In my journey through the Psalms one verse especially has proven to be very interesting to play with – Psalm  4:7 and I’ve done a bit of investigation with it. What it has proven is the need to hold English translations of the scriptures very lightly – biblical inerrancy does not extend to the Bible’s most of us are reading every day.

This is the Bible geek in me coming out for a bit of a play – usually I keep it hidden and private these days. It doesn’t do much for my street cred.

Psalm 4 has David referencing a number of people who are chasing after the wrong things. It challenges the readers to place their trust in God – instead they’re chasing prosperity. As noted in my reflection on the Psalm verse 7 gets translated two very different ways. The first is captured by the NIV:

‘Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.’

The NRSV has captured the way it is translated in most English versions ever since the King James Version:

‘You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and new wine abound.’

This second translation is the dominant one across most English versions. It sets a contrast between David’s joy which is seen to be greater than what comes from the people’s grain and new wine, and the joy that comes from their prosperity.

When I noticed how these two translations differ so drastically I went looking at what other versions say and I have to be honest, I thought the translators of the latest version of the NIV had quite plainly got it wrong. Their translation of the verse didn’t sit with my understanding of the whole psalm and it doesn’t line up with most other English translations.

I was wrong.

Much of Psalm 4 can be understood a number of ways but it seems that with this verse in particular, which can be argued to be the key to understanding the rest of it, there are a number of different ways to read it but the way the NRSV translates it as inherited from the KJV probably isn’t it. The phrase ‘more than’ is an addition based on assumption – probably the same assumption I made as I read the new NIV rendering of the verse.

That said, it looks like the NIV is slightly off base too, but closer. It renders the verse as a request – ‘Fill my heart…’

Here is the Hebrew as it appears in the Hebrew Study Bible ????????? ????????? ????????? ?????? ????????? ?????????????? ???????? which most closely translates in English as ‘have put gladness my heart when their grain new wine abound’ according to Strong’s dictionary. It’s a statement, not a request. So the most literal translation that would read the most smoothly is simply ‘You have put gladness in my heart when their grain and new wine abound.’

Now I’m aware that there may be textual issues I’m missing as I’m not a Hebrew scholar but it’s very clear that this translation is closer than the one in the NRSV, which stems from the KJV. It’s this more literal rendering that the Septuagint and Jerome’s Vulgate head towards as well.

You can see where the original addition in the KJV that has lead to the same addition in so many other English translation creates a whole other meaning and sense of what the Psalmist is saying. It doesn’t look good for KJV-only buffs and it should also make us very cautious of arguing for inerrancy when it comes to ANY English translation.

What the more literal rendering could be understood to mean and what the Psalmist was trying to express are another discussion. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Read my reflections on the Psalms.

Here’s why I’m walking this journey through the Psalms.