Psalm 32

I find Psalm 32 particularly hard to translate (though my Hebrew teacher did not). People complain about Psalm 68, but its difficulties stem from its primitive origins (it has an older, less refined character), Psalm 32 also has an almost primitive feel to it, but it combines this with a very high concentration of poetic language that is often hard for me to understand, let alone interpret or translate. The Psalmist uses parts of speech like participles in places I would not, he leaves out words, and he uses many of his concrete nouns and verbs in figurative ways. Despite all of this the message of the psalm is clear:

I. It is a blessing to have your sins forgiven (vss. 1-2).

II. Uncovering my sins to God opens the road for him to cover them for me (vss. 3-5).

III. The need for help is immediate and God's protection necessary (vss. 6-7)

IV. Don't be stupid, choose to be happy by turning to God (vss. 8-11).

In the following preliminary translation, I have tried to show that this is a poem, though I do not have time enough to render the entire poem in appropriate forms. I have also tried to give additional information about the Hebrew version so that the reader can begin to understand some of the issues involved. I have not noted all of the points of difference, but have tried to give a representative sample of problems faced by the translator-interpreter.

Psalm 32: To David¹: High Poetry²

Blessed: the one lifted up from moral crimes, covered from sin.

Blessed: a person the wrong of whom the Adonai does not mark down, and who has no spirit of deceit in him.³

When: I was silent, my bones decayed as I roared all day in my anguish.

When: Your hand fell heavily on me day and night, turning my juicy delights to summer's drought:⁴

Exalt.⁵

I revealed my sin to you, and I did not cover up my wrongs,

I will say a confession about my crimes to Adonai
because⁶ you took the wickedness of my sin.

Exalt.⁵

May all loyal people pray to you for these things in time to find you⁷;
Surely the great floodwaters shall not reach such a person.

You are my hiding place: my safe⁸ fortress: a cry of deliverance, you surround me.

Exalt.⁵

I will make you think and I will instruct you in which path to walk;
my eye upon you, I will counsel you.

Do not approach me acting like a horse or mule, which has no understanding and
needs a bit or bridle for control.

For the wicked: Great pain is destined.
For the person who trusts Adonai: loyalty turns him around.

Take joy in Adonai and be happy, People Who Act Correctly,
Shout for joy, Everyone With A Right Heart.



Notes:

1.Probably "to be played in the davidic manner," which was most likely an instruction to the musicians performing the psalm.

2. Called a Maskil in Hebrew, this likely designates, as some versions say, "contemplative poetry."

3. I found this hard to render in the original grammatical structure, "Blessed a man not recording God (doing the action) to him iniquity, and there is not a wind/spirit (his) of deceit."

4. "When daily and nightly heavy on (me) hand (your) turning juice/ a highly prized type of food (my) around with drought-summer."

5. A musical term, it may indicate a change in register, but which I felt needed translation of some type since it marks a shift in the structure of the poem and ties this verse to the next.

6. This word is usually translated as "and" but sometimes has the meaning "because," in this case it seems likely since the second thing, "taking away," is stated as completed while "I will say a confession" is stated as not having been completed that because is more correct.

7. the object of this sentence is implied, it may be translated as "answer," and there may be other possibilities as well.

8. lit. "Narrow fortress" probably indicates that it is easily defended.