Devotional Short Note to Psalm 60: Many are wondering what the KJV or NIV or other translations did with the same Psalm. They will notice differences. Our question here is what did the Coptic translation do with this Psalm?

Coptic? Coptic was a language related to Egyptian but with Greek letters and Greek loanwords. Christianity spread from Alexandria down the Nile and the locals had a need for understanding the Bible and Coptic translations originated. When? Some say 150 A.D. with pagan influences already noticeable. Others say 200, 250, 350, 450, and still others no earlier than 850.

There are four dialects: Bohairic, Sahidic, Fayumic and Akhmimic. Although most scholars think that the Coptic translation was made from a Greek translation before Origen’s translations in 240 A.D. it is my experience in Hosea, Judges and Daniel that Copts were present on the same day the Hebrew reader dictated to the mixed team of Copts and Greeks to translate and that they translated the same but the Copts scribe used his own sensibility at times to translate closer to the Hebrew than the Greek. The cases are not many, maybe less than 1% but they are there.

Many Coptic manuscripts were burnt in a fire in Cairo between 20th of March to 25th of April 1800. Psalms fragments do exist from various periods and various dialects.

David says that the purpose of the Psalm is “to teach”. The Coptic scribe said “a teaching” EU CBW.

In 60:2 David provide the note that he strove with Aram-Naharaim and with Aram-Zobah by Joab his general. The Coptic scribe interpreted it as “Mesopotamia of Syria” and “Syria of Sobal”. He read Aram as Syria. David said that Joab returned and smote 12000 in the Valley of Salt which is the Dead Sea. The Coptic scribe made it “in the valley of [the] salt” E } qellot nte pi hmou. The Coptic scribe added to David’s words the following that is not in the Greek so-called byzantine survived LXX: “O God You have cast us off [to move = n cwk]”. Similar to the Greek of the byzantine time, the Copts also added “and”. They would take the words: “You have cast off, You have broken” and they would infix a copulative “and” to read: “You have cast off [and] You have broken”. David did not use it and thus the Coptic translation is not totally literal, not strictly literal. The Book of Revelation says that the first church of Ephesians “I have against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4). All the versions are derivative, secondary and subordinate to the Hebrew original. Thanks that the Holy Spirit preserved the original for us so exact\. There are secular Jews who will tell you all kinds of stories about the Hebrew text, but do not pay attention to them. We have a test-probe from Qumran in Daniel to measure the accuracy of the transmission of the Hebrew text. Rest assure.

David said to God: “You have made the land to shake” but the Coptic scribe read it as “You have shaken [in] the land” (M PKahi). David says that “You have separated [Late Egyptian pšn meaning ‘to be rid of, or to be separated’ rather than the Arabic meaning ‘crack’, a language that David did not speak one and a half millenniums prior to the heyday of Arabic] it”. The Greek of the byzantine times and the Coptic scribe translated it as “and You have disturbed/troubled it”. That is how David understood it originally and that is how the Greeks and Copts understood it in the 3rd-4th centuries and that is how we get it with Arabic semantic influences over the Rabbis of the Middle Ages. David [1050 BCE] “separated” based on Egyptian; Copts [250-350 A.D.] “disturbed or troubled”; Rabbis and modern translations “cleft” based on Arabic. Semantics or the study of meaning for translation in modern times is crucial, is it not? It makes a heap of difference what cognitive painting we end up in our minds. The best solution is to stick to David’s understanding and to override any other deviations or side-gutters to lead away from David’s original understanding. Egyptian influenced at times and in small ways all languages including Sumerian and Akkadian in all its forms and shapes. Don’t be surprised now. Moses and Solomon influenced Egypt and other surrounding nations! David is a prolific writer although he was a shepherdsboy. Forget about this oral-tradition nonsense that Von Rad and others cooked-up to impress Rationalists and their cronies.

“Heal its treading down” (60:4b) the Copt scribe translated with the root homhem. David read “Heal its breaches” (60:4b). David gave a reason: “that it is built“ [Late Egyptian mḏḥ meaning ‘to build, to hew’].. The Greek of the byzantine survived texts read “that it shakes” and the Copt scribe translated “that it moves” [= kim] (60:4b). David wants breaches of the walls and city to be built and that is what healing is for him. The Copts should have looked at their own language for semantics and not lean to the Greek literature for solutions.

David used a strong form in the verb to say “You have made Your people to see toughness/hardship” (60:5a). Of course, sin has fruits and Satan and his proxies are the R&D of those fruits. God has to separate Himself from sin and the wave of demons takes over. Result? Hardship. By them rejecting God, and God not machine-operating them like tin-soldiers in the toyshop, God indirectly “made them to see hardship/toughness”. Satan directly provided hardship and trouble on a dish in this vacuum permitted by humans.

Also in the next phrase: “You have made us to drink wine of staggering” (60:5b). God forcing people to be alcoholics? Is Predestination true? No. It is all about the respect God has for the human freedom to choose. God forces no-one, not even Satan. This sacred attribute of God is why the Universe is going through this ordeal with Satan and humanity. That is not what David meant, namely that God selected prior to birth some humans to be good and others to be alcoholics and then He forces the bad ones to be alcoholics to stagger. The next verse explains that “them that fear You” (60:6a) Out of their freedom they choose to fear the Lord and the fruits of their faith step is God “has given a banner to them”. Why? To put under a bushel? No. To let it shine like the Lighthouse so that people just in time can also make positive choices “that it may be displayed from the face of decay/rottenness” [Late Egyptian ḳsṭṭ meaning: ‘stink, boil, blain, ulcer, decay, dry rot, rust, perish”. Consult any Hebrew dictionary. They say the meaning is dubious. That is because the Arabic they relied on since the Middle Ages so conveniently to take long shots for meanings to Moses and David is not helping].

That the meaning was lost is also seen in the translation of the Greek of the byzantine manuscripts reading “to flee from the face of the bow” and the Copt scribe who also translated “that he may flee from the face of a blossom” (60:6b) ha pho n ou vi].

What happened here in the third century is that they did not know what the Hebrew word qesheth means so they changed the last letter in the word to geshet and that word means “bow” or “grow-up”. There you have the translation license to take liberties in the face of the unknown. If you do not know what God’s Word means, change the letters to what you know and see you know God’s Word. Vicious circle.

David had “stink” of this sinful world in mind. The Greek and Coptic scribes heard the word, did not know what it means but grab a dictionary moving to the next word in line that resembles this form and used it for the meaning. It is like saying “cath” but because no-one knows what it means everyone says “cat” because they know what that means. Revelation says about the church of Ephesians period . . .

David then wrote the reason of all this: “So that Your beloved [which is the spiritual remnant as the same word is used in the parable of the vineyard Israel in Isaiah 5:1-7] may be delivered. Your right hand saved and answer him” (60:7). In 60:8 David talks about instruction he received from God to do some divisions in the country. “I exult, I divide” the Coptic scribe infixed “and” in between: “I would rejoice [and] I would parade(? Vws. Meaning unknown in Coptic but vwf which relates to the Hebrew better)”. Did the Coptic scribe understood the meaning correctly but a copyist wrote the wrong letter later at the end? This is the other thing: one scribe scribbled the translation on the wax and another scribe then deciphered the bad handwriting and wrote it on a papyrus vellum. It is then neatly copied by females in a beautiful hand letter by letter. This is how letter problems can slip in.

David would divide Shechem and mete out the valley of Sukkoth which is Deir ‘Alla where scholars have found the Deir ‘Alla inscription about Bileam’s dream and visions on a wall from the Persian Period. For four hundred years the Hebrew tradition flourished at his site so that one can see it concocted in this plaster-text widely published. Gilead would be David’s and Manasseh also Ephraim would be the defense of his head and Judah would be his scepter (60:8-10).

David’s parody list included: Moab as a washpot (60:10a); Edom to cast the shoe upon (60:10b); Philistia who will cry aloud because of him (60:10c). David asked who will lead him into the fortified city and who will lead him unto Edom.

But David had a problem: God does not accompany his army and he asked if God has rejected them? (60:12).

He asked for help against the enemy because for humans it is impossible (60:13).

He expressed his strong conviction that through God they will succeed and if there is a winning it is because “He it is that will tread down our adversaries” (60:14b).