Psalm 46 lauds God as a beneficent
destroyer: “Come, see / Yahweh’s doings, // what desolations on earth / he has
wrought.” (verse 9). In his presence, as the song of Hannah puts it, “The bow
of the mighty is shattered / and the faltering are girt with strength” (1
Samuel 2:4).
Psalm 46 was probably written against
the background of the rise and fall of the Neo-Assyrian empire. Tiglathpileser
III, Sargon II, and Sennacherib are among the Assyrian rulers who repeatedly
scorched the earth in pursuit of universal domination in the 8th and
7th centuries before the current era.
According to the prophets whose writings are preserved in the Hebrew Bible, Assyria was the rod of God’s anger, an instrument of wrath he wielded. But according to the same prophets, Assyrian policies were nevertheless at odds with God’s will, and the end of Assyria was a foregone conclusion (Isaiah 10:5-15; 14:4b-21, 24-27 [the oracle was reapplied to Babylon after the latter destroyed Jerusalem (14:1-4a, 22-23)], 33:1; 37:22-29; Nahum 1:11-2:2: the ‘you’ addressed in 1:14 and 2:2 is Assyria; Zephaniah 2:13-14).
The salvation of Jerusalem in extremis after Sennacherib seized all the other fortified towns of Judah was attributed to the shielding of the city by God in faithfulness to himself and to David (Isa 37:33-35). Great rejoicing occurred when Assyria was weakened and finally destroyed (Isa 9:3-4; 25:1-5: the base stratum of Isa 24-27 is datable to the Assyrian period; Nahum 2:1-2).
In Psalm 46, the pax Elohim translates
into ‘devastations’ for nations and kingdoms whose waters roar and seethe (cf. Isa
8:7-8a; 28:15, 17-18) but cannot overwhelm the divine bulwark (cf. Isa 8:8b-10;
29:5bγ-8; 33:17-24). For those under the imperialist
boot (Isa 9:4), Elohim’s help is described as coming none too soon, ‘with
the break of morn’ (verse 6).
In response to a request from Bob MacDonald, whose passion for the psalms runneth over, I offer a scansion and translation of Psalm 46. First, a further word or two of introduction.
Psalm 46 is shot through with
semantic, syntactic, and sonic parallelisms. In the margin, I note some of the more important examples, according to a
system of notation I explain elsewhere.
The length
rule is instantiated by the psalm: it is made up of 18 lines, 40 versets,
and 88 prosodic words. Progressive lengthening of items in parallelism
is an inconstant but delightfully recurrent feature of the psalm.
Klaus Seybold’s treatment of the
prosody of Psalm 46 is insightful.[1] As he notes, paired 2:2 prosodic
structures dominate the song, but do not characterize its every line. On the
other hand, Seybold’s numerous emendations metri causa presuppose a model
of metrical monotony which is unattested in ancient Hebrew poetry. The emendations
should be rejected as without foundation.
Versets of two prosodic units dominate
the song (32 out of 40). Versets of three prosodic units occur in pairs or in
conjunction with a pair of 2 beat versets and serve to de-monotonize the poem’s
rhythm.
The text of MT is unimpeachable except
in one instance: the initial waw in verse 3b is probably a secondary
addition. It lacks an equivalent in LXX.
Contrary to a widespread
misperception, weak forms of enjambment commonly occur in ancient Hebrew poetry.[2] Psalm 46 is not exceptional
in this respect. If anything, the number of times 2:2 prosodic structures contain
compact clauses in parallelism is remarkable (5 out of 15 occurrences).
On superscripts and subscripts in Habakkuk 3 and the Psalter, note my remarks here. For an in-depth discussion, see Kevin Edgecomb’s piece (with further bibliography).
The water imagery in Psalm 46:3-4, as often
in ancient texts, evokes the powers of chaos. Water, of course, is also a blessing. The channeled variety is a metaphor for blessing in 46:5. For a similar metaphorical sequence, cf. Ps 104:5-9 followed by 10-13.
The compound name Yahweh Sabaoth
(verses 8, 12) requires explanation. As Peter Craigie noted, “the title is
particularly appropriate in this context, for it is the ‘Lord of Armies’ who
offers protection against the armies of foreign nations and kingdoms.”[3] The armies who fight
alongside Yahweh are heavenly. Compare Judges 5:20.
לִבְנֵי־קֹרַח עַל־עֲלָמוֹת שִׁיר
אֱלֹהִים לָנוּ ab:
מַחֲסֶה וָעֹז jc12
עֶזְרָה בְצָרוֹת jc22:
נִמְצָא מְאֹד jc32
עַל־כֵּן לֹא נִירָא abc:
בְּהָמִיר אָרֶץ jd1e1
בְּמוֹט הָרִים jd2e2:
בְּלֵב יַמִּים f2
יֶהֱמוּ יֶחְמְרוּ מֵימָיו a1a2b1:
יִרְעֲשׁוּ הָרִים בְּגַאֲוָתֹו a3b2c
סֶלָה
נָהָר פְּלָגָיו a2:
יְשַׂמְּחוּ עִיר אֱלֹהִים jbc12:
קְדֹשׁ מִשְׁכְּנֵי עֶלְיוֹן jc23
אֱלֹהִים בְּקִרְבָּהּ a1b1:
בַּל תִּמּוֹט xy
יַעְזְרֶהָ אֱלֹהִים xb2a2:
לִפְנוֹת בֹּקֶר jc2
הָמוּ גוֹיִם a1b1:
מָטוּ מַמְלָכוֹת a2b2
נָתַן בְּקוֹלֹו xy:
תָּמוּג אָרֶץ a3b3
יהוה צְבָאוֹת עִמָּנוּ a1b1c1:
מִשְׂגָּב לָנוּ xc22:
אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב ja2b2
סֶלָה
לְכוּ חֲזוּ x1y1:
מִפְעֲלוֹת יהוה jab
אֲשֶׁר שָׂם jcd1:
שַׁמּוֹת בָּאָרֶץ je1f1
מַשְׁבִּית מִלְחָמוֹת jd2e2:
עַד־קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ jf2
קֶשֶׁת יְשַׁבֵּר a1b1:
וְקִצֵּץ חֲנִית xb2a2:
עֲגָלוֹת יִשְׂרֹף בָּאֵשׁ xa3b32
הַרְפּוּ וּדְעוּ x2y2:
כִּי־אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהִים jab
אָרוּם בַּגּוֹיִם a1b1:
אָרוּם בָּאָרֶץ a2b2
יהוה צְבָאוֹת עִמָּנוּ a1b1c1:
מִשְׂגָּב לָנוּ xc22:
אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב ja2b2
סֶלָה
לַמְנַצֵּחַ
Of the Korahites. According to Alamot. An anthem.
God for us
is a refuge and strength
a help in dire straits
reachable with ease.
So we are not afraid
when the land moves
and the mountains topple
into the heart of the sea.
Let its waters roar and seethe!
Let mountains quake in its swell!
Selah
There is a river whose channels
gladden God’s city
the Most High’s holy accommodations.
God is in her midst
she will not be toppled.
God will help her
at the break of morn.
Nations roar
kingdoms topple
he lets go with his voice
the earth melts.
The Yahweh of Armies is with us
the God of Jacob is our haven.
Selah
Come, see
Yahweh’s doings
what desolations on earth
he has wrought
who makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth
the bow he breaks
the spear he snaps
wagons he burns in fire.
Desist, know
that I am God
I stand above the nations
I stand above the earth.
The Yahweh of Armies is with us
the God of Jacob is our haven.
Selah
For the director.
[1] Poetik der Psalmen (PSAT 1; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2003) 112-115.
[2] One third of the lines in the corpus studied by him, Michael Patrick O’Connor remarks, exhibit enjambment (Hebrew Verse Structure (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1980; reissued 1997 with “The Contours of Biblical Hebrew Verse, An Afterword to Hebrew Verse Structure” [pp. 631-61]) 409). More than two thirds of the lines in Lamentations 1-5 are enjambed, according to a landmark study by F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp (“The Enjambing Line in Lamentations: A Taxonomy (Part 1),” ZAW 113 [2001] 219-39; “The Effects of Enjambment in Lamentations (Part 2),” ZAW 113 [2001] 370-95; 371).
[3] Psalms 1-50. With 2004 Supplement by Marvin E. Tate (WBC 19; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004) 345.
John - I have transcribed your translation to a separate diagram http://bmd.gx.ca/psalms/786.htm - What annotations (colors, spacing, etc) would make your left-brain superscripts visible?
Is 'the' necessary in 'the earth melts'? - there is no definite article in the Hebrew.
Much more to say - but brewing...
Posted by: Bob MacDonald | August 15, 2007 at 08:25 AM
Fascinating. This is my favorite psalm, and your rendition gives me some things to think on. I must ask, though, why did you use the definite article with Yahweh? That sounds strange to me.
I've always imagined the "I will be exalted" to mean that God disarms an attacking army and calls them to worship. Your "I stand above" fits the theme better, I think.
God has power over all the "acts of God," all the calamities, be it water, fire, earth, (wind), or war.
Posted by: Gary Simmons | February 22, 2010 at 03:35 PM
Ooh. I don't like "The Yahweh of armies" either. What was I thinking back in 2007? I would now, for my purposes, translate
יהוה of Armies
Posted by: JohnFH | February 22, 2010 at 03:59 PM
That's better. Now, is that how you'd translate Psalm 46 for a scholarly biblioblog Bible?
I'd like to field test it if that actually happens. And if it's closed, I'd sure love to take part -- even if it's over my head and I mostly just observed, I feel I'd gain from it. Oh! I'm rambling. Sorry.
Posted by: Gary Simmons | February 22, 2010 at 04:32 PM