Devotional Short Note on Psalm 75: The
special feature theme for this Psalm is to ask the question, how did the Vetus
Latina translate this Psalm? The Old Latin is distinct from the Vulgate that
Jerome translated in 389 A.D. Scholars thought it was translated from the
Septuagint, but my own experience with it is contrary. Some errors came only
from a misreading of the Hebrew manuscript. The original translation was
probably made in 190 A.D. but solely for convenience, pastors of the Latin
related languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese or Italian, can download Volume
two of Pierre Sabbathier, Bibliorum sacrorum latinae a Versiones antique seu
vetus Italica (1743-1749) and a Latin Dictionary with a grammar. This Psalm is
on page 151-152 at Liber Psalmorum. One can see where the translators made
their errors. An error in the Vetus Latina that was shared also by the
Septuagint translators, who used the same or copies of the same errorful copies
that survived bookburning and book-stealing practices common in those years,
which were made from degenerative “Qumran” like defective Hebrew copies of the
originals. If the Qumran on this Psalm survived one may have seen the same
variant here. Sometimes the Syriac also shared this variant and to a lesser
degree sometimes the Targum as well. What happened here is that the translators
who was reading the word to the copier of the Hebrew by dictation, by a slip of
the eye divided the word too short of the final root, leaving out the final
letter which makes it just a simple adverb meaning “near” but now a shorter
word with a phonetic different swing ends to mean “call”. The errorful
word-division is in the Hebrew and when it came to translations, all wanted to
use Antiochian Library Hebrew manuscript of Psalms and like modern Associate
Press News Outlet shoppers, they all introduced the error in their
translations. It comes as no surprise to Adventists since the church of
Ephesians in the Book of Revelation “left the first love” (Revelation 2:4). The
Hebrew read: “We give thanks, and near is Your name” but the Vetus Latina read “We
give thanks, and we call Your name” and so did Jerome in 389 A.D. and also the
Greek translators of the so-called Septuagint (so-called, because there was a
good one originally, but a degenerative corrupt one later of the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 BCE). Also in the next sentence, the Vetus
Latina made an error. The Hebrew letter for /n/ was left out or smeared and not
clear, so the scribe wrote it supralinearly meaning that it was supposed to be
placed back when the reader read it to someone. They all read the errorful word
in text correct, but for the Vetus Latina translators in 190 A.D. and the
shared Hebrew manuscript of the corrupt Septuagint translators, the supralinear
/n/ looked like a /k/ an since it was closer to the /l/ two letters further they
ended with a plus word in their translation: “all”. Whereas the Hebrew read: “they
tell of Your wonderful works” the Vetus Latina (shared by the corrupt
Septuagint) read in 190 A.D. “[I] tell [all] of Your wonderful works”. The
reason is that the waw of the first word at the end was read as a shorter yod
due to bad handwriting. At this point I want to stop analyzing
the Vetus Latina in this Psalm since there are very interesting points in the
Psalm that commentators totally missed since they are either from the Catholic
or Reformistic preteristic persuasions and thus tried to fit everything in at
the time of Sennacherib. Stop the bus. Asaph knew about the 2300 days prophecy
that Daniel would also present later in Daniel 8:14. God is at word here in
75:3 saying that “Because I will take the appointed time” [moed at the end of
2300 days = 2300 years with the day equals a year principle starting in 457 BCE
and ending in 1844] “I Myself [Christ our High Priest, see the book online by
Edward Heppenstall] will judge from uprightness”. It is the Investigative
Judgment in Heaven when Christ the High Priest will go into the Day of
Atonement function of His ministry in Heaven before the Father and the jury of
unfallen world and angels. “When the earth will be dissolved and
all the inhabitants thereof” [at the Hell event after the millennium when the
Executive Judgment will take place of the wicked since the righteous are safely
in heaven] “I Myself [Christ the recreator, see Revelation 20ff] “will
establish the pillars of it” [the earth is created anew] (75:4). Asaph was
probably citing from a well-known eschatological book they all read frequently
since he used the citation mark “Selah”. Christ says to the “arrogant” the
following: “Be no arrogant” and to the wicked “Lift not up the horn” (75:5).
Whenever Lucifer is portrayed in the Bible, it is said that he wanted to raise
himself, put himself on God’s throne, thus, a Rebellion that started in Heaven
and this battle is continued on earth with arrogant selfish desires to rebel
and replace and set themselves higher than powers and authority over them.
Daniel 7:25 described the Little Horn and Daniel 8:9-12 described the Little
Horn motions of self-exaltation against the Sanctuary of the Lord. Christ admonishes the Little Horn again
saying “Lift not up your horn on high” (75:6a). “Speak not insolence with a
haughty neck” (75:6b). The Little Horn of Daniel 8:9-10 and 12 is the Roman
Catholic Church during the Middle Ages since they took over as empire from
Pagan Rome, the beast. But, verse 11 of Daniel 8 is Satan himself and his
actions of selfappraisal. Compare in Isaiah 14:12-14 this desire of Satan to
lift himself up. So different than Christ stooping down to wash His disciples
feet before the Lord’s Supper and commanding us to do the same. The “lifting up one” (harim) is not
coming from the east [Iran], west [USA] or the wilderness [south, Africa?] for
Satan is unseen and the backdrop to all evil everywhere here (75:7). The same words as Daniel told
Nebuchadnezzar and the kings in his book, is that God is the One Who lift
people up and put them down (75:8). Empires grow big and become bullies, why?
Satan lift them up but there is a God in Heaven that changes regimes and He has
a calendar with a final date for the empire and the bullies. That is what the
prophets and Revelation says about the cup of God’s wrath (75:9). The Second
Harvest of the evil experiencing God’s wrath is described in Revelation
14:18-19. It is at this point that Asaph says that
when this happens and he is part of the First Harvest of the saved ones, that “I
will declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob” (75:10). Why
Jacob? The last Time of Trouble is the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” because the
faithful will suffer without a Mediator in Heaven, but they will actually be
perfect but not yet physically in body, thus the agony for a short time. Very
short indeed says the Bible. Shortened says Christ because He is in a hurry to
come at that point. Christ will cut off the horns of the
wicked. Horns were cut off in the visions of Daniel 7 and 8 because the
referred to political powers (75:11). The righteous will be given authority in
heaven by Christ. Christ promised that His saints will be like kings in heaven.
They will rule among other things.