Restoring the rhythm of the Psalms

My monthly Christian Courier column is devoted to the Psalms once again: The Genevan Psalms: Restoring the rhythm of the Psalms. An excerpt:

Two months ago in this space I recounted the story behind my longstanding interest in the biblical Psalter and its liturgical use. In the mid 1980s I came across the Genevan Psalter, with which I had previously not had much contact. My childhood church sang largely from the 1912 Psalter, with a very few Genevan melodies included, such as the ubiquitous Psalm 134, renumbered OLD HUNDREDTH in the 1650 Scottish Psalter.

It wasn’t until age 30 that I discovered the riches of the Genevan Psalms. To my surprise, I found that I had already had a copy of them in Czech which I had acquired at an antiquarian bookshop in Prague a decade earlier. Published in 1900, during the last decades of Habsburg rule, it contains the versifications of Jiří Strejc, a member of the Unitas Fratrum, the heirs of the 15th-century Hussites.

I was quite taken with the Genevan tunes, whose metrical structures are much less regular than those of the psalters used in the English-speaking world. Their rhythms are occasionally syncopated in the style of Renaissance madrigals. Although generations of Dutch Reformed Christians became accustomed to singing them in agonizingly slow even notes, they were originally sung in the spirit of dance tunes, famously leading Queen Elizabeth I to deride them as “Genevan jigs.”

Read the entire article here.

Holladay on the Psalms

The late William L. Holladay (1926-2016) was professor of Old Testament at Andover Newton Theological School in Boston. In 1993 he published a marvellous book, The Psalms through Three Thousand Years: Prayerbook of a Cloud of Witnesses (Augsburg Fortress). I purchased this book eleven years ago, and, while I read bits and pieces of it afterwards, only now have I got round to reading it from cover to cover. Indeed it is one of the most extensive books in English about the biblical Psalms, covering everything from authorship, sources, compilation, canonization, and liturgical use by Jews and Christians over the centuries. A full review of this encyclopaedic treatment would require more space than I can give to it, but I think it worthwhile to highlight some of the more interesting elements that make it such a rich treasure of information.

Psalm 47: David's Psalter in English

As far as I know, the 150 metrical Psalms of Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka have never before been rendered in English. The Psałterz Dawidow was first published in 1579 and is a beloved component of the Polish musical heritage. It is virtually unknown outside of Poland but deserves more exposure in the rest of the world. Here is my own attempt to disseminate knowledge of this psalter. The English versification is my own. English text © 2019 David T Koyzis.

Yesterday this was played at the online anniversary event celebrating a quarter of a century of Global Scholars Canada, of which I have been a member since 2019.

Owen Jones' Victoria Psalter

What better way to spend Victoria Day weekend than to page through a copy of Owen Jones' The Psalms of David, "with permission dedicated to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria," also known as the Victoria Psalter. Jones (1809-1874) was an architect and ornamental designer who served as a superintendent of works at the Great Exhibition of 1851. His 1856 Grammar of Ornament had an influence on subsequent architects and designers in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1862 he published the Victoria Psalter, a chromolithographed illuminated psalter with colours limited to red, blue and gold. The text of the Psalms is that of Miles Coverdale's translation, as found in the Book of Common Prayer. The 150 Psalms are divided into 30 groups so as to be said or sung over a 30-day period. Each day is further divided into two for morning and evening prayer. The Psalm at the beginning of each group is preceded by a simple chant tone.

Critical Psalm Theory

Carl R. Trueman mentions the Psalms in something he wrote a few days ago concerning Critical Race Theory (CRT): Critical Psalm Theory. I will not address the controversy over CRT here, but I find the article of interest in part because of its relevance to the liturgical use of the imprecatory Psalms, namely, those calling down God's wrath on his enemies. With reference to the terrifying final verse of Psalm 137, Trueman weighs in here:

The Psalmist knows that the Babylonians have razed Jerusalem to the ground, massacred Jewish children, and carried the Israelites off into exile (2 Kings 8:12; Nah. 3:10). These are facts of which, as an exile, he is well aware. And, brutal as the closing verse is, the Psalmist is speaking in a manner consistent with the biblical metanarrative concerning the ultimate fate of all those who defy God (Isa. 13:16; Hosea 13:16). For sure, the psalm is a cry of shocking, horrifying agony, but it is connected to the known facts of the case interpreted through the covenantal metanarrative. The lament does not assume anything that the Psalmist does not certainly know to be true.

Our pain, however real it is, however unjust its cause, however evil its effect, does not give us license to express ourselves in any way we choose. I have written numerous times on the church's pressing need to learn to lament; but Christian lamentation must never be divorced from the facts interpreted through the metanarrative of God’s dealings with his people. As the Psalmist himself declares, “Be angry, and do not sin”—a verse picked up in the Pauline epistles (Eph. 4:26). And slander and the spreading of false or inaccurate stories, even in a “hot affective reflection,” are still sins (Exod. 20:16; Exod. 23:1; Prov. 14:25; Matt. 19:18).

Read the entire article here.

De Nieuwe Psalmberijming

Last month a new Dutch versification of the Psalms was published: De Nieuwe Psalmberijming. As far as I know, there have been four major Dutch metrical psalters over the centuries: (1) that of Pieter Datheen of 1566; (2) the Statenberijming of 1773; (3) the Niewe Berijming of the Interkerkelijke Stichting voor de Psalmberijming [Interchurch Foundation for Psalm Versification] of 1968; and now (4) De Nieuwe Psalmberijming of 2021, produced by the Stichting Dicht bij de Bijbel [Close to the Bible Foundation].

Naturally languages change over time, and idioms once understood by earlier generations fall out of use and are replaced by others. Hence the translation of the Bible and other liturgical texts is a constant need for each generation. At times languages change quickly, as English did from the time of Chaucer in the 14th century to the 16th century when the first "modern" translations of the Bible were produced. At other times languages change incrementally, and liturgical texts may play a role in stabilizing them for many centuries, as did the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.

Versification headaches

Setting the Psalms to verse isn't so easy either.

"Kleszczmy rękoma" (Psalm 47) Mikołaj Gomółka

Here is a performance of Psalm 47 from the 16th-century Polish David's Psalter, by Jan Kochanowski and Mikołaj Gomółka. Sung by the "Tibi Domine" Choir at St. John's Church in Gdańsk in 2017.

After 5 June I will be posting an English version of this which I recorded a few days ago. As far as I know, this is the first time that anyone has come up with an English-language rendition of this beautiful metrical psalm. Stay tuned.

My Rock and my salvation: links

Here are the links to my posts as I have explored the reluctance of the Septuagint and related texts to use the rock metaphor for God in translating from the Hebrew:

My Rock and my salvation, 1: the Septuagint's skittishness

My Rock and my salvation, 2: Coverdale and the Vulgate

My Rock and my Salvation, 3: The New Coverdale Psalter

My Rock and my salvation, 4: the Targums

My Rock and my salvation, 5: a Hellenistic taboo?

I am grateful to my dear friend and colleague, Al Wolters, for the guidance he has given me in my journey of exploration in a field which is admittedly not my own. I am sure there is considerably more to say on the subject, but for the moment I will leave it aside, unless something else of significance comes to my attention.

My Rock and my salvation, 5: a Hellenistic taboo?

Wolters alerted me to this quotation from Karen H. Jobes and Moisés Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000), pp. 95-96:

It is interesting that while the Greek translators did not avoid these [anthropomorphic] metaphors in a systematic fashion, they were consistently reluctant to refer to God as a rock. Mostly in the Psalms, but also in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and Habakkuk, the Hebrew text sometimes speaks of God as a rock or stone, a figure that likens God to a fortress, a secure place of refuge. For instance, consider Psalm 18:13, 46:

My Rock and my salvation, 4: the Targums

I am still puzzling over the Septuagint (LXX) translators' reluctance to translate the rock metaphors from Hebrew into Greek, substituting for them such words rendered in English as strength and helper. This metaphor is also absent from the Latin Vulgate and, with one exception, from Miles Coverdale's Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer. It occurred to me that perhaps the LXX translators had access to a lost Hebrew manuscript that had already made these substitutions. But there's another possibility.

After the Babylonian exile, Jews ceased to pronounce the divine name, יהוה, often rendered YHWH in the roman alphabet. When they came to this name in the biblical text while reading, they would orally substitute אֲדֹנָי‎, (Adonai) or LORD. Accordingly, the LXX translated the divine name with the Greek word Κύριος (Kyrios).

Medium as message: Boersma

First Things has published an article by Hans Boersma that we would do well to read and ponder: The Liturgical Medium is the Message. Arguing that changing the medium of worship effectively alters the message, Boersma comments on the tradition of metrical psalmody: "When traditional Calvinist churches switch from the Genevan Psalter to worship songs, it’s not just the form that changes. Calvinism itself is doomed at that point. . . . The Genevan Psalter has the five points of Calvinism baked into its tunes; even the organ is indispensable in conveying that God is sovereign and puny creatures are not."

Boersma holds the Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology at Nasthotah House, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He appears once to have been affiliated with the Gereformeerde Kerken (Vrijgemaakt) in the Netherlands and the Canadian Reformed Churches but may now be an Anglican. Read about him here.

Psalm 141: Let My Prayer Arise

Here is a haunting performance of Psalm 141 (LXX 140) sung in Russian from two years ago. Judging from the comments below the video, it has the capacity to move even the unbeliever.

Praying the Psalms

Christian Courier has posted my April column at their website: Praying the Psalms: Embracing the liturgical heritage of the global church. Here is an excerpt:

As a young man living and studying in Minnesota, I accidentally stumbled upon a form of prayer extending back to the early church and into biblical times. I was browsing in the bookstore of Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul and found a red paper-bound volume titled The Daily Office, with a lengthy subtitle: “Matins and Vespers, Based on Traditional Liturgical Patterns, with Scripture Readings, Hymns, Canticles, Litanies, Collects and the Psalter, Designed for Private Devotion or Group Worship.” A compact book, it nevertheless had nearly 700 pages, packed with scripture, psalms, hymns and prayers organized around the church year. I purchased the book and began to pray according to the patterns laid out in its pages. It ended up changing my life and my relationship with God.

Read the entire article here.

My Rock and my Salvation, 3: The New Coverdale Psalter

Coverdale

Generations of Anglicans are familiar with the cadences of Miles Coverdale's Psalms, about which I wrote last month: My Rock and my salvation, 2: Coverdale and the Vulgate. If you take a look at the online Book of Common Prayer (2019) for the Anglican Church in North America and go to the Psalter section, beginning on page 270, you will find something interesting relevant to the rock metaphors for God. In most cases where they occur, the rock metaphors have been returned to the Psalms, except for Psalms 62, 95, and 144:

Psalm 62: 2: "He is my strength and my salvation . . ."

Psalm 62:6: "He truly is my strength and my salvation . . ."

Psalm 95:1: ". . . let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation."

Psalm 144:1: "Blessed be the LORD my strength . . ."

Psalm 144:2: "My hope and my fortress . . ."

Why the revisers left these texts alone I cannot say, but I suspect that, in the case of Psalm 95 (Venite), the text is so familiar to worshippers that they decided to let it stand in the form they had come to love. The New Coverdale Psalter is available as a separate volume here.

Psałterz Poznański on TV

Psałterz Poznański made it to Polish television three years ago. Andrzej and Agata Polaszek appear on TV MAX performing and discussing their project. Agata sings Psalms 2, 27, 5, 23, 6, and 9. Very nice indeed! Naprawdę bardzo ładnie!

Psałterz Poznański: Psalm 16

Our friends in Poznań, Poland, have posted another performance of Genevan Psalm 16 in their own language: Psalm 16: Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Here is Google's translation of the text below the title:

Psalm 16 appears in the book of Acts (Acts 2: 22-32) as a prophetic announcement of the Resurrection:

"Men of Israel! Listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, the man whom God has authenticated among you by extraordinary deeds, miracles and signs that God worked among you through him, as you know it, when, according to the divine decree and plan, he was handed over to you they crucified the wicked and killed them; but God raised him up, loosing the bonds of death, for it was impossible for him to be defeated by death. For David says of him: I had the Lord always before my eyes, for he is at my right hand, lest I stumble. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue rejoiced, and also my body will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in the abyss, and you will not allow your saint to see corruption. (You made me know the ways of life, You will fill me with bliss through Your presence. My brothers and sisters, I am permitted to speak to you openly, Patriarch David, that he died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. that God had promised him by an oath that his fleshly offspring would sit on his throne, he said, having foreseen this, of Christ's resurrection, that he would not remain in the abyss, nor would his body see corruption.

Below the audio file we see links to the Polish-language text and to the music, along with different versions of guitar chords for each.

The ESV Psalter

This past weekend I was surprised to see a package from Amazon outside our front door. I opened it and was delighted to see a gift from one of my closest friends: a small volume titled simply The Psalms, published by Crossway in Wheaton, Illinois, USA, and containing the English Standard Version of the biblical Psalter. Its cover is cloth over board. The pages are thicker than the india paper typically used in volumes of the full Bible, and the font is larger too, making for easy reading, especially for older people. It comes in a board case, as seen in the photographs below:

The Seedbed Psalter

While the singing of metrical Psalms is often associated with the Reformed tradition, Christians in other traditions are making an effort to recover psalm-singing in their own churches. One such effort is the Seedbed Psalter, which comes out of the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition. Julie Tennent and her husband Timothy are the principal compilers of this collection. Julie is an organist, pianist, and composer. Timothy is president of Asbury Theological Seminary, the largest North American seminary standing in the Wesleyan tradition. Julie has done the bulk of the work connected with the Seedbed Psalter.

The genius of the Seedbed Psalter is that, while it does come in a hard copy volume (shown at right), it is largely an online resource enabling the user to choose amongst a variety of texts and settings covering all 150 Psalms. Right on the front page we read the following:

My Rock and my salvation, 2: Coverdale and the Vulgate

Miles Coverdale

In my last post I examined all the uses in the Psalms of the metaphor rock to refer to God, comparing a standard English translation (RSV) with a recent English translation of the Septuagint (LXX) (NET). As it turns out, Miles Coverdale's 16th-century translation of the Psalms in the Book of Common Prayer does virtually the same thing, with one exception. A little digging reveals that Coverdale based his translation on the Latin Vulgate then in use in those churches in communion with Rome. 

The Vulgate appears to follow the LXX's skittishness in referring to God as Rock, but Augustine insists that Jerome translated his Latin Old Testament directly from the Hebrew. Nevertheless, Jerome's initial translation of the Psalms was from the LXX. Could there have been a Hebrew version of the Psalms now lost to us that formed the basis of both LXX and Vulgate versions? Might this Hebrew version have already shunned the rock metaphor? I won't venture a guess, as I am not especially competent to do so. But I will point out that my personal copy of the Latin Vulgate Bible has two columns for the Psalms: one for the traditional Clementine Vulgate and the other for a newer Latin translation authorized by Pope Pius XII in 1945, the latter of which recovers the rock metaphors for God. Oddly enough, Coverdale's translation does assert that "the Lord is my stony rock" in Psalm 18:1, but that is the single exception.