Will the Fingers Never Quit


How Stuff Works. Or Not

Yesterday’s blog post was a short one until I started staring at it and adding a bit here and there until it was a jumbled jungle of rubbish. In my pause of decision whether to press “delete” or “publish” I took the last sip of coffee, thought WTH, pressed “publish” and went for another cuppa. Recently, another equally bizarre post was deleted the next day, but at the moment I intend to refrain from again deleting after posting. However, I may revisit and edit it from time to time just to see what evolves.

What’s greatly distressing me this morning is my ignorance of Hebrew, that my seminary required Greek but not Hebrew, that I couldn’t persuade the OT professor to change his plans and tutor me in Hebrew that summer instead of going on sabbatical, that I didn’t study it on my own in my forties when the mind could still do it, that now in late seventies I can’t even remember and recognize the letters of the alphabet, much less their assembly into words. So now I’m struggling with grace and mercy and their differences and likenesses, not to mention that translators render them interchangeably though I think they are not synonymous. I must get out my Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance that I’ve found helpful over the thirty-five years even though Dean Krodel told me it was rubbish, not to buy it.

Look. Psalm 136, a liturgical piece -- a couple of verses -- I’m interested in the repetitive response

כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ

From the BCP, page 789
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, *
    for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods, *
    for his mercy endures for ever.

KJV. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

NRSV. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (ahh, that "steadfast love" gives me a clue).

YLT. Give ye thanks to Jehovah, For good, for to the age [is] His kindness.

WLC. הֹוד֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה כִּי־טֹ֑וב כִּ֖י לְעֹולָ֣ם חַסְדֹּֽו׃

OJB. O give thanks unto Hashem; for He is tov; ki l’olam chasdo (His chesed indures forever).

MSG. Thank God! He deserves your thanks.
    His love never quits.

CJB. Give thanks to Adonai, for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.

ASV. Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.

CEV. Praise the Lord! He is good.
    God’s love never fails.

LXX. ᾿Αλληλούΐα. - ΕΞΟΜΟΛΟΓΕΙΣΘΕ τῷ Κυρίῳ, ὅτι ἀγαθός, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ·

Or look at this http://biblehub.com/text/psalms/136-1.htm “for forever his covenant loyalty.”

OK, I’m never certain of anything, but I think I may see my problem. For psalm 136 (psalm 135 in the LXX), the scholars brought חַסְדּֽוֹ chesed over into the Septuagint as ἔλεος mercy, compassion instead of agape’ lovingkindness. I’m not sure. See what you think. Look at the Hebrew, and listen to it (press Listen to this Chapter in Hebrew), and see what you think. 


TW+

My shame: fiddling with this nonsense when instead I should be worrying about that still-missing airliner. If they don’t find it by this time next month, it will be old news, forgotten by the world, and only the survivors will care. 

T