Updating the Psalms

Last year Pamela Greenberg published a wonderful new translation of the Psalms—translated straight from the Hebrew, and done with both scholarly and poetic skill. In the introduction of her translation she discusses how certain terms have been rendered in ways that are helpful to our continuing spiritual journey. For example, the word ‘enemy.’ In the Psalms, enemies are all over the place. What does that mean for us? She says…

The word ‘enemy’ in the Psalms “also has a long tradition of being understood as a personification of one’s struggle with suffering, such as that of poverty, addiction, depression, or illness…Metaphorical readings such as this are in keeping with the psalms’ existential tone. I have sometimes, as in Psalm 23, translated the word ‘enemy’ as ‘fear,’ as that seems to me more expressive of the psalm’s intention.” 

I think that's helpful. Next time you are reading the Psalms and you come across an 'enemy,' think "cancer" or "poverty" or "cynicism" or "depression" or whatever is opposing a fulfilling life. And when the Psalmist wants 'vengeance,' think about getting back at disease or pessimism, etc. Reinterpreting Scripture is an ancient practice that we can continue to use. 

I recommend: 

Pamela Greenberg, The Complete Psalms: The Book of Psalms in a New Translation (Bloomsbury, 2010).

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