Poems Found In Translation: “Bible: David's Lament (From Hebrew)” |
Posted: 28 Dec 2016 12:33 AM PST
The books of Samuel are beset with textual problems. The texts we have are in several places quite corrupt. To me it seems fairly likely that we do not have the "original" text of this poem, nor will we ever. In such circumstances, the translator of biblical literature is stuck between a Rock and a God Place, between having to choose among a dizzying array of possible emendations and paleographic possibilities, or trying to deal with the text as it now is.
I would have liked to be able to accept with confidence the radical emendations proposed by some. For example, those of Hollyday in Form and Word-Play in David's Lament over Saul and Jonathan if for no other reason than that some of his propositions make for interesting poetry. Hollyday and Gurvitz take the entire song to start one line earlier, and emend 2 Sam 1:18 with this in mind. Hollyday for example proposes יְלַל מַר בְּכֵי יְהוּדָה קְש×ַת × Ö°×”Ö´×™ סְפֹד לְיָש×ָר ("A howling bitter weep, O Judah! Pangs of a wailing dirge for the upright man!") Such proposals, though not by any means implausible, don't strike me as very convincing in their totality. The text I give is the Masoretic text. My translation, however, reflects some emendations (for example "the square" of Gath here.) My reading of lines 1 and 23 here is quite at odds with the traditional reading (most translations begin with something more like "Glory O Israel likes slain on your heights.") At issue is the fraught and labyrinthine question of what במה actually means. My approach basically follows from the data given and conclusions drawn by W. Boyd Barrick in BMH as Body Language: A Lexical and Iconographical Study of the Word BMH When Not a Reference to Cultic Phenomena in Biblical and Post-Biblical Hebrew. I take במה, when not referring to a cultic site, to have a primarily anatomical sense — as it does elsewhere in Semitic. This poem is actually used as the locus probans for reading the word as meaning "hill." But this seems untenable for reasons Barrick lays out. David's Lament (From 2 Samuel 1:19-27) Translated by A.Z. Foreman Gazelle of Israel slain on your back!  How the heroes have fallen! Don't speak of it in the squares of Gath Don't spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon Or the daughters of the Philistines  will rejoice Or the daughters of the ungodly  will gloat   Mountains of Gilboa! Be there no dew nor rain on you And on your slopes  no fertile field! For there was the shield  of heroes defiled The shield of Saul no more anointed From blood of the slain from the breast of the foe The bow of Jonathan never recoiled The blade of Saul never returned undyed Jonathan and Saul beloved men Dearly beloved  in life they were Inseparable so  in death they are Swifter than eagles stronger than lions Now daughters of Israel weep for Saul  Who clothed you in scarlet  who robed you in finery Who adorned all the folds  of your garments with gold How the heroes are fallen  in the thick of battle Jonathan laid low slain on your back! Oh I grieve for you  Jonathan, brother Dear to me you were, and for me More wonderful your love than the love of women How the heroes have fallen  How the arms of war are lost!  The Original:
שיר הקשת
הַצְּבִי יִשְׂרָ×ֵל עַל-בָּמוֹתֶיךָ חָלָל
×ֵיךְ × Ö¸×¤Ö°×œ×•Ö¼ גִבּוֹרִי×
×ַל-תַּגִּידוּ בְגַת
×ַל-תְּבַשְּׂרוּ בְּחוּצֹת ×ַש×ְקְלוֹן
פֶּן-×ªÖ¼Ö´×©×‚Ö°×žÖ·×—Ö°× Ö¸×” ×‘Ö¼Ö°× ×•Ö¹×ª פְּלִש×ְתִּי×
פֶּן-×ªÖ¼Ö·×¢Ö²×œÖ¹×–Ö°× Ö¸×” ×‘Ö¼Ö°× ×•Ö¹×ª הָעֲרֵלִי×
הָרֵי בַגִּלְבֹּעַ
×ַל-טַל וְ×ַל-מָטָר עֲלֵיכֶ×
וּשְׂדֵי תְרוּמֹת
×›Ö¼Ö´×™ ש×Ö¸× × Ö´×’Ö°×¢Ö·×œ מָגֵן גִּבּוֹרִי×
מָגֵן ש×Ö¸×וּל בְּלִי מָש×Ö´×™×—Ö· בַּשּ×ָמֶן
×žÖ´×“Ö¼Ö·× ×—Ö²×œÖ¸×œÖ´×™× ×žÖµ×—Öµ×œÖ¶×‘ גִּבּוֹרִי×
קֶש×ֶת ×™Ö°×”×•Ö¹× Ö¸×ªÖ¸×Ÿ ×œÖ¹× × Ö¸×©×‚×•Ö¹×’ ×ָחוֹר
וְחֶרֶב ש×Ö¸×וּל ×œÖ¹× ×ªÖ¸×©×וּב רֵיקָ×
ש×Ö¸×וּל ×•Ö´×™×”×•Ö¹× Ö¸×ªÖ¸×Ÿ
×”Ö·× Ö¼Ö¶×Ö±×”Ö¸×‘Ö´×™× ×•Ö°×”Ö·× Ö¼Ö°×¢Ö´×™×žÖ´× ×‘Ö¼Ö°×—Ö·×™Ö¼Öµ×™×”Ö¶×
×•Ö¼×‘Ö°×ž×•Ö¹×ªÖ¸× ×œÖ¹× × Ö´×¤Ö°×¨Ö¸×“×•Ö¼
×žÖ´× Ö¼Ö°×©×Ö¸×¨Ö´×™× ×§Ö·×œÖ¼×•Ö¼
מֵ×ֲרָיוֹת גָּבֵרוּ
×‘Ö¼Ö°× ×•Ö¹×ª יִשְׂרָ×ֵל ×ֶל-ש×Ö¸×וּל ×‘Ö¼Ö°×›Ö¶×™× Ö¸×”
הַמַּלְבִּש×Ö°×›Ö¶× ×©×Ö¸× Ö´×™ ×¢Ö´×-×¢Ö²×“Ö¸× Ö´×™×
הַמַּעֲלֶה עֲדִי זָהָב עַל לְבוּש×ְכֶן
×ֵיךְ × Ö¸×¤Ö°×œ×•Ö¼ ×’Ö´×‘Ö¼Ö¹×¨Ö´×™× ×‘Ö¼Ö°×ª×•Ö¹×šÖ° הַמִּלְחָמָה
×™Ö°×”×•Ö¹× Ö¸×ªÖ¸×Ÿ עַל-בָּמוֹתֶיךָ חָלָל
צַר-לִי עָלֶיךָ ×ָחִי ×™Ö°×”×•Ö¹× Ö¸×ªÖ¸×Ÿ
× Ö¸×¢Ö·×žÖ°×ªÖ¼Ö¸ לִּי מְ×ֹד
× Ö´×¤Ö°×œÖ°×ַתָה ×ַהֲבָתְךָ לִי
מֵ×ַהֲבַת × Ö¸×©×Ö´×™×
×ֵיךְ × Ö¸×¤Ö°×œ×•Ö¼ גִבּוֹרִי×
וַיֹּ×בְדוּ כְּלֵי מִלְחָמָה
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered