Barrick, "Early Versions & Psalm 23"
ETS -- November 2005
© William D. Barrick 2005
12
NIV A psalm of David.
The L
ORD
is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.
10 83
TEV The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
6 50
Observations on verse 1:
·
Other than differences in italicization (NASB) and capitalization (ESV), all except HCSB and TEV treat the psalm heading the
same. Omission = -4.0.
·
A more accurate translation recognizes that the Hebrew preposition is a lamed of authorship (cp. the same usage in Isa 38:9;
Hab 3:1).
35
The psalm is actually "by David." Ambiguity = -0.5 point. HCSB's "Davidic" is contrary to David as author.
Inaccuracy = -1.0.
·
The verb in the first line of the text is absent, but understood, in the Hebrew noun clause. Italicization in KJV and NKJV is
unnecessary, as evidenced by the treatment of the remaining translations.
·
"The L
ORD
" is the traditional rendering of the Tetragrammaton (
hwhy
= YHWH) first employed the Septuagint translators
because of a misinterpretation and misapplication of the Third Commandment.
36
In public reading there is no way for the
hearer to know whether the divine title thus represented is Yahweh (L
ORD
:
hwhy
= YHWH/Yahweh) or Adonai (Lord:
yn"doa]
=
"Master/Lord"). Translating both with the same word contributes to a confusion of divine names. Ambiguity = -0.5 point.
·
Employment of a future tense for the Hebrew verb in the second line is due to a doubtful, but traditional, treatment of the
imperfect in Hebrew as a present-future tense form. The context of this psalm and of this line (cp. the first line) indicates that
the present would be more accurate. Inaccuracy = -1.0 point.
·
"Want" is ambiguous in English and continues in use in translating Psalm 23 primarily due to familiarity with the KJV's
rendering of the psalm even among non-Bible readers. A smoother use of "lack" would be "I have no lack," even though it
changes the form to imply the negation of a noun ("lack") rather than the Hebrew's negation of the verb. Ambiguity = -0.5
point.
·
NIV and HCSB exhibit the only substantial attempts to clarify the meaning of "want." NIV's is accurate and clear, but HCSB's
is potentially misleading. Ambiguity = -0.5.
35
The lamed of authorship is really nothing more than the lamed of agency (cf. Bill T. Arnold and John H. Choi, A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax
[Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2003], 114). In the psalm titles the verb (viz.,
btk
) is elided--not an uncommon occurrence in the use of
prepositions in biblical Hebrew (cf. Bruce K. Waltke and M. O'Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax [Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1990],
224-25).
36
Louis F. Hartman, "God, Names of," in Encyclopaedia Judaica, ed. Cecil Roth (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House Ltd., 1971), 7:680.