The Eternal One is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside peaceful waters;
he restores my life.
He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name.
Even if I walk through the valley of deepest darkness,
I will fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff – they comfort me.
You set a table before me in front of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and loving kindness will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Eternal One for the length of my days.
—–
Some notes on my paraphrase:
Eternal One – an alternate rendering of YHWH, which is sometimes translated at Jehovah or Yahweh. From Strong’s:
יהוה yehôvâh – (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: – Jehovah, the Lord.
valley of deepest darkness – the Hebrew does not necessarily refer to death, but instead to a dark and treacherous ravine.
loving kindness – instead of mercy or steadfast love, I have decided to go with this term. From Strong’s:
חסד chêsêd – kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opprobrium) reproof, or (subjectively) beauty: – favour, good deed (-liness, -ness), kindly, (loving-) kindness, merciful (kindness), mercy, pity.
pursue – a more accurate translation of the word commonly translated as “follow.” It also connotes a more aggressive action on the part of God that is in keeping with my Wesleyan understanding of prevenient grace.
for the length of my days – a more accurate translation of the Hebrew, rather than the more commonly used “forever.” Another alternative would be “as long as I live.”
—–
So, what do you think?
Hey Will,
Saw this last week and wanted to get back to it.
I’m not a Hebrew scholar (and the oldest language I really studied was Norse) so my thoughts are so qualified, of course…
But, I’m curious – why did you take up the project to paraphrase?
“Eternal One” is a gender-neutral moniker, so that would get some approving nods today. “Shadow of Death” is some flowery metaphorical stuff that some may be attached to, but “deepest darkness” has a more general-and-accurate tone to it. When I first read the “loving kindness”, my first thoughts went to a tradition, well, other than Christianity or Judaism — something more Eastern (not that the east has a monopoly on the phrase). It certainly has a more comforting, inclusive feel to it than the “pursuing God” does in the first 1/2 or so of the Old Testament, ready to wrestle and battle and so on.
Even if “Lord” might be more accurate for the last line (complete with house metaphor, etc) I think I would prefer a return to the “Eternal One” like the beginning. Especially, just to make up an argument, it contrasts well with the not-so-eternal “length of my days” end.
Meh..
Andrew,
I took up paraphrasing because often I would read a passage of scripture in several translations and find that there were parts of each that I liked above the others. I was also disappointed, at times, at how some Bibles actually translated particular words and phrases.
While no Hebrew or Greek scholar myself, I really hate most dynamic translations since they take great liberties with the original texts in order to convert them to the vernacular. That’s why, in most cases, I try to stick to what is actually said and, if needed, explain things in a footnote.
Thanks for your suggestions, and I have incorporated the last one into my paraphrase. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself. :^)