Page 20

Barrick, "Early Versions & Psalm 23"

ETS -- November 2005

CSB Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me

all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the L

ORD

as long as I live.

17.5 92

NIV Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my

life,

and I will dwell in the house of the L

ORD

forever.

16.5 87

TEV I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my

life;

and your house will be my home as long as I live.

13.5 71

Observations on verse 6:

"Only" in HCSB leads to a misunderstanding of the text. Inaccuracy = -1.0.

TEV's "I know that" for "Surely" is an inaccuracy = -1.0.

Adding "your" (TEV) to the two descriptive nouns in an inaccuracy = -1.0.

The verbs in the context of verse 6 are obviously future because of references to the remainder of the psalmist's life (Principle
2).

That which is translated "mercy," "lovingkindness," and "love" in these versions is the Hebrew

ds,x,ä

(hesed) referring to "loyal

love" or "steadfast love." "Mercy" is inaccurate = -1.0; "lovingkindness" and "love" are closer = - 0.5.

"Follow" is a tame and potentially misleading translation of the much more aggressive "pursue" for

@dr

(rdp), but it is not so

much a matter of absolute inaccuracy as ambiguity. Ambiguity = -0.5.

Complete elimination of the preceding verb ("pursue") by TEV is a misrepresentation of the text. Inaccuracy = -1.0.

As in verse 1, the divine name requires a less ambiguous translation for public reading. Ambiguity = - 0.5.

Elimination of the divine name (TEV) is an inaccuracy = -1.0.

TEV's "will be my home" for "I will dwell" is a misleading restructuring that obscures the original wording of the psalmist.
Inaccuracy = -1.0.

"Forever" is extremely unfortunate as a translation of

~ymi(y" %r<aoål.

'orekh yamîm, literally, "for length of days"), and idiom

(Principle 5) meaning "lifelong." It is in synonymous parallelism with the preceding phrase ("all the days of my life" or "my
whole life"). Inaccuracy = -1.0.