Theological Necessity (2)

It is incumbent upon the Lord to save, and it is incumbent upon Your people to bless You forever.  Psalm 3:8  Chabad after Rashi

Upon the LORD – You will recall the recent discussion of this verse regarding YHVH’s saving character.  The NASB translation added the copula, suggesting the salvation is an attribute of God.  This Greek philosophical move is the way the West treats the relationship between subject and object with verbs of being.  But it’s not a Hebrew, semitic idea.  We pointed out that in Hebrew God is not separate from His actions.  In fact, the only way we know Him is as the God who acts.  Chabad tries to capture this equivalence with its translation, but even with Chabad, something else is implied.

Review the Hebrew text:

לַֽיהֹוָ֥ה הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה עַל־עַמְּךָ֖ בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ סֶּֽלָה

What is implied in the English “incumbent upon”?  The dictionary describes the phrase as an adjective implying necessity, duty, or responsibility.  Translated this way, the text tells us that God has a necessity to save, has a duty to save, and is responsible to save.  This improves the English of the NASB.  It retains the active context rather than treating salvation as an attribute, but it still leaves us thinking that the obligation could be separated from God’s being.  Here salvation follows from an obligation God takes on Himself (the ritual with Abraham) but it could mean that God could exist without this obligation.  That is not possible for the biblical idea of YHVH.

Notice that the second part of this verse in Chabad’s translation also incorporates the idea of obligation and necessity—for Israel.  NASB treats this as “May Your blessing be upon Your people!”, as if God is the principal, acting in favor of His people, while Chabad treats the phrase as the reciprocal obligation of Israel toward YHVH.  How can the text allow such variation?  The answer is simple: there is no verb.  Just as the opening phrase is without the copula, so the second phrase contains no connecting verb.  It is simply “upon Your people Your blessing.”  Does it mean that God blesses Israel, or does Israel bless God?  In the absence of a verb, both Chabad and the NASB provide interpretative amplification.  Both rely on theological assumptions to supply the connective idea.  The only caution necessary is this: if the Jews interpret the text as mutual obligation, isn’t it important for Christian translators to follow their example?  After all, they’ve had this text for at least a millennium longer than Christians.

Finally, you’ll notice that Chabad’s translation adds “forever.”  This interprets Selah as an emphatic marker, extending the thought of the verse as timeless truth, in keeping with the Hebraic recognition that God, and God alone, is the Rescuer of His people.

Some further investigation reveals that the Chabad translation follows the interpretation of Rashi.  God acts as the Rescuer because He made Himself a promise to Abraham which extends to His chosen people.  The fact that the people bless God causes God to respond to His promise.  God’s self-obligation is extolled in the people’s blessing.

Rabbi Menahem be Solomon HaMeiri (13^th Century) notes that this verse demonstrates that salvation comes from no other source, even if an agent acts as intermediary.  We might say that the king saved his people, or a prophet was responsible, but the truth is that ultimately God is behind all saving acts, and no other.  The Christian claim that “Jesus saves” can only be squared with the Tanach when the 4^th Century Trinitarian doctrine is enlisted as theological support.  Without that doctrine, Yeshua acts as an agent in the same way any other intermediary would act.  Salvation depends onlyon YHVH.

Topical Index: salvation, blessing, bĕrākâ, obligation, Psalm 3:8