lifting, Psalm 24

a thought from today’s Psalm

from Psalm 24, there are two NIV translations of this Psalm, one In 1984 and another in 2011

The opening of this Psalm is the same in both NIV translations, verses one and two..,

1 

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

   the world, and all who live in it;

2 

for he founded it on the seas

   and established it on the waters

… the translators, though, make different choices in verses 3 and 4..,,

in the 1980’s NIV

the first translation reads in the mid verses,

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

   Who may stand in his holy place?

4 

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

   who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false 

I love this earlier translation as there the unclean, the impure, lift, they raise up their souls to an idol(s). This is very akin to Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, with his lifting, placing and splitting his soul into seven horcruxes as he murders individuals.

The second NIV translation, post 2011 translation follows,

3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

   Who may stand in his holy place?

4 

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

   who does not trust in an idol

   or swear by a false god

‘ trusting’ in an idol is, in my view, a weak translation here. It doesn’t spiral in connection to the closing of the Psalm 24, where in both translations end with ‘heads lift(ed)up’

7 Lift up your heads, you gates;

   be lifted up, you ancient doors,

   that the King of glory may come in.

8 

Who is this King of glory?

   The Lord strong and mighty,

   the Lord mighty in battle.

9 

Lift up your heads, you gates;

   lift them up, you ancient doors,

   that the King of glory may come in.

10 

Who is he, this King of glory?

   The Lord Almighty—

   he is the King of glory.

Poetically, the earlier translation serves to underscore the worship of an, the idol, the lifting of a soul to a false image or creation. Why did they, the translators, change the phrasing? Perhaps, they desired a more literal translation rather than a poetic one here and in other key places?

It matters not, though, as idols are in both word choices.

This type of idol, the one we ‘lift’ and worship is always emotional, all consuming, murderous of a self’s thought, emotions and spirit. A soul. Only He can be worshipped and adored.

From a cross to our hearts, from horcruxes to our selves, only He can be lifted up. Only He.

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