Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

Tongue for Glory
Psalm 16:9

"Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope." (Psalm 16:9, KJV)

The difficulty with this passage is in translation and language differences. The older English versions render the middle phrase "my glory rejoices" which makes little sense but may be a Hebrew idiom. The phrases either side are both parts of the body, "my heart" and "my flesh", but where is "my glory" located? Furthermore why do more recent versions such as the NIV render it "my tongue"?

Of course, looking at English versions is only examining 16th-21st century translations. The earliest translations were Greek, Aramaic and later Latin. The Hebrew original has the word כָּבוּד kâbhôdh (Strong’s #3519) defined as "glory" or "honour" in simple Hebrew dictionaries. The Greek Septuagint translation of the 3rd century B.C. has γλωσσα glôssa (Strong’s #1100) "tongue" as does the 4th century A.D. Latin Vulgate with its lingua mea. The Aramaic Targum probably compiled sometime after the Greek but before the Latin keeps to the literal Hebrew "glory".

Psalm 57:8 [Heb. 57:9 / Grk. 56:9], "Awake, my glory", also has the word כָּבוּד kâbhôdh translated "glory" which this time the Greek renders accurately as δοξα doxa (Strong’s #1391) and the Latin as gloria, whilst modern translations change "glory" to "soul" (NIV, NRSV), although even the 1917 JPS and 1535 Miles Coverdale Bible preferred to render it as "heart".

A third passage, Psalm 108:1 [Grk. 107:1], "I will sing and give praise, even with my glory", also uses כָּבוּד kâbhôdh "glory" and which again Greek and Latin versions agree on but which modern versions continued to disagree on and translate as "soul" (NIV, NRSV).

Recorded in Acts 2:26 we have Peter’s quotation of Psalm 16:8-11 and on which one online commentator writes:

"Peter quotes this Psalm in the course of his message on the day of Penetecost. "my tongue was glad" is a fairly literal translation of êgalliasato hê glôssa mou and, used as a direct reference to their praises of God in glossolalia [tongues] on the day of Pentecost, does imply textual authority having been ascribed to the Septuaginta, for therefrom was Peter quoting. Thus, Psalm 16:9 must be understood as a direct reference to glossolalia, although the KJV rendering of the Hebrew of the same verse suggests otherwise." (http://home.sprynet.com/&tilda;jbwwhite/tung1BW.html)

To see a reference to the gift of tongues in this verse is understandable given the context of events surrounding Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and the associated manifestations but his preaching context was the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:24) and a reference to the gift of tongues cannot be inferred, especially when only resting on the Greek translation.

If we rule out "tongue" as a legitimate translation of the Hebrew, this affects the quality and inspiration of the Greek Septuagint and has a knock on effect to our attitude to inspiration in the New Testament. That said, Peter was quoting from the Greek translation as the predominant language of the Diaspora Jews gathered that Pentecost festival in Jerusalem. There are indeed numerous differences of interpretation in the Septuagint, as obviously as there are between any two English language versions or between any one English version and the Hebrew original. The evangelical doctrine of biblical inspiration relates to the original languages not to translations. So simply because Peter quotes from the Greek version this does not warrant throwing out the authentic Hebrew reading which is quite understandable in its original language and worldview context, as we will attempt to show.

Therefore / my heart / is glad,
And / my glory / rejoices;
Also / my flesh / will rest in safety

When laid out, as above, in poetic parallelism where each phrase echoes another’s meaning but with different wording, we can see the parallel terminology. Heart, glory and flesh, are to be seen as Hebrew euphemisms for the self, "me", expressed through various bodily metaphors. But you may well ask which part of the body is "my glory"?

The Hebrew word כָּבוּד kâbhôdh (Strong’s #3519) derives from כָּבַד kâbhadh (Strong’s #3513) "to be heavy or weighty" and can be used to express the bestowing of honour and glory through greatness or abundance, or equally to be burdensome via the idea of being "weighed down". Apart from the 200 instances of כָּבוּד kâbhôdh the next most common derived term is כָּבֵד kâbhêdh (Strong’s #3515/3516, x52) meaning "heavy" or anatomically the "liver" as the heaviest organ. The word "liver" in turn is used as a metaphorical organ for the soul, heart or mind. For example, "Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth" (Lamentations 2:11, KJV), where the NKJV renders "bowels" as "heart" and the NIV renders "liver" as "heart".

Even more than in biblical passages we find Ancient Near Eastern Akkadian and Ugaritic texts such as the Ras Shamra^F1 tablets paralleling "heart" and "liver":

Her liver [kbd] swells with laughter
Her heart [lb] fills up with joy,
Anath's liver exults.

The Hebrew word "glory/liver" appears again in Psalm 7:5 paralleled with the Hebrew words for soul and life.

It seems, therefore, that in Psalm 16:9 we should regard the unpointed (original vowel-less text) Hebrew as being a form of the word "liver" rather than "glory" and being metaphorically paralleled with the heart or soul. It seems the Greek in this instance, unlike in Psalms 57:8 and 108:1, has chosen to paraphrase "glory/liver" as "tongue" because of the context of rejoicing, just as in Psalm 30:12 "To the end that my glory may sing praise to You".

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Found in modern Syria but originally part of the Canaanite empire, contemporary with Abraham through to Moses; Text cited from UT, Anath II:25-26.

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