Too Familiar (1)

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.  Psalm 23:1 NASB 1995

My shepherd – Hardly needs any introduction.  This verse is possibly the most recognized verse in the “Old Testament,” and other than the evangelical emphasis on John 3:16, might just be the most recognized verse in the whole Bible.  But familiarity often belies real understanding.  Such is the case here.  The translation is so common that we miss the Hebrew grammar and its implications.  So, let’s go slowly.

מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד יְהֹוָ֥ה רֹ֜עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר

Right away you’ll notice a few extra words at the beginning of this verse, usually ignored in English Bibles.  “A song of David,” mizmôr l’david.  Since the English Bibles tend to ignore this opening, we might assume that it adds nothing to the theological power of the verse, but we’d be wrong.  The opening tells us that this is lyrics, intended to be sung, and like most lyrics, it contains a certain kind of poetry and poetic license.  In other words, it is not theology.  It is emotionally-charged thanksgiving.  We’ll keep that in mind as we proceed.

Next we find the usual personal name of God, YHVH.  Of course, for David this was not some “so-holy-it-can’t-be-spoken” name.  In fact, this name identifies Israel’s particular God in the midst of a pagan world filled with other gods.  It is crucial to the sense of the song because it says that this God, this particular God, the God whose name is YHVH, is the one who is acting.  And importantly, it comes first in the lyrics, the place of emphasis.  David, like Solomon, had plenty of options when it came to deities.  He expresses in no uncertain terms that his deity is the one named YHVH, and none other.

Now the interesting grammar.  As you know, Hebrew does not express the copula “is.”  The Hebrew text does not say, “YHVH is my shepherd.”  Rather, it reads “YHVH rō’i’.  No “to be” verb.  What is rō’i’?  The root, resh ayin, means, “to feed, graze, drive out to pasture, shepherd, protect, nourish.”  Basically all the things that a shepherd does.  Of course, in English we’ve turned this word into a noun, in fact, the direct object of the implied verb “is.”  But there isn’t any “is.”  The word is not a noun.  It’s a participle.  This makes a huge difference, not expressed in the standard translation at all.  You see, David is not singing a song about God who happens to be a shepherd.  He’s singing lyrics that equate God with shepherding actions.  And the participle tells us that these actions are continuous, unfinished, and intentional.  Perhaps we would understand the verse better if we read it as “YHVH shepherds me.”  It’s just that we don’t really have a verb like that in English and we are so used to the misaligned translation that we think David is expressing God’s role, not His character.  This is basically the same construction as “God is good,” which in Hebrew draws an equivalence between goodness and God, not as an accidental attribute but as an essential element of His character.  Now we know that God shepherds, with all the actions associated with that function.  Of all the biblical poets, David would know what this means better than anyone else.  And this takes us to the last part of this very short line of lyrics.  Tomorrow.

Topical Index:  shepherd, rō’i’, participle, Psalm 23:1