an error, either because someone different took up the task, or someone had a very strong opinion about these verses (favorite verses) or a mistake was made which became tradition and could not be altered (5) the psalm is in some sense specially holy (6) the first four verses represent a psalm unit, remembered as a unit, a strophe (7) the psalm sounds like holy wrath before the destruction of the Great Flood, and this may be a hint about the meaning Clearly, this psalm in the LXX was important to the Early Christian Church as seen in Saint Paul (Rom 3.10-12), a favorite passage for saying what they wanted to say. As regards the first verse: there were sophisticated pagan Greeks at that time, and in ancient times, who could say that all was fable, and who rejected the pantheon of gods, (i.e. an atheistic point of view, such as some of the philosophers) but this was not often written down, and utterly impossible for Jews to conceive at that time. Consider Lucretius, Epicurus, Democritus. Socrates was accused of being atheos (meaning that he did not acknowledge the state gods 339 BCE), and in later ages, Christians were also persecuted as atheists by Rome, though of course they were not. Atheist could mean not believing in the true God (or in our or the nation s gods). [Find out more about atheism in ancient Greece, to what extent these concepts were really considered.] Given the holiness of the task and the fear of offending God, the inclusion of the psalm twice is unlikely to have been a scribal error. The writing down mattered too much, though we do not know in what conditions it occurred. (turmoil of exile, enslavement, temple destruction etc) It is more likely to be deliberate for some reason. Perhaps we have two versions of a favorite psalm Ps 14 with the LORD and Ps 53 with God. It is also possible that the psalm is specially holy because of the unique statement in v. 1 which is in effect a wisdom statement and a statement of identity, meaning: The wise say that there is God. On consideration it appears to be specially holy. The name God [and LORD] is repeated through the psalm. Ps 14 specially holy with LORD out of heaven a special sign. sons of men also a holy phrase. We also have here the poor or the afflicted which is Israel in suffering. The final verse makes this a coherent statement in the context of captivity. 5 There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation. (NASB Ps 14.5) 6 You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, But the LORD is his refuge. (NASB Ps 14.6) 5 There they were in great fear where no fear had been; For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you; You put them to shame, because God had rejected them. (NASB Ps 53.5) 6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. (NASB Ps 53.6) Consider the Septuagint trans. compare to Hebrew is there anything there? LXX 53.5 God has scattered the bones of the ones who were trying to please men (as opposed to God). In LXX Grk ανθρωπ-αρέσκων men-pleasers [this appears to be the only occurrence in the LXX & it appears to be a coined word]. In the Hebrew ḥōnāḵ this is one who encamps or besieger. Why is the LXX so different here? It seems a bold departure. Was there indeed a different Hebrew word there originally c 200 BCE? The M Hebrew is more coherent. Is LXX a mistranslation? It is obviously not the meaning of the Hebrew word, but it cannot be an ignorant mistake because it is a common word: [Strong s Hebrew 2583] 143 occurrences. Given that, LXX is making a point. It would have to be a code-word

(1) for opponents of Israel (i.e. the Greeks at that time, who please man and images of man in their faith, the time of Judas Maccabees) (2) opponents of the translators themselves, within Israel, perhaps in Jerusalem, who cannot read Greek, so that there might be different sects or factions within Israel. Surely (1) is more likely. I guess that it is a slingshot at the Greek Empire, men-pleasers in their false faith, not God-pleasers. Is there anything more in this word? This Greek word is found at: Ephesians 6.6 & Colossians 3.22 clear proof again that this psalm was remembered by Paul & early church. Paul says: (Ephesians 6.5-6) 5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not by way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Slave for Paul is a positive code-word signifying complete service to God through Christ, the complete faith of the perfect Jew in effect. Men-pleaser would therefore be the opposite, a code-word for the pagans. (Colossians 3.20-24) 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. 22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. The point being that pleasing men is not serving the Lord, and it must be from the heart, which helps to explain the usage of the word in Ps 53.5. Anthrop-ares-kon: if this is a coined word, what is the point? Man = humanity, Adam & areskos = pleasing, cringeing Areskos: this is an extant word in the literature, pleasing Ares Ἄρης, Att. god of war and destruction (Mars) vocative form is Ares Kon: Κῶς the island Cos [?? not relevant] Koneion: κώνει-ον hemlock juice [perhaps a joke?] this was a common word Konia: dust, sand, ashes this seems a possibility turned to dust Kos: this perhaps points to this word, a common Grk word: kosmos: order, good order, form, fashion, government but used also to mean world & universe by the Greeks, and negatively by the Jews, especially in the Gospels the world opposed to God. The Grk word above could be a clever gloss on the Hebrew of besieger = Man-wargod Ares = is scattered = is dust. Reading this verse in the Septuagint, it appears to be a prayer for God s victory against the besieging Greeks, that the god Ares be scattered [at the time of Maccabees?]. In this psalm we have the phrase God [or the Lord] looked out of heaven to see. This is obviously a key statement and a holy phrase. Where else do we meet this phrase? Ps 14.2; Ps 33.13; Ps 53.2; Ps 80.14; Ps 102.19; Lamentations 3.50. The reality of God, the existence of God, God s providential care for his people (first of all a phrase for Israel) and for all creation and all peoples. It is also a visualization and personification of God, a power that looks from high above downwards. In this respect counters the faith of the opponents, and later ages show this verse in art, and in writing in the Synagogue [?] Church and Mosque. In ancient Greek churches. 7 Rom 3:11 12 this is perhaps guiding us to this holy verse. Note also that the Alexandrine Septuagint has the long interpolated passage in Ps 14 verse 3 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes, which is not found in the Masoretic. What does this tell us? (1) They did not hesitate to add in passages then (2) there was an earlier version of the psalm differing from the Masoretic (3) a later copyist who knew the Paul letter added the phrases to the Alexandrine MS of the LXX [puzzle here remains, need to clarify this]

The picture of bitter hostility to the Greek fool of Ps 14 and then repeated in Ps 53 is clear. These fierce passages appealed to the early Christian church. The former hostility to the Greeks, transferred to the Romans, transferred to the Jewish leaders, for the newly emerging Church. In the Paul letters and in the Gospels that hostility. NAB: A lament of an individual, duplicated in Ps 14, except that God is used for the LORD, and Ps 53:6 is different, cf. Ps 14.The lament depicts the world as consisting of two types of people: the fool (equals the wicked, Ps 14:1 3) and the company of the just. Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: Ps 53 is another recension of Ps 14 except that Jehovah (AV LORD) is replaced by Elohim, as happens in Book 2 of the Psalms. But Psalm 53:5 differs widely from the corresponding Psalm 53:5-6 of Psalms 14. It is a disputed question whether this difference is due to corruption of the text or to intentional change. On the one hand the curious similarity of the Hebrew letters is in favor of the view that the text here is a conjectural restoration of characters which had become partially obliterated: but on the other hand it is possible that some later editor intentionally altered the original text in order to adapt the Psalm to his purpose by introducing a fresh historical reference, probably, as we shall see, to the destruction of Sennacherib s army. Nabal: fool the opposite of wisdom. This could be: forgetfulness of God, or impious opposition to His will, gross offences against morality, sacrilege, ungenerous churlishness. See Isaiah 32:5-6. Here is a good gloss on the first verse: There is no God] Cp. Psalm 10:4. This is not to be understood of a speculative denial of the existence of God; but of a practical denial of His moral government. It is rightly paraphrased by the Targum on Psalm 14:1, There is no government of God in the earth. [i.e. the sense of despair] Cp. Psalm 73:11; Jeremiah 5:12; Zephaniah 1:12; Romans 1:28 ff. verse 5. for God hath scattered &c.] The bones of Israel s enemies lie bleaching on the plain, where their bodies were left unburied (Ezekiel 6:5). This cannot be an anticipation of some further defeat. It must rather be an allusion to some historic event; and it at once suggests the annihilation of Sennacherib s great army. (2 Chron 32; Is 37.14-20) [Isaiah and Hezekiah pray and the angel of the Lord destroys the enemy host] Robert Alter: nothing particular here. James L. Mays: the two versions were in two smaller collections of the psalms that were later incorporated into one larger collection. The translation in LXX offers an expanded version of the psalm, important because this is the one quoted by St Paul (Romans 3.13-18) [this suggestion differs from the idea above, that the Pauline passage, composed from Biblical quotes, and then inserted from Paul s letter into the Alex LXX by a later Christian redactor] Marvin E. Tate (2000): an example of prophetic speech, denouncing & mocking sinners. Paradigmatic fool in the OT is Nabal in his dealings with David. Nabal used as a mocking word for the wicked and godless. Also a word found elsewhere. The phrase in his heart is significant. The fool is one who has no faith in his heart. Notes on words: Abominable: offensive, execrable, immoral Iniquity: wickedness, unrighteousness Encamp: to set up camp, as an army Eat my people as bread: lit. eat up as food, i.e. consume lives and property, a hint about sacrifice Targum: The Aramaic translation of the Bible. It forms a part of the Jewish traditional literature, and in its inception is as early as the time of the Second Temple. Each of several Aramaic translations, interpretations, or paraphrases of the various divisions of the Old Testament, made after the Babylonian captivity, at first preserved by oral transmission, and committed to writing from about 100 a.d. onwards. [OED] Let us learn a couple of Hebrew words for each psalm. An important verse stating the reality of God, and his relationship with his created beings sons of Adam. 53.2 God from out of heaven looks upon the sons of men to see ĕlōhîm miššāmayim hišqîp al-bənê āḏām lir ōṯ Elohim, pl. of Eloah: most often translated as God, lit. meaning divine ones, angels, in fact an indirect way of stating God Shamayim: heaven, sky most commonly in this form haššāmayim 236 Occ. Shaqaph: to look out or down, overlook (verb used 4 times in psalms God looks from heaven) 85.11; 102.19 Ben: sons, children, also title for the future Davidic King & Messiah Ps 2.7 Adam: man, humanity, mortals Raah: see (this verb in the first verses of Genesis) 2 Notes: literary comparison & evaluation. Which of these versions communicates the Psalmist s feelings? NRSV version: plain prose-poetic version, note how well this works, note also the choice of humankind over mankind, perhaps humanity might be better. 8

9 Psalm 53 新共同訳 Japanese 1. 指揮者によって マハラトに合わせて マスキール ダビデの詩 2. 神を知らぬ者は心に言う / 神などない と 人々は腐敗している 忌むべき行いをする 善を行う者はいない 3. 神は天から人の子らを見渡し 探される / 目覚めた人 神を求める人はいないか と 4. だれもかれも背き去った 皆ともに 汚れている 善を行う者はいない ひとりもいない 5. 悪を行う者は知っているはずではないか / パンを食らうかのようにわたしの民を食らい / 神を呼び求めることをし ない者よ 6. それゆえにこそ 大いに恐れるがよい / かつて 恐れたこともなかった者よ あなたに対して陣を敷いた者の骨を / 神はまき散らされた 神は彼らを退けられ あなたは彼らを辱めた 7. どうか イスラエルの救いが / シオンから起こるように 神が御自分の民 捕われ人を連れ帰られるとき / ヤコブは 喜び躍り / イスラエルは喜び祝うであろう amen References & Websites Peter Craigie & Marvin Tate Psalms 1-50 Word Biblical Comm. Robert Alter The Book of Psalms Translation with Comment. James L. Mays Psalms Interpretation Commentary http://psalms.schechter.edu/rabbi Benjamin J. Segal http://biblehub.com/various commentaries found here http://www.missionstclare.com/english/psalm/psalters.html Anglican Psalters included 1662 BCP also Liturgical Psalter 1977 http://www.cgmusic.org/workshop/allpsalm.htm Music for the Church of God Various Psalters S&H T&B texts in English v. useful http://ba.21.free.fr/septuaginta/psaumes/psaumes_1.html Septuagint Psalms http://www.latinvulgate.com/ parallel English Vulgata Latin ed (Vulgate Douay-Rheims) http://psautierdegeneve.blogspot.jp/2012/09/psaume-42.html Geneva Psalms French 1587 & 1729 http://www.clementmarot.com/psalms_texts.htm Psalm poems of Clement Marot 1543 http://www.genevanpsalter.com/ Metrical French (Marot) influential melodies (Bourgeois) transl. into Eng and still in use http://www.covenantofgrace.com/index.htm Scottish Presbyterian Psalter http://www.medievalist.net/hourstxt/home.htm Book of Hours many Latin Psalms http://soundcloud.com/john-ross10 Scottish Versions good! http://www.psalm-singing.org/ Scottish Metrical Psalms sung good! On YouTube there are beautiful settings of Genevan Psalm melodiesgeneefs psalter Geneva Psalms 1729 (1543 version also available) Not used.

10 Septuagint Ps 53 1. Εἰς τὸ τέλος, ὑπὲρ μαελεθ συνέσεως τῷ Δαυιδ. 2. Εἶπεν ἄφρων ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ Οὐκ ἔστιν θεός. διεφθάρησαν καὶ ἐβδελύχθησαν ἐν ἀνομίαις, οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν ἀγαθόν. 3. ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ διέκυψεν ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ ἰδεῖν εἰ ἔστιν συνίων ἢ ἐκζητῶν τὸν θεόν. 4. πάντες ἐξέκλιναν, ἅμα ἠχρεώθησαν, οὐκ ἔστιν ποιῶν ἀγαθόν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός. 5. οὐχὶ γνώσονται πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν; οἱ ἔσθοντες τὸν λαόν μου βρώσει ἄρτου τὸν θεὸν οὐκ ἐπε καλέσαντο. 6. ἐκεῖ φοβηθήσονται φόβον, οὗ οὐκ ἦν φόβος, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ ἀνθρωπαρέσκων κατῃσχύνθησαν, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς ἐξουδένωσεν αὐτούς. 7. τίς δώσει ἐκ Σιων τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Ισραηλ; ἐν τῷ ἐπιστρέψαι κύριον τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀγαλλιάσεται Ιακωβ καὶ εὐφρανθήσεται Ισραηλ. Important phrases in the Early Church God from out of heaven looks upon the sons of men 1 ordinary humanity the sons of Adam, natural man 2 God regards the goodness of the Son of Man The enemies are eating up my people like bread but God is the true bread Deliverance from Sion A hope for the Messiah in Hebrew & Greek pointing to Jesus Savior (Soter) = a psalm in the time of affliction, felt to be very true for the first century of the Christian Church Also very true repeatedly in the history of Israel and for the Jews. Aphron: the fool Lk 11.40 You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? Diaskorpizo: to scatter (the people scattered abroad, a punishment) Lk 1.51