THE PSALTER

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 109, 9 May 1923, Page 15

THE PSALTER

SOME SUGGESTED

CHANGES

DRASTIC CUTS

(PIIOH ODB OWN CORKSFONDJNI.)

LONDON, 17th March.

■ The full text of the suggested alterations in the Psalms has bee.f issued from Church House, in the form of the "Revised Psalter (Permissive Use) Measure, 1923." This measure, prepared on the instructions of the House of Bishops, is part of the general scheme for amending the Prayer Book. The National Assembly of the Church of England must give their approval of the revised Psalter before it can be adopted for public worship. The alterations, if sanctioned, will constitute an alternative text of the Psalms, to be used at the discretion of ministers. The measure is to have effect within the Provinces of Canterbury and York only, and will come into operation on the First Sunday in Advent next after it is passed. One can quite understand the deep religious sensibilities that are outraged by proposals to alter the Commandments, but there is not likely to be anything like the same opposition to the suggested modification of the Psalms. In fact, public opinion, both inside and outside the Church, has long been agreed that Psalms breathing forth a. revengeful or denunciatory spirit were not Divinely inspired. '/■

The schedules contain the alterations suggested by the Psalter Revision Committee, which consisted of Bishop Ryle (Dean of Westminster), chairman, the Bishop of Ely, the Archdeacon of Warrington, Sir Edward Clarke, K.C., and Mr. E. G. P. Wyatt. This committee was appointed by the National Assembly on 18th November, 1920, the.terms of its reference being "to consider and report upon the revision of the Psalms, and their use in public worship.

The committee considered that, at a, time when the thought of the spread of the Kingdom of God throughout the world occupies so prominent a place in the policy of the Church, the Psalmist's -use of the word "peoples" (instead of "people") might with advantage be recovered ; and that in many passages "nations" or "peoples" might be substituted for "heathen," especially where the context seemed to point to the extension of the rule of Jehoval rather than to the corruptions of idolatry. Some of the obscurities in the Pealter are attributed to early corruptions in the original Hebrew text. In many instances the committee says it has been obliged to let the inevitable obscurities in the translation remain; and in one famous instance (Psalm ii, 12), rather than resort to any, conjectural emendation, they have preferred to adhere to the rendering of Coverdale, "Kiss the Son," although, as a translation, it is probably indefensible. In one passage only, owing to the desperate condition of the text (Psalm cxli., '7, 8), the committee have recommended that the two verses should be omitted, on the ground that no translation seemed to give any satisfactory sense. The •ommittee were not prepared to recomnend the insertion of the headings of the Psalms. OMISSIONS. ■ The manner in which, the Psalmist's version of unforgettable doom for the ungodly is to be tempered is sTiown by the omissions proposed. Psalm 55 is to be omitted altogether. It contains such expressions as :—"Break their teeth., 0 God, in their mouths, let them, fall away like water that runneth apace. Let them, consume away like a snail. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash His footsteps in the blood of the ungodly."

. Verses are to be left out from eight other psalms, arid in each case the sentiments are for death and condemnation, as, for example, in Psalm 68, verses 21 to 23, inclusive: "That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies: and that the tongue of the dog may be red through the came." Psalm 109, verses 5 to 19, inclusive, demands: "Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. Let his children bo vagabonds and beg their bread."

EXAMPLES. No fewer than 346 alterations are suggested in the wording of the verses of various psalms. A comparison of thq revised version with the old text in a selection of these alterations is given below. In «ach instanca the revised version is printed first. ' ' , ' Paalm 2, verse I:—Why do th» nations so furiously rage together? Why do the heathen co furiously rage together? Psalm 10, verse 2:—The ungodly in his pride doth persecute th« poor. Th« ungodly for his own lust doth persecute the poor. Psalm 37, verse 20:—A« for the ungodly they shall perish; and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the flower of the field: yea, even as the smoke shall they consume away.

As for the ungodly they shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall consume as the fat of lambs; yea, even as the smoke shall they consume away. Psalm 62, verse 9 :■—

As for the children of men, they are but vanity, the children of men are deceitful; tried in the balances they are altogether lighter than vanity itself. As for the children of men, they are but vanity; the children of men are deceitful ; upon the weights, they are altogether lighter than vanity itself. Psalm 75, verse 6:— He shall come down like the rain upon the tender grass; even as the drops that water the earth.

He shall come down like the rain into a fleece of wool; even as the drops that water the earth.

Psalm 91, verse 9:—■

Because thou ha?t said, the Lord is my a-efuge; thou hast, made the Most High thy habitation.

For Thou, Lord, art my hope; Thou hast set thine house of defence very high.

, Many of the alterations consist of a simplified phrasing, while others give a different emphasis to a verse, by a change in punctuation. For instance, Psalm-121, verse 1, now reads: "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills; from whence cometh my help."

"INTO THE PIT." The revisers appear to. have a very strong objection to the word "hell." They have altered Psalm 55, v. 16, from Let death come hastily upon them, and let them go down quick into hell, to Let death come hastily upon them, and let them go down alive into the pit. While Psalm 88, verse 2 :—

For my soul is full of trouble; and my life draweth nigh unto hell, becomes • For my life is full of trouble; and my life draweth. nigh unto the grave. A typical instance of clearing away an obscurity is in Psalm 77, verse 2. At present this reads :—

In the time of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran, and ceased not in the 1 night season. Revised, the verse reads:— In the time of my trouble I sought the Lord : I stretched forth my hands unto Him, and ceased not in the night season.

Hers and thers oven, famous venue fifid.

amendment. For instance, Psalm 68, verse 11:—

The Lord gave the word : great was the company of the preachers, has been changed to: — The Lord gave the word: great was the company of women that bare the tidings. "Rebellious" is reoommended in substitution for "runagates," and "violent men" for "naughty men." "For honour cometh neither from the east nor from the west: nor yet from 'the south," for "For promotion cometh neither from the eaet, nor from the west, nor yet from the south"; "I will make mention of Egypt and Babylon," for "I will think upon Rahab and Babylon." 'Tor judgment shall turn again unto righteousness," for "Until righteousness turn again unto judgment"; "In the day of thy power shall thy people offer themselves willingly with an holy worship: the young men shall be as the dew of the mornmg," for "In the day of thy power shall thy people offer thee freewill offerings with an holy worship: the ■ dew of thy birth ie as the womb of the morning"; and "He giveth to his beloved rest,"'for "He giveth his beloved sleep." Taken as a whole, th« revision seems to have been aimed at making- the Psalm clearer and more intelligible to tha average worshipper.