Psalter Illustrations from historic Psalters

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Audio Resources

• Recording in Restored Koine

Carry-along Aides

• 4x6 Index card of Greek Text
• Greek vocabulary list

Bibliography

• Peter C. Craige. Word Biblical Commentary 19: Psalms 1-50. Psalm 1 viewable on Amazon's reader >"Click to Look Inside!"
• Albert Pietersma Notes on Psalm 1
• Erasmus' Commentary on Psalm 1 pp. 9-52 preview from Collected Words of Erasmus: Expositions of the Psalms (University of Toronto Press)

Songs and Hymns based on Psalm 1

sources	songs	writers
HS	Blessed	Zschech/Morgan
SCE 254  kids!	I want to be a blooming tree  note: this excellent kids song contains some particularly "British" references	Horley
SCE 104/Vineyard	My delight	Park
DMAC	On earth in our day	music  lyrics   mp3 vocal snippet
DMAC   kids!	Happiness is love	music   lyrics   mp3
P&W 387	Blessed is the man
Taken from Together to Celebrate: Contemporary Christian Music resources for Worship

Greek Reading Notes

The notes below are still in the process of being revised and vetted. If you have any disagreements or find errors, let me know. (last update May 16, 2009)

[Structure] Psalm 1 is in the form of 3 quintuplets. Each 'stanza' includes a statement followed by four lines of explanation. Verses 1-2; verses 3-4a and verses 4b-6 complete the poem. Craigie (Word Biblical Commentary 19) on Psalm 1(viewable at Amazon preview) gives a good analysis of the structure of Psalm 1.

Μακάριος ἀνήρ. [Syntax:Copulative Sentences]. Greek will routinely omit the verb 'to be' (is, are, am, etc.) when it is not needed by the context. This is even more true in poetry. The Hebrew language can do the same, e.g. "ha-ish tov" 'the- man (is) good.' In English, this construction is not possible without sounding like a foreigner.
In this context the noun ἀνήρ is the subject and the adjective Μακάριος is a 'predicate adjective' (even though it comes before the noun it modifies). There is no article before either word, and so the construction is ambiguous by itself (either the attributive or predicate position), the following relative clause cannot be the predicate nominative (e.g. A blessed man (is) he who .....). See verse 4 ἀλλ' ἢ [ ἐστὶν] ὡς where the verb to be is also omitted. When reading the Septuagint, the Hebrew text is availalbe to look at to understand the Greek - deciding what constructions are true Greek and which have Semitic language colorings is not always easy.

ἀνήρ [Vocabulary]: The word ἄνθρωπος man, can be used both as a generic term and of individuals; the word ἀνήρ is generally used for just a male / husband as opposed to 'woman'. Perhaps this is another example of a semiticism in the Psalms. The Hebrew word for man is הָאִ֗יש ha-i'sh 'the man'; i'sh in Hebrew can represent both man an woman in certain contexts. Most students of Greek composition would have chosen the word ἄνθρωπος in this context.

ἐπορεύθη...ἔστη...ἐκάθισεν   [Tense]. One would not normally expect an aorist tense when the English we are all familiar with translates the verse as 'goes, stands, sits'. The NETS translates these verbs as 'did not walk...did not stand...did not sit.' But in the Hebrew, these are the perfect verbs הָלַךְ֘ halak , עָמָ֑ד 'amad, יָשָֽׁב yashab. Frequently in Hebrew poetry and proverbial expressions, the Perfect is used to denote habitual activity with no specific tense value. Such uses are tranlated by the English general present (e.g. I write) [cf. Lambin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew p. 39]. The closest parallel use in Greek is the 'gnomic aorist' which is rare in the NT (cf. Wallace, p562; AT Robertson, Grammar p. 836). See also 1 Peter 1.24 "The grass withers (aor. ἐξηράνθη) and the flower falls off" (aor. ἐξέπεσεν). However, Albert Pietersma, along with others think that the translator of the Psalms intended a past meaning - read Pietersma's notes (see the biliography) and decided for yourself.

ἀσεβῶν...λοιμῶν. [Word formation]. Greek easily turns any adjective into a noun. Here, the adjective ἀσεβής irreverent is used 'substantivally' as a noun like λοιμός plague, pest, 'pesty people' (not λιμός famine). The LSJ lexicon gives neither word a good translation for these words in this context.

ἔστη [Morphology:Athematic Aorists]. [2nd Aorist active indicative 3rd person singular of ἵστημι]. This is an 'athematic aorist'. There are a number of 2nd aorist verbs like this one that take neither the 1st aorist sigma and alpha (-σα, -σας, -σε, - σαμεν, -σατε, -σαν) nor the standard omicron / epsilon endings of the normal second aorist (-ον, -ες, -ε, -ομεν, -ετε, -ον). 'Athematic' aorists (also called 'root' aorists) instead use the long stem vowel of the verb instead of the omicron / episilon (-ην, - ης, -η, -ημεν, -ητε, -ην) . Some other verbs in this class are -βαίνω -έβην 'to go' (always in compounds with prepositions), γινώσκω ἔγνων 'to know'. See Funk §411.:

ἐκάθισεν > καθίζω. [Morphology] Dental ( δ, τ, θ, ζ ) consonants are dropped before a sigma, here, ζ is dropped before the aorist ending -σε(ν). The word καθίζω can be either transitive seat, set, appoint (and/or causative make to sit down) or intransitive to sit down, settle, stay; context will determine the meaning. The word is a compound of κατα 'down' and ἵζω to seat, set ; The τ in κατά becomes a θ before the aspirated ἱ in ἵζω. The simplex (verb without preposition) occurs in the Iliad and Odyssey, Herodotus, Plutarch and other earlier writers, but occurs only in composition in later Greek.

ἀλλ' ἢ = ἀλλὰ ἢ. [Vocabulary]. "but not, except, nevertheless". c.f. Is. 42.19(bis), represents the Hebrew אִם כִּי 'ci i'm'. LSJ: the conjunction ἤ can occur after adverbs or adverbial phrases such as πλήν, πρίν, πρόσθεν, χωρίς (qq. v.), ἀλλά (v. ἀλλ᾽ ἤ）. The combination ἀλλ' ἢ occurs 112 times in the LXX, but only twice in the NT. See Conybeare §108, p. 94 for a detailed discussion.

τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ. [Vocabulary]. In non-biblical Greek, θέλημα means 'desire, wish' not 'delight'. NETS: 'his will is in the law of the Lord'. But cf. Ecclesiastes 12.1 When you will say, "I have no pleasure ( θέλημα ) in them" where θέλημα is tranlsated for חֵֽפֶץ 'hefets'.

μελετήσει. [Morphology:Contract verbs] [Future active indicative 3rd singular of μελετάω to care for; to think about. Alpha and omicron contract verbs regularly lengthen their final vowel in the future( -α- to -η- and -ο- to -ω-). Most epsilon contracts do the same ( -ε- to -η-), but there are several epsilon contract verbs that keep the epsilon and do not lengthen. (see Mounce MBG §43.2) . In the NT, there are several epsilon contract verbs that keep the epsilon 'as is' and do not lengthen.

ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός. [Syntax:Genitive] Both words are genitives expressing the concept 'during the day' and 'during the night'; if the accusative ἡμέραν καὶ νυκτά were used, it would be translated 'at day' and 'at night'.

3. πεφυτευμένον[Morphology:Perfect reduplication] [Perfect middle/PASSIVE indicative neuter NOMINATIVE/accusative singular of φυτεύω to plant]. The perfect reduplication of words beginning with the aspirated consonants φ θ χ is not φεφ- θεθ- χεχ- as would be expected, but rather πεφ- τεθ- κεχ- (Grassman's law of deaspirated consonants). It was just too hard to prounounce! Try saying it both ways. So the aspirated consonants φ, χ θ get deaspirated and become π, κ, and τ respectively. Remember though that the perfect does not always reduplicate with consonant+epsilon; some consonant clusters just and an epsilon to the beginning of the word. (e.g. σταυρῶ > σταυρόω, ἐσταύρωκα.

διεξόδους. [Word Formation] Greek compound words are best 'read backwards' in English. 'way-out-through'. This word comes from three words: δια 'through', ἐκ 'out of', and ὁδός 'way'.

δώσει. [Verb formation: Mi Verb Futures]. '(it) will give' [Future Active Indicative 3rd peson singular of δίδωμι]. The futures of mi-verbs are formed regularly. The stem of δίδωμι varies between δο- and δω-.

ὅσα ἂν ποιῇ. [Syntax: Indefinite relative clauses].]This can be classified as an 'indefinite relative clause, which has the relative pronoun followed by ἄν with the subjunctive. The subject of ποιῇ [present active subjunctive 3rd person singular of ποιέω] is not stated; it may refer to either the neuter τὸ ξύλον or to ἀνήρ.

4. οὐχ οὕτως...οὐχ οὕτως. [Translation:Greek|Hebrew]. The Hebrew has only לֹא־כֵן 'lo' cen' not so. The reapeated οὐχ οὕτως is only present in the Greek.

χνοῦς[Morphology | Vocabulary] [Nominative singular masculine from χνοῦς χνοῦ,ὁ, a 2nd declension contract (Hom. χνόος), powder, dust, chaff .]; There is another similar word in the NT χοῦς, gen. χοός, acc. χοῦν, ὁ, soil, dust, as if from a stem ending in diagamma χνoϜ. The words are apparently unrelated(?).

ἐκριπτεῖ [Morphology:Variation of verb forms].[Future active indicative 3rd singular of ἐκ -ριπτέω]. The composition of ριπτέω with the preposition ἐκ is not in LSJ, but ἐκρίπτω is in BAGD and LSJ. Thackeray GOTG §22.3 p. 244 states that the word showed both ρίπτω and ριπτέω variations in both Hellenistic and classical times. The future of ἐκρίπτω would be ἐκρίψει.

5.1 ἀναστήσονται. [Vocabulary:Mi verbs | Middle -Passive meaning]. BADG says the middle/passive form of this verb are all intransitive ... meaning it should be translated 'willl rise up' not 'will be raised up'. This is another example of a mi verb (ἵστημι) where the future is formed regularly from the stem στη- (which varies with στα-) . See Smyth §420.

6.1 ὅτι [Syntax:Conjunctions | ὅτι ] does not normally introduce an independent clause, and its use here is allowed because of poetic license (unless you count it as the explanation of verse 1.5). The Hebrew is כִּֽי־יֹודֵעַ; ci = ὅτι. A γάρ would be more natural Greek (imoho).

ἀπολεῖται. [Morphology:ἀπόλλυμι:Future ][Future deponent indicative 3rd person singular of ἀπόλλυμι to perish ]. Yet another mi verb from ἀπο + ὀλλυμι > ὀλ-νυ-μι; the stem is ὀλ- (see Mounce v-3c(2) p. 309 note 5 and 6). The circumflex accent on ἀπολεῖται is a flag that this is a liquid future. The word ἀπόλλυμι shows two different future formations: ἀπολέσω and the Attic form ἀπολῶ (see also 1 Cor 1.19; Is 29.14).

 

Template for Sending in Translations

There are more options than just sending in translations. I encourage all to use them. Inline comments should be enclosed in brackets. Other comments such as grammar points (GR), questions (QU), Psalter Images (IM), lexicon entries (LX), etc. should be submitted as a separate line (like a separate verse, only starting with a flag different from TR). The template for Psalm 1 is as follows --(You do not need to delete any of the lines beginning with the pound sign (#) as the collation software ignores those lines. Make sure to replace XXX with your initials followed by your translation):

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# Psalm 1:1-6 (Translations due May 9 2009 - Replace the XXX with your initials)
# Submit to: psalms@letsreadgreek.com

#1      Μακάριος ἀνήρ, ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν καὶ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐκ ἔστη καὶ ἐπὶ καθέδραν λοιμῶν οὐκ ἐκάθισεν,
TR 1 XXX
#2     ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτοῦ μελετήσει ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός.
TR 2 XXX
#3     καὶ ἔσται ὡς τὸ ξύλον τὸ πεφυτευμένον παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων, ὃ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ δώσει ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ φύλλον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπορρυήσεται· καὶ πάντα, ὅσα ἂν

ποιῇ, κατευοδωθήσεται.
TR 3 XXX
#4     οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἢ ὡς ὁ χνοῦς, ὃν ἐκριπτεῖ ὁ ἄνεμος ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς.
TR 4 XXX
#5     διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει οὐδὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων·
TR 5 XXX
#6     ὅτι γινώσκει κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων, καὶ ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται.
TR 6 XXX

# Use the following elements to precede all translations (see the Psalms GreekStudy group page for explanations)
#1 - TR Translation / QU Question / IM Image url / GR Grammar question / REF Reference to another passage, book or article / LX Lexicon quote
#2 - The verse number (verse number only, not the chapter and verse)
#3 - Your initials (use 3 - use an X if you do not have a middle initial)

#Use the following characters at will
#   The pound sign # to hide comments from appearing in the collation
#   The ampersand sign & to make a line break (do not use the enter key to make a line break). The ampersand should be used in the middle of a line of text
#   Two right arrows >> indicate a new paragraph. (Do not use the enter key to make a paragraph break.) The >> should be used in the middle of a line of text.
#   Use brackets [ ] around explanations in the translations.

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