Psalm 122
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD,
As it was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
5 There are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
“May those who love you prosper!
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
prosperity within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,
“Peace be with you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD, our God,
I pray for your good.
--NABRE
1 A Song of Ascent. Of David.
I rejoiced when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD."
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
bonded as one together.
4 It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
For Israel's witness it is
to praise the name of the LORD.
5 There were set thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 For the peace of Jerusalem pray,
"May they prosper, those who love you."
7 May peace abide in your walls,
and security be in your towers.
8 For the sake of my family and friends,
let me say, "Peace upon you."
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will seek good things for you.
--Revised Grail Psalms
NABRE Notes:
[Psalm 122] A song of Zion, sung by pilgrims obeying the law to visit Jerusalem three times on a journey. The singer anticipates joining the procession into the city (Ps 122:1–3). Jerusalem is a place of encounter, where the people praise God (Ps 122:4) and hear the divine justice mediated by the king (Ps 122:5). The very buildings bespeak God’s power (cf. Ps 48:13–15). May the grace of this place transform the people’s lives (Ps 122:6–9)!
[122:3] Walled round about: lit., “which is joined to it,” probably referring both to the density of the buildings and to the dense population.
In this, the English and meaning of the Grail is clearly and significantly superior to the NABRE ("a city walled around"?), but I can not comment on its accuracy to the Hebrew. The Grail conforms to the Rahlf's I have more precisely, but neither translation can be called literal.
ReplyDeleteThese two are nearly identical. I'd call it a draw.
ReplyDeleteI will give a slight edge to the Revised Grail Psalms which flowed a little more smoothly. I think the NABRE note to verse three shows this verse can be translated 'compact together' (D-R) or 'compact unity' (NAB 1970), Having been to the old city of Jerusalem, I can understand how being 'walled round about' can cause things in the city with a large (dense) population to feel compacted together, that was the feeling I had when I was there.
ReplyDeleteI've been in old-style cities (i.e. with fortifications aplenty), and the fortifications never made them seem smaller than they were - by and large they were small, at least originally, and grew on a sprawling, unplanned plan that left mismatched buildings to be abutted to each other and built against each other, down curving, poorly-paved, and endlessly merging and splitting roads. That's what makes them feel small, chaotic, and "European" to the American mind: not the walls!
ReplyDeleteI'm actually pretty sure there was a time when the difference between "city" and everything else was that the former had a wall and everything else didn't (except for the fortress, which was all wall).
ReplyDelete