אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ | Ashrei Yoshvei Veitekha (Psalms 145), an alphabetical English translation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Why is Ashrei such a beloved part of the service? Partially it is because of its alphabetical structure, making it perfect for communal reading. This translation attempts to preserve this in an English equivalence. . . .

Categories:

Ashrei, Tehilim Book 5 (Psalms 107–150)

Tags:

phonetic alphabetic acrostic translation, Alphabetic Acrostic, אשרי Ashrei, Daily Hallel, Poteaḥ et Yodekha, Psalms 145

Contributor(s):

the Mesorah (TaNaKh), David ben Yishai (traditional attribution) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

תהלים קנ״א | Psalms 151, as found in the Septuagint (LXX)

This is Psalms 151 as found in the Septuagint (LXX) in Greek translation (here offered with its translation into Hebrew by Avraham Kahana). The psalm as it is found in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls is designated as Psalms 151a. . . .

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

apocryphal psalms, Psalms 151

Contributor(s):

Avraham Kahana (Hebrew translation), Septuagint (translation/Greek) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

תהלים קנ״א | Psalms 151a, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Psalm 151a is unlike any other psalm, because it is openly and clearly a description of David’s own life. He describes his childhood as the youngest of the family, and his anointing. It may have not been included as part of the Masoretic canon because this dissimilarity leads to just a whiff of pseudepigraphical overcompensation. [The psalm is designated Psalms 151a to destinguish it from the text of Psalms 151 found in the Septuagint. –ANV] . . .

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

Antiquity, apocryphal psalms, Judaean Desert Scrolls, Psalms 151

Contributor(s):

Unknown, David ben Yishai (traditional attribution) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

A Hebrew Reconstruction of Psalms 152 and 153, edited, vocalized, cantillated, and translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Unlike Psalms 151, 154, and 155, the apocryphal psalms 152 and 153 were not found in the Judean Desert scrolls, but only in the Syriac psalter. It is thus somewhat uncertain if they were actually ever written in Hebrew or in Aramaic. But their language and content is in keeping with other late apocryphal psalms, so it seems very possible that they were of Hebrew origin. These reconstructed Hebrew texts are largely based on the work of Professor Emeritus Herrie (H. F.) van Rooy,[1] an expert in the Syriac psalter, also factoring in some input from the work of J. A. Sanders.[2] Psalms 152 and 153 are included together here because they are framed by the ascriptions as a pair — the former being David’s prayer before going against the wild beasts (see I Samuel 17:34-36), and the latter being David’s thanksgiving afterwards . . .

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

Antiquity, apocryphal psalms, Psalms 152, Psalms 153, pseudepigrapha, reconstructed text, Syriac

Contributor(s):

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

תהלים קנ״ד | Psalms 154, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Psalm 154 seems to be a hymn of communal eating, very appropriate for the communal life of Qumran, but also features a very Proverbs-like anthropomorphization of Wisdom as a woman. Of the three apocryphal psalms recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this one seems the most likely to have been written with sectarian intent, which may have been why it wasn’t included in the Masoretic canon. . . .

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

Antiquity, apocryphal psalms, Judaean Desert Scrolls, Psalms 151

Contributor(s):

Unknown and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

תהלים קנ״ה | Psalms 155, according to the Nusaḥ of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Edited, Vocalized, Cantillated, and Translated into English by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Psalm 155 is an incomplete acrostic (the Dead Sea Scrolls text records it going from ב to נ, and the Syriac can be reconstructed to include up to פ) with similarities to petitionary psalms like Psalm 3, 22, and 143. It is unclear why it was not included in the Masoretic canon, but one can hazard a guess that it was just not familiar to the compilers. . . .

Categories:

Second Temple Period

Tags:

acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, Antiquity, apocryphal psalms, Judaean Desert Scrolls, Psalms 151

Contributor(s):

Unknown and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)