Comments on: Psalm 146:2

By: Wilde

Wilde — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:20:42 +0000

Re:the literal translation of (Heb. be`odi) would be "in the continuance [of me]" Ooo, love that, because to me this meaning goes beyond the dying breath, suggesting a mystical eternal connection where we'll still be singing. String theory and shoes? When I get to heaven, goin' put on my shoes . . . goin' shout all over God's heaven. Some kind of dancing shoes.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:53:59 +0000

Full disclosure: I work as an editor at Tyndale House PublisherAccording to BDB, a standard Hebrew lexicon, the literal translation of (Heb. be`odi) would be "in the continuance [of me]" which would be literal, but also would be poor English. Young's Literal Translation reads, "while I exist." This rendering does not capture the meaning either, since it is in synonymous parallel with the prior phrase "in [all] my life."While there is no formal "dying breath" the NLT captures_with warmth_the meaning of the lengths which this believer is committed to praise the LORD "all his continuance." This is a good example of how good translation cannot be some sort of algebraic data equation (Heb. X = Eng Y). Translation is ultimately the interaction of the soul and mind of the translator with the heart and mind of the orginal writer, as expressed through the written text in front of them (i.e., the Bible text).

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:13:25 +0000

This is how it reads in the original Living Bible.

By: Mark D. Taylor

Mark D. Taylor — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:33:59 +0000

Danielo,I'm glad to hear that the original Living Bible was instrumental in sparking your interest in reading the Bible in the first place. I hear that kind of comment from many people in all walks of life and all around the world. Keep reading and keep comparing translations. There is no one translation that is best in all regards (much as it pains me to say that!). Hopefully the NLT serves to open the text of Scripture for you and millions of others to enhance your understanding of the original.Mark

By: goddidntsaythat

goddidntsaythat — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:50:10 +0000

You are right that the Hebrew, b'odi, is difficult to translate. It is like an ablative of the word "still" with the suffix "my," as if to indicate "while I still exist." It's parallel to the word b'chayay in the first part of the line, which is like an ablative of "life" with the suffix "my." So "so long as I live ... so long as I exist" seems like a good option to me.The NLT choice of "so long as I live ... even with my dying breath" seems like is destroys the parallel structure and introduces the new concept of "dying breath" that isn't in the original.Also, the Hebrew line appears both here and in nearly identical form in Psalm 104:33. The only difference between the two is that here in Psalm 146:2 the first word is ahal'la ("I will praise") while Psalm 104:33 starts with ashira, "I will sing." Yet in Psalm 104:33, the NLT opts for the less hyperbolic "...to my last breath" to end the line.I would prefer to see more consistent English used to translate the Hebrew in these two lines.-Joel