“God for us is a refuge and strength”: Psalm 46

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 8^th and 7^th 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.

Comments

[Bob MacDonald]

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...

[Gary Simmons]

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.

[JohnFH]

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

[Gary Simmons]

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.