1<\/sup> The LORD<\/span> is my shepherd,\r\nI shall not want.\r\n2<\/sup> He makes me lie down in green pastures;\r\nhe leads me beside still waters;\r\n3<\/sup> he restores my soul.\r\nHe leads me in right paths for his name\u2019s sake.\r\n4<\/sup> Even though I walk through the darkest valley,\r\nI fear no evil;\r\nfor you are with me; your rod and your staff\u2014\r\nthey comfort me.\r\n5<\/sup> You prepare a table before me\r\nin the presence of my enemies;\r\nyou anoint my head with oil;\r\nmy cup overflows.\r\n6<\/sup> Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me\r\nall the days of my life,\r\nand I shall dwell in the house of the LORD<\/span>\r\nmy whole life long.<\/p>\r\nLiterary language is sticky in a way that ordinary language is not. It can stick to different people in different ways and connect these people with a text as a common experience. Psalm 23 is arguably one of the stickiest texts in the Bible. Many people know this psalm though they may know little else of the Bible. I want to explore something of why this is so.\r\n\r\nHebrew and English differ in two fundamental ways. First, English favors nouns while Hebrew prefers verbs, and we see this in the opening phrase. The English word \u201cmy shepherd\u201d translates the Hebrew participle with its object: \u201cthe one shepherding\/grazing me.\u201d The Hebrew focuses less on the role and more on the verb\u2019s action for \u201cme.\u201d The shepherd is mine because he is taking care of \u201cme.\u201d The English translation tends to hide this.\r\n\r\nThe second difference lies in the way that the two languages connect ideas. Like Latin and Greek, English wants to indicate the relationship between ideas by subordinating clauses. Hebrew tends to make statements, one after another. While some translations make the connections explicit, the NRSV translation used here respects the original and invites the reader to work out the relationship:\r\n He will feed his flock like a shepherd;\r\nhe will gather the lambs in his arms,\r\nand carry them in his bosom,\r\nand gently lead the mother sheep.<\/p>\r\nIsaiah juxtaposes the arm that \u201crules\u201d with the arms that \u201cgather the lambs.\u201d The LORD<\/span>, as Isaiah reveals, holds together both strength and care. Though strength is often associated with men, and care with women, God holds both of these together.\r\n\r\nThis care dominates the psalm's next four sentences with the LORD<\/span> as subject and \u201cme\u201d as object:\r\n 2<\/sup> He makes me lie down in green pastures;\r\nhe leads me beside still waters;\r\n3<\/sup> he restores my soul.\r\nHe leads me in right paths\r\nfor his name\u2019s sake.<\/p>\r\nAgain, the Hebrew invites us to find the connections between these sentences. The first two verbs deal with giving rest and movement to embrace the coming and going of life. The two lines add \u201cgreen pasture\u201d and \u201cstill waters\u201d to suggest abundance and peace and, even more essential, food and drink, the basic needs for being alive.\r\n\r\nThe third line literally states: \u201che causes my \u2018soul\/being\/self\u2019 to return.\u201d The Hebrew word for \u201csoul,\u201d nephesh<\/em>, originally meant \u201cthroat,\u201d but it becomes a part for the whole because without your throat you are not a living being. Hebrew word nephesh <\/em>means \u201cthe self,\u201d \u201cone\u2019s whole being.\u201d The Greek translation captures this idea with psyche, <\/em>its word for \u201csoul.\u201d\u00a0The word \u201csoul\u201d suggests a larger, existential horizon. Life and self can seep away and even hemorrhage. We need more than physical food and drink, and here the psalmist testifies that God will bring back and re-establish life and self and soul.\r\n\r\nThe verb \u201cleads\u201d repeats and underlines God\u2019s initiative that guides this psalmist \u201calong right paths.\u201d The word \u201cright\u201d connects us to the language of righteousness and justice. It suggests more than correctness. My walking this path conforms me to the justice of God, yet the LORD<\/span> leads \u201cme\u201d along this path, not for my sake, but \u201cfor his name\u2019s sake,\u201d that is, for God\u2019s integrity.\r\n\r\nThe first person voice dominates this psalm and makes the psalm a personal testimony that allows no contradiction. It asserts what God has done for \u201cme.\u201d Unlike some psalms that reveal an ambivalent speaker, the voice here is clear and unequivocal. The psalmist now makes a personal affirmation of trust:\r\n 4<\/sup> Even though I walk through the darkest valley,\r\nI fear no evil;\r\nfor you are with me;\r\nyour rod and your staff\u2014\r\nthey comfort me.<\/p>\r\nStatements of trust often appear in the psalms of petition as reasons why God should act and answer the psalmist\u2019s prayer. Here the psalmist is asking for nothing but only stating what is true. The statement is particularly bold because of the future condition that the psalmist envisions. This translation reads \u201cdarkest valley,\u201d which may be technically correct. However, it misses the ominous foreboding of the King James, which literally translates the Hebrew as \u201cthe valley of the shadow of death.\u201d Death becomes some towering entity able to cast its shadow as if about to strike and annihilate \u201cme.\u201d In the face of this threat, the psalmist asserts, \u201cI shall not fear, for you are with me.\u201d Trust in the presence of God creates the possibility of life without fear. This short line captures a breadth of affirmation.\r\n\r\nHere also, there is a small but crucial shift. Up to this point, the psalmist has spoken about the LORD<\/span> as a shepherd without naming the audience. The psalmist could be addressing the community or whoever will listen. The psalmist could be speaking just to hear the words their sound. Now the psalmist clearly addresses God as \u201cyou.\u201d This crucial shift adds a new level of intimacy, revealing the psalmist\u2019s ability to speak directly and personally to God.\r\n\r\nQuickly the psalmist adds: \u201cyour rod and your staff comfort me.\u201d The shepherd\u2019s rod and staff can guide or goad a flock; they can also serve as weapons against the thieving wolves. The repetition of \u201cyour\u201d underlines the intimacy, while \u201ccomfort\u201d reinforces the basic theme of the shepherd\u2019s nurture.\r\n\r\nTo protect the holiness of YHWH<\/span>, people in the late post-exilic period began to avoid this name and use Adonai, \u201cmy Lord,\u201d in its place. This title translates into Greek as kyrios <\/em>(\u2018lord\u2019), the same word used in the New Testament to identify the Messiah. The Latin \u201cDominus<\/em>,\u201d the English \u201cLord,\u201d and the Spanish \u201cSe\u00f1or\u201d continue that identification of YHWH<\/span> with Jesus, who also calls himself \u201cthe good shepherd\u201d (John 10:11); As a result, Christians have always understood this psalm Christologically. The psalm also invites the hearer to identify with the speaker and claim the LORD<\/span> as the comforting shepherd who leads and restores.\r\n\r\nMany people overlook the second metaphor of the psalm: God as host.\r\n 5<\/sup> You prepare a table before me\r\nin the presence of my enemies.\r\nyou anoint my head with oil;\r\nmy cup overflows.<\/p>\r\nThe God of green pastures and still waters becomes a host who provides a feast \u201cin front of my enemies.\u201d\r\n\r\nCommentators see the reference to enemies as a sign of the protection required of the nomadic host to a guest. Even so, Fr. Luis Alonso Sch\u00f6kel, SJ, once said in class that God provides this feast \u201cin front of our enemies\u201d so that we can invite them to join us and share the meal. While this reading may seem to be heavily influenced by the Sermon on the Mount, Elisha does something similar in 2 Kgs 6:8-23, where he leads the blinded enemy into Samaria for a feast. In any case, Fr. Alonso would surely have argued that it was a fair and real understanding of the text as it stands from his point of view.\r\n\r\nHere the host not only sets the table \u201cbefore me\u201d but also anoints \u201cmy head with oil.\u201d Oil served many functions in ancient Israel: food, heat, light, healing, moisturizer, and election. Here it represents hospitality that is more than friendliness. The anointing manifests care for the person, and the host does this anointing.\r\n\r\nThe image of the overflowing cup reveals a bountiful feast\u2014with nothing held back and more coming all the time.\r\n\r\nThe feast gives way to the proclamation that \u201cgoodness and mercy will pursue me \/ all the days of my life.\u201d Goodness embraces everything good\u2014all creation. Translators use the English word \u201cmercy\u201d to translate several Hebrew words: one connected to gracious favor, another to womb-emotion, and a third to the loyal love of covenant. The Hebrew word points us toward the covenant, but the English can connect all three.\r\n\r\nThe reality of \u201cgoodness\u201d and \u201cmercy\u201d creates the possibility of living \u201cin the house of the LORD<\/span> my whole life long.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe stickiness of the psalm is the result of many pieces, and this reading does not exhaust them.","rendered":" 1<\/sup> The LORD<\/span> is my shepherd, Literary language is sticky in a way that ordinary language is not. It can stick to different people in different ways and connect these people with a text as a common experience. Psalm 23 is arguably one of the stickiest texts in the Bible. Many people know this psalm though they may know little else of the Bible. I want to explore something of why this is so.<\/p>\n Hebrew and English differ in two fundamental ways. First, English favors nouns while Hebrew prefers verbs, and we see this in the opening phrase. The English word \u201cmy shepherd\u201d translates the Hebrew participle with its object: \u201cthe one shepherding\/grazing me.\u201d The Hebrew focuses less on the role and more on the verb\u2019s action for \u201cme.\u201d The shepherd is mine because he is taking care of \u201cme.\u201d The English translation tends to hide this.<\/p>\n The second difference lies in the way that the two languages connect ideas. Like Latin and Greek, English wants to indicate the relationship between ideas by subordinating clauses. Hebrew tends to make statements, one after another. While some translations make the connections explicit, the NRSV translation used here respects the original and invites the reader to work out the relationship:<\/p>\n The LORD<\/span> is my shepherd, I shall not want.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Hebrew text does not explicitly link these two sentences, but it invites us to connect the two and affirm the whole statement.<\/p>\n The shepherd is one of the great images of the ancient world and the Bible. In his famous Codex, King Hammurabi of Babylon, who lived about eight hundred years before David, calls himself \u201cthe beneficent shepherd, whose scepter is righteous\u2026so that the strong might not oppress the weak.\u201d King Hammurabi uses the image of the shepherd to capture this vision.<\/p>\n Though Psalm 23 does not refer to kingship, the link between the two is ancient, and it is no accident that David is among the sheep when Samuel has run through all of the sons of Jesse without finding the one to anoint (1 Sam 16:11).<\/p>\n The image of the king conjures up strength and power, while the shepherd puts the emphasis on care. Second Isaiah captures these two dimensions in 40:10-11. We hear that the LORD<\/span> \u201ccomes with might\u201d and \u201chis arm rules for him.\u201d Then the text adds:<\/p>\n He will feed his flock like a shepherd; Isaiah juxtaposes the arm that \u201crules\u201d with the arms that \u201cgather the lambs.\u201d The LORD<\/span>, as Isaiah reveals, holds together both strength and care. Though strength is often associated with men, and care with women, God holds both of these together.<\/p>\n This care dominates the psalm’s next four sentences with the LORD<\/span> as subject and \u201cme\u201d as object:<\/p>\n 2<\/sup> He makes me lie down in green pastures; Again, the Hebrew invites us to find the connections between these sentences. The first two verbs deal with giving rest and movement to embrace the coming and going of life. The two lines add \u201cgreen pasture\u201d and \u201cstill waters\u201d to suggest abundance and peace and, even more essential, food and drink, the basic needs for being alive.<\/p>\n The third line literally states: \u201che causes my \u2018soul\/being\/self\u2019 to return.\u201d The Hebrew word for \u201csoul,\u201d nephesh<\/em>, originally meant \u201cthroat,\u201d but it becomes a part for the whole because without your throat you are not a living being. Hebrew word nephesh <\/em>means \u201cthe self,\u201d \u201cone\u2019s whole being.\u201d The Greek translation captures this idea with psyche, <\/em>its word for \u201csoul.\u201d\u00a0The word \u201csoul\u201d suggests a larger, existential horizon. Life and self can seep away and even hemorrhage. We need more than physical food and drink, and here the psalmist testifies that God will bring back and re-establish life and self and soul.<\/p>\n The verb \u201cleads\u201d repeats and underlines God\u2019s initiative that guides this psalmist \u201calong right paths.\u201d The word \u201cright\u201d connects us to the language of righteousness and justice. It suggests more than correctness. My walking this path conforms me to the justice of God, yet the LORD<\/span> leads \u201cme\u201d along this path, not for my sake, but \u201cfor his name\u2019s sake,\u201d that is, for God\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n The first person voice dominates this psalm and makes the psalm a personal testimony that allows no contradiction. It asserts what God has done for \u201cme.\u201d Unlike some psalms that reveal an ambivalent speaker, the voice here is clear and unequivocal. The psalmist now makes a personal affirmation of trust:<\/p>\n 4<\/sup> Even though I walk through the darkest valley, Statements of trust often appear in the psalms of petition as reasons why God should act and answer the psalmist\u2019s prayer. Here the psalmist is asking for nothing but only stating what is true. The statement is particularly bold because of the future condition that the psalmist envisions. This translation reads \u201cdarkest valley,\u201d which may be technically correct. However, it misses the ominous foreboding of the King James, which literally translates the Hebrew as \u201cthe valley of the shadow of death.\u201d Death becomes some towering entity able to cast its shadow as if about to strike and annihilate \u201cme.\u201d In the face of this threat, the psalmist asserts, \u201cI shall not fear, for you are with me.\u201d Trust in the presence of God creates the possibility of life without fear. This short line captures a breadth of affirmation.<\/p>\n Here also, there is a small but crucial shift. Up to this point, the psalmist has spoken about the LORD<\/span> as a shepherd without naming the audience. The psalmist could be addressing the community or whoever will listen. The psalmist could be speaking just to hear the words their sound. Now the psalmist clearly addresses God as \u201cyou.\u201d This crucial shift adds a new level of intimacy, revealing the psalmist\u2019s ability to speak directly and personally to God.<\/p>\n Quickly the psalmist adds: \u201cyour rod and your staff comfort me.\u201d The shepherd\u2019s rod and staff can guide or goad a flock; they can also serve as weapons against the thieving wolves. The repetition of \u201cyour\u201d underlines the intimacy, while \u201ccomfort\u201d reinforces the basic theme of the shepherd\u2019s nurture.<\/p>\n To protect the holiness of YHWH<\/span>, people in the late post-exilic period began to avoid this name and use Adonai, \u201cmy Lord,\u201d in its place. This title translates into Greek as kyrios <\/em>(\u2018lord\u2019), the same word used in the New Testament to identify the Messiah. The Latin \u201cDominus<\/em>,\u201d the English \u201cLord,\u201d and the Spanish \u201cSe\u00f1or\u201d continue that identification of YHWH<\/span> with Jesus, who also calls himself \u201cthe good shepherd\u201d (John 10:11); As a result, Christians have always understood this psalm Christologically. The psalm also invites the hearer to identify with the speaker and claim the LORD<\/span> as the comforting shepherd who leads and restores.<\/p>\n Many people overlook the second metaphor of the psalm: God as host.<\/p>\n 5<\/sup> You prepare a table before me The God of green pastures and still waters becomes a host who provides a feast \u201cin front of my enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n Commentators see the reference to enemies as a sign of the protection required of the nomadic host to a guest. Even so, Fr. Luis Alonso Sch\u00f6kel, SJ, once said in class that God provides this feast \u201cin front of our enemies\u201d so that we can invite them to join us and share the meal. While this reading may seem to be heavily influenced by the Sermon on the Mount, Elisha does something similar in 2 Kgs 6:8-23, where he leads the blinded enemy into Samaria for a feast. In any case, Fr. Alonso would surely have argued that it was a fair and real understanding of the text as it stands from his point of view.<\/p>\n Here the host not only sets the table \u201cbefore me\u201d but also anoints \u201cmy head with oil.\u201d Oil served many functions in ancient Israel: food, heat, light, healing, moisturizer, and election. Here it represents hospitality that is more than friendliness. The anointing manifests care for the person, and the host does this anointing.<\/p>\n The image of the overflowing cup reveals a bountiful feast\u2014with nothing held back and more coming all the time.<\/p>\n The feast gives way to the proclamation that \u201cgoodness and mercy will pursue me \/ all the days of my life.\u201d Goodness embraces everything good\u2014all creation. Translators use the English word \u201cmercy\u201d to translate several Hebrew words: one connected to gracious favor, another to womb-emotion, and a third to the loyal love of covenant. The Hebrew word points us toward the covenant, but the English can connect all three.<\/p>\n The reality of \u201cgoodness\u201d and \u201cmercy\u201d creates the possibility of living \u201cin the house of the LORD<\/span> my whole life long.\u201d<\/p>\n The stickiness of the psalm is the result of many pieces, and this reading does not exhaust them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[49],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":60,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/765\/revisions\/776"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/60"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/765\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.palni.org\/elementsofbiblicalpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The LORD<\/span> is my shepherd, I shall not want.<\/blockquote>\r\nThe Hebrew text does not explicitly link these two sentences, but it invites us to connect the two and affirm the whole statement.\r\n\r\nThe shepherd is one of the great images of the ancient world and the Bible. In his famous Codex, King Hammurabi of Babylon, who lived about eight hundred years before David, calls himself \u201cthe beneficent shepherd, whose scepter is righteous\u2026so that the strong might not oppress the weak.\u201d King Hammurabi uses the image of the shepherd to capture this vision.\r\n\r\nThough Psalm 23 does not refer to kingship, the link between the two is ancient, and it is no accident that David is among the sheep when Samuel has run through all of the sons of Jesse without finding the one to anoint (1 Sam 16:11).\r\n\r\nThe image of the king conjures up strength and power, while the shepherd puts the emphasis on care. Second Isaiah captures these two dimensions in 40:10-11. We hear that the LORD<\/span> \u201ccomes with might\u201d and \u201chis arm rules for him.\u201d Then the text adds:\r\n
Psalm 23<\/h1>\n
\nI shall not want.
\n2<\/sup> He makes me lie down in green pastures;
\nhe leads me beside still waters;
\n3<\/sup> he restores my soul.
\nHe leads me in right paths for his name\u2019s sake.
\n4<\/sup> Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
\nI fear no evil;
\nfor you are with me; your rod and your staff\u2014
\nthey comfort me.
\n5<\/sup> You prepare a table before me
\nin the presence of my enemies;
\nyou anoint my head with oil;
\nmy cup overflows.
\n6<\/sup> Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
\nall the days of my life,
\nand I shall dwell in the house of the LORD<\/span>
\nmy whole life long.<\/p>\n
\nhe will gather the lambs in his arms,
\nand carry them in his bosom,
\nand gently lead the mother sheep.<\/p>\n
\nhe leads me beside still waters;
\n3<\/sup> he restores my soul.
\nHe leads me in right paths
\nfor his name\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n
\nI fear no evil;
\nfor you are with me;
\nyour rod and your staff\u2014
\nthey comfort me.<\/p>\n
\nin the presence of my enemies.
\nyou anoint my head with oil;
\nmy cup overflows.<\/p>\n