This last batch of psalms have been, for the most part, blissfully short. Not a lot of weirdness, just the standard crap about how great and merciful God is. Of greatest interest is Psalm 137, probably the most famous in the bible; it opens the with the line, "By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept / when we remembered Zion" (Psalm 137:1). You know it, right?! You know it, I know it, we all know it. How freaking great.
It's a pretty standard "lament" psalm, but I got a little excited over it just because it crops up periodically in literature. For instance, in The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot there is a line that mirrors the first verse of the psalm: "By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept..." And William Faulkner got the title of his book, If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem from the following line: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning" (Psalm 137:5).
Awesome!
Anyway, after that brief moment of light and clarity in the endless abyss of stupid psalms, I finally emerged from the wreckage and began to read Proverbs. FINALLY!
I'm not exactly sure how Proverbs is going to shake out, but from the introduction and first three chapters it seems very interesting. One of the more secular books of the bible, Proverbs borrows from non-Israelite wisdom traditions, particularly those of the Egyptians, to "represent the results of a search for a divinely sustained cosmic order in the lessons derived from human experience." The first nine chapters, which are the youngest, tend to be slightly more religious in nature than the rest of the book.
Chapter 1 serves as something of an introduction, explaining the importance of understanding proverbs and stating that "the fear of the Lord is the foundation of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). Oh boy. The author goes on to warn against sinfulness, then describes wisdom, personified as a woman. Chapters 2 and 3 basically continue on this note, urging the student to "take [these] words to heart" (Proverbs 2:1) and obey human teachers and God.
I think tomorrow we will get into the juicy stuff, but today we'll just have to be happy that we finally finished Psalms. I'm going to go eat jam out of the jar. See you tomorrow!
Showing posts with label Psalms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psalms. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Day 47, Psalms 101-119
When I saw I only had to read like twenty chapters today I got excited, but of course all it means is that they're freaking LONG. Psalm 119, which we will address later on, is actually the longest chapter in the bible, and has more verses than thirteen Old Testament books! What the fuck, Biblical Poet?!
My observations:
- God is a total asshole in Psalm 117, making a bunch of sailors to freak out by causing a giant storm and then stopping it when he gets bored to prove how AWESOME and POWERFUL he is. Once the storm ends the sailors "give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love" (Psalms 107:31). If he loved you so much, maybe he would fuck with you less, sailors!
- Psalm 110 opens with the weird line, "The Lord says to my lord" (Psalms 110:1). What the hell does that mean? Obviously the upper-case Lord refers to God, and I would guess that "lord" refers to a king or something, but geez louise. The thesaurus is your friend, Biblical Poet!
- Psalm 114 delighted me because it is the first psalm that RHYMES like a REAL POEM, and is sort of Doctor Seuss-esque. Here is the stanza of interest: "The sea looked and fled, / the Jordan turned back; / the mountains leaped like rams, / the hills like lambs" (Psalm 114:3-4). Lambs and rams! What a great line! Later on in the poem, Thing One and Thing Two come and cause some trouble. Just kidding. That doesn't happen.
- Psalm 117 is the best because it's only ONE STANZA! I LOVE YOU PSALM 117.
- Psalm 119, on the other hand, fucking sucks. Oh man is it ever lengthy. It's an "acrostic poem" meaning each line begins with a successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet, but obviously that is lost on us anglophiles. Also, the writer is an insufferable brown-noser who goes on and on about how freaking WONDERFUL God's laws are: "My soul," he writes, "is consumed with longing / for your laws at all times" (Psalm 119:20). The author later comments that he is "lowly and despised" (Psalm 119:141) which is no surprise to me, considering he's such an obnoxious suck-up.
That's it for the day. I'm going to class now. After awhile, crocodiles.
My observations:
- God is a total asshole in Psalm 117, making a bunch of sailors to freak out by causing a giant storm and then stopping it when he gets bored to prove how AWESOME and POWERFUL he is. Once the storm ends the sailors "give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love" (Psalms 107:31). If he loved you so much, maybe he would fuck with you less, sailors!
- Psalm 110 opens with the weird line, "The Lord says to my lord" (Psalms 110:1). What the hell does that mean? Obviously the upper-case Lord refers to God, and I would guess that "lord" refers to a king or something, but geez louise. The thesaurus is your friend, Biblical Poet!
- Psalm 114 delighted me because it is the first psalm that RHYMES like a REAL POEM, and is sort of Doctor Seuss-esque. Here is the stanza of interest: "The sea looked and fled, / the Jordan turned back; / the mountains leaped like rams, / the hills like lambs" (Psalm 114:3-4). Lambs and rams! What a great line! Later on in the poem, Thing One and Thing Two come and cause some trouble. Just kidding. That doesn't happen.
- Psalm 117 is the best because it's only ONE STANZA! I LOVE YOU PSALM 117.
- Psalm 119, on the other hand, fucking sucks. Oh man is it ever lengthy. It's an "acrostic poem" meaning each line begins with a successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet, but obviously that is lost on us anglophiles. Also, the writer is an insufferable brown-noser who goes on and on about how freaking WONDERFUL God's laws are: "My soul," he writes, "is consumed with longing / for your laws at all times" (Psalm 119:20). The author later comments that he is "lowly and despised" (Psalm 119:141) which is no surprise to me, considering he's such an obnoxious suck-up.
That's it for the day. I'm going to class now. After awhile, crocodiles.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Day 46, Psalms 74-100
Psalms continues to be so excruciatingly boring that I want to claw my eyes out so I have an excuse to stop reading. But alas, I made a commitment to this project, and as I said in my bio, I FINISH WHAT I START!
But seriously, every time there's one that's more than a few stanzas I'm like OH SWEET JESUS ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
My scant observations:
Psalm 78 is one of those obnoxious long ones, but it contains this gem: "[God] rained meat down on [the people] like dust, birds like sand on the seashore" (Psalms 79:27). Oh wow, what an image! Raining meat!
Psalm 82 is actually kind of interesting, describing God ruling over the divine assembly, "render[ing] judgement among the 'gods'" (Psalms 82:1). What most people don't realize is that although Judaism and Christianity are regarded as monotheistic religions, during ancient times most people believed in multiple gods. The issue that Jews had with the gods of the Canaanites and Moabites and so on wasn't that they didn't exist, but that they were inferior to the Hebrew god. In psalm 82, these gods are said to "know nothing...[and] understand nothing. They walk about in darkness" (Psalm 82:5).
Psalm 87 reasserts the importance of Jerusalem. I don't even know why I liked it. Probably because it was a little different and therefore incrementally less boring than the rest of these dumb poems. And come to think of it, I actually relate to it a little bit: "Indeed, of Zion, it will be said, / 'This one and that one were born in her, / and the Most High himself will establish her.' / The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: / 'This one was born in Zion'" (Psalms 87:5-6).
Replace "Zion" with The Noble and Mighty Bear Flag Republic of California, and you've got me! God, I sure know what it's like to be awesome just by virtue of where I'm from.
Although I usually refrain from using this particular trope, because it's overdone, I cannot help but think of Psalm 88 as the emo psalm. After the biblical poet wrote this he probably dyed his hair black and put on striped knee socks and went shopping at Hot Topic. It contains such lines as "I am set apart with the dead, / like the slain who lie in the grave, / whom you remember no more, / who are cut off from your care" (Psalms 88:5) and "Darkness is my closest friend" (Psalms 88:18). Gee whiz.
That's all I got! Two more days of this. Let's keep on keeping on.
But seriously, every time there's one that's more than a few stanzas I'm like OH SWEET JESUS ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
My scant observations:
Psalm 78 is one of those obnoxious long ones, but it contains this gem: "[God] rained meat down on [the people] like dust, birds like sand on the seashore" (Psalms 79:27). Oh wow, what an image! Raining meat!
Psalm 82 is actually kind of interesting, describing God ruling over the divine assembly, "render[ing] judgement among the 'gods'" (Psalms 82:1). What most people don't realize is that although Judaism and Christianity are regarded as monotheistic religions, during ancient times most people believed in multiple gods. The issue that Jews had with the gods of the Canaanites and Moabites and so on wasn't that they didn't exist, but that they were inferior to the Hebrew god. In psalm 82, these gods are said to "know nothing...[and] understand nothing. They walk about in darkness" (Psalm 82:5).
Psalm 87 reasserts the importance of Jerusalem. I don't even know why I liked it. Probably because it was a little different and therefore incrementally less boring than the rest of these dumb poems. And come to think of it, I actually relate to it a little bit: "Indeed, of Zion, it will be said, / 'This one and that one were born in her, / and the Most High himself will establish her.' / The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: / 'This one was born in Zion'" (Psalms 87:5-6).
Replace "Zion" with The Noble and Mighty Bear Flag Republic of California, and you've got me! God, I sure know what it's like to be awesome just by virtue of where I'm from.
Although I usually refrain from using this particular trope, because it's overdone, I cannot help but think of Psalm 88 as the emo psalm. After the biblical poet wrote this he probably dyed his hair black and put on striped knee socks and went shopping at Hot Topic. It contains such lines as "I am set apart with the dead, / like the slain who lie in the grave, / whom you remember no more, / who are cut off from your care" (Psalms 88:5) and "Darkness is my closest friend" (Psalms 88:18). Gee whiz.
That's all I got! Two more days of this. Let's keep on keeping on.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Day 45, Psalms 47-73
First off, IT'S DAY 45!!! WE'RE AT THE HALFWAY MARK! WAHOO!!!!!!
Secondly, I want to apologize, because I wrote this yesterday and then totally forgot to post it. So to my clamoring readership, I am sorry.
Anyway, today we continue with Psalms, which remain boring. It may seem like I don't have a lot of observations. I want to let you know that I actually do, it just so happens that most of them are stupid, unspeakably vulgar, or involve semen, so I'm opting not to share them. But they're there. Rest assured, they're there.
The thing that annoys me most about the psalms is that on top of being repetitive, they are also incredibly morally one-dimensional. It's like someone took all the most unsatisfying conclusions drawn in the Book of Job and wrote sixty billion poems about them. I'm a 21st century woman! I want moral ambiguity! I want torment and angst! And mostly, I want sex and violence. Psalms is just not doing it for me.
That being said, I picked out a few areas of interest. I thought Psalm 49 was pretty cool; it's about how all people die and so it doesn't really matter if someone is rich and you're poor because one day you'll both be DEAD!! People, the author writes, "are like sheep and are destined to die; / death will be their shepherd" (Psalms 49:14). He goes on to tell us not to be "overawed when others grow rich, / when the splendor of their houses increases; / for they will take nothing with them when they die, / their splendor will not descend with them" (Psalms 49:16-17). True that, Psalms! Everyone DIES!!
Also of note: although the rich are described as "descending" after death, it doesn't mean that they're going to hell. Jews believed that everyone went to Sheol, which is -- to my understanding -- sort of like the Greek Hades: a dark, contemplative, boring place.
Psalm 53 is about CRAZY FOOLS who don't believe in God. Imagine that! It mentions that these people are "overwhelmed with dread, / where there was nothing to dread" (Psalms 53:5). Nothing to dread?! Maybe they have an econ midterm on Wednesday. Okay, biblical poet? Did you ever think of that?
In Psalm 55, there's a sort-of neat line, spoken in anguish: "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! / I would fly away and be at rest. / I would flee far away / and stay in the desert; / I would hurry to my place of shelter, / far from the tempest and storm" (Psalms 55:6-8). Well, that's kind of poetic. We've all been there, I guess.
Lastly, Psalm 56 talks about being pursued by enemies, but affirms, "In God I trust and am not afraid. / What can man do to me?" (Psalms 56:11). Man can do a LOT to you, Mister Biblical Poet. But it's a nice thought. You're cute and earnest. I like that.
We have three more days of Psalms and then move onto Proverbs, which has got to be better than this. Hang in there.
Secondly, I want to apologize, because I wrote this yesterday and then totally forgot to post it. So to my clamoring readership, I am sorry.
Anyway, today we continue with Psalms, which remain boring. It may seem like I don't have a lot of observations. I want to let you know that I actually do, it just so happens that most of them are stupid, unspeakably vulgar, or involve semen, so I'm opting not to share them. But they're there. Rest assured, they're there.
The thing that annoys me most about the psalms is that on top of being repetitive, they are also incredibly morally one-dimensional. It's like someone took all the most unsatisfying conclusions drawn in the Book of Job and wrote sixty billion poems about them. I'm a 21st century woman! I want moral ambiguity! I want torment and angst! And mostly, I want sex and violence. Psalms is just not doing it for me.
That being said, I picked out a few areas of interest. I thought Psalm 49 was pretty cool; it's about how all people die and so it doesn't really matter if someone is rich and you're poor because one day you'll both be DEAD!! People, the author writes, "are like sheep and are destined to die; / death will be their shepherd" (Psalms 49:14). He goes on to tell us not to be "overawed when others grow rich, / when the splendor of their houses increases; / for they will take nothing with them when they die, / their splendor will not descend with them" (Psalms 49:16-17). True that, Psalms! Everyone DIES!!
Also of note: although the rich are described as "descending" after death, it doesn't mean that they're going to hell. Jews believed that everyone went to Sheol, which is -- to my understanding -- sort of like the Greek Hades: a dark, contemplative, boring place.
Psalm 53 is about CRAZY FOOLS who don't believe in God. Imagine that! It mentions that these people are "overwhelmed with dread, / where there was nothing to dread" (Psalms 53:5). Nothing to dread?! Maybe they have an econ midterm on Wednesday. Okay, biblical poet? Did you ever think of that?
In Psalm 55, there's a sort-of neat line, spoken in anguish: "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! / I would fly away and be at rest. / I would flee far away / and stay in the desert; / I would hurry to my place of shelter, / far from the tempest and storm" (Psalms 55:6-8). Well, that's kind of poetic. We've all been there, I guess.
Lastly, Psalm 56 talks about being pursued by enemies, but affirms, "In God I trust and am not afraid. / What can man do to me?" (Psalms 56:11). Man can do a LOT to you, Mister Biblical Poet. But it's a nice thought. You're cute and earnest. I like that.
We have three more days of Psalms and then move onto Proverbs, which has got to be better than this. Hang in there.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Day 44, Psalms 21-46
Wow. I've got to say, I'm really trying with these Psalms, but nothing I do can make them even remotely interesting. I feel like if I was a better biblical scholar I would know their SECRET POINT and enjoy them more, but as far as I can tell they're just repetitive poems about how great God is. Apparently scholars group them into assorted categories like laments, hymns, etc, and I tried to read about that, but it didn't make them cooler so I gave up. All I have to offer you are a few snarky comments. I hope that's okay.
Actually, I'm going to start with a non-snarky observation. Psalm 22 opens with the line, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalms 22:1). Hey, that's what Jesus said on the cross! Even while he was gruesomely dying he was able to make a nice little literary allusion. That's dedication!
Psalm 23 is one of the most famous poems in the book, opening with the line, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall want for nothing" (Psalms 23:1) or some variation of that. I only know it because Pink Floyd parodies it in one of their songs. Also, this psalm contains some mention of the "shadow of the valley of death" (Psalms 23:4) which is definitely from some rap song. Am I right? I know I'm right.
Psalm 25 contains the line "Do not remember the sins of my youth / and my rebellious ways" (Psalm 25:7). YES. I AGREE WITH THIS, and someone needs to tell my parents, who have pictures of me in middle school plastered all over the walls of their house. Goddamnit.
Psalm 26 contains the line, "Lord, I love the house where you live, / the place where your glory dwells" (Psalms 26:8) which I thought was funny because I imagined some stereotypically gay guy going into God's house and being like, "Oh geez I love what you've done with the place!!!"
Are these observations completely retarded? Bear with me, I have no freaking material to work with!
In Psalm 29, it is said that "the Lord... makes Lebanon leap like a calf" (Psalm 29:6). That's quite the trick! Can he make Syria roll over? Can he make Egypt play dead?
From Psalm 37: "I was young and now I am old, / yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken / or their children begging bread" (Psalm 37:25). We already went over this back in Job, but whoever wrote this OBVIOUSLY ISN'T PAYING ANY GODDAMN ATTENTION. STOP BEING DUMB, BIBLICAL POET.
Last but not least we have a weird line from Psalm 42: "As the deer pants for streams of water / so my soul pants for you, my God" (Psalms 42:1). In my delirious, bored state, I found this line weirdly sexual. Is it just me? It's just me, huh.
Geez Louise. I am really sorry to disappoint, and I'm even more sorry that we still have a whole week of this crap. I will continue looking for ways to make it interesting. Today I tried substituting "the Lord" with other, funnier names, but that didn't work. Tomorrow I will brainstorm a new scheme.
Actually, I'm going to start with a non-snarky observation. Psalm 22 opens with the line, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Psalms 22:1). Hey, that's what Jesus said on the cross! Even while he was gruesomely dying he was able to make a nice little literary allusion. That's dedication!
Psalm 23 is one of the most famous poems in the book, opening with the line, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall want for nothing" (Psalms 23:1) or some variation of that. I only know it because Pink Floyd parodies it in one of their songs. Also, this psalm contains some mention of the "shadow of the valley of death" (Psalms 23:4) which is definitely from some rap song. Am I right? I know I'm right.
Psalm 25 contains the line "Do not remember the sins of my youth / and my rebellious ways" (Psalm 25:7). YES. I AGREE WITH THIS, and someone needs to tell my parents, who have pictures of me in middle school plastered all over the walls of their house. Goddamnit.
Psalm 26 contains the line, "Lord, I love the house where you live, / the place where your glory dwells" (Psalms 26:8) which I thought was funny because I imagined some stereotypically gay guy going into God's house and being like, "Oh geez I love what you've done with the place!!!"
Are these observations completely retarded? Bear with me, I have no freaking material to work with!
In Psalm 29, it is said that "the Lord... makes Lebanon leap like a calf" (Psalm 29:6). That's quite the trick! Can he make Syria roll over? Can he make Egypt play dead?
From Psalm 37: "I was young and now I am old, / yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken / or their children begging bread" (Psalm 37:25). We already went over this back in Job, but whoever wrote this OBVIOUSLY ISN'T PAYING ANY GODDAMN ATTENTION. STOP BEING DUMB, BIBLICAL POET.
Last but not least we have a weird line from Psalm 42: "As the deer pants for streams of water / so my soul pants for you, my God" (Psalms 42:1). In my delirious, bored state, I found this line weirdly sexual. Is it just me? It's just me, huh.
Geez Louise. I am really sorry to disappoint, and I'm even more sorry that we still have a whole week of this crap. I will continue looking for ways to make it interesting. Today I tried substituting "the Lord" with other, funnier names, but that didn't work. Tomorrow I will brainstorm a new scheme.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Day 43, Job 36-42, Psalms 1-20
Today we finish up the Book of Job and begin Psalms. Remember when I said I thought Psalms would be boring? WELL I WAS RIGHT! But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's deal with our troubled pal Job.
Elihu's speech continues until chapter 37, and he basically sticks with his original premise: that God is beyond human comprehension and we just have to suck it up and accept that. In chapter 38 God himself appears from "out of the tempest" (Job 38:1) and launches into a long speech that essentially says, "What the fuck do you know, Job?" Except it's more poetic than that, with God explaining the wonders of running the universe: "In all your life," he asks Job, "have you ever called up the dawn or assigned the morning its place? Have you taught it to grasp the fringes of the earth and shake the Dog-star from the sky, to bring up the horizon in relief as clay under a seal, until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak, when the light of the Dog-star is dimmed and the stars of the Navigator's Line go out one by one?" (Job 39:12-14). You've got to hand it to whoever wrote this book, that's a neat line! And there are plenty more where it came from. Job is floored by God's speech, and only responds briefly in chapter 40: "What reply can I give you, I who carry no weight?" (Job 40:4). God then continues to discuss how cool he is, and ultimately Job apologizes for questioning him at all, saying, "I have spoken of things which I have not understood...[and] therefore I yield, repenting in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3-6). I for one was a little annoyed that Job had to apologize after going through ALL THAT CRAP but I guess the moral of the story is DON'T ASK QUESTIONS OR CHALLENGE THE WAY THE UNIVERSE WORKS BECAUSE YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.
That's a little disappointing!
Anyway, chapter 42 concludes with a brief epilogue, written in prose. After his apology, Job is rewarded mightily by God, who gives him back everything he had before and MORE. He has ten more children, and his daughters are mentioned to be named Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch. The footnotes let us know that these names translate to "dove," "cinnamon," and "horn of eye cosmetics." Well, okay Job. Whatever floats your boat.
The thing that always bothered me about this story is that the ending suggests that Job's original children were simply replaceable by new ones, one of whom has a cat's name. Cinnamon? Really? I guess the historical context should factor into how we view it, but I can't help being annoyed.
ANYWAY, enough of that. It's time to get started on Psalms!
The psalms, or "praises," are a compilation of one hundred and fifty -- yes, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY -- poems, divided into five books. According to some scholar who was cited on Wikipedia, they "express virtually the full range of Israel's religious faith." Traditionally they are ascribed to David, although modern historians have deduced that some of them probably predate him and some are younger. My study bible describes Psalms as the "prayer book of the second temple" because during that period, it was used in liturgy. The Second Temple period, for those of you unaware, is the time spanning from the end of the Babylonian exile (520 BCE) to the fall of the temple in 70 CE. So Jesus probably knew these tunes, as did Simon bar Kochbah, Josephus, and all your other favorite characters from Antiquity. Awesome!
Today we embarked on the first book, which consists of the first 41 psalms. These are typically regarded as the oldest, and all but a few are directly attributed to David. Rather unfortunately, they are NOT INTERESTING AT ALL. There's no sex, violence, or ridiculous series of events to enjoy, like the better books of the bible. Just dumb poems about how swell God is, and they DON'T EVEN RHYME. Psalms is okay, I guess, but it ain't "Casey at the Bat."
The one thing I can think to share is a line from Psalm 11 that kind of amused me: "The Lord weighs just and unjust, and he hates all who love violence. He will rain fiery coals and brimstone on the wicked; scorching winds will be the portion they drink" (Psalms 11:5-6). Geez, God, for someone who hates violence, that's a pretty violent thing to do!!! As we young folks on the internet are wont to say, LOL!!!
That's it for today. I'm tired. But don't worry, because I will devise some way to make Psalms interesting. Give me a day, all right?!!
Elihu's speech continues until chapter 37, and he basically sticks with his original premise: that God is beyond human comprehension and we just have to suck it up and accept that. In chapter 38 God himself appears from "out of the tempest" (Job 38:1) and launches into a long speech that essentially says, "What the fuck do you know, Job?" Except it's more poetic than that, with God explaining the wonders of running the universe: "In all your life," he asks Job, "have you ever called up the dawn or assigned the morning its place? Have you taught it to grasp the fringes of the earth and shake the Dog-star from the sky, to bring up the horizon in relief as clay under a seal, until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak, when the light of the Dog-star is dimmed and the stars of the Navigator's Line go out one by one?" (Job 39:12-14). You've got to hand it to whoever wrote this book, that's a neat line! And there are plenty more where it came from. Job is floored by God's speech, and only responds briefly in chapter 40: "What reply can I give you, I who carry no weight?" (Job 40:4). God then continues to discuss how cool he is, and ultimately Job apologizes for questioning him at all, saying, "I have spoken of things which I have not understood...[and] therefore I yield, repenting in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3-6). I for one was a little annoyed that Job had to apologize after going through ALL THAT CRAP but I guess the moral of the story is DON'T ASK QUESTIONS OR CHALLENGE THE WAY THE UNIVERSE WORKS BECAUSE YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND.
That's a little disappointing!
Anyway, chapter 42 concludes with a brief epilogue, written in prose. After his apology, Job is rewarded mightily by God, who gives him back everything he had before and MORE. He has ten more children, and his daughters are mentioned to be named Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch. The footnotes let us know that these names translate to "dove," "cinnamon," and "horn of eye cosmetics." Well, okay Job. Whatever floats your boat.
The thing that always bothered me about this story is that the ending suggests that Job's original children were simply replaceable by new ones, one of whom has a cat's name. Cinnamon? Really? I guess the historical context should factor into how we view it, but I can't help being annoyed.
ANYWAY, enough of that. It's time to get started on Psalms!
The psalms, or "praises," are a compilation of one hundred and fifty -- yes, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY -- poems, divided into five books. According to some scholar who was cited on Wikipedia, they "express virtually the full range of Israel's religious faith." Traditionally they are ascribed to David, although modern historians have deduced that some of them probably predate him and some are younger. My study bible describes Psalms as the "prayer book of the second temple" because during that period, it was used in liturgy. The Second Temple period, for those of you unaware, is the time spanning from the end of the Babylonian exile (520 BCE) to the fall of the temple in 70 CE. So Jesus probably knew these tunes, as did Simon bar Kochbah, Josephus, and all your other favorite characters from Antiquity. Awesome!
Today we embarked on the first book, which consists of the first 41 psalms. These are typically regarded as the oldest, and all but a few are directly attributed to David. Rather unfortunately, they are NOT INTERESTING AT ALL. There's no sex, violence, or ridiculous series of events to enjoy, like the better books of the bible. Just dumb poems about how swell God is, and they DON'T EVEN RHYME. Psalms is okay, I guess, but it ain't "Casey at the Bat."
The one thing I can think to share is a line from Psalm 11 that kind of amused me: "The Lord weighs just and unjust, and he hates all who love violence. He will rain fiery coals and brimstone on the wicked; scorching winds will be the portion they drink" (Psalms 11:5-6). Geez, God, for someone who hates violence, that's a pretty violent thing to do!!! As we young folks on the internet are wont to say, LOL!!!
That's it for today. I'm tired. But don't worry, because I will devise some way to make Psalms interesting. Give me a day, all right?!!
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