A new Dutch psalter: De Nieuwe Psalmberijming

One of the features of language is that it changes over time, usually slowly and incrementally, but sometimes surprisingly quickly, as in the shift from middle to modern English. It is good to keep this in mind as we look more closely at the new Dutch versification of the biblical Psalms produced in 2021. Called De Nieuwe Psalmberijming, it follows at least four previous versifications of the Psalms, as set to the historic Genevan tunes. But we should also be aware that liturgical language tends to lag behind contemporary usage, as I noted in this article more than a decade ago: Liturgy and archaic language. Thus many updates of liturgical material leave some archaisms untouched, primarily because parishioners are used to them and prefer to worship in familiar albeit older words. This explains the continued affection in some circles for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the King James Version of the Bible, the 1650 Scottish Psalter, and even the Revised Standard Version's retention of the old second-person-singular pronouns in addresses to God, a usage now in decline amongst English-speaking Christians.

The Genevan Psalter was, of course, originally published in French in its complete form in 1562. But soon thereafter it was being translated into other European languages. The first Dutch version was the work of Pieter Datheen, or Petrus Dathenus (c 1531-1588), as he is known by his latinized name, published in 1566. A facsimile copy can be found here. This was followed by the 17th-century versified Psalms of Jacob Revius (1586-1658). In 1773 the Estates General of the United Netherlands approved a new metrical psalter for use in the churches of the republic. This remained in use in the Dutch churches into the late 20th century and may still be in use in some places.

In 1967 a new versification was approved by the Interkerkelijke Stichting voor de Psalmberijming (Interchurch Foundation for Metrical Psalmody), bringing together the efforts of representatives of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN), the Dutch Reformed Church (NHK), the Christian Reformed Churches (CGK), the Mennonites (DS), the Remonstrant Brotherhood (the original Arminians), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church. This versification made its way into the Liedboek voor de Kerken, a psalter and hymnal used by the major Protestant bodies in the country following its publication in 1973. The language in this collection retained certain archaisms, such as the old second-person singular gij, no longer commonly used in standard Dutch, as well as the definite article declensions der, den, and des.

In 2014 poet Jan Pieter Kuijper began a new project to set the Psalms to verse in contemporary language under the auspices of the Stichting Dicht bij de Bijbel (Close to the Bible Foundation). In addition to Kuijper, those working on this project included Arie Maasland, Adriaan Molenaar, Bob Vuijk, Arjen Vreugdenhil, Titia Lindeboom, Jan Boom, Ria Borkent, and René Barkema. In undertaking this work, they were guided by eight principles:

1. The new psalter is written in contemporary language with obsolete forms omitted entirely.
2. Full rhymes are used, with no near rhymes permitted.
3. The Hebrew text is the basis for the versification, with HEER standing for the Divine Name and Heer for the Hebrew Adonai. This, of course, is similar to our English translations of the Bible.
4. An effort was made to give the metrical versions the same message and emotion as found in the original prose texts.
5. The versifiers have aimed at compactness, preferring to summarize the prose texts where appropriate rather than to add extraneous material. (This, incidentally, is opposite the approach taken in the latest Spanish-language version of the Genevan Psalter.) This means that each psalm generally has fewer stanzas than in previous versions.
6. An effort was made to ensure that each stanza formed a complete logical unit so that each can be sung independently.
7. The rhyming scheme follows that of the original Genevan Psalter, and the tunes are sung rhythmically, as opposed to isometrically, the latter still being the practice of some churches in this tradition.
8. The new versification follows the common Dutch rules for the use of upper- and lower-case letters, the former being used for the names of God and for his personal pronouns.

I might add to this that the musical scores have the treble clef at the beginning of each line rather than in the first line only, as found in the older Dutch (and even German and Czech) psalters.

This Nieuwe Psalmberijming appears to lack the official imprimatur of church or political authorities enjoyed by previous versions of the Psalter. Because it represents an independent effort, this could limit its use in the churches. However, due to its evident advantages over previous versions, its use may indeed spread in local congregations, even without denominational status.

Here is the first stanza of Psalm 23 in the new version:

Mijn herder is de HEER, zijn hand behoedt mij.
Ik heb genoeg, want zijn genade voedt mij.
Genieten mag ik in een groene weide;
Hij wil mij naar verfrissend water leiden.
Hij geeft mij nieuwe kracht en blijft mij leren
om Hem te volgen en zijn naam te eren.

Here is an unrhymed translation into English:

My shepherd is the LORD, his hand keeps me.
I have enough, for His grace nourishes me.
I can enjoy myself in a green meadow;
He wants to lead me to refreshing water.
He gives me new strength and continues to teach me
to follow Him and honour His name.

With respect to the use of rhymes, Kuijper cites a wonderful analogy:

Rhyming a psalm is surprisingly difficult. J.W. Schulte Nordholt, one of the poets who contributed to the Liedboek voor de Kerken, has compared the rhyming of a psalm to the fate of Samson: "The poet is bound by seven ropes: the text, the melody, the measure, the rhythm, the rhyme, fidelity, and approachability. And when they were well secured, they shouted: the Philistines are upon you, and they were the critics . . . ." (From: De werkplaats van het Liedboek, p. 44). The poets of De Nieuwe Psalmberijming also experienced this struggle. You do not have perfect rhyme in your hands; there is always room for improvement.

I can testify from my own experience to the truth of Schulte Nordholt's observation. But I continue to question the need to follow the original rhyme schemes, especially when they lead to a mismatch between the stresses in text and tune and when they take us further from the original prose texts. What would an unrhymed Dutch psalter look like? Of course, we would then have to abandon the word psalmberijming for such an effort, perhaps substituting the word versificatie.

I hope and pray that De Nieuwe Psalmberijming will catch on in the churches of the Netherlands (and perhaps Belgium as well) and that Christians will acquire a renewed enthusiasm for singing the biblical Psalms in their own language.

Here is Psalm 100 in De Nieuwe Psalmberijming: