Barrick, "Early Versions & Psalm 23"
ETS -- November 2005
© William D. Barrick 2005
8
5b: As in verse 1, LXX takes the relationship of the 1cs pronominal suffix on the participle as an objective genitive. It is no
surprise that the Gallican Psalter accurately reflects the LXX's rendition. The Peshitta's
yBBdL(B*
is an interesting translation--it is
the same as
bWbz> l[;B;Û
in the OT (2 Kgs 1:2, 3, 6, 16--cp. Beelzebou.l in Matt 10:25; 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 18, 19).
5c: The Targum contains the only variation: "you make my body fat with stout birds and the head of my priests with the oil of
anointing." Here is yet another example of double translation.
!yhd
is literally "make fat" (cp. MT,
!vd
) and can also refer to
anointing. In order to fill out the double meaning, the translator inserted extra referents ("my body," "stout birds," and "my priests"),
thus rounding out a picture of divine blessing and prosperity.
5d: From the early Church, the last clause of verse 5 has been a matter of contention. It was the subject of one of Jerome's
letters defending his Latin translation of the Psalms. Writing to Sunnias and Fretela, he argues that the Greek to. poth,rio,n sou is in
error and that other versions,
26
the LXX, the Hebrew, and all expositors follow the Hebrew
ysiAK
which is equivalent to calix meus.
27
Interestingly, the Targum's
ydylk
is probably a loanword from the Greek ka.lux or the Latin calix (from which English obtained
"chalice").
28
The LXX employs a circumlocution (mequ,skon w`j kra,tiston = "filled as the best" = inebrians quam praeclarus est
[Gallican Psalter]) to express the superfluity of drink represented by an overflowing cup. Perhaps we could translate the Greek and
Latin circumlocutions as "filled as full as possible." The Syriac adds the conjunction for ease of transition. It also approximates the
LXX's comparison, but with a specific object of comparison:
)Yx kY) )wrM
("satiated as with life").
29
Both the Targum and the
Hebrew Psalter follow the Hebrew literally without circumlocution.
26
Perhaps Jerome is referring to Aquila and Theodotion who both employed poth,rio,n mou--Field, 2:121.
27
J. P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae Latinae: S. Hieronymus, Patrologiae Cursus Completus: Series Latina Prior 22 (Paris: Garner Fratres, 1877), 1:843
(Epist. 106): "Pro quo in Graeco legisse vos dicitis, calix tuus: sed hoc in Koinh/|
errore obtinuit. Caeterum et Septuaginta, et Haebraicum, et omnes Interpretes,
calix meus, habent, quod Hebraice dicitur
CHOSI
: alioquin si calix tuus, esset, diceretur
CHOSACH
."
28
Stec, 20.
29
Weitzman suggests parablepsis (the eye jumping from
%a;
to
yY"x;
in the next line of the Hebrew text) as the reason for the addition of
)Yx kY)
("like life"). M. P. Weitzman, The Syriac Version of the Old Testament: An Introduction, University of Cambridge Oriental Publications 56 (Cambridge, U.K.:
Cambridge University Press, 1999), 18. However, the LXX had also employed the element of comparison, but without "life."