The translation of Psalm 89:13 and its implications

Pieter M Venter

doi:10.4102/hts.v61i1/2.422

Abstract

Psalm 89:13a can be translated: “You created north and south.” However, it can also be translated as “Zaphon and Yemin you created,” In the former case the phrase is seen as an indication of the extensiveness of the earth. In the latter the translation points to the mythological form of the hymn section (Ps 89:2-19) in which it appears. This article chooses for the mythological alternative and substantiates this position from the northern toponyms used in the hymn and the hymn’s obvious mythological structure.

Highlights

The two poetic lines in Psalm 89:13 present problems for translators
Psalm 89:13a can be translated: “You created north and south.”. It can be translated as “Zaphon and Yemin you created,” In the former case the phrase is seen as an indication of the extensiveness of the earth. In the latter the translation points to the mythological form of the hymn section (Ps 89:2-19) in which it appears
This article chooses for the mythological alternative and substantiates this position from the northern toponyms used in the hymn and the hymn’s obvious mythological structure

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The two poetic lines in Psalm 89:13 present problems for translators. Psalm 89:13 reads as follows in the Hebrew Masoretic Text: μtarb hta ÷ymyw ÷wpx .wnnry ûmb ÷wmrjw rwbt. When the word pair is translated as merely “north and south” and read together with the names Hermon and Tabor in the second line, it is interpreted as indication of the totality of God’s creative acts and power (cf Coetzee 1995) It refers to the wind directions and the high mountains. 11, expressed in north-south/Zaphon and Amuna indications, and the explicit northern toponyms Tabor and Hermon used in the second line, points to literature of northern provenance conceptualised in typical mythical Baal language. The mountains in verse 13 of the central strophe, created by God and praising him, form the meeting point between the heavenly abode from which God reigns over heaven and earth They are landmarks indicating northern sanctuaries but represent an original Canaanite mythological ideology of God who reigns in heaven and descends to the world at the god mountain. This substantiates our thesis that the translation “Zaphon and Jemin you created is the better translation.”

CONCLUSION

Works Consulted