Barrick, "Early Versions & Psalm 23"
ETS -- November 2005
© William D. Barrick 2005
6
3c: Again, all of the ancient versions are very close. The Targum, however, adds
trwbg
to read "for the sake of the might of
his name." That translation is slightly interpretive, showing respect for the divine name by associating power with it.
v
Hebrew (MT)
Greek Septuagint
Aramaic Targum
Syriac Peshitta
Latin Vulgate
4a
%le'ae-yKi( ~G:Ü
eva.n ga.r kai. poreuqw/
lza dk dwxl ~rb
atwlgb
]kLh) nP)
nam et si
ambulavero
b
tw<m'l.c; aygEáB.
evn me,sw| skia/j
qana,tou
atwmd alwj rvymb
]
)twM yLL+* yLx*NB
in medio umbrae
mortis [in valle
mortis]
c
[r"ª ar"Ûyai«-al{
ouv fobhqh,somai kaka,
atvybm lxda al
)t$YB nM Lxd) )l
non timebo mala
[malum]
d
ydI_M'[I hT'îa;-yKi
o[ti su. metV evmou/
yd[sb $rmymd lwjm
]yM( tN)d l+M
quoniam tu mecum
es
e
^T,ªn>[;v.miW÷ ^ïj.b.vi
ei= h` r`a,bdoj sou kai.
h` bakthri,a sou
acyrt $adgyt
$tyrwaw
kr+wxw k+B$
virga tua et baculus
tuus
f
`ynImU)x]n:)y> hM'heä
auvtai, me pareka,lesan
`ynnwmxny !wnyh
]yNw)YB nwNh
ipsa me consolata
sunt [ipsa consola-
buntur me]
Verse 4
4a: Only one significant variation occurs in this portion of verse 4.
atwlgb
is evidence that the Targum of Psalms exhibits
midrashic and aggadic material in its additions and paraphrases. One of the themes in these expansions is that of exile.
4b: All ancient versions unrelated to the LXX retain "valley,"
21
while the LXX and Gallican Psalter translate
ayGE
as though it
were
wG;
--or, the translators took "valley" figuratively. Tov suggests that the LXX reflects the Aramaic
awgb
("in the middle").
22
4c: There is no disagreement among all the ancient versions.
21
A Greek exception is Symmachus, who translated the phrase as dia. Fa,raggoj skepomevnhj qana,tw| ("through the valley protected by death" or
"through the valley covered in death")--Field, 2:120.
22
Emanuel Tov, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research (Jerusalem: Simor Ltd., 1981), 125. However, Tov's suggestion would
seem to be inconsistent with the Aramaic and Syriac versions themselves appear not to have taken the Hebrew as
awgb
.